State monopoly, Chinese style : a case study of the tobacco industry

Adopting a historical institutionalist approach, this study focuses on the tobacco industry as a case study to explore why competition would happen in this state-monopoly regime from its outset and how it evolved during the past three decades in China. I argue that the emergence of competition in the tobacco state monopoly resulted from a particular industrial governance pattern, which formed up incrementally and became strengthened via interactions between local governments and the local agents of China’s National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC). As the institutional settings where local governments and the CNTC’s local agents were embedded changed, the governance pattern and the resulting competition type continually transformed over three distinctive phases: quasi-free competition under the two-track system (1982-1993), restrained competition under prevalent local protectionism (1994-2004), and quasi-oligopoly competition under the central-led competitive monopoly (2005-2012). Tracing the development of the three phases discloses not only how local governments have already become the de facto agents for serving the CNTC but also how this circumstance has indirectly strengthened the control capacity of the monopoly, thus reinforcing and intensifying state control and the competition alike. The “state monopoly, Chinese style” was thus formed in this context.the KNAW China Exchange Program (the Netherlands), the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, the Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and the Ministry of Education (Taiwan)Asian Studie

A Petri net simulation model for virtual construction of earthmoving operations

A common and extended Petri net simulation framework for virtual construction of earthmoving operations is developed to simulate dynamic changes of workflow and information flow in the earthmoving construction process and illustrate the constraint relationship between various operational equipment and construction restrictions. The proposed framework considers factors that influence earthmoving operations including randomness of construction activities, individual preference of equipment scheduling, and constraint relationship between equipment and construction environment. With the given equipment availability and project indirect cost, the framework can predict construction situation, equipment utilization rate, estimated duration and cost to achieve visualized and intelligent scheduling of virtual construction process in earthmoving operations. The simulation process is conducted on the CPNTools platform. The data required by the research were collected on-site in an actual case. The randomness of construction activities in earthmoving operations and main factors influencing construction are simulated. The sensitivity analysis for the model is carried out. The study will provide technical support and a management basis for equipment scheduling of earthmoving operations

Leaf Extracts of Calocedrus formosana (Florin) Induce G2/M Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Bladder Cancer Cells

Calocedrus formosana (Florin) bark acetone/ethylacetate extracts are known to exert an antitumor effect on some human cancer cell lines, but the mechanism is yet to be defined. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Florin leaf methanol extracts on the growth and apoptosis of human bladder cancer cell lines. MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay showed that the growth of these bladder cancer cells was potently inhibited by the Florin leaf extracts. The cell cycle of these extract-treated cells (TCCSUP cells) was arrested at the G2/M phase as determined by flow cytometry. Western blot analysis revealed the increases of cyclin B1 and Cdc2 kinase levels, alone with the decrease of phosphorylated Cdc2 kinase, after treating these cells with the extracts. An immunofluorescence assessment of β-tubulin showed decreased levels of polymerized tubulin in treated cells. However, the proteolytic cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase and the activation of caspase-3/-8/-9 were all increased upon treatments of extracts. The concurrent increase of Bax and decrease of Bcl-2 levels indicated that the extracts could induce apoptosis in these treated cells. Taken together, these results suggest that the Florin leaf extracts may be an effective antibladder cancer agent

Co-existence of lung carcinoma metastasis and enchondroma in the femur of a patient with Ollier disease

Tumour-to-tumour metastasis is very unusual and has been defined as a tumour metastasis into another histologically different tumour. It is extremely rare in bone. We report a case of lung squamous cell carcinoma metastasized to an enchondroma in the femur of a patient with Ollier disease. A 60-year-old female had a history of a poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. She underwent a video-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy, and a follow-up MRI scan showed three lesions in the left distal femur and proximal tibia, which were initially interpreted as metastasis on radiology. Resection of the left proximal tibial lesion was performed, and the pathological findings were consistent with enchondroma with no evidence of metastasis. Subsequent curettage of lesions in the distal left femur revealed metastatic poorly differentiated carcinoma with foci of hyaline cartilage, which was most consistent with metastatic carcinoma in a pre-existing enchondroma. The MRI films were re-reviewed. Characteristic MRI features of enchondroma were found in the lesion in the left proximal tibia and one of the lesions in the left distal femur, while the features of the other lesion in the left distal femur included cortical destruction and extensive oedema in surrounding soft tissue, which were consistent with a malignant tumour. In addition, the enchondroma in the lateral condyle showed blurring and irregular inner margin and adjacent bone oedema, which likely represents a co-existing metastatic tumour and enchondroma. The difference in lineage was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. The final diagnosis was metastatic poorly differentiated carcinoma of the lung into a co-existent enchondroma. The diagnosis can be challenging and could be easily overlooked both radiologically and histologically. Thorough clinical and radiological information is critical for the diagnosis, and despite a very unusual event, awareness of the tumour-to-tumour metastasis phenomenon can avoid an inaccurate diagnosis by the pathologist, therefore preventing inappropriate clinical intervention

