Radionuclide esophageal transit test: Detection of esophageal dysmotility and reflux in noncardiac chest pain

Thirty-one patients with substernal chest pain but with normal coronary angiographic findings and 25 normal volunteers were included in our study. Esophageal motility—including esophageal mean transit time (MTT), residual fraction (RF), and retrograde index (RI) of the two groups—were evaluated by the radionuclide esophageal transit test. The results showed that among patients with noncardiac chest pain (NCP), 48% have a longer MTT, 39% have a higher RF, and 58% have a higher RI than normal volunteers. We found that esophageal disorders are a common source of noncardiac chest pain, and that radionuclide esophageal transit test is a simple noninvasive screening method to detect esophageal dysmotility or gastroesophageal reflux in such cases.     

Primary esophageal lymphoma in AIDS

In a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and primary esophageal lymphoma, esophagography and computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a large ulcerated mass involving the distal esophagus. Although rare, the diagnosis of esophageal lymphoma should be considered in patients at risk for AIDS when the radiologic findings are not typical for infectious esophagitis or Kaposi's sarcoma.     

Staphylococcal esophagitis causing giant ulcers

A 29-year-old woman with Hodgkin disease developed odynophagia while receiving chemotherapy. Large esophageal ulcers due to staphylococcal infection of the mucosa were visualized by endoscopy and radiography. This unusual bacterial esophagitis represents another potential cause of giant esophageal ulcerations.     

和胃解毒汤治疗食道癌患者的疗效和安全性

目的探讨和胃解毒汤治疗食道癌患者的疗效以及安全性,为临床治疗食道癌提供新思路。方法选取2019年1月至2020年5月梅州市人民医院收治的食道癌患者62例作为研究对象,按照不同的治疗方案分为对照组(30例)和试验组(32例)。对照组给予调强适形放射治疗加紫杉醇(TXL)联合洛铂(LBP)化疗,即TP化疗方案;试验组在对照组基础上加用和胃解毒汤。比较分析两组患者的治疗效果,并评价两组患者的胃肠道不良反应发生情况。结果试验组治疗有效率及疾病控制率分别为78.13%和87.50%,显著高于对照组的53.33%和66.67%,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);主要不良反应为胃肠道反应,以恶心呕吐、食欲下降为主,可耐受,其中试验组胃肠道不良反应发生率9.38%,显著低于对照组的30.00%(P<0.05)。结论和胃解毒汤在食道癌患者综合治疗中具有良好的疗效,减轻了不良反应,对治疗食道癌有积极的意义。     

Cervical esophageal web associated with a patch of heterotopic gastric mucosa

Cervical esophageal webs are a relatively common finding on esophograms. We report a web resulting from the squamocolumnar junction produced by heterotopic gastric mucosa. The clinical significance of this lesion is discussed and the importance of differentiating it from Barrett's esophagus is stressed.     

姜黄素对食管癌细胞中上皮间质转化标志基因表达的影响及Notch、Wnt通路的调节作用

目的 探讨姜黄素对食管癌细胞中上皮间质转化(EMT)标志基因表达的影响及Notch、Wnt通路的调节作用.方法 选择食管癌Eca-109细胞株进行培养并分为空白对照组及不同剂量姜黄素组(20μmol/L、40μmol/L、80μmol/L、160μmol/L),处理24 h后测定细胞中EMT标志基因、Notch通路基因...     

美国对华5G科技竞争策略与对策研究——基于“大战略”理论视角

5G是引领未来的战略性技术，是实现产业升级的重要基础设施，也是中美科技竞争的关键领域。梳理美国对华5G科技竞争策略对于提升我国5G治理能力、创造竞争优势具有重要意义。运用“大战略”理论，从目标、手段、威胁、效益4个层面对美国5G策略进行分析，指出美国5G策略体现了维护国家安全和国际领导地位的目标，通过成立专职机构、加大科研投入、培养通信人才、提升频谱和基建能力等手段促进本国5G发展，并运用出口管制、外资审查、限制投资、外交结盟等方式对中国进行打压和防范。中美5G竞争日益激烈且存在彼此封闭、割裂的风险，国际关系将成为影响竞争态势的关键因素。中国应坚定战略目标，优化战略手段，应对挑战并把握机遇，积极推动中国5G健康发展。     

