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We investigate tax incidence reflected in the pricing of syndicated loans and argue that loan spread increases in bank income taxes of borrowers’ home states. We compare borrowers in states with differing bank tax rates and demonstrate the presence of tax incidence on borrowers with causality coming from bank taxes. Tax incidence on borrowers increases with local loan market concentration and pre-existing lending relationships. Further, a lack of tax deductibility of loan loss provisions enhances tax incidence. We conclude that bank income taxation, though specifically targeted at banks, is partially passed through to borrowers and increases their cost of debt.

Monitoring surface deformation associated with geohazards is a prerequisite for geological disaster prevention. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has the ability to capture ground deformation of landslides with high precision over a large area. However, in mountainous regions this capability is often limited by decorrelation noise and atmospheric phase artifacts. Over Eldorado National Forest, California, where many landslides need to be monitored and investigated, InSAR images are severely affected by atmospheric noise and the coherence is highly variable throughout the year, challenging InSAR techniques to effectively detect movement of active landslides. In order to obtain reliable measurements, we have designed an interferogram selection method and an InSAR segment processing (SP) technique to improve the deformation measurement. Compared with the traditional non-segment processing (NSP), the SP technique has demonstrated advantages in reducing the impact of atmospheric noise. Our results from both the ascending and descending InSAR datasets based on SP indicate that many landslides along the Highway 50 corridor were creeping at a rate of less than 10 cm/year during the investigation period. We have found that landslide movements in the study region present obvious seasonal patterns. The precipitation and pore-water measurements and our hydrogeological diffusion models suggest that the seasonal movements of these landslides are primarily driven by the pore-water pressures, and the peak deformation of the landslides may occur in the dry season (May to October) due to the time lag of precipitation infiltration. In addition, we have observed subtle upward movement of the landslides after the precipitation begins, which is likely caused by the swelling of clay-rich landslide body due to an increase in the pore pressure. Furthermore, several other localized unstable regions which may contain potential landslide hazards were also detected and mapped in the study area, and their dynamics need further investigation. We conclude that InSAR is capable of detecting slow landslide motions over difficult terrains if associated artifacts in the interferograms are suppressed. InSAR time-series measurements along with hydrogeological models enable us to characterize the time delay between peaks of landslide motions and precipitation.

Background Vessels with different microcirculation patterns are required for glioblastoma (GBM) growth. However, details of the microcirculation patterns in GBM remain unclear. Here, we examined the microcirculation patterns of GBM and analyzed their roles in patient prognosis together with two well‐known GMB prognosis factors (O6‐methylguanine DNA methyltransferase [MGMT] promoter methylation status and isocitrate dehydrogenase [IDH] mutations). Methods Eighty GBM clinical specimens were collected from patients diagnosed between January 2000 and December 2012. The microcirculation patterns, including endothelium‐dependent vessels (EDVs), extracellular matrix‐dependent vessels (ECMDVs), GBM cell‐derived vessels (GDVs), and mosaic vessels (MVs), were evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF) staining in both GBM clinical specimens and xenograft tissues. Vascular density assessments and three‐dimensional reconstruction were performed. MGMT promoter methylation status was determined by methylation‐specific PCR, and IDH1/2 mutations were detected by Sanger sequencing. The relationship between the microcirculation patterns and patient prognosis was analyzed by Kaplan‐Meier method. Results All 4 microcirculation patterns were observed in both GBM clinical specimens and xenograft tissues. EDVs were detected in all tissue samples, while the other three patterns were observed in a small number of tissue samples (ECMDVs in 27.5%, GDVs in 43.8%, and MVs in 52.5% tissue samples). GDV‐positive patients had a median survival of 9.56 months versus 13.60 months for GDV‐negative patients (P = 0.015). In MGMT promoter‐methylated cohort, GDV‐positive patients had a median survival of 6.76 months versus 14.23 months for GDV‐negative patients (P = 0.022). Conclusion GDVs might be a negative predictor for the survival of GBM patients, even in those with MGMT promoter methylation.

