Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the Trade Restrictiveness of Phytosanitary Measures on U.S. Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Imports

Empirically assessing sanitary and phytosanitary regulations has proven difficult because most data sources indicate whether a regulation exists but provide no information on the type or importance of the respective measure. In this article, we construct a novel database of U.S. phytosanitary measures and match these to 47 fresh fruit and vegetable product imports from 89 exporting countries over the period 1996--2008. A product-line gravity equation that accounts for zero trade flows is developed to investigate the trade impact of different pest-mitigation measures. While the results suggest that phytosanitary treatments generally reduce trade, the actual restrictiveness of these measures diminishes dramatically as exporters accumulate experience, and it vanishes when exporters reach a certain threshold. The results have important policy implications considering the number of empirical studies that find a negative impact of non-tariff measures on trade. Copyright 2013, Oxford University Press.
Dose dependence of emergence of resistance to linezolid in Enterococcus faecalis in vivo.

BACKGROUND The emergence of resistance to antibiotics in vivo, particularly in commensal, potentially pathogenic bacteria, is a factor that is key to the future of antibiotics. To better document the circumstances favoring the emergence of resistance to linezolid (the first of a new class of antibiotics, the oxazolidinones), we modeled the effect of different regimens of linezolid on Enterococcus faecalis in gnotobiotic mice. METHODS We studied the rate of emergence of linezolid-resistant E. faecalis mutants in the digestive tract of gnotobiotic mice monoassociated with linezolid-susceptible E. faecalis and fed with water containing linezolid (0.5, 0.05, or 0.005 g/L). 23S Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) mutations were characterized by sequencing each of the 4 copies of the rRNA genes individually. RESULTS Mutants were readily obtained in vivo, but the frequencies, persistence, and type of mutants were all dependent on the linezolid regimen. Mutations conferring resistance, either the G2505A or G2576U mutation, were present in domain V of the 23S rRNA gene of all resistant isolates. Levels of resistance increased with the number of mutated copies of the 23S rRNA gene and with duration of exposure. CONCLUSION The antibiotic dose appears to be critical in the dynamics and molecular basis of resistance.
Emerging World Order? From Multipolarity to Multilateralism in the G20, the World Bank, and the IMF

Many developing and transitional countries have grown faster than advanced countries in the past decade, resulting in a shift in the distribution of world income in their favor. China is now the second largest economy in the world, behind the United States and ahead of Japan. As the relative economic weight of China and several others has come to match or exceed that of the middle-ranking G7 economies, the world economy has shifted from “unipolar” toward “multipolar,” less dominated by the G7. How is this change being translated into changes in authority and influence within multilateral organizations like the G20, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)? Alarm bells are ringing in G7 capitals about G7 loss of influence. According to a WikiLeaks cable from the senior U.S. official for the G20 process, from January 2010, “It is remarkable how closely coordinated the BASIC group of countries [Brazil, South Africa, India, China] have become in international fora, taking turns to impede US/EU initiatives and playing the US and EU off against each other. ” This essay suggests that the shift in power is much smaller than the headlines or private alarm bells suggest. The United States remains the dominant state, and the G7 states together continue to exercise primacy, but now more fearfully and defensively. China is split between asserting itself as “the wave of the future” and defending itself as too poor to take on global responsibilities (it is roughly 100th in the per capita income hierarchy). The combination of G7 defensiveness and emerging states’ jealous guarding of sovereignty produces a spirit of Westphalian assertion in international fora, or “every state for itself. ” On the assumption that the world economy is in a transitional period, the article suggests reforms in the G20 and the World Bank that would boost their role and legitimacy as multilateral organizations in a more multipolar world.
Prenatally detected trisomy 4 and 6 mosaicism—cytogenetic results and clinical phenotype

We report on a live‐born male with 46,XY/47,XY+4/47,XY,+6 mosaicism. Trisomy 4 mosaicism was detected by karyotyping chorionic villus samples (CVS) and was confirmed by the analysis of 16 metaphases obtained from cultured amniotic fluid cells. Eight metaphases were normal (46,XY), two had trisomy 4 (47,XY,+4), and two had trisomy 6 (47,XY,+6). Two postnatal chromosomal analyses of blood lymphocytes at birth and at the age of one week were normal. Chromosomal analysis of cultured skin fibroblasts from the right inguinal region at the age of 12 months revealed trisomy 4 (47,XY,+4) in 49 metaphases, trisomy 6 (47,XY,+6) in 2 metaphases, and a normal karyotype (46,XY) in 49 cells of the 100 analyzed metaphases, respectively. The main clinical findings consist of prenatal growth retardation, hypoplasia of the right side of the face, a dysplastic and posteriorly rotated right ear, a high vaulted palate, retrognathia, aplasia of the right thumb, hypoplasia of the fingernails, a deep sacral dimple, and patchy skin hypopigmentation of the right leg. When last seen at the age of 14 months, his development was nearly normal. Five patients with trisomy 4 mosaicism have been reported previously, but none with an additional trisomy 6 mosaicism. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Representing communities: Histories and politics of community‐based natural resource management

