The impact of investor attention during COVID-19 on investment in clean energy versus fossil fuel firms

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant negative impacts on financial markets, including energy stock markets. However, recently proposed and implemented green recovery plans may mean that clean energy firms demonstrate better performance than fossil fuel firms after the pandemic. As more voices call for the update of clean energy, theory on investor attention suggests investors will pay more attention to the potential to invest in clean energy stocks. Using a sample period of eight weeks before and during the pandemic, we find that the negative impact of the outbreak on both clean energy and fossil fuel firms is more significant for fossil fuel firms. Our results further show that during the pandemic there have been improved returns for clean energy firms as a consequence of investor attention, but not for fossil fuel firms. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the advantages of green recovery schemes in influencing financial markets, especially for clean energy stocks. These results suggest there are benefits for further promotion and implementation of green recovery stimulus measures post-pandemic

Global low-carbon energy transition in the post-COVID-19 era

The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges for energy transition. Concerns about the overwhelming emphasis on economic recovery at the cost of energy transition progress have been raised worldwide. More voices are calling for “green” recovery scheme, which recovers the economy while not compromising on the environment. However, limited academic attention has been paid to comprehensively investigating the implications of COVID-19 for global energy transition. This study thus provides a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics between energy transition and COVID-19 around the world and proposes a low-carbon energy transition roadmap in the post-pandemic era. Using energy data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), we first summarized and reviewed the progress of energy transition prior to COVID-19. Building on prior progress, we identified the challenges for energy transition during the pandemic from the perspectives of government support, fossil fuel divestment, renewable energy production capacity, global supply chain, and energy poverty. However, the pandemic also generates opportunities for global energy transition. We hence also identified potential opportunities for energy transition presented by the pandemic from the perspectives of price competitiveness, policy implementation efficiency, and renewable energy strengths. We further provided an in-depth discussion on the impact of current worldwide economic recovery stimulus on energy transition. Based on the identified challenges and opportunities, we proposed the post-pandemic energy transition roadmap in terms of broadening green financing instruments, strengthening international cooperation, and enhancing green recovery plans. Our study sheds light on a global low-carbon energy transition framework and has practical implications for green recovery schemes in post-pandemic times

Environmental Finance:An Interdisciplinary Review

Environmental finance has gained considerable attention globally as an emerging interdisciplinary research area. This study uses bibliometric analysis to systematically review major studies on environmental finance-related areas published since the 1970s. Through a bibliometric analysis of 892 environmental finance-related articles sourced from the Web of Science database, we identified the main research streams and illustrated the trending research themes of environmental finance. We find that publications related to environmental finance have increased exponentially over the past decade. Current research streams include corporate and social re- sponsibility (CSR), climate negotiations, natural gas price volatility, national policy, and cost comparisons. Further analysis of the recent five years of literature shows that emerging research topics include climate finance, sustainable finance, firm value, climate risk, and green bonds. Finally, we conclude with a future research agenda for environmental finance

Evaluation of the comparative influence of magnesium sulfate single and combination with ritodrine hydrochloride in the prevention of preterm delivery

This project was designed to explore the effects of ritodrine hydrochloride combined with magnesium sulfate in the prevention of preterm delivery of patients with threatened premature birth. 128 cases of threatened premature birth were randomly divided into two groups according to the number table method. The control group was treated with magnesium sulfate, while the study group was treated with ritodrine hydrochloride combined with magnesium sulfate. The d(p>0.05). ata was analyzed using SPSS 18.0 and was subjected to Chi-square and t test. The onset time and prolonged gestation time of the study group were shorter than those of the control group (p0.05). The heart rate per minute of the study group was higher than that of the control group (p<0.05). There was no difference in blood pressure between the study group and the control group Nevertheless, the neurological function, pregnancy outcome and neonatal status of the group were better than those of the control group (p<0.05)

Trimester- and Assay-Specific Thyroid Reference Intervals for Pregnant Women in China

Objective. The guidelines of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) recommend an upper limit reference interval (RI) of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) of 2.5 mIU/L in the first trimester of pregnancy and 3.0 mIU/L in subsequent trimesters, but some reported ranges in China are significantly higher. Our study aimed to establish trimester- and assay-specific RIs for thyroid hormones in normal pregnant Chinese women. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, 2540 women with normal pregnancies (first trimester, n=398; second trimester, n=797; third trimester, n=1345) and 237 healthy nonpregnant control subjects were recruited. Serum TSH, free thyroxin (FT4), thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb), and thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) levels were determined by automated chemiluminescence with an Immulite 2000 system (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany). After outliers were excluded, the 2.5–97.5th percentiles were used to define the RIs. Results. The RIs of thyroid function in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy and in nonpregnant controls were 0.07–3.96, 0.27–4.53, 0.48–5.40, and 0.69–5.78 mIU/L for TSH and 9.16–18.12, 8.67–16.21, 7.80–13.90, and 8.24–16.61 pmol/L for FT4, respectively. Conclusion. The trimester- and assay-specific RIs of thyroid function during pregnancy differed between trimesters, which suggests that it is advisable to detect and avoid misclassification of thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy for women in Henan, China

Trimester-and Assay-Specific Thyroid Reference Intervals for Pregnant Women in China

