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This paper exploits the random assignment rule embedded in Chinese education system to investigate the external effect of better-educated parents in a class on students’ academic outcomes. Using a ...

Oocyte in vitro maturation is crucial for in vitro embryo production technology, which provides oocytes resources for in vitro fertilization and somatic cell nuclear transfer. Previous studies proved that SIRT2, a member of the sirtuin family, plays a role in oocyte meiosis, but its role in sheep oocyte maturation and its regulating mechanism remains unknown. Firstly, we confirmed the role of Sirt2 in sheep oocytes maturation by supplementation of SIRT2 inhibitor and activator. To further explore the specific mechanism, we performed knockdown of Sirt2 in granulosa cells and then cocultured them with oocytes. Moreover, we determined the effects of Sirt2 on granulosa cell oxidative apoptosis, cell migration, and diffusion, and examined its effects on granulosa cell mitochondrial function, mitophagy, and steroid hormone levels. The results showed that supplementation of SIRT2 inhibitor decreased the oocytes maturation rate (69.28% ± 1.28 vs. 45.74% ± 4.74, p < 0.05), while resveratrol, a SIRT2 activator, increased its maturation rate (67.44% ± 1.68 vs. 78.52 ± 1.28, p < 0.05). Knockdown of Sirt2 in sheep granulosa cells also reduced the oocytes maturation rate (47.98% ± 1.43 vs. 33.60% ± 1.77, p < 0.05), and led to decreased cell migration and expansion ability, oxidative apoptosis, abnormal mitochondrial gene expression, decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP level, and increased mitophagy level. Overexpression of Sirt2 improved mitochondrial membrane potential and ATP level and improved mitochondrial function. Furthermore, we found that Sirt2 knockdown in granulosa cells promotes the secretion of P4 through regulating p-ERK1/2. In conclusion the present study showed that SIRT2 is critical for sheep oocyte maturation through regulating the function of ovarian granulosa cells, especially affecting its mitochondrial function.

Selenium Auricularia cornea culture (SAC) is a new source of organic selenium. Two experiments were conducted to determine the available energy of SAC fed to pigs and to evaluate the effects of dietary SAC supplementation on growth performance, serum biochemical profiles, fecal short chain fatty acids (SCFA), meat quality, tissue selenium concentration, and oxidative stability of fresh meat in growing-finishing pigs. In Experiment (Exp.) 1, 12 barrows with average body weight (BW) of 42.40 ± 5.30 kg were randomly allotted to two groups and fed the basal diet and SAC-supplemented diet, individually. In Exp. 2, 96 growing-finishing pigs (BW: 91.96 ± 7.55 kg) were grouped into four dietary treatments, each treatment contained six replicates with four pigs per replicate. The four treatments fed a control diet and three experimental diets supplemented with 0.6%, 1.2%, and 2.4% SAC, respectively. The trial lasted for 45 days. The results revealed that digestible energy (DE) of SAC was 11.21 MJ/kg. The average daily gain (ADG) was improved in pigs fed 1.2% and 2.4% SAC during day 24 to 45 and the overall period. Dietary 1.2% and 2.4% SAC supplementation had a lower F/G (p &lt, 0.05) than the control diet during different stages. Dietary SAC supplementation increased fecal butyrate contents (p &lt, 0.05), and pigs fed 1.2% and 2.4% SAC diets had a higher MCT1 mRNA expression (p = 0.04) in the colon. Pigs fed 2.4% SAC had higher GSH-Px contents (p &lt, 0.05) in serum, liver, and longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) than those in the control group. The 2.4% SAC-supplemented group revealed a higher Se content (p &lt, 0.05) in LDM and a lower MDA concentration (p &lt, 0.05) in fresh meat during the simulated retail display on day six. In conclusion, this study suggested that SAC was more effective in improving growth, enhancing the antioxidant status, depositing Se in muscle, and increasing meat oxidative stability of pigs.

BACKGROUND Fermented soya bean meal (FSBM) is believed to have improved nutritional qualities compared with soya bean meal (SBM) and is also cheaper than soya protein concentration (SPC) and fish meal (FM). Therefore, the present study was conducted to compare the effects of FSBM replacing SBM, SPC and FM in diets on growth performance, serum biochemistry profile, short-chain fatty acid concentrations in digesta, intestinal mucosal enzyme activities, intestinal proinflammatory cytokine concentrations and morphology in weaned piglets. One hundred and twenty 28-day-old piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire, body weight: 6.73 ± 1.14 kg) were randomly allocated to four treatment diets (six replicate pens with five piglets per pen) containing SBM, SPC, FM or FSBM as the protein source, respectively. RESULTS Dietary FSBM supplementation improved average daily gain (p

