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How to understand the implications of corporate innovation in integrating economic development and financial stability is of great importance to the academia and the authority. Based on data from Chinese A‐share listed firms during 2007–2021, this study constructs a three‐period game model and a two‐way fixed effects panel regression model to examine the impact of corporate innovation on systemic risk theoretically and empirically. It is found that innovation measured by quantity and investment significantly pushes up corporate systemic risk, and such an effect is stronger in firms facing a more severe principal‐agent issue and in firms with weaker internal governance and external supervision. The effect pertains to the fact that innovation features high innovation risk and low innovation information robustness. Nevertheless, innovation quality manifested by R&D capitalization has a significant depressing effect on firm systemic risk. Additional tests show that inventive innovation strategies have a significant pushing‐up effect on firm systemic risk. Contrarily, non‐inventive innovation strategies are not necessarily related to a lower failure risk and higher innovation information robustness, and impact firm systemic importance and systemic vulnerability inconsistently, causing an undefined effect on firm systemic risk. The study highlights that the authority should scientifically guide enterprises to innovate and focus on improving innovation quality for structuring a balanced system of stabilizing growth and resolving risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capital misallocation is a main obstacle to China's economic development. This paper deploys a quasi-natural experiment formed by the 'Revitalization Plan for Ten Industries' (RPTI) and examines the impacts that selective industrial policies have on capital misallocation. It is found that the RPTI significantly exacerbates capital misallocation and that the effect does not disappear when the RPTI ends. Mechanism analysis indicates that the RPTI significantly increases the capital productivity of firm groups with high capital productivity but significantly reduces the capital productivity of firm groups with low capital productivity. This can be further interpreted by a decrease or an increase of inefficient investment and financial constraints faced by the corresponding firm groups. The documented relationship is stronger in state-owned enterprises and in firms located in areas of high marketization. Our findings advance the understanding of governmental policy intervention in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic lower extremity ulcers (DLEUs) are a severe complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) and are difficult to heal. This study aimed to explore the efficacy of autologous point columnar full‐thickness skin graft taken from the ulcer wound margin combined with negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in refractory DLEUs. This is a prospective cohort study. A total of 40 inpatients with refractory DLEUs were recruited in the Diabetes Foot Center of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Hospital from October 2019 to November 2021. According to the doctors' professional suggestions and the patients' personal wishes, these enrolled patients were divided into two groups based on different topical wound management: the graft group (n = 18) and the conventional wound therapeutic (CWT) group (n = 22). The efficacy evaluations included the time to complete re‐epithelialization of the wound and healing speed within 14 days of graft treatment or after 14 days of graft treatment in the two groups. Before the treatment, the graft group had a significantly larger ulcer area than the CWT group [27.22 (15.28, 46.59) versus 10.92 (7.00, 24.93) cm2, P <.01]. However, the time to complete wound re‐epithelialization in the graft group was shorter than in the CWT group [58.22 ± 30.60 versus 86.09 ± 49.54 d, P <.05]. Meanwhile, the healing speed in graft group was markedly faster than in CWT group, whether within 14 days [0.60 (0.40, 0.92) versus 0.16 (0.07, 0.34) cm2/d, P <.01] or after 14 days of graft treatment [0.57 (0.45, 0.91) versus 0.13 (0.08, 0.27) cm2/d, P <.01]. However, the total treatment cost in the graft group was lower than in the CWT group [419.59 ± 137.20 versus 663.97 ± 497.02 $, P <.05]. The novel treatment modality of autologous full‐thickness skin graft taken from the ulcer wound margin combined with NPWT has hereby proposed for the first time, and is a safe, effective, and reliable method with a good performance‐to‐cost ratio to promote wound healing and shorten the healing time for DLEUs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is a channel through which financial reform promotes economic growth. Drawing on the quasi-experiment of China's Financial Reform Pilot Zones, panel data from 293 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2019, and a difference-in-differences method, this paper evaluates the effect of financial reform on innovation. We find that financial reform significantly motivated innovation by promoting financial development, such as equity market development and credit market development. Moreover, the effect of financial reform on innovation shows diminishing marginal utility: in cities that started with a lower level of financial development, the policy effect on innovation is stronger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Realizing green development in agriculture is fundamental to sustained economic development. As a measure to facilitate the transfer of rural population, urbanization is considered to be strategic in promoting agricultural green development. This paper employs a SBM-DDF–Luenberger method to measure agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) and the agricultural labor surplus in China, and empirically tests the heterogeneous effects of household registration urbanization, permanent residence urbanization, and employment urbanization on the efficiency of agricultural green development. The results reveal that: (1) the average annual growth rate of China's AGFTP is 4.4374%, which is achieved mainly through improvements in green scale efficiency. (2) The agricultural sector in China is suffering a large surplus of labor force, with an estimation of 20.64 million in 2020. (3) Both household registration urbanization and permanent residence urbanization have a significant promoting effect on agricultural green development efficiency, though the former promotes less. (4) Employment urbanization improves agricultural green development efficiency by providing employment guidance for migrant workers, and employment urbanization of the tertiary industry has a more pronounced improvement effect. The findings suggest that governments remove restrictions on the household registration system and actively guide surplus agricultural laborers to engage in urban service industries to provide an impetus for promoting green agricultural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the risk factors for foot ulcer recurrence in patients with comorbid diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) and diabetic nephropathy (DN). This is a prospective cohort study. Between May 2018 and May 2021, we selected 120 inpatients with comorbid severe diabetic foot infection (PEDIS Grade 3 or above) and DN for inclusion in our study. All cases were followed up for 36 months. The study outcomes were whether foot ulcer recurred and the time to recurrence. The risk factors of ulcer recurrence were analysed by comparing the data of the three groups. According to the recurrence of foot ulcer, the participants were divided into three groups: Group A (no foot ulcer recurrence, n = 89), Group B (foot ulcer recurrence within 12‐36 months, n = 19) and Group C (foot ulcer recurrence within 6‐12 months, n = 12). The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that urine albumin‐creatinine ratio (UACR) (HR: 1.008, 95% CI: 1.005‐1.011, P <.001) and vibration perception threshold (VPT) (HR: 1.064, 95% CI: 1.032‐1.096, P <.001) were identified as independent risk factors. Kaplan‐Meier curves showed a significant positive association between UACR or VPT and the risk of foot ulcer recurrence (log rank, all P <.05). Areas under the ROC curves for UACR, VPT and the combination of UACR and VPT were 0.802, 0.799 and 0.842, respectively. The best cut‐off values of UACR and VPT were 281.51 mg/g and 25.12 V, respectively. In summary, elevated UACR and VPT were independent risk factors. The best clinical cut‐off values of UACR and VPT for prediction of foot ulcer recurrence were 281.51 mg/g and 25.12 V, respectively. Besides, our results suggested that microcirculation disorders rather than macrovascular complications play a major role in the recurrence of foot ulcer in patients with comorbid DFO and DN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To analyze the effects of different lower extremity arterial disease and tissue microcirculation on negative pressure therapy for diabetic foot ulcer, and to explore the peripheral vascular and tissue microcirculation conditions suitable for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer with negative pressure wound therapy. Methods A total of 75 patients with diabetic foot ulcer (Wagner grade 2 to 3) who were hospitalized in the Diabetic Foot Treatment Center of Endocrinology and Metabolism Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Hospital from November 2015 to November 2019 were selected. According to the results of lower extremity vascular ultrasound, ankle-brachial index (ABI) and percutaneous oxygen partial pressure (TcPO2), the patients were divided into three groups (Group A, Group B and Group C) based on the condition of lower extremity arterial lesions and tissue microcirculation. Each group underwent negative pressure therapy for 2 weeks. Image J graphic analysis software was used to measure the ulcer area and granulation area. Wilcoxon rank sum test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used for comparison between groups. Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were used to study the correlation and influencing factors of ulcer area reduction value and granulation area increase value at the end of 2 weeks negative pressure therapy. Results The decrease of ulcer area, and the increase of granulation area in three groups (27, 29 and 19 cases respectively) with different lower extremity arterial lesions and tissue microcirculation at the end of 2 weeks treatment were significantly different compared with those before treatment (P<0.05). In the comparison between the three groups, there were statistically significant differences between Group C and Group A, Group B in the value and rate of ulcer area reduction over the end of 2 weeks negative pressure therapy (P<0.05).However, there was no statistical difference between Group A and Group B (P>0.05). Besides, in the comparison between the three groups, there were statistically significant differences between Group C and Group A, Group B in the value and rate of increased granulation area over the end of 2 weeks negative pressure therapy (P<0.05), but there was no statistical difference between Group A and Group B (P>0.05). In addition, the change value of ulcer area at the end of treatment for 2 weeks was correlated with the diabetic duration (r=-0.311), ABI (r=0.394), TcPO2 (r=0.301) and lower limb vascular ultrasound (r=-0.292, P<0.05). The change value of granulation area at the end of treatment for 2 weeks was correlated with TcPO2 (r=0.239, P<0.05) and lower limb vascular ultrasound (r=-0.207, P<0.05).The independent influencing factors of ulcer area reduction at the end of 2 weeks negative pressure therapy were ABI and diabetic course (P< 0.05); the independent influencing factor of granulation area increment at the end of 2 weeks negative pressure therapy was TcPO2 (P<0.05). Conclusions The degree of diabetic lower extremity arterial disease and tissue microcirculation play a role in the efficacy of negative pressure assisted closure technique in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer. The more severe the lower extremity vascular disease and tissue microcirculation disorder are, the worse the effects of negative pressure wound therapy on ulcer area reduction and granulation growth are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pythium insidiosum ( P. insidiosum ) is the causative agent of pythiosis, an infectious disease with a high morbidity and fatality rate. Pythiosis cases have increased dramatically during the past ten years, particularly in tropical and subtropical areas. Sadly, microbiologists and medical professionals know very little about pythiosis, and the disease is frequently challenging to identify. It is frequently misdiagnosed as a fungal infection., Methods: We report two cases of pythiosis, one was Pythium keratitis, the other was cutaneous pythiosis. The patient with corneal infection had no underlying disease, while the patient with cutaneous pythiosis had a history of liver cirrhosis, diabetes, and psoriasis. The corneal sample and subcutaneous pus were sent for metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing (mNGS). To further diagnose the isolated strain, P. insidiosum zoospores were induced to produce by co-incubation with sterile grass leaves in sterile pond water. Their zoospores were used as an inoculum for drug susceptibility testing by disk diffusion and broth microdilution method., Results: The mNGS of two cases were reported as P. insidiosum. Zoospores were produced after incubation 48h. The zoospores were collected for drug susceptibility assay. All antifungal drugs, antibacterial drugs of β-Lactams, vancomycin, levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, clindamycin have no inhibitory activity against P. insidiosum in vitro . Minocycline, tigecycline, linezolid, erythromycin and azithromycin have significant in vitro activity against P. insidiosum . Based on the susceptibility results, the drug was changed from itraconazole to linezolid and minocycline, along with multiple debridements and drainage for cutaneous pythiosis. The patient was discharged after 24 days of treatment., Conclusions: Early and accurate identification, combined with aggressive surgical debridement and appropriate drug therapy, can greatly improve patient managements. Conventional culture and zoospore induction remain gold standard for diagnosis; however, DNA-based method should be performed simultaneously. The drug susceptibility testing provides profound effects on proper drug selection against P. insidiosum ., Competing Interests: Author HM was employed by Guangxi Jinyu Medical Laboratory Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Hu, Huang, Yee, Meng, Jiang, Liang and Chen.)