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This tutorial review provides a general overview for the design of prodrugs and activatable phototherapeutics which enables the development of improved therapies.

Changes in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and peroxynitrite (ONOO–) concentrations have been correlated in a number of diseases including ischemia-reperfusion injury and drug-induced liver injury. Herein, we report the development of a fluorescent probe ATP-LW, which enables the simultaneous detection of ONOO– and ATP. ONOO– selectively oxidizes the boronate pinacol ester of ATP-LW to afford the fluorescent 4-hydroxy-1,8-naphthalimide product NA-OH (λex = 450 nm, λem = 562 nm or λex = 488 nm, λem = 568 nm). In contrast, the binding of ATP to ATP-LW induces the spirolactam ring opening of rhodamine to afford a highly emissive product (λex = 520 nm, λem = 587 nm). Due to the differences in emission between the ONOO– and ATP products, ATP-LW allows ONOO– levels to be monitored in the green channel (λex = 488 nm, λem = 500–575 nm) and ATP concentrations in the red channel (λex = 514 nm, λem = 575–650 nm). The use of ATP-LW as a combined ONOO– and ATP probe was demonstrated using hepatocytes (HL-7702 cells) in cellular imaging experiments. Treatment of HL-7702 cells with oligomycin A (an inhibitor of ATP synthase) resulted in a reduction of signal intensity in the red channel and an increase in that of the green channel as expected for a reduction in ATP concentrations. Similar fluorescence changes were seen in the presence of SIN-1 (an exogenous ONOO– donor).

This study aims to determine the ultrastructural changes in collagen fibrils in rabbit conjunctiva after conjunctival crosslinking using riboflavin and ultraviolet A (UVA) light at an irradiation intensity of 45 mW/cm2. Conjunctival crosslinking may increase conjunctival stiffness. The supertemporal quadrants of the right eyes of 24 adult rabbits were treated with a topical riboflavin solution (0.25%) before irradiation with UVA light at 45 mW/cm2 for 4 min. After 3 weeks, the collagen fibrils in fibril bundles were examined by electron microscopy. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression levels of collagen I and collagen III in the rabbits’ conjunctiva. The diameter of the collagen fibrils in the fibril bundles varied slightly, ranging from 30 to 60 nm in the conjunctival stroma of the control group. In the treatment group, the diameter of collagen fibrils ranged from 60 to 90 nm. The thickest collagen fibrils were observed in the treatment group (up to 90 nm in diameter). In contrast, those in the conjunctival stroma of the control group were considerably smaller (up to 60 nm in diameter). However, thicknesses of collagen fibrils displayed a unimodal distribution. Both collagen I and collagen III increased after treatment with riboflavin and UVA light irradiation at 45 mW/cm2. The data indicate that in rabbits, conjunctival crosslinking with riboflavin and UVA light at 45 mW/cm2 for 4 min is safe and does not induce ultrastructural alterations of the conjunctival cells. The conjunctival crosslinking with riboflavin and UVA light at 45 mW/cm2 can increase the diameter of collagen fibrils, but the average densities of collagen I and collagen III have no statistical significance.

The excessive use of petroleum-based non-biodegradable plastic products has resulted in severe environmental pollution and ecological problems, which has stimulated the development of biodegradable and renewable alternative materials. Lignin, as the most abundant aromatic polymer with great biodegradability and biocompatibility, exhibits enormous potential for preparing various functional and sustainable materials as alternatives to plastics. Recently, lignin-derived biodegradable films have received extensive attention in both fundamental research and practical applications, and many significant achievements have been made in this field. Herein, the latest progress in the preparation and advanced applications of lignin-derived biodegradable film materials is summarized from a sustainability point of view. An introduction to the structural and chemical characteristics of lignin is presented first, and then the designs and advances of construction systems are reviewed based on the building matrixes, including lignocellulose, natural macromolecules, biodegradable synthetic copolymers, and other cutting-edge materials. In this review, the tailored applications of these film materials are mainly focused on sensors and responsive materials, energy storage systems, packaging, and biomedical materials. Finally, the main challenges of lignin-derived biodegradable film materials are presented, and potential development directions for sustainable and eco-friendly lignin-derived film materials are also proposed.