Simple Summary Selenium Auricularia cornea culture (SAC) is a dried product via full fermentation, containing organic-Se, Auricularia cornea (AC) mycelium, and various metabolites of AC. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether SAC could effectively improve the health, growth, meat quality, and oxidative stability of meat in growing-finishing pigs. Currently, dietary SAC supplementation positively impacts growth performance and oxidative stability of fresh meat. Abstract Selenium Auricularia cornea culture (SAC) is a new source of organic selenium. Two experiments were conducted to determine the available energy of SAC fed to pigs and to evaluate the effects of dietary SAC supplementation on growth performance, serum biochemical profiles, fecal short chain fatty acids (SCFA), meat quality, tissue selenium concentration, and oxidative stability of fresh meat in growing-finishing pigs. In Experiment (Exp.) 1, 12 barrows with average body weight (BW) of 42.40 ± 5.30 kg were randomly allotted to two groups and fed the basal diet and SAC-supplemented diet, individually. In Exp. 2, 96 growing-finishing pigs (BW: 91.96 ± 7.55 kg) were grouped into four dietary treatments; each treatment contained six replicates with four pigs per replicate. The four treatments fed a control diet and three experimental diets supplemented with 0.6%, 1.2%, and 2.4% SAC, respectively. The trial lasted for 45 days. The results revealed that digestible energy (DE) of SAC was 11.21 MJ/kg. The average daily gain (ADG) was improved in pigs fed 1.2% and 2.4% SAC during day 24 to 45 and the overall period. Dietary 1.2% and 2.4% SAC supplementation had a lower F/G (p < 0.05) than the control diet during different stages. Dietary SAC supplementation increased fecal butyrate contents (p < 0.05), and pigs fed 1.2% and 2.4% SAC diets had a higher MCT1 mRNA expression (p = 0.04) in the colon. Pigs fed 2.4% SAC had higher GSH-Px contents (p < 0.05) in serum, liver, and longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) than those in the control group. The 2.4% SAC-supplemented group revealed a higher Se content (p < 0.05) in LDM and a lower MDA concentration (p < 0.05) in fresh meat during the simulated retail display on day six. In conclusion, this study suggested that SAC was more effective in improving growth, enhancing the antioxidant status, depositing Se in muscle, and increasing meat oxidative stability of pigs.

Ultraviolet (UV) exposure is the most essential etiological factor in sebaceous gland carcinoma (SGC). The abnormal expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is also involved in SGC. However, the function of miRNAs in UV-induced SGC is still unclear.In this study, the expression levels of miR-651-5p and zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 2 (The results showed that there was abnormal expression of miR-651-5p andThis study revealed that overexpression of miR-651-5p inhibited UV-induced SGC growth and metastasis by suppressing

Using a sample of 4195 observations from 19 emerging markets, we investigate how internal corporate governance, external monitoring, and legal and business environment jointly affect a firm’s managerial effectiveness in environmental information transparency in an international setting. The empirical results show that in emerging economies, firms with stronger corporate governance mechanisms tend to adopt an external control strategy in order to mitigate owner-manager agency conflicts. Furthermore, internal corporate governance mechanisms are found to directly increase firm transparency concerning environmental damage and to indirectly do so through external control device. The legal and business environments of countries in which firms operate moderate these relationships.

The paucity of recurrent mutations has hampered efforts to understand and treat neuroblastoma. Alternative splicing and splicing-dependent RNA-fusions represent mechanisms able to increase the gene product repertoire but their role in neuroblastoma remains largely unexplored. Here we investigate the presence and possible roles of aberrant splicing and splicing-dependent RNA-fusion transcripts in neuroblastoma. In addition, we attend to establish whether the spliceosome can be targeted to treat neuroblastoma. Through analysis of RNA-sequenced neuroblastoma we show that elevated expression of splicing factors is a strong predictor of poor clinical outcome. Furthermore, we identified >900 primarily intrachromosomal fusions containing canonical splicing sites. Fusions included transcripts from well-known oncogenes, were enriched for proximal genes and in chromosomal regions commonly gained or lost in neuroblastoma. As a proof-of-principle that these fusions can generate altered gene products, we characterized a ZNF451-BAG2 fusion, producing a truncated BAG2-protein which inhibited retinoic acid induced differentiation. Spliceosome inhibition impeded neuroblastoma fusion expression, induced apoptosis and inhibited xenograft tumor growth. Our findings elucidate a splicing-dependent mechanism generating altered gene products in neuroblastoma and show that the spliceosome is a potential target for clinical intervention.

