Search

The rapid development of theoretical and practical innovations in corporate finance driven by supply chain finance has exacerbated the complexity of credit default risk contagion among supply chain enterprises. Financial risks in the supply chain greatly hinder its sustainable development; thus, strengthening financial risk management is necessary to ensure the sustainability of the supply chain. Based on the single-channel and dual-channel credit financing models of retailers in the supply chain, the purpose of this paper was to construct a model of the intensity of credit default risk contagion among supply chain enterprises under different credit financing models, and investigate the influencing factors of credit risk contagion among supply chain enterprises and its mechanism of action through a computational simulation system. The results were as follows: (1) there was a positive relationship between the production cost of suppliers and the contagion intensity of the supply chain credit default risk, and the contagion effect of the supply chain credit default risk increased significantly when both retailers defaulted on trade credit to suppliers; (2) the market retail price of the product was negatively related to the contagion intensity of the supply chain credit default risk, and the contagion intensity of the supply chain credit default risk increased significantly when both retailers defaulted on trade credit to the supplier; (3) the intensity of credit default risk contagion in the supply chain was positively correlated with both the commercial bank risk-free rate and the trade credit rate, and retailers' repayment priority on trade credit debt was negatively correlated with suppliers' wholesale prices and positively correlated with retailers' order volumes, with retailers' repayment priority positively affecting retailers' bank credit rates and negatively affecting suppliers' bank credit rates; and (4) retailers' repayment priority on trade credit debt was negatively correlated with the intensity of supply chain credit default risk contagion, and the lower the retailer's bank credit limit, the higher the trade credit limit, and the stronger the credit default contagion effect in the supply chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental surveillance is a critical tool for combatting public health threats represented by the global COVID-19 pandemic and the continuous increase of antibiotic resistance in pathogens. With its power to detect entire microbial communities, metagenomics-based methods stand out in addressing the need. However, several hurdles remain to be overcome in order to generate actionable interpretations from metagenomic sequencing data for infection prevention. Conceptually and technically, we focus on viability assessment, taxonomic resolution, and quantitative metagenomics, and discuss their current advancements, necessary precautions and directions to further development. We highlight the importance of building solid conceptual frameworks and identifying rational limits to facilitate the application of techniques. We also propose the usage of internal standards as a promising approach to overcome analytical bottlenecks introduced by low biomass samples and the inherent lack of quantitation in metagenomics. Taken together, we hope this perspective will contribute to bringing accurate and consistent metagenomics-based environmental surveillance to the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of credit default swap (CDS) market has changed the manner of credit risk management of banks to some extent and has had a new influence on the bank-enterprise credit model. In this study, the credit financing process of credit risk in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) gathers within a bank, which makes it difficult for SMEs to raise funds. On the basis of the perspective of CDS, we construct an incentive game model of bank-enterprise credit behavior and analyze the influence mechanism of the credit financing of SMEs on CDS contract coupon rate, CDS payout ratio, bank-enterprise credit effort, and loan recovery rate when considering CDS. The result shows that the CDS contract leads to insufficient supervision after a bank loan, the moral hazard of the SMEs rises, and the probability of credit default events increases. In addition, in view of CDS, the SMEs can access more credit funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the advent of soap, personal hygiene practices have revolved around removal, sterilization, and disinfection—both of visible soil and microscopic organisms—for a myriad of cultural, aesthetic, or health‐related reasons. Cleaning methods and products vary widely in their recommended use, effectiveness, risk to users or building occupants, environmental sustainability, and ecological impact. Advancements in science and technology have facilitated in‐depth analyses of the indoor microbiome, and studies in this field suggest that the traditional "scorched‐earth cleaning" mentality—that surfaces must be completely sterilized and prevent microbial establishment—may contribute to long‐term human health consequences. Moreover, the materials, products, activities, and microbial communities indoors all contribute to, or remove, chemical species to the indoor environment. This review examines the effects of cleaning with respect to the interaction of chemistry, indoor microbiology, and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Microscopic colitis (MC) is a common cause of chronic diarrhea, predominantly among older adults. Emerging evidence suggests that perturbations of gut microbiome and metabolome may play an important role in MC pathogenesis., Objective: To comprehensively characterize alterations of the gut microbial and metabolic composition in MC., Design: We established a longitudinal cohort of adult patients with MC and two control groups of individuals - chronic diarrhea controls and age- and sex-matched controls without diarrhea. Using stool samples, gut microbiome was analyzed by whole-genome shotgun metagenomic sequencing, and gut metabolome was profiled by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Per-feature enrichment analyses of microbial species, metabolic pathways, and metabolites were done using multivariable linear models both cross-sectionally comparing MC to controls and longitudinally according to disease activity. Lastly, we performed multi-omics association analyses to assess the relationship between microbiome and metabolome data., Results: We included 683 participants, 131 with active MC (66 with both active and remission samples), 159 with chronic diarrhea, and 393 age- and sex-matched controls without diarrhea. The stool microbiome in active MC was characterized by a lower alpha diversity as compared to controls and the remission phase of MC. Compared to controls, we identified eight enriched species in MC, most of which were pro-inflammatory oral-typical species, such as Veillonella dispar and Haemophilus parainfluenzae . In contrast, 11 species, including anti-inflammatory microbes such as Blautia glucerasea and Bacteroides stercoris, were depleted in MC. Similarly, pro-inflammatory metabolites, including lactosylceramides, ceramides, lysophospholipids, and lysoplasmalogens were enriched in active MC as compared to controls or MC cases in remission. Multi-omics association analyses revealed strong and concordant links between microbes, their metabolic pathways, and metabolomic profiles, supporting the tight interplay between disturbances in stool microbiome and metabolome in MC., Conclusion: We observed a significant shift in stool microbial and metabolomic composition in MC. Our findings could be used in the future for development of non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosing and monitoring MC and developing novel therapeutics., What Is Already Known on This Topic: Microbiome dysbiosis has been proposed to contribute to microscopic colitis (MC) pathogenesis.However, previous studies have been limited by small sample sizes, reliance on 16S rRNA sequencing technique, potential confounding by stool consistency, and lack of functional analyses of microbiome and longitudinal data. Moreover, the metabolomic composition of MC remain largely unknown., What This Study Adds: In this largest longitudinal MC cohort with two control groups - chronic diarrhea controls and controls without diarrhea, gut microbiome of MC is characterized by a lower alpha diversity, enriched pro-inflammatory oral-typical species and depleted anti-inflammatory beneficial species.Gut metabolome of MC shows significant enrichment of pro-inflammatory metabolites, including lactosylceramides, ceramides, lysophospholipids, and lysoplasmalogens. Multi-omics analyses demonstrate strong and concordant relationships between microbes, metabolic pathways, and metabolomic profiles., How This Study Might Affect Research Practice or Policy: Our findings could facilitate development of non-invasive biomarkers and novel therapeutics for MC.

Perturbation of natural microbial communities by antimicrobials, such as triclosan, can result in selection for antibiotic tolerance, which is of particular concern when pathogens are present. Members of the genus Pseudomonas are found in many natural microbial communities and frequently demonstrate increased abundance following triclosan exposure. The pathogen and well-studied model organism Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibits high triclosan tolerance; however, it is unknown if all Pseudomonas species share this trait or if there are susceptible strains. We characterized the triclosan tolerance phenotypes of diverse Pseudomonas isolates obtained from triclosan-exposed built environments and identified both tolerant and sensitive strains. High tolerance is associated with carriage of the enoyl-acyl carrier reductase (ENR) isozyme gene fabV , compared to the lesser protective effects of efflux or presence of ENRs. Given its unique importance, we examined fabV distribution throughout Pseudomonas species using large-scale phylogenomic analyses. We find fabV presence or absence is largely invariant at the species level but demonstrates multiple gain and loss events in its evolutionary history. We further provide evidence of its presence on mobile genetic elements. Our results demonstrate the surprising variability in triclosan tolerance in Pseudomonas and confirm fabV to be a useful indicator for high triclosan tolerance in Pseudomonas These findings provide a framework for better monitoring of Pseudomonas in triclosan-exposed environments and interpreting effects on species and gene composition. IMPORTANCE Closely related species are typically assumed to demonstrate similar phenotypes driven by underlying conserved genotypes. When monitoring for the effect of antimicrobials on the types of species that may be selected for, this assumption may prove to be incorrect, and identification of additional genetic markers may be necessary. We isolated several phylogenetically diverse members of Pseudomonas from indoor environments and tested their phenotypic tolerance toward the commonly used antimicrobial triclosan. Although Pseudomonas isolates are broadly regarded to be highly triclosan tolerant, we demonstrate the presence of both triclosan-tolerant and -susceptible strains, separated by a difference in tolerance of nearly 3 orders of magnitude. Bioinformatic and experimental investigation demonstrated that the presence of the gene fabV was associated with high tolerance. We demonstrate that fabV is not evenly distributed in all Pseudomonas species and that its presence could be a useful predictor of high triclosan tolerance suitable for antimicrobial monitoring efforts involving triclosan., (Copyright © 2021 American Society for Microbiology.)