A Framework for Monitoring Capital Flows in Hong Kong

In this paper we attempt to delineate conceptual issues relating to the definition of capital flows, and introduce a framework that organises survey data and accounting information at different time horizons to form a judgment on the nature and scale of fund flows in Hong Kong. Given the complexity of international financial transactions in Hong Kong, cross-border capital flows may not correspond closely to fund flows into and out of the Hong Kong dollar. A comprehensive view on the scale and nature of capital flows in Hong Kong requires the joint analysis of both monetary and Balance of Payments statistics, in addition to information gathered through market intelligence. We then apply the monitoring framework to analyse four episodes of large fund flows between 2003 and mid-2009.Capital flows; Fund flows; Hong Kong; Balance of Payments; External claims and liabilities of banks; Monetary Survey

Gene Therapy with Helper-Dependent Adenoviral Vectors: Current Advances and Future Perspectives

Recombinant Adenoviral vectors represent one of the best gene transfer platforms due to their ability to efficiently transduce a wide range of quiescent and proliferating cell types from various tissues and species. The activation of an adaptive immune response against the transduced cells is one of the major drawbacks of first generation Adenovirus vectors and has been overcome by the latest generation of recombinant Adenovirus, the Helper-Dependent Adenoviral (HDAd) vectors. HDAds have innovative features including the complete absence of viral coding sequences and the ability to mediate high level transgene expression with negligible chronic toxicity. This review summarizes the many aspects of HDAd biology and structure with a major focus on in vivo gene therapy application and with an emphasis on the unsolved issues that these vectors still presents toward clinical application

Multi-Stream Saline-Jet Dissection Using a Simple Irrigation System Defines Difficult Tissue Planes

A readily available, low-cost technology is described to assist in dissecting difficult tissue planes

An integrated approach towards revenue management

"This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Journal of Revenue & Pricing Management, July 2008, pp. 185-95 is available online at: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/rpm/index.html" Embargo until February 2010.This paper argues that advanced demand exhibit three characteristics — that of being probabilistic, stochastic and deterministic. Deterministic demand results in revenue management practices being cross-functional. The paper proposes a new revenue management system that integrates four decision sets of the firm: the value set, the segmentation set, the sensitivity set and the forecasting set. An integrated revenue management system also links the concept of capacity to the attributes promised by the firm to the customer. The paper then proposes that service firms that do not sell 'unitised' services such as seats or rooms have to define and capture its amorphous capacity and through capacity limitation, create advanced demand and practice strategic revenue management

Dietary supplement use is related to doping intention via doping attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control.

The use of dietary supplements (e.g., caffeine, creatine, dietary nitrate) has shown to be related to the intention to dope (e.g., amphetamines, anabolic steroids, erythropoietin). In this study, we integrated elements of the theory of planned behaviour to better understand the relationship between dietary supplement use and doping intention. Specifically, we tested whether dietary supplement use is indirectly related to doping via doping attitudes, doping subjective norms, and doping perceived behavioural control. Competitive athletes (N = 443; 46 % female, age = 27.0 ± 8.6 years old, years competing = 8.3 ± 3.5) completed measures of dietary supplement use, doping attitudes, doping subjective norms, doping perceived behavioural control, and doping intention. Parallel mediation analysis indicated that dietary supplement use was not directly related to doping intention, but instead was indirectly related via doping attitudes (effect size = 0.15), doping subjective norms (effect size = 0.17), and doping perceived behavioural control (effect size = 0.15). Contrast analyses reported no differences between each indirect effect. Our results suggest that athletes who use dietary supplements report stronger intentions to dope, which is related to more favourable doping attitudes, a greater social pressure to dope, and a perceived ease in which to dope

Availability and utilisation of physician-based pre-hospital critical care support to the NHS ambulance service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Background: Every day throughout the UK, ambulance services seek medical assistance in providing critically ill or injured patients with pre-hospital care. Objective: To identify the current availability and utilisation of physician-based pre-hospital critical care capability across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Design: A postal and telephone survey was undertaken between April and December 2009 of all 13 regional NHS ambulance services, 17 air ambulance charities, 34 organisations affiliated to the British Association for Immediate Care and 215 type 1 emergency departments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The survey focused on the availability and use of physician-basedpre-hospital critical care support. Results: The response rate was 100%. Although nine NHS ambulance services recorded physician attendance at 6155 incidents, few could quantify doctor availability and utilisation. All but one of the British Association for Immediate Care organisations deployed ‘only when available’ and only 45% of active doctors could provide critical care support. Eleven air ambulance services (65%) operated with a doctor but only 5 (29%) operated 7 days a week. Fifty-nine EDs (27%) had a pre-hospital team but only 5 (2%) had 24 h deployable critical care capability and none were used regularly. Conclusion: There is wide geographical and diurnal variability in availability and utilisation of physician-based pre-hospital critical care support. Only London ambulance service has access to NHS-commissioned 24 h physician-based pre-hospital critical care support. Throughout the rest of the UK, extensive use is made of volunteer doctors and charity sector providers of varying availability and capability

Disentangling the effects of farmland use, habitat edges, and vegetation structure on ground beetle morphological traits

Land-use change due to agriculture has a major influence on arthropod biodiversity, and may influence species differently depending on their traits. It is unclear how species traits vary across different land uses and their edges, with most studies focussing on single habitat types and overlooking edge effects. We examined variation in morphological traits of carabid beetles (Coleoptera:Carabidae) on both sides of edges between woodlands and four adjoining, but contrasting farmland uses in an agricultural landscape. We asked: (1) how do traits differ between woodlands and different adjoining farmland uses (crop, fallow, restoration planting, and woody debris applied over crop), and do effects depend on increasing distances from the farmland–woodland edge? (2) Does vegetation structure explain observed effects of adjoining farmland use and edge effects on these traits? We found that carabid communities varied in body size and shape, including traits associated with diet, robustness, and visual ability. Smaller sized species were associated with woodlands and larger sized species with farmlands. Farmland use further influenced these associations, where woodlands adjoining plantings supported smaller species, while fallows and crops supported larger species. Vegetation structure significantly influenced body size, flying ability, and body shape, and helped explain the effects of farmland use and distance from edges on body size. We highlight the important role of vegetation structure, farmland use, and edge effects in filtering the morphological traits of carabid assemblages across a highly modified agricultural landscape. Our findings suggest that farmland management can influence body size and dispersal-related traits in farmland and adjacent native vegetation. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Philip Barton” is provided in this record*