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of a loosely woven transnational movement, based particularly on advocacy by nongovernmental organizations working with local groups and communities, on the one hand, and national and transnational organizations, on the other, to build and extend new versions of environmental and social advocacy that link social justice and environmental management agendas. One of the most significant developments has been the promotion of community‐based natural resource management programs and policies. However, the success of disseminating this paradigm has raised new challenges, as concepts of community, territory, conservation, and indigenous are worked into politically varied plans and programs in disparate sites. We outline a series of themes, questions, and concerns that we believe should be addressed both in the work of scholars engaged in analyzing this emergent agenda, and in the efforts of advocates and donor institutions who are engaged in designing and implementing s.
The soluble leptin receptor neutralizes leptin‐mediated STAT3 signalling and anorexic responses in vivo

Background and purpose: The soluble leptin receptor (SLR) is the major, circulating, leptin‐binding protein and, in vitro, the SLR inhibits leptin‐binding to cell surface receptors. Here we assessed the effects of the SLR on physiological responses to leptin, in vivo.
Intra‐lndustry Effects of Corporate Capital Investment Announcements

We examine how announcements of corporate capital investments by one firm affect the stock prices of its competitors. We find that on average, rivals experience a signifi cantly negative valuation effect. The results suggest that for the sample as a whole, the competitive effect dominates the contagion effect. We further examine various factors that could potentially explain the heterogeneous intra-industry effects of capital investment announcements. We find that rivals' share prices are more adversely affected when the announcer experiences a higher announcement effect or is the first mover in the industry. We also show that rivals experience a greater wealth loss when they have poorer investment opportunities or higher financial leverage. Copyright (c) 2007 Financial Management Association International.
Used-Clothing Donations and Apparel Production in Africa

This article examines the importance of one possible explanation for the failure of African countries to step onto the bottom rung of the manufacturing sophistication ladder, that is to produce apparel. Used-clothing donations to thrift shops and other organisations in industrialised countries typically end up being sold to consumers in Africa. Since used clothing is initially provided as a donation, it shares characteristics with food aid, which always assists consumers, but at times harms African food producers. Used-clothing imports are found to have a negative impact on apparel production in Africa, explaining roughly 40% of the decline in production and 50% of the decline in employment over the period 1981-2000. Copyright © The Author(s). Journal compilation © Royal Economic Society 2008.
Trade Rules, Intellectual Property, and the Right to Health

In perpetuating and exacerbating restricted access to essential medicines, current trade-related intellectual property rules on medicines may violate core human rights to health and medicines. In this light, their impact on the global disease burden raises serious questions about their necessity, and their justification should be critically assessed from the perspective of human rights standards. These standards require that international trade rules on medicines be justified to the fullest extent possible, and permitted only to the extent to which they can be justified. In this article I explore the impact of trade rules on medicines access, and the growing force of the human right to health. I argue that the limited justification for strong patents in poor countries suggests the need for significant reform of trade-related intellectual property rights. I argue further that human rights standards may offer both normative and practical tools for achieving this reform and for challenging trade rules on medicines at various levels.
Novel Gene Transduction Procedures in vivo Using the Epstein-Barr Virus-based Artificial Chromosomes

Employment of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) gene and oriP sequence grants characteristics of an artificial chromosome to DNA constructs, drastically improving transduction rate as well as expression level when transfected into mammalian cells, due not only to EBNA1-dependent nuclear transport of oriP-bearing DNA molecules but also to, albeit at a lesser extent, transcriptional up-regulation mediated by oriP/EBNA1. The present study demonstrates efficient transfer of the EBV-based artificial chromosomes in vivo into cardiac muscle by means of the electroporation and sonoporation
Cognitive radars in spectrally dense environments

Radar technology has been evolving towards higher resolution, high-precision detection instruments with an ever-increasing list of functionalities. One of the areas, which have very good potential for combining the benefits of these developments, is multifunction radar systems. These systems perform multiple functions simultaneously, including surveillance, tracking, confirmation of false alarm, backscanning, clutter, and interference cancellation, which are traditionally performed by dedicated individual radars. With the introduction of these new radar requirements, future radar systems will need to work with wider frequency bands than traditional radar systems.
Achieving shared prosperity in Kenya

