Geopolitics and economic geography: A commentary on Andy Pike’s geographical political economy

The geographical political economy (GPE) proposed by Andy Pike (2020. Coping with deindustrialization in the global North and South. International Journal of Urban Sciences, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/12265934.2020.1730225) and his colleagues offers room for a better understanding of the interaction between politics and industrialization of a region. In this commentary, we argue that the political dimension of GPE should be further emphasized and geopolitics should be taken more seriously. Incorporation of geopolitics can improve GPE in two ways: First, it will help GPE capture variegated pathways and institutions of regional economies, which in turn can help reduce the Anglo-American bias in GPE and economic geography. Secondly, attention to geopolitics is a way to achieve a multi-scalar understanding of the regional economy because geopolitical actions at international scale influences what happnes at national and local scales. With examples from East Asia, where the effects of geopolitics are highly visible, we claim there are at least three ways that geopolitics influence regional industrialization. First, geopolitics change the global economy, which can subsequently predispose regional industrialization; second, a superpower’s geopolitical strategy influences its international economic policy, which can afterwards predispose other nations’ regional industrialization; lastly, a national state sets a geopolitical strategy which then determines regional policy within the nation’s territory

Why are two mistakes not worse than one?:a proposal for controlling the expected number of false claims

Multiplicity is common in clinical studies and the current standard is to use the familywise error rate to ensure that the errors are kept at a prespecified level. In this paper, we will show that, in certain situations, familywise error rate control does not account for all errors made. To counteract this problem, we propose the use of the expected number of false claims (EFC). We will show that a (weighted) Bonferroni approach can be used to control the EFC, discuss how a study that uses the EFC can be powered for co-primary, exchangeable, and hierarchical endpoints, and show how the weight for the weighted Bonferroni test can be determined in this manner

A new mib allele with a chromosomal deletion covering foxc1a exhibits anterior somite specification defect

mibnn2002, found from an allele screen, showed early segmentation defect and severe cell death phenotypes, which are different from previously known mib mutants. Despite distinct morphological phenotypes, the typical mib molecular phenotypes: her4 down-regulation, neurogenic phenotype and cold sensitive dlc expression pattern, still remained. The linkage analysis also indicated that mibnn2002 is a new mib allele. Failure of specification in anterior 7-10 somites is likely due to lack of foxc1a expression in mibnn2002 homozygotes. Somites and somite markers gradually appeared after 7-10 somite stage, suggesting that foxc1a is only essential for the formation of anterior 7-10 somites. Apoptosis began around 16-somite stage with p53 up-regulation. To find the possible links of mib, foxc1a and apoptosis, transcriptome analysis was employed. About 140 genes, including wnt3a, foxc1a and mib, were not detected in the homozygotes. Overexpression of foxc1a mRNA in mibnn2002 homozygotes partially rescued the anterior somite specification. In the process of characterizing mibnn2002 mutation, we integrated the scaffolds containing mib locus into chromosome 2 (or linkage group 2, LG2) based on synteny comparison and transcriptome results. Genomic PCR analysis further supported the conclusion and showed that mibnn2002 has a chromosomal deletion with the size of about 9.6 Mbp.published_or_final_versio

Vitamin D Status and its Association with Morbidity including Wasting and Opportunistic Illnesses in HIV-Infected Women in Tanzania.

Vitamin D has a potential role in preventing HIV-related complications, based on its extensive involvement in immune and metabolic function, including preventing osteoporosis and premature cardiovascular disease. However, this association has not been examined in large studies or in resource-limited settings. Vitamin D levels were assessed in 884 HIV-infected pregnant women at enrollment in a trial of multivitamin supplementation (excluding vitamin D) in Tanzania. Information on HIV related complications was recorded during follow-up (median, 70 months). Proportional hazards models and generalized estimating equations were used to assess the relationship of vitamin D status with these outcomes. Women with low vitamin D status (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D<32 ng/mL) had 43% higher risk of reaching a body mass index (BMI) less than 18 kg/m(2) during the first 2 years of follow-up, compared to women with adequate vitamin D levels (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.43; 95% confidence intervals: [1.03-1.99]). The relationship between continuous vitamin D levels and risk of BMI less than 18 kg/m(2) during follow-up was inverse and linear (p=0.03). Women with low vitamin D levels had significantly higher incidence of acute upper respiratory infections (HR: 1.27 [1.04-1.54]) and thrush (HR: 2.74 [1.29-5.83]) diagnosed during the first 2 years of follow-up. Low vitamin D status was a significant risk factor for wasting and HIV-related complications such as thrush during follow-up in this prospective cohort in Tanzania. If these protective associations are confirmed in randomized trials, vitamin D supplementation could represent a simple and inexpensive method to improve health and quality of life of HIV-infected patients, particularly in resource-limited settings

