The Effects of Fundamentals, Speculation, Government Policies, and International Capital Flows on China\u27s Stock Market

This paper, based on the relationship between the economy, policy and the financial market seeks to explore the leading force in China\u27s stock market and identify how the government policies affect the stock market, through an analysis of the performance of the Shanghai Stock Exchange Index over the past 10 years. Comparing the stocks\u27 intrinsic value to their market price can present an aerial view of China\u27s stock market. When the market prices deviated from fundamentals, we can find what government did to respond to the market and lead market opinions. Through our estimation, comparing the sample fundamental prices with the sample market prices, the market prices are consistent with fundamentals, besides the boom and bust in 2008 and 2015. Beyond fundamentals, we also looked at another three determinants of stocks\u27 prices: speculation, government intervention through policy or open market trading, and the capital flows or international hot money. Our main finding is that fundamentals are still a core determinant in China\u27s Stock Market

Mucosal-Associated Invariant T Cells Improve Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Through Regulating Macrophage Polarization

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, a novel population of innate-like lymphocytes, have been involved in various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. However, their role in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the alterations of phenotype and immunological function of MAIT cells in NAFLD. Analysis of PBMCs in 60 patients with NAFLD and 48 healthy controls (HC) revealed that circulating MAIT cell frequency decreased in NAFLD, especially in the patients with higher serum levels of γ-glutamyl transferase or total triglyceride. Functional alterations of circulating MAIT cells were also detected in NAFLD patients, such as the increased production of IL-4 whereas the decreased production of IFN-γ and TNF-α. Furthermore, elevated expression of CXCR6 was observed in circulating MAIT cells of patients. Meanwhile, we found an increased number of MAIT cells in the livers of NAFLD, and the number was even greater in patients with higher NAFLD activity score. Moreover, activated MAIT cells induced monocytes/macrophages differentiation into M2 phenotype in vitro. Additionally, MAIT cells were enriched and displayed Th2 type cytokines profile in livers of wild type mice fed with methionine and choline deficient diet (MCD). Notably, mice deficient of MAIT cells exhibited more severe hepatic steatosis and inflammation upon MCD, accompanied with more CD11c+ proinflammatory macrophages (M1) and less CD206+ anti-inflammatory macrophages (M2) in livers. Our results indicate that MAIT cells protect against inflammation in NAFLD through producing regulatory cytokines and inducing anti-inflammatory macrophage polarization, which may provide novel therapeutic strategies for NAFLD

Extremely Black Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotube Arrays for Solar Steam Generation

The unique structure of a vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) array makes it behave most similarly to a blackbody. It is reported that the optical absorptivity of an extremely black VACNT array is about 0.98–0.99 over a large spectral range of 200 nm–200 μm, inspiring us to explore the performance of VACNT arrays in solar energy harvesting. In this work, we report the highly efficient steam generation simply by laminating a layer of VACNT array on the surface of water to harvest solar energy. It is found that under solar illumination the temperature of upper water can significantly increase with obvious water steam generated, indicating the efficient solar energy harvesting and local temperature rise by the thin layer of VACNTs. We found that the evaporation rate of water assisted by VACNT arrays is 10 times that of bare water, which is the highest ratio for solar-thermal-steam generation ever reported. Remarkably, the solar thermal conversion efficiency reached 90%. The excellent performance could be ascribed to the strong optical absorption and local temperature rise induced by the VACNT layer, as well as the ultrafast water transport through the VACNT layer due to the frictionless wall of CNTs. Based on the above, we further demonstrated the application of VACNT arrays in solar-driven desalination

Quantitation of the Rank-Rankl Axis in Primary Biliary Cholangitis

<div><p>There is substantial data that suggests an abnormality of innate immunity in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) which includes the transcription factor nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) and well as downstream inflammatory signaling pathways. In addition, ImmunoChip analysis has identified a novel PBC-associated locus near the receptor activator of NF-kB ligand (RANKL) gene. Based on these observations, we investigated the role of the RANKL axis in the liver of patients with PBC compared to controls. We used immunohistochemistry to quantitate liver expression of RANKL, its receptor (RANK), and importantly the decoy receptor osteoprotegerin (OPG), including a total of 122 liver samples (PBC = 37, primary sclerosing cholangitis = 20, autoimmune hepatitis = 26, chronic hepatitis B = 32 and unaffected controls = 7). In addition, we studied RANKL-RANK-OPG co-localization in CD4 and CD8 T cells, B cells, dendritic cells, macrophages, NK, NKT cells, hepatocytes, and cholangiocytes. We report herein that RANK is constitutively expressed by cholangiocytes in both unaffected and diseased liver. However, cholangiocytes from PBC express significantly higher levers of RANK than either the unaffected controls or liver diseased controls. CD4, CD8 and CD19 cells with in the portal areas around bile ducts in PBC express significantly higher levels of RANKL compared to controls. Importantly, the overall hepatic RANKL level and the ratio of hepatic RANKL/OPG correlated with disease severity in PBC. In conclusion, our data indicate a role of RANK-RANKL axis in the innate immune activation in PBC and we hypothesize that the damaged cholangiocytes, which express high levels of RANK, lead to the recruitment of RANKL positive cells and ultimately the classic portal tract infiltrates.</p></div

RANK expressed in cholangiocytes was elevated in patients with PBC.

<p>(A) Representative staining images (magnification 400×) from the portal areas in PBC, AIH, CHB, PSC and unaffected controls are shown (BD, bile duct, red arrow); (B) Comparison of cholangiocytic RANK levels in PBC versus unaffected and other chronic liver disease controls. Red arrows indicate bile ducts. (***, P<0.001).</p

Immunohistochemistry of receptor activator of nuclear factor κB (RANK) in liver.

<p>(A) Representative staining images from patients with PBC, AIH, CHB, PSC and unaffected controls (HC) are shown; (B) Statistical analysis of expressed RANKL in liver. (**, p<0.01; ***, p<0.001).</p

Immunohistochemistry of receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL) in liver.

<p>(A) Representative staining images from PBC, AIH, CHB, PSC and unaffected controls (HC) are shown; (B) Statistical analysis of expressed RANKL in liver. (*, p<0.05; **, p<0.01).</p