Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regional Integration and Foreign Direct Investment: A Conceptual Framework and Three Cases

How regional investment agreements affect the flows of foreign direct investment depends on location, the competitiveness of local firms, the motives for investment, and how the agreement affects the policy environment. Blomström and Kokko discuss how regional investment agreements may affect the inward and outward flows of foreign direct investments in the integrating region. After describing the multidimensional character of the issue, they provide a conceptual framework for analysis as well as three case studies focused on different kinds of regional integration: North-North integration (Canada joining the CUSFTA). North-South integration (Mexico`s accession to the NAFTA). South-South integration (MERCOSUR). They conclude that the response to an integration agreement will, in each case, depend on the environmental change brought about by the regional investment agreements, the locational advantage of the country or region, the competitiveness of local firms in the integrating region, and the motives for foreign direct investment in and by the country or region in question. The creation of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), for example, had relatively little influence on direct investment patterns in Canada, since much of the trade between Canada and the United States had been liberalized long before the CUSFTA was established. By contrast, the Mexican accession to the NAFTA brought about significant policy changes, which help to explain foreign multinationals' increasing interest in the country. Similarly, the establishment of the MERCOSUR Common Market is likely to significantly affect the region's policy environment, which suggests that it may have a notable (although varying) impact on foreign direct investment in the four member countries. This paper - a product of the International Trade Division, International Economics Department - is part of a larger effort in the department to study regionalism and development.
Is Folate an Aetiological Factor for Colorectal Cancer Onset? A Case- Control Study

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation of serum folate concentration in newly diagnosed patients with colorectal cancer. Patient population consisted of 101 sporadic colon cases, newly diagnosed, non-alcoholic and non-multivitamins users. Control population consisted of 130 healthy subjects. Venous blood was collected prior to the first chemotherapy intervention. Folate, vitamin B12 and homocysteine were measured using an automated analyzer system. Vitamin B6 was quantified using an enzyme immunoassay. Insulin and leptin were measured using immunoradiometric assay. Folic acid and vitamin B12 were significantly increased in cases compared to controls (15 ± 7 ng/ml vs. 10 ± 4 ng/ml, P=0.01; 330 ± 200 pg/ml vs. 220 ± 100 pg/ml, P=0.02) respectively. Folic acid and BMI were inversely correlated in controls (r=-0.32; P=0.05). There was no significant difference of homocysteine and vitamin B6 between cases and controls. Leptin and insulin were significantly higher in cases with BMI ≥ 27 than in controls with BMI ≥ 27 (16 ± 7 ng/ml vs. 14 ± 7 ng/ml; 32 ± 18 μIU/ml vs. 29 ± 11 μIU/ml). However, stratifying leptin and insulin by cancer stages yielded to no clear pattern. Folate may be implicated as a potential aetiological factor for colorectal cancer.
Visual and Visual-Spatial Memory Measures in Children with Cochlear Implants 1

Recent findings suggest that children developing spoken language while using a cochlear implant (CI) perform more poorly than normal-hearing (NH) children on short-term visual/visual-spatial sequence memory tasks, particularly when verbal recoding and verbal rehearsal strategies for the visual/visual-spatial information are possible. The present study examined the performance of children with CIs using two measures from the Children’s Memory Scale (CMS): memory for static patterns of dots and recognition memory for unfamiliar faces. The study included 31 eightand nine-year old deaf children implanted before age five and 31 ageand gender-matched normalhearing children. Published norms for normally-developing children were also available for comparison. On the dot locations task, the implanted children performed comparably to the published norms, but not as well as the normal-hearing comparison group. On the face recognition task, the CI group did more poorly than the published norms. Their scores were also lower than the normal-hearing comparison group. Although small, these differences reached statistical significance. Interestingly, face memory scores in the implant group showed a modest but significant positive correlation with short-term memory for sequences of auditory stimuli but not with short-term memory for sequences of visual stimuli. These results suggest that the pediatric CI users may have attempted some form of verbal recoding for these complex static (non-sequenced) visual/visualspatial face stimuli. The degree to which children with CIs have developed age-typical verbal coding and rehearsal skills may influence how they process certain complex visual stimuli such as unfamiliar faces, sequences of colored light or other visual patterns that can be rapidly encoded using phonological representations.
as Serotonin Transporter Radioligands Under Various Experimental Conditions