Health-related quality of life as measured with EQ-5D among populations with and without specific chronic conditions: A population-based survey in Shaanxi province, China

© 2013 Tan et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Introduction: The aim of this study was to examine health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as measured by EQ-5D and to investigate the influence of chronic conditions and other risk factors on HRQoL based on a distributed sample located in Shaanxi Province, China. Methods: A multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method was performed to select subjects. EQ-5D was employed to measure the HRQoL. The likelihood that individuals with selected chronic diseases would report any problem in the EQ-5D dimensions was calculated and tested relative to that of each of the two reference groups. Multivariable linear regression models were used to investigate factors associated with EQ VAS. Results: The most frequently reported problems involved pain/discomfort (8.8%) and anxiety/depression (7.6%). Nearly half of the respondents who reported problems in any of the five dimensions were chronic patients. Higher EQ VAS scores were associated with the male gender, higher level of education, employment, younger age, an urban area of residence, access to free medical service and higher levels of physical activity. Except for anemia, all the selected chronic diseases were indicative of a negative EQ VAS score. The three leading risk factors were cerebrovascular disease, cancer and mental disease. Increases in age, number of chronic conditions and frequency of physical activity were found to have a gradient effect. Conclusion: The results of the present work add to the volume of knowledge regarding population health status in this area, apart from the known health status using mortality and morbidity data. Medical, policy, social and individual attention should be given to the management of chronic diseases and improvement of HRQoL. Longitudinal studies must be performed to monitor changes in HRQoL and to permit evaluation of the outcomes of chronic disease intervention programs. © 2013 Tan et al.National Nature Science Foundation (No. 8107239

Perspectives from deductible plan enrollees: plan knowledge and anticipated care-seeking changes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Consumer directed health care proposes that patients will engage as informed consumers of health care services by sharing in more of their medical costs, often through deductibles. We examined knowledge of deductible plan details among new enrollees, as well as anticipated care-seeking changes in response to the deductible.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a large integrated delivery system with a range of deductible-based health plans which varied in services included or exempted from deductible, we conducted a mixed-method, cross-sectional telephone interview study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among 458 adults newly enrolled in a deductible plan (71% response rate), 51% knew they had a deductible, 26% knew the deductible amount, and 6% knew which medical services were included or exempted from their deductible. After adjusting for respondent characteristics, those with more deductible-applicable services and those with lower self-reported health status were significantly more likely to know they had a deductible. Among those who knew of their deductible, half anticipated that it would cause them to delay or avoid medical care, including avoiding doctor's office visits and medical tests, even services that they believed were medically necessary. Many expressed concern about their costs, anticipating the inability to afford care and expressing the desire to change plans.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Early in their experience with a deductible, patients had limited awareness of the deductible and little knowledge of the details. Many who knew of the deductible reported that it would cause them to delay or avoid seeking care and were concerned about their healthcare costs.</p

Electrostatically gated membrane permeability in inorganic protocells

Although several strategies are now available to produce functional microcompartments analogous to primitive cell-like structures, little progress has been made in generating protocell constructs with self-controlled membrane permeability. Here we describe the preparation of water-dispersible colloidosomes based on silica nanoparticles and delineated by a continuous semipermeable inorganic membrane capable of self-activated, electrostatically gated permeability. We use crosslinking and covalent grafting of a pH-responsive copolymer to generate an ultrathin elastic membrane that exhibits selective release and uptake of small molecules. This behaviour, which depends on the charge of the copolymer coronal layer, serves to trigger enzymatic dephosphorylation reactions specifically within the protocell aqueous interior. This system represents a step towards the design and construction of alternative types of artificial chemical cells and protocell models based on spontaneous processes of inorganic self-organization

Electronic structure and bonding properties of Si-doped hydrogenated amorphous carbon films

[[abstract]]This work investigates the C K-edge x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES), valence-band photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of Si-doped hydrogenated amorphous carbon films. The C K-edge XANES and valence-band PES spectra indicate that the sp2/sp3 population ratio decreases as the amount of tetramethylsilane vapor precursor increases during deposition, which suggest that Si doping% enhances sp3 and reduces sp2-bonding configurations. FTIR spectra show the formation of a polymeric sp3 C–Hn structure and Si–Hn bonds, which causes the Young’s modulus and hardness of the films to decrease with the increase of the Si content.[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