Economic Geographic Regions Research Articles

Concept and importance of statistical regions on the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina is the first country in Europe for unemployment and percentage of inhabitants who do not live in the country where they were born. These data require a very serious approach with a wide range of reasons for these phenomena especially from geographical point of view. Thus, it is necessary to critically investigate its regional structure. The reason for this is knowledge of the real economic and geographical differences that exist between individual regions. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to abandon the concept of the existing physiognomic or economic-geographic regions, since they do not reflect the real dynamics of major social changes and do not allow for the perspective of the future economic and geographical development of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The starting hypothesis of this paper is based on the creation of statistical regions, which will be separated based on the NUTS methodology for the level of political-administrative units, reflecting its constitutional structure. Implementation of statistical regions will soon be set up as an imperative for BiH on the road to EU accession, as already done by other countries.

ОСНОВНІ РОДОВИЩА КОРИСНИХ КОПАЛИН У ТАБЛИЦІ Д. І. МЕНДЕЛЄЄВА: НАЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ ВИМІР

The distribution of chemical elements and deposits of minerals is heterogeneous on the Earth. This heterogeneity reflects the following chain of levels of mineral resource supply of countries and territories: very low → low → average → high → very high. Extreme links of this chain can be represented, for example, in the Republic of Korea (a very low level of mineral supply) and the South African Republic (very high level of mineral supply). Ukraine, according to various estimates, occupies the second (low) or third (middle) level in this rank. This publication serves as an objective basis for such assessments and aims as to demonstrate a certain raw material and energy independence of the quarry with respect to the provision of the most important minerals (this is demonstrated by the “mineral-raw” filling of the table by D. I. Mendeleev). The systemic representation of Ukraine’s provision of mineral resources in general and regions (Donbas, Crimea, etc.) or economic regions (in some cases, in oblasts) provides a table «Deposits of minerals in Ukraine in the context of economic regions in the periodic system of chemical elements (tables by D. I. Mendeleev)». The high level of provision of Ukraine’s territory with mineral resources in the context of economic-geographical regions has been confirmed. The periodic system of chemical elements (table by D. I. Mendeleev) is strengthened by data on the distribution of mineral raw materials and minerals in the context of economic-geographical regions of Ukraine. The highlighted problem has confirmed the high density of interdisciplinary connections (geography, geology, geochemistry, economics, regionalistics, zoning). The presented material reveals a decent level for developing strategies for socio-economic development of the regions, the given data can be implemented in the latest programs of reformed education of Ukraine.

Incidence and in-hospital mortality of acute aortic dissection in China: analysis of China Health Insurance Research (CHIRA) Data 2011.

ObjectiveAcute aortic dissection (AAD) is a catastrophic event with high early mortality rate, but to date, no data on the incidence of AAD in Mainland China is available. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of AAD in China and characterize the clinical profile, management and in-hospital outcomes of this vascular event.MethodsWe used the China Health Insurance Research Data (the CHIRA Data) 2011 which comprises all inpatient hospital records (300,886) during the period of Jan. 1st 2011 to Dec. 31 2011 of 3,335,000 randomly sampled beneficiaries (1,718,500 men and 1,616,500 women) from 25 cities and counties in different economic-geographic regions of Mainland China. Patients with acute aortic dissection were identified according to International Classification of Disease 10th Revision (ICD-10) of I71.0. The estimated incidence of AAD was calculated using the equation: estimated incidence = 2.0 × (40% × hospital admission rate) + 60% × hospital admission rate.ResultsThe hospital admission rate was 2.0/100,000 (65/3,325,000, 95% CI: 1.2–2.8). The estimated annual incidence of AAD was 2.8/100,000 (95% CI: 1.9–3.6) and was higher in male than in female (3.7 vs. 1.5, P < 0.001). The mean age was 58.9 ± 13.4 years. During the mean hospital stay of 23 ± 6 days, the overall in-hospital mortality was 13.9% (9/65).ConclusionsOur study showed relatively lower but not negligible incidence and in-hospital mortality of AAD in the mainland of China. The mean age of patients with AAD in Chinese was younger than that reported by researches from west countries, while the male to female incidence ratio is similar to those reported by other studies.

The effect of essential medicines programme on rational use of medicines in China.

Irrational use of medicines is a serious problem in China and has been the primary target of China's national essential medicines programme (NEMP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the NEMP on rational use of medicines in China. A nationwide sample of 3 76 700 prescriptions written by primary care providers from 2007 to 2011 was obtained following a multistage sampling process. Six prescribing indicators were measured: average number of drugs prescribed per prescription, average expenditure per prescription, percentage of prescriptions with antibiotics, with injections, with two or more antibiotics and with corticosteroids. The pre-post with control study design and the difference-in-difference (DID) methodology were employed to evaluate the effect of NEMP. Prescriptions from primary care institutions with the NEMP implementation were better than those without NEMP implementation. Adjusting for the institution's sizes, ownership, economic geographic regions and the year of NEMP implementation, the DID estimator was statistically significant in all prescribing indicators except for the percentage of prescriptions with injection. The number of drugs per prescription decreased by 0.2 per prescription [95% confidence interval (CI): -0.3, -0.1] after the NEMP was implemented; the percentages of prescriptions with antibiotics, with corticosteroids and with two or more antibiotics decreased by 7% (95% CI: -10, -4), 1% (95% CI: -2, 0) and 2% (95% CI: -3, 0), respectively; and the average expenditure per prescription decreased by eight Renminbi Yuan (95% CI: -14, -2). The effect of NEMP on reducing irrational prescribing was greater in public institutions than in private institutions (P < 0.05). China's NEMP is effective in promoting rational use of medicines, and the effect is greater in public institutions than in private institutions. However, the irrational use is still high, pointing to the need for further reforms to tackle the underlying causes, such as clinical guidelines and patient education.

ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in China from 2001 to 2011 (the China PEACE-Retrospective Acute Myocardial Infarction Study): a retrospective analysis of hospital data

Despite the importance of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in China, no nationally representative studies have characterised the clinical profiles, management, and outcomes of this cardiac event during the past decade. We aimed to assess trends in characteristics, treatment, and outcomes for patients with STEMI in China between 2001 and 2011. In a retrospective analysis of hospital records, we used a two-stage random sampling design to create a nationally representative sample of patients in China admitted to hospital for STEMI in 3 years (2001, 2006, and 2011). In the first stage, we used a simple random-sampling procedure stratified by economic-geographical region to generate a list of participating hospitals. In the second stage we obtained case data for rates of STEMI, treatments, and baseline characteristics from patients attending each sampled hospital with a systematic sampling approach. We weighted our findings to estimate nationally representative rates and assess changes from 2001 to 2011. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01624883. We sampled 175 hospitals (162 participated in the study) and 18,631 acute myocardial infarction admissions, of which 13,815 were STEMI admissions. 12,264 patients were included in analysis of treatments, procedures, and tests, and 11,986 were included in analysis of in-hospital outcomes. Between 2001 and 2011, estimated national rates of hospital admission for STEMI per 100,000 people increased (from 3·5 in 2001, to 7·9 in 2006, to 15·4 in 2011; ptrend<0·0001) and the prevalence of risk factors-including smoking, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidaemia-increased. We noted significant increases in use of aspirin within 24 h (79·7% [95% CI 77·9-81·5] in 2001 vs 91·2% [90·5-91·8] in 2011, ptrend<0·0001) and clopidogrel (1·5% [95% CI 1·0-2·1] in 2001 vs 82·1% [81·1-83·0] in 2011, ptrend<0·0001) in patients without documented contraindications. Despite an increase in the use of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (10·6% [95% CI 8·6-12·6] in 2001 vs 28·1% [26·6-29·7] in 2011, ptrend<0·0001), the proportion of patients who did not receive reperfusion did not significantly change (45·3% [95% CI 42·1-48·5] in 2001 vs 44·8% [43·1-46·5] in 2011, ptrend=0·69). The median length of hospital stay decreased from 12 days (IQR 7-18) in 2001 to 10 days (6-14) in 2011 (ptrend<0·0001). Adjusted in-hospital mortality did not significantly change between 2001 and 2011 (odds ratio 0·82, 95% CI 0·62-1·10, ptrend=0·07). During the past decade in China, hospital admissions for STEMI have risen; in these patients, comorbidities and the intensity of testing and treatment have increased. Quality of care has improved for some treatments, but important gaps persist and in-hospital mortality has not decreased. National efforts are needed to improve the care and outcomes for patients with STEMI in China. National Health and Family Planning Commission of China.

The China Patient-Centered Evaluative Assessment of Cardiac Events (China PEACE) Retrospective Study of Acute Myocardial Infarction: Study Design

Cardiovascular diseases are rising as a cause of death and disability in China. To improve outcomes for patients with these conditions, the Chinese government, academic researchers, clinicians, and >200 hospitals have created China Patient-Centered Evaluative Assessment of Cardiac Events (China PEACE), a national network for research and performance improvement. The first study from China PEACE, the Retrospective Study of Acute Myocardial Infarction (China PEACE-Retrospective AMI Study), is designed to promote improvements in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) quality of care by generating knowledge about the characteristics, treatments, and outcomes of patients hospitalized with AMI across a representative sample of Chinese hospitals during the past decade. The China PEACE-Retrospective AMI Study will examine >18 000 patient records from 162 hospitals identified using a 2-stage cluster sampling design within economic-geographic regions. Records were chosen from 2001, 2006, and 2011 to identify temporal trends. Data quality will be monitored by a central coordinating center and will, in particular, address case ascertainment, data abstraction, and data management. Analyses will examine patient characteristics, diagnostic testing patterns, in-hospital treatments, in-hospital outcomes, and variation in results by time and site of care. In addition to publications, data will be shared with participating hospitals and the Chinese government to develop strategies to promote quality improvement. The China PEACE-Retrospective AMI Study is the first to leverage the China PEACE platform to better understand AMI across representative sites of care and during the past decade in China. The China PEACE collaboration among government, academicians, clinicians, and hospitals is poised to translate research about trends and patterns of AMI practices and outcomes into improved care for patients. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01624883.

