Does CEO duality worsen or fosters audit quality: evidence from Chinese firms?

The objective of this study is to examine the role of CEO duality in audit quality of Chinese firms. To address the effect of CEO duality, this study considered four characteristics of CEO duality; corporate audit culture, audit committee independence, decision making through enormous power and single leadership. The indirect effect of audit committee decision is considered between CEO duality and audit quality. A questionnaire survey is carried out to collect primary data. A questionnaire was designed to collect data from Chinese firms. Respondents of the study were the CEO’s and directors of Chinese firms; therefore, questionnaires were distributed among them by using online survey. 135 valid questionnaires were used in data analyses which is carried out by using Partial Least Square (PLS)-Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results of the study highlighted that; CEO duality has both positive and negative effect on audit quality. Due to the single leadership style and supportive corporate audit culture, the audit quality may be improved. However, CEO duality influences negatively on audit committee independence which has negative effect on audit committee decisions. Similarly, CEO duality allows to enjoy enormous power which may affect negatively on the decision making. Thus, decision-making through enormous power has negative effect on audit committee decisions. Finally, while making the strategies to enhance audit quality, the practitioners can consider the important points highlighted by the current study to promote audit quality

Research progress on the neural circuit of pain emotion mediated by amygdala

The occurrence of pain emotion is closely related to the functional and structural changes of specific central nervous circuit. When pain is accompanied by depression, anxiety, pain aversion memory and other emotional states, it activates or inhibits different neural circuits. The amygdala (AMY) of the limbic system participates in the regulation of pain, anxiety, depression, aversive memory and other emotions, and has extensive connections with brain nuclei related to pain and emotion, jointly regulating pain, anxiety, depression, aversive memory and other responses. This article summarizes the main circuits related to pain emotions mediated by AMY. It is concluded that the neural circuits related to depression include central amygdala → parafascicular nucleus of thalamus (CeA GABA → PF Glu), dorsal raphe nucleus → central amygdala (DRN 5-HT → CeA SOM), central amygdala → ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (CeA GABA → vlPAG GABA). Nerve circuits related to anxiety include ventral tegmental area → central amygdala (VTA→CeADA), locus coeruleus → basolateral amygdala (LCNE→BLA). The neural circuit related to pain aversion memory is lateral parabrachial nucleus → central amygdala (lPBN CGRP→CeA CGRP). Among them, activating the CeA GABA→PF Glu circuit can lead to depression accompanied by pain, activating the CeA GABA→vlPAG GABA circuit can alleviate pain sensitivity caused by depression, and activating the DRN 5-HT→CeA SOM circuit can alleviate pain perception and depressive emotions; activating the VTA→CeA DA loop can alleviate pain sensitivity and anxiety like behavior, inhibiting LC NE→BLA loop can alleviate anxiety caused by pain; activating the lPBN CGRP→CeA CGRP loop can generate pain aversion memory

Synthesis and Application of Copper Nanowires and Silver Nanosheet-Coated Copper Nanowires as Nanofillers in Several Polymers

A large amount of copper (Cu) nanowires was synthesized through the reduction of Cu(OH)2 by hydrazine in an aqueous solution containing NaOH and ethylenediamine. Besides, Cu nanowires coated by silver nanosheet (denoted as Cu@Ag nanowires) were prepared with a facile transmetalation reaction method. In the meantime, the as‐prepared Cu and Cu@Ag nanowires were used as the nanofillers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and epoxy resin (EP), and their effects on the thermal properties and mechanical properties as well as friction and wear behavior of the polymer‐matrix composites nanocomposites were examined. Results indicate that the as‐prepared Cu@Ag nanowires consist of Cu nanowires core and Ag nanosheet shell. The Ag nanosheet shell can well inhibit the oxidation of the Cu nanowires core, thereby providing the as‐prepared Cu@Ag nanowires with good thermal stability even at an elevated temperature of 230°C. As compared with Cu nanowires, Cu@Ag nanowires could effectively increase the thermal stability of the PVC matrix composites. Moreover, due to the special morphology and microstructure, the as‐prepared Cu@Ag nanowires can effectively improve the mechanical properties and wear resistance of PVC, UHMWPE, and EP

Contribution of infrastructure to the township's sustainable development in Southwest China

Townships in Southwest China are usually located in mountainous regions, which are abundant in natural and cultural landscape resources. There are additional requirements for the township’s sustainable development in these areas. However, insufficient infrastructures, due to limited resources, constrain the sustainable development of these townships. Sustainable contribution of infrastructure (SCOI) in this study is defined as the performance of infrastructure as a contribution to the coordinated development among economic, social, and environmental dimensions of township’s sustainable development. It is necessary to assess these infrastructures according to SCOI and provide choices for investment to maximize resource utilization. Therefore, an assessing model of SCOI with 26 general indicators was developed, which covers five most urgently needed infrastructures of these townships in Southwest China, including road transport, sewage treatment, waste disposal, water supply, and gas. In this model, quantitative and qualitative methods are combined to acquire different SCOI of each infrastructure. The result of the SCOI would be an important reference for infrastructure investment. A case study of Jiansheng Town, that is located in the Dadukou district of Chongqing, demonstrates the applicability of the model. It shows the assessing model of SCOI is efficient to identify the most valuable infrastructure that is appropriate for investment with the goal of township’s sustainable development. This study can provide insights for infrastructure investment and management in townships or areas

