Domestic savings-driven growth: unveiling internal economic dynamics in China, 1980-2010

It has been commonly believed that economic reforms in the post-Mao Era since 1980 have changed China from autarky to an export-oriented developmental path, accompanied by inward and cheap FDI with advanced foreign technology. This paper challenges this view with quantitative evidence and shows that China’s recent growth has depended heavily on a domestic source of capital coming from newly available household sayings, stemming from (1) state mandatory price control over food as a wage good on the one hand and (2) a fast-growing wage level due to arising labour productivity on the other

To get the prices right for food: a “Gerschenkron state” versus the market in reforming China, 1979–2006

This article provides an empirical assessment of China’s state price policies and strategies in relation to (1) market-rebuilding for the agricultural sector and (2) food security for China.1 It traces main changes in government grain pricing, urban food subsidies, grain procurement and the administrative control over food circulation from 1979 to 2006 in a bid to transfer a non-market economy to a market one, commonly known as the post-Mao reforms

Case Study: Lung transplantation for cystic fibrosis – A complex nutritional setting

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‘Guangzhou: Industrial Road Project’ - Temporary Research Space event

Using Guangzhou’s historic Industrial Road as a case study, the project investigates the transformation of everyday life and landscapes in the Chinese megacity. In the Maoist era, Industrial Road typified the emphasis on the city as a site of collectivized industrial production, with State Owned Enterprises and workers housing compounds, densely packed along the five and a half kilometres stretch of road. Today the factories along Industrial Road have either closed or are being relocated to the expanding outskirts of the city. Traditional workers housing and public spaces associated with the factories are being demolished and replaced by spaces of consumption and luxury apartment complexes. Project researchers will share their work in progress in the form of a Temporary Research Space, designed as an open public forum. Guests will be invited to view or handle some of the materials generated so far, including photographs and video of walks and interviews with project participant Mr Li, a resident of Industrial Road and former shipyard worker. John van Aitken, Jane Brake (IUD) and Dr Huizhen Du (GDUFS) will give short presentations, inviting the audience to participate in a dialogue about what is lost and gained in the process of urban change, which is shaping world cities everywhere. The Industrial Road Project is a collaboration between the Institute of Urban Dreaming (IUD), Salford UK & Dr Du, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), Guangzhou China. Manchester's Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art will host the space and the event. IUD engages in research, practice and interdisciplinary partnerships about housing and planned environments, with a commitment to spatial justice. www.iudblog.or

Machine learning prediction of glioblastoma patient one-year survival

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a grade IV astrocytoma formed primarily from cancerous astrocytes and sustained by intense angiogenesis. GBM often causes non-specific symptoms, creating difficulty for diagnosis. This study aimed to utilize machine learning techniques to provide an accurate one-year survival prognosis for GBM patients using clinical and genomic data from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas. Logistic regression (LR), support vector machines (SVM), random forest (RF), and ensemble models were used to identify and select predictors for GBM survival and to classify patients into those with an overall survival (OS) of less than one year and one year or greater. With regards to overall survival, a significant (p \u3c 0.05, n = 175) correlation was found with age (negative), radiation treatment (positive), and chemotherapy treatment (positive). IDH1 mutation and 1p19q codeletion showed insignificant correlation with OS in this dataset. This potentially implies that IDH1 mutation alone, although important in secondary GBM prognosis, is insignificant for primary GBM prognosis. 1p19q codeletion also appeared to be insignificant for primary GBM prognosis when considered alone. The ensemble model had the highest overall accuracy, achieving a mean AUC score of 0.644 and an F1 score of 0.799

Getting food prices right: the state versus the market in reforming China, 1979–2006

This article examines the Chinese state's food-market-rebuilding policies during its gradual reforms (1979–2006). To this end, we analyse government policies regarding food pricing, subsidies and procurement funds, and construct a policy implementation data set. Our findings indicate that fluctuations in China's food output were unidirectionally caused by the “visible hand” of China's reformist state, which aimed to guide the economy away from an administration-planned economy towards a price-based market system

