Resolving corporate bribery through deferred prosecution agreements:Lessons from the US, UK and France for China

While bribery is designated as a criminal offense in most jurisdictions, the enforcement of anti-bribery laws in the corporate context is far from satisfactory. The weak enforcement can be mainly attributed to the practical challenges of doing so. Benefiting from deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), the U.S., UK and French authorities have significantly ramped up their anti-bribery enforcement and encouraged corporate self-policing activities. Inspired by the foreign DPA developments, China’s prosecutorial authorities have been actively promoting the compliance non-prosecution program (CNP) since 2020. Introduced amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the ever-intensive U.S.-China trade conflicts, the CNP aims to mitigate the adverse economic implications of corporate criminal enforcement and foster corporate compliance.Combining legal doctrinal research, comparative research and insights from the law and economics literature, this thesis provides an overview of the DPA regimes in the U.S., UK and France and the CNP in China. It analyzes the advantages and weakness of the DPA programs in the three jurisdictions, aiming to draw lessons for developing the Chinese version of DPA program to address corporate bribery. Meanwhile, it also identifies the reasons for the inactive role played by the corporations in China’s anti-bribery movement and the challenges caused for the authorities in the anti-bribery enforcement. It is proposed that a Chinese version of DPA program be established based on the existing CNP to resolve corporate bribery cases. When designing and applying the Chinese version of DPA program and complementary regimes, special attention should be paid to deterrence, rehabilitation, and individual accountability.<br/

Resolving corporate bribery through deferred prosecution agreements:Lessons from the US, UK and France for China

While bribery is designated as a criminal offense in most jurisdictions, the enforcement of anti-bribery laws in the corporate context is far from satisfactory. The weak enforcement can be mainly attributed to the practical challenges of doing so. Benefiting from deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), the U.S., UK and French authorities have significantly ramped up their anti-bribery enforcement and encouraged corporate self-policing activities. Inspired by the foreign DPA developments, China’s prosecutorial authorities have been actively promoting the compliance non-prosecution program (CNP) since 2020. Introduced amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the ever-intensive U.S.-China trade conflicts, the CNP aims to mitigate the adverse economic implications of corporate criminal enforcement and foster corporate compliance.Combining legal doctrinal research, comparative research and insights from the law and economics literature, this thesis provides an overview of the DPA regimes in the U.S., UK and France and the CNP in China. It analyzes the advantages and weakness of the DPA programs in the three jurisdictions, aiming to draw lessons for developing the Chinese version of DPA program to address corporate bribery. Meanwhile, it also identifies the reasons for the inactive role played by the corporations in China’s anti-bribery movement and the challenges caused for the authorities in the anti-bribery enforcement. It is proposed that a Chinese version of DPA program be established based on the existing CNP to resolve corporate bribery cases. When designing and applying the Chinese version of DPA program and complementary regimes, special attention should be paid to deterrence, rehabilitation, and individual accountability.<br/

Potato virus Y HC-Pro reduces the ATPase activity of NtMinD, which results in enlarged chloroplasts in HC-Pro transgenic tobacco

Potato virus Y (PVY) is an important plant virus and causes great losses every year. Viral infection often leads to abnormal chloroplasts. The first step of chloroplast division is the formation of FtsZ ring (Z-ring), and the placement of Z-ring is coordinated by the Min system in both bacteria and plants. In our lab, the helper-component proteinase (HC-Pro) of PVY was previously found to interact with the chloroplast division protein NtMinD through a yeast two-hybrid screening assay and a bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay in vivo. Here, we further investigated the biological significance of the NtMinD/HC-Pro interaction. We purified the NtMinD and HC-Pro proteins using a prokaryotic protein purification system and tested the effect of HC-Pro on the ATPase activity of NtMinD in vitro. We found that the ATPase activity of NtMinD was reduced in the presence of HC-Pro. In addition, another important chloroplast division related protein, NtMinE, was cloned from the cDNA of Nicotiana tabacum. And the NtMinD/NtMinE interaction site was mapped to the C-terminus of NtMinD, which overlaps the NtMinD/HC-Pro interaction site. Yeast three-hybrid assay demonstrated that HC-Pro competes with NtMinE for binding to NtMinD. HC-Pro was previously reported to accumulate in the chloroplasts of PVY-infected tobacco and we confirmed this result in our present work. The NtMinD/NtMinE interaction is very important in the regulation of chloroplast division. To demonstrate the influence of HC-Pro on chloroplast division, we generated HC-Pro transgenic tobacco with a transit peptide to retarget HC-Pro to the chloroplasts. The HC-Pro transgenic plants showed enlarged chloroplasts. Our present study demonstrated that the interaction between HC-Pro and NtMinD interfered with the function of NtMinD in chloroplast division, which results in enlarged chloroplasts in HC-Pro transgenic tobacco. The HC-Pro/NtMinD interaction may cause the formation of abnormal chloroplasts in PVY-infected plants

