Polyenylpyrrole Derivatives Inhibit NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation and Inflammatory Mediator Expression by Reducing Reactive Oxygen Species Production and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Activation

10.1371/journal.pone.0076754PLoS ONE810-POLN

Trading volume in the housing market around land auctions events

Land and housing markets are separated, with the traders in the land market being developers and those in the housing market being end-users for self-occupation and investors for investment. The two markets, however, are closely related because demand for residential sites is derived from demand for housing. With this close relationship, any signals from the land market should be impounded to the housing market. Land auction, which is the most commonly adopted land disposal method in Hong Kong, is a significant event in the land market. The land auction events should contain market signals affecting trading decisions of homebuyers and sellers in the housing market in a similar way that corporate earnings announcements of a listed company affect the trading of its shares in the stock market. 　　This study investigates how land auctions affect trading volume in the secondary housing market in Hong Kong. Hypotheses are developed based on previous studies on the impacts of corporate earnings announcements on trading volume in stock markets with modifications to take into account the differences between housing and stock markets. The characteristics of housing market that are important in formulating the hypotheses are high transaction cost and market incompleteness (e.g. absence of short selling). In addition, lumpiness and indivisibility of housing, which make market participants risk-averse, also play important roles in the development of the hypotheses in this study. 　　The research results indicate that greater dispersion in prior beliefs before the land auctions is associated with lower trading volume in the housing spot market. Unexpected land auction outcomes, be they positive or negative, are also negatively related to trading volume in the housing market, with the negative outcomes exerting a strong downward pressure on trading volume. These findings are contradictory to the findings commonly found in most finance literature about trading volume around corporate earnings announcements which assumes negligible transaction cost but consistent with findings in Barron and Karpoff (2004). The deviation from previous studies of stock market can be explained by the risk-averse behaviour of market participants, high transaction cost and market incompleteness in the housing market. Although empirical data in Hong Kong are used, the implications are general and should be applicable to other housing markets with similar characteristics. This study also sheds light on how increase in transaction cost and restriction on short selling may affect trading volume around corporate earnings announcements in the stock market.published_or_final_versionReal Estate and ConstructionDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph

Racionalizacija subvencij za lastnosti zelenih stanovanj: pristop izraženih preferenc

Zaradi ogromne količine porabljene energije in virov v stanovanjski gradnji so vlade mnogih držav prepoznale potrebo po nujnem spodbujanju zelenih oziroma okolju prijaznih stanovanj, da bi omogočile trajnostni razvoj tega področja. Poleg uvajanja ustreznih predpisov lahko vlade spodbudijo investitorje, da v gradnjo vključijo zelene elemente, tako da jim ponudijo različne oblike subvencij. Dodelitev tovrstnih subvencij pa pogosto ni ekonomična. Teoretično gledano lahko tržne sile vodijo k zagotavljanju zelenih stanovanj brez vladnega poseganja, če so akterji na trgu za zelene elemente stanovanj pripravljeni plačati več. V tem okviru so v članku predstavljeni izsledki raziskave, v kateri so avtorji na podlagi strukturirane ankete, izvedene v Macau, primerjali potencialno pripravljenost kupcev stanovanj, da plačajo za različne lastnosti zelenih stanovanj. Preučevane stanovanjske lastnosti so obsegale rabo zelenih materialov (na primer trajnostni gozdni proizvodi) in načinov gradnje (na primer montažna gradnja), energijsko učinkovite tehnologije (na primer LED-razsvetljava) in naprave za varčevanje z vodo (na primer sistem za prečiščevanje odpadne sanitarne vode). Ugotovitve kažejo, da so na pripravljenost anketirancev v glavnem vplivale finančne spodbude. Lastnosti zelenih stanovanj, ki lahko prinašajo neposredno finančno korist, so se ujemale z večjo pripravljenostjo za plačilo (PZP). Na koncu članka so predstavljeni mogoči vplivi raziskovalnih izsledkov na politiko obravnavanega področja

Economising subsidies for green housing features: A stated preference approach

In light of the enormous amounts of energy and resources consumed by housing development and operations, many governments have started recognising the urgent need to promote green or eco-friendly housing with the aim of achieving sustainable development. Apart from regulations, governments can offer incentives to developers to provide green features in their developments by offering subsidies in various forms. However, such subsidisation is often uneconomical. In theory, market forces can lead to green housing provision without any government intervention if the market players are willing to pay extra for the green features of housing. Against this background, this article presents the findings of a study that compared potential homebuyers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for various green housing features based on findings from a structured questionnaire survey in Macau. The housing attributes under investigation included uses of green materials (e.g., sustainable forest products) and construction methods (e.g., prefabrication), energy-efficient technologies (e.g., LED lighting) and water-saving devices (e.g., grey-water recycling systems). Results indicate that the respondents’ WTP was mainly motivated by economic incentives. Green housing attributes that can offer direct financial benefits corresponded to greater WTP. The policy implications of the research findings then follow

