A widely used immunoglobulin M (IgM) detection assay for the diagnosis of neonatal congenital syphilis is the fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test used with fractionated serum (FTA-ABS 19S IgM test). Reading the results of the FTA-ABS test is more cumbersome than reading those of the FTA-ABS double staining (FTA-ABS-DS) test, a confirmatory test for specific IgG. To verify that the F...

This paper is concerned with the sustainability of free-trade areas. I begin with an FTA that is formed as a political equilibrium and examine conditions under which the FTA is sustainable, i.e., governments do not leave it. The sustainability of the FTA is in°uenced by governments' valuation on political contributions, discount factors, the lobbying position of the speci ̄c-interest group in in...

Background: No previous study has investigated the computed tomography (CT) characteristics of follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA) and follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC). This study aimed to compare the CT features of FTA and FTC. Methods: Eighty-seven consecutive patients with FTA or FTC that underwent preoperative neck CT from January 2006 to December 2013 were included. In each case, single rad...

Some pharmacological effects of a potent tremorgenic mycotoxin, fumitremorgin A (FTA), on the rabbit were studied. FTA (10-200 micrograms/kg, i.v.) caused clonic and tonic convulsion accompanied by nystagmus and miosis in conscious rabbits, after a latent period. Even in decorticated or decerebrated rabbits, FTA (100-200 micrograms/kg, i.v.) could induce violent motor effects similar to those o...

a r t i c l e i n f o The recent proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs) has resulted in an increasingly complex network of preferential trading relationships. The economics literature has generally examined the formation of FTAs as a function of the participating countries' economic characteristics alone. In this paper, we show both theoretically and empirically that the decision to ente...

Accompanying the unprecedented outburst of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), scholarly interests in the new wave of regionalism have been flourishing. Yet, notwithstanding its contribution, extant literature has paid little attention to an important aspect of FTA formation: the choice of FTA partners and the underlying structure of the FTA network. While theoretical conjectures about likely FTA par...