The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Innovation: Evidence from Patent Fillings and Citations in China

This paper studies how foreign direct investment (FDI) affects innovation in the host country, using matched firm-level patent data of Chinese firms. The data contain multidimensional information about patent counts and citations which, together with an identification strategy based on Lu et al. (2017), allows us to measure innovation comprehensively and to uncover the causal relationship. Our empirical analysis shows that FDI has positive intra-industry effects on the quantity and quality of innovation by Chinese firms. We show that these positive effects are driven by increases in competition, rather than by knowledge spillover from FDI which is measured by patent citations between domestic firms and foreign invested enterprises (FIEs). We further investigate the inter-industry effects of FDI and find that FDI has positive vertical effects on innovation in upstream sectors

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Innovation: Evidence from Patent Filings and Citations in China

This paper studies how foreign direct investment (FDI) affects innovation in the host country, using matched firm-level patent data of Chinese firms. The data contain multidimensional information about patent counts and citations which, together with an identification strategy based on Lu et al. (2017), allows us to measure innovation comprehensively and to uncover the causal relationship. Our empirical analysis shows that FDI has positive intra-industry effects on the quantity and quality of innovation by Chinese firms. We show that these positive effects are driven by increases in competition, rather than by knowledge spillover from FDI which is measured by patent citations between domestic firms and foreign invested enterprises (FIEs). We further investigate the inter-industry effects of FDI and find that FDI has positive vertical effects on innovation in upstream sectors

Flavor Wheel Development and Sensory Quantitative Descriptive Analysis of Chinese Brewed Soy Sauce

Based on sensory descriptors developed by a sensory evaluation panel for 48 commercial Chinese brewed soy sauce samples, a flavor wheel of Chinese brewed soy sauce with 55 descriptors in the dimensions of aroma and flavor was developed for the first time. Meanwhile, a lexicon of sensory descriptors for brewed soy sauce containing reference samples with different intensities was established, and 20 brewed soy sauce samples of different grades and from different geographical origins were subjected to sensory evaluation by quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) using this lexicon. The results showed that the characteristic flavor attributes of soy sauce were soy paste-like, salty, umami, Chinese herbal, and cooked soybean-like aromas. Through analysis of variance (ANOVA), principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA), it was found that there were significant differences in sensory properties among soy sauce of different grades and from different regions. This study can provide a methodological reference for sensory quality analysis of Chinese brewed soy sauce

Depletion of TRRAP induces p53-independent senescence in liver cancer by downregulating mitotic genes

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive subtype of liver cancer with few effective treatments and the underlying mechanisms that drive HCC pathogenesis remain poorly characterized. Identifying genes and pathways essential for HCC cell growth will aid the development of new targeted therapies for HCC. Using a kinome CRISPR screen in three human HCC cell lines, we identified transformation/transcription domain-associated protein (TRRAP) as an essential gene for HCC cell proliferation. TRRAP has been implicated in oncogenic transformation, but how it functions in cancer cell proliferation is not established. Here, we show that depletion of TRRAP or its co-factor, histone acetyltransferase KAT5, inhibits HCC cell growth via induction of p53- and p21-independent senescence. Integrated cancer genomics analyses using patient data and RNA-sequencing identified mitotic genes as key TRRAP/KAT5 targets in HCC, and subsequent cell cycle analyses revealed that TRRAP- and KAT5-depleted cells are arrested at G2/M phase. Depletion of TOP2A, a mitotic gene and TRRAP/KAT5 target, was sufficient to recapitulate the senescent phenotype of TRRAP/KAT5 knockdown. CONCLUSION: Our results uncover a role for TRRAP/KAT5 in promoting HCC cell proliferation via activation of mitotic genes. Targeting the TRRAP/KAT5 complex is a potential therapeutic strategy for HCC

Associations of Amylin with Inflammatory Markers and Metabolic Syndrome in Apparently Healthy Chinese

BACKGROUND: Cellular and animal studies implicate multiple roles of amylin in regulating insulin action, glucose and lipid metabolisms. However, the role of amylin in obesity related metabolic disorders has not been thoroughly investigated in humans. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the distribution of circulating amylin and its association with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and explore if this association is influenced by obesity, inflammatory markers or insulin resistance in apparently healthy Chinese. METHODS: A population-based sample of 1,011 Chinese men and women aged 35-54 years was employed to measure plasma amylin, inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein [CRP] and interleukin-6 [IL-6]), insulin, glucose and lipid profiles. MetS was defined according to the updated National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria for Asian-Americans. RESULTS: Plasma amylin concentrations were higher in overweight/obese participants than normal-weight counterparts (P<0.001) without sex difference. Circulating amylin was positively associated with CRP, IL-6, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting glucose, insulin, amylin/insulin ratio, HOMA-IR, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, while negatively associated with HDL cholesterol (all P<0.001). After multiple adjustments, the risk of MetS was significantly higher (odds ratio 3.71; 95% confidence interval: 2.53 to 5.46) comparing the highest with the lowest amylin quartile. The association remained significant even further controlling for BMI, inflammatory markers, insulin or HOMA-IR. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that amylin is strongly associated with inflammatory markers and MetS. The amylin-MetS association is independent of established risk factors of MetS, including obesity, inflammatory markers and insulin resistance. The causal role of hyperamylinemia in the development of MetS needs to be confirmed prospectively