Molecular characterisation of selected gastrointestinal microbiota in South African HIV-positive patients during HAART

Includes bibliographical references.Progression of the HIV disease is characterised by a massive depletion of CD4+ T cells and it has been shown that patients living with a more advanced HIV infection have a higher risk of developing diarrhoea due to the disruption of the gastrointestinal microbiota caused by either the HIV-infection or the use of antibiotics and drugs such as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). An imbalance in the microbial composition, attributable to a disturbed mucosal barrier, as well as increased permeability and inflammation caused by HIV, can influence the metabolic (carbohydrate fermentation) and protective functions provided by the microbiota. The effect of HIV on the intestinal microbiota has not been widely examined and those studies that have focused on HIV and the gastrointestinal tract, have investigated it mainly from a virological perspective. Consequently, the aim of the study was to ascertain whether the diversity and/or abundance of the endogenous intestinal microbiota of South African HIV-positive patients was disrupted on account of HIV within the gastrointestinal tract. An additional aim was to determine whether the administration of HAART affected the microbiota during a 6 month longitudinal study. The diversity of the intestinal microbial composition was characterised with respect to the total bacteria, Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species using PCR-DGGE. qPCR was used to determine the abundance of total bacteria, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Escherichia coli, the Bacteroides/Prevotella, Clostridium coccoides and Clostridium leptum groups. ... In addition, three potential intestinal pathogens (Clostridium difficile, Campylobacter jejuni and Salmonella enterica) were monitored by qPCR during this period, to determine their prevalence in the HIV-positive patients

Pneumocystis jiroveci and respiratorey bacterial pathogens in cases of pneumonia at hospitals in Port Elizabeth

Pneumocystis jiroveci, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis are respiratory pathogens associated with pneumonia, with increasing prevalence of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) and tuberculosis (TB) in AIDS patients. Increased resistance of M. tuberculosis has emphasized the need for rapid susceptibility testing, such as flow cytometry. Sputum specimens (102) were assessed by PCR employing primers directed at the following genes: P. jiroveci: mitochondrial large subunit ribosomal RNA (mtLSUrRNA), dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), and for M. pneumoniae: 16S rRNA and P1 adhesin. Positive P. jiroveci samples were genotyped by PCR-SSCP (single-strand conformation polymorphism) targeting the: internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), intron of the nuclear 26S rRNA gene (26S), variable region of the mitochondrial 26S rRNA gene (mt26S) and β-tubulin gene (β-tub). Multi-drug resistant (MDR-TB) cultures grown in the presence and absence of four antibiotics (rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol and ofloxacin) were heat killed, stained with SYTO16 and Propidium Iodide and analysed using flow cytometry. Rifampicin resistance gene mutations were screened by PCR and DNA sequencing. Details of patient’s gender, age, HIV and M. tuberculosis status were provided by the hospitals. Women were seen to be at high risk for community-acquired P. jiroveci colonisation. Overall, prevalence of P. jiroveci was 55.1 percent (54/102 patients). P. jiroveci was mainly associated with HIV (25/102 P. jiroveci positive patients for which clinical data was available) and co-colonisation with M. tuberculosis was observed in 11 cases. Sequence analysis of DHPS and DHFR products found no resistance associated mutations. M. pneumoniae was detected in one patient. Four simple SSCP patterns were identified and there were no co-infections with other P. jiroveci strains. Nine M. tuberculosis samples [8 MDR-TB isolates (NHLS) and M. tuberculosis ATCC® 27294TM] were tested. There was a 53 percent (19 out of 36 tests) agreement of flow cytometry with the BACTEC MGIT 960. Mutations (at two specific codons, namely 516 and 531) in the rifampicin resistance-determining region (RRDR) of the rpoB gene were observed in eight M. tuberculosis isolates. Evaluation of methods for genotyping and drug susceptibility testing of PcP and TB are imperative for epidemiology and drug resistance studies, and impact on treatment protocols