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Purpose: This study examined interrelationships among insomnia, stress, anxiety, and metabolic risk factors. Methods: A total of 124 college students were included in the analysis (age = 21 ± 1 years). Insomnia, stress of life events, and anxiety were assessed using self-reported questionnaires. Fasting blood samples were assayed for glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol). Results: Insomnia was positively associated with stress of life events (β = 0.28, p <.001) and anxiety (β = 0.46, p <.001). Insomnia was related to elevated fasting insulin (β = 0.12, p =.04) and triglyceride level (β = 1.85, p <.001). An inverse association was found between insomnia and HDL-cholesterol (β = −0.45, p =.03). Sobel's test for mediation showed that stress of life events (p =.020) and anxiety (p =.013) mediated the relationship between insomnia and hypertriglyceridemia. Conclusions: Reducing stress and anxiety among college students with insomnia may influence subsequent cardiovascular health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Loss of the neuromonitoring signal (LOS) during thyroidectomy signifies recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) injury, which is one of the common complications, especially by traction injury. Transient intraoperative LOS means spontaneous recovery of nerve function during surgery or within 6-month post-surgery. Few articles discuss intraoperative recovery time and transient LOS, and there is no consensus on the risk factors for RLN traction injury and its recovery course; thus, we wanted to determine the maximum intraoperative recovery time. Materials and methods: This retrospective study included patients who had undergone thyroidectomies at Tainan National Cheng Kung University Hospital between January 2015 and August 2018. A total of 775 patients (with 1000 nerves at risk) who underwent intermittent intraoperative neuromonitoring during thyroidectomy were included in this study. The LOS nerves were divided into 4 groups based on the LOS subtype and the intraoperative status of the recovery. The postoperative vocal cord function was determined by thyroid ultrasound and/or laryngoscope. All the patients would be followed up postoperatively in 2–3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, and 4–6 weeks. Results: LOS occurred in 67 of 775 (8.6%) patients and in 70 of 1000 nerves at risk (7.0%). There were 2 in 70 nerves (2.9%) with LOS type 1 (segmental nerve traction injury) with intraoperative recovery (Group 1), 5 (7.1%) with LOS type 1 without intraoperative recovery (Group 2), 47 (67.1%) with LOS type 2 (global injury) with intraoperative recovery (Group 3), and 16 (22.8%) with LOS type 2 without intraoperative recovery (Group 4). All LOS type 1 (segmental nerve injury) nerves had pathologic lesions near the RLN or vagus nerve, but none had invaded the nerves (p < 0.05). The resolving time intraoperatively in the 2 patients in Group 1 was 5 min and 10 min, respectively. The resolving time intraoperatively in Group 3 was 1–20 min, and the average time was 4.8 min. In Group 2, 3 injured nerves recovered within 6 weeks postoperatively, and 2 nerves in 12 weeks. In Group 4, all the 16 injured nerves recovered within 6 weeks postoperatively. Conclusion: Applying intermittent intraoperative neuromonitoring during thyroidectomy, traction recurrent laryngeal nerve injury still happened in 7.0%. 70% of the injured nerves recovered the function intraoperatively after releasing the traction, and the longest duration of recovery is 20 min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Abstract The [18F] isotope-labelled CB1 inverse agonist 3 was elaborated and synthesized for positron emission tomography scanning studies. After immediate purification and calibration with its unlabeled counterpart, compound 3 was intravenously injected in mice and revealed that its distribution percentage in brain over 90-min scans among five region of interests, including brain, liver, heart, thigh muscle and kidney was lower than 1%, thus providing direct evidence to justify itself as a peripherally restricted CB1 antagonist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty five novel chemical analogs of the previously reported Aurora kinase inhibitor BPR1K653 (1-(4-(2-((5-chloro-6-phenylfuro[2,3- d ]pyrimidin-4-yl)amino)ethyl)phenyl)-3-(2-((dimethylamino)methyl)phenyl)urea) have been designed, synthesized, and evaluated by Aurora-A and Aurora-B enzymatic kinase activity assays. Similar to BPR1K653 , analogs 3b - 3h bear alkyl or tertiary amino group at the ortho position of the phenylurea, and showed equal or better inhibition activity for Aurora-B over Aurora-A. Conversely, preferential Aurora-A inhibition activity was observed when the same functional group was moved to the meta position of the phenylurea. Compounds 3m and 3n , both of which harbor a tertiary amino group at the meta position of the phenylurea, showed 10–16 fold inhibition selectivity for Aurora-A over Aurora-B. The in vitro kinase inhibition results were verified by Western blot analysis, and indicated that compounds 3m and 3n were more than 75-fold superior in inhibiting T-loop autophosphorylation of Aurora-A (Thr288), compared to Aurora-B (Thr232) in HCT116 colon carcinoma cells. The computational docking analysis suggested that the tertiary amine at the meta position of the phenylurea formed a more stable interaction with residues in the back pocket of Aurora-A than in Aurora-B, a possible explanation for the observed discrepancy in the selectivity. These results support an alternative small molecule design strategy targeting the back pocket of Aurora kinases for selective isoform inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of government ideology on energy efficiency using