China's Capital Controls Through the Prism of Covered Interest Differentials

We study the renminbi (RMB) covered interest differential - an indicator of the effectiveness of capital controls. It is found that the differential is not shrinking over time and, in fact, appears larger after the global financial crisis than before. That is, capital controls in China are still substantial and effective. In addition to exchange rate changes and volatilities, the RMB covered interest differential is affected by credit market tightness indicators. The marginal explanatory power of these macroeconomic factors, however, is small relative to the autoregressive component and the dummy variables that capture changes in China's policy

Empirical Study on Conservative and Representative Heuristics of Hong Kong Small Investors Adopting Momentum and Contrarian Trading Strategies

Recently, a new Bayesian approach has been developed to explain some market anomalies. In this paper, we conduct a questionnaire survey to examine whether the theory holds empirically by studying the conservative and representative heuristics by Hong Kong small investors who adopt momentum and/or contrarian trading strategies. In addition, our study provides evidence for the small investors on their time horizon and risk tolerance when facing uncertainty in their investments. Our findings are useful to small investors in their investment decision making and useful to financial advisors in providing service to small investors

Reverse micellar system in protein recovery - a review of the latest developments

Reversed micellar system (RMS) is an innovative technique used for the isolation, extraction and purification of proteins and enzymes. Studies have demonstrated that RMS is an efficient purification technology for extracting proteins and enzymes from natural plant materials or fermentation broth. Lately, reverse micelles have wider biological applications and the ease of scaling up and the possibility for the continuous process have made RMS a vital purification technique in various fields. In this study, an extensive review of RMS with the current application in biotechnology is examined. This review provides insights into the fundamental principles, key variables and parameters of RMS. In addition, a comparative study of RMS with other liquid-liquid extraction techniques is also included. The present review aims to provide a general overview of RMS by summarising the research works, since the introduction of the technology to current development

Retinal microvascular abnormalities and risk of renal failure in Asian populations

10.1371/journal.pone.0118076PLoS ONE102e011807

Fall-related attendance and associated hospitalisation of children and adolescents in Hong Kong: a 12-year retrospective study

Objectives: The present study aimed to examine the trends and characteristics of fall-related attendance in accident and emergency department (AED) by injury type and the trend in associated average length of stay (LOS) among children and adolescents in Hong Kong. Design: A retrospective approach was adopted. Setting: AED, involving all local public emergency departments from 2001 to 2012. Participants: 63 557 subjects aged 0–19 years with fall injury record were included in the analysis. Primary outcome measures: Fall-related injury number and rates were calculated and reported. Poisson and negative binomial regression models were used to study the trends of injury incidence rate at different body regions. Results: AED fall-related attendance rate increased significantly with an annual percentage change of 4.45 (95% CI 3.43 to 5.47%, p<0.0001). The attendance number of male subjects was persistently higher than female subjects. The standardised rate of fracture injury increased by 1.31% (95% CI 0.56 to 2.05%, p<0.0001) and that of non-fracture injury increased by 9.23% (95% CI 7.07 to 11.43%, p<0.0001) annually. Upper limb was the most frequently fractured location. It included forearm/elbow, shoulder/upper arm and wrist/hand with descending order of frequency. On the contrary, head was the most frequent non-fracture location, followed by forearm/elbow. Conclusions: The rates of fall-related attendance have been increasing and still remain high. There were significant increases in non-fracture injuries. Fractures were most frequently found in the upper extremity of a child while the most common non-fracture location was head. It appears that more efforts should be made and preventive measures should be implemented for children and adolescents in Hong Kong

Validation and application of health utilities index in Chinese subjects with down syndrome

Objectives: The objectives of the study were (1) to validate the Chinese version of Health Utilities Index (HUI-Ch); (2) to examine the Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of Chinese subjects with Down syndrome (DS); and (3) to study the impact of chronic health conditions on HRQoL of Chinese with DS. Methods: The multiple choice questionnaire for scoring Health Utilities Index Mark 2 (HUI2) and Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3) was translated and validated. In addition to the HRQoL scores from HUI2 and HUI3, proxy-data on socio-demographics, and 10 common chronic health conditions for people with DS were collected and analyzed. Data analysis involves multiple imputation and multiple regression analysis to predict variations in HRQoL in relation to different factors. Lastly, a gradient interval was constructed on the number of chronic health conditions in relation to HRQoL. Results: HUI-Ch was validated according to standard guidelines. People with DS were found to have a lower HRQoL as compared to the general population, with the majority categorized as moderate or severe on the scale. Behavioral and hearing problems on HUI2, and hearing problems on HUI3 were found to be statistically significant predictors of a lower HRQoL score. A significant gradient relationship existed showing when the number of health problems increased, the HRQoL scores decreased. Conclusions: HUI-Ch is a valid instrument to assess HRQoL. It can have broad application in Chinese subjects with DS including the study of the impact of different chronic health conditions on their quality of life. The quantifiable nature of HUI-Ch will facilitate longitudinal study on the well-being of subjects with DS and evaluation of effectiveness of intervention programs in the near future

Effectiveness of a technology-based injury prevention program for enhancing mothers’ knowledge of child safety: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Provision of anticipatory guidance for parents is recommended as an effective strategy to prevent injuries among young children. Technology-based anticipatory guidance has been suggested to reinforce the effectiveness of injury prevention and improve parents’ knowledge of child safety. Objective: This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a technology-based injury prevention program with parental anticipatory guidance for enhancing mothers’ knowledge of child safety. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 308 mothers will be recruited from the antenatal clinics and postnatal wards of two major public hospitals in Hong Kong. Participating mothers will be randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. Mothers in the intervention group will be given free access to a technology-based injury prevention program with anticipatory guidance, whereas mothers in the control group will be given a relevant booklet on parenting. The injury prevention program, available as a website or on a mobile app, includes behavioral components based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. The primary outcome measure will be the change in the mother’s knowledge of child safety. The secondary outcome measures will be age-appropriate domestic safety knowledge, attitudes, intentions, perceived behavioral control, and self-reported behavior related to home safety practice. We will also determine dose-response relationships between the outcome measures and the website and mobile app usage. Results: Enrolment of participants will begin in October 2016. Results are expected by June 2018. Conclusions: Parents will be able to easily access the domestic injury prevention website to find information regarding child injury prevention. It is anticipated that the technology-based intervention will help parents improve their knowledge of child safety and raise their awareness about the consequences of domestic injuries and the importance of prevention. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02835768; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02835768 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation/6lbXYM6b9)

A multicriteria lifespan energy efficiency approach to intelligent building assessment

This paper presents a multicriteria decision-making model for lifespan energy efficiency assessment of intelligent buildings (IBs). The decision-making model called IBAssessor is developed using an analytic network process (ANP) method and a set of lifespan performance indicators for IBs selected by a new quantitative approach called energy-time consumption index (ETI). In order to improve the quality of decision-making, the authors of this paper make use of previous research achievements including a lifespan sustainable business model, the Asian IB Index, and a number of relevant publications. Practitioners can use the IBAssessor ANP model at different stages of an IB lifespan for either engineering or business oriented assessments. Finally, this paper presents an experimental case study to demonstrate how to use IBAssessor ANP model to solve real-world design tasks