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This study examines the implications of board interlocks on stock liquidity using a sample of listed Brazilian firms. The instrumental variable two-stage least squares estimation is used to minimize endogeneity concerns. This study provides evidence that board interlocks are positively related to stock liquidity. Our cross-sectional study findings reveal that the impact of board interlocks on stock liquidity is more pronounced for firms with high uncertainty, in competitive industries, and with poor governance. Our findings suggest that board interlocks aid businesses in accessing external capital from potential investors.

Purpose The purpose of this paper studies the transformation effect of research and development (R&D) subsidies on firm performance in emerging economies from the perspective of capital and product markets. It also studies the mechanisms behind R&D subsidies’ transformation effect. Design/methodology/approach This study mainly explores the transformation effect of government R&D subsidies on corporate performance and its non-linear characteristics using Chinese A-share listed companies’ data from 2008 to 2016. The authors use the instrumental variable method to reduce endogenous problems and conduct a series of robustness tests to support the conclusions. The mechanisms of the transformation effect are explored via mediation effect models. The impact of firm heterogeneities on the transformation effect is also addressed. Findings Results indicate that R&D subsidies promote firm performance and experience obvious transformation effects only within a “moderate interval.” R&D subsidies play a vital role in enhancing firm performance mainly via two mechanisms, namely, signal financing and innovation incentives. Further, the transformation effect is much greater in non-state-owned, young and large enterprises. Originality/value This paper contributes to understanding how R&D subsidies affect corporate performance from the perspective of capital and product markets by applying the linear and non-linear techniques that can clarify the relationship between the selected variables under study. The findings of this study might be helpful to identify the right directions for the government to implement and promote the R&D subsidy policies more effectively.

Aims Qishen Yiqi dripping pills (QSYQ) may be beneficial in patients with ischaemic heart failure (IHF). We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of QSYQ administered together with guideline-directed medical therapy in patients with IHF.Methods and results This prospective randomized, double-blind, multicentre placebo-controlled study enrolled 640 patients with IHF between March 2012 and August 2014. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 6 months of QSYQ or placebo in addition to standard treatment. The primary outcome was 6 min walking distance at 6 months. Among the 638 IHF patients (mean age 65 years, 72% men), the 6 min walking distance increased from 336.15 +/- 100.84 to 374.47 +/- 103.09 m at 6 months in the QSYQ group, compared with 334.40 +/- 100.27 to 340.71 +/- 104.57 m in the placebo group (mean change +38.32 vs. +6.31 m respectively;P Conclusions Treatment with QSYQ for 6 months in addition to standard therapy improved exercise tolerance of IHF patients and was well tolerated.

This chapter deals with the industrial integration effects of M&As under government competition from the perspective of regional economy. First, based on an extended yardstick competition model, a general survey of the relationship between government competition and regional industrial structure is conducted to expound on the impact mechanism of government competition on regional specialization, and next, an analysis of the industrial paths of SOE M&As is made and the manufacturing industry is taken as examples to study the relation between corporate M&As and industrial agglomeration.

The institutional changes in China’s economic transition have endogenously determined the competitions among local governments. As a mode of resource allocation, M&A and corporate consolidation represent the degree of marketization and are subject to administrative barriers and market segmentation brought about by government intervention. In this chapter, we will first review the relevant literature and the development of government competition and establish an index system for the measure of government competitiveness. And, on this basis, a new framework for the analysis of corporate M&A and corporate consolidation from the perspective of government competition will be established.

We analyze the real effects of the environmental regulation on technological innovation using an air pollution reduction governance policy promulgated in China under the 12th Plan in 2012. We treat the Air Pollution Prevention Policy as a quasi-natural experiment that is plausibly exogenous to the firms’ innovation policy and thus use the difference in difference (DID) as an identification strategy in our analysis. We provide evidence that environmental regulation substantially promotes innovation productivity. Our findings reveal that this impact is more pronounced for state-owned firms, pollution-intensive industries, and high-tech-intensive industries. We uncover three possible underlying economic mechanisms through which the air pollution reduction policy impacts innovation. We show that government financing, external governance from the capital market, and R&D intensity are three underlying economic channels through which environmental regulation promotes technological innovation. Collectively this study’s policy implication is that industrial policies that promote greener environments can enhance economic performance.