Research on the Tax Dilemma of Network Broadcast Industry and Countermeasures

With the rapid development of new forms of Internet business, the network broadcast industry has gradually become the tuyer. The huge tax evasion event of network anchors such as Huang Wei and Lin Shanshan broke out, which caused huge social public opinion, but also reflected that there are many special difficulties in the tax work of network broadcast industry at present. However, the existing tax collection and administration system of China can not adapt to the needs of the emerging industry, which induced a series of tax evasion events. This paper will grasp the particularity of the tax work in the network live broadcast industry and analyze the realistic difficulties encountered by the tax authorities in the taxation of network broadcast industry, and put forward the countermeasures for the situation of our country based on the international advanced experience, and propose a new way to deeply integrate the tax work and high-tech

Physicochemical properties of superfine grinding-microwave modified artichoke soluble dietary fiber and their alleviation of alcoholic fatty liver in mice

The effects of superfine grinding (SG) and microwave treatment (MT) on the structure and physicochemical properties of artichoke soluble dietary fiber (ASDF) and its protective effects on mice with alcoholic fatty liver (AFL) were studied. We compared the changes in structural characteristics and physicochemical properties of ASDF, SG-ASDF (ASDF treated by SG), MT-ASDF (ASDF treated by MT), and CM-ASDF (ASDF treated by SG and MT). Moreover, we evaluated the effects of the obtained ASDF on the growth characteristics, blood lipid levels, and liver of mice with AFL. Our results of the study showed that CM-ASDF had a more concentrated and uniform particle size, a higher extraction rate of ASDF and significantly improved water-holding capacity (WHC), oil-holding capacity (OHC) and water swelling capacity (WSC) of ASDF (p &lt; 0.05). After the ASDF intervention, mice with AFL exhibited a significant improvement in body lipid levels and reduce liver inflammation. Specifically, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), malonaldehyde (MDA), Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) were significantly decreased, while superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) were significantly increased (p &lt; 0.05). And the hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining results showed significant improvement of hepatic steatosis in mice with AFL. In summary, our study found that both SG and MT could improve the structure and physicochemical properties of ASDF, with CM-ASDF being the most effective. Additionally, CM-ASDF was selected to continue the investigation and demonstrated an excellent protective effect on mice with AFL, with the high dose group (H-ASDF) showing the greatest benefit. These findings provided some new insights for future comprehensive utilization of ASDF and drug development for the treatment of AFL

Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Induce Podocyte Injury Through Increasing Reactive Oxygen Species in Lupus Nephritis

The expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) has been documented in murine models and patients with lupus nephritis (LN), but the exact role of MDSCs in this process remains largely unknown. In this study, we investigated whether MDSCs are involved in the process of podocyte injury in the development of LN. In toll-like receptor-7 (TLR-7) agonist imiquimod-induced lupus mice, we found the severe podocyte injury in glomeruli of lupus mice and significant expansion of MDSCs in spleens and kidneys of lupus mice. The function of TLR-7 activated MDSCs was enhanced including the increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in vivo and in vitro. Moreover, the ROS production of MDSCs induced podocyte injury through activating the p-38MAPK and NF-kB signaling. Furthermore, we verified that podocyte injury was indeed correlated with expansion of MDSCs and their ROS secretion in LN of pristane-induced lupus mice. These findings first indicate that the podocyte injury in LN was associated with the increased MDSCs in kidney and MDSCs may be a promising therapeutic target of LN in the future

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation Reverses Multi-Organ Dysfunction in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Mice and Humans