data for a panel of 23 OECD countries over the 1980-2013 period. With dynamic panel data method applied, our evidence suggests that government ideology is a significant determinant of energy efficiency. Specifically, we show that left-wing parties are associated with energy efficiency improvements. Overall, our results are robust to the two measures of energy efficiency variables, alternative measures of government ideology variables, using annual and 3-year averages of the data, the inclusion of economic and political variables, and to model specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specific interactions between Srchomology 2 (SH2) domain-containingproteins and the phosphotyrosine-containing counterparts play significantrole in cellular protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) signaling pathways.The SH2 domain inhibitors could potentially serve as drug candidatesin treating human diseases. Here we have incorporated a novel phosphotyrosinemimetic, which is an unusual amino acid carrying a cyclosaligenyl(cycloSal) phosphodiester moiety, into dipeptides to investigate theinhibitory effect on SH2 domain-containing proteins. A plate-basedassay was also established to screen for inhibitors that disrupt theinteraction between a phosphopeptide of SLAM (signaling lymphocyticactivation molecule) and its interacting protein SAP (SLAM-associatedprotein). We identified a number of inhibitors with IC50values in the range of 17–35 μM, implying that thecycloSal phosphodiester-carrying amino acid could mimic the phosphotyrosylresidue. Our results also raise the possibility of integrating thenewly developed phosphotyrosine mimetic moiety into inhibitors designedfor other SH2 domain-containing proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While voters may punish governments for worsening economic conditions, they may not reward them symmetrically for improving conditions. We examine whether US macroeconomic conditions affect Presidential approval asymmetrically using quarterly data from 1961_I to 2009_II. The results suggest that the relationship between Presidential approval and economic aggregates is nonlinear. Long-run causality runs from the economic variables to Presidential support. The speed of adjustment towards long-run equilibrium relationship also differs when conditions worsen from when they improve. Finally, we explore the impact of other factors, such as war and Presidential scandal on Presidential approval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine state income and government spending data to investigate the role of political parties and elections in state business cycles of the United States, and find strong support for the partisan political business cycles, both traditional and rational versions. The growth rate of per capita real income and government spending tend to be higher (lower) with a Democratic (Republican) governor as well as a Democratic (Republican) president. In case of economic growth, we find some evidence for opportunistic cycles induced by national level politics; meanwhile, both national and state governments seem to generate expansionary policy in election years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the importance of political expenditures as the primary determinants of vote shares for the Taiwan 2004 legislator campaigns with multi-member districts. Our main findings are as follows. First, advertising spending, candidates in the same party as the mayor, the education level of voters and the degree of race competition had a strong effect on the candidates' vote shares but not on economic performance. Second, the advertising spending of both incumbents and challengers had a significant effect on vote shares, but the effects were greater for challengers than for incumbents. Third, the two major political camps, that is, the Pan-Blue and Pan-Green, showed that spending exerts a corresponding influence on vote shares. Fourth, we also discovered that the spending coefficients for the winners were larger than those for the losers. Finally, the logit model demonstrates the result of the impact of advertising expenditures on the predicted probability of winning the election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We herein report an efficient and rapid strategy for the synthesis of highly functionalized bicyclo[3.2.1]octanones via sequential reactions: Diels–Alder reaction of MOB—ODPM rearrangement—reductive cleavage of cyclopropane, and its application to synthesize the core structure of drechslerine D. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using the data for per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions relative to the average per capita emissions for 21 countries in the organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) covering the period 1960–2000, this paper seeks to determine whether the stochastic convergence and β-convergence of CO2 emissions are supported in countries with the same level of development. In other words, are shocks to relative per capita CO2 emissions temporary in industrialized countries? We respond to this question by utilizing Breuer et al.''s [Breuer JB, McNown R, Wallace MS. Misleading inferences from panel unit-root tests with an illustration from purchasing power parity. Review of International Economics 2001;9(3):482–93; Breuer JB, McNown R, Wallace MS. Series-specific unit-root tests with panel data. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 2002 64(5):527–46] panel seemingly unrelated regressions augmented Dickey–Fuller (SURADF) unit-root tests, which allow us to account for possible cross-sectional effects and to identify how many and which members of the panel contain a unit root. Our empirical findings provide evidence that relative per capita CO2 emissions in OECD countries are a mixture of I(0) and I(1) processes, in which 14 out of 21 OECD countries exhibit divergence. The results reveal that conventional panel unit-root tests can lead to misleading inferences biased towards stationarity even if only one series in the panel is strongly stationary. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper considers the possibility of both a linear effect and nonlinear effect of energy consumption on economic growth, using data for the period 1955–2003 in Taiwan. We find evidence of a level-dependent effect between the two variables. Allowing for a nonlinear effect of energy consumption growth sheds new light on the explanation of the characteristics of the energy-growth link. We also provide evidence that the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in Taiwan is characterized by an inverse U-shape. Some previous studies support the view that energy consumption may promote economic growth. However, the conclusion drawn from the empirical findings suggests that such a relationship exists only where there is a low level of energy consumption in Taiwan. We show that a threshold regression provides a better empirical model than the standard linear model and that policy-makers should seek to capture economic structures associated with different stages of economic growth. It is also worth noting that the energy consumption threshold was reached in the case of Taiwan in the world energy crises periods of 1979 and 1982. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: i-PrOZnEt is an excellent reagent to promote the aldol-Tishchenko reaction of the aliphatic aldehydes tethered with other labile functional groups. The 1,3-diol monoesters 4 were formed as the major products, which could be converted to α-methylene ketones 7 in two steps in good yields. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Using panel data of 102 countries from 1990 to 2018, this research investigates the varying effect of renewable energy policies on renewable energy green innovation along with the distribution of green innovation. The panel quantile model with additive fixed effect is adopted in this paper, and the research conclusions are as follows. (1) Green innovation positively correlates with national renewable energy policy. (2) Renewable policy is more effective in countries with stronger green innovation capacity. (3) In five different areas of renewable energy, renewable policy is unable to promote green innovation in the lowest innovative countries. (4) Renewable policy exerts the smallest influence on green innovation of geothermal energy compared to other renewable energies. In sum, this paper provides an empirical reference for governments to launch renewable energy policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We investigate the distributional effects of economic policy uncertainty on energy efficiency by employing the panel quantile regression method. • We focus on the continuous city dataset of China from 2003 to 2019. • The finding demonstrates the influences of economic policy uncertainty on energy efficiency differ remarkably at various quantiles in Chinese cities. This research investigates the distributional effects of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on energy efficiency by employing the dynamic panel quantile regression method on annual data of 39 cities in China from 2003 to 2019. The estimation results present that EPU has a negative influence on energy efficiency in median and upper efficiency cities, while subsample analysis exhibits that greater EPU brings about an even lower energy efficiency performance. Moreover, the negative effects are stronger in central and western cities and weaker in eastern cities, indicating that cities with a greater economic foundation and higher technology development can more easily handle EPU's effects on energy efficiency, thus partly weakening the negative influence. Overall, we demonstrate the influences of EPU on energy efficiency differ remarkably at various quantiles of the distribution in Chinese cities, and our findings contribute to the existing literature in examining the different impacts of EPU on said efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• GRSI significantly negatively impact on the Confirmed and Death of COVID-19, and the effects are especially larger around 14 to 21 days after the implementation of the government response. • The Dumitrescu-Hurlin (D-H) causality test uncovers a statistically significant bi-directional correlation between GRSI and Confirmed as well as between the relationships of GRSI and Death for the full samples. • A bi-directional relationship exists between GRSI and Confirmed, one-way causality runs only from GRSI to Death in Asian countries, a bi-directional relationship exists between GRSI and Death, and causality runs only from GRSI to Confirmed in non-Asian countries. • Asian countries should pay more attention to control COVID-19 related deaths, while the governments in non-Asian countries should be more concerned about COVID-19 confirmed cases. Using daily data of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) covering 118 countries from January 1 to April 13, 2021, this research examines the relationship between the government response stringency index (GRSI) and COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical results show that GRSI significantly negatively impacts confirmed cases, and the effects are especially larger around 14 to 21 days after the implementation of the government response. These results are robust through analysis with sub-samples of Asian countries and non-Asian countries, proving that public prevention policies of being isolated for 14 days and being observed for 7 days are effective. The Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test uncovers a statistically