This work aimed to quantify the contribution of electrocoagulation(EC) mechanisms on emulsified oil removal from polymer-flooding sewage (PFS), and also to quantitatively compare the performance of EC, anode-electrocoagulation(AEC) and chemical coagulation(CC) on PFS treatment. An apparatus which introduced the salt bridge was proposed to help separate the anode and cathode. To quantify the contribution of coagulation and oxidation individually, the EDTA, a chemical addictive which can inhibit the ability of Al3+ was added to shield the effect of coagulation. The experimental results show that in the PFS treatment by EC method, about 80% of emulsified oil in anode zone was removed by coagulation while only 11%-13% was oxidized; In cathode zone, about 13%-14% of the oil was removed by flotation. Besides, the results suggest that the separation of anode and cathode not only result in the low demulsification efficiency but also generated the fragile flocs. During the comparison and contrast of purification performance of EC, AEC and CC, the effects of treatment time and current densities(aluminum doses) on oil removal was investigated, the pH and absorption spectra evolution over time were also analyzed. The results showed that under all conditions studied, the EC performance outperforms AEC and far beyond CC.

This study aimed to evaluate the association of potential functional tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs) in BRAF and TSHR with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Two tagSNPs (rs6464149 and rs7810757) in BRAF and six tagSNPs (rs17630128, rs2075179, rs7144481, rs2371462, rs2268477, and rs2288496) in TSHR were genotyped in 300 cases of PTC and 252 healthy controls. There was no difference in the genotype frequencies of BRAF and TSHR between PTC patients and control subjects, suggesting no contribution of BRAF or TSHR polymorphisms to the susceptibility to PTC. We observed that a tagSNP located in the 3' untranslated region of TSHR, rs2288496, could affect the incidence of lymph node metastasis (LNM). The variant TC and TC + CC genotypes conferred an increased risk of LNM (for TC vs. TT: odds ratio (OR) = 2.01, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07-3.77; P= 0.030; for TC + CC vs. TT: OR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.04-3.39, P= 0.038). Moreover, subjects carrying variant genotypes had higher TSH levels and lower thyroxine (T4) and Anti-TG levels compared with those in subjects carrying common genotypes. Our findings showed that PTC patients carrying the TSHR rs2288496 TC and CC variants were associated with higher TSH level and lower T4 and Anti-TG levels and were prone to developing LNM. To confirm these results, additional studies and functional experiments, especially in other ethnic populations, are needed.

To investigate the prevalence of

The Xinmo landslide occurred on 24 June 2017 and caused huge casualties and property losses. As characteristics of spatiotemporal pre-collapse deformation are a prerequisite for further understanding the collapse mechanism, in this study we applied the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technique to recover the pre-collapse deformation, which was further modeled to reveal the mechanism of the Xinmo landslide. Archived SAR data, including 44 Sentinel-1 A/B data and 20 Envisat/ASAR data, were used to acquire the pre-collapse deformation of the Xinmo landslide. Our results indicated that the deformation of the source area occurred as early as 10 years before the landslide collapsed. The deformation rate of source area accelerated about a month before the collapse, and the deformation rate in the week before the collapse reached 40 times the average before the acceleration. Furthermore, the pre-collapse deformation was modeled with a distributed set of rectangular dislocation sources. The characteristics of the pre-collapse movement of the slip surface were acquired, which further confirmed that a locked section formed at the bottom of the slope. In addition, the spatial-temporal characteristics of the deformation was found to have changed significantly with the development of the landslide. We suggested that this phenomenon indicated the expansion of the slip surface and cracks of the landslide. Due to the expansion of the slip surface, the locked section became a key area that held the stability of the slope. The locked section sheared at the last stage of the development, which triggered the final run-out. Our study has provided new insights into the mechanism of the Xinmo landslide.