Background: Fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) uses exogenous reproductive hormones to regulate the sexual cycle of sows and realize the mating of pigs at a fixed-time without estrus identification. There is a great difference in litter size following FTAI, which may be due to the ovarian status before treatment. However, the specific underlying mechanism remains unclear.Results: We selected replacement gilts (n=104) and divided them into four groups: CON (n=35), EST (n=16), pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG)-15D (n=26), and PMSG-20D (n=27). The PMSG-15D and PMSG-20D groups were pretreated with PMSG for 15 and 20 days, respectively. The four groups were then subjected to the same FTAI treatment. Pretreatment with PMSG causes ovulation in the gilts, to artificially promote an estrus cycle. At 42 hours after ALT feeding stopped, The follicular diameter of PMSG-15D group (2.94±0.24 mm) was significantly higher (Pth to 26th day of FTAI. The ovulation rate was as high as 94.5% in the optimal insemination window period and was more suitable for FTAI. Compared with the CON (52.70±12.71 h) and the PMSG-20D (47.88±13.98 h) groups, the GnRH to ovulation interval (42.33±5.87 h) was significantly shortened in the PMSG-15D group. The level of follicle-stimulating hormone of gilts in the PMSG-15D group was more uniform and significantly lower than that in the CON group (PConclusions: We feasibly optimized FTAI using PMSG pretreatments. When the ovaries of replacement gilts were in the luteal stage owing to PMSG pretreatment for 15 days, the follicular development and reproductive performance of replacement gilts were significantly improved.

This study explores the effect of flooding on the vegetation and soil of the water level fluctuation zone (WLFZ) in the Jiangjin section of the Yangtze River. The vegetation community and physical and chemical soil properties at water level elevations of 188–200 m above mean sea level (a.m.s.l) were studied using the belt transect method and the quadrat method when the section was at its lowest water level, with the nonfluctuating zone above 200 m a.m.s.l as a control. Perennial and flood-resistant species, such as Phalaris arundinacea, were dominant in the herbaceous community from 193 to 200 m, and the apparent lowest elevation of plant growth was from 188 to 193 m. From 193 to 206 m, soil bulk density decreased with increasing elevation but increased with soil layer depth. The soil nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in the nonfluctuating zone were higher than those in the WLFZ zone. However, the soil organic matter from 193 to 200 m was higher than that in the nonfluctuating zone. The soil N, P and K from 188.06 to 188.09 m were higher than those from 188.3 to 189 m, except for hydrolysable N. The lowest elevation of plant growth did not result from a lack of soil fertility due to long-term submergence.

Using a sample of 8232 firms from 81 countries, we investigate the effect of government ownership on financial constraint and the effect of financial constraint on corporate performance. In addition, we address the moderating role of country-level corruption on those two relationships. Results show that government-owned firms face fewer financial constraints and that firms with fewer financial constraints perform better. Furthermore, we find that the association between government ownership and financial constraint and the association between financial constraint and corporate performance are less pronounced for firms operating in countries with a lower level of corruption.

Many extant studies argue that the media have an effective governance role in disciplining firms’ opportunistic behaviors. However, the agenda-setting theory in communication research suggests the ...

We investigate how family involvement in the ownership, management, or governance of a business affects its engagement in earnings management both directly and indirectly through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Using a sample of S&P 500 companies, we find that family firms tend to have higher CSR performance, which can help them to maintain legitimacy and preserve socio-emotional wealth. Family firms also engage in less accrual-based earnings management, although they are indistinguishable from non-family firms in terms of real earnings management. In contrast to previous research, we find that CSR performance is not significantly associated with either accrual-based or real earnings management behavior after we account for the effect of family involvement. Our findings suggest that the association between CSR performance and family involvement is the primary driver of the relation between CSR performance and earnings management documented in previous research.

Using a sample of 5486 observations from 25 countries between 2009 and 2013, we investigate the signaling effects of anti-misconduct policies on market valuation, and address the roles played by internal corporate governance mechanisms and external institutional environments. The results show that effective corporate governance mechanisms lead to higher-quality anti-misconduct policies. Furthermore, we find that although anti-misconduct policies alone do not affect market valuation in general, they do improve market valuation in countries with stronger legal and regulatory environments.