Biological Adaptation in Human Societies: a ‘Basic Needs’ Approach

The groundzero premise (so to speak) of the biological sciences is that survival and reproduction is the basic, continuing, inescapable problem for all living organisms; life is at bottom a survival enterprise. It follows that survival is the paradigmatic problem for human societies as well; it is a prerequisite for any other, more exalted objectives. Although the term adaptation is also familiar to social scientists, until recently it has been used only selectively, and often very imprecisely. Here a more rigorous and systematic approach to the concept of adaptation is proposed in terms of basic needs. The concept of basic human needs has a venerable history – tracing back at least to Plato and Aristotle. Yet the development of a formal theory of basic needs has lagged far behind. The reason is that the concept of objective, measurable needs is inconsistent with the theoretical assumptions that have dominated economic and social theory for most of this century, namely, valuerelativism and cultural determinism. Nevertheless, there have been a number of efforts over the past 30 years to develop more universalistic criteria for basic needs, both for use in monitoring social wellbeing (social indicators) and for public policy formulation. Here I will advance a strictly biological approach to perationalizing the concept of basic needs. It is argued that much of our economic and social life (and the motivations behind our revealed preferences and subjective utility assessments), not to mention the actions of modern governments, are either directly or indirectly related to the meeting of our basic survival needs. Furthermore, these needs can be specified to a first approximation and supported empirically to varying degrees, with the obvious caveat that there are major individual and contextual variations in their application. Equally important, complex human societies generate an array of instrumental needs which, as the term implies, serve as intermediaries between our primary needs and the specific economic, cultural and political contexts within which these needs must be satisfied. An explicit framework of Survival Indicators, including a profile of Personal Fitness and an aggregate index of Population Fitness, is briefly elucidated. Finally, it is suggested that a basic needs paradigm could provide an analytical tool (a biologic) for examining more closely the relationship between our social, economic and political behaviors and institutions and their survival consequences, as well as providing a predictive tool of some value.     

EQ-5D health utilities: exploring ways to improve upon responsiveness in psoriasis

Aims: To determine if EuroQoL 5-Dimension Health Questionnaire (EQ-5D) health utility scores were able to discriminate among different levels of improvement in psoriasis severity following therapy.

Materials and methods: Data were from three placebo-controlled phase 3 ixekizumab studies (UNCOVER-1, UNCOVER-2, and UNCOVER-3) with patients who had baseline Dermatology Life Quality Index scores >10 (DLQI >10). Psoriasis severity (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI]), general health utility (EQ-5D), and psoriasis-specific utility (EQ-PSO, UNCOVER-3 only) were assessed. EQ-5D-5L utility scores were generated using the England EQ-5D-5L value set, a crosswalk applied to the EQ-5D-3L United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) value sets, and a regression-based exploratory scoring function for the EQ-PSO (UK). Analysis of variance was used to estimate change in EQ-5D-5L from baseline to Week 12 per PASI improvement level: PASI <50, PASI 50 to <75, PASI 75 to <90, PASI 90 to <100, and PASI 100. Missing data were imputed using the last observation carried forward method. Value sets for the UK, England, and the US were applied.

Results: In total, 2085 patients across UNCOVER-1, UNCOVER-2, and UNCOVER-3 had baseline DLQI >10 and available utility scores. At Week 12, mean EQ-5D utility scores increased with increasing PASI improvement levels (p?n?=?645; PASI 90 to <100: 0.141, PASI 100: 0.200; adjusted p?=?0.043).

Limitations: EQ-5D-5L index-based scores have limited ability to differentiate among psoriasis patients at the highest PASI improvement levels.

ConclusionsL Adding psoriasis-specific EQ-PSO dimensions to the EQ-5D may enhance responsiveness to improvement in skin clarity at the highest PASI levels, and, therefore, generate utility scores that better reflect treatment benefit in cost-utility models.     

基于农户调查的村域商业经济活动空间研究

以河南省不同收入水平和不同地形条件下的5个村庄为例,通过问卷调查,以行政等级(村、乡、县、市)为基础,总结出农村居民购物消费和销售农产晶的空间等级结构,得出墙南村两级分化型、宋圈村中间集中型、北宋村趋于低等中心地、上河村连续型和陈湾村离散型的消费结构类型;以及墙南村、宋圈村、北宋村、上河村趋于低等中心地销售型结构和陈湾村结构完整销售型结构(以邻县销售为主).试图创建以农村家庭为基点的中心地结构模式和研究方法,以使与基于商业设施的中心地理论相对比.对商业中心地结构和农村居民出行活动空间研究具有一定的理论意义.另外还对比分析5个村的商业活动空间差异,并对其进行尝试性的解释.     