The concentrations of ATP and ONOO− have been correlated with the progression a number of diseases including ischemia-reperfusion injury and drug-induced liver injury. Here, we report the development of fluorescent probe, ATP-LW, which enables the simultaneous detection of ONOO− and ATP. ONOO− selectively oxidises the boronate pinacol ester of ATP-LW, to afford the fluorescent 4-hydroxy-1,8-naphthalimide product NA-OH (λex = 450 nm, λem = 562 nm or λex = 488 nm, λem = 568 nm). While, the binding of ATP to ATP-LW induces the spirolactam ring opening of rhodamine to afford a highly emissive product (λex = 520 nm, λem = 587 nm). Due to the differences in emission between the ONOO− and ATP products, ATP-LW exhibits the unique ability to image ONOO− levels in the green channel (λex = 488 nm, λem = 500-575 nm) and ATP concentrations using the red channel (λex = 514 nm, λem = 575-650 nm). This was demonstrated using hepatocytes (HL-7702 cells) in cellular imaging experiments. The treatment of HL-7702 cell line with oligomycin A (an inhibitor of ATP synthase) resulted in a reduction of ATP in the red channel and increase in ONOO− green channel. While, the presence of SIN-1 (an exogenous ONOO− donor) results in an increase of ONOO−, and decrease in ATP. Significantly, when HL-7702 cells were treated with acetaminophen as a biological model for drug-induced liver injury, an increase in ONOO− green and decrease in ATP red channel fluorescence was observed. These results illustrate the utility of ATP-LW as a chemical tool to simultaneously monitor ATP and ONOO− concentrations in cellular-based applications.

Herein, the mechanochemical process combined diluted acid impregnation and ball-milling treatment was developed to overcome the recalcitrance of lignocellulose. The high-yield fermentable sugars (glucose and xylose) and impregnated enzymatic lignin (IEL) streams have been simultaneously obtained via mechanochemistry and enzymatic hydrolysis process. It was found that the mechanochemical pretreatment significantly facilitated the enzymatic hydrolysis of the treated substrates, releasing high yield (>90%) of fermentable sugars for further utilization. CP/MAS 13C NMR and solution-state 2D NMR techniques showed that the crystallinity index (CrI) and degree of polymerization (DP) of cellulose in the treated substrates were both decreased. In addition, detailed structural characterizations of the obtained IEL fractions were achieved by the state-of-the-art NMR and GPC techniques. Results showed that the IEL fractions presented similar structural features as compared to the corresponding native lignin (DEL). The study provides an efficient and clean pathway for the conversion of energy from lignocelluloses; meanwhile, the residual lignin with unchanged structures could serve as ideal feedstock for the liquid fuel, bio-based materials, and chemicals in the current biorefinery process.

Objective To explore the role of long noncoding RNA-MGC (lnc-MGC) on the trans-differentiation of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMCs) induced by high glucose. Methods The immortalized HPMCs were used to establish control group and high glucose group (60mmol/L) respectively. Cells in control group were cultured with ordinary cell medium, and in high glucose group were stimulated with high glucose medium for 72h. Changes of lnc-MGC expression in the both groups were measured by RT-PCR, and the changes of mRNA and protein expression of E-Cadherin, α smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), type Ⅰ collagen (COL-1) and type Ⅲ collagen (COL-3) in epithelial cells of both groups were measured by RT-PCR and Western blotting. The HPMCs were transfected with lentivirus, and then the changes of the above indexes were observed after up- and down-regulation of lnc-MGC. Results By high glucose stimulation of HPMCs for 72h, RT-PCR results showed that the expressions of lnc-MGC, α-SMA, CTGF, COL-1 and COL-3 mRNA increased obviously (P

The paper presents a model of reliability which captures the process by which reliability is actually determined more accurately than the conventional analysis. In contrast to that conventional analysis, which is based on the characteristics approach, the model of this paper defines reliability as the objective probability of product failure, not as a characteristic of individual goods. Reliability, thus defined, is treated as a choice variable of the firm. The resulting model is applied to a monopolist subject to a price cap. The monopolist can vary reliability and the terms of a warranty or compensation deal in response to price-capping. The monopoly outcome, price-capped monopoly outcome, and Pareto-efficient outcome are compared. The model provides a theoretical explanation of some empirical results in the literature on electricity regulation.