This study investigates how uncertainty affects firms' target capital structure using a panel data set of U.S. public manufacturers between 2003 and 2018 and finds that high-uncertainty firms have 10.1 (8.1) percentage points lower mean book (market) targets than low-uncertainty firms. This study also shows that the uncertainty effect on leverage targets is greater than the impact of firm size, market-to-book ratio, assets tangibility, R&D intensity, and industry median leverage, making uncertainty the most critical determinant among all time-varying determinants of leverage targets. Further, this study finds that heightened uncertainty decreases debt tax shields, increases potential financial distress costs, and exacerbates debtholder-shareholder conflicts, thereby leading to a lower optimal or target leverage ratio.

Introduction. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a distinct type of head and neck cancer which is mostly prevalent in southern China. The development of NPC involves accumulation of multiple genetic changes. Chromosomal translocation is always thought to be accompanied with the fusion chimeric products. To data, the role of the fusion chimeric transcript remains obscure. Materials and Methods. We performed RNA sequencing to detect the fusion genes in ten NPC tissues. Sanger sequencing and quantitative RT-PCR were used to measure the level of the fusion chimeric transcript in NPC tissues and cell lines. The functional experiments such as CCK8 assay, colony formation, and migration/invasion were conducted to analyze the role of this transcript in NPC in vitro. Results. We demonstrated that the chimeric transcript SEPT7P2-PSPH was formed by trans-splicing of adjacent genes in the absence of chromosomal rearrangement and observed in both NPC patients and cell lines in parallel. Low-expression of the SEPT7P2-PSPH chimeric transcript induced the protein expression of PSPH and promoted cell proliferation, metastasis/invasion, and transforming ability in vitro. Conclusions. Our findings indicate that the chimeric transcript SEPT7P2-PSPH is a product of trans-splicing of two adjacent genes and might be a tumor suppressor gene, potentially having the role of anticancer activity.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) and age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) are two important leading causes of acquired blindness in developed countries. As accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells plays an important role in both DR and AMD, and the methylglyoxal (MGO) within the AGEs exerts irreversible effects on protein structure and function, it is crucial to understand the underlying mechanism of MGO‐induced RPE cell death. Using ARPE‐19 as the cell model, this study revealed that MGO induces RPE cell death through a caspase‐independent manner, which relying on reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) loss, intracellular calcium elevation and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response. Suppression of ROS generation can reverse the MGO‐induced ROS production, MMP loss, intracellular calcium increase and cell death. Moreover, store‐operated calcium channel inhibitors MRS1845 and YM‐58483, but not the inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (IP3) receptor inhibitor xestospongin C, can block MGO‐induced ROS production, MMP loss and sustained intracellular calcium increase in ARPE‐19 cells. Lastly, inhibition of ER stress by salubrinal and 4‐PBA can reduce the MGO‐induced intracellular events and cell death. Therefore, our data indicate that MGO can decrease RPE cell viability, resulting from the ER stress‐dependent intracellular ROS production, MMP loss and increased intracellular calcium increase. As MGO is one of the components of drusen in AMD and is the AGEs adduct in DR, this study could provide a valuable insight into the molecular pathogenesis and therapeutic intervention of AMD and DR.

The vascular endothelium is important in the physiological homeostasis of blood vessels. Increasing evidence demonstrates that oxidative stress‑induced endothelial damage is involved in the pathogenesis of several cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis. Hyperoside, one of major active components from Apocynum venetum L. (Luo‑Bu‑Ma), which is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine commonly used for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, exhibits diverse bioactivities, including anti‑inflammatory and antioxidant effects. In the present study, the protective effects of hyperoside against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)‑induced apoptosis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were investigated. The results demonstrated that hyperoside significantly prevented the loss of cell viability, the increase of endothelial Ca2+ content and apoptosis in H2O2‑induced HUVECs. Additionally, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis revealed that hyperoside significantly decreased the mRNA expression levels of B‑cell lymphoma (Bcl)‑2 associated X protein (Bax), cleaved caspase‑3 and phosphorylated‑p38, while increasing the mRNA expression of Bcl‑2 in H2O2‑induced HUVECs. The present findings suggested that hyperoside has protective effects against H2O2‑induced apoptosis in HUVECs and serves a key role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

