Evaluation and development strategy of urban-rural integration under ecological protection in the Yellow River Basin, China

The problem of imbalanced urban-rural development in China is becoming increasingly serious. Urban-rural integration (URI) is an inevitable way to narrow the urban-rural gap and promote rural development. The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is an important barrier to China's ecological security and plays a crucial role in promoting ecological protection and in high-quality development strategies. Therefore, this article constructs an evaluation index system for URI from five dimensions: economic integration, social integration, ecological integration, element integration, and spatial integration. The simulated annealing-projection pursuit model and time degree are used to analyze the dynamic urban-rural integration level (URIL) of 373 counties from 2000 to 2019. Building upon this foundation, this study classifies four types of URI zones and proposes development strategies tailored to each zone. The results indicate (1) that the URIL in the YRB continues to increase, and that there has been a significant increase in high-level integration areas since 2010. (2) The URIL exhibits a distinct spatial clustering pattern, characterized by lower levels in the upper reaches, and higher levels in the middle and lower reaches. (3) There exists a spatial disparity between economic development and the ecological environment, and it is particularly noticeable in the lower reaches regions. These results contribute to a better understanding of URI in the YRB and provide a reference for the sustainable development of URI in various regions.

Local development challenge in lagging-behind areas: insights from new & evolutionary economic geography

Lagging-behind regions, as an example of the failure of convergence in a country, has attracted the attention of many researchers who are attempting to adopt applicable policies and strategies to overcome the problem of low growth paths. The present study focuses on the policy proposals in the context of new economic geography and evolutionary economic geography for lagging-behind areas. Industrial agglomeration, as an essential element of the new economic geography, has restricted the potential for policy-making in lagging-behind regions. Creating regional advantages, as a policy in evolutionary economic geography, has provided diversified policy options for lagging-behind regions. However, this approach faces multi-level challenges in lagging-behind regions, including the lack of critical mass about low diversity and the gap in the knowledge base between lagging-behind and affluent areas. Therefore, if this policy is to be the basis for creating regional objectives, it should provide a structure for simulating external knowledge links and distinguishing the nature of the various related industries.

Creative Approach to Development: Leveraging the Sino-African Belt and Road Initiatives to Boost Africa's Cultural and Creative Industries for Africa's Development

The present study identifies investment in Africa's cultural and creative industries (CCIs) as one of the strategic moves in the right direction for achieving sustainable development across the African continent. Cultural and creative industries (CCIs) offer an alternative approach to development through their wealth creation potential, socioeconomic development, employment opportunities, and promotion of cultural diversity. Nevertheless, CCIs are yet to feature categorically as a development strategy, owing to their many challenges, as indicated by the study. The study submits that partnerships under the Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) could offer an alternative source of mobilizing support for CCIs, as the BRI is a development framework with robust financing, infrastructure, and human resources development. However, it will require the pragmatic support of policymakers to leverage BRI and boost the expansion of CCIs in Africa.

A formulation development strategy for dual-release bilayer tablets: An integrated approach of quality by design and a placebo layer

Although dual-release mechanism bilayer tablets containing one drug in both immediate- and sustained-release layers are widely used to improve therapeutic efficiency, studies quantitatively analyzing the drug amount released from each layer and the mutual effect of each layer's mechanical properties on drug product quality are limited. Here, the formulation of a dual-release bilayer tablet containing sarpogrelate HCl was optimized with a placebo layer and quality by design (QbD) approach. The placebo layer was developed to replace the active pharmaceutical ingredient and its mechanical properties were evaluated. The formulation was developed using the placebo layer to quantitatively analyze the drug released from each layer. The mixture design and Monte Carlo simulation enabled robust design space identification. The mutual effect of each layer's mechanical properties on drug product quality was confirmed by multivariate analysis using the optimal settings in the design space. The optimized formulation was characterized by comparison with a reference drug for various quality attributes and in vivo pharmacokinetic parameters, which ensured the bioequivalence of the optimized bilayer tablet with the reference drug. This study shows that the integration of QbD and a placebo layer is an effective optimization strategy for dual-release bilayer tablets containing one drug in different layers.

Integrated Analytical Framework for the Development of Artificial Intelligence-Based Medical Devices

INTRODUCTION

A persistent fundamental problem in applying artificial intelligence (AI) to medical devices is achieving high performance while guaranteeing the safety and reliability of AI solutions. However, the regulation of medical devices and that of AI implementations both differ among countries, resulting in "double-layered" differences in the regulations for medical devices employing AI.

METHODS

To overcome these differences and examine the universal requirements for AI-based medical devices, we clarify legal and ethical issues, regulatory requirements, and terms in representative guidances related to AI-based medical devices from different countries. Then, we propose an integrated framework for analyzing the requirements of AI-based medical devices for a comprehensive comparison.

RESULTS

We demonstrate that no guidance completely covers all the evaluation requirements, and the differences in coverage per country may direct the international harmonization of these requirements.

DISCUSSION

Consequently, we show two development strategies available to manufacturers, namely adherence to local regulations with tedious efforts or compliance with universal requirements using our integrated framework even under the low level of international harmonization; the latter is recommended for efficiency and convergence.

Analysis of Pediatric Drug Approval Lag in Japan

BACKGROUND

Drugs should be made available to all patients in a timely manner regardless of whether they are adults or children. In contrast to the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), no laws mandating pediatric drug development have been established in Japan. The objective of this study was to examine the current status and characteristics of pediatric drug development in Japan using information on the approval lag for pediatric indications between Japan and the EU.

METHODS

Drugs approved for pediatric indications between January 2007 and December 2018 in Japan were studied. The approval lag for pediatric indications between Japan and the EU was calculated and analyzed by approval time and the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification. Factors potentially affecting the approval lag, such as orphan drug status, company nationality, and clinical data package, were examined.

RESULTS

The median approval lag for 105 drugs with pediatric indications in both Japan and the EU was 1017 days (Japan was behind). The lag for ATC category B improved significantly after 2011, and for category L after 2015; the medians were less than half a year. The lag for drugs developed globally via multi-regional clinical trials was significantly shorter compared with drugs developed regionally.

CONCLUSION

Global clinical trials are the most effective means of shortening approval lag time in pediatric drug development. Global development is making rapid progress for many adult diseases, thereby creating an environment for proactive participation in global clinical trials even for pediatric drugs. For further improvement, more active drug development for pediatric indication is recommended in tandem with the US and the EU.