Asset Ownership and the Threat to Sell

In this paper the effects of selling assets are examined in a property rights model à la Grossmann, Hart and Moore. The possibility of selling an asset gives its owner a bargaining tool which can strengthen his bargaining power under certain circumstances. This offers a form of protection against opportunistic behavior in the hold-up problem, which has not yet been considered in the literature on property rights. With this model it is possible to give a rationale for unconditional joint ownership. Moreover, an explanation for privatization, outsourcing and the existence of passive outside owners can be derived within the model.     

长株潭3+5城市群生产性服务业空间关联性研究

近年来,长株潭3+5城市群生产性服务业呈快速增长的态势,但内部发展水平不一。通过空间计量模型探讨了长株潭3+5城市群中8个城市的生产性服务业的发展在空间维度的基本特征和空间关联。空间关联是影响长株潭3+5城市群生产性服务业发展的主要因素之一。虽然长株潭3+5城市群生产性服务业的发展虽未形成高度集聚的空间布局,但是发展比较好的地区如长沙市、岳阳市、常德市等已经对周边的城市有了一定的辐射能力。     

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INCOME DISTRIBUTION DYNAMICS: WHY IS THE INCOME SHARE OF TOP INCOME EARNERS ACYCLICAL OVER THE BUSINESS CYCLE?

In the United States, the income share of the top 5% income group is acyclical over the business cycle. This study attempts to explain the cyclical behavior of the income distribution over the business cycle, particularly focusing on the top 5% income earners' share, using a heterogeneous agent model featuring a choice to become an entrepreneur. The model economy successfully reproduces the acyclical behavior of the income share of the top 5%. During expansions, relatively more people become entrepreneurs at the top, which offsets the decline in the income share of the high‐income earners from workers' side.     

Environmental rights on the futures markets an application to the dutch manure market

A study was carried out to analyze futures markets for tradable rights after a cash market was initiated. Furthermore, some indication was given on the size of such a futures market to provide insight into its viability. Futures markets can play a role in solving environmental problems, by making the market for pollution rights (i.e. P₂O₅ rights) and agro rights (milk rights, sugar rights and P₂O₅ rights) more effective and transparent. Moreover, the market for tradable rights would be able to meet the users' need for hedging. This paper investigated the possibility of introducing a futures markets for tradable P₂O₅ rights and the commodity manure. Because there is already a cash market for manure, although not well developed yet, and there will be a cash market for P₂O₅ rights, a futures market is a logical sequel. The futures market can play a role in implementing agricultural policy efficiently and with respect to manure and P₂O₅ rights can be an economically efficient solution to environmental problems.We acknowledge the financial support of the ATA (Agricultural Futures Market Amsterdam).     

Population Genetics and Economic Growth

This paper builds an age-structured model of human population genetics in which explicit individual choices drive the dynamics via sexual selection. In the model, agents are endowed with a high-dimensional genome that determines their cognitive and physical characteristics. Young adults optimally search for a marriage partner, work for firms, consume goods, save for old age and, if married, decide how many children to have. In accord with the fundamental genetic operators, children receive genes from their parents. An agent's human capital (productivity) is an aggregate of the received genetic endowment and environmental influences so that the population of agents and the economy co-evolve. After calibrating the model, we examine the impact of physical, social, and economic institutions on population growth and economic performance. We find that institutional factors significantly impact economic performance by affecting marriage, family size, and the intergenerational transmission of genes. The principal novel findings are that i) genetic diversity has a nonmonotone causal impact on population size and economic performance; ii) an endogenous population threshold exists which, absent frictions, causes societies with declining populations and output to reverse course and grow; and iii) that the emotion love substantially accelerates economic growth by increasing genetic diversity just enough, which we term The Goldilocks Principle.     

