Restrictiveness Index Research Articles

Study of haemolysis interference limit on serum potassium assay on Roche® Cobas 8000 and evaluation of corrected potassium

Roche Diagnostics® decided a more restrictive haemolysis index (≤20 HI) for approval the release of serum potassium results. This study examined the risk of overestimating serum potassium results related to the HI according to the Ricos total error (±5.6%) and evaluated the approach of Martinez-Morillo and Alvarez to determine a corrected potassium. According to Ricos’ criteria, our study showed compliant potassium results with HI less than or equal to 75. Between 90 and 100 HI, the results did not show a significant overestimation. The equation to obtain Kcorrected was: Kmeasured – (0.004 × HI). The use of corrective formulas for adjusting results of potassium could help the laboratory to identify patients at increased risk and to repeat the test as soon as possible.

Revisional One-Anastomosis Gastric Bypass After Restrictive Index Surgery-a Metaanalysis and Comparison with Revisional Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass.

One-anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB) was established as a recognized bariatric procedure in the 2018 International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) position statement. This study evaluates the outcomes of revisional OAGB (rOAGB) after a restrictive index procedure, and to compare it to revisional RYGB (rRYGB). A literature search was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines on papers published from inception till February 2020. Original studies involving patients who underwent rOAGB after a primary failed restrictive procedure were included. The primary outcome measured was postrOAGB weight loss. Secondary outcome measures include comorbidity resolution, operative duration, length of stay, morbidity, and mortality. A total of 21 studies with 1377 patients were included. Five studies compared rOAGB versus rRYGB. Majority of the patients (76%) were female, with mean age of 43.5years old. Mean body mass index (BMI) before revisional surgery was 41.6kg/m2. The most common biliopancreatic limb length was 200cm. Percentage of excess weight loss after rOAGB increases to a maximum of 76.0% at 48months postsurgery. rOAGB resulted in a pooled prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and obstructive sleep apnea resolution of 74.9%, 48.4%, 63.2%, and 75.7% respectively. When compared to rRYGB, rOAGB demonstrated greater weight loss, comparable metabolic syndrome resolution, but with a shorter operating time. Morbidity and mortality rates were low across all studies. rOAGB has potential as an alternative revisional surgery, with weight loss profiles and rates of metabolic syndrome resolution that are comparable to rRYGB.

Services Trade Policies and Economic Integration: New Evidence for Developing Countries

AbstractThis paper applies machine learning to recreate to a high degree of accuracy the OECD's Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) to provide quantitative evidence on the restrictiveness of services policies in 2016 for a sample of developing countries, using regulatory data collected by the World Bank and WTO. Resulting estimates are used to extend the OECD STRI approach to 23 additional countries, producing what we term a Services Policy Index (SPI). Converting the SPI to ad valorem equivalent terms shows that services policies are typically much more restrictive than tariffs on imports of goods, in particular in professional services and telecommunications. The SPI has strong explanatory power for bilateral trade in services at the sectoral level, as well as for aggregate goods and services trade.

Aerial high‐throughput phenotyping enables indirect selection for grain yield at the early generation, seed‐limited stages in breeding programs

AbstractBreeding programs for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and other crops require one or more generations of seed increase before replicated trials can be sown to assess yield. Extensive phenotyping at this stage is challenging because of the small sizes of plots and large numbers of lines under evaluation, and therefore, breeders typically rely on visual selection to promote lines to yield evaluation. Aerial high‐throughput phenotyping (HTP) enables the rapid acquisition of traits that may be useful for selection among early generation lines. With the objective of assessing the potential for aerial measurements recorded on seed increase plots to improve indirect selection for grain yield (GY), two sets of 1,008 early generation bread wheat breeding lines were sown both as replicated yield trials (YTs) and as small, unreplicated plots (SPs) at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center during two breeding cycles. Normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI) collected with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the SPs were observed to be heritable and moderately correlated with GY assessed in YTs. Furthermore, NDVI was more predictive of GY than univariate genomic selection (GS), with still higher overall predictive abilities from multitrait approaches. A related experiment showed that selection based on NDVI would have outperformed visual selection, though this approach would have driven a directional response in phenology because of confounding between phenology, NDVI, and GY. A restricted selection index was proposed to address this issue. These results provide a promising outlook for the use of aerial HTP to improve selection at the early generation, seed‐limited stages of breeding programs.

