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Promoting sustainable economic development has been pursued by all countries, and achieving green economic development is crucial to sustainable economic development. This study uses the non-radial direction distance function (NDDF) method to calculate the level of development of the green economy in Chinese cities during 2003–2014. Next, it uses the establishment of China's city commercial banks as an exogenous policy shock to build a staggered difference-in-differences model to empirically test the impact of the establishment of city commercial banks on green economy development. This study found that, first, the establishment of city commercial banks significantly promoted green economy development. Second, in areas with a high proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the establishment of city commercial banks is imperative to promoting green economy development. SMEs are crucial carriers to city commercial banks to promote green economy development. Third, financing constraints mitigation, green innovation, and pollution emission reduction are important channels for city commercial banks affecting green economy development. This study enriches the relevant research on the impact of financial market reform on green economy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As clean air is a public good, local governments play an irreplaceable role in environmental protection. This study examines how intergovernmental competition affects air quality in China. The results reveal that intergovernmental tax competition increases regional sulfur dioxide and haze emissions and worsens regional air quality, while competition in infrastructure investment does not have such effects. Furthermore, tax competition will affect air quality through industrial spatial distribution. Intergovernmental competition attracts low-technical content capital flowing into where it is more aggressive, triggering a "race to the bottom" effect on industrial structure and attracting similar industries through an agglomeration economy. On this basis, this study uses the Spatial Durbin model to test the spatial impact of intergovernmental competition on air quality. The effects are manifested in two forms: pollution spillover and pollution transfer. Pollution spillover has a major effect on the air quality of neighboring regions at close geographical distances, while pollution transfer is mainly responsible for the air quality of regions with similar levels of economic development. The relocation of capital and industries between regions due to intergovernmental competition causes the spillover and transfer effects on air quality. In addition, this study analyzes the regulatory effect of fiscal decentralization and environmental regulation on the impact of intergovernmental competition on air quality. • Intergovernmental competition affects air quality through changing regional industrial structure. • Agglomeration economy strengthens the effect of intergovernmental competition on air quality. • The effects of intergovernmental competition on air quality includes spatial spillover effects and transfer effects. • Industrial transfer caused by intergovernmental competition brings the transfer of air pollution. • There are differences in the effect of tax competition and infrastructure investment competition on air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there are approximately 170 million hyperuricemia patients in China. Conventional drug therapy has limited clinical benefits and may induce serious side effects. Enzyme replacement therapy has attracted much attention owing to its advantages of strong specificity, small dosage, and remarkable curative effect. Uricase is an efficient oxidase, which can oxidize uric acid to allantoin and hydrogen peroxide, to reduce the uric acid level. In this study, we used a mild biomimetic method to prepare a novel uricase and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) loaded CaHPO₄ nanoflower (uricase&HRP-CaHPO₄ nanoflower). The nanoflower was then integrated with a hyaluronic acid dissolvable microneedle system (uricase&HRP-CaHPO₄ @HA MN) to achieve transdermal drug delivery for the treatment of hyperuricemia, which has high patient compliance. In this system, the stability and catalytic activity of uricase could be improved by the CaHPO₄ nanoflower, and HRP could decompose the hydrogen peroxide to accelerate the reaction of uricase. An in vivo study demonstrated that the uricase&HRP-CaHPO₄ @HA MN could effectively reduce the uric acid level of blood as intravenous injection without side effects. Thus, this uricase&HRP-CaHPO₄ @HA MN can facilitate transcutaneous hyperuricemia treatment and provide a new alternative for the exploration of clinical treatment of hyperuricemia.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complex disease that affects the whole joint, resulting from the combined influence of biomechanical factors and genetic factors. The heritable component for primary OA accounts for about 60% of variation in population liability to the disease. So far, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and candidate gene studies have established many OA-related loci. However, these findings account for only a rather small fraction of the genetic component. To further reveal the genetic architecture of OA, we conducted this case-control study to explore the association of locus EN1 rs4144782 and knee OA susceptibility in a Chinese population. EN1 rs4144782 was significantly associated with increased risk of knee OA (OR=1.26; 95% CI: 1.05-1.50, P value=0.012). In dominant model, compared with carriers of GG genotype, those with AG or AA genotype have an 1.44-fold increased risk of OA (OR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.10-1.88; P value=0.008). Subgroup analyses didn't change the results materially. This should be the first association study of EN1 locus on risk of OA, and our finding suggested that the EN1 rs4144782 might contribute to the susceptibility of knee OA.