There has been considerable interest in the development of a PET radioligand selective for the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) transporter (SERT) that can be used to image 5-HT neurons in the living human brain. The most widely used SERT radiotracer to date, trans-1,2,3,5,6,10--hexahydro-6-[4-(methylthio)phenyl[pyrrolo-[2,1-a]isoquinoline (()-11C-McN5652), has been successful in this regard but may have some limitations. Recently, another promising SERT radiotracer, 3- 11 Camino-4-(2-dimethylaminomethylphenylsulfanyl)benzonitrile ( 11 C-DASB), has been described. The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast ()- 11 C-McN5652 and 11 C-DASB under various experimental conditions. Methods: Radioligand comparisons were performed in a control baboon, a baboon with reduced SERT density (()-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine [MDMA] lesion), and a baboon with reduced SERT availability (paroxetine pretreatment). Under each of these experimental conditions, repeated (triplicate) PET studies were performed with each ligand. Results: Both radiotracers bound preferentially in brain regions known to contain high SERT density. For both ligands, there was a high correlation between the amount of regional brain ligand binding and the known regional brain concentration of SERT. Binding of both ligands was decreased after MDMA neurotoxicity (reduced SERT density), and ()- 11 C-McN5652 and 11 C-DASB were comparably effective in detecting reduced SERT density after MDMA-induced 5-HT neurotoxicity. Pretreatment with paroxetine dramatically altered the metabolism and kinetics of both tracers and appeared to displace both ligands primarily from regions with high SERT density. Compared with ()-11C-McN5652, 11C-DASB had higher brain activity and a faster washout rate and provided greater contrast between subcortical and cortical brain regions. Conclusion: 11C-DASB and ()-11C-McN5652 are suitable as PET ligands of the SERT and for detecting MDMA-induced 5-HT neurotoxicity. 11C-DASB may offer some advantages. Additional studies are needed to further characterize the properties and capabilities of both ligands in health and disease.
The Rhetoric of Power

Charismatic leaders present intriguing examples of the use of power through language. The prevailing neo-charismatic perspective, however, is based predominately on Western theories and research examining U.S. presidents. This study moves beyond this sample by examining language differences between a moral and a toxic leader. Content analysis was used to explore the rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr. and Adolf Hitler, whose distinct motives play out over their careers and during crises. Although some differences were predictable (i.e., Martin Luther King Jr. used more Optimistic language, whereas Hitler was higher in Power and Aggression), the changes over time suggest keys to their differing motives. Among other findings, Martin Luther King Jr. was remarkably consistent in his rhetoric, whereas Hitler used increasing Power and Aggressive language as his career progressed. While not providing definitive answers, these preliminary results suggest that further study is warranted into the complex interactions between rhetoric and leadership.
Feline leukaemia virus status of Australian cats with lymphosarcoma.

