30 research outputs found
The effectiveness of unconventional monetary policy on risk premia in the interbank market: Evidence from the UK, the US and the EMU
No full textEvidence of Son Preference in the Child Trafficking Market for Illegal Adoption in China
No full textThis article presents evidence of son preference in the child trafficking market for illegal adoption in China, where son preference is explicitly revealed by choice and quantified by the price premium of a boy. The author identified 1,328 court documents of trafficking transactions of children below the age of four for illegal adoption from 2008 to 2017 in China. 59% of the victims were boys. Nearest-neighbor matching estimators show that under similar conditions, adopted baby boys are about 1.6 times as expensive as girls, which is equivalent to a premium of around 21,000 yuan (about 3,000 USD). The price ratios declined in recent years. These statistics and the qualitative materials from the court documents show both the manifestation and the role of son preference in illegal adoptions. The results can be used to study other discrimination against girls and design policy measures to promote gender equality.</p
Development and Application of Comprehensive Evaluation System in the Treatment of Children with Hemophilia in China
No full textBeing a hereditary bleeding disorder, hemophilia is characterized by spontaneous bleeding, especially joint bleeding. The treatment outcome is a comprehensive evaluation system of the following three aspects: bleeding, musculoskeletal structure (imaging), and function-activity participation. Multidisciplinary testing and corresponding scales are needed in the assessment. Among them, the quality of life assessment of hemophilia patients is particularly important, through general questionnaires and hemophilia-specific questionnaires. Canadian hemophilia outcomes-Kids' life assessment tool(CHO-KLAT), a special quality of life assessment tool for children with hemophilia, is the most widely used. This paper briefly describes the development and application of comprehensive evaluation system of the children with the disease
Effects of syndication network on specialisation and performance of venture capital firms
No full textThe Chinese venture capital (VC) market is a young and rapidly expanding
financial subsector. Gaining a deeper understanding of the investment
behaviours of VC firms is crucial for the development of a more sustainable and
healthier market and economy. Contrasting evidence supports that either
specialisation or diversification helps to achieve a better investment
performance. However, the impact of the syndication network is overlooked.
Syndication network has a great influence on the propagation of information and
trust. By exploiting an authoritative VC dataset of thirty-five-year investment
information in China, we construct a joint-investment network of VC firms and
analyse the effects of syndication and diversification on specialisation and
investment performance. There is a clear correlation between the syndication
network degree and specialisation level of VC firms, which implies that the
well-connected VC firms are diversified. More connections generally bring about
more information or other resources, and VC firms are more likely to enter a
new stage or industry with some new co-investing VC firms when compared to a
randomised null model. Moreover, autocorrelation analysis of both
specialisation and success rate on the syndication network indicates that
clustering of similar VC firms is roughly limited to the secondary
neighbourhood. When analysing local clustering patterns, we discover that,
contrary to popular beliefs, there is no apparent successful club of investors.
In contrast, investors with low success rates are more likely to cluster. Our
discoveries enrich the understanding of VC investment behaviours and can assist
policymakers in designing better strategies to promote the development of the
VC industry
A Novel Interval Iterative Multi-Thresholding Algorithm Based on Hybrid Spatial Filter and Region Growing for Medical Brain MR Images
No full textMedical image segmentation is widely used in clinical medicine, and the accuracy of the segmentation algorithm will affect the diagnosis results and treatment plans. However, manual segmentation of medical images requires extensive experience and knowledge, and it is both time-consuming and labor-intensive. To overcome the problems above, we propose a novel interval iterative multi-thresholding segmentation algorithm based on hybrid spatial filter and region growing for medical brain MR images. First, a hybrid spatial filter is designed to perform on the original image, which can make full use of the spatial information while denoising. Second, the interval iterative Otsu method based on region growing is proposed to segment the original image and its filtering layer. The initial thresholds can be quickly obtained by region growing algorithm, which can reduce the time complexity. The interval iterative algorithm is used to optimize the thresholds. Finally, a weighted strategy is used to refine the segmentation results. The segmentation results of our proposed algorithm outperform other comparison algorithms in both subjective and objective evaluations. Subjectively, the obtained segmentation results have clear edges, complete and consistent regions. We use the uniformity measure (U) for objective evaluation, and the U value is significantly higher than other comparison algorithms. The proposed algorithm achieved an average U value of 0.9854 across all test images. The proposed algorithm can segment medical images well and expand the doctor’s ability to utilize medical images
Global trends and emerging insights in BRAF and MEK inhibitor resistance in melanoma: a bibliometric analysis
