Search

Background and Objective: The dynamic assessment of disease activity during the follow-up of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) remains a significant challenge. In this study, we aimed to identify the role of dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) in the evaluation of activity of CD. Methods: In the retrospective study, patients diagnosed with CD in our hospital were included. All the diagnoses were confirmed by clinical symptoms and ileocolonoscopical results. All patients underwent intestinal ultrasound and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) examinations within 1 week of the ileocolonoscopy examinations. Acuson Sequoia (Siemens Healthineers, Mountain View, CA, USA) and Resona R9 Elite (Mindray Medical Systems, China) with curved array and Line array transducers were used. The CEUS examination was performed with SonoVue (Bracco SpA, Milan, Italy). DCE-US analysis was performed by UltraOffice (version: 0.3-2010, Mindray Medical Systems, China) software. Two regions of interest (ROIs) were set in the anterior section of the infected bowel wall and its surrounding normal bowel wall 2 cm distant from the inflamed area. Time–intensity curves (TICs) were generated and quantitative perfusion parameters were obtained after curve fittings. The Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn's disease (SES-CD) was regarded as the reference standard to evaluate the activity of CD. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analyses were used to determine the diagnostic efficiency of DCE-US quantitative parameters. Results: From March 2023 to November 2023, 52 CD patients were included. According to SES-CD score, all patients were divided into active group with the SES-CD score > 5 (n = 39) and inactive group SES-CD score < 5 (n = 13). Most of the active CD patients showed bowel wall thickness (BWT) > 4.2 mm (97.4%, 38/39) or mesenteric fat hypertrophy (MFH) on intestinal ultrasound (US) scan (69.2%, 27/39). Color Doppler signal of the bowel wall mostly showed spotty or short striped blood flow signal in active CD patients (56.4%, 22/39). According to CEUS enhancement patterns, most active CD patients showed a complete hyperenhancement of the entire intestinal wall (61.5%, 24/39). The TICs of active CD showed an earlier enhancement, higher peak intensity, and faster decline. Among all CEUS quantitative parameters, amplitude-derived parameters peak enhancement (PE), wash-in area under the curve (WiAUC), wash-in rate (WiR), wash-in perfusion index (WiPI), and wash-out rate (WoR) were significantly higher in active CD than in inactive CD (p < 0.05). The combined AUROC of intestinal ultrasound features and DCE-US quantitative perfusion parameters in the diagnosis of active CD was 0.987, with 97.4% sensitivity, 100% specificity, and 98.1% accuracy. Conclusions: DCE-US with quantitative perfusion parameters is a potential useful noninvasive imaging method to evaluate the activity of Crohn's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to identify the efficacy of board independence on corporate social responsibility (C.S.R.) practices in the companies of mainland China. It was noted by the earlier studies that the relationship between the implications of C.S.R. strategies, and the board of governors is disturbing in China because of the ownership and other related issues. In this study, to identify the results of variables related to C.S.R., the adopted method was content analysis. Furthermore, to determine the results for the efficacy of board independence on C.S.R., the ordinary least square method was adopted in this study. The study concludes that with effective strategies and implications by board independence a high level of C.S.R. can be achieved. Significantly, this study provides a detailed insight into the efficacy of board independence and C.S.R. to ensure that all the strategies would be effective with an independent board. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure is becoming increasingly important in practice, yet knowledge about the antecedents of such CSR initiatives is limited. Drawing on faultline theories, we expect that the compositional attributes of top management teams, such as the level of heterogeneity, influence their decisions about CSR disclosure and reporting. Data and a sample from Chinese publicly traded companies are used to examine our hypotheses. Our results demonstrate that a top management team's faultline strength is negatively related to CSR disclosure decisions and CSR report quality. We contribute to the literature about CSR disclosure by offering specific insights, through a micro‐level analysis, about how to compose and structure top management teams to advance CSR in emerging economies such as China. Practical implications for managers and policymakers are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adopted a social network perspective to explore the academic discourse socialization experiences of eight degree-seeking multilingual international students at a university in eastern China. Based on a triangulation of ethnographic interviews, social network questionnaires, and supplementary sources (e.g., voluntarily submitted recordings, texts about academic exchanges), the study revealed five patterns of students' social networks, including heterogeneous-sparse network, heterogeneous-dense network, homogeneous-sparse network, homogeneous-dense network, and balanced network. This resulting network typology was utilized to interpret the role of social networks in individuals' socialization trajectories, which were observed to include affecting capacities to negotiate academic norms, structuring channels to build and transform expertise, and shaping space for multicompetence development. While different network connections demonstrated different roles, networks with similar characteristics could exert divergent impacts, highlighting the mediation of a range of individual and sociocultural dynamics. Based on the findings, the study contributes to critical multilingual studies by offering theoretical implications for socialization research on community and competence, and providing practical suggestions for research, education, and program administration in international education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates whether increased female representation on a board improves firm performance in terms of electric vehicle (EV) sales in China when government subsidies are available. The increase in EV sales in China is a direct result of the sustainability efforts spearheaded by the various levels of local and state governments. This area is of importance due to the rising Chinese footprint in global EV sales, the increasing role of subsidies, and a transformation from