Network effects, cooperation and entrepreneurial innovation in China

The rapid rise of an innovative private manufacturing economy in China challenges standard economic explanations of growth, which typically assume the existence of well-defined formal institutions such as property rights and company laws safeguarding investor and creditor interests. We highlight the social structure of cooperation that enables innovative activity in private manufacturing firms when formal property rights protection remains weak. We show how network effects linked to inter-firm cooperation in industrial clusters allowed private entrepreneurs to quickly develop reliable business norms to reduce the inherent risk of malfeasance and contract breach in formal and informal collaborative efforts. Survey data from a sample of 700 manufacturing firms located in China’s Yangzi Delta region confirms that both formal and informal types of inter-firm collaboration are effective, though in different areas of innovative activity

The 9p21 susceptibility locus for coronary artery disease and the severity of coronary atherosclerosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Case-control Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the 9p21 locus as risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD). The locus does not contain a clear candidate gene. Hence, the results of GWAS have raised an intense interest in delineating the basis for the observed association. We analyzed association of 4 SNPs at the 9p21 locus with the severity and progression of coronary atherosclerosis, as determined by serial quantitative coronary angiograms (QCA) in the well-characterized Lipoprotein Coronary Atherosclerosis Study (LCAS) population. The LCAS is a randomized placebo-control longitudinal follow-up study in patients with CAD conducted to test the effects of fluvastatin on progression or regression of coronary atherosclerosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Extensive plasma lipid levels were measured at the baseline and 2 1/2 years after randomization. Likewise serial QCA was performed at the baseline and upon completion of the study. We genotyped the population for 4 SNPs, previously identified as the susceptibility SNPs for CAD in GWAS, using fluorogenic 5' nuclease assays. We reconstructed the haplotypes using Phase 2, analyzed SNP and haplotype effects using the Thesias software as well as by the conventional statistical methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Only Caucasians were included since they comprised 90% of the study population (332/371 with available DNA sample). The 4 SNPs at the 9p21 locus were in tight linkage disequilibrium, leading to 3 common haplotypes in the LCAS population. We found no significant association between quantitative indices of severity of coronary atherosclerosis, such as minimal lumen diameter and number of coronary lesions or occlusions and the 9p21 SNPs and haplotypes. Likewise, there was no association between quantitative indices of progression of coronary atherosclerosis and the SNPs or haplotypes. Similarly, we found no significant SNP or haplotype effect on severity and progression of coronary atherosclerosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude the 4 SNPs at the 9p21 locus analyzed in this study do not impart major effects on the severity or progression of coronary atherosclerosis. The effect size may be very modest or the observed association of the CAD with SNPs at the 9p21 locus in the case-control GWAS reflect involvement of vascular mechanisms not directly related to the severity or progression of coronary atherosclerosis.</p

Confidence and psychosis: a neuro-computational account of contingency learning disruption by NMDA blockade.

A state of pathological uncertainty about environmental regularities might represent a key step in the pathway to psychotic illness. Early psychosis can be investigated in healthy volunteers under ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist. Here, we explored the effects of ketamine on contingency learning using a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover design. During functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants performed an instrumental learning task, in which cue-outcome contingencies were probabilistic and reversed between blocks. Bayesian model comparison indicated that in such an unstable environment, reinforcement learning parameters are downregulated depending on confidence level, an adaptive mechanism that was specifically disrupted by ketamine administration. Drug effects were underpinned by altered neural activity in a fronto-parietal network, which reflected the confidence-based shift to exploitation of learned contingencies. Our findings suggest that an early characteristic of psychosis lies in a persistent doubt that undermines the stabilization of behavioral policy resulting in a failure to exploit regularities in the environment.FV was supported by the Groupe Pasteur Mutualité. RG was supported by the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale and the Fondation Bettencourt Schueller. SP is supported by a Marie Curie Intra-European fellowship (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF). AF was supported by National Health and Medical Research Council grants (IDs : 1050504 and 1066779) and an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (ID: FT130100589). This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust and the Bernard Wolfe Health Neuroscience Fund.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/mp.2015.7

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

Comparison of fatal traumatic medico-legal cases with postmortem computed tomography and autopsy: A pilot study in Taiwan