Ewing sarcomas (ESs) are aggressive sarcomas driven by EWS fusion genes. We sought to investigate whether whole‐transcriptome sequencing (RNA‐seq) could be used to detect patterns associated with chemotherapy response or tumor progression after first‐line treatment. Transcriptome sequencing (RNA‐seq) of 13 ES cases was performed. Among the differentially expressed pathways, we identified IGF2 expression as a potential driver of chemotherapy response and progression. We investigated the effect of IGF2 on proliferation, radioresistance, apoptosis, and the transcriptome pattern in four ES cell lines and the effect of IGF2 expression in a validation series of 14 patients. Transcriptome analysis identified differentially expressed genes (adj. P, Transcriptome profiling may provide prognostic information in the incipient age of genetic‐driven personalized oncology. In this study, Chen et al. identified expression signatures associated with tumor progression and chemotherapy resistance in Ewing sarcomas, including IGF2 expression which was associated with an aggressive clinical course. Transcriptome analysis could potentially become a complementary tool to predict the clinical behavior of rare tumors.

In this paper, Phase2 software is used to simulate six groups of natural loess specimens in the northern slope of Bailu Plateau landslide area. The effective steady-state shear strength of loess specimens under different moisture content (6%, 11%, 21%, 26%, 30%, 32%) is simulated. We analyzed the stress and displacement, and we used residual thrust method to calculate the stability of sliding surface at different moisture content. The stability of the northern slope of Bailu tableland is analyzed at different moisture content. The "9.17 northern slope landslide of Bailu tableland" is summarized. The comprehensive evaluation of the northern slope landslide of Bailu tableland is carried out, the paper analyzed treatment measures of landslide. © International Journal of Ground Sediment & Water, © Sun Jichao, The website is http://ijgsw.comze.com/

This study explores the influence of climate risk on properties of firms’ financial reporting practices with observations collected from 64 countries between 2005 and 2016. We use a country-level climate risk indicator developed by Germanwatch to measure the degree of damage from extreme weather events, and find that climate risk positively influences firms’ engagements in both accruals-based and real earnings management. Furthermore, we document that the above-mentioned effects of climate risk are moderated by the quality of country-level public governance . Subsample analysis suggests that the main effect of climate risk on earnings management is more pronounced for firms from developed countries, for firms in environment-sensitive industries, and for firms reporting losses. Our findings, which are supported by a battery of robustness tests, have important implication for regulators and policymakers.

Using a sample of politically affiliated private firms in China, we explore the relation between corporate financial distress and earnings management. We further examine the joint moderating effects of political affiliation and regional development on this relation. The findings suggest that financially distressed firms engage more in reporting small positive earnings relative to financially healthy firms. In addition, political affiliation weakens the association between financial distress and small positive earnings management. A three-way interaction analysis indicates that the moderating effect of political affiliation is influenced by regional development.

This paper sheds light on the incongruent findings concerning the relationship between family involvement and firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR). While prior studies have mainly taken the perspective of families’ socioemotional wealth preservation, we approach this relationship from the perspective of behavioral agency theory, highlighting the important role played by CEOs’ family memberships. Specifically, we posit that family firms are more likely to invest in CSR when their CEOs are members of the controlling families. Furthermore, we examine how family firms can employ long-term incentives to encourage non-family CEOs to act in the interests of the controlling families to preserve SEW and thus enhancing family firms’ CSR performance. We tested our hypotheses using hand-collected data of family firms included in the S&P 500 index, in the period of 2003–2010. The empirical findings support our hypotheses that (a) family firms with family members as the CEOs have better CSR performance and (b) family firms tend to provide a high level of long-term incentives to non-family than family CEOs. In addition, long-term incentives strongly motivate CEOs to improve firms’ CSR performance, regardless of their family memberships.

Using a sample consisting of 1,160,801 observations of privately held firms, we explore the relationship between earnings quality and privately held firms’ debt financing, access to debt, and cost of debt, as well as the moderating effects of provincial-level economic development on this relationship. Our findings indicate that better earnings quality increases private firms’ access to debt financing and lowers their cost of debt. The empirical results also show that these effects are more pronounced in less developed provinces.

In this paper, the robust variance-constrained composite control problem is investigated for linear uncertain discrete-time stochastic systems. The parameter uncertainties are allowed to be norm-bounded and enter into the state matrix. The purpose of this problem is to design a disturbance observer to estimate the disturbance generated by an exogenous system, then construct the control strategy by integrating the output of the disturbance observer with state-feedback control law, such that, for all admissible parameter uncertainties, the system state of the closed-loop system is mean square bounded, and the steady state variance of each state is not more than the individual prescribed upper bound. And a LMI method is developed to deal with the control problem, which is related to a linear matrix inequality. An illustrative numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design approach.