significant bi-directional correlation between government response stringency and COVID-19 pandemic when analyzing the full samples. In terms of the sub-samples, a bi-directional relationship exists between government response stringency and confirmed cases, while one-way causality runs only from government response stringency to deaths in Asian countries. We offer a policy implication that countries all over the world should continue to carry out public prevention policies, and governments in non-Asian countries should be more concerned about confirmed cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aliphatic aldehydes react with catalytic amount of Dibal-H in n-pentane to give the corresponding Tishchenko products in good to excellent yields. Contrary, α-silyloxyaldehydes give α-silyloxyketones via Oppenauer oxidation under similar condition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Farmland especially dry farmland managed in traditional ways has high wind erosion risk and contributes mainly to dust emission in arid area. Modeling predicting provides a general view to soil erosion susceptibility, and is very helpful for the understanding of potential spatial source of wind erosion. This study applied the Single-event Wind Erosion Evaluation Program (SWEEP) to predict soil wind erosion of farmland in the study area. SWEEP is a standalone version of the erosion sub-model from the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS). It needs fewer calculation parameters than WEPS and is often used for single erosion events of limited size. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of using SWEEP to estimate annual wind erosion of farmland over large areas (downwind distance >1600 m) with limited wind data (2005–2011) from weather stations. We validated the simulation results by comparing them with field measurements and wind tunnel data for the same soils. The soil material eroded by wind included PM10, suspension, saltation, and creep particles. Suspension particles were the main component involved in the soil loss (averaged 61.8%). However, saltation and creep particles dominate the particle clouds for fields with a downwind length of less than 550 m (averaged 56.6%), and the mass flux dominated by suspension particles stabilizes when this length is longer than 1000 m (averaged 83.4%). PM 10 always has very low proportion (<2.3%). Our validation results suggest that it is feasible to use SWEEP for large areas with limited wind data. However, SWEEP could not simulate the small soil losses that occur especially at low wind velocities well. Many factors contribute to this problem, but the main one is overestimation of the threshold wind velocity. Previous research suggest that it will be difficult to replace SWEEP’s calculation algorithms for the threshold wind velocity, but both these algorithms and some SWEEP parameters must be improved to provide accurate predictions of soil erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waldmann (Q J Econ 107:1283-1302, 1992) established long ago that being improvements in health, medical personnel are the valued input factor of the health production function. Previous research, however, has generally ignored the importance of medical personnel in the health production function and has almost exclusively focused on health expenditure. Thus, the motivation behind this study is to identify the relationship between two health indicators, namely medical personnel, i.e., registered nurses and physicians, and average life expectancy in Taiwan. From the empirical results, we find that there is a long-term equilibrium relationship between the two variables and that medical personnel play a crucial role in the medical care system. Finally, the forecast error variance in life expectancy is mainly explained by itself. Moreover, medical personnel have a positive initial impact on life expectancy, and similar innovations are discovered vice versa in the impulse response functions. Some policy implications can be obtained via our empirical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waldmann (Q J Econ 107:1283-1302, 1992) established long ago that being improvements in health, medical personnel are the valued input factor of the health production function. Previous research, however, has generally ignored the importance of medical personnel in the health production function and has almost exclusively focused on health expenditure. Thus, the motivation behind this study is to identify the relationship between two health indicators, namely medical personnel, i.e., registered nurses and physicians, and average life expectancy in Taiwan. From the empirical results, we find that there is a long-term equilibrium relationship between the two variables and that medical personnel play a crucial role in the medical care system. Finally, the forecast error variance in life expectancy is mainly explained by itself. Moreover, medical personnel have a positive initial impact on life expectancy, and similar innovations are discovered vice versa in the impulse response functions. Some policy implications can be obtained via our empirical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the effect of environmental policy stringency on green innovation in renewable energy technology and whether the green innovation response differs with varying degrees of environmental policy. Based on panel data of 33 countries over the period 1990–2015, we show that a stringent environmental policy does encourage green innovation in renewable energy technology, and this impact is more pronounced in OECD countries and high-income countries. More specifically, a stringent non-market-based environmental policy induces more patents in renewable energy generation. The findings also show that a stringent environmental policy yields green innovation for geothermal energy, hydro energy, and marine energy, but not for wind energy and solar energy. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that innovation capacity and environmental pressure enhance the impact of environmental policy stringency on green innovation in the renewable energy field. Finally, the paper presents that clean energy investment plays the role of a mechanism through which environmental policy stringency spurs green innovation in the renewable energy field, offering insights into the influence of environmental policy stringency on green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivatedby the pivotal role of CXCR4 as an HIV entry co-receptor,we herein report a de novo hit-to-lead effort on the identificationof subnanomolar purine-based CXCR4 antagonists against HIV-1 infection.Compound 24, with an EC50of 0.5 nM againstHIV-1 entry into host cells and an IC50of 16.4 nM forinhibition of radioligand stromal-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α)binding to CXCR4, was also found to be highly selective against closelyrelated chemokine receptors. We rationalized that compound 24complementarily interacted with the critical CXCR4 residues thatare essential for binding to HIV-1 gp120 V3 loop and subsequent viralentry. Compound 24showed a 130-fold increase in anti-HIVactivity compared to that of the marketed CXCR4 antagonist, AMD3100(Plerixafor), whereas both compounds exhibited similar potency inmobilization of CXCR4+/CD34+stem cells at ahigh dose. Our study offers insight into the design of anti-HIV therapeuticsdevoid of major interference with SDF-1α function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the influence of government ideology, political institutions and globalization on the choice of exchange rate regime via panel multinomial logit approach using annual data over the period of 1974–2004 in a panel of 180 countries: 26 developed and 154 developing. We provide evidence that government ideology, political institutions and globalization are important determinants of the choice of exchange rate regime. In particular, we find that left-wing governments, democratic institutions, central bank independence and financial development increase the likelihood of choosing a flexible regime, whereas more globalized countries have a higher probability of implementing a fixed regime. More importantly, we find that political economy factors have different effects on the choice of exchange rate regime in developed and developing countries. All our results are robust to panel ordered probit model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Aliphatic aldehydes react with catalytic amount of Dibal-H in n-pentane to give the corresponding Tishchenko products in good to excellent yields. On contrary, α-silyloxy aldehydes give α-silyloxy ketones via Oppenauer oxidation under similar condition. Tishchenko reaction of ω-alkene aldehydes followed by RCM and hydrogenation affords a convenient method to prepare the 11–37 membered macrocyclic lactones. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• This paper investigates the effect of globalization on innovation by Chinese firms. • Using a combined dataset of 596,809 Chinese manufacturing firms. • We find that overall provincial globalization is associated with better innovation performance for Chinese firms. • China government should continue to attract foreign investors to enhance innovation. This paper investigates the effect of globalization on innovation by using a combined dataset of 596809 Chinese manufacturing firms with 1,993,154 observations and provincial globalization indices from 1998 to 2009. The empirical findings suggest that overall provincial globalization is associated with better innovation performance for Chinese firms. More specifically, economic, social, and political globalization, present positive impacts on technological innovation. Interestingly, through subsample analysis the findings indicate that globalization expresses a distinct relationship with firms' innovation performance. In particular, economic globalization correlates to greater technological innovation in private-owned enterprise, a lower one in stated-owned enterprises, and an insignificant one in foreign-owned enterprises. Moreover, a subsample analysis for different industries exhibits similar results as in the full sample except for the resources-intensive industry in which economic globalization is associated with lower innovation. Our findings indicate that China should continue to enhance connections in the economic, social, and political dimensions with other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the long-run cointegration relationship between shale gas production and natural gas prices during the period from January 2007 to December 2016 for 16 states in the U.S., by utilizing the Generalized Least Squares (GLS) based univariate unit root test, the PANICCA panel unit root test, the cointegration tests of Gregory and Hansen (1996), Westerlund and Edgerton (2008) as well as Banerjee and Carrión-i-Silvestre (2015) tests with structural breaks. The empirical finding shows that the mean-reverting property exists in both variables, and most structural breaks emerge around 2007–2009 and 2011–2014, during the period when shale gas production sharply increased, the global financial crisis erupted, and external energy shocks emerged. We also find a strong cointegrated relationship, denoting a long-run equilibrium property appears among the variables. Overall, we demonstrate an interaction nexus between price and production variables and put forward some vital implications for authorities and gas market participants. Unlabelled Image • This paper investigates the long-run trend of shale gas development by applying unit root tests structural