Research in non-metropolitan universitiesas a new stage of science development in Russia

The tremendous social and political changes that culminated in the Soviet Union's dissolution had a great impact on the Russian science community. Due to the Russian transformation to a market economy a new model of R&D emerged on the basis of the higher education system (R&D in universities). This paper is part of a project, the main goals of which were to analyse the impact of competitive funding on R&D in provincial universities, the distribution of funding by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, and the level of cross-sectoral and international collaboration. This paper gives a descriptive overview of R&D conducted at the 380 provincial universities, looking at 9,800 applications, 1,950 research projects, 19,981 individuals, and more than 29,600 publications for the period 1996–2001. Our data demonstrated a positive tendency in demographic statistics in the provinces. A map of intra-national collaboration taking place in 1995–2002 in provincial universities situated in different economic regions was designed. Our data show a strong collaboration within the regions, which is an important factor of sustainability. Publication output grew by a factor two or two-and half in six years. The share in output on mathematics was the highest at about 45%, physics and chemistry had equal shares of about 20% each. Researchers from the Ural and Povolzh'e regions were more active in knowledge dissemination than their colleagues from the other nine economic-geographic regions. Bibliometric analysis of more than 1,450 international collaborative publications for 1999‘2001 demonstrated a strong shift in collaboration partners from Former East Block and former USSR countries to Western Europe, USA and Japan. Among the regions, Povolzh'e, Ural, Volgo-Vyatsky and Central Chernozem'e demonstrated a stronger tendency to collaborate. This collaboration depends heavily on financial support from foreign countries.

Population of Russia: What can we expect in the future?

The paper presents the first ever demographic scenarios for the regions of Russia. Scenarios are developed for 49 oblasts (regions), six krays (territories), 21 republics, one autonomous oblast and two national cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Five scenarios are considered: two optimistic scenarios, two medium scenarios and one pessimistic scenario. The scenarios are combinations of three mortality scenarios, two fertility scenarios and three migration scenarios. Results and a discussion of the differences between the scenarios are presented for 11 economic-geographic regions. The main findings of the scenario analysis are: 1. (a) the population decline, which started in 1992, continues in all scenarios; 2. (b) aging of the population reaches unprecedented levels; 3. (c) the spatial redistribution of the population out of Siberia to the European part of Russia, in particular the southern regions (North Caucasus and the Volga Region), continues.

Geographical Regionalization in Czechoslovakia

The paper treats of the main principles of the geographical regionalization. It describes the history of delimiting the physico-geographical and economic-geographical regions, and evaluates the present level of regionalization in Czechoslovakia. It stresses the applicability of geographical regionalization in the problems of the complex development of regions.

Homogenous economic geographical regions in Georgia (USSR)

On the basis of field investigations and applying the method of what is called factor analysis the author defines 6 fundamental regional types and 4 regional zones of social economic activity in the Georgian SSR. He is especially interested in their structure and trends of further development.

A Basic Aspect of the Economic Geographical Region in Capitalism

A Basic Aspect of the Economic Geographical Region in Capitalism

The residential court: A pedestrian's paradise?

Industrial land supply has long been a powerful tool for local economic growth and government competition in China. Based on Chinese prefecture-level cities’ panel data from 2007 to 2016, our study investigates how industrial land supply responded to two key transitions in state strategy: the “Fiscal Stimulus Package” of 2008 and the “New-type Urbanization” and “Innovation Driven Development” of 2012. The results show that: (1) a response bifurcation of cities occurred in the four economic-geographical regions (eastern, central, western, and northeastern). The response in eastern and central regions was led by urban agglomerations, with neighbors mimicking one another. In the western region, most of the cities demonstrated an active and strong response to the two transitions. Nonetheless, it showed the characteristic of siphon effect, and local governments interacted in a zero-sum game. Meanwhile, the response of the northeastern region was not sensitive to state strategic transitions, and there was no strategic interaction among its cities. (2) We find various responses of cities at different levels of socioeconomic development. In traditional industrial land (TIL) supply, cities with higher socioeconomic levels were more adaptive to state strategic transitions. In high-tech industrial land (HIL) supply, most cities paid more attention to attracting investment in high-tech industries during the second transitional period. Among them, the smaller the economic strength of the city, the more willing it was to supply more land for high-tech enterprises. The paper concludes with implications for state strategies and regional industrial land supply policies.

The Theory of Geographical Region

The Theory of Geographical Region

The Application of Economic Geographical Regions in the Czechoslovak Republic

The Application of Economic Geographical Regions in the Czechoslovak Republic

Tendencies in the Development of Major Economic-Geographic Regions

(1960). Tendencies in the Development of Major Economic-Geographic Regions. Soviet Geography: Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 43-51.

The Major Economic-Geographic Regions of the USSR

(1960). The Major Economic-Geographic Regions of the USSR. Soviet Geography: Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 31-43.

The role of Maritime Transportation in the Economic Ties Between the Economic-Geographic Regions of the USSR

The role of Maritime Transportation in the Economic Ties Between the Economic-Geographic Regions of the USSR