Significantly enhanced permittivity and energy density in dielectric composites with aligned BaTiO3 lamellar structures

A significant improvement of permittivity and energy density will enable the miniaturization of dielectric capacitors and promote integration for applications in electrical power and defense systems. In this work, lamellar composite architectures are fabricated from aligned barium titanate (BaTiO3) in an epoxy resin using the freeze casting method. Due to the continuous coupling effect originating from the interconnected and highly oriented BaTiO3 particles, these composites exhibit an extremely high permittivity (εr = 1408) at 1 kHz, which is the highest value achieved in BaTiO3/polymer composites reported so far and fits well to the parallel mode of the mixing rule. A finite element model is used to investigate the local electric field distributions in the BaTiO3 lamellae under the applied electric field parallel and perpendicular to the freezing direction, respectively. A high ratio value of discharge energy density per electric field, Udis/E, ∼0.033, is achieved due to a high electric displacement of D = 15.11 μC cm−2 and a discharge energy density of Udis = 19.6 × 10−2 J cm−3 is achieved at a low electric field (6 kV mm−1). This work provides an effective strategy of designing a ceramic–polymer composite to realize high permittivity and energy density of capacitors for modern electrical and electronic industries

Evaluations of 5-fluorourcil treated lung cancer cells by atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be used to obtain the physical information of single live cancer cells; however, the physical changes in live cells with time based on AFM remain to be studied, which play a key role in the evaluation of the efficacy and side effects of drugs. Herein, the treatment of the A549 cell line with the anticarcinogen 5-fluorouracil has been discussed based on the AFM analysis of their continuous physical changes, including their surface morphology, height, adhesion and Young's modulus, with time. In comparison, the African green monkey kidney (Vero) cell line was tested as normal cells to determine the side effects of 5-fluorouracil. The results show that the optimal concentration of 5-fluorouracil is about 500 μM, which presents the best anticancer effect and mild side effects

Oncological and surgical outcomes of radical surgery in elderly colorectal cancer patients with intestinal obstruction

BackgroundThe treatment strategy for elderly colorectal cancer patients with intestinal obstruction remains controversial. The choice of reasonable treatment and surgical method directly affects perioperative safety and prognosis. This study investigated the safety and long-term efficacy of radical surgery in elderly colorectal cancer patients over 80 years old with intestinal obstruction.MethodsThe clinicopathological data of elderly patients over 80 years old with intestinal obstruction who underwent colorectal cancer surgery from January 2012 to December 2021 were retrospectively collected and analysed. Patients were assigned to a radical group and a palliative group according to the surgical method. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to match patients in the radical group 1:1 with those in the palliative group. The perioperative-related indexes and prognosis were compared between the two groups.ResultsA total of 187 patients were enrolled in this study. After PSM, 58 matched pairs were selected, and the radical and palliative groups were well balanced in terms of the clinical and surgical characteristics (P > 0.05). The proportion of patients transferred to the ICU after surgery in the radical group was significantly higher than that in the palliative group (17.2% vs. 5.2%, P = 0.039). In terms of postoperative complications, the incidence of grade 1–5 complications in the radical group was significantly higher than that in the palliative group (37.9% vs. 15.5%, P = 0.006); however, there was no significant difference in the incidence of grade 3–5 complications between the two groups (6.9% vs. 1.7%, P = 0.364). In addition, the complications were subclassified, and it was found that the incidence of gastrointestinal disorders (20.7% vs. 6.9%, P = 0.031) after surgery was significantly higher in the radical group. The 3-year OS rates were 55.2% and 22.6% in the radical and palliative groups, respectively (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that radical surgery was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR: 4.32; 95% CI, 1.93–12.45; P < 0.001).ConclusionAlthough elderly colorectal cancer patients over 80 years of age with intestinal obstruction are more likely to be admitted to the ICU and develop more postoperative complications after radical surgery, long-term survival benefits can be achieved

Proteomics analysis of coronary blood microparticles in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the leading cause of death for patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although researchers have made substantial efforts to elucidate its pathogenesis, the molecular mechanisms underlying AMI remain unknown. The aim of this study was to use proteomics to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) and the possible biological functions and metabolic pathways related to coronary blood microparticles (MPs) in patients with AMI and stable coronary artery disease (SCAD); this study will allow for the identification of individuals at risk of acute thrombosis. Methods: The study was performed on 5 AMI patients and 5 SCAD patients. DEPs were identified, and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were performed to determine the relative abundance and biological function of the significant DEPs that were identified in the present study. Results: The current analysis identified 198 DEPs in the coronary blood of AMI patients and SCAD patients, including 85 proteins that were significantly upregulated and 113 proteins that were significantly downregulated. GO enrichment analysis demonstrated that GDP binding and GTP binding were enriched in molecular function. Similarly, KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the identified proteins were involved in pantothenate and coenzyme A biosynthesis, starch and sucrose metabolism, and the AMPK signalling pathway. Conclusions: The proteome of coronary MPs differs between patients with AMI and patients with SCAD. In summary, the GO terms and KEGG pathways enriched by the DEPs may reflect the possible molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of acute thrombosis in patients with AMI