Quantum Ferromagnetism and Phase Transitions in Double-Layer Quantum Hall Systems

Double layer quantum Hall systems have interesting properties associated with interlayer correlations. At $\nu =1/m$ where $m$ is an odd integer they exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking equivalent to that of spin $1/2$ easy-plane ferromagnets, with the layer degree of freedom playing the role of spin. We explore the rich variety of quantum and finite temperature phase transitions in these systems. In particular, we show that a magnetic field oriented parallel to the layers induces a highly collective commensurate-incommensurate phase transition in the magnetic order.Comment: 4 pages, REVTEX 3.0, IUCM93-013, 1 FIGURE, hardcopy available from: [email protected]

Prognostic Value of Exercise Capacity in Kidney Transplant Candidates

BACKGROUND: Exercise stress testing for cardiovascular assessment in kidney transplant candidates has been shown to be a feasible alternative to pharmacologic methods. Exercise stress testing allows the additional assessment of exercise capacity, which may have prognostic value for long-term cardiovascular outcomes in pre-transplant recipients. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of exercise capacity on long-term cardiovascular outcomes in kidney transplant candidates. METHODS AND RESULTS: We retrospectively evaluated exercise capacity in 898 consecutive kidney transplant candidates between 2013 and 2020 who underwent symptom-limited exercise stress echocardiography for pre-transplant cardiovascular assessment. Exercise capacity was measured by age-and sex-predicted metabolic equivalents (METs). The primary outcome was incident major adverse cardiovascular events, defined as cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and stroke. Cox proportional hazard multivariable modeling was performed to define major adverse cardiovascular events predictors with transplantation treated as a time-varying covariate. A total of 429 patients (48%) achieved predicted METs. During follow-up, 93 (10%) developed major adverse cardiovascular events and 525 (58%) underwent transplantation. Achievement of predicted METs was independently associated with reduced major adverse cardiovascular events (hazard ratio [HR] 0.49; [95% CI 0.29–0.82], P=0.007), as was transplantation (HR, 0.52; [95% CI 0.30–0.91], P=0.02). Patients achieving predicted METs on pre-transplant exercise stress echocardiography had favorable outcomes that were independent (HR, 0.78; [95% CI 0.32–1.92], P=0.59) and of similar magnitude to subsequent transplantation (HR, 0.97; [95% CI 0.42–2.25], P=0.95). CONCLUSIONS: Achievement of predicted METs on pre-transplant exercise stress echocardiography confers excellent prognosis independent of and of similar magnitude to subsequent kidney transplantation. Future studies should assess the benefit on exercise training in this population.Sean Tan, MBBS, Yi Wen Thang, MBBS, William R. Mulley, BMed, PhD, Kevan R. Polkinghorne, MBChB, PhD, Satish Ramkumar, MBBS, PhD, Kevin Cheng, MBBS, Jasmine Chan, BSc, MBBS, John Galligan, MBBS, Mark Nolan, MBBS, PhD, Adam J. Brown, BSc, MB BChir, PhD, Stuart Moir, MBBS, PhD, James D. Cameron, MD, MEngSc, Stephen J. Nicholls, MBBS, PhD, Philip M. Mottram, MBBS, PhD, Nitesh Nerlekar, MBBS, MPH, Ph

Analysis of the X(1835) and related baryonium states with Bethe-Salpeter equation

In this article, we study the mass spectrum of the baryon-antibaryon bound states $p\bar{p}$, $\Sigma\bar{\Sigma}$, $\Xi\bar{\Xi}$, $\Lambda\bar{\Lambda}$, $p\bar{N}(1440)$, $\Sigma\bar{\Sigma}(1660)$, $\Xi\bar{\Xi}^\prime$ and $\Lambda\bar{\Lambda}(1600)$ with the Bethe-Salpeter equation. The numerical results indicate that the $p\bar{p}$, $\Sigma\bar{\Sigma}$, $\Xi\bar{\Xi}$, $p\bar{N}(1440)$, $\Sigma\bar{\Sigma}(1660)$, $\Xi\bar{\Xi}^\prime$ bound states maybe exist, and the new resonances X(1835) and X(2370) can be tentatively identified as the $p\bar{p}$ and $p\bar{N}(1440)$ (or $N(1400)\bar{p}$) bound states respectively with some gluon constituents, and the new resonance X(2120) may be a pseudoscalar glueball. On the other hand, the Regge trajectory favors identifying the X(1835), X(2120) and X(2370) as the excited $\eta^\prime(958)$ mesons with the radial quantum numbers $n=3$, 4 and 5, respectively.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, revise a numbe

Search for leptophobic Z ' bosons decaying into four-lepton final states in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe