Extreme central values of quadratic Dirichlet LL-functions with prime conductors

In this paper we prove a lower bound result for extremely large values of $L(\frac{1}{2},\chi_p)$ with prime numbers $p\equiv 1\pmod 8$.Comment: 21 pages. Comments welcome

Critical Factors of Reacquainting Consumer Trust in E-Commerce

Knowing how to build and maintain consumer trust is crucial for e-commerce. Despite the number of empirical studies that have explored the factors that influence consumer trust, none of them considers the relative importance of different antecedents and how they interact to influence consumer trust. Therefore, based on the integrated Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) approaches, we establish a hierarchical structural model, which not only demonstrates the intensity of the relationships but also identifies the interdependence among the drivers of consumer trust in E-commerce. The findings confirm that propensity to trust is the most important determinant of consumer trust. The brand-related factors and platform-related factors are prominent in the process of building trust as they influence consumer trust indirectly through propensity to trust. Geographic location, demographic variables, and high security are identified as the root causes that affect consumer trust through other trust antecedents. Furthermore, the findings of this study offer valuable insights into an important element of e-commerce and provide a useful platform for future research. More represented samples and factors are encouraged for further research to ensure research fairness and minimize consumer distrust and uncertainty

C5aR1 shapes a non-inflammatory tumor microenvironment and mediates immune evasion in gastric cancer

C5a receptor 1 (C5aR1) is associated with various inflammatory processes, the pathogenesis of immune diseases, and tumor growth. However, its role in the tumor microenvironment of gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear. In this study, the expression of C5aR1 in GC and normal gastric mucosa tissues was compared using data retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases, and the results were validated by in vitro qRT-PCR and immunohistochemical analyses. The relationship between C5aR1 expression and the overall survival of patients with GC was analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method. Subsequently, enrichment analysis was performed, and the signaling pathways were screened. C5aR1 expression was also correlated with genes related to the immune checkpoint and immune cell infiltration. The results revealed that C5aR1 expression was enhanced in GC tissues compared to normal gastric tissues, and that patients with high expression of C5aR1 had a worse 10-year overall survival compared to those showing low expression of C5aR1. Functional analysis revealed that C5aR1 is a gene related to theimmune system and may play a crucial role in inflammatory and tumor immune responses. Additionally, C5aR1 showed a positive correlation with most immune checkpoint-related genes and a negative correlation with natural killer cells, dendritic cells, and CD8+ T cells. Immune evasion risk was observed to be significantly greater in patients with higher expression of C5aR1 than in those with lower expression. The results of this study reveal that C5aR1 shapes a non-inflammatory tumor microenvironment in GC and mediates immune evasion

Resveratrol reduces inflammatory response and detrimental effects in chronic cerebral hypoperfusion by down-regulating stimulator of interferon genes/TANK-binding kinase 1/interferon regulatory factor 3 signaling

Inflammatory responses induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) play a critical role in the progression of vascular dementia. Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) signaling function as a key mediator of inflammation and immunological responses in the central nervous system (CNS), and resveratrol (RES) exerts potent anti-inflammatory effects. However, the role of STING signaling and the relationship between RES and STING signaling in persistent hypoperfusion-induced cerebral inflammation remain unclear. In this study, Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to either Sham or bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (2VO) surgery and received RES or vehicle daily by intraperitoneal injection for 4 or 8 weeks. Morris’s water maze was used for the analysis of cognitive function. The neuroinflammatory responses in white matter and hippocampus of the rat brain were assessed by Western blot, Immunofluorescence staining, and qRT-PCR analyses. Myelin integrity, neutrophil infiltration, and microglia proliferation were assessed by Immunohistochemistry and histologic analysis. We demonstrated that after CCH, neurons, microglia, and astrocyte under endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress upregulated the expression of STING, TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1), and the transcription factor interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), as well as translocation of IRF3 into the nucleus. These were accompanied by infiltration of neutrophils, activation of microglia, and overproduction of proinflammatory mediators. Improvements in cognitive deficits were related to reduced hippocampal neuronal cell death and increased myelin integrity in RES-treated rats. The neuroprotective effects of RES were associated with suppression of the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1), VCAM-1, interferon-β (IFN-β), and IL-1β, likely through mitigation of the STING/TBK1/IRF3 pathway. These inhibitory effects exerted by RES also inhibited the levels of myeloperoxidase, reduced excess expression of reactive astrocytes, and activated microglia. In conclusion, the STING/TBK1/IRF3 axis may be critical for proinflammatory responses in cerebral tissue with persistent hypoperfusion, and RES exerts its anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing STING/TBK1/IRF3 signaling

