Descriptive statistics.

Descriptive statistics.</p

Regression results of local government debt impacting enterprise innovation.

Regression results of local government debt impacting enterprise innovation.</p

Regression results of heterogeneity analysis.

Regression results of heterogeneity analysis.</p

Regression results of financing constraint as the mediating variable.

Regression results of financing constraint as the mediating variable.</p

Regression results of digital finance as the mediating variable.

Regression results of digital finance as the mediating variable.</p

Regression results of enterprise profit as the mediating variable.

Regression results of enterprise profit as the mediating variable.</p

Regression results of robustness test.

Regression results of robustness test.</p

Endogeneity test: Regression results via 2SLS.

Endogeneity test: Regression results via 2SLS.</p

Effective pH pretreatment and cell disruption method for real-time intracellular enzyme activity assay of a marine fungus covered with pigments

<p>Filamentous fungi are capable producers of many bioactive compounds, and real-time intracellular enzyme activity assay is an essential guidance for their bioprocess developments. However, there are many difficulties in preparing homogenate for enzyme activity assay, such as disrupting fungal cell with complicated cellular structure and solid cell wall, removing abundant extracellular metabolites accumulating on mycelia, and so on. <i>Halorosellinia</i> sp. (No. 1403) was a marine-derived filamentous fungus producing a potential antitumor compound 1403C, and the deep red pigments (with main component of 1403C) covering on its mycelia showed strong absorption in a wide range, which critically affected the measurement of many enzyme activities. In this study, we developed an effective pH pretreatment and cell disruption method to prepare homogenate for enzyme activity assay. When mycelia were washed by the solution with pH 5.0 for 3 min, most pigments could be removed without severe loss on enzyme activities. Afterward, grinding with mini bead for 15 min with alternating cooling could effectively disrupt both cell wall and mitochondrial membrane. These methods have been successfully applied on real-time intracellular enzyme activity assay of <i>Halorosellinia</i> sp. (No. 1403) and can offer enlightenment for other filamentous fungi with similar problems.</p

Elevated interleukin-1β in peripheral blood mononuclear cells contributes to the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid diseases, especially of Hashimoto thyroiditis

<p><b>Purpose of the study:</b> To explore the relationship between IL-1β expression and two common autoimmune thyroid diseases: Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) and Graves’ disease (GD). <b>Materials and methods:</b> qRT-PCR, Quantiglo ELISA, and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the expression levels of IL-1β in serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and thyroid tissue samples from patients with HT or GD. Local infiltration of monocytes was assessed by immunohistochemical study of patients’ thyroid tissue samples. <b>Results:</b> Although no significant differences in IL-1β levels were found between samples of serum from patients with HT or GD and normal controls, we found that IL-1β mRNA and protein levels in PBMCs of HT patients were significantly higher than those of patients with GD, which were in turn higher than the level in normal controls. In addition, IL-1β mRNA was also increased in thyroid gland tissue from patients with HT compared to those with GD, and this was accompanied by increased local infiltration of monocytes into thyroid tissues. Correlation analysis of the clinical samples validated the association of high IL-1β levels with the pathogenesis of HT. <b>Conclusion:</b> Our study suggests that IL-1β may be an active etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of HT and thus present a new target for novel diagnostics and treatment.</p