bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cost Distortions and Structural Imbalances in China
Authors: Huang Yiping , Wang Bijun 
Published: July 2010

AbstractThis paper attempts to explain the fundamental cause of China's growing imbalance problems. Economic data confirm that the key structural imbalance problems, such as overinvestment, large current account surpluses, low consumption share of GDP and income inequality, have all deteriorated over the past few years, despite continuous policy efforts to correct these problems. We argue that the key determining factor is repressed factor cost, which is associated with heavily distorted markets for labor, capital, land, resources and the environment. These are like implicit subsidies for producers, investors and exporters. They boost growth and, at the same time, lift investment and exports. Previous policy efforts have focused more on administrative measures, which have not been sustainable. Therefore, a more fundamental solution to the imbalance problem lies in completing market‐oriented reforms for production factors and allowing free markets to determine prices of labor, capital, land and resources.
China's Export‐led Growth Strategy: An International Comparison
Authors: Xu Yingfeng 
Published: July 2010

AbstractA pressing challenge for China is determining where to accommodate millions of migrant workers displaced by the closing of many export‐oriented factories. The current global financial crisis has exposed the fragility of the export‐led growth strategy China has adopted over the past 30 years. Is there a better alternative for providing non‐agricultural jobs than the sweatshops of cheap export production? In the present paper, international experience is reviewed to shed light on China's situation. Using pooled regression models, we analyze data from the World Bank for 209 economies. We investigate the experience of other economies to answer the following questions: What is the common process of expanding the non‐agricultural economy? How is that process affected by the level of the real exchange rate? Is export production a common way of absorbing surplus rural labor? Finally, what are the ways that domestic demand and service employment can be expanded?
Is the Export‐led Growth Hypothesis Enough to Account for China's Growth?
Authors: Herrerias María Jesús , Orts Vicente 
Published: July 2010

AbstractOne of the missing pieces preventing us from understanding recent Chinese economic development is the role played by openness and capital accumulation in this process. The question is whether the sharp economic growth that the Chinese economy has experienced is another case of export‐led growth due to the open‐door policy or whether, on the contrary, this growth has been caused by high domestic savings and investment rates (and the consequent capital accumulation). To answer this question, we employed an empirical framework of the cointegrated vector autoregressive model. The empirical results show that both investment (in physical capital and R&D) and exports, as well as the exchange rate policy, are relevant factors in explaining China's long‐run economic growth over the past 4 decades.
What Caused the Sharp Downturn in the Chinese Economy during the Global Financial Crisis? A Critical Note on Causality in Trade Linkage
Authors: He Liping , Fan Gang , Yang Panpan 
Published: July 2010

AbstractIn responding to a view that attributes sharp downturns in the Chinese economy in late 2008 and early 2009 to the “collapse of external demand,” the present paper scrutinizes three relevant issues: How have large Chinese importers behaved in a demand‐price setting? How have Chinese commodity imports and exports interacted in recent years? Did the downturns in China's export growth come earlier and were they deeper than those in Chinese import growth? All answers appear to suggest a conclusion contrary to the abovementioned view: sharp downturns in China's trade and economy during the recent global financial crisis were, to a large extent, caused by certain domestic factors, or by factors that should not be regarded as entirely “external.” Insomuch as globalization has advanced, a large economy like China's today faces new potential sources of macroeconomic disturbances, from inside and outside.
Global Rebalancing and the Future of the Sino—US Codependency
Authors: Bonatti Luigi , Fracasso Andrea 
Published: July 2010

