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The validity of purchasing power parity (PPP) between two economies implies goods markets of the two are well integrated. This is a pre-condition for further economic convergence. This study examines validity of the PPP between China and European countries. Since the functional form of the cointegrating relationship may not be exact or linear, we adopt the nonparametric rank tests for analysis, without prior specification of the functional form. We also address the rank problems that occur in multivariate rank tests. The results indicate strong support for nonlinear PPP relationships between China and European countries, especially during the second subsample period. This indicates China's rising economic power, particularly in the most recent decade. Although there have been disputes between China and Europe, these results suggest favorable prospects for closer economic cooperation between the two sides and the need for formulation of common policies to pursue an integrated market in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese Government has promulgated the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI) to increase trade flows and integrate goods markets between China and BRI countries. The validity of purchasing power parity (PPP) implies well‐integrated goods markets, a precondition for further economic convergence, and the next stage of economic integration in factor, service, and financial markets. Our study aims to examine the validity of the PPP and the extent of goods market integration between China and selected BRI countries in Africa. Since the functional form of the cointegrating relationship may not be exact or linear, we adopt the nonparametric rank tests for analysis without prior knowledge and specification of the functional form. We also address the rank problems that occur in multivariate rank tests. Our empirical results provide strong evidence of an unrestricted PPP relationship with reasonably strong evidence of nonlinearity in the data. We also find that some African BRI countries have experienced goods market integration with China during the second‐half period only. This indicates that the introduction of the BRI in 2013 and China's active involvement in African economic development through BRI projects are leading to enhanced goods market integration between China and Africa. The results indicate favorable prospects of closer economic cooperation in the factor, service, and financial markets to build a free trade area or common markets with BRI countries in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese Government has proposed the 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI) in order to increase trade flows and economic prosperity among the Belt and Road (BR) member countries. The BRI may call for enlargement of economic cooperation as manifested by forming an economic or monetary union in the long term. It is therefore essential to choose a subset of member countries that fulfils the criteria for joining the potential economic or monetary union. The validity of purchasing power parity (PPP) implies well-integrated goods markets and is a pre-condition for further economic convergence. While the presence of transaction costs causes nonlinearities in the adjustment mechanism, our empirical study applies a three-regime threshold autoregressive (TAR) cointegration method for analysis. Our results support the existence of a PPP relationship with China for 12 sampled Asian member countries. Chinese policymakers can prioritize these BR countries for closer economic cooperation. Also, this TAR cointegration method can estimate the unobservable proportional transaction costs from the thresholds. The results reveal BR countries with large thresholds as targets to curtail transaction costs of trading in order to enhance the efficiency in international goods arbitrage and the degree of trade integration along the BR routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the dynamic relationships between GDP, residential property prices, and stock prices in Hong Kong. The study is interesting because most people put their wealth into these two markets. We find that there are long-run feedback effects between the two asset markets, providing evidence of wealth and credit-price effects in Hong Kong. There are also long-run, bi-directional causal links between real GDP and real asset prices. Hence, real asset prices can drive long-run economic growth and vice versa. Finally, the paper discusses what policy lessons can be drawn from the empirical analyses that have been undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to investigate the day-of-the-week effect on both the return and conditional variance (volatility) of the H-shares index in Hong Kong from 3 January 2000 to 1 August 2008. Using an Exponential General Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) specification to model the conditional variance, we find that the day-of-the-week effect is present in both return and variance equations. In particular, higher risk-adjusted returns are found on Monday and Friday. However, after adjusting for market risks that vary across the days of the week, only the Monday effect remains. The conditional variance model also finds that the highest volatility of return also occurs on Monday. Thus, the Monday effects on risk-adjusted returns may be a reward for higher volatility on that day. However, after adjusting for transaction costs, the abnormal returns for Monday become negligible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article adopts a time-varying parameter model to investigate whether the economic downturn has affected convergence of the consumer price index. The dynamic patterns of the intranational purchasing-power parity coefficients in mainland China before and after the financial tsunami are found to differ, indicating that the convergence has indeed been adversely affected by the downturn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on grey