The Current Status and Prospects for Development of International Trade in Goods

The article is aimed at analyzing the current status and determining prospects for international trade in goods. The dynamics of international trade in goods are characterized and the reasons for its slowdown are disclosed. A considerable attention is paid to the analysis of the commodity and geographical structure of the international trade in goods. On the basis of the conducted research the new tendencies and peculiarities of development of the international trade in goods in the contemporary conditions are disclosed. In particular, the authors consider the tendency of increasing the influence of non-tariff barriers on the dynamics of the international commodity exchange. Based on the calculation of the export quota as an indicator of the intensity of foreign trade in goods, conclusions have been drawn about the degree of openness of national economies in the current conditions. The authors have noted that in the coming years the growth of physical and value volumes of the world commodity exports is projected in the conditions of growth of the world prices for raw products. It has been determined that, most likely, further development of the international trade in goods will take place in conditions of deepening of trade integration at the mega-regional level. An increase in the number of participants in the international trade in goods is also expected in the context of further spread of e-commerce in the developing countries

Peri-ictal vegetative symptoms in temporal lobe epilepsy

We investigated peri-ictal vegetative symptoms (PIVS) in 141 patients with adult temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and assessed frequency, gender effect, and lateralizing value of peri-ictal autonomic signs. We recorded abdominal auras in 62%, goosebumps in 3%, hypersalivation in 12%, spitting in 1%, cold shivering in 3%, urinary urge in 3%, water drinking in 7%, postictal nose wiping (PNW) in 44%, and postictal coughing in 16%. At least one vegetative sign appeared in 86% of the patients. The presence of PIVS did not have a significant lateralizing value. PNW occurred in 52% of women and in 33% of men, whereas any PIVS was present in 93% of women and 77% of men. In summary, contradictory to previous studies, the presence of PIVS has no lateralizing value, which may be linked to a low frequency of occurrence of PIVS. PIVS, especially PNW, occurred more frequently in women, supporting the gender differences in epilepsy. ? 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Patients' ability to react before complex partial seizures

Objective: The purpose of the study described here was to investigate the pathophysiology of patients' ability to react during the conscious (aura) phase of complex partial seizures (CPS) originating from the temporal lobe. Methods: We reviewed video recordings of CPS experienced by 130 adult patients who had undergone epilepsy surgery for intractable medial temporal lobe epilepsy. All patients were instructed to push the alarm button when they felt an aura. We defined the preictal reactivity as the ability to push the alarm button before the complex partial (unconscious) phase of seizures. Results: Seventy-seven patients (59%) pushed the alarm button before seizures. Patients with preictal reactivity were significantly younger, more often had lateralized EEG seizure patterns, and had a better postoperative outcome. Patients who did not push the alarm button had secondarily generalized seizures more often. Conclusions: Ability to react before CPS is associated with a circumscribed region involved at seizure onset and spread, and with a seizure-free postoperative outcome. ? 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Unilateral hand automatisms in temporal lobe epilepsy

Objectives: To analyse the lateralising value of unilateral manual automatism (UMA), its relation to contralateral dystonia and the hand by which the UMA was performed. Methods: In this retrospective study, we reviewed video recordings of 141 patients (mean age 34.1 ? 10) who had consecutively undergone presurgical evaluations with ictal video-EEG recordings and high-resolution MRI, had had epilepsy surgery due to intractable medial temporal lobe epilepsy with complex partial seizures due to unilateral medial temporal lobe lesions. The video recordings were prospectively reviewed by one of the authors blinded to patient's clinical data except the diagnosis of medial temporal lobe epilepsy. Altogether 310 archived seizures were analysed. Results: Hand automatisms occurred in 86.5% of patients. UMA occurred in 53% of patients. If UMA was accompanied by contralateral hand dystonia, it had a high lateralising value to the ipsilateral epileptic focus (EF), it was ipsilateral in 85% of patients. Conversely, if UMA occurred without contralateral dystonia, it had only a limited lateralising value because it was ipsilateral to the EF in only 63% of patients. However, we found that left-sided UMA without dystonia had a high lateralising value to the left hemisphere (ipsilateral to the EF in 82%), while right-sided UMA without dystonia has practically no lateralising value. Conclusions: UMA with contralateral dystonia has a high lateralising value to the ipsilateral hemisphere. Left-sided UMA without contralateral dystonia has a lateralising value to the left hemisphere. Right-sided UMA without contralateral dystonia has no lateralising value. ? 2006 British Epilepsy Association