In order to determine the performance of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) in identifying traumatic-relevant macroscopic findings in medico-legal cases, this retrospective observational pilot study involving nine trauma casualties who had received PMCT prior to autopsy. The comparison of these findings in six anatomical regions as dictated in Injury Severity Score (ISS) were performed. 104 traumatic-relevant findings were identified with achievement of 51% congruent findings. PMCT and autopsy had additionally found 22 and 29 findings respectively. PMCT had highest sensitivity for extremity injury (81.82%), followed by chest (73.91%), head, neck and face (71.43%), and abdomino-pelvic area (50%). It had excellent detection rate in abnormal air collection, fracture, foreign body localization, internal ballistic and intracranial pathology. However, the solid organ and vascular injuries as well as integumentary lesions were the major drawback. In conclusion, incorporation of PMCT to autopsy in medico-legal investigation helps to preserve the most abundant traumatic-relevant injuries compared to either modality

A Revision of the Ebebaceae in Taiwan

This study was investigated on the taxonomy of Ebenaceae in Taiwan by classical mathematical taxonomy. The results of the study were summarized as follows: According to the study, Ebenaceae in Taiwan was classified into one genera with ten species and variety. They are Diospyros eriantha Champ. ex Benth.、 D. philippensis (Desr.) Gürke、D. egbert-walkeri Kostermans、D. lotus L.、D. kotoensis Yamazaki、 D. maritima Blume、 D. morrisiana Hance、D. oldhamii Maxim. 、 D. rhombifolia Hemsl. 、D. vaccinioides Lindl. var. fengchangensis (S. Y. Lu) T. Y. Hsieh, comb. nov. The results of the mathematical taxonomy, based on the morphologicl characters were corresponding with the classificaton of the classical taxonomy of Ebenaceae. Besides the characteristic descriptions of the genera and species for Ebenaceae , an analytical key , synonym and description for all species were presented in this research . This study could be a useful indication for the taxonomy of Ebenaceae in Taiwan.本研究利用OUT(Operational taxonomic unit)數據分類及傳統的性狀形態分類法，探討台灣產柿樹科植物之分類問題，並與台灣鄰近地區(包括日本、中國大陸等東亞地區為主)所產的主要近緣種類做詳細比較，所得結果如下： 台灣原產柿樹科植物可處理為山豆柿Diospyros. lotus L、俄氏柿D. oldhamii Max.、楓港柿D. vaccinioides Lindl. var. fengchangnsis (S. Y. Lu)、黃心柿D. maritima Blume、菲律賓柿D. phipippensis (Dear.) Gürke、山紅柿D. morisiana Hance、軟毛柿D. eriantha Champ. ex Benth.、蘭嶼柿D. kotoensis Yamazaki、象牙柿D. egbert-wealkeri Kostermans、老鴉柿D. rhombifolia Hemsl等共10個分類群。 本科植物依其外部形態所表現之性狀特徵，經數據化分析計算後，所得之性狀相似性樹形圖及相似指數矩陣與傳統分類法所得之研究結果大致相符，可印證本植物各分類群之關係

Taking the aggravation out of data aggregation: A conceptual guide to dealing with statistical issues related to the pooling of individual-level observational data

Field data often include multiple observations taken from the same individual. In order to avoid pseudoreplication, it is commonplace to aggregate data, generating a mean score per individual, and then using these aggregated data in subsequent analyses. Aggregation, however, can generate problems of its own. Not only does it lead to a loss of information, it can also leave analyses vulnerable to the “ecological fallacy”: the drawing of false inferences about individual behavior on the basis of population level (“ecological”) data. It can also result in Simpson's paradox, where relationships seen at the individual level can be completely reversed when analyzed at the aggregate level. These phenomena have been documented widely in the medical and social sciences but tend to go unremarked in primatological studies that rely on observational data from the field. Here, we provide a conceptual guide that explains how and why aggregate data are vulnerable to the ecological fallacy and Simpson's paradox, illustrating these points using data on baboons. We then discuss one particular analytical approach, namely multi-level modeling, that can potentially eliminate these problems. By highlighting the issue of the ecological fallacy, and increasing awareness of how datasets are often organized into a number of different levels, we also highlight the manner in which researchers can more positively exploit the structure of their datasets, without any information loss. These analytical approaches may thus provide greater insight into behavior by permitting more thorough investigation of interactions and cross-level effects