OBJECTIVE To determine the FeLV status of sera and tumours from Australian cats with lymphosarcoma in relation to patient characteristics, tumour characteristics (tissue involvement, histological grade and immunophenotype), haematological and biochemical values. DESIGN Prospective study of 107 client-owned cats with naturally-occurring lymphosarcoma. PROCEDURE An ELISA was used to detect FeLV p27 antigen in serum specimens collected from cats with lymphosarcoma. A PCR was used to detect FeLV DNA in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections containing neoplastic lymphoid cells. The PCR was designed to amplify a highly conserved region of the untranslated long terminal repeat of FeLV provirus. RESULTS Only 2 of 107 cats (2%), for which serum samples were available, were FeLV-positive on the basis of detectable p27 antigen in serum. In contrast, 25 of 97 tumours (26%) contained FeLV DNA. Of the 86 cats for which both PCR and ELISA data were available, 19(22%) had FeLV provirus in their tumours but no detectable circulating FeLV antigen in serum, while 2 (2%) had FeLV provirus and circulating FeLV antigen. FeLV PCR-positive/ELISA-negative cats (19) differed from PCR-negative/ELISA-negative cats (65) in having fewer B-cell tumours (P = 0.06), more non B-/non T-cell tumours (P = 0.02) and comprising fewer non-Siamese/Oriental pure-bred cats (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of FeLV antigen or provirus was considerably lower in our cohort of cats compared with studies of lymphosarcoma conducted in the Northern hemisphere. This suggests that factors other than FeLV are important in the development of lymphosarcoma in many Australian cats. No firm conclusions could be drawn concerning whether FeLV provirus contributed to the development of lymphosarcoma in PCR-positive/ELISA-negative cats.
The Comparative Effectiveness of Sleeve Gastrectomy, Gastric Bypass, and Adjustable Gastric Banding Procedures for the Treatment of Morbid Obesity

Objective:To evaluate the comparative effectiveness of sleeve gastrectomy (SG), laparoscopic gastric bypass (RYGB), and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) procedures. Background:Citing limitations of published studies, payers have been reluctant to provide routine coverage for SG for the treatment of morbid obesity. Methods:Using data from an externally audited, statewide clinical registry, we matched 2949 SG patients with equal numbers of RYGB and LAGB patients on 23 baseline characteristics. Outcomes assessed included complications occurring within 30 days, and weight loss, quality of life, and comorbidity remission at 1, 2, and 3 years after bariatric surgery. Results:Matching resulted in cohorts of SG, RYGB, and LAGB patients that were well balanced on baseline characteristics. Overall complication rates among patients undergoing SG (6.3%) were significantly lower than for RYGB (10.0%, P < 0.0001) but higher than for LAGB (2.4%, P < 0.0001). Serious complication rates were similar for SG (2.4%) and RYGB (2.5%, P = 0.736) but higher than for LAGB (1.0%, P < 0.0001). Excess body weight loss at 1 year was 13% lower for SG (60%) than for RYGB (69%, P < 0.0001), but was 77% higher for SG than for LAGB (34%, P < 0.0001). SG was similarly closer to RYGB than LAGB with regard to remission of obesity-related comorbidities. Conclusions:With better weight loss than LAGB and lower complication rates than RYGB, SG is a reasonable choice for the treatment of morbid obesity and should be covered by both public and private payers.
Latency-aware and energy efficiency tradeoffs for wireless sensor networks

Performance evaluation is one of the most important research topics for the wireless sensor networks (WSN). Latency-aware and energy efficiency are two important parameters to evaluate the networks quality. In order to meet different performance requirements of the service, we classify the packets into high priority and low priority. We consider the latency and energy tradeoffs in WSN. The latency of the high priority packets is small but the network cost more energy. The latency of the packets of low priority packets is large but the network cost less energy. We solve this problem by transmitting redundant packets in the WSN. We assume that the network has a cell-partitioned structure, and sensor moves according to one-step Markov path model with constant speed. Simulation shows that the scheduling algorithm with/without redundancy can realize the latency/energy tradeoffs in WSN.
The Treatment of Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus with Autologous Osteochondral Transplantation and Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate

Objective: To present the functional results after autologous osteochondral transplantation with bone marrow aspirate concentrate in 72 patients, while placing an emphasis on the surgical technique. Methods: Between 2005 and 2009, 72 patients underwent autologous osteochondral transplantation under the care of the senior author. The mean patient age at the time of surgery was 34.19 years (range, 16-85 years). All patients were followed for a minimum of 1 year after surgery. The mean follow-up time was 28.02 months (range, 12-64 months). Patient-reported outcome measures were taken preoperatively and at final follow-up using the Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) and Short Form–12 (SF-12) general health questionnaire. Identical questionnaires were used in all instances. Results: The mean FAOS scores improved from 52.67 points preoperatively to 86.19 points postoperatively (range, 71-100 points). The mean SF-12 scores also improved from 59.40 points preoperatively to 88.63 points postoperatively (range, 52-98 points). Three patients reported donor site knee pain after surgery, and one patient required the decompression of a cyst that developed beneath the graft site approximately 2 years after the index procedure. Conclusion: Autologous osteochondral transplantation is a reproducible and primary treatment strategy for large osteochondral lesions of the talus.
Absorption of amino acids from the intestine and their net flux across the mesenteric- and portal-drained viscera of lambs.