State‐Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to market‐driven firms that are more likely to pay attention to corporate governance issues such as board diversity. Using the instrumental variable (IV) approach, we estimate a two‐stage least squares (2SLS) regression to control for more women representation on EV boards using firm‐level data. The results indicate that board gender diversity (BGD) positively impacts firm performance in terms of EV sales. Furthermore, the effect amplifies in the presence of government subsidies. The insights provide valuable contributions to bridge the critical literature gap on how board diversity impacts firm performance in the presence of subsidies and offer valuable insights into corporate governance and policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to identify the efficacy of board independence on corporate social responsibility (C.S.R.) practices in the companies of mainland China. It was noted by the earlier studies that the relationship between the implications of C.S.R. strategies, and the board of governors is disturbing in China because of the ownership and other related issues. In this study, to identify the results of variables related to C.S.R., the adopted method was content analysis. Furthermore, to determine the results for the efficacy of board independence on C.S.R., the ordinary least square method was adopted in this study. The study concludes that with effective strategies and implications by board independence a high level of C.S.R. can be achieved. Significantly, this study provides a detailed insight into the efficacy of board independence and C.S.R. to ensure that all the strategies would be effective with an independent board. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Minor hallucination (MH) is the most common psychotic symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD); it can develop into well-structured visual hallucination (VH), suggesting that MH may be a staccato form of well-structured VH. However, it remains unclear whether the pathogenesis is the same. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the altered gray matter volume (GMV) and functional connectivity (FC) of MH in PD to further understand the complex mechanisms. Materials and methods: We included 67 PD patients who attended the outpatient clinic of Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Brain Hospital and recruited 31 healthy controls (HC). Demographic data and clinical characteristics of all subjects were recorded, and cranial structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting-state functional MRI data were acquired. Patients were classified into the PD with MH (PD-MH) group and PD without hallucinations or delusions (PD-NH) group. Voxel-based morphometry was used to analyze the differences in GMV in the structural pattern. Seed-based FC was used to analyze the functional pattern. Gaussian random field correction was used, with voxel level P < 0.001 and cluster level P < 0.05 representing statistically significant differences. Finally, the correlation between FC values and scores on the clinical characteristics assessment scale was analyzed. Results: In the GMV analysis, compared to the PD-NH group, the PD-MH group had reduced GMV in the medial superior frontal gyrus (SFGmed). In the FC analysis, the FC between the SFGmed and the left middle occipital gyrus and right calcarine sulcus decreased in the PD-MH group compared with the PD-NH group, while the FC between SFGmed and the left middle temporal gyrus increased. Correlation analysis revealed that the FC values of the SFGmed and right calcarine sulcus were correlated with the assessment scores for anxiety and sleep symptoms. The FC values of the SFGmed and left middle occipital gyrus were correlated with assessment scores for rapid eye movement disorder. Conclusion: The aberrant structure and function of the default mode network and visual processing areas seems to facilitate the generation of MH in PD, as the alteration was previously found in well-structured VH, suggesting that the two hallucinations have similar pathophysiological mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with glaring economic inequality within China, and the need to grow soft power globally, president Xi Jinping has identified the urgent need to usher in a "new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics," and has specifically called for the expansion of " xin cishan " (新慈善), or "new philanthropy." Both as a new phenomenon in the PRC, and as a novel type, "new philanthropy" represents an opportunity for the nation to envision and cultivate charitable practice that mediates between market economics and socialist ethics, and grants China a moral authority that is legible to a Western gaze yet resistant to cultural imperialism. Based on yearlong ethnographic research inside an elite philanthropy training program, this article outlines three different visions that were found to coexist: philanthropy-as-new-revolution, philanthropy-as-new-legacy, and philanthropy-as-new-tradition. I also examine how wealthy participants responded to these various interpellations—part of a process I call "philanthropic subjectification." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government programmes and policies in China have brought energy conservation and emission reduction issues into focus. Given the positive role of independent directors and media in corporate governance, the study explores the impact of independent director's characteristics and media exposure on firm's environmental disclosure and performance. We find that independent director's overseas background is positively associated with environmental behaviour, whereas non-local independent director is negatively related to environmental behaviour. The split-sample analyses further support that media coverage plays a positive role both through itself directly and via its impact on independent directors. In supplementary analyses, media exposure has a more significant effect on state-owned than on non-state-owned enterprises. Additionally, non-independent director's overseas experience also improves firm's environmental behaviour. The findings enable us to identify a specific channel to improve environmental disclosure and corporate governance, which is through the impact of media on certain independent directors such as returnee-independent directors in state-owned enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The policy‐driven "Grain for Green Programme" (GGP) has resulted in large‐scale land conversion from agricultural land to natural land in the karst area. One research surrounding the GGP is focused on evaluating its ecological implications for total mercury (THg) enrichment in Yinjiang County, Guizhou Province, Southwest China. Results show that 1) THg content in agricultural land (201.85 ± 57.23 µg kg−1) is lower compared to the forest (1048.62 ± 306.19 µg kg−1) and shrub (2582.60 ± 614.76 µg kg−1). 