The prospects for environmental accounting and accountability in China

Foucault’s ideas on episteme change are used to help understand change taking place in China from the “industrial civilization” to an “ecological civilization”. If episteme change is taking place this could be reflected in the philosophies and attitudes of Chinese accountants and their environmental accounting work will be developing. The conclusions are that: China is slowly moving towards an ecological civilisation; based around the thinking of Chinese accountants an epistemic change is in evidence in tandem with an emerging interest in ancient Chinese philosophy; Chinese accountants’ engagement with environmental accounting and accountability is evidence of reduced specialisation

Cell transcriptomic atlas of the non-human primate Macaca fascicularis.

Studying tissue composition and function in non-human primates (NHPs) is crucial to understand the nature of our own species. Here we present a large-scale cell transcriptomic atlas that encompasses over 1 million cells from 45 tissues of the adult NHP Macaca fascicularis. This dataset provides a vast annotated resource to study a species phylogenetically close to humans. To demonstrate the utility of the atlas, we have reconstructed the cell-cell interaction networks that drive Wnt signalling across the body, mapped the distribution of receptors and co-receptors for viruses causing human infectious diseases, and intersected our data with human genetic disease orthologues to establish potential clinical associations. Our M. fascicularis cell atlas constitutes an essential reference for future studies in humans and NHPs.We thank W. Liu and L. Xu from the Huazhen Laboratory Animal Breeding Centre for helping in the collection of monkey tissues, D. Zhu and H. Li from the Bioland Laboratory (Guangzhou Regenerative Medicine and Health Guangdong Laboratory) for technical help, G. Guo and H. Sun from Zhejiang University for providing HCL and MCA gene expression data matrices, G. Dong and C. Liu from BGI Research, and X. Zhang, P. Li and C. Qi from the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health for experimental advice or providing reagents. This work was supported by the Shenzhen Basic Research Project for Excellent Young Scholars (RCYX20200714114644191), Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Single-Cell Omics (ZDSYS20190902093613831), Shenzhen Bay Laboratory (SZBL2019062801012) and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Genome Read and Write (2017B030301011). In addition, L.L. was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31900466), Y. Hou was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2018A030313379) and M.A.E. was supported by a Changbai Mountain Scholar award (419020201252), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA16030502), a Chinese Academy of Sciences–Japan Society for the Promotion of Science joint research project (GJHZ2093), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (92068106, U20A2015) and the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2021B1515120075). M.L. was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2600200).S

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

A dynamic dual model: The determinants of transnational migrant entrepreneurs' embeddedness in the UK

Effective embeddedness in the host country is an important issue for immigrant and transnational entrepreneurs. However, prior research has mainly focused on subsidiaries’ local embeddedness of multinational companies (MNCs). While a limited number of studies have examined transnational enterprises, few have explored how transnational entrepreneurs embed in the host country where they immigrate to. Employing 7 in-depth case studies of Chinese small transnational enterprises operating in the UK, we construct a dynamic dual process model which consists of 3 dimensions: structural embeddedness; institutional embeddedness; and cognitive embeddedness. Our findings make a theoretical contribution by offering insights into how transnational migrant entrepreneurs embed in a dual cross-border business environment