Objective. The guidelines of the American Thyroid Association (ATA) recommend an upper limit reference interval (RI) of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) of 2.5 mIU/L in the first trimester of pregnancy and 3.0 mIU/L in subsequent trimesters, but some reported ranges in China are significantly higher. Our study aimed to establish trimester-and assay-specific RIs for thyroid hormones in normal pregnant Chinese women. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, 2540 women with normal pregnancies (first trimester, = 398; second trimester, = 797; third trimester, = 1345) and 237 healthy nonpregnant control subjects were recruited. Serum TSH, free thyroxin (FT4), thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb), and thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) levels were determined by automated chemiluminescence with an Immulite 2000 system (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany). After outliers were excluded, the 2.5-97.5th percentiles were used to define the RIs. Results. The RIs of thyroid function in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy and in nonpregnant controls were 0. .61 pmol/L for FT4, respectively. Conclusion. The trimester-and assay-specific RIs of thyroid function during pregnancy differed between trimesters, which suggests that it is advisable to detect and avoid misclassification of thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy for women in Henan, China

PIF4–Mediated Activation of YUCCA8 Expression Integrates Temperature into the Auxin Pathway in Regulating Arabidopsis Hypocotyl Growth

Higher plants adapt their growth to high temperature by a dramatic change in plant architecture. It has been shown that the transcriptional regulator phytochrome-interacting factor 4 (PIF4) and the phytohormone auxin are involved in the regulation of high temperature–induced hypocotyl elongation in Arabidopsis. Here we report that PIF4 regulates high temperature–induced hypocotyl elongation through direct activation of the auxin biosynthetic gene YUCCA8 (YUC8). We show that high temperature co-upregulates the transcript abundance of PIF4 and YUC8. PIF4–dependency of high temperature–mediated induction of YUC8 expression as well as auxin biosynthesis, together with the finding that overexpression of PIF4 leads to increased expression of YUC8 and elevated free IAA levels in planta, suggests a possibility that PIF4 directly activates YUC8 expression. Indeed, gel shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrate that PIF4 associates with the G-box–containing promoter region of YUC8. Transient expression assay in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves support that PIF4 directly activates YUC8 expression in vivo. Significantly, we show that the yuc8 mutation can largely suppress the long-hypocotyl phenotype of PIF4–overexpression plants and also can reduce high temperature–induced hypocotyl elongation. Genetic analyses reveal that the shy2-2 mutation, which harbors a stabilized mutant form of the IAA3 protein and therefore is defective in high temperature–induced hypocotyl elongation, largely suppresses the long-hypocotyl phenotype of PIF4–overexpression plants. Taken together, our results illuminate a molecular framework by which the PIF4 transcriptional regulator integrates its action into the auxin pathway through activating the expression of specific auxin biosynthetic gene. These studies advance our understanding on the molecular mechanism underlying high temperature–induced adaptation in plant architecture

An Intronic Variant in the GRP78, a Stress-Associated Gene, Improves Prediction for Liver Cirrhosis in Persistent HBV Carriers

Background: Our previous study indicated that a common variant (rs430397 G>A) in the intron 5 of glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) gene was associated with risk and prognosis of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), including HBV- and cirrhosis-related HCC. rs430397 polymorphism may be a contributing factor or biomarker of HBV infection or HBV-related cirrhosis. Methodology/Principal Findings: 539 non-HBV-infected individuals, 205 self-limited infection and 496 persistent HBV infection were recruited between January 2001 and April 2005 from the hospitals in Southern China. Genomic DNA was genotyped for rs430397. The associations between the variation and susceptibility to liver cirrhosis (LC) in persistent HBV infection were examined. We observed that individuals carrying allele rs430397A were more likely to become HBV-related LC. When persistently infected patients were divided into four subgroups, patients with phase IV had an increased allele A and genotype AG compared with phase I and/or phase III. Decreased serum albumin and prolonged plasma prothrombin time (PT) were showed in LC patients carrying genotype AA. Furthermore, rs430397 genotype had an increased susceptibility to LC with dose-dependent manners (P-trend = 0.005), and the genotype did constitute a risk factor for the development of advanced LC (Child-Pugh classification C and B, P-trend = 0.021). Conclusions/Significance: rs430397 polymorphism may be a contributing factor to LC in persistent HBV carriers. © 2011 Zhu et al.published_or_final_versio

Lattice Boltzmann modeling and evaluation of fluid flow in heterogeneous porous media involving multiple matrix constituents

Geomaterials are typical heterogeneous porous media involving multiple types of matrix constituents which dominate the subsurface flow behavior. An improved lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) approach is developed for analyzing the detailed flow characteristics through multiple matrix constituents, investigating sample size effects on the permeability variation, and evaluating characteristic information at the representative elementary volume (REV) scale for the macroscale reference. Applications are conducted in both 2D and 3D to numerically investigate the impact of geometric topology and matrix property on the detailed velocity field, and effects of sample sizes on the permeability for evaluating effective REV scale fluid flow parameters. The simulation results demonstrate that the improved LBM approach is able to quantitatively describe and simulate complex fluid flow through multiple-matrix constructed heterogeneous porous media, which provides more realistic simulation results for up-scaled research and engineering