This study investigates how uncertainty affects firms’ target capital structure using a panel data set of U.S. public manufacturers between 2003 and 2018 and finds that high-uncertainty firms have 10.1 (8.1) percentage points lower mean book (market) targets than low-uncertainty firms. This study also shows that the uncertainty effect on leverage targets is greater than the impact of firm size, market-to-book ratio, assets tangibility, R&D intensity, and industry median leverage, making uncertainty the most critical among all time-varying determinants of leverage targets. Further, this study finds that heightened uncertainty decreases debt tax shields, increases potential financial distress costs, and exacerbates debtholder–shareholder conflicts, thereby leading to a lower optimal or target leverage ratio.

The Pusa landslide, in Guizhou, China, occurred on 28 August 2017, caused 26 deaths with 9 missing. However, few studies about the pre-event surface deformation are provided because of the complex landslide formation and failure mechanism. To retrieve the precursory signal of this landslide, we recovered pre-event deformation with multi-sensor synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. First, we delineated the boundary and source area of the Pusa landslide based on the coherence and SAR intensity maps. Second, we detected the line-of-sight (LOS) deformation rate and time series before the Pusa landslide with ALOS/PALSAR-2 and Sentinel-1A/B SAR imagery data, where we found that the onset of the deformation is four months before landslide event. Finally, we conceptualized the failure mechanism of the Pusa landslide as the joint effects of rainfall and mining activity. This research provides new insights into the failure mechanism and early warning of rock avalanches.

Background: Alendronate has been used to prevent or treat glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO), data regarding its efficacy are inconsistent. We conducted the current systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate both efficacy and safety of alendronate in the treatment of GIO. Methods: PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Registry, and the China Academic Journal Network Publishing Databases were searched up through March 1, 2018. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving patients which received alendronate treatment were included. Outcome measures were bone mineral density (BMD) changes, bone fractures, and adverse reactions. Data from the individual studies were pooled using random or fixed effect models based on heterogeneity. Effect size was reported as standardized mean differences (SMD) for continuous outcomes and pooled odds ratios (OR) for dichotomous outcomes, with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Overall, 10 studies involving 1002 patients were included in the present investigation. Alendronate treatment significantly increased BMD of the lumbar spine and femoral neck during 6 to 24 months. These beneficial effects were apparent at 12 months after treatment for the lumbar spine but not the femoral neck BMD. Alendronate treatment did not significantly change fracture risk nor induce significant differences in adverse gastrointestinal effects. Conclusion: Alendronate significantly increases BMD of the lumbar spine and femoral neck in patients with GIO, but does not appear to reduce the risk of fractures. As relatively insufficient data regarding the GIO fracture incidence has been reported, more RCTs need to be carried out to determine the efficacy of alendronate in the prevention of GIO fracture.

Introduction Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a distinct type of head and neck cancer which is mostly prevalent in southern China. The development of NPC involves accumulation of multiple genetic changes. Chromosomal translocation is always thought to be accompanied with the fusion chimeric products. To data, the role of the fusion chimeric transcript remains obscure. Materials and Methods We performed RNA sequencing to detect the fusion genes in ten NPC tissues. Sanger sequencing and quantitative RT-PCR were used to measure the level of the fusion chimeric transcript in NPC tissues and cell lines. The functional experiments such as CCK8 assay, colony formation, and migration/invasion were conducted to analyze the role of this transcript in NPC in vitro. Results We demonstrated that the chimeric transcript SEPT7P2-PSPH was formed by trans-splicing of adjacent genes in the absence of chromosomal rearrangement and observed in both NPC patients and cell lines in parallel. Low-expression of the SEPT7P2-PSPH chimeric transcript induced the protein expression of PSPH and promoted cell proliferation, metastasis/invasion, and transforming ability in vitro. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the chimeric transcript SEPT7P2-PSPH is a product of trans-splicing of two adjacent genes and might be a tumor suppressor gene, potentially having the role of anticancer activity.