2) The THg content shows a good correlation with Fe (agricultural land: R = 0.75, p < 0.01; shrub: R = 0.88, p < 0.01), pH (shrub: R = 0.87, p < 0.01), and sand proportion (forest: R = −0.65, p < 0.01), rather than soil organic carbon (SOC). In the shrub, the increased pH and iron (Fe) content correspond to THg content between 1804 and 3743 µg kg−1; below the depth of 80 cm of the forest soil, the increased sand proportion correlates to THg content between 1223 and 748 µg kg−1. 3) The risk index of the THg exceeds 320 in the soil and imposes a very high ecological risk to this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior literature has largely dealt with the effect of either corporate social responsibility (CSR) or innovation on firm financial risk. No earlier research has examined the combined effect of a firm's simultaneous pursuit of CSR and innovation on firm financial risk. This study investigates the combined effects with a view to fostering our understanding of relationships of CSR and innovation with financial risk. Using the patent application and CSR data of 2,174 Chinese listed firms over the period 2010–2016, this study finds that firms with higher levels of imitative innovation and good CSR performance exhibit higher financial risk. The results remain after a series of robustness tests including the use of an alternative measure of firm financial risk and CSR. The results indicate that firms with a higher level of imitative innovation exhibit greater financial risk; however, the risk cannot be mitigated by firms' good CSR performance. CSR performance helps firms boost the positive image of a "good citizen" and reduce firm financial risk; however, the combined effects of CSR and imitative innovation trigger higher financial risk. The results of this study support the umbrella theory of CSR that exacerbates the moral hazard for those firms that rely on imitative innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Previous studies primarily based on the culture method have revealed that caves host a high fungal diversity and that exogenous carbon sources influence fungal communities. Here, we assess the fungal diversity and distribution patterns in karst caves in Southwest China and reveal the major factors that shape the fungal communities. Location: Southwest China. Methods: Samples of air, rock, sediment and water were collected from eight caves in Southwest China. Using high‐throughput sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 1 region of fungal rDNA, we examined the cave fungal communities in Southwest China and studied their correlations with potentially influential factors, such as substrate, cave, location and environmental variables. Results: Approximately 10,000 fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) spanning 15 phyla were obtained. The highest diversity genus was Penicillium, while Mortierella had the highest relative abundance. Compared with air and rock samples, sediment and water samples harboured higher diversity and distinct communities. Substrate and cave were revealed to be the key determinants of the fungal communities in caves. Sample location and sampling distance from the entrance had more significant impacts on rock and sediment communities than on air and water assemblages. The fungal assemblages in air and water samples from the cave and outside cave environments were similar, while those of rock and sediment samples were significantly different. Main conclusions: Our results indicate that sediment and water harboured higher fungal diversity than air and rock, and substrate and spatial variables are key determinants of fungal communities in caves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we propose a theoretical model based on the reputation theory and hypothesize a positive relation between the information disclosure quality and the company’s refinancing decision. We collected data from the listed companies, which refinances in Shenzhen main board and SME board during 2006–2012, as a panel sample, and tested the hypothesis empirically. The results indicate that there exists a significant positive correction short-term relation between refinancing decision and the information disclosure quality, but in the long term the relationship between the information disclosure quality and refinancing decision is not significant. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Caves are nutrient-limited and dark subterranean ecosystems. To date, attention has been focused on geological research of caves in China, whilst indigenous microbial diversity has been insufficiently characterized. Here, we report the fungal diversity in the pristine, oligotrophic, karst Heshang Cave, central China, using a culture-dependent method coupled with the analysis of the fungal rRNA-ITS gene sequences. A total of 194 isolates were obtained with six different media from 14 sampling sites of sediments, weathered rocks, and bat guanos. Phylogenetic analysis clustered the 194 sequenced isolates into 33 genera within 15 orders of three phyla, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Zygomycota, indicating a high degree of fungal diversity in the Heshang Cave. Notably, 16 out of the 36 fungal genera were also frequently observed in solution caves around the world and 23 genera were previously found in carbonate cave, indicating potential similarities among fungal communities in cave ecosystems. However, 10 genera in this study were not reported previously in any solution caves, thus expanding our knowledge about fungal diversity in cave ecosystems. Moreover, culturable fungal diversity varied from one habitat to another within the cave, being the highest in sediments, followed by weathered rocks and bat guanos as indicated by a-diversity indexes. At the genus level, Penicillium accounted for 40, 54, and 52% in three habitats of sediments, weathered rocks, and bat guanos, respectively. Trichoderma, Paecilomyces, and Aspergillus accounted for 9, 22, and 37% in the above habitats, correspondingly. Despite of the dominance of Penicillium in all samples, β-diversity index indicated significant differences between each two fungal communities in the three habitats in view of both the composition and abundance. Our study is the first report on fungal communities in a natural pristine solution cave system in central China and sheds light on fungal diversity and functions in cave ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the identification of a novel allele HLA-A*03:01:09 in a Chinese individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]