Globalization, Employment and Agriculture: A Review of the Eleventh Forum of the World Association for Political Economy

Economic globalization has greatly affected the economy, society and other aspects of individual countries and the world as a whole. As is well known, agriculture is the important foundation of the global economy, and most developing countries have a large rural population where agriculture is a significant part of the economy. Employment is the foundation of people's livelihood and full employment is difficult to achieve. Therefore, the study of how economic globalization affects agriculture and employment, and how developing countries and socialist countries should respond rationally and effectively, is worthy of attention

A Review of the Eighth Forum of the World Association for Political Economy

There are many kinds of inequalities such as inequalities between nations, gender inequalities, racial inequalities, and especially income and wealth inequalities, which are emerging as the most important ones in the current global crisis of capitalism. Also, the latest historic crisis of capitalism has led to a decline in the levels of growth in the world, especially in Europe, with enormous social consequences. The response of the dominant classes in these countries to these problems has been the imposition of austerity policies. These policies instead of reducing unemployment and improving living standards have increased the reach of private capitalist activities. In May of 2013, WAPE held its Eighth Forum themed “Inequalities and World Capitalism: Analysis, Policy and Action.” The aim is to analyze the reasons for world inequality and counter measures against it, find the conditions of the world development from the radical perspective through renewed study of the finished and unfinished writings of Marx and of the plural realities of our time

The October Revolution: Promoting the Development of World Economy and Improving People's Livelihood: A Review of the Twelfth Forum of the World Association for Political Economy

The October Revolution, as the first successful proletarian revolution, broke up the capitalist world system, established the first socialist state and opened up a new era in human history. It represents the beginning of the transition of human society from capitalism to socialism, and is therefore worthy of special commemoration. While Marx and Engels turned socialism from the utopian one into the scientific one, it was the October Revolution that turned socialism from theory into practice. Marxists need to firmly continue the march along the socialist road that it opened up, with perseverance in the difficult and tortuous path, and with continuous exploration in revolution and reform. We must experiment with various ways to transform the capitalist system, innovate and improve the socialist system, develop and achieve a prosperous socialist economy, and fight for the establishment of the communist community and stateless world for mankind

Polymorphism of the pig-implantation protein 3 (preis3) gene and its association with litter size traits

The pre-implantation protein 3 (prei3), which might play a role in pre-implantation embryogenesis, is one of the promising candidate genes for litter size traits in pigs. In this study, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP: T802G) in intron 6 of the pig prei3 gene was detected and a genotyping assay for this SNP was developed. An association study for this SNP with litter size was performed in two independent populations. One population consisted of crossbred sows derived from Landrace, Large White, Chinese Tongcheng and/or Chinese Meishan (Line DIV). The other population constituted of crossbred animals derived from Chinese Qingping and Duroc (QD). Statistical analysis demonstrated that, in first parity, 2.65 more piglets were born and 3.82 more piglets were born alive in sows in Line DIV with genotype TT than with genotype GG. For second and subsequent litters, in both the DIV and QD lines there were significant differences in the number of piglets born alive between TG and GG sows, with the TG sows producing more piglets born alive than the GG sows. These results suggest that the prei3 SNP is significantly associated with litter size in the two populations studied, and could be useful in selection for increasing litter size in pigs. Further investigations on more pig populations with large sample sizes are needed to confirm this. South African Journal of Animal Science Vol. 36(3) 2006: 209-21

Testing and comparing two self-care-related instruments among older Chinese adults

Objectives The study aimed to test and compare the reliability and validity, including sensitivity and specificity of the two self-care-related instruments, the Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly (SASE), and the Appraisal of Self-care Agency Scale-Revised (ASAS-R), among older adults in the Chinese context. Methods A cross-sectional design was used to conduct this study. The sample consisted of 1152 older adults. Data were collected by a questionnaire including the Chinese version of SASE (SASE-CHI), the Chinese version of ASAS-R (ASAS-R-CHI) and the Exercise of Self-Care Agency scale (ESCA). Homogeneity and stability, content, construct and concurrent validity, and sensitivity and specificity were assessed. Results The Cronbach's alpha (α) of SASE-CHI was 0.89, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.15 to r = 0.81, and the test-retest correlation coefficient (intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC) was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.99±1.00; P<0.001). The Cronbach's α of ASAS-R-CHI was 0.78, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.20 to r = 0.65, and the test-retest ICC was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.92±0.96; P<0.001). The content validity index (CVI) of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI was 0.96 and 0.97, respectively. The findings of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA) confirmed a good construct validity of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI. The Pearson's rank correlation coefficients, as a measure of concurrent validity, between total score of SASE-CHI and ESCA and ASAS-R-CHI and ESCA were assessed to 0.65 (P<0.001) and 0.62 (P<0.001), respectively. Regarding ESCA as the criterion, the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve for the cut-point of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91±0.94) and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.80±0.86), respectively. Conclusion There is no significant difference between the two instruments. Each has its own characteristics, but SASE-CHI is more suitable for older adults. The key point is that the users can choose the most appropriate scale according to the specific situation.publishedVersionNivå