breaks. • Employing monthly data from January 2007 to December 2016 of shale gas withdrawals in the U.S. • Our results also indicate that most external shocks to shale gas productions are transitory and that the trend soon converges • Most structural breaks emerge around 2007–2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's carbon market has become increasingly active in recent years, and thus it is of great significance to study the characteristics of the carbon allowance price fluctuation for the healthy and steady development of this market. As leverage is common in asset prices in general financial markets, this paper adopts the leverage stochastic volatility (SV-L) model to characterize the price volatility of the five pilot carbon markets in China. We first make a Bayesian inference for the SV model, then construct a Monte Carlo calculation process based on Gibbs sampling for empirical analysis, and finally compare the SV-L model with the normal stochastic volatility (SV–N) model. The results show that the carbon price fluctuations of the five pilot markets are quite different. Among them, Shenzhen, Guangdong, Shanghai, and Beijing have a "positive leverage effect", and Hubei has an "anti-leverage effect". Through comparative analysis, we find that the SV-L model is superior to the SV-N model in terms of the degree of data fitting and simulation ability. Finally, we offer suggestions on the development of China's unified carbon market. • We explore the characteristics of carbon price fluctuation in different pilot markets in China. • The SV-L model indicates that the carbon price fluctuation of each pilot province or city shows great difference. • Five pilot carbon markets show different degree of leverage effect. • The SV-L model is superior to the SV-N model for characterizing the carbon price of pilot markets in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Natural resources, especially forests, are critical to China's sustainable development. In recent years, effective utilization of forest resources has become a significant concern in China. In this study, on the basis of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, the relationship between forest resources and economic growth is examined using panel data from 30 provinces in China for the period 2002–2015 and the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach to control for potential endogeneity. The empirical results indicate that with continuous economic growth, the timber output and area of afforestation would at first increase and then decrease after reaching the corresponding turning points. Given the considerable regional gap in economic and social development, three regions of China were investigated to perform a more in-depth analysis. Evidence observed for the country and the three regions suggests an EKC for forest resources. These findings indicate positive effects of China's pursuit of a more balanced growth path where forest resources would be less consumed and more actively protected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The non-linear relationship between venture capital investment and technological innovation in China. • The panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) model. • VC only presents a positive impact on innovation in China when investment is large enough over the threshold level. • Venture capitalists are more willing to support innovation only for those in the “seed” and “initial” stages in China. Abstract This study investigates the non-linear relationship between venture capital investment and technological innovation for 28 provinces in China, using the panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) model for the period 2001-2014. Our results confirm that the relationship within the empirical model is indeed non-linear, and venture capital (VC) only presents a positive impact on innovation in China when investment is large enough over the threshold level. However, VC may severely hurt the innovative abilities of invested enterprises when the scale of investment is relatively small, especially in “western” and “lower-investment” provinces after dividing the sample provinces into different groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, nations are increasingly focusing on green innovation in their environmental protection efforts as part of sustainable development, and digital finance is playing a vital role in enhancing green innovation. Employing annual data from 220 prefecture-level cities between 2011 and 2019, we empirically analyze the connections among environmental performance, digital finance, and green innovation via the Karavias panel unit root test with structural breaks, the Gregory-Hansen structural break cointegration test and pooled mean group (PMG) estimation. The following four points are the key conclusions: (1) The results support cointegration links between these variables when structural breaks are considered. (2) The PMG estimation outcomes indicate that green innovation and digital finance may have a favorable long-term effect on environmental performance. (3) For better environmental performance and more green innovation, the level of digitalization of digital finance is crucial. (4) The potential of digital finance and green innovation to improve environmental performance has not been fully realized in the western region of China. • The relationship among environmental performance, green innovation, and digital finance is investigated. • The entropy method is used to evaluate the environmental performance. • Green innovation benefits environmental performance in the long run. • Digital finance improves environmental performance through providing financial support to green innovation. • There is cointegration relationship among the three variables after considering