Finished Genome Sequence of Collimonas arenae Cal35.

We announce the finished genome sequence of soil forest isolate Collimonas arenae Cal35, which comprises a 5.6-Mbp chromosome and 41-kb plasmid. The Cal35 genome is the second one published for the bacterial genus Collimonas and represents the first opportunity for high-resolution comparison of genome content and synteny among collimonads

Do Corporate Governance Factors Matter for Financial Distress Prediction of Firms? Evidence from Taiwan.

A large number of researchers devote themselves to the study of financial distress predictive models over the past decades. The first analysis method, which is Univariate approach, towards predicting model was introduced by Beaver (1966) and Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) was proposed by Altman (1986) thereafter. Due to the fact that these two approaches can not perform precisely to predict a financial distress, Martin (1977) introduces the Logit model applied in the predictive models and Ohlson (1980) even expands selected samples to improve the accuracy rate of prediction. Although prediction models of financial distress have been improved via various applied statistic models, more information should be included to improve the quality of predictive models. Hence, Daily and Dalton (1994a) conduct a study to explore the relationship between corporate governance mechanism and probabilities that companies might experience financial crisis by means of considering both financial and governance variables since corporate governance has been proved that it has a substantial impact on the performance of firms. To investigate whether corporate governance is related to the probability of financial distress, ten governance variables are adopted in this study and the Binary Logit model is employed to establish a financial distress predictive model. The results indicate that seven variables, which are the percentage of shares held by institutional shareholders, the extent of concentration, cash flow rights, the ratio of cash flow to control rights, the ratio of board seats held by outside directors and supervisors, management participation and stock pledge ratio, have a significant impact on the financial distress predictive probability. The classification accuracy rate is also raised by means of adopting governance variables besides financial variables in the predictive models and the predictive model perform differently in the electronic and non-electronic industry. It is also discovered that the qualities of corporate governance in Taiwan still need to be improved. In sum, this study concludes that weak corporate governance leads to higher probability of financial distress

Do Corporate Governance Factors Matter for Financial Distress Prediction of Firms? Evidence from Tiawan.

A large number of researchers devote themselves to the study of financial distress predictive models over the past decades. The first analysis method, which is Univariate approach, towards predicting model was introduced by Beaver (1966) and Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) was proposed by Altman (1986) thereafter. Due to the fact that these two approaches can not perform precisely to predict a financial distress, Martin (1977) introduces the Logit model applied in the predictive models and Ohlson (1980) even expands selected samples to improve the accuracy rate of prediction. Although prediction models of financial distress have been improved via various applied statistic models, more information should be included to improve the quality of predictive models. Hence, Daily and Dalton (1994a) conduct a study to explore the relationship between corporate governance mechanism and probabilities that companies might experience financial crisis by means of considering both financial and governance variables since corporate governance has been proved that it has a substantial impact on the performance of firms. To investigate whether corporate governance is related to the probability of financial distress, ten governance variables are adopted in this study and the Binary Logit model is employed to establish a financial distress predictive model. The results indicate that seven variables, which are the percentage of shares held by institutional shareholders, the extent of concentration, cash flow rights, the ratio of cash flow to control rights, the ratio of board seats held by outside directors and supervisors, management participation and stock pledge ratio, have a significant impact on the financial distress predictive probability. The classification accuracy rate is also raised by means of adopting governance variables besides financial variables in the predictive models and the predictive model perform differently in the electronic and non-electronic industry. It is also discovered that the qualities of corporate governance in Taiwan still need to be improved. In sum, this study concludes that weak corporate governance leads to higher probability of financial distress

Diagnostic Accuracy of CEUS LI-RADS for the Characterization of Liver Nodules 20 mm or Smaller in Patients at Risk for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: American College of Radiology contrast agent–enhanced US Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (CEUS LI-RADS) was developed to improve the accuracy of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) diagnosis at contrast agent2enhanced US. However, to the knowledge of the authors, the diagnostic accuracy of the system in characterization of liver nodules 20 mm or smaller has not been fully evaluated. Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CEUS LI-RADS in diagnosing HCC in liver nodules 20 mm or smaller in patients at risk for HCC. Materials and Methods: Between January 2015 and February 2018, consecutive patients at risk for HCC presenting with untreated liver nodules 20 mm or less were enrolled in this retrospective double-reader study. Each nodule was categorized according to the CEUS LI-RADS and World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB)–European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) criteria. Diagnostic performance of CEUS LI-RADS and WFUMB-EFSUMB characterization was evaluated by using tissue histologic analysis, multiphase contrast-enhanced CT and MRI, and imaging follow-up as reference standard and compared by using McNemar test. Results: The study included 175 nodules (mean diameter, 16.1 mm 6 3.4) in 172 patients (mean age, 51.8 years 6 10.6; 136 men). The sensitivity of CEUS LR-5 versus WFUMB-EFSUMB criteria in diagnosing HCC was 73.3% (95% confidence inter-val [CI]: 63.8%, 81.5%) versus 88.6% (95% CI: 80.9%, 94%), respectively (P, .001). The specificity of CEUS LR-5 versus WFUMB-EFSUMB criteria was 97.1% (95% CI: 90.1%, 99.7%) versus 87.1% (95% CI: 77%, 94%), respectively (P = .02). No malignant lesions were found in CEUS LR-1 and LR-2 categories. Only two nodules (of 41; 5%, both HCC) were malignant in CEUS LR-3 category. The incidences of HCC in CEUS LR-4, LR-5, and LR-M were 48% (11 of 23), 98% (77 of 79), and 75% (15 of 20), respectively. Two of 175 (1.1%) histologic analysis2confirmed intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas were categorized as CEUS LR-M by CEUS LI-RADS and misdiagnosed as HCC by WFUMB-EFSUMB criteria. Conclusion: The contrast-enhanced US Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (CEUS LI-RADS) algorithm was an effective tool for characterization of small (≤20 mm) liver nodules in patients at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Compared with World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology2European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology criteria, CEUS LR-5 demonstrated higher specificity for diagnosing small HCCs with lower sensitivity