Severe cutaneous reactions to drugs in the setting of a general hospital

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Cutaneous drug reactions are frequently found. Assessing the clinical and epidemiological profile of severe forms is extremely relevant for their better recognition and management. Few studies have assessed the severe forms of cutaneous drug reactions in patients hospitalized in our setting. OBJECTIVES: To assess the clinical and epidemiological aspects of severe cutaneous adverse reactions to drugs in a tertiary hospital in Porto Alegre, Brazil. METHODS: All cases of severe cutaneous adverse reactions to drugs in patients hospitalized from January/2005 to December/2010 were retrospectively analyzed for clinical and epidemiological variables. Cases of Stevens- Johnson Syndrome, Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, drug hypersensitivity syndrome or Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms and acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis were included. RESULTS: An occurrence rate of 1 serious reaction for every 3,048 inpatients was found (total of 173,767 inpatients admitted in the period). Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms was the most frequent presentation. The drugs most frequently involved were anticonvulsants (40.4%), antibiotics (26.3%), and analgesics/anti-inflammatory drugs (10.5%). Thirty seven patients (64.9%) were admitted to hospital because of the cutaneous drug reaction. Ten patients (17.5%) died and in most of those (60%), the drug causing the reaction could not be determined. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of severe cutaneous adverse reactions to drugs in our setting is significant. Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms seems to be the most frequent presentation of severe cutaneous drug reactions. Most patients developed cutaneous drug reactions outside the hospital. Mortality rates were higher for Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis and this presentation significantly affected older people. Not knowing the drug causing the reaction was related to mortality

Laser shock peening without absorbent coating (LSPwC) effect on 3D surface topography and mechanical properties of 6082-T651 Al alloy

The influence of nanosecond laser pulses applied by laser shock peening without absorbent coating (LSPwC) with a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser operating at a wavelength of λ = 1064 nm on 6082-T651 Al alloy has been investigated. The first portion of the present study assesses laser shock peening effect at two pulse densities on three-dimensional (3D) surface topography characteristics. In the second part of the study, the peening effect on surface texture orientation and micro-structure modification, i.e. the effect of surface craters due to plasma and shock waves, were investigated in both longitudinal (L) and transverse (T) directions of the laser-beam movement. In the final portion of the study, the changes of mechanical properties were evaluated with a residual stress profile and Vickers micro-hardness through depth variation in the near surface layer, whereas factorial design with a response surface methodology (RSM) was applied. The surface topographic and micro-structural effect of laser shock peening were characterised with optical microscopy, InfiniteFocus® microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Residual stress evaluation based on a hole-drilling integral method confirmed higher compression at the near surface layer (33 μm) in the transverse direction (σmin) of laser-beam movement, i.e. − 407 ± 81 MPa and − 346 ± 124 MPa, after 900 and 2500 pulses/cm2, respectively. Moreover, RSM analysis of micro-hardness through depth distribution confirmed an increase at both pulse densities, whereas LSPwC-generated shock waves showed the impact effect of up to 800 μm below the surface. Furthermore, ANOVA results confirmed the insignificant influence of LSPwC treatment direction on micro-hardness distribution indicating essentially homogeneous conditions, in both L and T directions

Observation of a ppb mass threshoud enhancement in \psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p}) decay

The decay channel $\psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p})$ is studied using a sample of $1.06\times 10^8$ $\psi^\prime$ events collected by the BESIII experiment at BEPCII. A strong enhancement at threshold is observed in the $p\bar{p}$ invariant mass spectrum. The enhancement can be fit with an $S$-wave Breit-Wigner resonance function with a resulting peak mass of $M=1861^{+6}_{-13} {\rm (stat)}^{+7}_{-26} {\rm (syst)} {\rm MeV/}c^2$ and a narrow width that is $\Gamma<38 {\rm MeV/}c^2$ at the 90% confidence level. These results are consistent with published BESII results. These mass and width values do not match with those of any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics

The geoaccumulation index and enrichment factor of mercury in mangrove sediment of Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Mangrove areas are important to the ecosystem. One of its crucial functions is as a sink of pollutants, especially metal ions. However, the accumulation of metals in mangrove sediment can generate negative impacts on plant growth, microbial activity, and soil fertility. Apart from that, the severity of the impact is highly influenced by the type of metal found in the sediment and the quality of sediment itself. One of the metals that have adverse effects on the environment is mercury. The objectives of this study are to determine the concentration and distribution of mercury and to assess the enrichment of mercury in Port Klang mangrove sediment by using geoaccumulation index and enrichment factor. Sediment samples were collected from 30 sampling points that cover Langat River and Klang River estuaries, Lumut Straits, Pulau Klang, and Pulau Indah. During sampling, water parameters such as pH, salinity, electrical conductivity, and total dissolved solids were measured in situ, whereas the total mercury in sediment samples was determined at the laboratory using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. In this study, mercury was found to be concentrated along Lumut Strait especially in the mixing zone near the confluence of Langat River and at the jetty to Pulau Ketam. The geoaccumulation index and enrichment factor (calculated using logarithmized data of the reference element) found that three stations were enriched with mercury. In addition, geoaccumulation index was also observed to be more objective compared to enrichment factor whose results were influenced by the concentration of reference element used