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Using Chinese listed companies' data from 2007 to 2017, this study finds that companies with a higher proportion of index fund ownership are more innovative, implying that passive institutional investors positively influence company governance. The effect is stronger in private firms, high-tech firms, and firms in high marketization regions and prominent mainly in large-cap index funds. Index fund ownership reduces the stock turnover rate, stabilizes shareholder structure, and lowers managers turnover rates, mitigating managers’ myopic behavior and boosting innovation. This study documents empirical evidence on the positive effect of passive investors on corporate governance from the perspective of corporate innovation.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is known to disproportionately affect older individuals. How aging processes affect SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease progression remains largely unknown. Here, we found that DNA damage, one of the hallmarks of aging, promoted SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro and in vivo. SARS-CoV-2 entry was facilitated by DNA damage caused by extrinsic genotoxic stress or telomere dysfunction and hampered by inhibition of the DNA damage response (DDR). Mechanistic analysis revealed that DDR increased expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the primary receptor of SARS-CoV-2, by activation of transcription factor c-Jun. Importantly, in vivo experiment using a mouse-adapted viral strain also verified the significant roles of DNA damage in viral entry and severity of infection. Expression of ACE2 was elevated in the older human and mice tissues and positively correlated with γH2AX, a DNA damage biomarker, and phosphorylated c-Jun (p-c-Jun). Finally, nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and MDL-800, which promote DNA repair, alleviated SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease severity in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, our data provide insights into the age-associated differences in SARS-CoV-2 infection and a novel approach for antiviral intervention.

Negative plant-soil feedbacks lead to the poor growth of Panax notoginseng (Sanqi), a well-known herb in Asia and has been used worldwide, under continuous cropping. However, the key soil parameters causing the replant problem are still unclear. Here we conducted a field experiment after 5-year continuous cropping. Sanqi seedlings were cultivated in 7 plots (1.5 m × 2 m), which were randomly assigned along a survival gradient. In total, 13 important soil parameters were measured to understand their relationship with Sanqi’s survival. Pearson correlation analysis showed that 6 soil parameters, including phosphatase, urease, cellulase, bacteria/fungi ratio, available N, and pH, were all correlated with Sanqi’s survival rate (P

Do overweight/obese women with PCOS with different uric acid concentrations show different effects after a ketogenic diet intervention?The study involved women with PCOS with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥24 kg/mAfter 12 weeks of the ketogenic diet intervention, body weight (hyperuricaemia group: P=0.001; non-hyperuricaemia group: P0.001), BMI (hyperuricaemia group: P = 0.025; non-hyperuricaemia group: P0.001) and body fat percentage (hyperuricaemia group: P0.001; non-hyperuricaemia group: P0.001) were decreased in both groups. There was greater weight loss in the non-hyperuricaemia group (hyperuricaemia group 11.2±4.6 kg versus non-hyperuricaemia group 14.7±4.8 kg; P0.05). In the non-hyperuricaemia group, uric acid concentrations increased significantly after 6 weeks of the ketogenic diet intervention (week 0: 5.69±0.84 mg/dl versus week 6: 8.41 ± 2.33 mg/dl; P 0.001) and reached the concentrations of the hyperuricaemia group (week 6: 9.37 ± 2.43 mg/dl; P 0.05).A ketogenic diet intervention is beneficial for overweight/obese women with PCOS with different serum uric acid concentrations. Participants with normal basal uric acid concentrations showed a greater fluctuation of serum uric acid concentrations during the ketogenic diet intervention and had a greater weight loss.

Multi-target recognition and positioning using robots in orchards is a challenging task in modern precision agriculture owing to the presence of complex noise disturbance, including wind disturbance, changing illumination, and branch and leaf shading. To obtain the target information for a bud-cutting robotic operation, we employed a modified deep learning algorithm for the fast and precise recognition of banana fruits, inflorescence axes, and flower buds. Thus, the cutting point on the inflorescence axis was identified using an edge detection algorithm and geometric calculation. We proposed a modified YOLOv3 model based on clustering optimization and clarified the influence of front-lighting and backlighting on the model. Image segmentation and denoising were performed to obtain the edge images of the flower buds and inflorescence axes. The spatial geometry model was constructed on this basis. The center of symmetry and centroid were calculated for the edges of the flower buds. The equation for the position of the inflorescence axis was established, and the cutting point was determined. Experimental results showed that the modified YOLOv3 model based on clustering optimization showed excellent performance with good balance between speed and precision both under front-lighting and backlighting conditions. The total pixel positioning error between the calculated and manually determined optimal cutting point in the flower bud was 4 and 5 pixels under the front-lighting and backlighting conditions, respectively. The percentage of images that met the positioning requirements was 93 and 90%, respectively. The results indicate that the new method can satisfy the real-time operating requirements for the banana bud-cutting robot.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is known to disproportionately affect older individuals. Age is the most important determinant of disease severity and mortality. How aging processes affect the disease progression remains largely unknown. Here we found that DNA damage, a common denominator and major cause of aging, promoted susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in cells and intestinal organoids. SARS-CoV-2 entry was facilitated by DNA damage caused by either telomere attrition or extrinsic genotoxic stress and hampered by inhibition of DNA damage response. Mechanistic analysis revealed that the DNA damage response increased expression of ACE2, the receptor of SARS-CoV-2, by activation of transcription factor c-Jun in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown of c-Jun significantly reduced cell susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. To explore the clinical clues of contribution of DNA damage in SARS-CoV-2 infection, we analyzed the expression of ACE2, γH2Ax and p-c-Jun in old and young human and mouse tissues. Expression of ACE2 was elevated in older human and mouse tissues and positively correlated with γH2Ax and p-c-Jun. Finally, targeting DNA damage by increasing the DNA repair capacity, alleviated cell susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. Our data provide insight into the age-associated differences in SARS-CoV-2 infection and a novel target for anti-viral intervention.

This study was to analyze the ultrasound imaging characteristics of infectious pneumonia of newborn in different conditions and the differences in neurobehavioral development. An adaptive image denoising (AID) algorithm was constructed based on multiscale wavelet features. It was compared with the transform domain denoising (TDD) algorithm and spatial domain denoising (SDD) algorithm and applied to ultrasound images of newborns with infectious pneumonia. It was found that the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity (SSIM), and feature similarity index (FSIM) of the constructed algorithm were higher than those of the TDD and SDD algorithms ( P < 0.05 ). The ultrasound scores of newborns in noncritical group (group A, 1.54 ± 0.62 scores) were all lower than those of the critical group (group B, 3.96 ± 0.41 scores) and extremely critical group (group C, 4.25 ± 0.35 scores) ( P < 0.05 ). The behavioral ability, passive muscle tension, active muscle tension, and original reflection of the newborns in group A were better than other groups ( P < 0.05 ). It indicated that the constructed algorithm showed better denoising effect on ultrasound images, which could effectively evaluate the severity of newborns’ infectious pneumonia.

Background: The transcription factor E2F3 plays a vital role in regulating cell cycle progression and proliferation. In addition, many reports have shown that E2F3 exerts an oncogenic role in various cancers and is a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of some human cancers. However, the value of E2F3 in the molecular diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) has rarely been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of E2F3 in the early diagnosis and monitoring of PTC.Materials and methods: Peripheral blood samples from 20 patients with PTC, 20 patients with benign thyroid lesions and 20 normal controls were collected. Peripheral blood E2F3 mRNA and thyroid sample E2F3 mRNA expression were detected by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The expression of E2F3 protein in normal thyroid tissue and thyroid tissue from benign thyroid lesions and PTC were detected by immunohistochemistry. The optimal cut-off value for differentiating PTC was obtained by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.Results: E2F3 mRNA expression levels in peripheral blood and thyroid samples were significantly higher in PTC patients than in patients with benign thyroid lesions and normal subjects (P0.05).With a cut-off value of 2.3, blood E2F3 mRNA showed 90% sensitivity, 60.9% specificity, a 70.5% positive predictive value, an 85.47% negative predictive value and 74.4% accuracy for discriminating PTC from benign hyperplasia disease of the thyroid and normal tissue. In addition, immunohistochemical results showed that E2F3 protein expression was also higher in the PTC group than in the other groups.Conclusions: The highest expression of E2F3 was found in peripheral blood and thyroid tissue of PTC patients. Moreover, blood E2F3 mRNA can be considered a promising diagnostic marker for discriminating PTC from benign thyroid diseases.