This book is organized around three overarching themes under which various topics are aggregated. The first concerns human development and resilience, and discusses issues related to poverty, education, health and social safety nets. This is the human chapter, dealing with crucial areas that are central for the successful development of individual Kenyans. The second theme, growth and competitiveness, delves into the structural issues that need attention for the economy to grow and become more competitive in the international scene. This section of the book discusses needs for infrastructure investments and energy development, along with steps Kenya needs to take to unleash its export potential. The third theme, governance, addresses issues around strengthening public financial management, improving transparency and accountability, and consolidating judicial reform.
The Press as a Watchdog for Accounting Fraud

This paper investigates the press's role as a monitor or “watchdog” for accounting fraud. I find that the press fulfills this role by rebroadcasting information from other information intermediaries (analysts, auditors, and lawsuits) and by undertaking original investigation and analysis. Articles based on original analysis provide new information to the markets while those that rebroadcast allegations from other intermediaries do not. Consistent with a dual role for the press, I find that business‐oriented press is more likely to undertake original analysis while nonbusiness periodicals focus primarily on rebroadcasting. I also investigate the determinates of press coverage, finding systematic biases in the types of firms and frauds for which articles are published. In general, the press covers firms and frauds that will be of interest to a broad set of readers and situations that are lower cost to identify and investigate.
Recreational Wild Berry Picking in Finland—Reflection of a Rural Lifestyle

ABSTRACT Picking wild berries, which has long been the most popular consumptive outdoor recreation activity in the Nordic countries, has shown indications of declining. In Finland, over half of the population still participates in berry picking, and picking wild berries is generally considered to have cultural and economic importance. Recreational berry picking is based on the Nordic everyman's right, which is the right of open access to all forests for purposes such as picking wild berries and mushrooms, regardless of land ownership. Using logistic regression and negative binomial regression models, this study analyzes those characteristics of a representative Finnish sample that affect not only berry picking in general but also frequency of berry picking. The results of this analysis indicate that the activity of picking wild berries is linked to a rural lifestyle, particularly to the lifestyle of older generations and the use of summer cottage.
Comparing the Efficacy of Tolterodine and Gabapentin Versus Placebo in Catheter Related Bladder Discomfort After Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of tolterodine and gabapentin vs placebo in catheter related bladder discomfort (CRBD) following percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was a double-blind parallel group randomized clinical trial. Patients who were candidates of PCNL were enrolled. Patients were randomized to treatment groups of tolterodine 2 mg orally (PO) (group T, n = 50), gabapentin 600 mg PO (group G, n = 50), and placebo (group P, n = 70) 1 hour before operation using balanced block randomization. The primary endpoint of interest was visual analog pain scale in 1, 3, 12, and 24 hours after the operation. Secondary endpoints included rescue analgesic use (opioid and nonopioid). RESULTS The frequency of severe CRBD in 1,12, and 24 hours after the operation was 4%, 4%, and 6% in group T vs 4%, 0%, and 2% in group G vs 47%, 14%, and 6% in the P group (p < 0.001). The number of paracetamol injections for CRBD in the T and G groups was significantly lower than the placebo group (1.8 ± 0.8 vs 1.8 ± 0.7 vs 3.6 ± 0.7, p < 0.001). Likewise the number of pethidine injections in the T and G groups was significantly lower than the placebo group (0.42 ± 0.54 vs 0.68 ± 0.62 vs 2.4 ± 0.64, p < 0.001). In patients with history of Double-J insertion, the severity of CRBD was lower in all treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS Preoperative administration of oral tolterodine or gabapentin reduces postoperative CRBD and the need for rescue analgesics as much as 24 hours after surgery. Patients with history of Double-J insertion experience less CRBD.
The moderating impacts of business planning and firm size on total quality management practices

Total quality management (TQM) research has concentrated on large firms. Little has been done on the TQM practices of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly in developing countries. This paper investigates the relationship between TQM, planning behavior and firm size by reviewing existing literature and collecting primary data from 54 SMEs in the Republic of Botswana. The findings indicated that the majority of SMEs understand the importance of both TQM and planning activities for their survival and growth. However, their approach to both is unsystematic, non‐formal and short‐term oriented. Both firm size and planning behavior are found to have statistically significant relationships with TQM practices. As firm size increases from small to medium, and as SMEs move from operational to strategic planning, they attach greater degree of importance to TQM practices. However, the planning behavior of SMEs is more strongly related to TQM practices than firm size. Suggests the promotion of business planning as a prerequisite to the adoption of formalized TQM practices. Some implications for SMEs are also forwarded.
The Effect of Political Regime on Transparency: Democracy and Data Dissemination in Latin America