AbstractThe crisis of 2008 has shown the unsustainability of the global imbalances centered on the US—China symbiotic relationship that characterized the previous decade. This has revived the so‐called growth—rebalancing debate. In particular, the new emerging consensus calls for a re‐orientation of the US economy away from consumption and toward exports, and for policy shifts that can help China to reduce its dependence on external demand and inefficiently high rates of capital accumulation. We discuss the economic and political feasibility of the proposed patterns of re‐adjustment by focusing on the short‐term and long‐term trade‐offs faced by the policy‐makers. We argue that the rebalancing will be gradual and partial because of the costs associated with a radical shift in the growth models adopted by both countries. We believe that this scenario will be consistent with a world economy expanding at lower rates than over the past decade.
A mismatch of scales: challenges in planning for implementation of marine protected areas in the Coral Triangle
Authors: Mills Morena , Pressey Robert L. , Weeks Rebecca , Foale Simon , Ban Natalie C. 
Published: July 2010

AbstractRegional systematic conservation planning is an effective approach to marine protected area (MPA) network design, ensuring complementarity, and functional connectivity of areas. However, regional planning and local conservation actions do not properly inform one another. One outcome is the failure of regional designs to guide conservation actions. Another is that site‐based MPAs constitute collections rather than functional systems for marine conservation. Understanding decisions related to spatial scale in conservation planning is essential for the development of ecologically functional networks of MPAs. Decisions about scale require that planners address trade‐offs between the respective advantages and limitations of different considerations in several parts of the planning process. We provide the first comprehensive review of decisions about spatial scale that influence planning outcomes. We illustrate these decisions and the trade‐offs involved with planning exercises undertaken in the Coral Triangle. We provide a framework in which decisions about spatial scale can be made explicit and investigated further. The framework helps to link theory and application in conservation planning, facilitates learning, and promotes the application of conservation actions that are both regionally and locally significant.
Linking site and regional scales of biodiversity assessment for delivery of conservation incentive payments
Authors: Seddon Julian A. , Barratt Thomas W. , Love Jamie , Drielsma Michael , Briggs Sue V. , Gibbons Phil , Ferrier Simon 
Published: July 2010

AbstractWe compared seven scenarios for selecting incentive proposals, and evaluated their contribution to regional conservation outcomes. Scenarios ranged from strategic site assessment where proposals were ranked on scores from site‐scale data and a priori regional value to systematic regional assessment with selection of proposals using optimization algorithms. The selection scenarios were simulated using proposals from a conservation investment program in South‐eastern Australia. All selection scenarios provided a positive gain in biodiversity compared with selecting no proposals. Regional assessments provided ∼4% gain in the biodiversity index over site assessments. The performance of scenarios using optimization was similar to scenarios using rankings. A framework for integrating site and regional approaches for selecting proposals for conservation management is proposed, where proposals are assessed on their contribution to regional biodiversity outcomes rather than just on the comparative gain in biodiversity at the site, and regional conservation priorities are updated between rounds of incentive programs.
Somatostatin receptor activation (sst1–sst5) differentially influences human retinal pigment epithelium cell viability
Authors: Papadaki Thekla , Tsilimbaris Miltiadis , Pallikaris Ioannis , Thermos Kyriaki 
Published: July 2010

Abstract.Purpose:  To investigate the differential effects of somatostatin and its receptors (sst1–5) on the viability of cultured human retinal pigment epithelium (hRPE) cells.Methods:  MTT [3 (4, 5‐dimethylthiazol‐2yl)‐2, 5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide], APO PercentageTM and trypan blue assays were performed to assess the mechanisms via which somatostatin (10−10–10−4 m) and selective receptor (sst1–5) ligands (10−12–10−4 m) affect cell viability. The effect of orthovanadate (phosphatase inhibitor, 10−7–10−5 m) on somatostatin’s (10−5 m) actions was examined, and western blot analysis was employed to determine the presence of ssts and phosphotyrosine phosphatase SHP‐1 in human RPE cells.Results:  Somatostatin and selective ligands for the five somatostatin receptor subtypes (sst1–5) decreased cell viability in a concentration‐dependent manner. The observed decrease in cell number was partly because of apoptosis via the activation of sst1 and sst5 receptors. Activation of sst2, sst3 and sst4 receptors led to inhibition of cell growth that did not involve apoptosis, but rather antiproliferative actions. SHP‐1 was found in the human RPE cells and sodium orthovanadate reversed somatostatin’s actions.Conclusions:  This study provides new information regarding the involvement of ssts in human RPE cell viability and suggests that a pathway involving the phosphotyrosine phosphatase may mediate somatostatin’s actions.
Elevated levels of anti‐endotoxin antibodies in patients with bilateral idiopathic acute anterior uveitis
Authors: Misiuk‐Hojło Marta , Międzybrodzki Ryszard , Grzybowski Andrzej , Ługowski Czesław , Niedziela Tomasz , Turno‐Kręcicka Anna , Szymaniec Stanisław 
Published: July 2010

