Explaining Foreign Direct Investment in Central and Eastern Europe: an Extended Gravitiy Approach

In this paper, we question whether there is a catch-up effect or announcement effectin Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the European Union (EU) to the ten EU accession countries. We study FDI outflows from the Netherlands, a small open economy with few historical ties to Eastern Europe, and compare FDI in the transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe to FDI in other regions - most notably to transition countries in Central Asia. In our analysis we try to impose as little structure as possible on the data and allow for heterogeneity within the different regions. In an effort to improve on past studies in the same area, we use a very broad sample of countries, we present country-specific results and test how robust regional dummies are, we check for omitted variable bias and we try to correct for possible non-linearity in the gravity relationships. We find that many of the differences in results of previous studies can be attributed to these specification problems. There is no evidence that an overall catch-up effect or announcement effect exists. Rather,economic fundamentals explain differences in inward investment in the region. FDI and trade are mostly complementary and there is no evidence that there is crowding out between regions.macroeconomics ;

Carbon dioxide baited trap catches do not correlate with human landing collections of Anopheles aquasalis in Suriname

Three types of carbon dioxide-baited traps, i.e., the Centers for Disease Control Miniature Light Trap without light, the BioGents (BG) Sentinel Mosquito Trap (BG-Sentinel) and the Mosquito Magnet® Liberty Plus were compared with human landing collections in their efficiency in collecting Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) aquasalis mosquitoes. Of 13,549 total mosquitoes collected, 1,019 (7.52%) were An. aquasalis. Large numbers of Culex spp were also collected, in particular with the (BG-Sentinel). The majority of An. aquasalis (83.8%) were collected by the human landing collection (HLC). None of the trap catches correlated with HLC in the number of An. aquasalis captured over time. The high efficiency of the HLC method indicates that this malaria vector was anthropophilic at this site, especially as carbon dioxide was insufficiently attractive as stand-alone bait. Traps using carbon dioxide in combination with human odorants may provide better results

Evaluation of Methods for Sampling the Malaria Vector Anopheles darlingi (Diptera, Culicidae) in Suriname and the Relation With Its Biting Behavior

The effectiveness of CO2-baited and human-baited mosquito traps for the sampling of Anopheles darlingi Root was evaluated and compared with human landing collections in Suriname. Biting preferences of this mosquito on a human host were studied and related to trapping data. Traps used were the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Miniature Light trap, the BG Sentinel mosquito trap, the Mosquito Magnet Liberty Plus mosquito trap (MM-Plus), and a custom-designed trap. Carbon dioxide and humans protected by a bed net were used as bait in the studies. The number of An. darlingi collected was greater with human landing collections than with all other collection methods. An. darlingi did not show a preference for protected humans over CO2 bait. The BG Sentinel mosquito trap with CO2 or human odor as bait and the MM-Plus proved the best alternative sampling tools for An. darlingi. The BG Sentinel mosquito trap with CO2 or human odor as bait was also very efficient at collecting Culex spp. In a field study on biting preferences of wild An. darlingi, the females showed directional biting behavior (P <0.001), with a majority of females (93.3%) biting the lower legs and feet when approaching a seated human host. Higher efficiency of the closer-to-the-ground collecting MM-Plus and BG Sentinel mosquito trap when compared with the other trapping methods may be a result of a possible preference of this mosquito species for low-level biting. It is concluded that odor-baited sampling systems can reliably collect An. darlingi, but the odor bait needs to be improved, for instance, by including host-specific volatiles, to match live human baits

How much control is enough? Optimizing fun with unreliable input

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) provide a valuable new input modality within human- computer interaction systems, but like other body-based inputs, the system recognition of input commands is far from perfect. This raises important questions, such as: What level of control should such an interface be able to provide? What is the relationship between actual and perceived control? And in the case of applications for entertainment in which fun is an important part of user experience, should we even aim for perfect control, or is the optimum elsewhere? In this experiment the user plays a simple game in which a hamster has to be guided to the exit of a maze, in which the amount of control the user has over the hamster is varied. The variation of control through confusion matrices makes it possible to simulate the experience of using a BCI, while using the traditional keyboard for input. After each session the user �lled out a short questionnaire on fun and perceived control. Analysis of the data showed that the perceived control of the user could largely be explained by the amount of control in the respective session. As expected, user frustration decreases with increasing control. Moreover, the results indicate that the relation between fun and control is not linear. Although in the beginning fun does increase with improved control, the level of fun drops again just before perfect control is reached. This poses new insights for developers of games wanting to incorporate some form of BCI in their game: for creating a fun game, unreliable input can be used to create a challenge for the user

What's the best place for me? : location‐choice for S&amp;E students in India

This paper examines how national migration policies and country‐specific factors in receiving countries attend to a potential highly‐skilled migrant when one is deciding among several possible locations. While continental European countries recognize the need to attract migrants as a key component of their economic strategies, it remained unclear to what extent the more open immigration policies led to actually increase the attractiveness of European countries to perform better at the global competition for the highly‐skilled. The survey among prospective migrants in India shows that while European countries appear to be relatively attractive for study purposes, they are not perceived equally attractive as a place for a long‐term stay. To overcome the risks and pick Europe as a destination, more resources and skills are necessary than for traditional immigration countries; be it in terms of existing networks abroad, higher educational level or better language skills. With less long‐term migration initiatives to Europe, immigration policies and destination country‐specific factors, chances to obtain citizenship and amenities of local environment become less relevant. European governments place considerable effort on integration of student migration as a part of a wider immigration strategy. This strategy is likely to prove ineffective if "probationary migrants" clearly do not see European countries as prospective work destination for the period after their graduation

