The Indissoluble Bound with Sinology: An Interview with Professor Pedro San Ginés Aguilar from the University of Granada, Spain

Entrevista a Pedro San Ginés Aguila

A Study on Consumers\u27 Learning Effect in the Price Reduction Auction: a case study of Gongtianxia

GongTianXia’s 7 days shot and 15 minutes shot is a very typical online price reduction auction. By studying the learning effect of consumers in this online price reduction auction, this paper hopes to provide some suggestions for the formulation of marketing strategy of GongTianXia. Through the research of related literature and the deep analysis of consumer purchasing decision theory, the research problem is divided into two aspects. First, with the increase in the number of participants, whether the proceeds of the auction goods are gradually increasing. Second, with the increase in the number of participants, whether the grasp of the timing is more and more accurate. Through the statistical analysis of the auction data of GongTianXia, this paper verified the existence of consumer learning effect in the price reduction auction

The Circulation of Japanese Products in Wuchow of Kwangsi during the late Qing Dynasty

Kwangsi （Guangxi） locates in South China, and the Pearl River （Zhujiang River） flows through here, which is the second-largest river around the country. The main stream of the Pearl River is the West River （Xijiang River）, which is the most developed reach in the basin. The West River makes great contribution to the foreign trade since the late Qing dynasty, and Wuchow （Wuzhou） is the gateway. Wuchow developed into a treaty port on June 4th, 1897 by “The Special Article of the Burmese Frontier Convention”. But Japan had paid attention to Wuchow as early as 1895 when the negotiation of the treaty of Sino‒Japanese war was under way, intending to build a passage through the West River from Wuchow. In the late Qing dynasty, most of foreign products except cotton and woolen goods were distributed into Kwangsi from Wuchow, when Japanese products occupied the largest market share in Wuchow. There are a lot of records to support this point in the Japanese Consular Reports of Meiji period. This paper is intended to clarify about the circulation of Japanese products in Kwangsi in the late Qing dynasty mainly according to the Japanese Consular Reports.研究ノー

Azorhizobium caulinodans c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase Chp1 involved in motility, EPS production, and nodulation of the host plant

Establishment of the rhizobia-legume symbiosis is usually accompanied by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production by the legume host at the site of infection, a process detrimental to rhizobia. In Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571, deletion of chp1, a gene encoding c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase, led to increased resistance against H2O2 and to elevated nodulation efficiency on its legume host Sesbania rostrata. Three domains were identified in the Chp1: a PAS domain, a degenerate GGDEF domain, and an EAL domain. An in vitro enzymatic activity assay showed that the degenerate GGDEF domain of Chp1 did not have diguanylate cyclase activity. The phosphodiesterase activity of Chp1 was attributed to its EAL domain which could hydrolyse c-di-GMP into pGpG. The PAS domain functioned as a regulatory domain by sensing oxygen. Deletion of Chp1 resulted in increased intracellular c-di-GMP level, decreased motility, increased aggregation, and increased EPS (extracellular polysaccharide) production. H2O2-sensitivity assay showed that increased EPS production could provide ORS571 with resistance against H2O2. Thus, the elevated nodulation efficiency of the increment chp1 mutant could be correlated with a protective role of EPS in the nodulation process. These data suggest that c-di-GMP may modulate the A. caulinodans-S. rostrata nodulation process by regulating the production of EPS which could protect rhizobia against H2O2

Prognostic nutritional index: A potential biomarker for predicting the prognosis of decompensated liver cirrhosis

BackgroundPrognostic nutritional index (PNI) is an independent predictor of the prognosis of various diseases. However, the prognosis value of PNI in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis (DLC) remains unknown. The study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of PNI in patients with DLC.MethodsA total of 214 eligible patients were enrolled in the study’s development cohort between January 2018 and March 2021. The clinical primary study endpoints were mortality at 3 and 6 months. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to assess the PNI’s prediction accuracy, and Youden’s index was utilized to determine the PNI’s optimal cut-off value. Moreover, based on the optimal cut-off value, patients were categorized into high and low PNI groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine independent risk factors for mortality, while the relationship between PNI and the risk of death was identified and demonstrated using restricted cubic splines (RCS). A validation cohort of 139 patients was to verify the predictive power of the PNI.ResultsIn the development cohort, the mortality rate at 3 and 6 months were 10.3% (22) and 14.0% (30), respectively. The PNI had comparable predictive power with the MELD score at all follow-up endpoints. Decreased PNI was an independent predictor of adverse prognosis at all follow-up endpoints. The RCS revealed a linear correlation between PNI and the risk of death. We confirmed that lower PNI was an independent predictor of poor prognosis in the validation cohort.ConclusionThe findings showed that lower PNI is an independent factor of poor outcomes and might be utilized as a potentially promising prognostic predictor in patients with DLC

Model Predictive Control of NCS with Data Quantization and Bounded Arbitrary Time Delays

The model predictive control for constrained discrete time linear system under network environment is considered. The bounded time delay and data quantization are assumed to coexist in the data transmission link from the sensor to the controller. A novel NCS model is specially established for the model predictive control method, which casts the time delay and data quantization into a unified framework. A stability result of the obtained closed-loop model is presented by applying the Lyapunov method, which plays a key role in synthesizing the model predictive controller. The model predictive controller, which parameterizes the infinite horizon control moves into a single state feedback law, is provided which explicitly considers the satisfaction of input and state constraints. Two numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the derived method

Epidermal growth factor receptor in breast carcinoma: association between gene copy number and mutations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is an available target of effective anti-EGFR therapy for human breast cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of EGFR gene amplification and mutations in breast cancer and to analyze the association between the statuses of these two gene alterations.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>EGFR gene amplification and mutations were investigated in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from 139 Chinese female patients with breast cancer by means of fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) and fluorescently labeled real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>EGFR gene amplification was observed in 46/139 (33.1%) of cases by FISH. Based on RT-PCR, 2/139 (1.4%) samples had EGFR gene mutations. Overall, only 1 (0.7%) of the cases was identified with both whole gene amplification and mutation, and 92 (66.2%) of cases were negative for both. High gene copy numbers of EGFR had significant correlation with the occurrence of EGFR protein expressions (P = 0.002).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this study, EGFR mutations were presented in only two samples, indicating that EGFR mutations should not be employed in future trials with anti-EGFR therapies for breast cancer. However, EGFR whole gene amplification is frequently observed in patients with breast cancer. It will be of significant interest to investigate whether EGFR gene copy number is a suitable screening test for EGFR-targeted therapy for breast cancer.</p