Are democracies more transparent than other types of political regimes? The answer to this question is often assumed to be yes. Yet the logic and empirical implications behind this assertion have not been rigorously tested. In a larger project, we investigate theoretically the willingness of policymakers to provide credible announcements of intended inflation and unemployment rates, and show that the availability (or absence) of that data is correlated with regime type, even after controlling for level of development, participation in IMF programs, and country-specific effects. This paper is an empirical extension of the general project looking specifically at Latin America. Focusing on a single region at a time allows us to understand the pattern of data dissemination in greater detail and learn about specific cases. The investigation supports the finding of the larger project.
Revisiting the Global Food Architecture: Lessons from the 2008 Food Crisis

The 2008 episode of food price explosion, political turmoil and human suffering revealed important flaws in the current global food architecture. This paper argues that to safeguard the strengths of the current system, four failures in market functioning and policymaking need to be addressed. First, governments should reinvest in agriculture with a focus on public goods and subject to increased public accountability to re-ensure the global food supply. Second, the policy-induced link between food and fuel prices must be broken through a revision of EU and US agro-fuel policies. Third, better sharing of information on food stocks, stricter WTO regulation of export restrictions, and some form of globally managed buffer stock will be minimum requirements to prevent the resurgence of more inefficient national food self-sufficiency policies. Fourth, a market based food security system is only sustainable given well functioning national social safety nets.
EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON STRESS IN THAI POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN

Several researchers have investigated the impact of menopause on American and European women. Yet there is little research that has focused on the meaning of this experience in other cultural and ethnic groups. In Thailand, although there is research concerning the physical symptomotology associated with the postmenopausal period, scant data exists on psychological stress among this cohort. Exercise is important for both stress reduction and health promotion. However, no clear consensus has been reached, suggesting the need for exploration of the relationship between exercise and psychological stress. Our purpose of this study was to examine the effects of exercise on stress in Thai postmenopausal women. A one-group pretest posttest design was utilized. Data were collected on 102 Thai postmenopausal women. The findings suggest that an exercise program may be a safe, simple, and cost beneficial intervention.
Lung perfusion measured using magnetic resonance imaging: New tools for physiological insights into the pulmonary circulation

Since the lung receives the entire cardiac output, sophisticated imaging techniques are not required in order to measure total organ perfusion. However, for many years studying lung function has required physiologists to consider the lung as a single entity: in imaging terms as a single voxel. Since imaging, and in particular functional imaging, allows the acquisition of spatial information important for studying lung function, these techniques provide considerable promise and are of great interest for pulmonary physiologists. In particular, despite the challenges of low proton density and short T2* in the lung, noncontrast MRI techniques to measure pulmonary perfusion have several advantages including high reliability and the ability to make repeated measurements under a number of physiologic conditions. This brief review focuses on the application of a particular arterial spin labeling (ASL) technique, ASL‐FAIRER (flow sensitive inversion recovery with an extra radiofrequency pulse), to answer physiologic questions related to pulmonary function in health and disease. The associated measurement of regional proton density to correct for gravitational‐based lung deformation (the “Slinky” effect (Slinky is a registered trademark of Pauf‐Slinky incorporated)) and issues related to absolute quantification are also discussed. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010;32:1287–1301. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Endogenous Lobbying and Protection under Monopolistic Competition

Abstract This paper studies the “Protection for Sale” model in the setting of monopolistic competition drawing on the quadratic sub-utility model. This model generates two new findings: (1) the average cross-price elasticity, in particular, only among foreign varieties in a sector negatively influences the level of protection; (2) the total number of domestic varieties over one of the foreign varieties in a sector, a new proxy for political power of domestic lobby groups in that sector, positively influences the level of protection.
Bivariate garch estimation of the optimal commodity futures Hedge

Six different commodities are examined using daily data over two futures contract periods. Cash and futures prices for all six commodities are found to be well described as martingales with near-integrated GARCH innovations. Bivariate GARCH models of cash and futures prices are estimated for the same six commodities. The optimal hedge ratio (OHR) is then calculated as a ratio of the conditional covariance between cash and futures to the conditional variance of futures. The estimated OHRs reveal that the standard assumption of a time-invariant OHR is inappropriate. For each commodity the estimated OHR path appears non-stationary, which has important implications for hedging strategies. Copyright 1991 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.