Facing difficult but unavoidable choices: Donor blood safety and the deferral of men who have sex with men

Blood service organizations employ various ways to ensure transfusion blood safety, including the testing of all donations for transfusion-transmissible infections (TTI) and the exclusion of donors who are at increased risk of a recent infection. As some TTIs are more common among men who have sex with men (MSM), many jurisdictions (temporarily) defer the donation of blood by sexually active MSM. This boils down to a categorical exclusion of a large group solely on the basis of their sexual orientation, which is seen as unduly discriminatory and stigmatizing. Blood service organizations in the U.K. and the Netherlands have recently changed their deferral policies for MSM. The problem of the MSM deferral involves a conflict between fundamental rights: the right of MSM to equal treatment and the right to health of the recipients of blood and blood products. We distinguish and discuss three broad alternative options to the current categorical deferral of MSM donations: (1) completely abandoning donor selection on the basis of sexual behavior, (2) individual risk assessment of the sexual activities of each potential donor, and (3) individual risk assessment of the sexual activities of MSM only. The new U.K. policy falls within the second category, and the new Dutch policy is in the third category. We argue that each approach comes with moral costs but that the most reasonable option is different from the policies of both the U.K. and the Netherlands

Essais d'épandage au sol de la deltaméthrine poudre mouillable à différentes doses contre Glossina palpalis (s.l.) dans une zone préforestière de Côte d'Ivoire

Des essais d'épandage au sol de deltaméthrine poudre mouillable 2,5% (NRDC 161) ont été effectués en janvier et novembre 1981 dans le foyer à Trypanosomiase humaine de Bouaflé, Côte d'Ivoire. Ces essais visaient à évaluer l'effet de différentes doses de ce pyréthrinoïde de synthèse sur la densité apparente par piègeage de G. palpalis (s.l.), vecteur de la maladie du sommeil dans la zone concernée. Trois doses ont été testées: 60 g de matière active (g.m.a.) par hectare à la concentration de 0,08% en janvier; 20 et 12 g.m.a./ha en novembre, aux concentrations de 0,027 et 0,016% respectivement. Pour chaque dose donnée, les traitements ont été exécutés une suele fois et à l'aide d'atomiseurs portatifs, Solo Port 423 de 5 m de portée. Les effets immédiats, à court et à moyen terme de l'insecticide sont très satisfaisants qu'il s'agisse des doses de 60 et 20 g.m.a./ha ou de la plus faible dose de 12 g.m.a./ha: taux de réduction de la densité apparente (D.A.P.) du vecteur compris dans l'ensemble entre 90 et 98% durant les deux premiers mois après traitement, quelle que soit la dose. A long terme, des taux de réduction dépassant 95% ont été obtenus jusqu'à 4 mois après épandage même avec la plus faible dose de 12 g.m.a./ha. La plus forte dose de 60 g.m.a./ha ne semble apporter aucun gain appréciable ni dans les taux de mortalité du vecteur, ni dans la rémanence de l'insecticide dans la zone d'étude. Afin de diminuer le cout en insecticide d'une éventuelle campagne de lutte chimique antiglossine et de sauvegarder au mieux les ressources de l'environnement, il est donc recommandé que la deltaméthrine p.m. en épandage au sol et en traitement rémanent, soit utilisée à la dose de 12 g.m.a./h

Enhanced arm swing improves Parkinsonian gait with EEG power modulations resembling healthy gait

BACKGROUND: The supplementary motor area (SMA) is implicated in stereotypic multi-limb movements such as walking with arm swing. Gait difficulties in Parkinson's Disease (PD) include reduced arm swing, which is associated with reduced SMA activity. OBJECTIVE: To test whether enhanced arm swing improves Parkinsonian gait and explore the role of the SMA in such an improvement. METHODS: Cortical activity and gait characteristics were assessed by ambulant EEG, accelerometers and video recordings in 27 PD patients with self-reported gait difficulties and 35 healthy participants when walking normally. Within these two groups, 19 PD patients additionally walked with enhanced arm swing and 30 healthy participants walked without arm swing. Power changes across the EEG frequency spectrum were assessed by Event Related Spectral Perturbation analysis of recordings from Fz over the putative SMA and gait analysis was performed. RESULTS: Baseline PD gait, characterized by reduced arm swing among other features, exhibited reduced within-step Event Related Desynchronization (ERD)/Synchronization (ERS) alternation (Fz; 20-50Hz), accompanied by a reduced step length and walking speed. All became similar to normal gait when patients walked with enhanced arm swing. When healthy controls walked without arm swing, their alternating ERD-ERS pattern decreased, mimicking baseline PD gait. CONCLUSION: Enhanced arm swing may serve as a driving force to overcome impaired gait control in PD patients by restoring reduced ERD-ERS alternation over the putative SMA. Accompanied by increased step length and walking speed, this provides a neural underpinning of arm swing as an effective rehabilitation concept for improving Parkinsonian gait