Abstract.Purpose: Endotoxins have been proved to be responsible for acute anterior uveitis (AAU) in animals in a well‐established experimental model of endotoxin‐induced uveitis (EIU). The purpose of our study was the detection of antibodies against endotoxins of selected enterobacteria in the serum of patients with idiopathic AAU and searching for correlations between the levels of these antibodies and the presence of HLA‐B27 antigen as well as characteristic signs of EIU such as bilaterality and the absence of spontaneous recurrences of the disease.Methods: Reactions of serum IgG antibodies with lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) ofEscherichia coliO1,E. coliO10,E. coliO111,E. coliJ5, andKlebsiella pneumoniaeO3 were determined for 60 patients with idiopathic AAU and 40 healthy volunteers. The presence of HLA‐B27 antigen in patients was determined. Documentation of the frequency of recurrences of AAU during a follow‐up period of 8 years was collected.Results: We have observed that the sera of patients with a first attack of AAU reacted stronger with the LPS ofK. pneumoniaeO3 than the sera of patients with relapse of the disease. Patients with bilateral AAU had markedly higher levels of antibodies against four of the five used LPSs than patients with one eye involved. A multiply comparison showed higher levels of IgG reacting with LPS ofE. coliO111 in patients with bilateral eye inflammation admitted with the first attack of AAU comparing to controls. The incidence of recurrent form of AAU was significantly increased in HLA‐B27‐positive patients compared to HLA‐B27‐negative patients. However, we found in HLA‐B27 carriers that those with the bilateral form of AAU had over three times smaller risk of recurrence and showed stronger immunization by endotoxins than patients with unilateral inflammation.Conclusion: Our results suggest a potential role of endotoxins in the aetiology of the nonrecurrent bilateral form of AAU. We suggest that not only HLA‐B27 status but also determination of number of involved eyes may be useful to assess the risk of recurrence of the idiopathic AAU.
The Role of Dopamine in Symptoms and Treatment of Apathy in Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Mitchell Robert A. , Herrmann Nathan , Lanctôt Krista L. 
Published: July 2010

SUMMARYBackground:Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a number of serious and debilitating behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). The most common of these BPSD is apathy, which represents a major source of morbidity and premature institutionalization in the AD population. Many studies have identified discrete changes to the dopaminergic (DAergic) system in patients with AD. The DAergic system is closely related to the brain reward system (BRS) and some studies have suggested that dysfunction in the DAergic system may account for symptoms of apathy in the AD population.Method:Changes to the dopamine (DA) system in AD will be reviewed, and evidence supporting the involvement of the DAergic system in the development of apathy will be examined. Additionally, some pharmacological interventions with DA activity have been identified. The utility of these treatments in the AD population will be reviewed, with a focus on apathy as an outcome.Results:Evidence presented in this review suggests that DA dysfunction in discrete brain areas is an important correlate of apathy in AD and that the DAergic system may be a rational target for pharmacological treatment of apathy.
A generic geometric calibration method for tomographic imaging systems with flat‐panel detectors—A detailed implementation guide
Authors: Li Xinhua , Zhang Da , Liu Bob 
Published: July 2010