An Empirical Study on Determinants of Sustainable Development of Coastal Eco-tourism

With the popularity of eco-tourism, the sustainability of its development has become a focus problem in both theoretical and practical fields. Based on existed research, the study summarize the determinants of sustainable development of coastal eco-tourism as four aspects, that are resource environment, economic environment, social environment and management control. And we tested the path and degree of various factors’ influence through the empirical method. Finally, we made suggestions on the development of coastal ecotourism for related departments and enterprises. Keywords: coastal eco-tourism; sustainable development; determinant factorsRésumé: Avec la popularité de l'écotourisme, la durabilité de son développement est devenu un problème clé dans les domaines à la fois théorique et pratique. Basée sur des recherches existantes, l'étude conclut qu'il y a quatre facteurs déterminants du développement durable de l'éco-tourisme côtier, qui sont l'environnement des ressources, l'environnement économique, l'environnement social et le contrôle de gestion. Et nous avons testé la façon et le degré d'influence de divers facteurs à travers la méthode empirique. Enfin, nous avons fait des suggestions sur le développement de l'écotourisme côtier pour les départements et les entreprises concernés.Mots-clés: éco-tourisme côtier; développement durable; facteurs determinant

Scutellarin regulates microglia-mediated TNC1 astrocytic reaction and astrogliosis in cerebral ischemia in the adult rats

Additional file 1: (A). Scutellarin at 0.54 mM did not elicit a noticeable reaction of GFAP/iNOS in TNC1. (B). iNOS mRNA expression in TNC1 astrocytes remained relatively unchanged at all time-points following treatment with BM, BM + L and CM; however, when incubated with CM + L for various time points, TNC1 showed a remarkable increase in iNOS peaking at 24 h. (C). Confocal images showing iNOS (C1-3) expression in TNC1 astrocytes incubated with different medium for 24 h. Compared with cells incubated in BM (C1) and BM + L (C2), TNC1 astrocytes incubated with CM + L (C3) were hypertrophic and showed a marked increase in iNOS immunofluorescence. Scale bars: 20 μm. DAPI—blue

X-ray performance of a customized large-format scientifc CMOS detector

In recent years, the performance of Scientifc Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (sCMOS) sensors has been improved signifcantly. Compared with CCD sensors, sCMOS sensors have various advantages, making them potentially better devices for optical and X-ray detection, especially in time-domain astronomy. After a series of tests of sCMOS sensors, we proposed a new dedicated high-speed, large-format X-ray detector in 2016 cooperating with Gpixel Inc. This new sCMOS sensor has a physical size of 6 cm by 6 cm, with an array of 4096 by 4096 pixels and a pixel size of 15 um. The frame rate is 20.1 fps under current condition and can be boosted to a maximum value around 100 fps. The epitaxial thickness is increased to 10 um compared to the previous sCMOS product. We show the results of its frst taped-out product in this work. The dark current of this sCMOS is lower than 10 e/pixel/s at 20C, and lower than 0.02 e/pixel/s at -30C. The Fixed Pattern Noise (FPN) and the readout noise are lower than 5 e in high-gain situation and show a small increase at low temperature. The energy resolution reaches 180.1 eV (3.1%) at 5.90 keV for single-pixel events and 212.3 eV (3.6%) for all split events. The continuous X-ray spectrum measurement shows that this sensor is able to response to X-ray photons from 500 eV to 37 keV. The excellent performance, as demonstrated from these test results, makes sCMOS sensor an ideal detector for X-ray imaging and spectroscopic application.Comment: 20 pages. published in PAS

(S)-(+)-4-(Oxiran-2-ylmeth­oxy)-9H-carbazole

In the title compound, C15H13NO2, all atoms of the carbazole group are coplanar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.005 Å), and the dihedral angle between this plane and C—O—C plane of oxane group is 57.1 (4)°. The crystal packing is stabilized by an N—H⋯O hydrogen bond, resulting in infinite supra­molecular chains along [001]