Building upon recent research which indicates that debt markets rather than equity markets shape financial reporting, this study examines how conditionally conservative financial reporting relates to the yield spread of corporate bond issues. Our findings suggest that the debt contract efficiency/information costs view of conditional conservatism, documented in private debt contracts, does not generalize to public debt contracts. Instead, a debt contract renegotiation costs perspective seems to better capture the dynamics of the public debt markets, with conditionally conservative reporting being associated with higher yield spread of corporate bond issues. Additional subsample test results indicate that the association between conditional conservatism and bond yield spreads is more pronounced in non-investment grade bonds, for bond issuers with more financial distress, and for bonds that are issued before the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act. This study fills a gap in the conservatism literature, which focuses primarily on equity or private bank loan markets with traditional debt contract efficiency/information costs view.

Building upon recent research suggesting that debt markets rather than equity markets shape financial reporting, this study examines the relationship between conditional conservatism (used as a proxy for information risk) and the underpricing of newly issued corporate bonds. There are two contrasting arguments for bond underpricing: the information argument predicts that bond issuers with less information risk will experience less underpricing, while the signalling argument indicates that bond issuers with less information risk will underprice more to distinguish them from issuers with more information risk. Empirical results indicate that the signalling argument seems to better capture the dynamics of the public debt markets, with conditional conservatism being associated with greater underpricing of newly issued corporate bonds.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Chinese auditors' personal values (guanxi and ethical orientations) on their ethical reasoning (ethical judgments and behavioral intentions). In addition, this study aims to explore the joint effect of guanxi and ethical orientation on auditors' ethical reasoning. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on a field survey of 191 auditors working in Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firms that operate in the People's Republic of China (China). Findings – The main findings indicate that guanxi and relativism orientations negatively associate with, while idealism orientation positively associates with, auditors' ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. However, when decomposing the overall ethical judgment into three judgment groups, the main effects of guanxi and ethical orientations on auditors' ethical judgments become marginal and those effects fully hold only when using acceptability as criteria to judge questionable behavior in the vignettes. In addition, the results of the joint effect of guanxi and ethical orientations indicate that guanxi orientation weakens both the positive effect of idealism and the negative effect of relativism orientations on auditors' ethical reasoning. Originality/value – This study contributes the literature by investigating the ethical reasoning of auditors in a country with a relatively weak legal system that relies on guanxi (literally, interpersonal relationships and connections) culture to operate business. Furthermore, this study extends the literature by documenting the moderating effect of guanxi orientation on the relation between auditors' ethical orientation and their ethical reasoning.

Manuscript Type: Empirical Research Question/Issue: Prior evidence suggests that investor protection enhances corporate valuation. Focusing on a key investor protection measure, namely, self-dealing regulations, this study examines whether and to what extent the private and public control components of that measure affect firm value. Private control of self-dealing regulations emphasize disclosure and shareholder approval mechanisms, while public control of self-dealing regulations imply enforcement through prison terms, fines, etc. Our analysis takes into account potential agency problems resulting from an ownership wedge, i.e., situations in which cash flow rights are not consistent with control rights. Such situations are quite common in many countries outside of the United States. Research Findings/Results: Based on 4,634 firms from 22 countries, our empirical evidence indicates that private control of self-dealing regulations enhances firm value, while public control regulations lower firm value. In addition, a high ownership wedge, which proxies for agency problems between controlling shareholders and minority investors, dampens the positive association between private control of self-dealing regulations and corporate valuation. However, ownership wedge has no impact on the negative association between public control of self-dealing regulations and corporate valuation. Theoretical Implications: This study represents a refinement and extension of prior work on the value implication from investor protection regulations. It seeks to better define the implications of investor protection regulations by focusing on some of its key components, thus leading to a better understanding of the relations between investor protection regulations, ownership, and firm value. Moreover, the study contributes to the current debate about the importance of country-level institutions (versus firm-level governance as proxied by ownership wedge) in determining firm outcomes such as value. Practitioner Implications: The paper's empirical findings may help policy markers better understand how investors react to regulations about private and public control of self-dealing, thus enhancing their capability to enact more effective regulations.

The influence of venture capitalists on entrepreneurial firms has been well addressed in the literature (e.g., Cumming, 2008; Cumming & Knill, 2012; Cumming & Li, 2013; Gompers, Kovner, Lerner, & Scharfstein, 2008; Gupta & Sapienza, 1992; Wiltbank, Read, Dew, & Sarasvathy, 2009). However, studies on angel investment are relatively rare, partially due to the lack of data (Stam & Elfring, 2008). Given the history of angel investment and venture capital (VC) in China, some angel investors are affiliated with venture capitalists, and they take advantage of the latter’s professional expertise and business networks, which may significantly help entrepreneurial firms. This study helps fill in the gap in the literature by addressing whether, and if so then how, the returns of investment made by VC-affiliated angel investors differ from those made by other angel investors.