No full textObjectiveThis study aims to perform a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of global research on BRAF and MEK inhibitor resistance in melanoma, identifying key research trends, influential contributors, and emerging themes from 2003 to 2024.MethodsA systematic search was conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database to retrieve publications related to BRAF and MEK inhibitor resistance from 1 January 2003, to 1 September 2024. Bibliometric analyses, including publication trends, citation networks, and keyword co-occurrence patterns, were performed using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. Collaborative networks, co-cited references, and keyword burst analyses were mapped to uncover shifts in research focus and global cooperation.ResultsA total of 3,503 documents, including 2,781 research articles and 722 review papers, were analyzed, highlighting significant growth in this field. The United States, China, and Italy led in publication volume and citation impact, with Harvard University and the University of California System among the top contributing institutions. Research output showed three phases of growth, peaking in 2020. Keyword and co-citation analyses revealed a transition from early focus on BRAF mutations and MAPK pathway activation to recent emphasis on immunotherapy, combination therapies, and non-apoptotic cell death mechanisms like ferroptosis and pyroptosis. These trends reflect the evolving priorities and innovative approaches shaping the field of resistance to BRAF and MEK inhibitors in melanoma.ConclusionResearch on BRAF and MEK inhibitor resistance has evolved significantly. This analysis provides a strategic framework for future investigations, guiding the development of innovative, multi-modal approaches to improve treatment outcomes for melanoma patients
Preliminary Investigations and Analysis of Social Public's Awareness of Rip Currents
No full textHainan Province is characterized by deep water, high winds and waves, and a large number of rip currents along the coastal beaches, resulting in frequent drowning accidents. Through online and offline questionnaire surveys, the cognition of beach tourists in Hainan Province on rip currents was revealed from three aspects, demographic characteristics, safety awareness, rip current cognition and coping, and the influencing factors of beach tourists' rip current recognition and coping ability were explored based on the binary Logistic regression model. Meanwhile, the current situation of the management and publicity of beach rip currents was investigated, and countermeasure suggestions were put forward from two perspectives, namely, the enhancement of public cognition and the improvement of beach, which are of great significance to coastal tourism safety, coastal zone layout planning, regulation of safe use of natural resources, prevention and control of marine disasters at source, and public opinion prevention and control of public safety accidents
Liquidity and credit risks in the UK's financial crisis: How "quantitative easing" changed the relationship
No full textThis paper investigates the relationship between credit and liquidity risk components in the UK interbank spread during the recent financial crisis and sheds light on the transmission mechanism of the quantitative easing (QE) carried out by the Bank of England on short term interest rates. Specifically, we find that prior to the Bank's intervention counterparty risk was a major factor in the widening of the spread and also caused a rise in liquidity risk. However, this relationship was reversed during the period when QE was implemented. Using the accumulated value of asset purchases as a proxy for the central bank's liquidity provisions, we provide evidence that the QE operations were successful in reducing liquidity premia and ultimately, and indirectly, credit risk. We also find evidence that suggests liquidity schemes provided by other central banks and international market sentiment contributed to the reduction of interbank spread
Drought variations in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau region since 1704 and their link to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation
No full textUnderstanding the long-term history of drought in the Tibetan Plateau region is important to improve understanding of drought frequency in response to future global warming. Although the Tibetan Plateau has become generally wetter recently, the southeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau has become drier since the 2000s. To place this drying trend in a historical context, we conducted tree-ring studies for Abies spectabilis and Tsuga dumosa at three sites in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, and developed tree-ring width (TRW), earlywood width (EWW), and latewood width (LWW) chronologies to permit local drought reconstruction. Based on correlation between these tree-ring parameters and instrumental meteorological data, the EWW chronologies were identified as suitable variables for reconstructing the average April–July self-calibrating Palmer Drought Index (scPDSI). The reconstruction accounted for 45.86% of the variance in the instrumental record and allowed us to extend the drought record back to 1704 CE. Based on this new dataset, the driest interval was from 1907 to 1919 CE during which time agricultural production fell by about 70% according to written historical records, leading to severe famine. Our findings suggest that this early twentieth century drought was in phase with the previously known drought over the northern Daxing'an Mountains. However, the southeastern Tibetan Plateau drought occurred one decade earlier than the known widespread drought event in North China during the 1920s–1930s. We show that this spatial drought pattern may have been modulated by the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation
An Alternative Method for Dating of Wildfire Occurrence from Tree-Ring Cores: A Case Study in Northeastern Asia
No full textThe tree-ring fire scar stands as a pivotal proxy for reconstructing historical wildfire occurrences, providing invaluable context for comprehending contemporary wildfire activities during the Anthropocene era. Precise identification of fire scars often necessitates sampling complete tree disks. Yet, stringent forest resource protection policies limit such collection in certain regions, thus curtailing the application of tree-ring-based fire reconstruction. While current methods based on tree-ring cores can ascertain the age range of fire events, pinpointing the exact year remains challenging. In this study, we propose a novel approach for detecting fire occurrence years by recognizing abrupt shifts in the tree-ring geometric center (TRGC). This method entails extracting a minimum of three tree-ring cores from the uninjured side of the tree and in proximity to the fire scar. We validated this method’s efficacy using samples from Transbaikal of Russia, in northeastern Asia, where fire years have already been documented. Our results show that this method accurately identified the fire year in nine fire scars with a 67 percent probability of exact agreement with the actual fire year. It is noteworthy that this method particularly excels in cases of trees with a single fire scar. We recommend employing the traditional method of collecting tree-ring cores near the fire scar to establish the age range of the fire scar. Subsequently, within this determined range, we suggest detecting the shifts in the TRGC to accurately pinpoint the exact year of the fire scar
