The Rising of Asian Values and the Financial Crisis: The Cases of Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore

Following the recent financial crisis, people are asking why the Asian countries are suffering less in this crisis than their Western counterparts, signalling a highly consequential shift of financial and commercial gravity to the east. This paper is intended to unearth the real merits of ‘Asian values/models’. As former British colonies which still maintain a common law system, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore share some similarities but at the same time have some differences, thereby providing three unique case studies to examine the impacts of the financial crisis on these economies. This paper first offers a brief review of the economic and financial systems of Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Then, it analyses their development of regulatory systems in the financial markets. Afterwards, it moves on to evaluate the impacts of the crisis on their economy including GDP, banking, stock market and trade, followed by their policy and regulatory responses to such crisis. The final part concludes that Asian values as a new model for development have helped the three economies survive in a global financial hurricane

Growth without Institutions? The Case of China

Scholars and policymakers have always been interested in what matters to economic growth. The 'legal origins' hypothesis suggests that legal systems have a long-run impact on patterns of economic growth. Alternatively, it has been suggested that a political economy based explanation may be stronger than the legal origins hypothesis. Indeed, there can be a spectrum of factors which are relevant. This article seeks to present a comprehensive and contextual analysis of these factors in the context of China, with the support of existing empirical evidence. In relation to legal institutions, although gaige kaifang, the twin strategies of reform and opening-up the economy, was initiated in 1978, a formal framework of company, financial and labour laws did not come until around mid-1990s. Moreover, only until mid-2000s, these laws were then revised and polished to international standards. However, the growth of China remained strong amid a fairly long period of ‘institutional void’. This article first offers a brief explanation to the importance of re-considering institutions, especially after the financial crisis. Then, it discusses the role of these institutions in the context of China. One focus will be on the legal institutions in China. Afterwards it goes on to discuss the role of other institutions such as politics, culture, as well as certain professionals. Institutions have constantly been built and fine-tuned in China. Undoubtedly, this will be an on-going process

Portable Sensor for the Detection of Choline and Its Derivatives Based on Silica Isoporous Membrane and Gellified Nanointerfaces

A portable amperometric ion sensor was fabricated by integrating silica isoporous membrane (SIM) and organogel composed of polyvinyl chloride and 1,2-dichloroethane (PVC-DCE) on a 3D-printed polymer chip. The detection of ionic species in aqueous samples could be accomplished by adding a microliter of sample droplet to the sensor and by identifying the ion-transfer potential and current magnitude at the water/organogel interface array templated by SIM. Thanks to the ultrasmall channel size (2–3 nm in diameter), high channel density (4 × 10⁸ μm^–2), and ultrathin thickness (80 nm) of SIM, the ensemble of nanoscopic water/organogel (nano-W/Gel) interface array behaved like a microinterface with two back-to-back hemispherical mass diffusion zones. So, the heterogeneous ion-transfer across the nano-W/Gel interface array generated a steady-state sigmoidal current wave. The detection of choline (Ch) and its derivatives, including acetylcholine (ACh), benzoylcholine (BCh), and atropine (AP), in aqueous samples was examined with this portable sensor. Using differential pulse stripping voltammetry (DPSV), the quantification of these analytes was achieved with a limit of detection (LOD) down to 1 μM. Moreover, the portable ion sensor was insensitive to various potential interferents that might coexist in vivo, owing to size-/charge-based selectivity and antifouling capacity of SIM. With this priority, the portable ion sensor was able to quantitatively determine Ch and its derivatives in diluted urine and blood samples. The LODs for Ch, ACh, AP, and BCh in urine were 1.12, 1.30, 1.08, and 0.99 μM, and those for blood samples were 3.61, 3.38, 2.32, and 1.81 μM, respectively

The location and genetic conservation of the mutations in <i>UBQLN2</i> gene.

<p>(A) Ubiquilin-2 protein indicating structural and functional domains: UBL (ubiquitin-like domain), STI1 (heat-shock-chaperonin binding motif), PXX (proline-rich region) and UBA (ubiquitin-associated domain). Our detected mutations are displayed in red. (B) The conservation of ubiquilin-2 protein in different species. The mutated residues are displayed in red.</p

Biomimetic Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalyzed by Microperoxidase-11 at Liquid/Liquid Interfaces

An investigation of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyzed by microperoxidase-11 (MP-11) at the polarized water/1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) interface is reported. MP-11 contains a heme group covalently bonded to an undecapeptide chain via two thioether bonds of cysteine residues, as in cytochrome <i>c</i> oxidases (C<i>c</i>Os), and has been widely studied as a biomimetic model of C<i>c</i>Os. Herein we demonstrated that MP-11 can adsorb at the water/DCE interface and catalyze the O₂ reduction by lipophilic electron donors, namely tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) and 1,1′-dimethylferrocene (DFc). The overall catalytic ORR corresponds to a proton coupled electron transfer (PCET) reaction and is kinetically controlled by the heterogeneous conversion of MP-11 from ferric (Fe^III-MP-11) to ferrous state (Fe^II-MP-11). Given that a significant amount of H₂O₂ was produced for both electron donors, it indicates that MP-11 has a remarkable impact on the ORR pathway and that MP-11, similar to other mononuclear macrocyclic compounds, cannot selectively catalyze the 4e^–/4H⁺ reduction of O₂ to H₂O. The results also suggest that one should carefully considers the role of Cu site in C<i>c</i>Os and the reaction environment to understand respiratory ORR and to develop more selective catalysts for practical applications (e.g., fuel cells)

Progression-free survival after radiotherapy for recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer.

<p>Progression-free survival after radiotherapy for recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer.</p

Local control after radiotherapy for recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer.

<p>Local control after radiotherapy for recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer.</p

Cox proportional hazard model analysis of variables predicting the overall survival.

<p>Cox proportional hazard model analysis of variables predicting the overall survival.</p

Patient characteristics.

<p>Abbreviations: PALN: Para-aortic lymph nodes; ILN: Inguinal lymph nodes.</p

Disease-free survival after radiotherapy for recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer.

<p>Disease-free survival after radiotherapy for recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer.</p