Looking back to look forward: setting future research agenda for international business in textiles and clothing industry

Since its development by Tinbergen (1962), the gravity model of international trade has widely been applied to analyse the effect of various factors on trade relationships between countries. Past studies on trade gravity vary not only in the mix of model variables but also in how they have come into the analysis. This study reviews existing literature on bilateral trade with an aim to identify influential predictors such as changes of trade policy and national development strategy and highlight important yet understudied factors such as transport and logistics infrastructure, and sustainable development. To demonstrate the needs to examine these critical factors across industry sectors, the study presents the case of textiles and clothing (T&C) production and trade between China and its trading partners as an illustration. Through the literature review, it shows how the gravity model can be applied to address current issues in international trade arena such as the potential trade war between the US and China, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and other important factors shaping global T&C trade. This study offers future research directions for analysis of global trade in the T&C industry and contributes to the wider literature of international business and trade

Looking back to look forward: Setting future research agenda for international business in textiles and clothing industry

© 2019 Jungseok Research Institute of International Logistics and Trade All rights reserved. Since its development by Tinbergen (1962), the gravity model of international trade has widely been applied to analyse the effect of various factors on trade relationships between countries. Past studies on trade gravity vary not only in the mix of model variables but also in how they have come into the analysis. This study reviews existing literature on bilateral trade with an aim to identify influential predictors such as changes of trade policy and national development strategy and highlight important yet understudied factors such as transport and logistics infrastructure, and sustainable development. To demonstrate the needs to examine these critical factors across industry sectors, the study presents the case of textiles and clothing (T&C) production and trade between China and its trading partners as an illustration. Through the literature review, it shows how the gravity model can be applied to address current issues in international trade arena such as the potential trade war between the US and China, China\u27s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and other important factors shaping global T&C trade. This study offers future research directions for analysis of global trade in the T&C industry and contributes to the wider literature of international business and trade

Scattering diagrams from holomorphic discs in log Calabi-Yau surfaces

We construct special Lagrangian fibrations for log Calabi-Yau surfaces, and scattering diagrams from Lagrangian Floer theory of the fibres. Then we prove that the scattering diagrams recover the scattering diagrams of Gross-Pandharipande-Siebert and the canonical scattering diagrams of Gross-Hacking-Keel. With an additional assumption on the non-negativity of boundary divisors, we compute the disc potentials of the Lagrangian torus fibres via a holomorphic/tropical correspondence. As an application, we provide a version of mirror symmetry for rank two cluster varieties.First author draf

Treatment of Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease with Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Pilot Clinical Study

The objective of this clinical study is to examine the effects of a Chinese herbal medicine formula (Jia Wei Liu Jun Zi Tang: JWLJZT) on motor and non-motor symptoms, and on complications of conventional therapy in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), using an add-on design. Fifty-five patients with PD were randomly allocated to receive either Chinese herbal medicine or placebo for 24 weeks. Primary outcome measure was the 39-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). Secondary outcome measures included the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Short-Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), home diaries, and a range of category rating scales. JWLJZT resulted in a significant improvement in the UPDRS IVC when compared with placebo at 12 weeks (P = .039) and 24 weeks (P = .034). In addition, patients in the Chinese herbal medicine group also showed significant improvement in PDQ-39 communication scores at 12 weeks (P = .024) and 24 weeks (P = .047) when compared with the placebo group. There were no significant differences between treatment and control groups for SF-36 variables, GDS score or the mean daily “on-off” time. One case of mild diarrhea was noted in the treatment group. The findings suggest that JWLJZT can relieve some non-motor complications of conventional therapy and improve the communication ability in patients with PD. The results of this pilot study warrant larger multi-center clinical studies to assess long-term efficacy and tolerability of JWLJZT, and to elucidate the mechanisms by which it affects PD function

Elevated adipogenesis of marrow mesenchymal stem cells during early steroid-associated osteonecrosis development

