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Small businesses have suffered disproportionately from the COVID-19 pandemic. We use near-real-time weekly data from the Small Business Pulse Survey (April 26, 2020 - June 17, 2021) to examine the constantly changing impact of COVID-19 on small businesses across the United States. A set of multilevel models for change are adopted to model the trajectories of the various kinds of impact as perceived by business owners (subjective) and those recorded for business operations (objective), providing insights into regional resilience from a small business perspective. The findings reveal spatially uneven and varied trajectories in both the subjectively and the objectively assessed impact of COVID-19 across the U.S., and the different responses to the pandemic shock can be explained by evolving health situations and public policies, as well as by the economic structure and degree of socioeconomic vulnerability in different areas. This study contributes to scholarship on small businesses and regional resilience, as well as identifying policies and practices that build economic resilience and regional development under conditions of global pandemic disruption.

This paper deals with the following nonlinear elliptic equation $$-\Delta u=Q(|y'|,y'')u^{\frac{N+2}{N-2}},\,\,u>0,\,\,\text{in}\R^N,\,\,u\inD^{1,2}(\R^{N}),$$where $(y',y'')\in \R^2\times\R^{N-2}$, where $Q(|y'|,y'')$ is a bounded non-negative function in $\mathbb{R}^{2}\times \R^{N-2}$. We prove a non-degeneracy result for the positive solutions constructed in [PWW].

The novel coronavirus (covid-19) has caused an unprecedented impact on both the health and economic well-being of the United States. Small businesses have been particularly affected amid the outbre...

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented losses for small businesses in cities across the globe. Policymakers have relied on a wide range of measures to support firms and sustain business continuity. However, significant concerns have been expressed about the degree of equity in the distribution and efficiency of government assistance during the pandemic disruption. Drawing on the case of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and its implementation in inland Southern California, this study examines the spatial distribution of PPP loans at the neighborhood level. Based on spatial regressions and in-depth interviews with small businesses, banks, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, the study finds that, in terms of their total number and value, the PPP loans have roughly succeeded in reaching their small business targets. However, communities with higher shares of pandemic-vulnerable businesses or higher levels of socioeconomic vulnerability are less likely to have received PPP loans. There have also been spatial spillover effects of community vulnerability when it comes to receiving PPP loans at the neighborhood level. The correlation between fewer PPP loans and community vulnerability also reflects both short-term needs and longstanding challenges facing entrepreneurship and business development in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Moreover, small business resilience and community resilience are inseparable, and thus government business assistance must be considered in the context of local communities.

This paper deals with the following nonlinear elliptic equation$$-\Delta u=Q(|y'|,y'')u^{\frac{N+2}{N-2}},\,\,u>0,\,\,\text{in}\R^N,\,\,u\inD^{1,2}(\R^{N}),$$where $(y',y'')\in \R^2\times\R^{N-2}$,$Q(|y'|,y'')$ is a bounded non-negative function in$\mathbb{R}^{2}\times \R^{N-2}$. We prove a non-degeneracy result for the positive multi-bubbling solutions constructed in\cite{PWW}.

This study examines the experiences of business development centers in higher education institutions (HEIs) to promote entrepreneurship in underserved communities. It draws experiences and perspectives from multiple stakeholders to examine the contribution of HEIs toward equitable economic development and social renewal. Based on extensive qualitative data analyses, this study highlights the role of HEIs as anchor institutions and intermediary enablers of economic development in bridging traditionally split efforts between different university missions. The findings contribute to research and practice on entrepreneurship education and universities’ engagement in fostering inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems and equitable growth through entrepreneurship.

This study examines the job earnings of STEM college graduates in the U.S. over the 2000-2010 decade. Findings show that after controlling for individual and college level characteristics, geograph...

Cultural and creative industries (CCIs) have been regarded as a growth driver for economic and urban development in many cities worldwide. This study first traces the development of CCIs in China, both as the leading top-down approach and as grassroots efforts in local communities. Then, it identifies the driving forces for CCIs’ development and their impacts on urban development and regeneration. The extensive literature review finds that China’s CCIs share many common characteristics with Western cities. Meanwhile, the CCIs in Chinese cities also demonstrate unique characteristics, for example, strong top-down policy guidance; close relation with continuous urbanization especially through the construction of science and technology parks; and extremely weak ties with local communities. Based on the review, the authors suggest future research agendas to better understand the mechanisms that affect CCIs-related urban (re)development and both social and economic impacts from CCI development at multiple scales.

