Background: New psychoactive substances are constantly evolving structural analogues of traditional drugs of abuse that have become a threat to public health worldwide and within our locality. An understanding of the local pattern of new psychoactive substance use will help guide frontline clinical management. Objectives: This study was conducted to review the new psychoactive substances detected in cases referred to the authors' laboratory (a tertiary clinical toxicology centre), as well as the associated clinical features and toxicological findings. Methods: All cases referred to the laboratory for toxicology analysis between January 2009 and December 2017, and which were analytically confirmed to involve new psychoactive substance use, were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic data, clinical features and toxicology findings were studied. Results: A total of 111 cases involving 104 patients and 22 types of new psychoactive substances were identified, with an increasing trend in the number of cases and subclass of new psychoactive substances detected. Up to half of the cases (n = 64) were related to the use of 2-phenyl-2-(ethylamino)-cyclohexanone (2-oxo-PCE, a ketamine analogue); other new psychoactive substances detected included para-methoxymethamphetamine, 4-fluoroamphetamine, phenazepam, 3-trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine, 5-methoxy-diisopropyltryptamine, 2-diphenylmethylpyrrolidine, methoxyphenidine, the N-methoxybenzyl drugs, cathinones, synthetic cannabinoids and opioids. Among the acute poisoning cases attributable to new psychoactive substance use, the severity was fatal (n = 3), severe (n = 17), moderate (n = 67) and minor (n = 17). And 11 patients required intensive care unit admission. All three fatal cases were associated with paramethoxymethamphetamine use. Conclusion: A rising trend of new psychoactive substance use is observed locally, which is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Continued vigilance from frontline clinicians and medical professionals is imperative in the combat against new psychoactive substance use.

PurposeThe author studies the role of safe assets accumulation in shaping the pattern of international capital flows.Design/methodology/approachThe author combines a theoretical model and the empirical analysis. The model is a two-country open economy, while the evidence is based on a fixed-effect regression on a panel of 19 countries of the eurozone.FindingsIn an open two-country economy, a positive productivity shock raises both mean and variance of wealth accumulation rate, then, leading to a greater holding of safe assets for risk-sharing motivation. Upon financial integration, the shock can induce the outflows of net total capital. The evidence of 19 eurozone countries confirms the theory and also uncovers that the safe assets (bonds) are the dominant driver of cross-border capital flows within the eurozone.Research limitations/implicationsThe model can be extended to account for the impact of safe assets on the economic growth, then, analyzes the role of safe assets within financial globalization. Taking into account the impact of safe assets on the open-economy economic growth can be the next step to approach the issue.Practical implicationsThe paper also provides important policy implication. Since a higher productivity level can raise the outflows of net total capital through the accumulation of foreign safe assets, an economy needs to increase its supply of safe asset along with upgrading its domestic productivity level. This combination is important for the long-run capital accumulation and economic growth of an economy with an increasing path of the productivity level.Originality/valueThe paper seeks a balance between theory and evidence on international capital flows. Moreover, the paper bridges the gap between the literature on international capital flows and the literature on safe assets. And the paper also focuses on the economies of the eurozone.

We characterize the safety of public debt by one cross-section sample of 160 economies.For demand analysis, the public debt is safer for larger financial market size, higher financial development level, lower inflation rate and greater political stability. For supply analysis, by a huger debt stock, the safety improves in economies with high income per capita but deteriorates in economies with low income per capita. The results are robust for Instrument-Variable regressions.

There are two stylized facts regarding the dynamics of international capital flows between countries, as illustrated in Figure 1. Fact 1: Net capital inflows fluctuate over time in both advanced and emerging economies. In Panel A, for advanced economies over the 1980-1986 period, capital inflows increase but decrease over the 1986-1997 period, and then increase continuously until they finally peak in 2006 at 1.8%. For emerging economies, net capital inflows also experience high fluctuation along their downward trend to a bottom of-4.2% in 2006, before climbing to 0%. Fact 2: Net capital inflows are highly (positively or negatively) correlated with productivity growth over time. In Panel B, for advanced economies over the 1986-1991 period, capital inflows decrease from 0.45% to 0% while the growth rate also declines from 0.28% to-0.6%. Over the 1992-2005 period, the expansion of capital inflows is accompanied by a surge of growth, except for a dip in growth in 2000. In Panel C, for emerging economies between 1986 and 1990, capital inflows decrease from 1.9% to 0.06% while the growth rate decelerates from 0.59% to-0.3%. Over the 1999-2006 period, however, the decline in capital inflows accompanies