The effect of Webpage Background Features on Consumer’s Emotion

Websites offer online consumers the channel to search, view and purchase various products, which leads to a critical role of web page features on consumers’ online purchasing decision. This study primarily focuses on an important feature of web page - webpage background and explores the effect of web page background features on consumers’ online responses and behaviors. We design a 2*2 （background feature * product type）within-subject experiment and collect both eye-tracking and survey data from 32 subjects for analysis. The empirical results show that (1) compared with cool color of webpage background, warm webpage background has more significant effects on consumers\u27 emotion; (2) Product type can moderate the effect of webpage background feature on consumers’ emotion. The findings of this study provide some valuable theoretical and practical implications regarding the effect of webpage background features on consumers’ decision

An Approach to Automatically Constructing Domain Ontology

PACLIC 20 / Wuhan, China / 1-3 November, 200

Bankers' compensation before and after the 2007-2008 crisis

This paper examines the effect of recent regulations on executive incentive compensation contracting among US banks. Following regulations (the Guidance on Sound Incentive Compensation Policies and the Dodd-Frank Act Section 956) intended to prevent incentive compensation arrangements that encourage imprudent risk-taking, I test whether pay-for-performance is weaker and the penalty for downside tail risk is stronger in the post-crisis period as compared to the pre-crisis period. Specifically, I compare the impact of the regulations on large banks versus small banks, using the latter to control for concurrent events. Consistent with regulatory intent, I find evidence of weaker pay-for-performance and larger penalties for downside tail risk for CEOs of large banks in the post-crisis years, as compared to small banks. Together, the results provide evidence on the effectiveness of new regulations in curbing bank CEOs’ incentives, as well as introduce downside tail risk as a determinant of compensation in the banking industry

Molecular Cloning and Characterization of an Anthocyanidin Synthase Gene in Prunus persica (L.) Batsch

To elucidate the effect of anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) gene on anthocyanin accumulation in fruit skin of Prunus persica (L.) Batsch cv. 'Chunmei', this study cloned and characterized an ANS gene (PpANS) from peach. PpANS (GenBank accession No. KX760117) was encoded by a 1074 bp-long open reading frame (ORF) corresponding to a polypeptide consisting of 358 amino acids with a molecular mass of 40.45 kD and an isoelectric point of 5.46. PpANS contains a conserved 2-oxoglutarate- and iron-dependent dioxygenases and non-haem dioxygenase binding regions. PpANS shared high similarities to angiosperm ANS and displayed the closest genetic relationship to Prunus domestica. Real-time PCR analysis indicated that PpANS was highly expressed in fruit skin, flesh and flowers, and peach fruit skin showed the highest transcript level of PpANS. Anthocyanin accumulation analysis indicated that it was highly accumulated in fruit skin and flesh of peach. Changes in the transcript level were highly correlated with anthocyanin content in the different tissues of peach. Prokaryotic expression analysis showed PpANS that protein can be expressed correctly in E. coli, and the size of PpANS recombinant protein was consistent with its predicted size. In vitro enzyme activity assay revealed that recombinant PpANS protein could catalyze the formation the cyanidin from leucocyanidin. These results indicated that PpANS was responsible for anthocyanin accumulation in P. persica

Shikonin suppresses the proliferation and colony formation of gastric cancer cells by regulating miR96/SOCS4 pathway

Purpose: To investigate whether shikonin is able to inhibit cell proliferation and colony formation in gastric cancer (GC) cells and to elucidate the molecular mechanism. Methods: Gastric cancer (GC) cell line SGC-7901 was used. The effects of shikonin on SGC-7901 cells were evaluated using Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and soft-agar colony formation assays, respectively. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was employed to measure miR-96 expression levels. The regulatory effect of miR-96 on SOCS4 was determined by luciferase activity assay, while the effect of shikonin and miR-96 overexpression on proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), cyclin D1, suppressor of cytokine signaling 4 (SOCS4), and JAK/STAT pathwayrelated protein expression levels were analyzed by western blots. Results: The results show that shikonin dose-dependently suppressed the proliferation and colony formation of SGC-7901 cells. Western blot analysis revealed that PCNA and cyclin D1 were downregulated by shikonin treatment. Luciferase activity assay demonstrated that miR-96 is directly bound to SOCS4. Further results showed that miR-96 mimics reversed the effects of shikonin on SOCS4 and JAK/STAT pathway-related protein expression levels. Conclusion: Shikonin suppresses proliferation and colony formation by regulating miR-96/SOCS4 pathway in SGC-7901 cells, providing a potential therapeutic target for GC