relational analysis and stepwise regression, this study analysed the socio-economic driving forces of Xiamen since the reform and opening of China. The research aimed to explore the deep dynamic mechanism of urban space expansion of Xiamen and provide scientific support for its sustainable development. The results indicate resource consumption factors and population factors have had a significant driving effect on the expansion of built-up area, and have contributed more than the economic development factors. It was revealed that the main urban socio-economic driving forces have gradually changed during the middle and late stage of urbanisation, and the city has also shifted from an original construction and developing city type into a more spatially stable, developed city type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatio-temporal dynamic landscape pattern of Xiamen throughout its rapid urbanisation from 1987 to 2007 was studied using analyses of landscape indices and fractal methods (box counting method, BCM). Based on remote sensing (RS) and a geographic information system (GIS), five Landsat TM5 images were used to construct a land-use database for the studied area. BCM was programmed in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 and MapObject. Over the last 20 years, rapid urbanisation of Xiamen Island has induced enormous conversions of the landscape pattern. Anthropogenic disturbance after 1992 has led to a man-made landscape gradually replacing the farmland and forestland landscape and the former became the dominant landscape type in 2007, leading to a decrease in diversity and heterogeneity in Xiamen Island. The urban land area increased rapidly from 39.2 to 94.4 km2 over these 20 years. The urban expansion mainly occupied forestland, farmland, water and sea. Farmland area had disappeared completely by 2007. Besides urban expansion, the Grain to Green Programme was also an important reason for farmland decrease. The size and spatial distribution of coastal reclamation was closely related to policies implemented in various phases. The island's coastline has become simplified and smoothed, with fractal dimensions decreasing from 1.157 to 1.124, and the shape approaching a circle. The new policy of transforming Xiamen from an island city to a bay city has had important effects on coastal reclamation, with reclamation of 7.89 km2 between 2002 and 2007, more than the total area reclaimed during the previous 15 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently benefitting from government policy, the Macao gaming industry has undergone rapid development and now hosts over 20% of the working population. Parents working in the casinos now face "on-shift duty" and long work hours, making it very hard to maintain a balance between work and family. At the same time, family education plays a significant role in the growth of children. By examining this balancing act, this paper provides a critical review of Macao family education in a "casino economy". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the driving forces behind the regional distribution of inward FDI flows in China for the period 1998-2003. Based on the eleven selected socioeconomic variables and by adopting factor analysis, we accept the hypothesis that the overall socioeconomic environment in the administrative regions of China is a fundamental determinant of regional disparity in FDI. We use the complete linkage clustering technique to classify these regions into broader groups and then explore the similarities and dissimilarities between them. The findings from the study provide a yardstick for multinational firms regarding location decisions at the provincial level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both hepatitis B virus (HBV) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) exposure can cause liver damage as well as increase the probability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To investigate the underlying genetic changes that may influence development of HCC associated with HBV infection and AFB1 exposure, HCC patients were subdivided into 4 groups depending upon HBV and AFB1 exposure status: (HBV(+)/AFB1(+), HBV(+)/AFB1(-), HBV(-)/AFB1(+), HBV(-)/AFB1(-)). Genetic abnormalities and protein expression profiles were analyzed by array-based comparative genomic hybridization and isobaric tagging for quantitation. A total of 573 chromosomal aberrations (CNAs) including 184 increased and 389 decreased were detected in our study population. Twenty-five recurrently altered regions (RARs; chromosomal alterations observed in ≥10 patients) in chromosomes were identified. Loss of 4q13.3-q35.2, 13q12.1-q21.2 and gain of 7q11.2-q35 were observed with a higher frequency in the HBV(+)/AFB1(+), HBV(+)/AFB1(-) and HBV(-)/AFB1(+) groups compared to the HBV(-)/AFB(-) group. Loss of 8p12-p23.2 was associated with high TNM stage tumors (P = 0.038) and was an unfavorable prognostic factor for tumor-free survival (P =0.045). A total of 133 differentially expressed proteins were identified in iTRAQ proteomics analysis, 69 (51.8%) of which mapped within identified RARs. The most common biological processes affected by HBV and AFB1 status in HCC tumorigenesis were detoxification and drug metabolism pathways, antigen processing and anti-apoptosis pathways. Expression of AKR1B10 was increased significantly in the HBV(+)/AFB1(+) and HBV(-)/AFB1(+) groups. A significant correlation between the expression of AKR1B10 mRNA and protein levels as well as AKR1B10 copy number was observered, which suggest that AKR1B10 may play a role in AFB1-related hepatocarcinogenesis. In summary, a number of genetic and gene expression alterations were found to be associated with HBV and AFB1- related HCC. The possible synergistic effects of HBV and AFB1 in hepatocarcinogenesis warrant further investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The trend of people using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been increasing globally. To enact policies and regulations that