Monitoring minimal residue disease (MRD) is an effective approach to evaluate the response to chemotherapy, and it is used to select the ideal therapeutic strategy and to predict the recurrence during therapy for hematological disorders. The Wilm's tumor 1 (WT1) gene, which is highly expressed in >80% of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its increased expression level may cause poor clinical outcomes, is a potential MRD marker of hematological neoplasms. In the present study, the expression levels of WT1 and other molecular markers were retrospectively analyzed by reverse transcription‑quantitative PCR in 195 patients with AML. The expression level of WT1 was significantly lower in patients with remission compared with patients with early‑stage and recurrent AML. Moreover, WT1 expression was significantly decreased in patients with RUNX family transcription factor 1‑RUNX1 translocation partner 1 fusion, but higher in patients with promyelocytic leukemia‑retinoic acid receptor α fusion. WT1 expression was significantly reduced during remission. In patients with AML who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo‑HSCT), the mortality rate 2 years after allo‑HSCT was significantly lower in patients with low expression level of WT1 compared with subjects presenting high expression level of WT1. Collectively, the upregulation of the expression level of WT1 in combination with the identification of other genetic abnormalities may be used as MRD markers of hematological neoplasms.

Landslide identification and monitoring are two significant research aspects for landslide analysis. In addition, landslide mode deduction is key for the prevention of landslide hazards. Surface deformation results with different scales can serve for different landslide analysis. L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data calculated with Interferometric Point Target Analysis (IPTA) are first employed to detect potential landslides at the catchment-scale Wudongde reservoir area. Twenty-two active landslides are identified and mapped over more than 2500 square kilometers. Then, for one typical landslide, Jinpingzi landslide, its spatiotemporal deformation characteristics are analyzed with the small baseline subsets (SBAS) interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technique. High-precision surface deformation results are obtained by comparing with in-situ georobot measurements. The spatial deformation pattern reveals the different stabilities among five different sections of Jinpingzi landslide. InSAR results for Section II of Jinpingzi landslide show that this active landslide is controlled by two boundaries and geological structure, and its different landslide deformation magnitudes at different sections on the surface companying with borehole deformation reveals the pull-type landslide mode. Correlation between time series landslide motion and monthly precipitation, soil moisture inverted from SAR intensity images and water level fluctuations suggests that heavy rainfall is the main trigger factor, and the maximum deformation of the landslide was highly consistent with the peak precipitation with a time lag of about 1 to 2 months, which gives us important guidelines to mitigate and prevent this kind of hazard.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) arises from accumulated genetic and epigenetic alterations, which provide the possibility to identify tumor-specific biomarkers by analyzing fecal DNA. Methylation status in human genes from tumor tissue is highlighted as promising biomarker in the early detection of CRC. A number of studies have documented altered methylation levels in DNA extracted from stool samples, but generated heterogeneous results. We performed a systematic review and quantitative assessment of existing studies to compare levels of DNA methylation in most frequently studied genes and their diagnostic value in CRC and its precursor, colorectal adenoma, with their counterparts in healthy subjects. Robust searches of the literature were performed in our study with explicit strategies and definite inclusion/exclusion criteria. Pooled data revealed that methylation levels of SFRP2, SFRP1, TFPI2, BMP3, NDRG4, SPG20, and BMP3 plus NDRG4 genes exceeded a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 80% for CRC detection. The DOR of the seven candidate biomarkers ranged from 19.80 to 334.33, indicating a good diagnostic power in discriminating cancer from normal tissues. The AUC range was from 0.88 to 0.95, indicating a good or very good discriminatory performance. When test results for BMP3 and NDRG4 were combined, the DOR of CRC detection was 98.36, which was higher than that for BMP3 and NDRG4 separately. As for adenoma detection, the DOR of methylated NDRG4 is higher than that for CRC (CRC vs. adenoma: 54.86 vs. 57.22). Both the sensitivity and specificity of NDRG4 for adenoma detection exceeded 70%. These findings demonstrate the eligibility and feasibility of DNA methylation as a minimally invasive biomarker in feces in the diagnosis of CRC and adenoma. The use of DNA from human stools has the potential to be readily applicable to detect aberrant DNA methylation levels among many subjects for CRC early screening.

