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Circular RNA (circRNA) has been found to be differentially expressed and involved in regulating the processes of human diseases, including thoracic aortic dissection (TAD). However, the role and mechanism of circNRIP1 in the TAD process are still unclear. GEO database was used to screen the differentially expressed circRNA and mRNA in type A TAD patients and age-matched normal donors. Angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced human aortic vascular smooth muscle cells (HA-VSMCs) were used to construct TAD cell models. The expression levels of circNRIP1, NRIP1, CXC-motif chemokine 5 (CXCL5) and IGF2BP1 were detected by quantitative real-time PCR. Cell proliferation and migration were determined by EdU assay, transwell assay and wound healing assay. The protein levels of synthetic phenotype markers, contractile phenotype markers, CXCL5 and IGF2BP1 were tested by western blot analysis. The interaction between IGF2BP1 and circNRIP1/CXCL5 was confirmed by RIP assay, and CXCL5 mRNA stability was assessed by actinomycin D assay. CircNRIP1 was upregulated in TAD patients and Ang II-induced HA-VSMCs. Knockdown of circNRIP1 suppressed Ang II-induced proliferation, migration and phenotypic switch of HA-VSMCs. Also, high expression of CXCL5 was observed in TAD patients, and its knockdown could inhibit Ang II-induced HA-VSMCs proliferation, migration and phenotypic switch. Moreover, CXCL5 overexpression reversed the regulation of circNRIP1 knockdown on Ang II-induced HA-VSMCs functions. Mechanistically, circNRIP1 could competitively bind to IGF2BP1 and subsequently enhance CXCL5 mRNA stability. CircNRIP1 might contribute to TAD progression by promoting CXCL5 mRNA stability via recruiting IGF2BP1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the efficacy of microscopic laryngeal surgery, otherwise known as microlaryngoscopy, combined with gastric acid inhibition in the treatment of Reinke's edema. Methods The clinical data of 47 Reinke's edema patients with pharynx reflux preoperatively in our department from April 2016 to December 2019 were collected and retrospectively analyzed. These patients were divided into 2 subgroups according to receiving gastric acid inhibition (n=27) or not (n=20). At the same period, 56 normal subjects (control group) were selected for examination and investigation. The changes of voice function and voice handicap index (VHI) score were compared and analyzed before and in 1, 3 and 6 months after surgery. Results Before operation, fundamental frequency (F0) was significantly lower, and fundamental frequency perturbation (jitter), noise/harmonic ratio (NHR) and amplitude perturbation (shimmer) were obviously higher in the patient group than the normal group (P < 0.05). At 3 and 6 months after operation, F0 was notably higher, while the levels of jitter, shimmer and NHR were remarkably lower in the acid inhibition subgroup than the non-acid inhibition subgroup, and significant differences were observed in above indicators between the former subgroup and the control group (P < 0.05). In 1, 3 and 6 months after operation, F0 was gradually increased and the other 3 voice acoustic indicators were decreased at a certain degree in the both subgroups, with hoarseness gradually reduced. In 1 month after operation, there were no statistical differences in above indicators between the 2 subgroups, but F0 was higher while NHR, jitter and shimmer were lower in the acid inhibition subgroup than the non-acid inhibition subgroup at 3 and 6 months (P < 0.05), though great differences were observed among the 2 subgroups and normal control. The scores of VHI in the patient group before operation were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The patient group had significantly higher scores and total scores in VHI than the control group (P < 0.05). After operation, these scores were decreased gradually after operation, and there were no significant differences between the 2 subgroups at each time point. At 6 months, there was no significant difference among the 2 subgroups and the normal group. Conclusion Surgical treatment is very effective for Reinke's edema, and postoperative gastric acid inhibition therapy can accelerate voice recovery in the patients with pharynx and laryngeal reflux.

This paper investigates the relationship between government-controlling ownership and CEO compensation incentives in China, using a comprehensive evaluation of CEO pay-performance sensitivity (PPS). We find that government-controlling ownership weakens CEO PPS, with PPS being around 6 lower for CEOs in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than CEOs in non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs), representing a reduction of around 14% for a CEO with the average level of PPS. The results sustain after using privatization as the experiment setting wherein firms' ultimate controllers changed from government owners to private owners. Moreover, the negative influence of government controlling ownership on CEO compensation incentives is more prominent in SOEs with a higher level of government ownership or a lower hierarchy government as the controller. We also explore the association between CEO incentives and firm performance and find that PPS in SOEs is more important in association with firms' stock performance than non-SOEs. Results in this paper extend studies on the influence of government controlling ownership on CEO compensation incentives, an issue that is caught much attention in the ongoing reform of China's SOEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of bank shareholding on corporate debt restructuring. Using a sample of financially distressed firms in China from 2007 to 2016, we find that distressed firms with bank shareholders are more likely to restructure their debt than firms without bank shareholders. Moreover, the alleviation of renegotiation friction in both distressed state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) and reducing information asymmetry in non-SOEs facilitate the positive impacts of bank shareholding on debt restructuring. In addition, the impact is more evident in distressed non-SOEs characterized by higher profitability prior to restructuring. Further, distressed non-SOEs with bank shareholders are more likely to recover from distress than their peers, while the results are opposite for distressed SOEs. We argue that while bank shareholding facilitates restructuring in distressed non-SOEs, it aggravates the soft budget constraint in troubled SOEs. Our results are robust after accounting for the selection bias of bank shareholding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the mean change-point models based on associated sequences. Under some weak conditions, we obtain a limit distribution of CUSUM statistic which can be used to judge the mean change-mount δ n is satisfied or dissatisfied n 1 / 2 δ n = o (1). We also study the consistency of sample covariances and change-point location statistics. Based on Normality and Lognormality data, some simulations such as empirical sizes, empirical powers and convergence are presented to test our results. As an important application, we use CUSUM statistics to do the mean change-point analysis for a financial series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main challenge in cancer genomics is to distinguish the driver genes from passenger or neutral genes. Cancer genomes exhibit extensive mutational heterogeneity that no two genomes contain exactly the same somatic mutations. Such mutual exclusivity (ME) of mutations has been observed in cancer data and is associated with functional pathways. Analysis of ME patterns may provide useful clues to driver genes or pathways and may suggest novel understandings of cancer progression. In this article, we consider a probabilistic, generative model of ME, and propose a powerful and greedy algorithm to select the mutual exclusivity gene sets. The greedy method includes a pre-selection procedure and a stepwise forward algorithm which can significantly reduce computation time. Power calculations suggest that the new method is efficient and powerful for one ME set or multiple ME sets with overlapping genes. We illustrate this approach by analysis of the whole-exome sequencing data of cancer types from TCGA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma are not common in head and neck, these tumors rarely occur in the larynx but both have highly aggressive clinical behavior and a high mortality rate. The diagnosis is complicated by these tumors' atypical clinical and pathological features. This case details a coexistence of basaloid squamous cell carcinoma and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of a woman in the larynx. The patient underwent endoscopy- and coblation-assisted transoral microsurgery to achieve hyoid horizontal epiglottidectomy and has no recurrence after 12 months of follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the influence of non-controlling large shareholders (NLSs) on CEO pay-performance sensitivity (PPS), using over 2,000 Chinese firms. We find that NLSs' equity ownership or Shapley value is positively related to CEO PPS, suggesting that cash-flow rights or real voting power of NLSs help align the interests between CEOs and shareholders. This positive impact is more prominent when the benefit of monitoring is larger. There is also preliminary evidence that different types of NLSs boost CEO incentives through different channels. Overall, our study helps understand the monitoring role of NLSs in emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]