promote the safe use of CAM, a detailed investigation is needed into people's knowledge, practices, and beliefs related to CAM. Food therapy has long been regarded as an important part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a type of CAM., Objective: This study intended to empirically examine the public's knowledge about TCM food therapy, including the sources of that knowledge, actual practices, and the public's beliefs about the therapy., Design: The research team designed a questionnaire to test the public's understanding of food properties as designated in TCM food therapy and to identify the public's sources of knowledge and experience in using food therapy., Setting: The study took place at the College of Professional and Continuing Education, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong, China., Participants: Participants were 447 Chinese students participating in postsecondary or tertiary education at the two higher education institutions mentioned above., Outcome Measures: The survey's quantitative questions examined respondents' prior TCM knowledge, sources of knowledge, and food therapy experience compared to their ability to correctly categorize 24 foods. The survey's qualitative questions examined the general practice of food therapy and the cultural beliefs underlying the food therapy strategies that participants used., Results: The study showed that: (1) having prior and partial knowledge of food properties (P = .000); (2) seeking information from the internet (P = .000), television (P = .0473) and friends (P = .0181); and (3) having used food therapy for chronic conditions (P = .0034) significantly improved participants ability to correctly categorize foods as to their food therapy characteristics., Conclusions: Participants relied less on traditional medical sources such as parents and health professionals but more on the internet, which may have empowered them through wider access to information. The study has further contributed to the study of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by highlighting the role of cultural practices and beliefs in TCM food therapy.

Background/aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with a high rate of recurrence. Immunohistochemical analysis of the marker of proliferation Ki-67 (MKI67) is used to assess proliferation activity of HCC The regulation of MKI67 expression remains unclear in HCC This study aims to explore the association between MKI67 expression and gene variants., Methods: A total of 195 hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC patients were genotyped using Illumina HumanExome BeadChip-12-1_A (242,901 markers). An independent cohort (97 subjects) validated the association of polymorphism determinants and candidate genes with MKI67 expression. The relationships between MKI67 with p53 and variants of candidate genes in the clinical outcomes of HCC patients were analyzed., Results: We found that MKI67 combined with p53 was associated with a 3-year recurrence-free survival and five variants near TTN and CCDC8 were associated with MKI67 expression. TTN harboring rs2288563-TT and rs2562832-AA+CA indicated a favorable outcome for HCC patients., Conclusion: Variants near TTN and CCDC8 were associated with MKI67 expression, and rs2288563 and rs2562832 in TTN are potential biomarkers for the prediction of clinical outcomes in HBV-related HCC patients., (© 2017 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Although gender differences in self-efficacy and subjective well-being have been reported in previous studies, little published research has investigated the interrelationships between these variables in adolescents. 648 Chinese adolescents were administered a series of questionnaires to test the hypothesis that self-efficacy mediates the relationship between gender and subjective well-being. The results indicated that adolescent girls had lower general self-efficacy than adolescent boys, which explained girls' lower subjective well-being. The theoretical and practical implications may help parents and educators to strengthen adolescents' happiness.

Background: Recent efforts suggest an etiologic role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) and the involvement of hepatic progenitor cell in ICC development, without definitive conclusions. This case-control study was undertaken to investigate risk factors for ICC, and clinicopathological features of HBV-associated ICC were analyzed., Methods: The report comprised 98 patients with pathologically confirmed ICC and 196 healthy control subjects. Logistic regression was used to determine odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. The sex and age distributions of HBV-related and unrelated ICC patients were compared respectively with those of 882 HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma patients from a random selection, and the clinicopathological data of 62 ICC patients with or without HBV infection undergoing surgical resection were compared., Results: There was an association between ICC and each of HBV infection, liver cirrhosis, hepatolithiasis, and liver fluke infestation with the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 2.75 (1.27-5.95), 8.42 (2.50-28.37), 22.81 (7.16-72.68), and 3.55 (1.60-7.89), respectively, with a marked synergism of cirrhosis and HBV infection (20.67; 5.40-79.06). Compared with HBV-unrelated ICC patients, HBV-related ICC patients were more common in male and younger subjects, had a higher incidence of abnormal serum alfa-fetoprotein level, cirrhosis, and neutrophilic infiltration, and had a lower proportion of elevated carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) values., Conclusions: The independent association of HBV infection with ICC, synergy between cirrhosis and HBV infection, and some clinicopathological similarities between HBV-related ICC and hepatocellular carcinoma suggests that both may share similar or common tumorigenic process and may possibly originate from malignant transformation of hepatic progenitor cell.