Political risk and firm exit: evidence from the US–China Trade War

When do political risks lead to divestment from a profitable market? Existing theories argue both that foreign investors may be sensitive to political tensions, but that they may only be sensitive to violent conflict. Using the crucial case of the US–China Trade War, we outline how political risks increased rates of exit among foreign firms while firm entrenchment mitigated these risks. Using a new dataset on all foreign-invested enterprises registered in China between 2017 and 2019, we implement triple interaction models to isolate the impact of increased political risks, investor national origin, and entrenchment on firm exit. Our findings show that heightened political risks during the trade war did increase firm exits by 34%–3% points over the pre-conflict baseline. Tariffs, the targeted effect of the trade war, increase US firm exits by 1% point. Firm exit is determined by the balance of heightened political risks against the availability of firm-level resources to mitigate these risks. These findings reconcile the conflicting expectations of the ‘business as usual’ and ‘follow the flag’ literatures about how firms respond to political risk, highlighting the tremendous collateral damage tariffs can cause in an age of global value chains

Research on the spectral reconstruction of a low-dimensional filter array micro-spectrometer based on a truncated singular value decomposition-convex optimization algorithm

Currently, the engineering of miniature spectrometers mainly faces three problems: the mismatch between the number of filters at the front end of the detector and the spectral reconstruction accuracy; the lack of a stable spectral reconstruction algorithm; and the lack of a spectral reconstruction evaluation method suitable for engineering. Therefore, based on 20 sets of filters, this paper classifies and optimizes the filter array by the K-means algorithm and particle swarm algorithm, and obtains the optimal filter combination under different matrix dimensions. Then, the truncated singular value decomposition-convex optimization algorithm is used for high-precision spectral reconstruction, and the detailed spectral reconstruction process of two typical target spectra is described. In terms of spectral evaluation, due to the strong randomness of the target detected during the working process of the spectrometer, the standard value of the target spectrum cannot be obtained. Therefore, for the first time, we adopt the method of joint cross-validation of multiple sets of data for spectral evaluation. The results show that when the random error of positive or negative 2 code values is applied multiple times for reconstruction, the spectral angle cosine value between the reconstructed curves becomes more than 0.995, which proves that the spectral reconstruction under this algorithm has high stability. At the same time, the spectral angle cosine value of the spectral reconstruction curve and the standard curve can reach above 0.99, meaning that it realizes a high-precision spectral reconstruction effect. A high-precision spectral reconstruction algorithm based on truncated singular value-convex optimization, which is suitable for engineering applications, is established in this paper, providing important scientific research value for the engineering application of micro-spectrometers.Comment: 22pages 11figure

How Does Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy Affect Septic Acute Kidney Injury?

Sepsis is the leading cause of acute kidney injury (AKI) in the intensive care unit. As the most common treatment of septic AKI, it is believed that continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) can not only maintain the water balance and excrete the metabolic products but also regulate the inflammation and promote kidney recovery. CRRT can remove the inflammatory cytokines to regulate the metabolic adaption in kidney and restore the kidney recovery to protect the kidney in septic AKI. Second, CRRT can provide extra energy supply in septic AKI to improve the kidney energy balance in septic AKI. Third, the anticoagulant used in CRRT also regulates the inflammation in septic AKI. CRRT is not only a treatment to deal with the water balance and metabolic products, but also a method to regulate the inflammation in septic AKI. Video Journal Club 'Cappuccino with Claudio Ronco' at https://www.karger.com/Journal/ArticleNews/223997?sponsor=52

Coexpression of Normally Incompatible Developmental Pathways in Retinoblastoma Genesis

It is widely believed that the molecular and cellular features of a tumor reflect its cell of origin and can thus provide clues about treatment targets. The retinoblastoma cell of origin has been debated for over a century. Here, we report that human and mouse retinoblastomas have molecular, cellular, and neurochemical features of multiple cell classes, principally amacrine/horizontal interneurons, retinal progenitor cells, and photoreceptors. Importantly, single-cell gene expression array analysis showed that these multiple cell type-specific developmental programs are coexpressed in individual retinoblastoma cells, which creates a progenitor/neuronal hybrid cell. Furthermore, neurotransmitter receptors, transporters, and biosynthetic enzymes are expressed in human retinoblastoma, and targeted disruption of these pathways reduces retinoblastoma growth in vivo and in vitro

Molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of outbreaks of Klebsiella pneumoniae clinical mastitis in Chinese dairy farms

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that causes serious infections in humans and animals. However, the availability of epidemiological information on clinical mastitis due to K. pneumoniae is limited. To acquire new information regarding K. pneumoniae mastitis, data were mined about K. pneumoniae strains on dairy cattle farms (farms A to H) in 7 Chinese provinces in 2021. Hypermucoviscous strains of K. pneumoniae were obtained by the string test. MICs of antimicrobial agents were determined via the broth microdilution method. Ten antimicrobial resistance genes and virulence genes were identified by PCR. The prevalence of K. pneumoniae was 35.91% (65/181), and 100% of the bacteria were sensitive to enrofloxacin. Nine antimicrobial resistance genes and virulence genes were identified and compared among farms. The hypermucoviscous phenotype was present in 94.44% of isolates from farm B, which may be a function of the rmpA virulence gene. Based on these data, the multidrug-resistant strains SD-14 and HB-21 were chosen and sequenced. Genotypes were assayed for K. pneumoniae isolates from different countries and different hosts using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Ninety-four sequence types (STs) were found, and 6 STs present a risk for spreading in specific regions. Interestingly, ST43 was observed in bovine isolates for the first time. Our study partially reveals the current distribution characteristics of bovine K. pneumoniae in China and may provide a theoretical basis for the prevention and treatment of bovine K. pneumoniae mastitis

Managing urban development could halve nitrogen pollution in China

Halving nitrogen pollution is crucial for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, how to reduce nitrogen pollution from multiple sources remains challenging. Here we show that reactive nitrogen (Nr) pollution could be roughly halved by managed urban development in China by 2050, with NH3, NOx and N2O atmospheric emissions declining by 44%, 30% and 33%, respectively, and Nr to water bodies by 53%. While rural-urban migration increases point-source nitrogen emissions in metropolitan areas, it promotes large-scale farming, reducing rural sewage and agricultural non-point-source pollution, potentially improving national air and water quality. An investment of approximately US$61 billion in waste treatment, land consolidation, and livestock relocation yields an overall benefit of US$ 245 billion. This underscores the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of halving Nr pollution through urbanization, contributing significantly to SDG1 (No poverty), SDG2 (Zero hunger), SDG6 (Clean water), SDG12 (Responsible consumption and production), SDG14 (Climate Action), and so on