The removal of heavy metals ions from wastewater by an economic, high-effective, and environmentally friendly method is particularly important. In this study, an effective lignin-based bio-adsorbent (SAPL-1.5), which contained specific functional groups and spatial cross-linking structures, was synthesized through chemical modification. SAPL-1.5 was comprehensively characterized by 31P, 1H, 13C NMR, and elemental analysis as compared to the raw lignin. The results showed that the chemical reactivity of lignin was significantly improved after phenolation process, and the adsorption groups were successfully grafted onto lignin macromolecule. In addition, the influences of pH, SAPL-1.5 dosage, contact time, and initial Pb (II) concentration on the adsorption performance was systematically investigated. The highest adsorption capacity reached to 130.2 mg/g (Pb (II), 140 mg/L), and a removal efficiency of 100% was achieved (Pb (II), 20 mg/L). Moreover, the adsorption isotherm and adsorption kinetics indicated that the results were fitting well with the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order model, respectively. Furthermore, the removal efficiency of SAPL-1.5 for Pb (II) (20 mg/mL) still maintained over 85% after 5 cycles. Therefore, the lignin-based material obtained could be considered as a promising potential adsorbent with a low cost, high performance and reutilization for its application in the wastewater treatment process. It is believed that the lignin-based bio-sorbent can enlarge the lignin valorization in the current biorefinery process.

Objective To explore the effect of long noncoding RNA-ATB (LncRNA-ATB) on phenotypic transition and proliferation of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMCs) induced by high glucose. Methods HPMCs used in experiment were divided into three groups: control group, mannitol group and hypertonic glucose group. HPMCs in control group received no treatment, and in hypertonic glucose group and mannitol group were treated with 50mmol/L D-glucose and isotonic mannitol for 72 hours, respectively. Real-time PCR was employed to detect the mRNA expression of LncRNA-ATB, E-cadherin, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), Cyclin D1, cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 4 (CDK4), protein 27 (p27) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Western blotting was performed to detect the proteins expression of E-cadherin, α-SMA, CTGF, Cyclin D1, CDK4, p27 and PCNA, and flow cytometry was used to test the cell cycle. Lentivirus artifice was used to up- or down-regulate the expression of LncRNA-ATB in untreated HPMCs. Real-time PCR was employed to detect the mRNA expression of E-cadherin, α-SMA and CTGF, Western blotting was performed to detect the proteins expression of E-cadherin, α-SMA and CTGF, and flow cytometry was used to test the cell cycle. Results It is revealed by Real-time PCR, Western blotting and flow cytometry that the expressions increased of LncRNA-ATB, α-SMA, CTGF, Cyclin D1, CDK4 and PCNA induced by hypertonic glucose, and decreased of E-cadherin and p27 (P

Objective To explore the effects of p53 up-regulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA)-α protein on the apoptosis and fibrosis of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMCs) induced by high glucose. Methods HPMCs were induced by 50mmol/L D type glucose or mannitol for 72 hours respectively, flow cytometry was employed to detect the rate of apoptotic cells, and the expression levels of apoptosis- and fibrosis-related proteins were detected by Western blotting. The untreated HPMCs were transfected with Lenti-PUMA-α, and the treated cells were transfected with shRNA-PUMA-α, the number of apoptotic cells and the expression levels of apoptosis- and fibrosis-related proteins were detected with the methods mentioned above. Results Flow cytometry showed that the rate of apoptotic HPMCs increased after being induced by high glucose for 72 hours, and Western blotting revealed that the expression levels of pro-apoptotic and pro-fibrotic related proteins increased, but the arrestins of apoptosis-and fibrosis-related proteins decreased. Up-regulation of PUMA-α promoted apoptosis and fibrosis, while down-regulation of PUMA-α alleviated apoptosis and fibrosis of HPMCs. Conclusion High glucose may accelerate apoptosis and fibrosis of HPMCs by up-regulating the expression of PUMA-α. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2017.09.06

Objective To explore the role of Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF-4) in phenotypic transition of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMCs) induced via high glucose. Methods HPMCs were induced by 50mmol/L glucose for 72 hours, the expressions of epithelium-cadherin (E-cadherin), KLF-4, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and miRNA-143 were detected by Real-time PCR and Western blotting, respectively. The treated cells were transfected with LV-KLF-4 and inhibitor, the untreated cells were transfected with shRNA-KLF-4 and mimic. The mRNA and protein expressions of KLF-4, E-cadherin, α-SMA, CTGF and miRNA-143 were detected by Real-time PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Results Real-time PCR showed that the expression of E-cadherin decreased and of α-SMA, CTGF and miRNA-143 increased, but of KLF-4 not changed in high glucose treated cells. Western blotting showed that the expression of KLF-4 and E-cadherin decreased. Up-regulating KLF-4 increased the expression of E-cadherin, but decreased the expression of α-SMA and CTGF. Down-regulating KLF-4 decreased the expression of E-cadherin, but augment the expression of α-SMA and CTGF. Conclusion High glucose may induce the down-regulation of KLF-4 protein, and SRF- miRNA-143-KLF-4 signal pathway axis may be involved in the process of HPMC phenotypic transition. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2016.12.06