Experiments were conducted to compare the rates of apparent absorption (disappearance) of individual essential amino acids (EAA) from the small intestine with their net fluxes across the mesenteric- (MDV) and portal- (PDV) drained viscera in sheep given a pelleted alfalfa diet at two levels of intake. Disappearances of individual EAA across the region of the small intestine drained by the mesenteric arcade (jejunum to ileum) were similar to those across the whole of the small intestine (duodenum to ileum). The net MDV flux of each EAA was similar to its rate of disappearance, but, with the exception of threonine on the low intake level, the net PDV flux was lower (P < .05). Increasing the intake of alfalfa from 800 to 1,200 g/d increased the rate of disappearance of individual EAA between the duodenum and ileum by . 56 (range .43 to .65) and between the jejunum and ileum by . 51 (range .45 to .60). The MDV and PDV blood flows increased by . 35 and . 39, respectively, and, with the exception of valine, net fluxes of individual EAA increased by . 39 (range .20 to .50) across the MDV and by . 44 (range .21 to .71) across the PDV. When net fluxes across the MDV and PDV were measured simultaneously, the ratio of PDV: MDV flux for each EAA was less than (P < .05) unity (mean .61, range .55 to .69), even though all MDV blood enters the PDV, contributing approximately . 45 of the total portal flow. This observation suggests that, in regions of the tract not drained by the MDV, extraction of arterial blood EAA for tissue and secretory protein synthesis must exceed the release of protein degradation products into the venous drainage. The results are discussed in terms of endogenous protein secretions into the lumen of the tract anterior to the small intestine.
Gender-Specific Associations of Short Sleep Duration With Prevalent and Incident Hypertension: The Whitehall II Study

Sleep deprivation (≤5 hour per night) was associated with a higher risk of hypertension in middle-aged American adults but not among older individuals. However, the outcome was based on self-reported diagnosis of incident hypertension, and no gender-specific analyses were included. We examined cross-sectional and prospective associations of sleep duration with prevalent and incident hypertension in a cohort of 10 308 British civil servants aged 35 to 55 years at baseline (phase 1: 1985–1988). Data were gathered from phase 5 (1997–1999) and phase 7 (2003–2004). Sleep duration and other covariates were assessed at phase 5. At both examinations, hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg or regular use of antihypertensive medications. In cross-sectional analyses at phase 5 (n=5766), short duration of sleep (≤5 hour per night) was associated with higher risk of hypertension compared with the group sleeping 7 hours, among women (odds ratio: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.13 to 3.58), independent of confounders, with an inverse linear trend across decreasing hours of sleep (P=0.003). No association was detected in men. In prospective analyses (mean follow-up: 5 years), the cumulative incidence of hypertension was 20.0% (n=740) among 3691 normotensive individuals at phase 5. In women, short duration of sleep was associated with a higher risk of hypertension in a reduced model (age and employment) (6 hours per night: odds ratio: 1.56 [95% CI: 1.07 to 2.27]; ≤5 hour per night: odds ratio: 1.94 [95% CI: 1.08 to 3.50] versus 7 hours). The associations were attenuated after accounting for cardiovascular risk factors and psychiatric comorbidities (odds ratio: 1.42 [95% CI: 0.94 to 2.16]; odds ratio: 1.31 [95% CI: 0.65 to 2.63], respectively). Sleep deprivation may produce detrimental cardiovascular effects among women.
Dynamics of Large Multi-View Social Networks: Synergy, Cannibalization and Cross-View Interplay