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increased bone marrow lipid deposition in steroid-associated osteonecrosis (ON) implies that abnormalities in fat metabolism play an important role in ON development. The increase in lipid deposition might be explained by elevated adipogenesis of marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). However, it remains unclear whether there is a close association between elevated adipogenesis and steroid-associated ON development.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that there might be a close association between elevated adipogenesis and steroid-associated ON development.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>ON rabbit model was induced based on our established protocol. Dynamic-MRI was employed for local intra-osseous perfusion evaluation in bilateral femora. Two weeks after induction, bone marrow was harvested for evaluating the ability of adipogenic differentiation of marrow MSCs at both cellular and mRNA level involving adipogenesis-related gene peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma2 (PPARγ2). The bilateral femora were dissected for examining marrow lipid deposition by quantifying fat cell number, fat cell size, lipid deposition area and ON lesions. For investigating association among adipogenesis, lipid deposition and perfusion function with regard to ON occurrence, the rabbits were divided into ON⁺(with at least one ON lesion) group and ON^-(without ON lesion) group. For investigating association among adipogenesis, lipid deposition and perfusion function with regard to ON extension, the ON⁺rabbits were further divided into sub-single-lesion group (SON group: with one ON lesion) and sub-multiple-lesion group (MON group: with more than one ON lesion).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Local intra-osseous perfusion index was found lower in either ON⁺or MON group when compared to either ON^-or SON group, whereas the marrow fat cells number and area were much larger in either ON⁺or MON group as compared with ON^-and SON group. The adipogenic differentiation ability of MSCs and PPARγ2 expression in either ON⁺or MON group were elevated significantly as compared with either ON^-or SON group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings support our hypothesis that there is a close association between elevated adipogenesis and steroid-associated osteonecrosis development.</p

Testing Technicolor Models in Top Quark Pair Production at High Energy Photon Colliders

We study pseudo-Goldstone boson corrections to top quark pair production rates in technicolor models with and without topcolor at the E=0.5 teV and 1.5 TeV photon colliders. We find that, for reasonable ranges of the parameters, the corrections are large enough to be observable, and the corrections in models with topcolor are considerably larger than those in models without topcolor, and they are all significantly larger than the corresponding corrections in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with tan(beta) of the order of 1. So that the two kinds of technicolor models and the MSSM with tan(beta) of the order of 1 can be experimentally distinguished.Comment: Version for publication in Phys.Rev.D with some references and discussions added and some typos correcte

The spatial context of clinic-reported sexually transmitted infection in Hong Kong

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The incidence and prevalence of sexually transmitted infection (STI) in China has been on the rise in the past decade. Delineation of epidemiologic pattern is often hampered by its uneven distribution. Spatial distribution is often a neglected aspect of STI research, the description of which may enhance epidemiologic surveillance and inform service development.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Over a one month-period, all first time attendees of 6 public STI clinics in Hong Kong were interviewed before clinical consultation using a standard questionnaire to assess their demographic, clinical and behavioural characteristics. A GIS (geographic information system)-based approach was adopted with mapping performed. The cases attending the clinics in different locations were profiled. A comparison was made between neighbourhood cases (patients living near a clinic) and distant cases (those farther off), by calculating the odds ratio for demographic, behavioural and geographic characteristics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 1142 STI patients evaluated, the residence locations of 1029 (90.1%) could be geocoded, of which 95.6% were ethnic Chinese and 63.4% male. Geographically only about a quarter lived in the same district as the clinic. STI patients aged 55 or above were more likely to be living in the vicinity of the clinic, located in the same or adjacent tertiary planning unit (a small geographic unit below district level). A majority of patients came from locations a few kilometers from the clinic, the distance of which varies between clinics. Overall, more syphilis cases were reported in patients residing in the same or adjacent tertiary planning unit, while distant cases tended to give a higher risk of inconsistent condom use. There were otherwise no significant clinical and epidemiologic differences between neighbourhood and distant STI cases.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There was no specific relationship between STI and the residence location of patients as regards their clinical and epidemiologic characteristics in the territory of Hong Kong. Older STI patients were however more inclined to attend the nearby STI clinics. Most patients have travelled a variable distance to access the STI service. The relationship between STI clinic cases and distance could be a complex issue intertwined between psychosocial characteristics and STI service coverage.</p

COULD FAMILY WELL-BEING MODERATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES AND SOMATOFORM DISSOCIATION? A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION

16 pagesThe impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been well documented. One possible consequence of ACEs is dissociation, which is a major feature of post-traumatic psychopathology and is also associated with considerable impairment and health care costs. Although ACEs are known to be associated with both psychoform and somatoform dissociation, much less is known about the mechanisms behind this relationship. Little is known about whether social and interpersonal factors such as family environments would moderate the relationship between ACEs and somatoform dissociation. This paper discusses the importance of having a positive and healthy family environment in trauma recovery. We then report the findings of a preliminary study in which we examined whether the association between ACEs and somatoform dissociation would be moderated by family well-being in a convenience sample of Hong Kong adults (N = 359). The number of ACEs was positively associated with somatoform dissociative symptoms, but this association was moderated by the level of family well-being. The number of ACEs was associated with somatoform dissociation only when the family well-being scores were low. These moderating effects were medium. The findings point to the potential importance of using family education and intervention programs to prevent and treat trauma-related dissociative symptoms, but further investigation is needed