Diagnostic Value of Multi-Parameter MRI in Sub-Stage of T3 Rectal Cancer

The paper aims to explore the diagnostic value of multi-parameter MRI in sub-stage of T3 rectal cancer. According to the results of clear pathological evaluation, 52 patients were divided into T3I and T3II groups according to the maximum mesorectum depth of tumor infiltration. The χ2 test was used to compare the differences of the overall morphology index, morphological index of the extramural strips, type of time-signal intensity curve (TIC), and the location index of DWI diffusion-limited distribution between the two groups. The independent sample t was used to test and compare the differences in semi-quantitative parameters of DCE between the two lesion groups. The pathological results were used as the dependent variables, the indicators mentioned above with statistical differences were used as the independent variables, and a Logistic regression model was established to construct joint parameters and evaluate its diagnostic efficacy. The differences in the circumferential diameter of lesions and morphological index of extramural strips (p < 0.01), and DWI diffusion restricted distribution index (p < 0.01) of the two groups were statistically significant. The difference in the DCE semiquantitative parameter early enhancement ratio (EER) (p < 0.01) between the two groups. The maximum Youden index of a newly-constructed parameter diagnosis combination: circumferential diameter of lesions + extramural strips + distribution locations of limited diffusion on DWI + EER was 0.73, the area under receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC) was 0.887 and the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 85.24% and 87.34%. By making full use of multi-parameter information, combined with morphological index of extramural strips, circumferential diameter of lesions, EER and distribution locations of the diffusion-limited of DWI as evaluation indexes, it can provide a high diagnostic efficiency for the sub-stage of T3 rectal cancer.

Trade in Services in the European Union

Services dominate in creation of value added in national economies, especially in developed countries and they have growing trend in developing (emerging) economies. They cover four modes of trade (according to GATS), that makes their calculation complex and a part of services is hidden in the value of production/trade of manufactured goods. Their importance in foreign trade, despite the increasing trend, is still three times smaller that the value of trade in goods, but also it is under-valuated. This paper explains specific characteristics of services foreign trade, provides analysis of structure of services trade but also pointed the limitation of wider trade expansion (i.e. liberalization of trade). The analysis employ statistical tools and secondary data and covers the EU member states. The EU is very important player in the global arena and it is net exporter of services, where richer member states are oriented to the other business sector while the Central, East and South members are focused to travel. The EU members mainly traded between them selves. Services trade faced higher barriers in cross-border trade. OECD measures these restriction by Services Trade Restrictiveness Index. EU common market provides better condition for the intra- EEA trade in services even the protection differs between countries and it is more liberal for computer and telecom sectors while in accounting services and legal services the protection is high due to national legislations.

Patterns of trade restrictiveness in online platforms: A first look

AbstractThis paper develops a digital platform restrictiveness index for 64 countries based on ECIPE’s Digital Trade Estimates database and the Digital Trade Restrictiveness Index. We identify specific restrictions that affect online platforms with a focus on online search, e‐commerce and social media. The results show that both OECD and non‐OECD countries show high levels of trade restrictions on online platforms. Moreover, some of the most restricted countries are characterised by large markets, signifying that a substantial part of the global economy gravitates towards restricting online platforms. Based on the platform restrictiveness index, we perform an econometric analysis showing that trade restrictions for online platforms are significantly associated with lower contributions of the ICT sector to productivity growth in the entire economy. The results suggest that reducing restrictions on online platforms can increase the ICT’s contribution to overall productivity growth towards a level seen before the global financial crisis. Sectors that would benefit the most are those that make wider use of online platforms and the Internet, including information services, business services and financial services.

Determinants of services trade agreement membership

Existing literature has examined factors underlying the formation of goods trade agreements (GTA) and bilateral investment treaties but not the determinants of services trade agreement (STA) membership. This paper bridges the gap by studying the economic and political determinants of STA membership. Its main contribution lies in providing an economic explanation of unilateral services regulatory provisions, embodied in the World Bank’s Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (Borchert et al. in World Bank Econ Rev 28:162–188, 2014), and their interaction with services preferentialism. The authors find that unilateral services provisions are closely associated with economic determinants. They also find that countries’ participation in STAs is correlated with the similarity of their unilateral services trade restrictiveness, a finding not observed for “goods-only” trade agreements. While geographical and cultural determinants are found to be broadly similar for GTAs and STAs, association with economic size of partners, factor endowments and services cost shares in GDP comes through more strongly for goods-only agreements.