Most social networking services support multiple types of relationships between users, such as getting connected, sending messages, and consuming feed updates. These users and relationships can be naturally represented as a dynamic multi-view network, which is a set of weighted graphs with shared common nodes but having their own respective edges. Different network views, representing structural relationship and interaction types, could have very distinctive properties individually and these properties may change due to interplay across views. Therefore, it is of interest to study how multiple views interact and affect network dynamics and, in addition, explore possible applications to social networking. In this paper, we propose approaches to capture and analyze multi-view network dynamics from various aspects. Through our proposed descriptors, we observe the synergy and cannibalization between different user groups and network views from LinkedIn dataset. We then develop models that consider the synergy and cannibalization per new relationship, and show the outperforming predictive capability of our models compared to baseline models. Finally, the proposed models allow us to understand the interplay among different views where they dynamically change over time.
UROLITHIASIS IN FREE-RANGING AND CAPTIVE OTTERS (LUTRA LUTRA AND AONYX CINEREA) IN EUROPE

Abstract Between 1996 and 1998, 477 dead otters from different Central European countries were examined for urolithiasis, including 449 free-ranging Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) as well as 17 Eurasian otters and 11 Asian small-clawed otters (Aonyx cinerea) from captivity. In the free-ranging specimens, uroliths (sand or stones) were found in 105 animals (23.4%), with no significant difference (P = 0.77) between the sexes. Uroliths were not present in any juveniles (n = 26) and urolithiasis was not considered the main cause of death in any individual. In captive specimens, uroliths were found in 11 out of 17 Eurasian otters (64.7%; four males and seven females), and in 3 out of 11 Asian small-clawed otters (27.3%). Histology could not find any signs of inflammation in examined kidneys (n = 179) or urinary bladders (n = 66). Analyzed stones of free-ranging and captive Eurasian otters were composed mainly of ammonium acid urate. The stones of three captive Asian small-clawed otters consisted mainly of calcium oxalate. The difference in prevalence of uroliths between free-ranging and captive Eurasian otters was significant (P < 0.001). Nevertheless, the prevalence in free-ranging specimens of this study is higher than reported before. Differences between various habitats, environmental changes, and genetic predisposition all represent potential hypothetical explanations for these findings.
Effect of Aquatic Balance Training and Detraining on Neuromuscular Performance, Balance and Walking Ability in Healthy Older Men

Since disorders in neuromuscular performance and imbalance are the main cause of falling among the elderly, their aspects including rehabilitation of balance are the main concern the researchers attend to. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of eight weeks aquatic balance training (ABT) and detraining on neuromuscular performance and balance in healthy older male. Thirty adult male subjects were randomized into two groups of ABT and control (n=15 per groups). Berg balance scale, Timed Up & Go and 5-Chair stand tests, as they are indicators of balance and neuromuscular performance in older subjects, were taken as pretest and posttest and after four, six and eight weeks of detraining as well. The ABT consisted sessions that lasted one hour, three times a week, for eight weeks. Results of Repeated-measure ANOVA and one-way ANOVA showed that neuromuscular performance and balance improved significantly in ABT group (P 0.05) and there were not any significant differences in these parameters between post-test and four, six and eight weeks of detraining periods in this group. It was concluded that ABT can affect neuromuscular performance and balance in healthy older male and reduce the probability of falling among them. Moreover, the effects of these training are persistent after detraining periods. Hence, ABT can be recommended as an effective neuromuscular and balance training in healthy older male.
Robust Machine Translation Evaluation with Entailment Features

Existing evaluation metrics for machine translation lack crucial robustness: their correlations with human quality judgments vary considerably across languages and genres. We believe that the main reason is their inability to properly capture meaning: A good translation candidate means the same thing as the reference translation, regardless of formulation. We propose a metric that evaluates MT output based on a rich set of features motivated by textual entailment, such as lexical-semantic (in-)compatibility and argument structure overlap. We compare this metric against a combination metric of four state-of-the-art scores (BLEU, NIST, TER, and METEOR) in two different settings. The combination metric out-performs the individual scores, but is bested by the entailment-based metric. Combining the entailment and traditional features yields further improvements.