In this study, feather was used as the source of protein and combined with copper and boron salts to prepare wood preservatives with nano-hydroxyapatite or nano-graphene oxide as nano-carriers. The treatability of preservative formulations, the changes of chemical structure, micromorphology, crystallinity, thermal properties and chemical composition of wood cell walls during the impregnation and decay experiment were investigated by retention rate of the preservative, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electronic microscopy-energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermoanalysis (TG), and confocal Raman microscopy (CRM) techniques. Results revealed that the preservatives (particularly with nano-carrier) successfully penetrated wood blocks, verifying the enhanced effectiveness of protein-based preservative with nano-carrier formulations. Decay experiment demonstrated that the protein-based wood preservative can remarkably improve the decay resistance of the treated wood samples, and it is an effective, environmentally friendly wood preservative. Further analysis of these three preservative groups confirmed the excellent function of nano-hydroxyapatite as a nano-carrier, which can promote the chelation of preservatives with higher content of effective preservatives.

This paper applies a Difference-in-Difference method and Sobel’s procedure to examine the complex relationships among corporate governance, management accounting practice and organizational performance, and finds out that the organizations with the majority of independent directors and the leadership separation most likely adopt management accounting practices and as a result achieve the most enhanced performance. In contrast, those with the minority of independent directors and the leadership combination least likely adopt management accounting practices, which leads to the least enhanced performance. Furthermore, it also offers evidence on the mediation of adopting management accounting practices in the effect of corporate governance on organizational performance. The findings can help business managers with building effective management accounting systems, which fit their firm’s structures of corporate governance, so that they can achieve the possible best success.

Objective To explore the mechanism of transcription factor Twist on promoting peritoneal fibrosis of human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMCs) in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD). Methods The HPMCs in peritoneal fluid after dialysis from patients underwent peritoneal dialysis was collected and cultured. The expression and subcellular localization of E-cadherin, α-SMA, Twist and Bmi-1 were assayed by immunofluorescence and Western blotting. The expression of Twist, Bmi-1, E-cadherin and α-SMA were determined by immunofluorescence and Western blotting after the plasmids pcDNA3.1-twist and empty vector pcDNA3.1 were transfected into HPMCs with Lipofectamine 2000 in vitro. Twist, Bmi-1, E-cadherin and α-SMA were determined by Western blotting and immunofluorescence after silencing the expression of Twist by small interfering RNA (siRNA) and empty vector pSlience. Bmi-1, E-cadherin and α-SMA were assessed by Western blotting and immunofluorescence after silencing the expression of Bmi-1 by siRNA. Results The expression of E-cadherin decreased gradually and the expression of Twist, α-SMA and Bmi-1 increased along with the increase in PD time as determined with immunofluorescence and Western blotting. Compared with that expressed in the HPMCs trasfected with empty vector pcDNA3.1, the expression of E-cadherin significantly reduced and the expressions of α-SMA, Twist and Bmi-1 increased significantly after transfection of the plasmids pcDNA3.1-twist (P

This paper examines the asymmetric response of the underground economy (UE) in Taiwan to an effective tax rate change. The UE size in Taiwan from 1962 to 2003 is estimated using a cash deposit ratio (CDR) approach and a currency demand approach. The impact of an increase in the effective tax rate on UE is greater than that of a decrease. In addition, the impact on the UE is stronger for direct than for indirect taxes. The difference between upward and downward movements is significant for both indirect and direct taxes in the CDR approach. However, the difference is only significant for indirect taxes in the currency demand approach.

