One-child policy and family firms in China

Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier

Cross-border LBOs

We examine cross-border private equity (PE) sponsored leveraged buyout (LBO) transactions in 43 countries in relation to creditor rights and other legal and institutional variables. Cross-border LBO investment is more common from strong creditor rights countries to weak creditor rights countries. Club deals are less common in countries with stronger creditor rights, and less common in cross-border LBOs. Premiums are lower in countries with stronger creditor rights, and among cross-border deals

Evaluation on the resistance to aphids of wheat germplasm resources in China

A collection of more than 200 wheat lines from the main wheat-producing areas of China was evaluated for resistance to wheat aphids, using fuzzy recognition technique in five field experiments over 2 years. The results show that susceptibility to wheat aphids was exhibited in most of the lines tested, and no immune and highly resistant lines to wheat aphids was observed. The average percentage of wheat germplasm lines with resistant, lowly susceptible, moderately susceptible and highly susceptible to aphid were 9.30, 23.15, 42.32, and 25.23%, respectively. 5 moderately resistant wheat germplasm lines to wheat aphids (Lantian18, Lantian20, Lantian22, Lantian00-30 and Shanmai175) were found in Jiangyou experimental station in 2009. More importantly, 2 wheat germplasm lines (Lantian20, Lantian22) with the continuous resistance to wheat aphid in the five experimental stations over 2 years were discovered. Although, resistance of wheat germplasm lines had a close relation to their genetics and inheritance, we also found that the resistance of the same wheat germplasm lines was varied in different experimental stations. It would be helpful to make wheat germplasm selections for breeding programs, especially if they have unique genes that may provide resistance to future biotypes of wheat aphids. A valuable method for evaluating the potential of aphid-resistance for wheat germplasm lines was also confirmed.Key words: Wheat germplasm lines, aphid, resistance identification

Cooperative Recombination of a Quantized High-Density Electron-Hole Plasma

We investigate photoluminescence from a high-density electron-hole plasma in semiconductor quantum wells created via intense femtosecond excitation in a strong perpendicular magnetic field, a fully-quantized and tunable system. At a critical magnetic field strength and excitation fluence, we observe a clear transition in the band-edge photoluminescence from omnidirectional output to a randomly directed but highly collimated beam. In addition, changes in the linewidth, carrier density, and magnetic field scaling of the PL spectral features correlate precisely with the onset of random directionality, indicative of cooperative recombination from a high density population of free carriers in a semiconductor environment

A basal ursine bear (Protarctos abstrusus) from the Pliocene High Arctic reveals Eurasian affinities and a diet rich in fermentable sugars

The skeletal remains of a small bear (Protarctos abstrusus) were collected at the Beaver Pond fossil site in the High Arctic (Ellesmere I., Nunavut). This mid-Pliocene deposit has also yielded 12 other mammals and the remains of a boreal-forest community. Phylogenetic analysis reveals this bear to be basal to modern bears. It appears to represent an immigration event from Asia, leaving no living North American descendants. The dentition shows only modest specialization for herbivory, consistent with its basal position within Ursinae. However, the appearance of dental caries suggest a diet high in fermentable-carbohydrates. Fossil plants remains, including diverse berries, suggests that, like modern northern black bears, P. abstrusus may have exploited a high-sugar diet in the fall to promote fat accumulation and facilitate hibernation. A tendency toward a sugar-rich diet appears to have arisen early in Ursinae, and may have played a role in allowing ursine lineages to occupy cold habitats

All-Inorganic Colloidal Perovskite Quantum Dots: A New Class of Lasing Materials with Favorable Characteristics

I), which were very recently reported as a high effi ciency luminescent materials. The CsPbX 3 IPQDs adopted here were fabricated following a recipe slightly modifi ed from the literature (see details in Experimental Section). Here, we present a new class of lasing materials with outstanding optical gain signatures of combined advantages of both QDs and halide perovskites: the colloidal all-inorganic cesium lead halide perovskite QDs (IPQDs) (CsPbX 3 , X = Cl, Br, Adv. Mater. 2015

Conditional Knockout of NMDA Receptors in Dopamine Neurons Prevents Nicotine-Conditioned Place Preference

Nicotine from smoking tobacco produces one of the most common forms of addictive behavior and has major societal and health consequences. It is known that nicotine triggers tobacco addiction by activating nicotine acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the midbrain dopaminergic reward system, primarily via the ventral tegmental area. Heterogeneity of cell populations in the region has made it difficult for pharmacology-based analyses to precisely assess the functional significance of glutamatergic inputs to dopamine neurons in nicotine addiction. By generating dopamine neuron-specific NR1 knockout mice using cre/loxP-mediated method, we demonstrate that genetic inactivation of the NMDA receptors in ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons selectively prevents nicotine-conditioned place preference. Interestingly, the mutant mice exhibit normal performances in the conditioned place aversion induced by aversive air puffs. Therefore, this selective effect on addictive drug-induced reinforcement behavior suggests that NMDA receptors in the dopamine neurons are critical for the development of nicotine addiction