PurposeTo present a generic geometric calibration method for tomographic imaging systems with flat‐panel detectors in a very detailed manner, in the aim to provide a useful tool to the public domain.MethodsThe method is based on a projection matrix which represents a mapping from 3D object coordinate system to 2D projection image plane. The projection matrix can be determined experimentally through the imaging of a phantom of known marker geometry. Accurate implementation was accomplished through direct computation algorithms, including a novel ellipse fitting using singular value decomposition and data normalization. Benefits of the method include: (1) It is capable of being applied to systems of different scan trajectories, source‐detector alignments, and detector orientations; (2) projection matrices can be utilized in image reconstructions or in the extraction of explicit geometrical parameters; and (3) the method imposes minimal limits on the design of calibration phantom. C++ programs that calculate projection matrices and extract geometric parameters from them are also provided. For validation, the calibration method was applied to the computer simulation of a cone‐beam CT system, as well as to three tomosynthesis prototypes of different source‐detector movement patterns: Source and detector rotating synchronizedly; source rotating and detector wobbling; and source rotating and detector staying stationary.ResultsProjection matrices were computed on a view by view basis. Geometric parameters extracted from projection matrices were consistent with actual settings. Images were reconstructed by directly using projection matrices, and were compared to virtual Shepp–Logan image for CT simulation and to central projection images of CIRS breast phantoms for tomosynthesis prototypes. They showed no obvious distortion or blurring, indicating the high quality of geometric calibration results. When the computed central ray offsets were perturbed with Gaussian noises of 1 pixel standard deviation, the reconstructed image showed apparent distortion, which further demonstrated the accuracy of the geometric calibration method.ConclusionsThe method is suitable for tomographic imaging systems with flat‐panel detectors.
The energy dependence of lithium formate and alanine EPR dosimeters for medium energy x rays
Authors: Waldeland Einar , Hole Eli Olaug , Sagstuen Einar , Malinen Eirik 
Published: July 2010

PurposeTo perform a systematic investigation of the energy dependence of alanine and lilthium formate EPR dosimeters for medium energy x rays.MethodsLithium formate and alanine EPR dosimeters were exposed to eight different x‐ray beam qualities, with nominal potentials ranging from 50 to 200 kV. Following ionometry based on standards of absorbed dose to water, the dosimeters were given two different doses of approximately 3 and 6 Gy for each radiation quality, with three dosimeters for each dose. A reference series was also irradiated to three different dose levels at a unit. The dose to water energy response, that is, the dosimeter reading per absorbed dose to water relative to that for ‐rays, was estimated for each beam quality. In addition, the energy response was calculated by Monte Carlo simulations and compared to the experimental energy response.ResultsThe experimental energy response estimates ranged from 0.89 to 0.94 and from 0.68 to 0.90 for lithium formate and alanine, respectively. The uncertainties in the experimental energy response estimates were typically 3%. The relative effectiveness, that is, the ratio of the experimental energy response to that following Monte Carlo simulations was, on average, 0.96 and 0.94 for lithium formate and alanine, respectively.ConclusionsThis work shows that lithium formate dosimeters are less dependent on x‐ray energy than alanine. Furthermore, as the relative effectiveness for both lithium formate and alanine were systematically less than unity, the yield of radiation‐induced radicals is decreased following x‐irradiation compared to irradiation with ‐rays.
Fast‐marching segmentation of three‐dimensional intravascular ultrasound images: A pre‐ and post‐intervention study
Authors: Cardinal Marie‐Hélène Roy , Soulez Gilles , Tardif Jean‐Claude , Meunier Jean , Cloutier Guy 
Published: July 2010