Sex differences in modulation of fetoplacental vascular resistance in growth-restricted mouse fetuses following betamethasone administration: comparisons with human fetuses

Maternally administered corticosteroids are routinely used to accelerate fetal lung maturation in pregnancies at risk of early preterm delivery. Although, among the subgroup with growth restriction, a majority show a temporary improvement in umbilical artery Doppler waveforms that may be sustained up to 7 days, a minority will acutely decompensate in response to corticosteroids in association with deteriorating umbilical and fetal Doppler waveforms. The basis for such acute Doppler changes is presently unknown. Our group has developed a noninvasive ultrasound methodology to measure wave reflections in the umbilical artery and have established that wave reflection metrics are sensitive to structural changes in the placental vasculature and to acute changes in vascular tone. Using this approach, we demonstrated in healthy pregnant mice that fetoplacental vascular resistance decreased in betamethasone-treated mice compared with saline-treated controls. This study aimed to investigate the effects of betamethasone administration on the wave reflection metrics in a mouse model of fetal growth restriction and to compare these findings with equivalent measurements in human fetuses. Pregnant CD-1 mice were housed from embryonic day 14.5 to embryonic day 17.5 in either a normoxic (21% O2, n=24) or hypoxic environment (11% O2, n=22), the latter being an established mouse model of fetal growth restriction. To investigate the effect of maternally administered betamethasone on the fetoplacental vasculature, ultrasound imaging was performed at baseline and 4 hours after treatment (either betamethasone or sterile saline). Umbilical artery wave reflection metrics were compared between the groups and for the effect of fetal sex. In addition, a cohort of 10 pregnant women with elevated umbilical artery pulsatility index and evidence of fetal growth restriction and 6 controls were imaged before and after corticosteroid administration. In the mouse model, after betamethasone administration, the female fetuses from the hypoxia group showed a 15% increase in umbilical artery diameter, a 98% increase in umbilical artery blood flow, and a 27% decrease in umbilical artery reflection coefficient, whereas the males from the hypoxia group showed no substantial changes. In agreement with our mouse findings, umbilical artery reflections were found to be larger in human growth-restricted fetuses than controls in women at risk of preterm birth. Our studies provide insight into the mechanism whereby the human growth-restricted fetus may exhibit a temporary favorable fetoplacental vascular response to maternally administered corticosteroids. Further investigations are needed to understand why the male growth-restricted fetus seems unable to mount this favorable vascular response.

Firm heterogeneity in services trade: Micro‐level evidence from eight OECD countries

AbstractThis paper shows that smaller and less productive firms, as well as first‐time exporters, are overproportionally affected by services trade barriers using micro‐data from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. For these firms, both the propensity to export and export volumes to less restrictive destinations are significantly higher than to more restrictive destinations. In contrast, policy barriers measured by the OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) do not affect export decisions of the largest, most productive and experience services firms. The pattern holds for two major modes of supply, cross‐border services exports and foreign affiliate sales of services firms. The findings are consistent with firm sorting mechanisms in trade models with heterogeneous firms and hysteresis of export participation in the presence of sunk export costs.

VP18.07: Mid‐trimester left ventricular modified myocardial performance index of selective intrauterine growth restriction in monochorionic pregnancies

To evaluate the left ventricular modified myocardial performance index (LV mod-MPI) of early-onset selective intrauterine growth restriction (sIUGR) in monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) twins. This retrospective study consisted of MCDA twins diagnosed at Asan Medical Center between 2014 and 2019. Isovolumetric contraction time (ICT), isovolumetric relaxation time (IRT), and ejection time (ET) were measured between 16.0 and 24.6 weeks of gestational age. MPI was calculated as (ICT + IRT)/ET. Cases with Twin–twin transfusion syndrome and major anomalies were excluded. sIUGR was defined as an intertwin weight discordancy of >25% and weight of the smaller fetus of less than the 10th percentile. The LV mod-MPI and its components were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. During the study period, 38 uncomplicated MCDA twins and 26 twins with sIUGR were included. Although the LV mod-MPI and IRT were slightly higher in the larger twins in those with sIUGR than in those among twins without complications (0.44 vs. 0.50, and 41 vs. 45, respectively), differences were within the normal ranges. The ICT and ET of the larger twins did not show significant differences between twins without complications and those with sIUGR. There were no significant differences in LV mod-MPI and its components in the smaller twins between the two groups. Mid-trimester LV mod-MPI and its components may not be significantly different between twins with uncomplicated MCDA and those with sIUGR.

