The dynamic characteristics and influencing factors of debt structure of the public companies in China

Design/methodology/approach: Learned from Leary (2009), Konstantinos Voutsinas and Richard A.Werner (2011), this study designs a model of debt maturity structure with an unbalanced panel data set. It consists of 1352 Chinese listed companies with8124 observations during the period of 2003-2011. Hausman test hasbeen used, and the findings support the fixed effects model.Findings: Besidesthe factors that have been confirmed by previous researches, debt maturitystructure is also sensitive to other factors, such as economicexpectations, monetary policy, financial restrictions and changes in tax rates.Research limitations/implications: There are still many cases, which affect the debt maturitystructure, are worth of further exploring, for instance, the impactof lagged monetary policy, the determinants of short-term debt ratio and thecost of operating.Practical implications: From the macro point of view, research in this area enable thegovernment to introduce more suitable policies that direct and promote thedevelopment of the bond market, thus it spurs corporations to choose theproper finance structure. From the micro point of view, firms can learn fromthe research to choose the efficient method and term of financing as well asdebt structure.Originality/value: In some way, conclusions of this papercontribute to the study of dynamic characteristics and factors of debt maturitystructure in Chinese listed companies.Peer Reviewe

Is neighborhood green space protective against associations between child asthma, neighborhood traffic volume and perceived lack of area safety? Multilevel analysis of 4447 Australian children

Heavy traffic is a source of air pollution and a safety concern with important public health implications. We investigated whether green space lowers child asthma risk by buffering the effects of heavy traffic and a lack of neighborhood safety. Multilevel models were used to analyze affirmative asthma cases in nationally representative cross-sectional data from 4447 children aged 6-7 years old in Australia. Case-finding was based upon a triangulation of affirmative responses to three questions on doctor-diagnosed asthma, asthma-related medications and illness with wheezing lasting for at least 1 week within the 12 months prior. Among children considered to be exposed to high traffic volumes and areas with 0 to 20% green space quantity, the odds ratio of affirmative asthma was 1.87 (95% CI 1.37 to 2.55). However, the association between heavy traffic and asthma was significantly lower for participants living in areas with over 40% green space coverage (odds ratio for interaction 0.32, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.84). No association between affirmative asthma and green space coverage was observed for participants not exposed to heavy traffic, nor for the area safety variable. Protecting existing and investing in new green space may help to promote child respiratory health through the buffering of traffic-related air pollution

Studies on the Spatial Distribution of Aphis-eating Ladybirds in Soybean Fields

- Seven-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus), Akebia leaflike moth (Adonia variegate goeze), Ash bark beetle (Leis axyridis Pallas) and bifid tongued bees (Propylaea japonica Thunberg) are principal predators of soybean aphids (Aphis glycineOriginating text in Chinese.Citation: Wang, Xiaoqi, Ding, Xiuyun, Huang, Feng. (1991). Studies on the Spatial Distribution of Aphis-eating Ladybirds in Soybean Fields. Journal of Shenyang Agricultural University, 22(1), 13-16

Green space and child weight status : does outcome measurement matter? Evidence from an Australian longitudinal study

Taren Sanders is supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award. Thomas Astell-Burt is supported by a Fellowship with the National Heart Foundation of Australia.Objective. To examine whether neighbourhood green space is beneficially associated with (i) waist circumference (WC) and (ii) waist-to-height ratio (WtHR) across childhood. Methods. Gender-stratified multilevel linear regressions were used to examine associations between green space and objective measures of weight status in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a nationally representative source of data on 4,423 children aged 6 y to 13 y. WC and WtHR were measured objectively. Percentage green space within the local area of residence was calculated. Effect modification by age was explored, adjusting for socioeconomic confounding. Results. Compared to peers with 0-5% green space locally, boys and girls with >40% green space tended to have lower WC (βboys -1.15, 95% CI -2.44, 0.14; βgirls -0.21, 95% CI -1.47, 1.05) and WtHR (βboys -0.82, 95% CI -1.65, 0.01; βgirls -0.32, 95% CI -1.13, 0.49). Associations among boys were contingent upon age (p valuesage green space40% green space at 73.85 cm and 45.75% compared to those with 0-5% green space at 75.18 cm and 46.62%, respectively. Conclusions. Greener neighbourhoods appear beneficial to alternative child weight status measures, particularly among boys.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

