Closing time: Reputational constraints on capital account policy in emerging markets.

Do international reputational concerns constrain governments' economic policy choices? We assess this question by analyzing emerging market decisions to tighten restrictions on capital outflows. While policymakers should be more likely to tighten restrictions to protect their economies as capital flow volatility (CFV) increases, investors view outflow controls as heterodox policies that violate investment contracts. We argue that the effect of CFV on outflow controls depends on the use of controls in peer markets. When peers are open, governments anticipate that controls will come at a high cost to their market reputations as heterodox measures send a negative signal to investors among a crowd of liberal peers. Conversely, when peers are closed, using controls should do less damage to an economy's reputation. For 25 emerging markets from 1995-2015, we show that CFV is associated with outflow controls, but only when market peers are already closed, suggesting reputational concerns can limit policy autonomy. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11558-021-09433-1.

Local economic benefits increase positivity toward foreigners.

Can exposure to discernible economic benefits associated with the presence of a high-socioeconomic status immigrant group reduce xenophobic and antiforeigner attitudes? We explore this question using the case of Chinese internationals in the United States and an exogenous influx of foreign capital associated with their presence. Using a difference-in-differences design with panel data, along with analyses of pooled cross-sectional data, we find that immigration attitudes, as well as views towards China, became more positive over time among Americans residing in locales whose economies were stimulated by Chinese foreign investments. Our findings have implications for research on public attitudes towards immigration in an era of growing flows of high-socioeconomic status immigrants to the United States and other immigrant-receiving nations.

Inter-reader agreement of magnetic resonance imaging proton density fat fraction and its longitudinal change in a clinical trial of adults with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

PURPOSE: To determine the inter-reader agreement of magnetic resonance imaging proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and its longitudinal change in a clinical trial of adults with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). STUDY TYPE: We performed a secondary analysis of a placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial of a bile acid sequestrant in 45 adults with NASH. A six-echo spoiled gradient-recalled-echo magnitude-based fat quantification technique was performed at 3 T. Three independent readers measured MRI-PDFF by placing one primary and two additional regions of interest (ROIs) in each segment at both time points. Cross-sectional agreement between the three readers was evaluated using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) and coefficients of variation (CV). Additionally, we used Bland-Altman analyses to examine pairwise agreement between the three readers at baseline, end of treatment (EOT), and for longitudinal change. RESULTS: Using all ROIs by all readers, mean PDFF at baseline, at EOT, and mean change in PDFF was 16.1%, 16.0%, and 0.07%, respectively. The 27-ROI PDFF measurements had 0.998 ICC and 1.8% CV at baseline, 0.998 ICC and 1.8% CV at EOT, and 0.997 ICC for longitudinal change. The 9-ROI PDFF measurements had corresponding values of 0.997 and 2.6%, 0.996 and 2.4%, and 0.994. Using 27 ROIs, the magnitude of the bias between readers for whole-liver PDFF measurement ranged from 0.03% to 0.06% points at baseline, 0.01% to 0.07% points at EOT, and 0.01% to 0.02% points for longitudinal change. CONCLUSION: Inter-reader agreement for measuring whole-liver PDFF and its longitudinal change is high. 9-ROI measurements have only slightly lower agreement than 27-ROI measurements.

The Effect of Head Impact Location on Day of Diagnosed Concussion in College Football.

INTRODUCTION: Scientists and clinicians have attempted to identify and understand biomechanical factors that influence concussion likelihood. The effect of impact frequency to a given head location before the concussion has not been evaluated. The purpose of this study was to compare the frequency of impacts to a given head location on days of diagnosed concussion to the frequency of impacts to a given head location before kinematically matched nonconcussive impacts. METHODS: Head impact data were gathered from 33 Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association football players. Twenty-four concussions were identified and matched with impacts of similar kinematic and injury criterion values (linear acceleration, rotational acceleration, Gadd severity index, and head injury criterion) that occurred during the same event type (game, practice, or scrimmage). In addition, these same matching criteria were used to match all players to the closest kinematic/same player group. All impacts within a session before the impact of interest (concussive or matched impact) were analyzed. RESULTS: On days of diagnosed concussion, the concussive group sustained a lower percentage of impacts to the front of the head (34.5%) and a greater frequency of impacts to the sides (19.6%) and top (18.9%) of the head (χ(3) = 10.23, P = 0.017) as compared with the matched nonconcussive group (front = 42.5%, sides = 16.6%, top = 14.0%). No significant difference in frequency was found in impacts to the back of the head. CONCLUSION: It may be more difficult to mitigate concussive forces sustained in impacts to the top and sides of the head than the front of the head. These findings fall in line with previous research demonstrating that reduced impact magnitudes may lessen concussion risk. Studying appropriate training paradigms to develop safer playing techniques on the field is warranted.