New bioclimatic models for the quaternary palaearctic based on insectivore and rodent communities

Mammal remains, preserved in archaeological and palaeontological deposits, are commonly used to reconstruct past terrestrial climates and environments. Here we propose new species-specific models for Bioclimatic Analysis, a palaeoclimatic method based on a climatic restriction index for each mammal species, discriminant analysis, and multiple linear regressions. Our new models are based on small mammal associations, particularly insectivores and rodents, from Quaternary paleoarctic contexts. A dataset including new localities and an updated taxonomy was constructed in order to develop two approaches, the first using only Rodentia, the second based on associations including both Rodentia and Eulipotyphla. Both approaches proved to be reliable for inferring both climate zone and quantifying temperature, precipitation, and seasonality. Rarefaction analysis revealed these new models to be reliable even when a substantial percentage of species from the original palaeocommunity was absent from the fossil site. Application of these new models to small mammal associations from two sequences (Balma de l'Abeurador, France and El Mirón, Spain) spanning from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene are consistent with the primary climatic changes recorded by regional Pyrenean proxies and showed an increase in mean annual temperature of between 3 and 5 °C.

Regulatory barriers to trade in services: A new database and composite indices

AbstractThis paper presents new data on services trade regulation for 46 countries in 22 services sectors over 6 years (2014–2019). The data consist of qualitative information which is scored and weighted to produce composite indices. They cover market access and national treatment restrictions with respect to all GATS modes of supply, but also behind the border domestic regulation such as licensing, non‐transparent regulatory procedures and competition policy. The database is updated annually. The trade restrictiveness indices (STRIs) are significantly correlated with services trade flows, but also with the performance of the sectors subject to the restrictions including logistics performance indicators, interest spreads, density of ATMs and secure servers, broadband penetration and outcomes such as legal rights and the time to resolve insolvency.

Analysis on the Relation between Strengthening Internal Management and Economic Benefit of China’s Petrochemical Enterprises under the Restriction of Market Environment

This paper studies the external impact of China’s energy policy and market environment changes on the economic benefits of petrochemical enterprises, and the internal impact of internal control and management of petrochemical enterprises on their economic benefits. In 2010-2017, China’s energy economic policy has been adjusted, the market environment has undergone major changes. This paper quantifies these two factors into indexes and combines them with the internal control index of enterprises to apply them to the economic benefit model of petrochemical enterprises, Regression analysis has been used for positive analysis. The study finds the changes of China’s energy policy have played a guiding, regulating and promoting role in the development of petrochemical enterprises; the more restrictions the market environment imposes on petrochemical enterprises, the worse the economic benefits of petrochemical enterprises are. Strengthening internal control in petrochemical enterprises can offset some unfavorable factors and the economic benefits of downstream petrochemical enterprises are better than those of upstream ones. The paper reveals the effects of energy policy action index, market environment restriction index and internal control index on economic benefits of petrochemical enterprises. The policy recommendations are as follows:The governments should improve the market environment and formulate policiesthat will benefit upstream petrochemical enterprises, especially oil and gas extraction enterprises, in raising product prices and increasing profit margins.

The impact of COVID-19 related 'stay-at-home' restrictions on food prices in Europe: findings from a preliminary analysis.

This study examines the impact of COVID-19 related ‘stay-at-home’ restrictions on food prices in 31 European countries. I combine the European Union’s Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) with the Stay-at-Home Restriction Index (SHRI) from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) dataset for January–May 2020. The results of a series of difference-in-difference regression models reveal that the severity of stay-at-home restrictions increased overall food prices by 1% in March 2020, compared to January and February 2020. The price level for food continued to rise in the high stay-at-home restriction countries relative to thier counterpart in April but stabilised in May. The food categories that witnessed the most significant surges in prices were meat, fish & seafood, and vegetables. The prices of bread & cereals, fruits, milk, cheese & eggs and oils & fats were not significantly affected. The correlations between food prices and stay-at-home restrictions were significant after controlling for cross-country variations in COVID-19 affectedness and other mitigation and adaptation measures, such as international travel controls, road closures and the size of the economic stimulus packages. This study presents the first empirical evidence of food price inflation as an unintended consequence of COVID-19 pandemic containment measures in one of the most severely hit continents of the world.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s12571-020-01082-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

China’s Foreign Investment Encouraged Catalogue and Negative Lists as a Tool of Foreign Direct Investment Attraction

<p>Theoretical background: Due to the growing maturity of Chinese market the country needs to adjust its policy regarding foreign direct investment (FDI), i.e. to increase openness for FDI, to keep control over them in key industries and to influence their inflow in desired industries and regions. Adopting the negative-list approach and changes in both the negative list and encouraged industry catalogue provides tools for this challenge.</p><p>Purpose of the article: The purpose of this article is to present how changes in China’s Foreign Investment Encouraged Catalogue and Negative Lists both in free-trade zones (FTZs) and at the national level are used as a tool for managing country’s FDI inflow.</p><p>Research methods: Analysis of legal documents and reports as well as literature review.</p><p>Main findings: Starting from the adoption of negative-list approach in FTZs in 2013, the negative lists had been drastically reduced both in reference to FTZs and national level. Those reductions lead to a decrease in China FDI restrictiveness index. FTZs were used as a testing area for both the negative list composition and negative-list approach itself. Negative lists allowed the state to keep control over FDI in key industries allowing, at the same time, greater freedom for foreign investors. Encouraged catalogue is used not only as a tool for attracting FDI from desired industries but also for addressing regional inequalities.</p>