This paper employs an incremental approach to explore the determinants of corporate debt financing strategies such as the factors of the issuing costs, information asymmetry, growth opportunity, credit quality and managerial ownership. Addition to univariate analysis model, we use multiple logit model to detect the affecting factors of three types of corporate debt financing policy. Empirical results show that (1) the issuing costs are not the main concern while firms choosing their debt financing sources; (2) when firms facing higher information asymmetry problems employ more non-bank private debts, and firms with lower information asymmetry problems use more public debts; (3) firms with higher growth opportunities employ more public debts, while firms with lower growth opportunities use more privately placements; (4) higher credit quality firms use more public debts, lower credit quality firms use more non-bank private debts; (5) firms with higher insider ownership use less non-bank private debts.

In the present study, we demonstrate the thermal induced amyloid formation in a beta-barrel protein, such as the acidic fibroblast growth factor from Notopthalmus viridescens (nFGF-1). Fibril formation in nFGF-1 is observed to occur maximally at 65 degrees C. Electron microscope analysis of the thermal induced fibrils of nFGF-1 shows that they are filamentous with an average diameter of about 20 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the thermal induced fibrils of nFGF-1 have a typical "cross-beta" structure with the beta-strands perpendicular to the fibril axis. By using a variety of biophysical techniques including multidimensional NMR, we demonstrate that fibril formation involves the formation of a partially structured intermediate(s) in the thermal unfolding pathway of the protein (nFGF-1). Results of the anilino-8-napthalene sulfonate binding experiments indicate that fibril formation occurs due to the coalescence of the protein (in the intermediate state(s)) through the solvent-exposed non-polar surface(s). In this study, we also demonstrate that organic osmolytes, such as proline, can efficiently prevent the thermal induced amyloid formation in nFGF-1. Proline is found to stabilize the native conformation of the protein. The addition, proline is observed to increase the cooperativity of the unfolding (native--denatured) reaction and consequently decrease the population of the "sticky" thermal equilibrium intermediate(s) responsible for the fibril formation.

Objective To explore the effects of twist over-expression on the transdifferentiation of human peritoneal mesothelial cells(HPMCs).Methods The HPMCs were treated separately with 50mmol/L(high glucose group) and 5.6mmol/L(control group) D-glucose for 48h.The protein expression of twist,E-cadherin,Fsp1 and α-SMA were detected by Western blotting.The mRNA and protein expression of twist,E-cadherin,Fsp1 and α-SMA were tested by qRT-PCR and Western blotting after transfecting the plasmids pcDNA3.1-twist and empty vector pcDNA3.1 into HPMCs with Lipofectamine 2000 in vitro.The protein expression of twist,E-cadherin,Fsp1 and α-SMA were tested by Western blotting after silencing the twist expression by siRNA,empty vector pSlience and the parental cells.Results Compared with control group,the expression of twist,Fsp1 and α-SMA increased,and of E-cadherin decreased in high glucose group(P < 0.05).Compared with the empty vector group,after the over-expression of twist in HPMCs,the expression of E-cadherin decreased,and of Fsp1 and α-SMA increased in high glucose group(P < 0.05).Silencing the twist expression by siRNA,the expression of E-cadherin increased and of α-SMA and Fsp1 decreased in siTwist transfacted cells compared with pSlicencer-transfacted cell and parental cells(P < 0.05),and finally reversed the phenotype of MMT.Conclusion The over-expression of twist may promote the mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition of HPMCs.

Different diagnostic and grading systems of conjunctivochalasis have resulted in apparent disparity between the prevalence rates of recent population-based studies. This study aimed to investigate the disparity between 4-level system cited from Meller and Tseng in 1998 (abbreviated here as Meller's system) and 5-level system modified from Meller's system cited from Zhang and associates (abbreviated here as Zhang's system) regarding the diagnosis and the patients' preferences for the treatment of conjunctivochalasis in the general population.A total of 546 senile residents living in the Guiyangyuan community of Shanghai, China, participated in the study. The diagnostic criteria for conjunctivochalasis were based on two diagnostic grading systems: Meller's system and Zhang's system, which was modified from Meller's system. The participants' preference regarding medical treatment for conjunctivochalasis was determined according to the response to a question. One year later, a follow-up interview determines whether the patient had undergone surgery for conjunctivochalasis.With Meller's system, 398 participants were confirmed as having conjunctivochalasis, and the prevalence rate was 72.89%. According to Zhang's system, only 213 participants were diagnosed as having conjunctivochalasis, and the prevalence rate was 39.01%. A total of 109 eyes underwent medical treatment or surgery for conjunctivochalasis in the following year, including eight eyes that were diagnosed as grade II and 101 eyes that were diagnosed as grade III according to Meller's system and five eyes that were diagnosed as grade I, 55 eyes that were diagnosed as grade II, 31 eyes that were diagnosed as grade III, and 18 eyes that were diagnosed as grade IV according to Zhang' system.Diagnoses of conjunctivochalasis using Zhang's system are more consistent with patient requests and the medical treatment strategies used than diagnoses made using Meller's system.