This paper deals with the system with linearly coupled of nonlocal problem with critical exponent, \begin{document}$ \begin{equation*} \begin{cases} (-\Delta)^\alpha u+\lambda_1u = |u|^{2_\alpha^*-2}u+\beta v , \quad x\in \Omega , \\ (-\Delta)^\alpha v+\lambda_2v = |v|^{2_\alpha^*-2}v+\beta u , \,\quad x\in \Omega , \\ u = v = 0,\ \ \qquad \qquad \qquad \quad \quad \qquad \,x\in \partial\Omega. \end{cases} \end{equation*} $\end{document} Here \begin{document}$ \Omega $\end{document} is a smooth bounded domain in \begin{document}$ {\mathbb{R}}^N(N>4\alpha) $\end{document} , \begin{document}$ 0 , \begin{document}$ \lambda_1,\lambda_2>-\lambda_1(\Omega) $\end{document} are constants, \begin{document}$ \lambda_1(\Omega) $\end{document} is the first eigenvalue of fractional Laplacian with Dirichlet boundary, \begin{document}$ 2_\alpha^* = \frac{2N}{N-2\alpha} $\end{document} is the Sobolev critical exponent and \begin{document}$ \beta\in {\mathbb{R}} $\end{document} is a coupling parameter. By variational method, we prove that this system has a positive ground state solution for some \begin{document}$ \beta>0 $\end{document} . Via a perturbation argument, by doing some delicate estimates for the nonlocal term, we overcome some difficulties and find a positive higher energy solution when \begin{document}$ |\beta| $\end{document} is small. Moreover, the asymptotic behaviors of the positive ground state and higher energy solutions as \begin{document}$ \beta\rightarrow 0 $\end{document} are analyzed.

Owing to the strong nucleophilicity of the NH

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how gender, interacting with race and ethnicity, plays a role in women entrepreneurship process and how women entrepreneurs’ experiences shape and are shaped by their communities. Design/methodology/approach First, five-year 2010-2014 American Community Survey data are analyzed. Then, in-depth interview and focus groups discussion are conducted with 40 women business owners and the data are analyzed using the software package QSR Nvivo. Findings Women entrepreneurs face the challenges and the difficulties of managing both family roles and work. However, they have strategically negotiating with their multiple roles through entrepreneurship to gain independence and purpose, as well as the opportunity to contribute to society. In particular, their embeddedness within local communities provides meanings, opportunities, and functional strategies for their entrepreneurial activities. Research limitations/implications The study is based on only one study area. A larger sample size with more cases from multiple study areas can provide further insights. Practical implications Findings from this study have profound implications for practices of equitable growth, community development, and urban planning under the rapid growth of immigration. Originality/value First, extending focus on the social identity of “motherhood,” this study argues for considering multiple social identities of women entrepreneurs and the intersectionality of multiple identities. Second, it extends the traditional focus of entrepreneurship studies from a singular focus on economic growth to include additional dimensions of work-life balance and sense of community. Third, place is not only a context but also acts powerfully into the entrepreneurial process. It argues that women entrepreneurs and their businesses are deeply embedded in local communities as their multiple identities are shaped at both home and work.

Background: Endometrial cancer is a common cause of death in gynecological malignancies. Cisplatin is a clinically chemotherapeutic agent. However, drug-resistance is the primary cause of treatment failure. Objective: Emodin is commonly used clinically to increase the sensitivity of chemotherapeutic agents, yet whether Emodin promotes the role of Cisplatin in the treatment of endometrial cancer has not been studied. Method: CCK-8 kit was utilized to determine the growth of two endometrial cancer cell lines, Ishikawa and HEC-IB. The apoptosis level of Ishikawa and HEC-IB cells was detected by Annexin V / propidium iodide double-staining assay. ROS level was detected by DCFH-DA and NADPH oxidase expression. Expressions of drug-resistant genes were examined by real-time PCR and Western blotting. Results: Emodin combined with Cisplatin reduced cell growth and increased the apoptosis of endometrial cancer cells. Co-treatment of Emodin and Cisplatin increased chemosensitivity by inhibiting the expression of drugresistant genes through reducing the ROS levels in endometrial cancer cells. In an endometrial cancer xenograft murine model, the tumor size was reduced and animal survival time was increased by co-treatment of Emodin and Cisplatin. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that Emodin enhances the chemosensitivity of Cisplatin on endometrial cancer by inhibiting ROS-mediated expression of drug-resistance genes.

