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The energy-consuming right trading system is a market-oriented environmental regulation policy based on source control in China, the implementation of which aims to help the realization of the goal of controlling total energy consumption and energy intensity and to promote green development. Based on the panel data of prefecture-level cities from 2012 to 2019, this article theoretically analyzed the mechanism of the action of the energy-consuming right trading system; applied the multi-period PSM-DID method to empirically test whether the energy-consuming right trading system had achieved win-win development for both the environment and the economy; and tested the robustness of the findings by replacing variable settings, adding control variables, and applying placebo tests. In addition, the short-term and long-term impact paths of the environmental and economic effects of the energy-consuming right trading system are theoretically analyzed and empirically tested respectively. The findings were as follows: (1) The implementation of the energy-consuming right trading system effectively reduced the total emission and emission intensity of energy pollutants and realized positive benefit for the environment. Besides, the reduction in emission intensity was more significant. (2) The energy-consuming right trading system not only increased the quantity of economic development, but also pulled up the economic growth rate, thus realizing a positive benefit to the economy. (3) The results of the dynamic effect analysis showed that the energy-consuming right trading system did not have a persistent effect on the total amount and intensity of pollution emissions. But it had a more significant and persistent effect on the rate and level of economic development. (4) Since the energy-consuming right trading system was in the early pilot stage, it mainly achieved environmental and economic dividends through the short-term path of improving energy efficiency and not the long-term path of industrial structure upgrading or energy structure adjustment. Based on this, we should further build and improve the energy-consuming right trading market and improve the design of the system to ensure standardization, convenience, and transparency during the operation and enhance the degree of marketization. It is also of great importance to accelerate the development of new energy, new technologies, and new industries to promote green transformation and decarbonization in the energy industry. Furthermore, we should build a comprehensive and coordinated environmental policy system by promoting the coordinated implementation of the energy-consuming right trading system with other environmental regulation policies based on emission control, realizing the benefits of ' 1 + 1 >2.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

t An index system is constructed to measure the integration of environmental protection and high-quality economic development in different cities in China from 2006 to 2018, and to explore its evolution and driving forces. From the three dimensions of integration foundation, integration depth and integration performance, this paper adopts AHP-Entropy combined weighting method to build the integration index. In addition, this paper comprehensively uses exponential decomposition, comparative analysis and σ convergence and divergence analysis to explore the spatio-temporal differences and dynamic mechanisms. The results show that the overall integration level of China’s cities continues to improve, of which technological progress is the core driving force, the transformation of development mode is a crucial path, and the intensity of environmental governance is the key support. The evolution and driving forces of the integration level of first-tier cities, new first-tier cities and other cities are significantly different. Promoting integration level is a critical way for resourcebased cities to break the resource curse. Urban agglomeration integration led by the growth pole can effectively improve the overall regional integration level. This paper innovates that the relationship between environmental protection and high-quality economic development is discussed from the perspective of integration, and the paths to improve the integration level of resource-based cities and urban agglomerations are identified. This paper is helpful to clarify the differences in integration levels and driving forces of different cities, and provide a reference value for the precise implementation of high-quality development and “beautiful China.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the panel data of 277 cities between 2003 and 2017 and a unique city-level dataset of green patent applications, this study employs the difference-in-differences (DID) method to evaluate the effect of China's carbon emission trading scheme (ETS) pilots on urban green innovation. The findings indicate that China's ETS pilots have a positive impact on urban green innovation, and that impact is more significant for municipalities than for prefecture-level cities. Furthermore, the impact on different categories of urban green innovation is heterogeneous. More specifically, China's ETS pilots have significantly spurred urban green innovation that is closely related to energy conservation and emission reduction, including alternative energy production, transportation, energy conservation and so forth. Moreover, the facilitating effect of China's ETS pilots on urban green innovation suffers from a lagging effect, which began to show a significant positive effect in 2016. Overall, this paper identifies the effect of China's ETS pilots on urban green innovation, and suggests that the government should consider the heterogeneity of urban green innovation when designing national ETS policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Double-level isthmic spondylolisthesis in the lumbar spine is rare. The authors report on 21 cases of double-level isthmic spondylolisthesis treated by posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) with cage. Patients and methods: Between 2005 and 2015, twenty-one patients with double-level isthmic spondylolisthesis who underwent posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) with cage were reviewed retrospectively. The VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) and JOA (Japanese Orthopedic Association) score were used to evaluate preoperative and postoperative clinical outcomes. Results: The back pain and sciatica decreased from 6.53 and 4.24 points preoperatively to 1.80 and 1.18 points on the VAS at final follow-up, respectively. The average JOA score improved from 13.4 ± 3.2 preoperative to 25.4 ± 1.5 (range, 17–28) points postoperative. The average recovery rate was 76.9%. The good and excellent rate was 85.7% (18/21). The fusion rate was 95.2% (20/21). Changes in disc height, degree of listhesis, whole lumbar lordosis, and sacral inclination following surgery were also observed. Conclusions: Our results suggest that PLIF with cage appears to be an appropriate technique for the treatment of double-level isthmic spondylolisthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association of arachnoiditis ossificans with syringomyelia is a rare pathological entity. We present an unusual case who presented with progressive myelopathy caused by arachnoidits ossificans and syringomyelia. The pathophysiology and treatment strategy of this rare entity are still controversial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Using spatial analysis tools to determine the spatial patterns of China province-level perinatal mortality and using spatial econometric model to examine the impacts of health care resources and different socio-economic factors on perinatal mortality., Methods: The Global Moran's I index is used to examine whether the spatial autocorrelation exists in selected regions and Moran's I scatter plot to examine the spatial clustering among regions. Spatial econometric models are used to investigate the spatial relationships between perinatal mortality and contributing factors., Results: The overall Moran's I index indicates that perinatal mortality displays positive spatial autocorrelation. Moran's I scatter plot analysis implies that there is a significant clustering of mortality in both high-rate regions and low-rate regions. The spatial econometric models analyses confirm the existence of a direct link between perinatal mortality and health care resources, socio-economic factors., Conclusions: Since a positive spatial autocorrelation has been detected in China province-level perinatal mortality, the upgrading of regional economic development and medical service level will affect the mortality not only in region itself but also its adjacent regions.