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease that, despite the advances in immunosuppressive medical therapies, remains potentially fatal in some patients, especially in treatment-refractory patients. Here we reported that impairment of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) and their associated osteoblastic niche deficiency contribute in part to the pathogenesis of SLE-like disease in MRL/lpr mice. Interestingly, allogenic BMMSC transplantation (MSCT) is capable of reconstructing the bone marrow osteoblastic niche and more effectively reverses multi-organ dysfunction as compared to medical immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide (CTX). At the cellular level, MSCT, not CTX treatment, was capable to induce osteoblastic niche reconstruction, possibly contributing to the recovery of regulatory T cells and re-establishment of the immune homeostasis. Based on the promising clinical outcomes in SLE mice, we treated 4 CTX/glucocorticoid treatment-refractory SLE patients using allogenic MSCT and showed a stable 12-18 months disease remission in all treated patients. The patients benefited an amelioration of disease activity, improvement in serologic markers and renal function. These early evidences suggest that allogenic MSCT may be a feasible and safe salvage therapy in refractory SLE patients

GSKJ4 Protects Mice Against Early Sepsis via Reducing Proinflammatory Factors and Up-Regulating MiR-146a

Sepsis, defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction, is one of the most common causes of mortality in intensive care units with limited therapeutic options. However, the mechanism underlying the regulation of epigenetics on sepsis remains largely undefined. Here we showed that JMJD3, the histone lysine demethylase, played a critical role in the epigenetic regulation of innate immunity during early sepsis. Pharmacological inhibition of JMJD3 by GSKJ4 protected mice against early septic death and reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) production as well as IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) expression. Interestingly, GSKJ4 up-regulated the transcription of anti-inflammatory microRNA-146a (miR-146a) in peritoneal macrophages from septic mice. Mechanistically, JMJD3 negatively regulated the transcription of miR-146a via its demethylation of H3K27me3 on the promoter of miR-146a. Moreover, the transcription of miR-146a was positively regulated by nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) p65. Inhibition of NF-κB p65 promoted JMJD3 binding to miR-146a promoter and decreased the tri-methylation level of H3K27, while the inhibition of JMJD3 did not affect the recruitment of NF-κB p65 to miR-146a promoter. These results highlight an epigenetic mechanism by which JMJD3 was inhibited by NF-κB p65 from binding to miR-146a promoter to promote the anti-inflammatory response. Taken together, our findings uncover a key role for JMJD3 in modulating the miR-146a transcription and shed light on the JMJD3 inhibitors could be potential therapeutic agents for early sepsis therapy

Influence of synthetic superparamagnetic iron oxide on dendritic cells

Yongbin Mou1, Baoan Chen2, Yu Zhang3, Yayi Hou4, Hao Xie4, Guohua Xia2, Meng Tang5, Xiaofeng Huang1, Yanhong Ni1, Qingang Hu1,6 1Central Laboratory of Stomatology, Stomatological Hospital Affiliated Medical School, Nanjing University, 2Department of Hematology, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School, Southeast University, 3State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, Southeast University, 4Immunology and Reproductive Biology Laboratory, Medical School, Nanjing University, 5Laboratory of Environmental Medicine and Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, People&amp;#39;s Republic of China; 6Leeds Dental Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK Background: This study investigated the influence of synthetic superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) on dendritic cells and provides a possible method for labeling these cells. Methods: SPIO nanoparticles were prepared, and their morphology and magnetic properties were characterized. The particles were endocytosed by dendritic cells generated from mouse bone marrow. Labeling efficiency and cellular uptake were analyzed by Prussian blue staining and quantitative spectrophotometric assay. Meanwhile, the surface molecules, cellular apoptosis, and functional properties of the SPIO-labeled dendritic cells were explored by flow cytometry and the mixed lymphocyte reaction assay. Results: The synthetic nanoparticles possessed a spherical shape and good superparamagnetic behavior. The mean concentration of iron in immature and mature dendritic cells was 31.8 &amp;plusmn; 0.7 &amp;micro;g and 35.6 &amp;plusmn; 1.0 &amp;micro;g per 1 &amp;times; 106 cells, respectively. After 12 hours of incubation with SPIO at a concentration of 25 &amp;micro;g/mL, nearly all cells were shown to contain iron. Interestingly, cellular apoptosis and surface expression of CD80, CD86, major histocompatibility II, and chemokine receptor 7 in mature dendritic cells were not affected to any significant extent by SPIO labeling. T cell activation was maintained at a low ratio of dendritic cells to T cells. Conclusion: SPIO nanoparticles have good superparamagnetic behavior, highly biocompatible characteristics, and are suitable for use in further study of the migratory behavior and biodistribution of dendritic cells in vivo. Keywords: superparamagnetic iron oxide, dendritic cell, cell labelin