Search

This work was designed to assess the cost-effectiveness of front-line tislelizumab plus chemotherapy (TIS+Chemo) in advanced gastric cancer (GC) or gastroesophageal junction cancer (GEJC) with positive expression of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) from the perspective of Chinese healthcare system. A 10-year partitioned survival model was undertaken utilizing clinical data from RATIONALE 305. Costs and utilities were both discounted at an annual rate of 5%. The primary outcome was incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) and calculated as the cost per quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). The willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold was set as $18,625/QALY. Only direct medical costs were considered. Sensitivity analyses and subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate the robustness of the model. In the base-case analysis, the incremental cost and effectiveness associated with TIS+Chemo vs Chemo was 7,361 and 0.38 QALYs, respectively, leading to an ICER of 19,371/QALY. At the WTP threshold of $18,625/QALY, the TIS+Chemo was not a cost-effective first-line treatment option. The model outcomes were robust. TIS+Chemo did not provide a cost-effective approach for PD-L1 positive advanced GC/GEJC in China setting. However, TIS+Chemo might be cost-effective in provinces with higher WTP threshold. RATIONALE 305, , identifier is NCT03777657. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International student mobility, taking place within the framework of globalisation, internationalisation and transnationalism, has attained much attention. This paper adopts the Intellectual Migration framework to further our understanding of mobility regarding international higher education. It simultaneously studies China-born students in both China and North America to empirically examine the propensity for student mobility across national borders and the determining factors behind the realisation of such mobility under the same set of geopolitical and international circumstances. The analysis is based on a set of cross-sectional surveys conducted in the 2017–2019 period that yields over 1600 data points. We compare the 'who', 'why' and 'where' aspects of migration between domestic students in China and Chinese international students in North America to delineate the factors underlying international student mobility. By highlighting aspirations and capabilities on mobility outcomes, this paper contributes to differentiating mobility between undergraduate and graduate students and the implications for social inequality. Our analysis also reveals the unequal spatial distributions of educational resources between intellectual gateways and peripheries, and by extension between the Global North and the Global South. The findings of this paper have policy implications on improving the quality, accessibility, and equity of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper describes two new Chinese species of maricolan planarians through an integrated approach, including morphological, histological and molecular phylogenetic analyses. One new species forms the third species of the genus Pacifides and represents the first record of this genus from the Western Pacific. Further we document a third, new species of the genus Paucumara that is fully restricted to freshwater habitats, as it occurs on the shores of the Jialing River in Chongqing municipality far into the interior of China. Molecular phylogenetic analyses enabled us to determine, for the first time, the position of the genus Pacifides in the phylogenetic tree of the marine triclads. We also provide information on the feeding and reproduction of the new species of Pacifides. The paper concludes with two speculative scenarios on the evolutionary history that may have led to the present-day far inland occurrence and freshwater ecology of the new species of Paucumara; one scenario involves tectonic uplift-driven speciation and niche evolution, while the other invokes passive upstream dispersal via the Yangtze River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'global race for talent' has drawn immense attention from academics, policy-makers and the media. China is on both sides of the race. On the one hand, rapid economic growth has created the opportunity for many affluent and middle-class families to send their children abroad for higher education while stimulating intense internal migration for education and/or career opportunities. On the other hand, to affirm its (re-)emergence as an economic giant, China has begun recruiting talent from abroad, gradually forsaking its traditional role as a brain-drain country to become an exemplar of brain circulation. This paper elaborates an 'intellectual migration' conceptual framework that asserts both higher-education and highly skilled migration is a dynamic process that occurs along a spectrum where migration stages intersect with life transitions. Arguing that intellectual migration should be analysed as a continuum, we provide evidence from our own empirical work and the literature to ascertain its relevancy and applicability to China at this juncture and suggest a more integrative approach to analysing the framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides new empirical evidence on the patterns of firm entry across sectors and space. Based on Pavitt's four manufacturing industry categories—supplier-dominated, scale-intensive, specialized suppliers, and knowledge-based—we use China's firm-level database, covering all manufacturing firms with sales above 5 million RMB from 1998 to 2008, to investigate the relation between spatial patterns of new entry firms and industrial structure change and firm heterogeneity. Based on our analysis, there are three key findings. First, industrial structure change plays an important role in influencing the sectoral pattern of new firm entry. Second, the transformation from a supplier-dominated industry to a scale-intensive industry from 1998 to 2008 in China has largely influenced spatial patterns of new entry firms (mainly spatial agglomeration and entry similarity between regions). Third, the heterogeneity of firms (mainly firm ownership, firm size, and technological relatedness) affected the location choice of new entry firms. Based on our findings, we conclude that the importance of industrial structure change and the heterogeneity of firms in revealing the spatial pattern of new entry firms should receive more attention. Key Words: China, firm entry, firm heterogeneity, industrial structure change, sectoral and spatial pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The allocation of investment dollars between R&D (high-risk investments) and capital expenditure (low-risk investments), as a reflection of managers' inclination to take risks, is an important issue in the field of corporate governance and corporate finance because of the different interests and responsibility orientations of key stakeholders. Based on the endogeneity of board governance and managerial risk taking, this article discusses the relationship between board governance and managerial risk taking using Instrumental Variables and Generalized Method of Moments. This article also discusses the effects of board governance on managerial risk taking in the long-term dynamic perspective. The results show that board governances have positive effects on managerial risk taking; that is, board governance would lead to higher investment in R&D expenditures and lower investment in capital expenditures, not only in the current year, but also over multiple years. This evidence suggests that effective board governance plays a significant role in promoting firm innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Job stress can lead to various system dysfunctions, but until now no reliable biomarkers for its assessment have been identified. Allostatic load (AL) is an index that enables the cumulative effect on the body of chronic stress to be assessed, and is derived from a set of relevant biological measures. In this study, a 13-parameter index (building on the original 10-item index) was used to examine the relationship between job strain and AL. Participants were 1219 healthy Chinese employees. Job strain was measured using the Job Content Questionnaire, and AL was assessed by various possible stress responses, including blood pressure, cholesterol, indicators of glucose metabolism, and hormone and inflammation markers. AL in the high job strain group differed sharply from that in the low job strain group. The AL score was positively associated with age and educational level. Several individual parameters also differed between the two groups. Men scored significantly higher on AL and cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes, whereas for women the associations appeared in the biological indicators. Analyses indicated that decision latitude (DL) and job demands were significantly related to AL. Job demands correlated significantly with the primary biological indicators and DL with the secondary health outcomes. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the value of measuring allostatic load in assessing the chronic effects of job stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seventeen species of entomophthoralean fungi infecting 15 species of aphids have been reported from mainland China. They belong to seven genera: Batkoa, Conidiobolus, Entomophthora, Neozygites, Pandora, Tarichium and Zoophthora. C. thromboides, E. planchoniana, N. fresenii and P. neoaphidis have the widest distributions covering five regions with the exception of the south-west. Tarichium atrospermum and Z. canadensis were only reported in the eastern region and P. echinospora only in the mid-southern region. Pandora neoaphidis, the most common species, occurred in many aphid populations. Species belonging to the genus Conidiobolus frequently appeared in the warm summer season, however, disease incidence was lower compared to the genus Pandora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]