People with multiple unhealthy lifestyles are less likely to consult primary healthcare

BACKGROUND Behavioural interventions are often implemented within primary healthcare settings to prevent type 2 diabetes and other lifestyle-related diseases. Although smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity and poor diet are associated with poorer health that may lead a person to consult a general practitioner (GP), previous work has shown that unhealthy lifestyles cluster among low socioeconomic groups who are less likely to seek primary healthcare. Therefore, it is uncertain whether behavioural interventions in primary healthcare are reaching those in most need. This study investigated patterns of GP consultations in relation to the clustering of unhealthy lifestyles among a large sample of adults aged 45 years and older in New South Wales, Australia. METHODS A total of 267,153 adults participated in the 45 and Up Study between 2006 and 2009, comprising 10% of the equivalent demographic in the state of New South Wales, Australia (response rate: 18%). All consultations with GPs within 6 months prior and post survey completion were identified (with many respondents attending multiple GPs) via linkage to Medicare Australia data. An index of unhealthy lifestyles was constructed from self-report data on adherence to published guidelines on smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and physical activity. Logistic and zero-truncated negative binomial regression models were used to analyse: (i) whether or not a person had at least one GP consultation within the study period; (ii) the count of GP consultations attended by each participant who visited a GP at least once. Analyses were adjusted for measures of health status, socioeconomic circumstances and other confounders. RESULTS After adjustment, participants scoring 7 unhealthy lifestyles were 24% more likely than persons scoring 0 unhealthy lifestyles not to have attended any GP consultation in the 12-month time period. Among those who attended at least one consultation, those with 7 unhealthy lifestyles reported 7% fewer consultations than persons with 0 unhealthy lifestyles. No effect modification was observed. CONCLUSION To optimise the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, interventions for positive behavioural change need to incorporate non-primary healthcare settings in order to reach people with multiple unhealthy lifestyles.The research reported in this paper is a project of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute at the Australian National University, which is supported by a grant from the Australian Government Department of Health

A brief report on Primary Care Service Area catchment geographies in New South Wales Australia

BACKGROUND To develop a method to use survey data to establish catchment areas of primary care or Primary Care Service Areas. Primary Care Service Areas are small areas, the majority of patients resident in which obtain their primary care services from within the geography. METHODS The data are from a large health survey (n =267,153, year 2006-2009) linked to General Practitioner service use data (year 2002-2010) from New South Wales, Australia. Our methods broadly follow those used previously by researchers in the United States of America and Switzerland, with significant modifications to improve robustness. This algorithm allocates post code areas to Primary Care Service Areas that receive the plurality of patient visits from the post code area. RESULTS Consistent with international findings the median Localization Index or the median percentage of patients that obtain their primary care from within a Primary Care Service Area is 55% with localization increasing with rurality. CONCLUSIONS With the additional methodological refinements in this study, Australian Primary Care Service Areas have great potential to be of value to policymakers and researchers

Quantum Correlation Sharing: A Review On Recent Progress From Nonlocality To Other Non-Classical Correlations

This review offers a comprehensive exploration and synthesis of recent advancements in the domain of quantum correlation sharing facilitated through sequential measurements. We initiate our inquiry by delving into the interpretation of the joint probability, laying the foundation for an examination of quantum correlations within the context of specific measurement methods. The subsequent section meticulously explores nonlocal sharing under diverse measurement strategies and scenarios, with a specific focus on investigating the impact of these strategies on the dissemination of quantum nonlocality. Key perspectives such as "asymmetry" and "weak value" are scrutinized through detailed analyses across various scenarios, allowing us to evaluate the potential of nonlocality sharing. We also provide a retrospective overview of experimental endeavors associated with this phenomenon. The third part of our exploration presents research findings on steering sharing, offering clarity on the feasibility of steering sharing and summarizing the distinctive properties of quantum steering sharing in different scenarios. Continuing our journey, the fourth section delves into discussions on the sharing of diverse quantum correlations, encompassing network nonlocality, quantum entanglement, and quantum contextuality. Moving forward, the fifth section conducts a comprehensive review of the progress in the application of quantum correlation sharing, specifically based on sequential measurement strategies. Applications such as quantum random access coding, random number generation, and self-testing tasks are highlighted. Finally, we discuss and list some of the key unresolved issues in this research field, and conclude the entire article