Firm-Level Political Risk and the Cash Flow Sensitivity of Cash

We examine the impact of firm-level political risk on the cash flow sensitivity of cash. Using a large sample of U.S. firms from 2003 to 2018, we find that the cash flow sensitivity of cash decreases in political uncertainty and the impact of political risk is asymmetric to cash flow types (positive versus negative). Intensified political uncertainty induces positive/negative cash flow firms to reduce savings out of cash flows to finance investment opportunities/terminate unprofitable projects to retrieve cash. The results are robust to various model specifications, alternative variable definitions, and the control for non-political risks. In addition, we show that a firm’s financial status moderates the relation between the two, with financially constrained positive/negative cash flow firms saving more out of cash flows/decreasing existing savings as firm-level political risk increases. This article was published Open Access through the CCU Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund. The article was first published in The Quarterly Journal of Finance: https://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S201013922450004

The Impact of More Able Managers on Corporate Trade Credit

We investigate how high-ability managers affect trade credit policies of U.S. publicly traded companies from 2003 to 2016. Consistent with the prediction of an “Imbalance of power” in the supply chain, we find that firms with more able managers implement more favorable trade credit policies with both upstream and downstream business partners (i.e., fewer trade credit days in receivables, more trade credit days in payables, and lower net trade credit days), indicating that managerial ability is an important determinant of corporate trade credit. Our cross-sectional analyses provide further support for the bargaining power view of trade credit. The results are robust to various tests mitigating the endogeneity concerns. This study sheds light on the importance of more able managers in working capital and supply chain management. This article was published Open Access through the CCU Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund. The article was first published in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2023.10085

Evaluation of urban resilience level and analysis of obstacle factors: A case study of Hunan Province, China

Resilient city is an ideal goal and model of urban development proposed in response to today’s complex and dynamic environmental changes. In this study, a resilient city evaluation framework of “social resilience-economic resilience-urban infrastructure and service-urban governance” was built upon the multi-dimensionality of the urban system; the entropy weight method was used to measure the level of urban resilience in Hunan Province while an obstacle degree model was used to identify any obstacle factor restricting to the development of resilience. The results show that the level of urban resilience in Hunan Province has grown slowly over the past 10 years, and there is an obvious regional difference in it. There are more and more highly resilient cities, but medium/low-resilience cities still dominate the province, forming a spatial process of evolution from “medium/high-level dispersion” to “medium/high-level aggregation” in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan Urban Agglomeration. The level of urban resilience is predominantly hindered by the social and economic systems; at the index layer, most obstacle factors are moving from the economic system to the social-economic-urban infrastructure and service system

Optimization of the Enzyme-assisted Extraction and Tyrosinase Inhibition of the Flavonoids from Thinned Fruits of Guanxi Pummelo (Citrus grandis (L.) Osbeck)

The aim of this paper was to explore the process of β-glucosidase-assisted extraction of flavonoids from thinned fruits of Guanxi pummelo and the inhibitory effect of the extracted flavonoids on tyrosinase. In this paper, the extraction amount of total flavonoids was used as the index, and the β-glucosidase activity, enzymatic hydrolysis pH, temperature and time were optimized by single factor and response surface experiments, and the inhibitory effect of total flavonoids extract on tyrosinase was studied. The results showed that the optimal conditions for the extraction of flavonoids from thinned fruits of Guanxi pummelo were as follows: β-Glucosidase enzyme activity 0.0128 U/mL, enzymolysis pH4.4, temperature 35 ℃, time 4.8 h. Under these conditions, the extraction amount of total flavonoids was 34.0 mg/g, the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the flavonoids extract on tyrosinase was 0.31 mg/mL. The results of this study showed that the enzymatic process could significantly improve the extraction amount of flavonoids from thinned fruits of Guanxi pummelo, and the flavonoids from thinned fruits of Guanxi pummelo had strong tyrosinase inhibition. The results of this study provided a reference for the extraction and application of flavonoids from thinned fruits of Guanxi pummelo, which was conducive to promoting the high-value utilization of Guanxi pummelo

The Molecular Mechanism Of Alpha-Synuclein Dependent Regulation Of Protein Phosphatase 2A Activity

Background/Aims: Alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) is a neuronal protein that is highly implicated in Parkinson\u27s disease (PD), and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is an important serine/threonine phosphatase that is associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as PD. α-Syn can directly upregulate PP2A activity, but the underling mechanism remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the molecular mechanism of α-Syn regulating PP2A activity. Methods: α-Syn and its truncations were expressed in E.coli, and purified by affinity chromatography. PP2A Cα and its mutants were expressed in recombinant baculovirus, and purified by affinity chromatography combined with gel filtration chromatography. The interaction between α-Syn and PP2A Cα was detected by GST pull-down assay. PP2A activity was investigated by the colorimetric assay. Results: The hydrophobic non-amyloid component (NAC) domain of α-Syn interacted with PP2A Cα and upregulated its activity. α-Syn aggregates reduced its ability to upregulate PP2A activity, since the hydrophobic domain of α-Syn was blocked during aggregation. Furthermore, in the hydrophobic center of PP2A Cα, the residue of I123 was responsible for PP2A to interact with α-Syn, and its hydrophilic mutation blocked its interaction with α-Syn as well as its activity upregulation by α-Syn. Conclusions: α-Syn bound to PP2A Cα by the hydrophobic interaction and upregulated its activity. Blocking the hydrophobic domain of α-Syn or hydrophilic mutation on the residue I123 in PP2A Cα all reduced PP2A activity upregulation by α-Syn. Overall, we explored the mechanism of α-Syn regulating PP2A activity, which might offer much insight into the basis underlying PD pathogenesis

