Risk assessment of the flavonoids,quercetin as an endocrine modifier

Flavonoids are constituents of a wide variety of plants and are consumed in vegetables, fruits and certain medicines. They display a dual character with respect to their pharmacological effects and potential toxicity. Recent studies have demonstrated that the flavonoid, quercetin promotes estradiol-induced tumorigenesis by elevating the level of its oestrogen metabolite. Flavonoids have been also characterized as a type of environmental oestrogen. In the present study, we evaluated whether quercetin is a potential carcinogen by consideration of its oestrogenic characteristics, as described in various reports. A complete database review of flavonoids including quercetin revealed that quercetin is only mutagenic in bacterial testing systems and is a weak carcinogenic in rodents, but there has been little evidence that quercetin is tumour-inducing in humans. National Toxicology Program (1992) showed that the nonobserved adverse effect level (NOAEL) is to be less than 416 mg kg^-1 body weight day^-1 for inducing renal tumours in rats. In a study of male hamsters, it has been found that when co-administrated with estradiol, quercetin had a NOAEL of 300 mg kg^-1 day^-1 corresponding to 0.3% of the diet and contributed to the development of estradiol-induced renal tumours in these animals. By employing a 200-fold safety factor to compensate for interspecies variation, intraspecies variation and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics variation, the acceptable daily intake (ADI) was estimated to be 1.5 mg kg^-1 day^-1. It was concluded that the average daily intake of quercetin exceeds this ADI value, suggesting that the risk of developing cancer from this flavonoid is not negligible given the wide exposure to quercetin in our daily life.     

A note on the stability of the interaction of monetary policies

This note presents further sufficient conditions for stability of monetary actions interconnected with nations' fixed exchange rates. The conditions enable one to infer qualitative effects on the stability of the degree of integration and of the sterilization coefficients adopted by individual monetary authorities.     

Modeling Impact of Development Trajectories and a Global Agreement on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation on Congo Basin Forests by 2030

The Congo Basin encompasses the second largest rainforest area after the Amazon but the Congo Basin rainforest has been more preserved during the last decades with a much lower deforestation rate. At the same time, the region remains one of the least developed in the world. We use the partial equilibrium model GLOBIOM for the global agricultural, forestry and bioenergy sectors that seeks to find optimal land use options by spatially representing land qualities. We show the trade-offs between achieving agricultural growth at the expense of forests and protecting forests at the expense of agriculture development in the Congo Basin. The realization of the transportation infrastructures, which are already planned and funded, could multiply deforestation by three. In contrast, a global agreement on reduction of total emissions from deforestation could achieve important cuts in GHG emissions from deforestation in the Congo Basin. However, it could lead to substantial increases in food imports and food prices, which are in contradiction with the food security objectives.     

A simple accounting framework for the effect of resource misallocation on aggregate productivity

This paper develops a simple accounting framework that measures the effect of resource misallocation on aggregate productivity. This framework is based on a multi-sector equilibrium model with sector-specific frictions in the form of taxes on sectoral factor inputs. Our framework is flexible for the assumption on preferences or aggregate production functions. Moreover, this framework is consistent with that commonly used in productivity analysis. I apply this framework to measure the extent to which resource misallocation explains the difference in aggregate productivity across developed countries. I find that around 9 percentage points of the difference in the measured aggregate productivity between Japan and the US can be accounted for by resource misallocation. Using the framework, I also decompose the causes of the misallocation effect.     

A fundamental inequality to compare dynamic effects of real and asset sector disturbances in a three-country model of the world under alternative exchange rate regimes

Dynamic effects of financial and real disturbances are compared using intertemporal optimization criteria in a world with one key and two non-key countries. A resulting inequality is used to establish conditions for an exchange rate union to exist between the two non-key countries.     

Strategic Complements with First Mover Advantage

We show the existence of equilibrium and first mover advantage when two firms sequentially invest in quality improvement of their respective products. Although the actions (investment levels) of the firms are strategic complements, the second mover does not have an advantage. This is because, although firms are a priori identical, a change in rival investment can affect a firm differently, depending on whether the rival has a higher or lower level of investment. Thus, the marginal payoff with respect to rival action will differ for the first and second mover. We also show that the first mover may choose a higher level of investment than the second mover even though actions are strategic complements and the first mover's marginal payoff with respect to second mover action is negative.     

An empirical analysis on the law of purchasing power parity and international economic deepening

This article empirically investigates the effect of international trade on the deviation of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) law and on the international economic deepening in four developed countries (Japan, USA, UK and France), and three Asian developing ones (South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia), using International Financial Statistics (IFS) data issued by International Monetary Fund (IMF). Our results show that in some developed countries the imbalance effect of balance of payments is significant for both international deepening and deviation from PPP, and in some developing countries the volume effect of balance of payments is significant for international deepening.     

A comparative dynamic analysis of a growth model under alternate policy regimes

Comparative dynamic analysis is conducted on a growth model with variable price levels and wage rates. A perturbation technique is used to compare the economy's time paths near a balanced growth path in response to alternate policy regimes. Various dynamic policy multipliers are calculated in response to some of the alternate policy regimes such as the balanced-budget fiscal regime, the constant price regime, the full-employment regime, etc., to examine their dynamic implications on the economy's behavior. Temporary deviations in the fiscal variables are found to leave no permanent effects under all but one of the regimes examined.