Purpose: Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is a vascular imaging technique that is used to study atherosclerosis since it has the ability to show the lumen and the vessel wall. Cross‐sectional images of blood vessels are produced and they provide quantitative assessment of the vascular wall, information about the nature of atherosclerotic lesions, as well as the plaque shape and size. Due to the ultrasound speckle, catheter artifacts, or calcification shadows, the automated analysis of large IVUS data sets represents an important challenge.Methods: A multiple interface 3D fast‐marching method is presented for the detection of the lumen and external vessel wall boundaries. The segmentation is based on a combination of region and contour information, namely, the gray level probability density functions of the vessel structures and the intensity gradient. The detection of the lumen boundary is fully automatic. The segmentation method includes an interactive initialization procedure of the external vessel wall border. The segmentation method was applied to 20 in vivo IVUS data sets acquired from femoral arteries. This database contained three subgroups: Pullbacks acquired before balloon angioplasty , after the intervention , and at a 1 yr follow‐up examination . Results were compared to validation contours that were manually traced by two experts on more than 1500 individual frames.Results: For all subgroups, no significant difference was found between the area measurements of the segmentation and validation contours for the lumen and external vessel wall. Moreover, high intraclass correlation coefficients between the area of the manually traced contours and detected boundaries with the fast‐marching method were obtained for both vessel layers over the whole database. The segmentation performance was also evaluated with point‐to‐point contour distances between segmentation results and manually traced contours. A good overall accuracy was obtained with average distances and maximum distances , indicating a good performance in regions lacking information or containing artifacts. Only small differences of less than a pixel (0.02 mm) were observed between the average distance metrics of each subgroup, which prove the segmentation consistency.Conclusions: This new IVUS segmentation method provides accurate results that correspond well to the experts’ manually traced contours, but requires much less manual interactions and is faster.
Evaluation of two‐dimensional bolus effect of immobilization/support devices on skin doses: A radiochromic EBT film dosimetry study in phantom
Authors: Chiu‐Tsao Sou‐Tung , Chan Maria F. 
Published: July 2010

PurposeIn this study, the authors have quantified the two‐dimensional (2D) perspective of skin dose increase using EBT film dosimetry in phantom in the presence of patient immobilization devices during conventional and IMRT treatments.MethodsFor 6 MV conventional photon field, the authors evaluated and quantified the 2D bolus effect on skin doses for six different common patient immobilization/support devices, including carbon fiber grid with Mylar sheet, Orfit carbon fiber base plate, balsa wood board, Styrofoam, perforated AquaPlast™ sheet, and alpha‐cradle. For 6 and 15 MV IMRT fields, a stack of two film layers positioned above a solid phantom was exposed at the air interface or in the presence of a patient alpha‐cradle. All the films were scanned and the pixel values were converted to doses based on an established calibration curve. The authors determined the 2D skin dose distributions, isodose curves, and cross‐sectional profiles at the surface layers with or without the immobilization/support device. The authors also generated and compared the dose area histograms (DAHs) and dose area products from the 2D skin dose distributions.ResultsIn contrast with 20% relative dose [(RD) dose relative to on central axis] at 0.0153 cm in the film layer for 6 MV open field, the average RDs at the same depth in the film layer were 71%, 69%, 55%, and 57% for Orfit, balsa wood, Styrofoam, and alpha‐cradle, respectively. At the same depth, the RDs were 54% under a strut and 26% between neighboring struts of a carbon fiber grid with Mylar sheet, and between 34% and 56% for stretched perforated AquaPlast™ sheet. In the presence of the alpha‐cradle for the 6 MV (15 MV) IMRT fields, the hot spot doses at the effective measurement depths of 0.0153 and 0.0459 cm were 140% and 150% (83% and 89%), respectively, of the isocenter dose. The enhancement factor was defined as the ratio of a given DAH parameter (minimum dose received in a given area) with and without the support device. For 6 MV conventional field, the enhancement factor was the highest (3.4) for the Orfit carbon fiber plate. As for the IMRT field, the enhancement factors varied with the size of the area of interest and were as high as 3.8 (4.3) at the hot spot of area in the top film layer (0.0153 cm) for 6 MV (15 MV) beams.ConclusionsSignificant 2D bolus effect on skin dose in the presence of patient support and immobilization devices was confirmed and quantified with EBT film dosimetry. Furthermore, the EBT film has potential application forin vivo monitoring of the 2D skin dose distributions during patient treatments.