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In this study, we examine the relationship between job satisfaction and firm leverage using a sample of Chinese listed firms. We find that in a sample of “China’s 100 Best Employers Award” winners during 2011–2017, job satisfaction is negatively associated with firm leverage. The effect is more pronounced in firms with higher distress risk and operating in human capital intensive industries. We confirm the validity of the main findings using a matched sample and a series of robustness checks. Overall, our results indicate that firms can credibly demonstrate their commitment to stakeholders and re-shape their capital structure by improving job satisfaction.

Abstract In clinical practice, we found that IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) patients complicated with allergic rhinitis (AR)/chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) seemed to have unique characteristics different from patients with IgG4-RD alone. In this study, demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of IgG4-RD patients complicated with AR/CRS were investigated. We retrospectively analyzed 756 IgG4-RD patients who were recruited in four medical centers from 2009 to 2021. We divided 756 IgG4-RD patients into 2 groups: the case group included IgG4-RD patients complicated with AR/CRS, and the control group included IgG4-RD patients without AR/CRS. 411 patients were complicated with AR/CRS among 756 IgG4-RD patients. Multiple organs involvement (≥ 3, p

Abstract Background Interstitial lung disease (ILD) may cause life-threatening complications of primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS), and has a poor prognosis in terms of survival and quality of life. To date, few studies have investigated the risk factors for ILD detected by high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in pSS patients with or without respiratory symptoms. Methods Data of 333 patients with newly diagnosed pSS were retrospectively analysed. Interstitial lung disease involvement was defined as typical abnormalities on HRCT and/or pulmonary function tests. Multivariate regression model was used to evaluate the association between interstitial lung disease and pSS characteristics. Results Sixty-six patients (19.82%) were diagnosed with pSS-ILD. Ground glass opacities (87.88%) and septal/sub pleural lines (81.82%) were most frequent. Based on pulmonary high-resolution computed tomography, patients were divided into nonspecific (n = 42), usual (n = 20), lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia (n = 3) and cryptogenic organising pneumonia (n = 1) groups. There was a strong association between erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)/C-reactive protein (CRP) and the HRCT-score. Pulmonary function tests revealed impaired diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide and total lung capacity, and coexistence of small airway lesions in pSS-interstitial lung disease. On logistic regression analysis, age, Raynaud’s phenomenon, lymphopenia, cough, dyspnoea and rampant dental caries were risk factors associated with pSS-interstitial lung disease. Conclusions Interstitial lung disease involvement in pSS is a common clinical occurrence. The clinical manifestation is nonspecific and variable; Raynaud’s phenomenon and lymphopenia may predict its onset. pSS patients with advanced age, dry cough and dyspnoea should be systematically evaluated for ILD involvement and managed according to their symptoms.

ABSTRACT Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), recurrently reported as an urgent threat owing to its increased prevalence and mortality, has attracted significant attention. As the use of antibiotics to treat CDI has many limitations, such as high recurrence rate, the need to actively seek and develop other drugs that can effectively treat CDI with fewer side effects has become a key issue in CDI prevention and treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the inhibitory effect of Galla chinensis (GC) and its main component, tannic acid (TA), against C. difficile in vitro and its therapeutic effect on CDI in vivo. When GC and TA concentrations were 250 and 64 mg/L, respectively, the cumulative antibacterial rate against C. difficile reached 100%. The sub-MIC of TA significantly inhibited C. difficile sporulation, toxin production, and biofilm formation in vitro. Compared with the CDI control group, TA-treated mice lost less weight and presented a significantly improved survival rate. TA significantly reduced the number of spores in feces, decreased serum TcdA level, and increased serum interleukin 10 (IL-10). Based on the inhibitory effect of TA on C. difficile in vitro and its therapeutic effect on the CDI mouse model, we consider TA as a potentially effective drug for treating CDI. IMPORTANCE Clostridioides difficile is one of the major pathogens to cause antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Although antibiotic treatment is still the most commonly used and effective treatment for CDI, the destruction of indigenous intestinal microbiota by antibiotics is the main reason for the high CDI recurrence rate of about 20%, which is increasing every year. Moreover, the growing problem of drug resistance has also become a major hidden danger in antibiotic treatment. GC has been used to treat diarrhea in traditional Chinese medicine. In the present study, we evaluated the inhibitory effect of TA, the main component of GC, on dissemination and pathogenic physiological functions of C. difficile in vitro, as well as its therapeutic efficacy in a CDI model. Overall, TA is considered to be a potentially effective drug for CDI treatment.

Laboratory biosafety has become a core focus in biological analysis, owing to the frequent occurrence of laboratory-acquired infections caused by the leakage of pathogenic microorganisms. For this purpose, the authors developed a safe pretreatment device combining a sealing technique with a direct injection technique. In this study, several bacteria and viruses were used to validate the filtration effect of the invention. Data show that the new device can completely filter bacteria and that the filtration rates for hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus reached 94% and 96%, respectively. The results show that the new preparation device can effectively block these pathogens and can improve biological safety and provide powerful protection for technicians.

In this study, we reported two featured series of rRNA-derived RNA fragments (rRFs) from the small RNA sequencing (sRNA-seq) data of Amblyomma testudinarium using the Illunima platform. Two series of rRFs (rRF5 and rRF3) were precisely aligned to the 5' and 3' ends of the 5.8S and 28S rRNA gene. The rRF5 and rRF3 series were significantly more highly expressed than the rRFs located in the body of the rRNA genes. These series contained perfectly aligned reads, the lengths of which varied progressively with 1-bp differences. The rRF5 and rRF3 series in the same expression pattern exist ubiquitously from ticks to human. The cellular experiments showed the RNAi knockdown of one 20-nt rRF3 induced the cell apoptosis and inhibited the cell proliferation. In addition, the RNAi knockdown resulted in a significant decrease of H1299 cells in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. These results indicated the rRF5 and rRF3 series were not random intermediates or products during rRNA degradation, but could constitute a new class of small RNAs that deserves further investigation.