Glioma is the most frequent central nervous system tumor in adults. The overall survival of glioma patients is disappointing, mostly due to the poor prognosis of glioblastoma (Grade IV glioma). Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) is a key factor in metabolism and catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation of isocitrate. Mutations in IDH genes are observed in over 70% of low-grade gliomas and some cases of glioblastoma. As the most frequent mutation, IDH1(R132H) has been served as a predictive marker of glioma patients. The recently developed droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) technique generates a large amount of nanoliter-sized droplets, each of which carries out a PCR reaction on one template. Therefore, ddPCR provides high precision and absolute quantification of the nucleic acid target, with wide applications for both research and clinical diagnosis. In the current study, we collected 62 glioma tissue samples (Grade II to IV) and detected IDH1 mutations by Sanger direct sequencing, ddPCR, and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). With the results from Sanger direct sequencing as the standard, the characteristics of ddPCR were compared with qRT-PCR. The data indicated that ddPCR was much more sensitive and much easier to interpret than qRT-PCR. Thus, we demonstrated that ddPCR is a reliable and sensitive method for screening the IDH mutation. Therefore, ddPCR is able to applied clinically in predicting patient prognosis and selecting effective therapeutic strategies. Our data also supported that the prognosis of Grade II and III glioma was better in patients with an IDH mutation than in those without mutation.

In this paper, calibration algorithm of point-structured laser’s beam space position can work in coordinate measuring machine (CMM) system by using the object-oriented design method with VS2010.And then, building complex mathematical model to achieve the auto-calibration process,so it can improve the efficiency and the repeatability of the probe calibration. The calibration experiments proved that the auto-calibration model was right.

Blades are an important part of aviation engine, its manufacturing compliance seriously affect the performance of the engine. Blades tend to be free-form surface modeling, which makes it extremely difficult to measurement. Since no probe radius compensation, high efficiency, non-contact optical measurement methods get more and more attention, but the inspection uncertainty of optical measurement is usually between 30um to 50um .To reduces the optical non-contact measurement uncertainty, this paper presents an Optical-triangulation-based method for measurement of blade sections. There is a data optimization process in the method, and this feature makes the proposed method can obtain better measurement results. At last, some experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of this method.

On the afternoon of 28 June 2010, an enormous landslide occurred in the Gangwu region of Guanling County, Guizhou Province. In order to better understand the mechanism of the Guanling landslide, archived ALOS/PALSAR data was used to acquire the deformation prior to the landslide occurrence through stacking and time-series InSAR techniques. First, the deformation structure from InSAR was compared to the potential creep bodies identified using the optical remote sensing data. A strong consistency between the InSAR detected deformed regions and the creep bodies detected from optical remote sensing images was achieved. Around 10 creep bodies were suffering from deformation. In the source area, the maximum pre-slide mean deformation rate along the slope direction reached 160 mm/year, and the uncertainty of the deformation rates ranged from 15 to 34 mm/year. Then, the pre-slide deformation at the source area was analyzed in terms of the topography, geological structure, and historical rainfall records. Through observation and analysis, the deformation pattern of one creep body located within the source area can be segmented into three sections: a creeping section in the front, a locking section in the middle, and a cracking section in the rear. These sections constitute one of the common landslide modes seen in the south-west of China. This study concluded that a sudden shear failure in the locking segment of one creeping body located within the source area was caused by a strong rainstorm, which triggered the Guanling landslide.