Current status of COVID-19 (pre)clinical vaccine development

The current COVID-19 pandemic has a tremendous impact on daily life world-wide. Despite the ability to dampen the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of the diseases, through restrictive interventions, it is believed that only effective vaccines will provide sufficient control over the disease and revert societal live back to normal. At present, a double-digit number of efforts are devoted to the development of a vaccine against COVID-19. Here, we provide an overview of these (pre)clinical efforts and provide background information on the technologies behind these vaccines. In addition, we discuss potential hurdles that need to be addressed prior to mass scale clinical translation of successful vaccine candidates

MiR-148a-3p suppresses the progression of gastric cancer cells through targeting ATP6AP2

Purpose: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most frequent tumors with high mortality rate, worldwide. A proper understanding of the mechanism  underlying its progression is required for its diagnosis and development of novel treatment option. MicroRNAs are associated with the development and advancement of different types of cancer, including GC. The current research was aimed at investigating the molecular and biological function of miR-148a-3p in GC development.Methods: A human normal gastric epithelial cell line, GES-1 (control) as well as four GC cell lines (NUGC-4, SNU-520, STKM-2 and MKN-74) were employed for the study. MiR-148a-3p and ATP6AP2 expression levels in GC cell lines were examined by RT-qPCR technique. Transfection procedure was used to upregulate miR-148a-3p expression in the MKN-45 cell line. MTT assay was utilized to evaluate cell viability in GC cell lines. The molecular interaction between miR-148a-3p and ATP6AP2 was predicted using bioinformatics system and the prediction was then validated by luciferase reporter assay.Results: Expression levels of miR-148-3p was low, whilst that of ATP6AP2 was high in GC cell lines. MiR-148a-3p overexpression resulted in the reduction of cell viability in GC cell lines. More so, it was confirmed that miR-148-3p, as a post-transcriptional regulator inhibited ATP6AP2 expression by having a negative association with it in GC cells. More so, ATP6AP2 was found to be a direct target of miR-148a-3p.Conclusion: Our results revealed that miR-148a-3p plays a crucial function in GC development through targeting ATP6AP2. This finding could be explored in the discovery of new therapeutic approaches for GC treatment. Keywords: ATP6AP2, Cell viability, Gastric cancer, miR-148a-3p, Progressio

Ultrastructure of telocytes, a new type of interstitial cells in the myocardium of the Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus)

Telocytes (TCs) are new interstitial cells, and they are involved in tissue regeneration, particularly in heart. Therefore, TCs are suggested to be a promising cell in regenerative medicine. However, the information of location structural characteristics and functions of TCs is still limited. In this study, cardiac TCs of the Chinese giant salamanders (Andrias davidianus) were identified by transmission electron microscopy. TCs were located in the interstitium between cardiomyocytes (CM). TCs possessed distinctive ultrastructural characteristics, including one to two very long and thin moniliform telopodes (Tps), emerging points from the cell body, caveolae, dichotomous branchings, labyrinthic systems, neighbouring exosomes and homo-cellular contacts between Tps. TCs/Tps were frequently observed in close proximity to cardiomyocytes. Moreover, Tps established hetero-cellular contacts with cardiomyocytes. Our results confirm the presence of TCs in the myocardium of the A. davidianus. This will help us to better understand roles of TCs in amphibian hearts

Research progress on biochar-based material adsorption and removal of ibuprofen

Ibuprofen, commonly used for pain relief, inflammation, and to reduce high fever, etc., is a widely available over-the-counter drug. In recent years, due to the excessive use of ibuprofen, its presence in the aquatic environments has shown a significant increasing trend, raising concerns about potential risks to environmental safety, which attracted people’s close attention. Notably, biochar, known as an environmentally friendly functional material, had been widely studied and applied for the removal of ibuprofen in water environments. According to current reports, the adsorption capacity value of biochar for IBP is between 9.69–309 mg/g, and the adsorption mechanism mainly includes π-π stacking, hydrogen bonding, pore filling, etc. In response to this research hotspot, this study reviewed the most recent research progress on the adsorption of ibuprofen using biochar-based materials, including the modified preparation process of biochar and the adsorption mechanism of IBP on various modified biochar surfaces. Additionally, potential challenges and future development directions for the practical applications of biochar were discussed and proposed