Ownership Concentration, Financial Leverage and Inefficient Investment-evidence from Chinese A-share Market

This paper analyzes the data from Chinese A-share market during 2 years from 2014 to 2015. Basing on 2297 listed firms, we use theoretical analysis and empirical analysis to explore and validate the relationship between ownership concentration, financial leverage and the company's inefficient investment behavior. The result shows that in Chinese A-share market, financial leverage can effectively inhibit the company's inefficient investment behavior; the concentration of equity will effectively inhibit the company's inefficient investment behavior

Search strategy and line association analysis of cascading failure accident chain in new energy power systems

As the penetration rate of new energy in the power system gradually increases and the complexity of cascading faults increases, it is of great significance for the power system to comprehensively explore the chain of cascading faults in the new energy power system and quickly determine the closely related lines in the cascading faults. In response to the lack of consideration in existing research of the changes in the importance of transmission lines after the introduction of new energy, this paper proposes a cascading failure prediction index that integrates the importance and operational status of transmission lines in new energy power systems and applies it to the search for cascading failures in new energy power systems. First, the development characteristics of cascading faults were analyzed, and the main factors influencing cascading faults were identified: the importance of the transmission line and operating status of the new energy power system. Based on these factors, a prediction index for cascading faults was established, and the accident chain was searched using this index. Then, the FP-growth algorithm was used to analyze the lines in the fault chain concentration, and based on the analysis results, the correlation relationship suitable for the cascading failure lines in the new energy power system was determined. Finally, a simulation was conducted on an IEEE 10 machine 39 node system containing new energy wind turbines, and the results verified the effectiveness of the proposed indicators and strategies

On correlation between canopy vegetation and growth indexes of maize varieties with different nitrogen efficiencies

Studying the canopy spectral reflection characteristics of different N-efficient maize varieties and analyzing the relationship between their growth indicators and spectral vegetation indices can help the breeding and application of N-efficient maize varieties. To achieve the optimal management of N fertilizer resources, developing N-efficient maize varieties is necessary. In this research, maize varieties, i.e., the low-N-efficient (Zhengdan 958, ZD958), the high-N efficient (Xianyu 335, XY335), the double-high varieties (Qiule 368, QL368), and the double inefficient-type varieties (Yudan 606 YD606), were used as materials. Results indicate that nitrogen fertilization significantly increased the vegetation indices NDVI, GNDVI, GOSAVI, and RVI of maize varieties with different nitrogen efficiencies. These findings were consistent with the performance of yield, dry matter mass, and leaf nitrogen content and were also found highest under both medium and high nitrogen conditions in the double-high variety QL368. The correlations of dry matter quality, leaf nitrogen content, yield, and vegetation indices (NDVI, GNDVI, RVI, and GOSAVI) at the filling stage of different N-efficient maize varieties were all highly significant and positive. In this relationship, the best effect was found at the filling stages, with correlation coefficients reaching 0.772–0.942, 0.774–0.970, 0754–0.960, and 0.800–0.960. The results showed that the yield, dry matter weight, and leaf nitrogen content of maize varieties with different nitrogen efficiencies increased first and then stabilized with the increase in the nitrogen application level in different periods, and the highest nitrogen application level of maize yield should be between 270 and 360 kg/hm2. At the filling stage, canopy vegetation index of maize varieties with different nitrogen efficiencies was positively correlated with yield, dry matter weight, and leaf nitrogen content, especially GNDVI and GOSAVI on the leaf nitrogen content. It can be used as a means to predict its growth index

Seizing the window of opportunity to mitigate the impact of climate change on the health of Chinese residents

The health threats posed by climate change in China are increasing rapidly. Each province faces different health risks. Without a timely and adequate response, climate change will impact lives and livelihoods at an accelerated rate and even prevent the achievement of the Healthy and Beautiful China initiatives. The 2021 China Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change is the first annual update of China’s Report of the Lancet Countdown. It comprehensively assesses the impact of climate change on the health of Chinese households and the measures China has taken. Invited by the Lancet committee, Tsinghua University led the writing of the report and cooperated with 25 relevant institutions in and outside of China. The report includes 25 indicators within five major areas (climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement) and a policy brief. This 2021 China policy brief contains the most urgent and relevant indicators focusing on provincial data: The increasing health risks of climate change in China; mixed progress in responding to climate change. In 2020, the heatwave exposures per person in China increased by 4.51 d compared with the 1986–2005 average, resulting in an estimated 92% increase in heatwave-related deaths. The resulting economic cost of the estimated 14500 heatwave-related deaths in 2020 is US$176 million. Increased temperatures also caused a potential 31.5 billion h in lost work time in 2020, which is equivalent to 1.3% of the work hours of the total national workforce, with resulting economic losses estimated at 1.4% of China’s annual gross domestic product. For adaptation efforts, there has been steady progress in local adaptation planning and assessment in 2020, urban green space growth in 2020, and health emergency management in 2019. 12 of 30 provinces reported that they have completed, or were developing, provincial health adaptation plans. Urban green space, which is an important heat adaptation measure, has increased in 18 of 31 provinces in the past decade, and the capacity of China’s health emergency management increased in almost all provinces from 2018 to 2019. As a result of China’s persistent efforts to clean its energy structure and control air pollution, the premature deaths due to exposure to ambient particulate matter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) and the resulting costs continue to decline. However, 98% of China’s cities still have annual average PM2.5 concentrations that are more than the WHO guideline standard of 10 μg/m3. It provides policymakers and the public with up-to-date information on China’s response to climate change and improvements in health outcomes and makes the following policy recommendations. (1) Promote systematic thinking in the related departments and strengthen multi-departmental cooperation. Sectors related to climate and development in China should incorporate health perspectives into their policymaking and actions, demonstrating WHO’s and President Xi Jinping’s so-called health-in-all-policies principle. (2) Include clear goals and timelines for climate-related health impact assessments and health adaptation plans at both the national and the regional levels in the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for 2035. (3) Strengthen China’s climate mitigation actions and ensure that health is included in China’s pathway to carbon neutrality. By promoting investments in zero-carbon technologies and reducing fossil fuel subsidies, the current rebounding trend in carbon emissions will be reversed and lead to a healthy, low-carbon future. (4) Increase awareness of the linkages between climate change and health at all levels. Health professionals, the academic community, and traditional and new media should raise the awareness of the public and policymakers on the important linkages between climate change and health.</p