This paper investigates dividend dynamics using a generalized partial adjustment model. A novel feature of our model is that it allows managers to consider the earnings history via adaptive expectation formation of future earnings for their payout decisions. We show that firms adjust dividends to their target payouts much faster than previously documented. We also show that target dividends are predominantly driven by firm-specific effects, and tend to become significantly more stable when managers form future earnings prospects adaptively. Thus, sticky dividends could arise from their attempts to conform to the target payouts, thereby leading to higher dividend adjustment speeds.

Titanate nanofibers were prepared on titanium mesh by alkali-heat treatment, and calcium phosphate coating was fabricated on the porous titanate nanofibers by electrochemical deposition technology. Then hBMP-2 was introduced into the coating by different methods to improve its osteointegration and bioactivity. Three kinds of composite coatings modified by hBMP-2 were prepared (TmhB, TmHedhB and TmHhBed). Surface morphology, chemical composition, phase composition and hBMP-2 amounts and hBMP-2 release performance of the composite coatings were characterized by SEM, ATR-FTIR, XRD, and hBMP-2 ELISA kit, respectively. Results showed that all of the coatings display porous fiber structure, calcium phosphate phase in TmHedhB and TmHhBed samples was hydroxyapatite (HA), and bead-like HA particles formed on the surface of titanate nanofibers. Protein adsorption experiments showed that introduction of bead-like HA phase increased the hBMP-2 adsorption on the composite coatings, and composite coatings prepared by electrochemical co-deposition technique further enhanced hBMP-2 adsorption up to 886 ng/mg, which were supported hBMP-2 sustained release within 6-48 h.

Titanium (Ti) and its alloys have been widely used in orthopedic and dental applications. The bonding between Ti implants and tissues is significantly important in the clinical applications, which is highly relative to the characteristics of implant surface with surface improvement by various coatings such as hydroxyapatite (HA). Meanwhile, the characteristics of modified implants surface can induce special biological response of osteogenic cells to improve the bone-implant bonding. In this paper, in order to improve Ti bioactivity and enhance its osteointegration, calcium phosphate (CaP)/titanate coatings were prepared on Ti with nanoscale surface topographies by a two-step hydrothermal process. Firstly, titanium meshes were treated in sodium hydroxide solutions at two temperatures (200 °C or 240 °C). Then, the treated meshes were immersed in calcium phosphate solutions containing various concentrations of cyclohexane-hexacarboxylic acid (H6L) under hydrothermal conditions. After this two-step process, calcium phosphate deposits, confirmed to be apatite/titanate by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, were successfully formed on the treated Ti mesh surface. These results suggested that this two-step hydrothermal method can be successfully applied to fabricate robust and hierarchical nanostructured coatings of CaP/titanate on Ti implants.

Iron based catalysts generally have the advantage of the easily operated magnetically recovery from application sites. In the present work, paramagnetic iron and copper core-shell nanoparticles having the iron fractions (X(Fe) = Fe/(Cu+Fe)) of 0.33-1.0 were prepared and characterized by in situ synchrotron X-ray absorption and scattering spectroscopy. During the temperature-programmed carbonization (TPC) of Cu(2+)- and Fe(3+)-β-cyclodextrin (CD) complexes, a rapid reduction of Cu(II) occurs at about 453 K together with a growth of the metallic copper (Cu). Iron proceeds in the distinct growth path. At 453-513 K, the Fe(III) → Fe(II) → Fe consecutive reduction is observed. The unreduced Fe(III) (7-13%) is coated on the surfaces of the Fe nanoparticles (as Fe2O3/Fe). Growth of the Fe nanoparticle is inhibited by the surface Fe2O3, while the steady growth in Cu is observed. The Cu has a size range of 14-18 nm in diameter, compared to the small Fe2O3/Fe ones (3-6 nm). Under the UV-visible light irradiation for four hours, methylene blue can be photocatalytically degraded (>90%) by the (Cu-Fe2O3/Fe)@C. The (Cu-Fe2O3/Fe)@C photocatalysts can effectively oxidize dye molecules, providing a promising alternative for dye degradation using solar energy. Recovery of the (Cu-Fe2O3/Fe)@C photocatalysts can be attained by applying external magnetic field to trap the ferromagnetic Cu-Fe2O3/Fe nanoparticles, which suggests an economically attractive process, especially applied in photocatalytic degradation of dye-contaminated wastewater.