The Restricted Detour Polynomial of the Theta Graph

The restricted detour distance D*(u,v) between two vertices u and v of a connected graph G is the length of a longest u - v path P in G such that <V(P)> = P. The main goal of this paper is to obtain the restricted detour polynomial of the theta graph. Moreover, the restricted detour index of the theta graph will also be obtained.

The Impact of an Early Lifestyle Intervention on Pregnancy Outcomes in a Cohort of Insulin-Resistant Overweight and Obese Women.

Obese women are more likely to have decreased insulin sensitivity and are at increased risk for many adverse pregnancy outcomes. An early lifestyle intervention (LI) may have the potential to reduce the impact of insulin resistance (IR) on perinatal outcomes. We report post hoc analysis of an open-label randomized control trial that includes IR women with body-mass index ≥25 randomly assigned to a LI with a customized low glycemic index diet or to standard care (SC) involving generic counseling about healthy diet and physical activity. Women were evaluated at 16, 20, 28, and 36 weeks of gestation, at which times perinatal outcomes were collected and analyzed. An oral-glucose-tolerance test (OGTT) showed that women in the LI group had lower plasma glucose levels at 120 min at 16–18 weeks of gestation, and at 60 and 120 min at 24–28 weeks. More importantly, these women had a lower rate of large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants (p = 0.04). Interestingly, the caloric restriction and low-glycemic index diet did not increase the rate of small-for-gestational-age (SGA) babies in the LI group. A lifestyle intervention started early in pregnancy on overweight and obese women had the potential to restore adequate glucose tolerance and mitigate the detrimental role of IR on neonatal outcomes, especially on fetal growth.

Genetic parameters for traits affecting consumer preferences for the Portuguese oyster, Crassostrea angulata

Production of the Portuguese oyster, Crassostrea angulata, is increasing rapidly in Vietnam, and consumer preferences for oyster appearance and meat quality have become more economically important. However, no studies have been conducted to estimate genetic parameters for meat colour, edible traits and the occurrence of disfiguring parasite infestation in any oyster species. In this study, we report genetic parameters for parasite disease traits, objective measurements of shell and mantle colours (L*, a* and b* colour) and edible traits (water holding capacity, taste and tenderness) for a selectively bred Portuguese oyster breeding population. We applied a restricted maximum likelihood method to estimate genetic parameters for the traits studied. Heritability estimates for the colour measurements of shell and mantle were low to high (h2 = 0.13–0.57), whereas those obtained for the parasite diseases on shells and tissues were close to zero (h2 = 0.011). Interestingly, there was genetic variation in edible traits (h2 = 0.04–0.17). The genetic correlations among whole weight and parasitic shell and tissue disease traits was significant but unfavourable, whereas the genetic correlations between whole weight and water holding capacity was considerable and favourable (rg = 0.87 ± 0.05). These suggest that a multi-trait restricted selection index should be used to improve productivity and economic returns for the oyster aquaculture sector.

Public and Legal Burdens on Cooperative Banks and Limits of the Financial Strength of Taxes

&lt;p&gt;The paper deals with the problems of public and legal burdens of cooperative banks operating in Poland, in terms of their limits on the strength of taxes (various types of mandatory fees and levies for the state). Comparative public and legal burdens of banks are discussed in the literature. As the main research goal, the authors chose to examine the situation of cooperative banks in the context of increasing tax and legal burdens. The article uses the desk research method, comparative method and quantitative analysis of cooperative banks’ tax burden for calculating the author’s tax restrictiveness index. The authors proposed their own definition of the tribute paid by cooperative banks to the state and institutions subordinate to it. An interesting perspective on the subject of effectiveness of cooperative banks in comparison with their tax burden was analyzed. The paper also exposes the methodology of examining public-law burdens in cooperative banks and conducted a stress limit analysis for these burdens (tributes) on the example of 309 banks – participants of the Association Protection System – SOZ BPS. It is important to point out that the tax restrictiveness index (WD) in the studied group of cooperative banks was calculated. A new concluding case on problems related to further raising the tax burden of cooperative banks in Poland was also presented.&lt;/p&gt;