Mesoscopic Kinetic Approach of Nonequilibrium Effects for Shock Waves

A shock wave is a flow phenomenon that needs to be considered in the development of high-speed aircraft and engines. The traditional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method describes it from the perspective of macroscopic variables, such as the Mach number, pressure, density, and temperature. The thickness of the shock wave is close to the level of the molecular free path, and molecular motion has a strong influence on the shock wave. According to the analysis of the Chapman-Enskog approach, the nonequilibrium effect is the source term that causes the fluid system to deviate from the equilibrium state. The nonequilibrium effect can be used to obtain a description of the physical characteristics of shock waves that are different from the macroscopic variables. The basic idea of the nonequilibrium effect approach is to obtain the nonequilibrium moment of the molecular velocity distribution function by solving the Boltzmann–Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook (Boltzmann BGK) equations or multiple relaxation times Boltzmann (MRT-Boltzmann) equations and to explore the nonequilibrium effect near the shock wave from the molecular motion level. This article introduces the theory and understanding of the nonequilibrium effect approach and reviews the research progress of nonequilibrium behavior in shock-related flow phenomena. The role of nonequilibrium moments played on the macroscopic governing equations of fluids is discussed, the physical meaning of nonequilibrium moments is given from the perspective of molecular motion, and the relationship between nonequilibrium moments and equilibrium moments is analyzed. Studies on the nonequilibrium effects of shock problems, such as the Riemann problem, shock reflection, shock wave/boundary layer interaction, and detonation wave, are introduced. It reveals the nonequilibrium behavior of the shock wave from the mesoscopic level, which is different from the traditional macro perspective and shows the application potential of the mesoscopic kinetic approach of the nonequilibrium effect in the shock problem

Expression and characterization of a soluble VEGF receptor 2 protein

Objective: To clone and express a truncated, soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (sVEGFR2) possessing the combined-functional domains 1-3 and 5 in eukaryotic cells and to test the inhibitory effects of full length VEGFR2 in vivo. Results: pCMV6-trunctated-rVegfr2 (6100 bp) was successfully cloned. The transfection experiments showed that either pCMV6-truncated-rat-Vegfr2 (pCMV6-truncated-rVegfr2) or pCMV6-rVegfr2 inhibited the expression of intracellular green fluorescent protein, which is usually used as an exogenous transfected reporter gene to determine the transfected efficiency. An analysis of the transfected cells revealed that the amount of full-length VEGFR2 protein in the pCMV6-truncated-rVegfr2 transfected cells was 20% lower than that in the negative control (non-transfected HEK 293 cells). The differences in test results between the transfected and negative control groups were greatest from 24-30 h after transfection; this period was therefore chosen as optimal for collecting culture supernatants. This analysis was highly sensitive for detecting the amount of sVEGFR2 protein expressed and secreted by the cells, and the sVEGFR2 protein content was found to increase by approximately 26% in the transfected cells compared to that in the negative control cells (68.2% ± 1.7% vs. 41.9% ± 2.9%, P = 0.000) and by 18% compared to the negative control cells (68.2% ± 1.7% vs. 50.0% ± 0.5%, P = 0.003). Propidium iodide and Hoechst staining indicated no significant change in the number of HEK293 cells undergoing apoptosis 6 days after pCMV6-trucated-Vegfr2 transfection, compared to the negative control. Soluble VEGFR2 produced by pCMV6-truncated-rVegfr2 inhibited full-length VEGFR2 protein expression in the cell membrane. Conclusions: This study employed a eukaryotic system to express sVEGFR2. The use of transient transfection technology greatly improved transfect efficiency. Recombinant sVEGFR2 inhibited the effect of endogenous full-length VEGFR2 but was not cytotoxic

Diabetic retinopathy: reversibility of epigenetic modifications and new therapeutic targets

Abstract In recent years, considerable progress has been made in the molecular mechanisms of epigenetics in disease development and progression, the reversible characteristics of epigenetic modification provide new insights for the treatment of such diseases. The pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) has not yet been fully understood, treatment of refractory and recurrent diabetic macular edema remains a big change in clinical practice. This review emphasizes that reversibility of epigenetic modification could provide a new strategy for the prevention and treatment of diseases

State-of-Charge Estimation of Lithium-Ion Battery Based on Convolutional Neural Network Combined with Unscented Kalman Filter

Estimation of the state-of-charge (SOC) of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is fundamental to assure the normal operation of both the battery and battery-powered equipment. This paper derives a new SOC estimation method (CNN-UKF) that combines a convolutional neural network (CNN) and an unscented Kalman filter (UKF). The measured voltage, current and temperature of the LIB are the input of the CNN. The output of the hidden layer feeds the linear layer, whose output corresponds to an initial network-based SOC estimation. The output of the CNN is then used as the input of a UKF, which, using self-correction, yields high-precision SOC estimation results. This method does not require tuning of network hyperparameters, reducing the dependence of the network on hyperparameter adjustment and improving the efficiency of the network. The experimental results show that this method has higher accuracy and robustness compared to SOC estimation methods based on CNN and other advanced methods found in the literature