RET/PTC rearrangements, resulting in aberrant activity of the RET protein tyrosine kinase receptor, occur exclusively in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). In this study, we examined the association between RET/PTC rearrangements and thyroid hormone homeostasis, and explored whether concomitant diseases such as nodular goiter and Hashimoto's thyroiditis influenced this association. A total of 114 patients diagnosed with PTC were enrolled in this study. Thyroid hormone levels, clinicopathological parameters and lifestyle were obtained through medical records and surgical pathology reports. RET/PTC rearrangements were detected using TaqMan RT-PCR and validated by direct sequencing. No RET/PTC rearrangements were detected in benign thyroid tissues. RET/PTC rearrangements were detected in 23.68% (27/114) of PTC tissues. No association between thyroid function, clinicopathological parameters and lifestyle was observed either in total thyroid cancer patients or the subgroup of patients with concomitant disease. In the subgroup of PTC patients without concomitant disease, RET/PTC rearrangement was associated with multifocal cancer (P = 0.018). RET/PTC rearrangement was also correlated with higher TSH levels at one month post-surgery (P = 0.037). Based on likelihood-ratio regression analysis, the RET/PTC-positive PTC cases showed an increased risk of multifocal cancers in the thyroid gland (OR = 5.57, 95% CI, 1.39-22.33). Our findings suggest that concomitant diseases such as nodular goiter and Hashimoto's thyroiditis in PTC may be a confounding factor when examining the effects of RET/PTC rearrangements. Excluding the potential effect of this confounding factor showed that RET/PTC may confer an increased risk for the development of multifocal cancers in the thyroid gland. Aberrantly increased post-operative levels of TSH were also associated with RET/PTC rearrangement. Together, our data provides useful information for the treatment of papillary thyroid cancer.

Three InSAR products and DEM data are involved to detect the potential landslides over Wudongde Hydropower Station Section, Jinsha River. More than ten known and unknown landslides are successfully detected. Meanwhile, Small Baseline Subsets (SBAS) InSAR technique is applied to calculate the time-series deformation of the Jinpingzi landslide. Then, in-situ georobot measurements are used for point-wise comparison. The precision in slide direction is 1.8 cm by comparing with in-situ georobot measurements. At last, the Erpingcun landslide is taken as an example to calculate the vertical and horizontal deformation components by fusing the ascending and descending line-of-sight results.

This study investigates whether peer firms affect corporate investment policies, using accounting and stock market data of Chinese manufacturing firms over the period 1999-2013. Using peer-firm-average idiosyncratic return shock as an instrumental variable for ex post peer-firm-average investment, we show that peer firms play an important role in determining corporate investment policies, and that peer effects are causal. We also show that economic policy uncertainty magnifies peer effects in corporate investment decisions, and this effect is more pronounced in the under-investment sample. This suggests that peer effects could exacerbate industry-wide underinvestment problems when economic policy uncertainty is higher.

This study examines the effects of uncertainty on firms' capital structure dynamics. We find that high-uncertainty firms have substantially lower target leverage while those firms' leverage adjustment speeds increase only if they are over-levered. We show that when facing large investment needs, over-levered firms with high uncertainty converge to their targets substantially faster to avoid bankruptcy whereas those with low uncertainty tend to deviate from their targets due to the transitory debt financing of the investments, thereby reconciling two opposing leverage dynamics documented in the literature. On the other hand, under-levered firms with high uncertainty converge to their targets more slowly than those with low uncertainty due to the increased value of the option to wait and see. Further investigation of the leverage adjustment behavior of over- and under-levered firms in relation to uncertainty provides evidence that bankruptcy threat, agency costs, and real option channels account for various aspects of leverage dynamics.