Energy saving potential of fragmented green spaces due to their temperature regulating ecosystem services in the summer

Urban green spaces help to moderate the urban heat island (UHI) effects, and can provide important temperature regulating ecosystem services and opportunities for savings in cooling energy. However, because explicit market values for these benefits are still lacking, they are rarely incorporated into urban planning actions. Green spaces can generate a three-dimensional (3D) cool island that may reduce the cooling energy requirements within and around urban areas, but such 3D cooling effect has not been considered in previous studies quantifying energy savings from green spaces. This study presents a new and simple approach to quantify potential energy savings due to the temperature regulating ecosystem services of small-scale fragmented green spaces using the 3D simulation of the summer-day outdoor thermal environment in Nanjing, China. Field survey data and the microclimate model ENVI-met were applied to examine the outdoor 3D thermal environmental patterns at Gulou Campus of Nanjing University under two different scenarios: “with” and “without” green spaces. Modeling results were applied to quantify potential cooling energy savings based on the effect of green spaces on the outdoor urban environment and to calculate the cumulative temperature reduction due to green spaces using a regression model. The results show that, in the horizontal direction, the simulated distribution of wind speed and mean air temperature at 1.5 m height were closely related to the spatial distribution of the underlying surface types. Removal of green spaces increased mean air temperature by 0.5 °C (33.1 °C vs. 33.6 °C). In the vertical direction, removal of green spaces had little effect on the near-surface wind field; however, above the surface, the turbulence perpendicular to the main wind direction significantly increased. Quantification of the cooling benefits of green spaces in relation to the mean height of buildings on Gulou Campus yielded 5.2 W/m2 cooling energy, saving totally 1.3 × 104 kW h during a single daytime hot summer period. This case study corroborates the importance of green space for cooling and informs city planners and decision-makers on how microclimate is impacted by the loss of green spaces. These findings will facilitate preservation, planning, and design of green spaces to increase urban environmental benefits and to improve the microclimate of urban areas at neighborhood, city, and regional scales

The Impact of Environmental Regulation on Firm Performance: Evidence from the Pulp and Paper Industry in China

In areas with serious pollution problems, the government designates a special emission limit (SEL) for pollution control and environmental protection in China. This paper examines the effects of chemical oxygen demand (COD) SEL on firms&rsquo; production activity and market performance in the pulp and paper industry in the Lake Tai area in China. Using firm-level data, we employ a difference-in-differences strategy and find that SEL has a negative impact on the production scale, profitability, and market size of the regulated firms, while showing no significant impact on firm exports. The heterogeneity tests suggest that the impact of SEL on production and market performance varies with firm ownership, firm size, and target market. The reallocation effect of production shifts extra production from exited firms to existing firms, which explains the expansion of production scale and market size for SOEs and large-sized regulated firms. Compared with the decline of production scale, the inventory alleviation effect reduces the negative impact of stricter environmental regulation on firm performance

Stray Light Analysis and Suppression of the Visible to Terahertz Integrated Cloud Detection Optical System

The wide-spectrum integrated imaging method can simultaneously obtain the spectral information of different spectral bands of the same target, which is conducive to the realization of the high-precision detection of target characteristics, and can simultaneously obtain more comprehensive elements such as the structure, shape, and microphysical parameters of the cloud. However, for stray light, the same surface has different characteristics at different wavelengths, and a wider spectral band means more complex and diverse sources of stray light, which renders the analysis and suppression of stray light more difficult. In this work, according to the characteristics of the visible-to-terahertz integrated optical system design scheme, the influence of material surface treatment on stray light was studied; the stray light analysis and optimization of the whole link of light transmission were carried out. For the sources of stray light in different channels, targeted suppression measures such as front baffle, field stop, special structure baffle, and reflective inner baffle were adopted. The simulation results indicate that when the off-axis field of view was greater than 10°. The point source transmittance (PST) of the terahertz channel is on the order of 10−4, the visible and infrared channels are less than 10−5, and the final terahertz PST was on the order of 10−8, while visible and infrared channels were lower than 10−11. Here, we present a method for stray light suppression based on conventional surface treatments for broadband imaging systems

Evaluation of Optimal Policy on Environmental Change through Green Consumption

This paper explores the relationship between green consumption and the environment from a new perspective of green consumption on the demand side. This paper further investigates how to design an environmental policy package to achieve optimal social allocation. The results show that: first, green consumption can still improve the environment without supply-driven policy; second, demand-driven environmental change is better than supply-driven change in improving the environment and increasing social welfare; and third, a policy package which includes green consumption is more efficient