This study employs a multilevel research design to examine business ownership across ethnic groups in the greater Los Angeles area. It finds significant divide between white and non†white businesses along the labor market hierarchy. The entrepreneurial environment, ethnic residential communities, ethnic business spatial clustering, ethnic concentration in particular niche sectors, and ethnic diversity in local areas are all related to business ownership and disparities across ethnic groups. The results suggest that ethnically diverse neighborhoods and co†ethnic business communities could provide a conducive institutional environment and resources for minority businesses to start. However, in contrast to white owned businesses, ethnic minority businesses' concentration in the low†end and easy†entry sectors may reinforce their disadvantages and hinder upward economic mobility. This study provides policy implications for community regional development through entrepreneurship especially when race and ethnicity are concerned.

We study the combined effect of concave and convex nonlinearities on the numbers of positive solutions for a fractional equation involving critical Sobolev exponents. In this paper, we concerned with the following fractional equation \begin{document}$ \left\{ \begin{array}{l}{\left( { - \Delta } \right)^s}u = \lambda f\left( x \right){\left| u \right|^{q - 2}}u + g\left( x \right){\left| u \right|^{2_s^* - 2}}u,\;\;\;x \in \Omega ,\\u = 0,\;\;x \in \partial \Omega ,\end{array} \right.\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\left( 1 \right) $ \end{document} where \begin{document}$ 0 , \begin{document}$ λ>0 $\end{document} , \begin{document}$ 1≤q , \begin{document}$ 2_s^* = \frac{2N}{N-2s} $\end{document} , \begin{document}$ 0∈ Ω\subset \mathbb{R} ^N(N>4s) $\end{document} is a bounded domain with smooth boundary \begin{document}$ \partialΩ $\end{document} , and \begin{document}$ f,\,g $\end{document} are nonnegative continuous functions on \begin{document}$\bar{Ω} $\end{document} . Here \begin{document}$ (-Δ)^s $\end{document} denotes the fractional Laplace operator.

Few studies of entrepreneurship and creative industries have investigated the role of race/ethnicity, gender, and poverty. This study investigates the impacts of art and culture entrepreneurship in a traditionally underserved community. The findings demonstrate that, using their business ventures as both economic and social enterprises, art and culture entrepreneurs engage in a continuous process of adaptation, learning, and innovation and seek opportunities to serve their business goals. Through artistic placemaking, race/ethnicity and entrepreneurship in creative industries interact with each other as agents of change in the local community and in social entrepreneurship. Our findings call for a social impact approach that emphasizes the importance of locally formed cultural production and a socially inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Through spatial analyses of a unique foreign firm data set, this study examines the spatial patterns of foreign firms in a globalizing Southern city and the associated factors at the neighborhood level. It finds that locations with high business density, especially a historic base of foreign firms, have an advantage in attracting foreign direct investments. Further, Japanese firms stand out due to a strong relationship between the local concentration of the Japanese population and the distribution of Japanese firms. Results suggest that, in addition to traditional consideration of agglomeration effects that are highly focused on firm-level linkages and knowledge spillover, it is important to include demographic transformation and overlapped space between work and livelihood into the theoretical framework to understand the location decisions of foreign direct investment at the local level. Such a broadened view becomes more urgent with the rise of emerging economies worldwide and continuous influx ...