Economising subsidies for green housing features: a stated preference approach

In light of the enormous amounts of energy and resources consumed by housing development and operations, many governments have started recognising the urgent need to promote green or eco-friendly housing with the aim of achieving sustainable development. Apart from regulations, governments can offer incentives to developers to provide green features in their developments by offering subsidies in various forms. However, such subsidisation is often uneconomical. In theory, market forces can lead to green housing provision without any government intervention if the market players are willing to pay extra for the green features of housing. Against this background, this article presents the findings of a study that compared potential homebuyers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for various green housing features based on findings from a structured questionnaire survey in Macau. The housing attributes under investigation included uses of green materials (e.g., sustainable forest products) and construction methods (e.g., prefabrication), energy-efficient technologies (e.g., LED lighting) and water-saving devices (e.g., grey-water recycling systems). Results indicate that the respondents’ WTP was mainly motivated by economic incentives. Green housing attributes that can offer direct financial benefits corresponded to greater WTP. The policy implications of the research findings then follow

Bamboo vinegar decreases inflammatory mediator expression and NLRP3 inflammasome activation by inhibiting reactive oxygen species generation and protein kinase C-α/δ activation.

Bamboo vinegar (BV), a natural liquid derived from the condensation produced during bamboo charcoal production, has been used in agriculture and as a food additive, but its application to immune modulation has not been reported. Here, we demonstrated that BV has anti-inflammatory activities both in vitro and in vivo. BV reduced inducible nitric oxide synthase expression and nitric oxide levels in, and interleukin-6 secretion by, lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages without affecting tumor necrosis factor-α secretion and cyclooxygenase-2 expression. The mechanism for the anti-inflammatory effect of BV involved decreased reactive oxygen species production and protein kinase C-α/δ activation. Furthermore, creosol (2-methoxy-4-methylphenol) was indentified as the major anti-inflammatory compound in BV. Impaired cytokine expression and NLR family, pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation was seen in mice treated with creosol. These findings provide insights into how BV regulates inflammation and suggest that it may be a new source for the development of anti-inflammatory agents or a healthy supplement for preventing and ameliorating inflammation- and NLRP3 inflammasome-related diseases, including metabolic syndrome

Use of Information and Communications Technology in Family Services and Its Perceived Benefits amid the COVID-19 Pandemic in Hong Kong—Jockey Club SMART Family-Link Project

Introduction: We examined information and communications technology (ICT) use in family services and its perceived benefits and barriers amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. Methods: We invited all family service social workers of 12 NGOs to complete an anonymous online questionnaire in May 2020 (Part A) and a management representative from each NGO to provide written feedback on ICT use in January 2021 (Part B). Results: In Part A, of 255 respondents (response rate: 67.3%), perceived ICT use in conducting programmes, groups, casework and preventive family programmes showed net increases of 33.9–54.5%; perceived ICT use in different work processes showed net increases of 18.8–48.6%. The three most common perceived benefits were “providing another option to service users” (74.2%), “more convenient service” (60.2%) and “maintaining normal service” (59.7%). In Part B, 12 management representatives consistently reported positive impacts of ICT use on family services. They shared actionable strategies (e.g., ICT skill-related training) and concerns about data privacy and management. Conclusions: ICT use in family services markedly increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. It helped make the services more accessible especially when the pandemic restricted face-to-face services

Effect of prehabilitation-related DIETary protein intake on Quality of Recovery after elective cardiac surgery (DIETQoR) study: protocol of a randomised controlled trial

Introduction Protein malnutrition is associated with higher risks of postoperative complications, mortality, prolonged postoperative stays in hospital, slower physical and mental recovery after surgery and lower subsequent health-related quality of life. To reduce the risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality, nutritional prehabilitation programmes have been developed recently to build up patient’s nutritional reserve to withstand the stress of surgery. The intervention involves nutritional screening and counselling, and increasing dietary protein intake in protein-malnourished patients in the several weeks before surgery. However, there are few well-conducted preoperative studies to examine the effect of increasing dietary protein intake on the quality of recovery of malnourished patients after elective cardiac surgery.Method and analysis This randomised controlled trial of malnourished patients undergoing major elective cardiac surgery will compare the quality of postoperative recovery in patients with or without nutritional prehabilitation. One hundred and thirty-two patients will be randomised to receive nutritional prehabilitation (target-adjusted whey protein powder supplementation and an individualised 1 hour session/week counselling by a dietician 1 month before operation date) or standard care (no nutritional prehabilitation). Primary outcomes will be the quality of recovery after surgery (15-item Quality of Recovery) on the third postoperative day. Secondary outcomes will include days (alive and) at home within 30 days, changes in the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0, changes in health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) and Cardiac Postoperative Morbidity Survey. An outcomes assessor will be blinded to the treatment allocation. Appropriate univariate analyses, generalised estimating equations and multiple regressions will be performed for intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses.Ethics and dissemination The Joint CUHK-NTEC Clinical Research Ethics Committee approved the study protocol (CREC Ref. No.: 2021.703 T). The findings will be presented at scientific meetings, peer-reviewed journals and to study participants.Trial registration number ChiCTR2200057463