structural breaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amyloidosis cutis dyschromica (ACD) is a distinct form of primary cutaneous amyloidosis characterized by generalized hyperpigmentation mottled with small hypopigmented macules on the trunks and limbs. Affected families and sporadic case subjects have been reported predominantly in East and Southeast Asian ethnicities; however, the genetic cause has not been elucidated. We report here that the compound heterozygosity or homozygosity of GPNMB truncating alleles is the cause of autosomal-recessive ACD. Six nonsense or frameshift mutations were identified in nine individuals diagnosed with ACD. Immunofluorescence analysis of skin biopsies showed that GPNMB is expressed in all epidermal cells, with the highest staining observed in melanocytes. GPNMB staining is significantly reduced in the lesional skin of affected individuals. Hyperpigmented lesions exhibited significantly increased amounts of DNA/keratin-positive amyloid deposits in the papillary dermis and infiltrating macrophages compared with hypo- or depigmented macules. Depigmentation of the lesions was attributable to loss of melanocytes. Intracytoplasmic fibrillary aggregates were observed in keratinocytes scattered in the lesional epidermis. Thus, our analysis indicates that loss of GPNMB, which has been implicated in melanosome formation, autophagy, phagocytosis, tissue repair, and negative regulation of inflammation, underlies autosomal-recessive ACD and provides insights into the etiology of amyloidosis and pigment dyschromia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The GLA IVS4 + 919G > A which is linked to late-onset Fabry disease shows high frequency in Taiwan. Methods To determine whether IVS4 + 919G > A is a frequent cause of heart disease, we genotyped it in normal controls and other disease cohorts (type 2 diabetes, heart failure, ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation and coronary artery disease). Normal controls and diabetes patients carrying the variant were evaluated for their cardiac condition. Minigene constructs were used to study GLA splicing patterns in different cell lines. Results GLA IVS4 + 919A was found in 4/1634 males (0.245%) and 2/1634 females (0.123%) in normal controls and in 4/2133 males (0.188%) and 7/1816 females (0.385%) in the type 2 diabetes cohort. Of all the 17 IVS4 + 919A carriers in these two groups, only two males reported heart-related disease (myocardial infarction and hypertensive heart disease). Furthermore, in the heart disease cohort (n = 649), only one male carried the variant. Minigene constructs showed that the AGS (stomach) cell line showed a distinct GLA splicing pattern. Conclusion Most subjects carrying GLA IVS4 + 919A did not show abnormal cardiac phenotypes. The near-absence of GLA IVS4 + 919A in heart disease cohort suggested that this variant is not a frequent cause of overt heart diseases in Taiwan and that the genotype-phenotype correlation and natural course of the disease need further investigation. We also showed that the GLA IVS4 + 919G > A nucleotide change did influence alternative splicing in a tissue-specific manner. Synopsis The GLA IVS4 + 919G > A variant is not a frequent cause of overt heart disease in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Biased antagonism can be intricately modulated by minor modifications of the functional moieties. • Binding affinity and functional inhibitory activities can be decoupled. • Slight modifications on the functional groups affect the interaction modes of test compounds. Cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) is a G protein-coupled receptor and a therapeutic target for metabolic disorders. Numerous CB1 antagonists have been developed, but their functional selectivities and bias towards G protein or β-arrestin signaling have not been systemically characterized. In this study, we analyzed the binding affinities and downstream signaling of two series of pyrazole derivatives bearing 1-aminopiperidine (Series I) or 4-aminothiomorpholine 1,1-dioxide (Series II) moieties, as well as the well-known CB1 antagonists rimonabant and taranabant. Analyses of the results for the Series I and II derivatives showed that minor structure modifications to their functional groups and especially the incorporation of 1-aminopiperidine or 4-aminothiomorpholine 1,1-dioxide motifs can profoundly affect their bias toward G protein or β-arrestin signaling, and that their binding affinity and functional activity can be disassociated. Docking and molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the binding modes of Series I and II antagonists differed primarily in that Series I antagonists formed an additional hydrogen bond with the receptor, whereas those in Series II formed a water bridge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of zinc supplementation on radiation-induced mucositis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and those with oral cancers (OC). A total of 100 patients with head and neck cancers engaged in a randomized double blind study. All participants were placed into two randomized groups (experimental and control). The experimental group received a standard dose of zinc supplements, and the control group was given a placebo. Subgroup analyses were performed between 40 NPC and 43 OC patients. It was found that patients with OC in the control group developed Grade 2 and Grade 3 mucositis sooner than those in the experimental group. However, the benefits were not found to extend to patients with NPC. The results indicated that zinc supplementation prescribed in conjunction with radiotherapy postponed the development of severe mucositis solely for patients with OC. The pretreatment oral mucosa condition and areca chewing habit might account for such discrepancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study firstly compares dust emission ability of sand desert, gobi, and farmland. • Gobi has the greatest dust emission ability under most wind velocity conditions. • Wind velocity and dust size influence comparing result of dust emission ability. It is unclear which of the land types of sand desert, gravel desert (Gobi), and farmland acts as the major source of dust emission in northern China. Based on field observations, this study compared the dust emission ability (E) of the three land types and investigated the principal influencing factors, i.e., horizontal mass flux (Q) and dust emission efficiency (μ). Results showed that E was greatest for sand desert, followed by Gobi and then farmland at low friction velocities (u * < 0.23 m s−1). However, with the increase of u * , the exponential rate of increase of E was fastest for farmland, followed by Gobi and then sand desert. This is because the rates of increase of both Q and μ were fastest for farmland and slowest for sand desert. Consequently, as u * increased the E of both Gobi and farmland gradually exceeded that of sand desert. Gobi was found to have the greatest E under most u * conditions (0.23–0.90 m s−1) because of the overlapping effects of the comparatively strong Q and high μ. The E of farmland exceeded that of Gobi under extreme u * conditions (>0.90 m s−1) owing to its lower Q but faster rate of increase of Q and μ as u * increased. The findings of this study illustrate that the effect of wind velocity and dust size should be taken into account when comparing the E of different land types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of international sanctions on environmental performance by using the panel fixed effect model for 22 sanctioned states over the period 2002–2016 while considering several cases of international sanctions (unilateral, plurilateral, U.S., EU, UN, economic, and intensity) and measures environmental performance by the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). Overall, we find that the imposition of unilateral, plurilateral, U.S., EU, and economic sanctions has a significantly negative impact on EPI, dropping their EPI scores respectively by 0.114, 0.060, 0.045, 0.084, and 0.063, while a level increase of intensity results in EPI dropping by 0.028. Moreover, the simultaneous-equation models and Sobel tests show that the intermediate effect about GDP between international sanctions on environmental performance is significantly negative. We believe that our empirical findings can contribute to policy formulation by those sanctioned countries. Unlabelled Image • We study the impact of international sanctions on environmental performance. • By using the panel fixed effect model for 22 sanctioned states • The imposition of most sanctions has a negative impact on environmental performance. • Our findings can contribute to policy formulation by those sanctioned countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning is a well-known approach for virtual screening. Recently, deep learning, a machine learning algorithm in artificial neural networks, has been applied to the advancement of precision medicine and drug discovery. In this study, we performed comparative studies between deep neural networks (DNN) and other ligand-based virtual screening (LBVS) methods to demonstrate that DNN and random forest (RF) were superior in hit prediction efficiency. By using DNN, several triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) inhibitors were identified as potent hits from a screening of an in-house database of 165,000 compounds. In broadening the application of this method, we harnessed the predictive properties of trained model in the discovery of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) agonist, by which computational structure-based design of molecules could be greatly hindered by lack of structural information. Notably, a potent (~ 500 nM) mu-opioid receptor (MOR) agonist was identified as a hit from a small-size training set of 63 compounds. Our results show that DNN could be an efficient module in hit prediction and provide experimental evidence that machine learning could identify potent hits in silico from a limited training set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on panel data of 23 OECD countries from 1990 to 2015, this research empirically analyzes the impact of environmental policy strictness on air quality (proxied by PM2.5 , CO 2 , NO x , and SO x emissions) and compares it to PM2.5 exposure using the method of System Generalized Moments (SYS-GMM). We further test the robustness of the empirical results by the methods of restricted samples period, cross-sectional regression, and Least Squares Dummy Variable Corrected (LSDVC) model. Overall, we find that environmental policy stringency (EPS) has a negative impact on CO 2 , NO x , and SO x emissions, while EPS presents a weak impact on both PM2.5 emissions and PM2.5 exposure, due to two potential reasons: first, the causes of PM2.5 are complex, and environmental policies are difficult to succeed; second, during the process of formulating the EPS composite index, there is no emphasis on the policy of PM2.5 restrictions. Overall, our empirical results confirm the role of environmental policy stringency and point out some shortcomings. • We analyze the impact of environmental policy strictness on air quality by using multi-national and multi-year data. • The robustness of the model is tested from many methods, which ensures the reliability of the conclusion. • We analyzed the reasons why EPS had no significant effect on PM2.5 emission, and enriched the relevant literature. • We put forward two channels of EPS affecting emissions, and give the improvement direction of EPS in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]