Liposomal mitoxantrone-based multidrug chemotherapy as a bridge to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) after immunotherapy failure: a case report

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) represents a malignancy involving early-stage differentiated lymphoid cells that invade the bone marrow, blood, and extramedullary sites. First-line treatment spans 2–3 years with induction, consolidation, intensification, and long-term maintenance phases. Relapsed/refractory (R/R) ALL typically carries an adverse prognosis, and there is currently no standard of care for this disease. Here, we present a case of R/R ALL that responded effectively to liposomal mitoxantrone-based multidrug chemotherapy, resulting in a rapid complete response after 35 days of therapy. Subsequently, the patient was successfully treated with allo-HSCT. At 5 months follow-up, the patient was alive and leukemia-free. Additionally, no severe adverse events were recorded during liposomal mitoxantrone treatment or hospitalization for allo-HSCT. Given the encouraging efficacy and the manageable adverse events observed in our case, liposomal mitoxantrone-based multidrug chemotherapy should be further explored as a bridge to allo-HSCT in patients with R/R ALL

Iodine speciation in aerosol particle samples collected over the sea between offshore China and the Arctic Ocean

Iodine species collected by an onboard PM10 particle sampling system during the Second Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (July–September 2003) were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and ion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Iodine (I−) was detected in all samples over the Arctic Ocean, whereas additional iodine species including insoluble iodine, soluble organic iodine plus I− were detected over the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The results suggest that the main form of iodine is different within the Arctic Ocean than it is outside. Enrichment factor values showed moderate enrichment of iodine in the northwestern Pacific, whereas a high enrichment factor was found in polar regions, implying sources other than sea salt. A potential explanation was ascribed to the role of sea ice melt in the Arctic and rapid growth of algae in seawater, which enhances the production of iodocarbon and air sea exchange. This was confirmed by the larger values of total iodine in 2008 than in 2003, with greater sea ice melt in the former year. In comparison with earlier reports, ratios of iodate to iodide (IO3−/I−) were much smaller than 1.0. These ratios were also different from modeling results, implying more complicated cycles of atmospheric iodine than are presently understood

Association of psychological distress, smoking and genetic risk with the incidence of lung cancer: a large prospective population-based cohort study

BackgroundEmerging evidence suggests a potential link between psychological distress (anxiety and depression) and lung cancer risk, however, it is unclear whether other factors such as tobacco smoking and genetic susceptibility modify the association.MethodsWe included 405,892 UK Biobank participants free of cancer at baseline. Psychological distress was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). A polygenic risk score (PRS) was calculated using 18 lung cancer-associated genetic loci. Multivariable Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsDuring a median follow-up of 7.13 years, 1754 lung cancer cases were documented. The higher score of psychological distress was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer (HRper 1-SD= 1.07, 95% CI: 1.02-1.11) after adjustment for smoking and other confounders. Mediation analysis revealed that 16.8% (95% CI: 13.0%-20.6%) of the distress-lung cancer association was mediated by smoking. Compared with never smokers with no distress, participants with heavy smoking and high distress had the highest risk of lung cancer (HR=18.57, 95% CI: 14.51-23.76). Both multiplicative and additive interactions were observed between smoking and psychological distress in lung cancer. Furthermore, the greatest relative increase in risk was observed among those with high genetic risk and high distress (HR=1.87, 95%CI: 1.50-2.33), and there was a significant additive interaction between the PRS and psychological distress.ConclusionOur results indicate that psychological distress was associated with an elevated risk of incident lung cancer, and such relation was modified by tobacco smoking and genetic susceptibility

Diagnostic significance of noncoding RNAs in kawasaki disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectiveKawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis disease, and early effective intervention would reduce the occurrence of coronary artery lesions (CALs). Recently, many scholars have been committed to studying the relationship between noncoding RNAs and KD. This systematic review aimed to analyze the diagnostic value of noncoding RNAs(ncRNAs) in distinguishing different KD status.MethodsWe searched for the literature about diagnostic values of ncRNAs in KD in CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, China Biomedical Literature Database as well as PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library up to April 15, 2022. All included studies were further analyzed using STATA 12.0, Meta-disc 1.4 and RevMan 5.4 software.ResultsA total of six studies investigating the diagnostic performance of ncRNAs in differentiating KD-CAL (n = 101) from KD-NCAL patients (n = 123) were included in this this meta-analysis. The calculated area under the curve(AUC) was 0.83 (0.80–0.86). Four studies on the diagnostic performance of ncRNAs in differentiating acute KD patients (n = 139) from convalescent KD patients (n = 109) were included. The calculated AUC was 0.87 (0.84–0.90). Four studies focused on the diagnostic performance of ncRNAs combined with other laboratory indexes in KD by assessing 137 KD patients and 152 febrile controls. The calculated AUC was 0.90 (0.87–0.92). Four studies assessed the diagnostic performance of ncRNAs in differentiating intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)-resistant KD patients from IVIG-responsive KD patients. The calculated AUC was 0.9135 ± 0.0307. These results indicated that ncRNAs have a good diagnostic efficacy in KD.ConclusionsThis meta-analysis showed that ncRNAs have potential as a biomarker for distinguishing different KD status. However, since limited studies were included in this meta-analysis, larger and well-designed diagnostic studies should be conducted to validate these results.Systematic Review RegistrationINPLASY.COM, identifier: doi: 10.37766/inplasy2022.10.0035