No abstract

The United States has experienced a dramatic increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent years. While foreign firms bring immediate benefits of high‐paying jobs, data limitations have prevented detailed study on FDI's long‐term effects on the states receiving it. By creating a new stock measure of FDI based on employment, we are able to capture these long‐term effects. Results demonstrate that FDI has a greater impact on per capita output growth than domestic investment for US states that meet a minimum human capital threshold. Ironically, the most active states in the recruitment of FDI tend to fall below this threshold.

We reviewed the use of compression staples made of the memory metal alloy nitinol for fixation in foot surgery. A retrospective study was performed of 31 feet in 27 patients who underwent arthrodesis or an osteotomy fixated using compression staples. OSStaples (BME, San Antonio, Texas) were used in 18 feet, and Memodyn staples (Telos Medical, Fallston, Maryland) were used in 13 feet. A total of 48 compression staples were implanted. The following procedures were performed and fixated using compression staples: 15 Akin osteotomies, 2 first metatarsal base epiphysiodeses, 3 first metatarsal-cuneiform fusions, 2 naviculocuneiform fusions, 3 calcaneocuboid fusions, 4 talonavicular fusions, 3 subtalar joint fusions, and 2 Evans osteotomies. In our clinical experience, compression staples provide an adequate source of internal fixation in foot surgery. Good bone apposition and stabilization and compression of the bone surfaces before staple fixation are important when using staple fixation to promote an optimal environment for bone healing.

The quantification of abdominal fat is a marker of health risk. While dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is easily applied, it measures overall fat, although abdominal fat may be a better indicator of health risk from obesity. We have evaluated whether a subcomponent of DEXA measurements correlates better with computed tomography (CT) for body fat than those traditionally used. Forty-seven healthy adults (22 M/25 F), aged 54.5+/-15.8 yr (mean+/-SD), with BMI of 27.1+/-4.6 kg/m2 participated in a cross-sectional study. Body fat was measured using abdominal CT and DEXA for total fat, trunk fat, and a modified trunk measurement that excludes the chest, termed "lower trunk," and compared. The coefficient of variation for DEXA measurements for trunk, lower trunk, and total body were 1.98, 3.12, and 0.85%, respectively. Mean DEXA for percentage fat ranged from 31.7% to 34.1% for trunk, lower trunk, and total body, compared to 54.2% for abdominal CT (p<0.003 for each pairwise comparison). Lower trunk, whole trunk, and total body DEXA measurements were not different. Measurement of subcomponents of fat content by DEXA is not superior to whole body measurements and remains consistently lower than measurements by CT.

It has long been surmised that firms controlled by different countries may have unequal effects on the host economies in which they locate. By looking at the seven major source countries of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States, we provide empirical evidence that the state growth effects of FDI differ by source country. We attribute these differential growth effects to the relative differences in factor endowments between the source country and the state. The implication of this result is that technology transfer, believed to be the engine of economic growth, becomes more costly the more dissimilar the endowments. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing, Inc. 2008