This article analyzes the investment performance of China’s National Social Security Fund (CNSSF) in the stock market. The results show that the investment performance of entrusted social security ...

Using data on Chinese municipal party secretaries (MPS), we study whether firms prefer to pay more to officials who have a wider native place network. In doing so, we find the state-owned enterpris...

Stock volatility is influenced by the release, dissemination, and acceptance of information. Rumor clarification is expected to reduce asymmetric information and abnormal stock returns by increasin...

Unity3D has the advantages of constructing virtual scenes and virtual assembly. Due to the model incompatibility between Unity3D and mechanical modelling software, the third software is needed to design part and build 3D models. In order to achieve rapid design and simulation, this paper proposes to develop the intelligent design system of gearbox key parts directly with Unity3D. Taking the gears, shafts and bearings of key parts in the gearbox as examples, and a knowledge database is established. The design behavior is set as a rule, and the rule knowledge database and model knowledge database are constructed as the basis of the inference engine. The results show that the system can realize the intelligent design of the key parts of the gearbox, improve the design efficiency and reduce the memory consumption caused by the cross-platform.

Paramyxovirus establishes an intimate and complex interaction with the host cell to counteract the antiviral responses elicited by the cell. Of the various pattern recognition receptors in the host, the cytosolic RNA helicases interact with viral RNA to activate the mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein (MAVS) and subsequent cellular interferon (IFN) response. On the other hand, viruses explore multiple strategies to resist host immunity. In this study, we found that Newcastle disease virus (NDV) infection induced MAVS degradation. Further analysis showed that NDV V protein degraded MAVS through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway to inhibit IFN-β production. Moreover, NDV V protein led to proteasomal degradation of MAVS through Lys362 and Lys461 ubiquitin to prevent IFN production. Further studies showed that NDV V protein recruited E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF5 to polyubiquitinate and degrade MAVS. Compared with levels for wild-type NDV infection, V-deficient NDV induced attenuated MAVS degradation and enhanced IFN-β production at the late stage of infection. Several other paramyxovirus V proteins showed activities of degrading MAVS and blocking IFN production similar to those of NDV V protein. The present study revealed a novel role of NDV V protein in targeting MAVS to inhibit cellular IFN production, which reinforces the fact that the virus orchestrates the cellular antiviral response to its own benefit. IMPORTANCE Host anti-RNA virus innate immunity relies mainly on the recognition by retinoic acid-inducible gene I and melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5 and subsequently initiates downstream signaling through interaction with MAVS. On the other hand, viruses have developed various strategies to counteract MAVS-mediated signaling. The mechanism for paramyxoviruses regulating MAVS to benefit their infection remains unknown. In this article, we demonstrate that the V proteins of NDV and several other paramyxoviruses target MAVS for ubiquitin-mediated degradation through E3 ubiquitin ligase RING-finger protein 5 (RNF5). MAVS degradation leads to the inhibition of the downstream IFN-β pathway and therefore benefits virus proliferation. Our study reveals a novel mechanism of NDV evading host innate immunity and provides insight into the therapeutic strategies for the control of paramyxovirus infection.

Using a uniquely hand-collected dataset, we examine how financial analysts react to expectations management in the post-Regulation Fair Disclosure (FD) period. We find evidence that management issues pessimistic public guidance to lower analysts’ expectations to a beatable level in the new regulatory environment. Majority of the analysts revised their forecasts downward immediately (in terms of days rather than weeks) after the issuance of a pessimistic public guidance. The magnitude of the downward revision is significantly greater for firms that beat the expectations through managerial guidance than firms that beat the expectations without guidance. In addition, firms that beat analysts’ expectations through pessimistic guidance are able to achieve a larger positive earnings surprise at the earnings announcement than the legitimate beaters.

We examine the impact of CEO inside debt on audit fees. Prior research finds that managerial ownership of debt (such as defined-benefit pensions and other deferred compensation) reduces debtholders' demand for accounting conservatism. One consequence of using less conservative accounting is an increased likelihood of GAAP violation, which in turn increases audit effort and audit fees. Thus the level of CEO inside debt may be positively associated with audit fees. However, to the extent that inside debt mitigates stockholder-debtholder conflicts, it is also possible that inside debt leads to decreased audit risk and lower audit fees. We find significant positive relations between inside debt and audit fees, suggesting that auditors consider inside debt as a factor that requires additional audit effort.