This paper deals with the following system linearly coupled by nonlinear elliptic equations { − Δ u + λ 1 u = | u | 2 ⁎ − 2 u + β v , x ∈ Ω , − Δ v + λ 2 v = | v | 2 ⁎ − 2 v + β u , x ∈ Ω , u = v = 0 on ∂ Ω . Here Ω is a smooth bounded domain in R N ( N ≥ 3 ) , λ 1 , λ 2 > − λ 1 ( Ω ) are constants, λ 1 ( Ω ) is the first eigenvalue of ( − Δ , H 0 1 ( Ω ) ) , 2 ⁎ = 2 N N − 2 is the Sobolev critical exponent and β ∈ R is a coupling parameter. By variational method, we prove that this system has a positive ground state solution for some β > 0 . Via a perturbation argument, we show that this system also admits a positive higher energy solution when | β | is small. Moreover, the asymptotic behaviors of the positive ground state and higher energy solutions as β → 0 are analyzed.

The level of public service accessibility differs by residential locations. Existing literature has documented the effects of public service accessibility on housing prices. However, few studies have examined how public service provision affects housing prices under the Chinese centralized governance system. Using data from different geographic scales, this study uses a multilevel research design to examine how public service provision is associated with housing prices in Shanghai. Results show that though the total expenditure at the urban district level is not related to housing prices, government redistributive expenditure is positively associated with housing price and the developmental expenditure is on the opposite. The expenditure effects are further mediated by the accessibility to public facilities at the community level. The findings suggest that, as public service accessibility has been capitalized into housing prices, the decentralized fiscal system with relatively centralized governance structure may have reinforced urban polarization in Shanghai.

A recyclable catalytic system was developed by using a temperature responsive poly(acrylamide- co -acrylonitrile) (P(AAm- co -AN)) copolymer with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST). Palladium nanoparticles (NPs) immobilized on P(AAm- co -AN) copolymer were synthesized by the chemical reduction method using NaBH 4 . TEM characterizations showed the highly dispersed and small (~ 3 nm) Pd nanoparticles formed on the surface of the P(AAm- co -AN) copolymer. UV–Vis measurements indicated the increase of UCST of P(AAm- co -AN) from 30 to 35 °C after the deposition of Pd metal. P(AAm- co -AN) supported Pd catalyst showed high activity in allyl alcohol hydrogenation and facile separation and recovery via sharp solubility changes of catalyst by cooling below UCST.

In this paper, we study the multiplicity of solutions with a prescribed L 2 -norm for a class of nonlinear Kirchhoff type problems in R 3 − ( a + b ∫ R 3 | ∇ u | 2 ) Δ u − λ u = | u | p − 2 u , where a , b > 0 are constants, λ ∈ R , p ∈ ( 14 3 , 6 ) . To get such solutions we look for critical points of the energy functional I b ( u ) = a 2 ∫ R 3 | ∇ u | 2 + b 4 ( ∫ R 3 | ∇ u | 2 ) 2 − 1 p ∫ R 3 | u | p restricted on the following set S r ( c ) = { u ∈ H r 1 ( R 3 ) : ‖ u ‖ L 2 ( R 3 ) 2 = c } , c > 0 . For the value p ∈ ( 14 3 , 6 ) considered, the functional I b is unbounded from below on S r ( c ) . By using a minimax procedure, we prove that for any c > 0 , there are infinitely many critical points { u n b } n ∈ N + of I b restricted on S r ( c ) with the energy I b ( u n b ) → + ∞ ( n → + ∞ ) . Moreover, we regard b as a parameter and give a convergence property of u n b as b → 0 + .

Fierce competition among county-level governments has substantially increased disparities in public service provision and housing markets across urban China. The role of the changing intracity administrative structure deserves scholarly, attention in this process. Building on an interdisciplinary literature of public choice and cadre promotion theory, we propose that interjurisdictional competition enlarges the intracity fiscal disparity under China's transitional administrative and fiscal systems. Results from fixed-effect panel data modeling confirm that cities with higher level of interjurisdictional competition are associated with higher intracity fiscal disparity. This study demonstrates how transition and decentralization of the centralized fiscal system have long-term, intended and unintended, impacts on fiscal inequality and urban stratification. With continuous urban sprawl, jurisdictional annexation, and large-scale urban-to-rural migration, our study suggests that policies attempting to equalize public service distribution within cities need to consider the administrative structure at the local and regional levels.

