Research progress on property and application of theaflavins

Theaflavins is a group of very important material from black tea with functions as antioxidant, cancer suppressor and inhibitor of pathogenic microorgnisms. A discription is given on the property, chemical structure and application of theaflavin in this paper. The present research situation of theaflavins both in China and abroad is also reviewed.Keywords: Theaflavins, property, applicatio

5,7-Dimethoxycoumarin inhibits neuronal apoptosis by targeting caspase-3 expression in rats with acute cerebral infarction

Purpose: To investigate the effect of 5,7-dimethoxycoumarin on inhibition of neuronal apoptosis in a rat model of acute cerebral infarction.Methods: Occlusion of middle cerebral artery was used for the preparation of a rat model of cerebral infarction. The rats in the treatment group were given 15 mg/kg dose of 5,7-dimethoxycoumarin daily for 30 days intraperitoneally. However, those in the normal control and model groups received the same volume of normal saline. The rats were sacrificed after anaesthetization to extract brain samples.Results: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis showed a significant (p < 0.02) decrease in the level of caspase-3 mRNA by 5,7-dimethoxycoumarin compared to the model group. Western blot assay data revealed significant decrease in caspase-3 protein expression by 5,7- dimethoxycoumarin. The higher activity of caspase-3 in acute cerebral infarction rats was reduced significantly (p < 0.005) following treatment with 15 mg/kg dose of 5,7-dimethoxycoumarin for 30 days. Treatment of the acute cerebral infarction rats with 15 mg/kg dose of 5,7-dimethoxycoumarin daily for 30 days led to a greater decrease in apoptotic index than those of rats with model group (p < 0.005). 5,7-Dimethoxycoumarin treatment daily for 30 days at a dose of 15 mg/kg also caused a significant (p < 0.005) decrease in neurological impairment score compared to the model animal group.Conclusion: 5,7-Dimethoxycoumarin successfully inhibits neuronal apoptosis via inhibition of the expression of caspase-3 in brain tissues and thus may be useful for cerebral infarction therapy.Keywords: Cerebral infarction, 5,7-Dimethoxycoumarin, Neurological impairment, Apoptosis, Caspase-

RETRACTED: Asymptotic constancy for a differential equation with multiple state-dependent delays

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).This article has been retracted at the request of the Journal Editor.The article is very similar to the following papers: (1)'Asymptotic behavior of solutions to a system of differential equations with state-dependent delays', by Lijuan Wang, published in J. Comput. Appl. Math., 228 (2009) 226–230. (2) 'Asymptotic behavior of solutions to a differential equation with state-dependent delay' by Lequn Peng, published in Comput. Math. Appl., 57 (2009) 1511–1514.All these articles were written using the same Latex file, treating very similar problems in exactly the same way. The authors of the papers knew about the similarity between the papers, but did not make any reference to each other, and therefore violated the Ethical Rules of Publishing, at the time the papers were submitted for publication. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter and apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process

On the identity of the type species of the genus Telema (Araneae, Telemidae)

Telema tenella Simon, 1882, the type species of genus Telema, is the only species of family Telemidae reported from Europe and all other 39 congeners occur far from it. However, it has never been properly described. In this paper T. tenella is redescribed and illustrated

Wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated poly-dl-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles for enhanced uptake and retention of paclitaxel by colon cancer cells

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

The impact of environmental, social, and governance, board diversity and firm size on the sustainable development goals of registered firm in China

Recently, sustainability practices have become a global requirement to attain the high-performance goals of the organizations and capture the focus of regulators and recent researchers. Therefore, the present article aim is to investigate the board diversity (percentage of women directors, percentage of nonexecutive directors and board member nationality) and firm size (logarithm of total assets) on the sustainability practices (expenditures on environmental sustainability) of the top ten registered firms in China. The researchers have adopted the secondary source of data collection and extracted the data from the financial statements of the adopted firms from 2005 to 2019. Additionally, the researchers used a fixed-effect model (FEM) and a robust standard error model to investigate the relationship between the two concepts. There were positive correlations between firm size (logarithmic total assets) and board diversity (percentage of women directors, percentage of non-executive directors, and board member nationality) and China’s top ten registered firms’ sustainability practises (expenditures on environmental sustainability). This research provides help to the policymakers while formulating strategies and policies related to the adoption of sustainability practices

The Impact of High-Speed Railway on Urban Housing Prices in China : A Network Accessibility Perspective

This research is financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (71973019, 71673033, 71973148), the Social Science Foundation of China (18ZDA005, 19ZDA082), Chongqing Social Science Planning Project (2017YBJJ024), and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (NO.2020CDJSK02PT26, NO.2019CDSKXYJG0037). The authors are solely responsible for any error or omission herein.Peer reviewedPostprin

What determine firms’ capital structure in China?

Purpose – This paper investigates the determinants of capital structure using a cross-section sample of 1481 non-financial firms listed on the Chinese stock exchanges in 2011. Design/methodology/approach – Employing four leverage measures (total leverage and long-term leverage in terms of both book value and market value, respectively), this study examines the effects of factors with proven influences on capital structure in literature, along with industry effect and ownership effect. Findings – We find that large firms favour debt financing while profitable firms rely more on internal capital accumulation. Intangibility and business risk increase the level of debt financing but tax has little impact on capital structure. We also observe strong industrial effect and ownership effect. Real estate firms borrow considerably more and firms from utility and manufacturing industries use more long-term debt despite compared with commercial firms. On the other hand, firms with state ownership tend to borrow more, while firms with foreign ownership choose more equity financing. Research limitations – The study uses cross-section data to avoid any potential time effects, which allows us to focus on our main research question – to identify the determinants of capital structure for Chinese firms. Future research may gain more insights using panel data and considering other factors such as crisis and financial reforms. Practical implications – These results may provide important implications to investors in making investment decision and to firms in making financing decisions. Originality/value – this paper uses by far the largest and latest cross-section sample from the Chinese stock markets, offering a more complete picture of the financing behaviours in the Chinese firms, with known characters and the impact of ownerships