Vertical specialization and the changing nature of world trade

A major feature of globalization has been the enormous increase in international flows of goods and services: countries are now trading much more with each other. In this article, the authors demonstrate the greater role vertical specialization is playing in these increased flows. Vertical specialization occurs when a country uses imported intermediate parts to create a good it later exports--that is, the country links sequentially with other countries to produce a final good. Deriving evidence from four case studies as well as OECD input-output tables, the authors reveal that vertical specialization has accounted for a large and increasing share of international trade over the last several decades. They also note that because the trends encouraging vertical specialization--lower trade barriers and improvements in transportation and communications technologies--are likely to continue, this type of international trade should become even more prevalent in the next century.International trade

An experimental study of gender differences in distributive justice

This paper shows that women are more likely than men to employ the fair allocation that most benefits their financial payoff. The experimental evidence is gleaned from a dictator game with production, in which subjects first solve a quiz to accumulate earnings and then divide the surplus by choosing one over five different allocations, some of which represent a fairness ideal. The data also suggest that women are more sensitive to the context as their allocation choices depend on whether they have accumulated more or less money than their counterparts. This is not the case for men’s allocation choices (JEL Codes:C91, D30, D64, J16) Keywords: gender differences, distributive justice, fairness ideals, self-serving choices, experimental economics, dictator game with production

Relationship between antiretroviral prescribing patterns and treatment guidelines in treatment-naive HIV-1-infected US veterans

Objective: To analyze temporal patterns of antiretroviral (ARV) prescribing practices relative to nationally defined guidelines in treatment-naive patients with HIV-1 infection

Cognitive correlates of gray matter abnormalities in adolescent siblings of patients with childhood-onset schizophrenia

Patients with childhood onset schizophrenia (COS) display widespread gray matter (GM) structural brain abnormalities. Healthy siblings of COS patients share some of these structural abnormalities, suggesting that GM abnormalities are endophenotypes for schizophrenia. Another possible endophenotype for schizophrenia that has been relatively unexplored is corticostriatal dysfunction. The corticostriatal system plays an important role in skill learning. Our previous studies have demonstrated corticostriatal dysfunction in COS siblings with a profound skill learning deficit and abnormal pattern of brain activation during skill learning. This study investigated whether structural abnormalities measured using volumetric brain morphometry (VBM) were present in siblings of COS patients and whether these were related to deficits in cognitive skill learning. Results revealed smaller GM volume in COS siblings relative to controls in a number of regions, including occipital, parietal, and subcortical regions including the striatum, and greater GM volume relative to controls in several subcortical regions. Volume in the right superior frontal gyrus and cerebellum were related to performance differences between groups on the weather prediction task, a measure of cognitive skill learning. Our results support the idea that corticostriatal and cerebellar impairment in unaffected siblings of COS patients are behaviorally relevant and may reflect genetic risk for schizophrenia

Quantitative analysis of magnetic resonance images for characterization of blood‐brain barrier dysfunction in dogs with brain tumors

Abstract Background Blood‐brain barrier (BBB) permeability can be assessed quantitatively using advanced imaging analysis. Hypothesis/Objectives Quantification and characterization of blood‐brain barrier dysfunction (BBBD) patterns in dogs with brain tumors can provide useful information about tumor biology and assist in distinguishing between gliomas and meningiomas. Animals Seventy‐eight hospitalized dogs with brain tumors and 12 control dogs without brain tumors. Methods In a 2‐arm study, images from a prospective dynamic contrast‐enhanced (DCE; n = 15) and a retrospective archived magnetic resonance imaging study (n = 63) were analyzed by DCE and subtraction enhancement analysis (SEA) to quantify BBB permeability in affected dogs relative to control dogs (n = 6 in each arm). For the SEA method, 2 ranges of postcontrast intensity differences, that is, high (HR) and low (LR), were evaluated as possible representations of 2 classes of BBB leakage. BBB score was calculated for each dog and was associated with clinical characteristics and tumor location and class. Permeability maps were generated, using the slope values (DCE) or intensity difference (SEA) of each voxel, and analyzed. Results Distinctive patterns and distributions of BBBD were identified for intra‐ and extra‐axial tumors. At a cutoff of 0.1, LR/HR BBB score ratio yielded a sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 100% in differentiating gliomas from meningiomas. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Blood‐brain barrier dysfunction quantification using advanced imaging analyses has the potential to be used for assessment of brain tumor characteristics and behavior and, particularly, to help differentiating gliomas from meningiomas