长株潭“3＋5”城市群空间演进的产业机理研究

在国家实施＂中部崛起＂战略的背景下,加快长株潭＂3＋5＂城市群的建设具有特殊的战略意义。对增强湖南的区域竞争力,实现经济社会跨越式发展,提高湖南城市化、工业化水平,实现农业产业化,加快社会主义新农村建设都将产生积极的推动作用。本文在分析＂3＋5＂城市群空间发展现状和产业发展现状的基础上,通过研究产业发展的关联、转移和集聚效应以及新时期信息产业发展对城市群空间格局的影响,探讨了推动＂3＋5＂城市群空间演进的产业机理。并在最后提出了长株潭＂3＋5＂城市群空间建设的产业发展对策。     

Non-linear dependence modelling with bivariate copulas: statistical arbitrage pairs trading on the S&P 100

We develop a copula-based pairs trading framework and apply it to the S&P 100 index constituents from 1990 to 2014. We propose an integrated approach, relying on copulas for pairs selection and trading. Essentially, we fit t-copulas to all possible combinations of pairs in a formation period. Next, we trade these pairs in-sample to assess the profitability of mispricing signals derived from t-copulas. The top pairs are transferred to an out-of-sample trading period, and traded with individualized exit thresholds. In particular, we differentiate between pairs exhibiting mean-reversion and momentum effects and apply idiosyncratic take-profit and stop-loss rules. For the top 5 mean-reversion pairs, we find out-of-sample returns of 7.98% per year; the top 5 momentum pairs yield 7.22% per year. Standard deviations are low, leading to annualized Sharpe ratios of 1.52 (top 5 mean-reversion) and 1.33 (top 5 momentum), respectively.     

Economic and political competition in neoclassical and evolutionary perspective

Neoclassical welfare economics still looms large in the discipline of public choice. Particularly, by constructing analogies of political competition fundamental shortcomings of old neoclassical paradigms found their way into a new theory of political economy. Especially the failure to deal with the problem of limited knowledge and with the role of institutions obscured fundamental differences between political and economic systems of coordination and control. Hence, I propose a non-neoclassical perspective, using Hayekian concepts like competition as a discovery procedure or spontaneous order to develop an alternative agenda for many fields of public choice. I shall first outline a critique of neoclassical equilibrium settings in economics and in similarly constructed models of democracy. Then various properties of economic and political institutions, the competition of ideas and institutional competition among jurisdictions will be discussed in an evolutionary perspective. Not surprisingly, these applications reveal some similarities to central themes of constitutional political economy.     

An economic comparison of the net clinical benefit and treatment costs of raltitrexed and 5-fluorouracil + leucovorin (Mayo regimen) in advanced colorectal cancer

Summary

Background

This paper describes an economic evaluation in which raltitrexed (Tomudex®) was compared with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) + leucovorin (LV), and where net clinical benefits were related to differential health service costs. Raltitrexed, a specific inhibitor of thymidylate synthetase, has shown anticancer activity against a range of solid tumours.

Tomudex® is a registered trademark ofZeneca Pharmaceuticals

Materials and Methods

In a large, open, randomised, multicentre study in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, raltitrexed (n = 223) and 5-FU plus LV (n = 216) showed similar efficacy in terms of patient survival and objective response (i.e. tumour shrinkage rates). Palliative benefits were seen in both groups of patients and suggest that patients with stable disease are as likely to show improvement as those with a tumour response. Reductions compared with 5-FU plus LV in the number of toxicity days (median 1.5 vs 8 treatment days) and administration days (6 vs 22 days) with raltitrexed were consistent with a net clinical benefit.

Results

A cost minimisation analysis that drew on data from a number of sources showed direct medical costs per month to be similar for the two treatments (£781 for raltitrexed vs £834 for 5-FU + LV).

Conclusions

Raltitrexed therefore represents a clinically effective alternative to 5-FU plus LV (Mayo regimen) and offers net clinical benefit to patients with advanced colorectal cancer at no apparent additional cost.     

Convergence and catching up in ASEAN: a comparative analysis

The increasing diversity of average growth rates and income levels across countries has generated a large literature on testing the income convergence hypothesis. Most countries in South-East Asia, particularly the five founding ASEAN member countries (ASEAN-5), have experienced substantial economic growth, with the pace of growth having varied substantially across countries. Recent empirical studies have found evidence of several convergence clubs, in which per capita incomes have converged for selected groupings of countries and regions. This paper applies different time series tests of convergence to determine if there is a convergence club for ASEAN-5, as well as ASEAN-5 and the USA. The catching up hypothesis states that the lagging country, with low initial income and productivity levels, will tend to grow more rapidly by copying the technology of the leader country, without having to bear the associated costs of research and development. Given the important effects of technological change on growth, this paper also examines whether ASEAN-5 is catching up technologically with the USA.