Lead, a ubiquitous neurotoxicant, can result in learning and memory dysfunction. Long term potentiation in the hippocampus, a potential neural substrate for learning and memory, is thought to be linked to calcium-triggered intracellular events. In this study, laser scanning confocal microscopy was used to examine the effects of Pb(2+) on intracellular and endoplasmic reticulum free calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](i) and [Ca(2+)](ER)) in cultured neonatal rat hippocampal neurons and their possible antagonism by methionine choline; understanding these effects would help explain the lead-induced cognitive and learning dysfunction and explore efficient safety and relief strategies. The results showed that Pb(2+) increased [Ca(2+)](i) and decreased [Ca(2+)](ER) linearly in a time- and concentration-dependant manner, and Pb(2+) addition after the applying of a ryanodine receptor (RyR) antagonist and an inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate receptor (IP(3)R) antagonist did not increase [Ca(2+)](i). The addition of 10, 20, or 40 mmol/L methionine choline simultaneously with addition of 10 μmol/L Pb(2+) decreased [Ca(2+)](i) in Ca(2+)-free culture medium by 39.0%, 66.0%, and 61.6%, respectively, in a concentration-dependant manner in a certain dose range. Our results suggest that Pb(2+) induces ER calcium release to increase the resting [Ca(2+)](i); and methionine choline inhibit this increase in [Ca(2+)](i).

Dietary or nutrient patterns represent the combined effects of foods or nutrients, and elucidate efficaciously the impact of diet on diseases. Because the pharmacotherapy on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was reported be associated with certain side effects, and the etiology of ADHD is multifactorial, this study investigated the association of dietary and nutrient patterns with the risk of ADHD. We conducted a case-control study with 592 Chinese children including ADHD (n = 296) and non-ADHD (n = 296) aged 6–14 years old, matched by age and sex. Dietary and nutrient patterns were identified using factor analysis and a food frequency questionnaire. Blood essential elements levels were measured using atomic absorption spectrometry. A fish-white meat dietary pattern rich in shellfish, deep water fish, white meat, freshwater fish, organ meat and fungi and algae was inversely associated with ADHD (p = 0.006). Further analysis found that a mineral-protein nutrient pattern rich in zinc, protein, phosphorus, selenium, calcium and riboflavin was inversely associated with ADHD (p = 0.014). Additionally, the blood zinc was also negatively related to ADHD (p = 0.003). In conclusion, the fish-white meat dietary pattern and mineral-protein nutrient pattern may have beneficial effects on ADHD in Chinese children, and blood zinc may be helpful in distinguishing ADHD in Chinese children.

The principal effects of Pb(2+) exposure in children are attention, memory and learning deficits that persist into adulthood. The application of the conventional chelators in children is somewhat prohibited by adverse health effects and is not effective in reversing learning deficits once they have occurred. In this study, we applied the nutrients, methionine and choline, to prevent Pb(2+)-induced cognitive impairment. Male weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups. Three groups of rats were exposed to Pb(2+) in drinking water containing 400mg/L Pb(2+) acetate, of which two groups were concurrently administered by oral gavage once a day, 6 days per week, with low or high doses of methionine and choline for 60 days. The normal control group received distilled water alone, and the reagent control received methionine choline chloride alone. Methionine choline treatment reversed long-term deficits in spatial learning and memory caused by Pb(2+) exposure in rats. Enhanced learning performance of Pb(2+)-exposed rats was associated with recovery of deficits in N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) subunit 1 (NR1) mRNA and protein expression in the hippocampus. The effect of methionine choline on NR1 gene and protein expression was somewhat specific to Pb(2+)-exposed rats and did not affect the NR2A and NR2B subunits of the NMDAR measured in the same animals. Moreover, methionine choline treatment did not lower brain Pb(2+) content in Pb(2+)-exposed rats, although it reduced blood and bone Pb(2+) content. Methionine and choline reversed cognitive and NR1 deficits induced by Pb(2+) exposure, a beneficial effect that has significant clinical implications for the treatment of childhood Pb(2+) intoxication.