We examine the relationship between economic policy uncertainty, information disclosure and stock liquidity using a large sample of Chinese firms. We first establish that economic policy uncertainty leads to declining stock liquidity. Next, we provide evidence that managers respond to uncertainty shocks to their firm’s information environment by producing more information. Cross-sectional tests indicate that voluntary information disclosure increases more for firms with higher external information demand and with no implicit guarantees. Furthermore, we find that high information disclosure quality mitigates the negative impact of heightened economic policy uncertainty on stock liquidity. This impact is more pronounced for firms with poor information environments and private firms. Additionally, we provide further evidence using cumulative abnormal returns that in periods of high economic policy uncertainty, investors react more to management earnings announcements for firms with high information disclosure quality. Finally, we uncover that increased information disclosure quality improves financial analysts forecast precision more when policy uncertainty is high.

Chronic mild stress (CMS) has been demonstrated to contribute to atherosclerosis. 6-gingerol (6-Gin), a phenolic component of ginger (Zingiber officinale), has been shown to exert numerous pharmacological properties, such as anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective effects. Here we investigated the role of CMS in the development of atherosclerosis in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed ApoE−/− mice and evaluated the potential therapeutic effects of 6-Gin. Mice were exposed to CMS for 20 weeks, at week 5, they were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD), then received 6-Gin (20 mg/kg/day, intragastrically) treatment. Antiatherosclerotic simvastatin (Sim) and antidepressant lorazepam (Lor) were used for positive drugs. The behavioral and atherosclerotic changes, plasma lipid profiles as well as inflammatory cytokine levels were measured. Our results showed that CMS-exposed mice exhibited reduced body weight gain, sucrose preference and locomotor activity, which are representative of some of the core symptoms of depression. Furthermore, CMS challenge aggravated atherosclerotic lesions, as indicated by increased plaque formation, elevation of plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterin, and proinflammatory cytokines including TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6. In addition, the expression levels of phosphorylated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), hHMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR), fatty acid synthase (FAS), sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP)-1 and SREBP-2 in the liver tissues were altered after CMS exposure. 6-Gin not only improved the behavioral changes, but also alleviated atherosclerotic lesions, and reversed the expression levels of lipid profiles and inflammatory cytokines in stressed mice. Moreover, the antiatherosclerotic effects of 6-Gin is mediated in part by the AMPK signaling pathway, which is closely associated with cholesterol synthesis and lipid accumulation. Together, these results suggest that 6-Gin attenuates arteriosclerosis in ApoE−/− mice exposed to CMS and HFD, and it may be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of atherosclerosis.

Purpose: This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effects of reinforcing kidney and activating blood (RKAB) therapy for patients with premature ovarian failure (POF) from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: We searched 7 databases and screened 11 studies from 267 articles by excluded the studies which did not reach inclusion criteria. Studies selection and data extraction were performed by two reviewers independently. Finally, the Review Manager Software was utilized to pool data, and evaluated the overall level of the evidence using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria. Results: RKAB therapy significantly improve the serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) (MD-5.50, 95% CI: (-8.14, -2.86), P

TT&C system of the circumlunar return and reentry spacecraft was responsible for finishing the telcommand, telmentry, ranging, the orbit determination and the searching of reentry module cooperated with ground system. To solve the difficulties of complicated configuration, weight resource-constrained and the high-velocity during the reentry phase, the design of different frequency half-space antenna arraying was developed to realize the entire sphere coverage of the TT&C. The problem of resource-constrained of reentry module was solved by the design of system integration and unit lightweight, and the bandwidth of PLL was rational designed to meet the requirement of TT&C during the high-velocity reentry phase. This paper mainly introduces TT&C system scheme, key techniques of TT&C and the on-orbit flight results of reentry TT&C system.