Supported noble metal ruthenium phosphides were synthesized by one-step H2-thermal treatment method using triphenylphosphine (TPP) as phosphorus sources at low temperatures. Two phosphides RuP and Ru2P can be prepared by this method via varying the molar ratio of metal salt and TPP. The as-prepared phosphides were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), low-temperature N2 adsorption, CO chemisorption and transmission electronic microscopy (TEM). The supported ruthenium phosphides prepared by new method and conventional method together with contradistinctive metallic ruthenium were evaluated in hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT). The catalytic results showed that metal-rich Ru2P was the better active phase for HDS than RuP and metal Ru. Besides this, ruthenium phosphide catalyst prepared by new method exhibited superior HDS activity to that prepared by conventional method.

Women-owned enterprises have boomed significantly during the past several decades. The purpose of this study is to theorize and empirically delineate the connections between female entrepreneurship and community development through the lens of entrepreneurship. Our results indicate that, from the initial creation of these businesses, to their daily operations and resource mobilization through social networks, women entrepreneurs are closely connected to local communities through their business activities. At the same time, as engagement and payback to local communities are fundamental to their professional goals and operation strategies, female entrepreneurship activities have significantly contributed to local communities in a wide range of ways. The dialectical connections between women business owners and their communities have significant potential to be incorporated into community development policies and practices.

This chapter attempts to investigate the impact of intra-city government structure on within-city fiscal disparity across Chinese cities. We focus on fiscal disparity because local governments’ fiscal capacities affect their ability to provide public services, and disparity in public service accessibility increases income inequality.

A thermoresponsive polymer, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) stabilized palladium nanoparticle catalyst was prepared for the hydrodechlorination (HDC) of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) and the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) at mild conditions in aqueous solution. The catalyst was synthesized by NaBH4 reduction method and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–Visible spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). TEM characterization indicates the highly dispersed Pd nanoparticles (∼3 nm) on the surface of PNIPAM. UV–Visible spectroscopy exhibits a low critical solution temperature (LCST) of 34 °C for PNIPAM and the cloud-point temperature of 34.5 °C for PNIPAM–Pd catalyst in aqueous solution. The catalytic HDC of 4-CP and reduction of 4-NP followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics and the dynamic data were measured. High conversion (>95%) of 4-CP (4-NP) was obtained at the substrate/Pd molar ratio of 100:1 in the homogeneous catalytic system. After reaction, the catalyst could be precipitated and separated from reaction system by slightly increasing the temperature of aqueous solution. The PNIPAM–Pd catalyst can be reused three times with little reduction of HDC activity.

We are interested in the existence and asymptotic behavior of sign-changing solutions to the following nonlinear Schrodinger–Poisson system $$\left\{\begin{array}{ll}-\Delta u+V(x)u+\lambda \phi(x)u =f(u), \ &\quad x \in \mathbb{R}^3,\\ -\Delta \phi=u^2, \ &\quad x \in \mathbb{R}^3,\end{array}\right.$$ where V(x) is a smooth function and λ is a positive parameter. Because the so-called nonlocal term $${\lambda \phi_u(x)u}$$ is involving in the equation, the variational functional of the equation has totally different properties from the case of $${\lambda=0}$$ . Under suitable conditions, combining constraint variational method and quantitative deformation lemma, we prove that the problem possesses one sign-changing solution $${u_\lambda}$$ . Moreover, we show that any sign-changing solution of the problem has an energy exceeding twice the least energy, and for any sequence $${\{\lambda_n\} \rightarrow 0^+(n \rightarrow \infty)}$$ , there is a subsequence $$\{\lambda_{n_k}\}$$ , such that $${u_{\lambda_{n_k}}}$$ converges in $${H^1(\mathbb{R}^3)}$$ to $${u_0}$$ as $${k\rightarrow \infty}$$ , where $${u_0}$$ is a sign-changing solution of the following equation $$-\Delta u+V(x)u=f(u),\quad \ x \in \mathbb{R}^3$$ .

Using the Public Use Microdata Sample from 2006 to 2010 American Community Survey and a hierarchical regression, this study examines how metropolitan-area-level labor market conditions are associated with the propensity of business ownership for the Hispanic labor force in the United States, and how the relationship differs between the foreign born and the native born, and between men and women. Findings from this study suggest that, in addition to personal and household characteristics, metropolitan labor market characteristics such as demographic composition, economic structure, and general labor market strength are important for Hispanic business ownership, contingent on gender and foreign-born status of the individual labor force.