Human fibroblast growth factor 1 (hFGF-1) consists of 12 anti-parallel β-strands arranged into a β-trefoil architecture. We directly measured hydrogen/deuterium exchange rates on the urea-denatured hFGF-1 to obtain the information with regard to the persistent residual interaction(s) in the unfolded hFGF-1. Thirty-eight residues whose heteronuclear single quantum coherence cross-peaks can be observed after exchange show higher protections than those predicted for the same residues in a random coil conformation, suggesting the existence of residual structure(s). The urea-denaturation of hFGF-1 tested by both circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that the unfolding process is a cooperative two-state process and that the residual structures observed did not originate from the existence of a partially structured intermediate. The coincident disappearance of the native heteronuclear single quantum coherence cross-peaks during the urea-denaturation process suggests that the residual structures observed contain no nativelike interactions. The protected residues (fold ons) in the urea-denatured state are mostly those that exchange slowly in the native state H/D exchange. The distribution of these fold ons in the native structure of hFGF-1 suggests that the refolding starts by collisions between the residual structures (microdomains) between the β-strands VI and VII, and between the β-strands II and III, which appear to be two independent refolding coordinates during the refolding process.

Oligomerization of fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) induced on binding to heparin or heparan sulfate proteoglycan is considered to be crucial for receptor activation and initiation of biological responses. To gain insight into the mechanism of activation of the receptor by FGFs, in the present study we investigate the effect(s) of interaction of a heparin analog, sucrose octasulfate (SOS), on the structure, stability, and biological activities of a recombinant acidic FGF from Notophthalmus viridescens (nFGF-1). SOS is found to bind to nFGF-1 and significantly increase the thermodynamic stability of the protein. Using a variety of techniques such as size-exclusion chromatography, sedimentation velocity, and multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, it is shown that binding of SOS to nFGF-1 retains the protein in its monomeric state. In its monomeric state (complexed to SOS), n-FGF-1 shows significant cell proliferation activity. (15)N and (1)H chemical shift perturbation and the intermolecular nuclear Overhauser effects (NOEs) between SOS and nFGF-1 reveal that the ligand binds to the dense, positively charged cluster located in the groove enclosed by beta-strands 10 and 11. In addition, molecular modeling based on the NOEs observed for the SOS-nFGF-1 complex, indicates that SOS and heparin share a common binding site on the protein. In conclusion, the results of the present study clearly show that heparin-induced oligomerization of nFGF-1 is not mandatory for its cell proliferation activity.

While adopting knowledge management can improve firm performance, it is determined by implementing level of management accounting practices. Furthermore, it plays mediating role in the relationship between implementing management accounting practices and firm performance. This paper employs path analysis to investigate causal relationships among the variables. Then it uses procedures suggested by Sobel (1982) to examine the mediation of adopting knowledge management. Moreover, this paper utilizes techniques modified from analytic hierarchy process introduced by Saaty (1980) to rank contributing levels of adopting knowledge management and implementing management accounting practices to improved firm performance. The findings offer evidence on relationships among the variables as well as mediating role of adopting knowledge management in effect of implementing management accounting practices on firm performance. This paper also reveals that adopting knowledge management is more important to improved firm performance than implementing management accounting practices. This paper is useful to management researchers as well as business managers.

The relationships among the audit committee independence, nonfinancial performance and financial performance are quite complicated. They are not simply bivariate correlations. Rather, there may be mediating effects or moderating influences on these casual associations. Nonetheless, previous research has not investigated these complicated relationships. This paper seeks to examine the mediating impact of nonfinancial performance on the association between the audit committee independence and financial performance. Further, it also explores the moderating role of the audit committee independence in the influence of nonfinancial performance on financial performance. The findings imply that nonfinancial performance interferes with the effect of the audit committee independence on financial performance, in which it lessens this effect. The empirical results also suggest that the audit committee independence plays the moderating role in the relationship between nonfinancial performance and financial performance, in which the independence of the audit committee is positively related to this relationship.