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is currently considered part of the standard care in the management of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). Autologous transplantation has extended overall survival and progression-free survival by 1–1.5 years compared to conventional dose chemotherapy in randomized clinical studies 1 – 3 in patients up to 65 years of age. Unfortunately, long-term survival for patients treated with autologous HSCT is rare, and virtually all patients relapse. Allogeneic (Allo-) HSCT can induce long-term molecular remission and is possibly the only curative treatment for MM based on the graft-versus-tumor (GVT) or graftversus-myeloma (GVM) effects mediated by the allogeneic donor immune cells, particularly donor T-cells. Advantages of allogeneic HSCT in comparison to autologous HSCT are a tumor-free stem cell source and the GVM effect. Current clinical research is trying to define the clinical outcomes of patients allocated to allogeneic transplantations based on the availability of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched donor versus patients without a suitable donor who undergo one or two autologous transplantations. 4 , 5 Recent publications indicated that durable engraftment and less regimen-related toxicity can be obtained in allogeneic transplantation using reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen that do not result in myeloablation. 6 – 8 Despite reduced early mortality, significant rates of graft-versus-host (GVH) disease and late relapse remain problems following RIC regimens, highlighting the need for novel strategies to enhance and target the GVM effect in allogeneic transplantation. This chapter will highlight the antigenic targets for GVM and review the clinical experience with donor leukocyte infusions, myeloablative transplants, nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens, and the use of tandem auto-allo transplants for this disease.

Background: The use of UCB transplants is limited by the difficulty of finding units with sufficient cells to provide reliable engraftment, and the slower kinetics of hematopoietic engraftment compared to other hematopoietic progenitor cell grafts. Grafts consisting of two unrelated UCB result in accelerated engraftment compared to single unit UCB transplants, but the mechanism for enhanced engraftment is unknown. Methods: We extracted data from published studies on myeloid engraftment following transplantation of single (9 studies, 1542 engrafted patients) or double (4 studies, 94 engrafted patients) UCB units (Table). A weighted average of median days (and estimated SD) to engraft for single and double UCB transplants was calculated. The cumulative incidence of myeloid engraftment for single or double UCB transplants was modeled based the assumption that the time to engraft was described by a normal distribution. For double and triple UCB transplants, the probability of myeloid engraftment at any time post-transplant was calculated as 1 minus the probability of non-engraftment for a single UCB unit squared or cubed, respectively. Results: The weighted average percentage for myeloid engraftment following single UCB transplants was 89%, with a median day of engraftment of 26.4 days. The weighted average for the rate of myeloid engraftment following double UCB transplants was 96%, with a median day of engraftment of 22 days. The calculated median days to engraft from single or double UCB transplants, using the assumption of normal distributions, were 22 and 26 days, respectively. Applying the mathematical model, the predicted cumulative engraftment for a double UCB graft is 99%, with a the curve for cumulative engraftment kinetics quite similar to the observed engraftment in Barker 2005 and the calculated curve for double UCB transplants based upon analysis of extracted data (Figure). Conclusion: UCB units do not appear to facilitate engraftment in grafts containing multiple units. A stochastic statistical model, in which different UCB grafts engraft independently, appears to account for the observed 4-day decrease in the median time to achieve myeloid engraftment following a double versus single UCB transplant. The use of a triple UCB graft is predicted to shorten the median time to achieve neutrophil engraftment to a median of 20 days. Published experiences describing myeloid engraftment following single and double UCB transplants Single UCB Transplant N, % engrafted Median day to engraft Double UCB Transplants N, % engrafted Median day to engraft Laughlin NEJM 2001 N=61, 90% 27 Barker Blood 2005 N=50, 100% 23 Hamza BJH 2004 N=28, 86% 29 Yoo ASH 2005 N=12, 100% 23 Barker Blood 2001 N=31, 88% 26 Kai ASH 2004 N=11, 82% 21 Thomson Blood 2000 N=30, 81% 25 Ballen ASH 2005 N=21, 90% 20 Sanz Blood 2001 N=22, 100% 22 Terakura BBMT 2007 N=148, 81% 22 Wagner Blood 2002 N=102, 86% 22 Migliaccio Blood 2000 N=200, 91% 28 Stevens Blood 2002 N=1111, 90% 27 Figure Figure