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In implementing the equity incentive system, this paper delves into the listed enterprises' selection of equity incentive models. While previous research has extensively covered the effects, models, and influencing factors of equity incentives, there needs to be more in-depth literature focusing on the diverse incentive models and their impact on corporate performance. Notably, there needs to be more literature on considering entrepreneurial spirit as a mechanism. It aims to explore the relationship between executives' choices under different incentive models, the entrepreneurial spirit fostered by these models, and their combined impact on corporate performance. The findings reveal that adopting the restricted stock incentive model by listed enterprises implementing the equity incentive system significantly positively affects enterprise performance. Mechanistic tests show that when a company implements the restricted stock incentive model, executives prioritize maximizing their interests, leading them to embrace more risk in their investment decisions. This behavior, in turn, stimulates the adventurous spirit of executives, positively impacting enterprise performance, particularly pronounced in companies with more concentrated executive power. Moreover, executives may be more inclined to invest in high-risk, high-reward innovative projects, a behavior indicative of innovation and more prevalent in firms with higher research and development (R&D) investment. However, the limitation of this paper is that the study evaluates the operation of the equity incentive system in China by taking listed companies in China as an example, which is not necessarily suitable for foreign developed capitalist countries. This study contributes to the study of principal-agent problems by exploring the relationship between executives, entrepreneurship and firm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phytochemical investigation of Veratrum mengtzeanum Loes. roots resulted in the isolation and characterization of two novel, namely Mengtzeanines A (1), Mengtzeanines B (2), and eight known steroidal alkaloids (3–10). Their structural properties were assessed though extensive spectroscopic techniques. All constituents 1–10 were analyzed for suppression of NO formation in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. Among them, constituent 6 (Verazine) showed inhibition against LPS-induced NO production (IC50 = 20.41 μM). Additionally, compound 6 could inhibit the secretion of IL1β, IL6, and TNFα, and downregulate the productions of iNOS and COX2 in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. Further experiments revealed that 6 exhibited a potent anti-inflammatory level in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages via inhibiting NF-κB, and triggering of Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 axis, implying that compound 6 may be a promising candidate for treating inflammatory disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical materials that exhibit order over multiple length scales are ubiquitous in nature. Because hierarchy gives rise to unique properties and functions, many have sought inspiration from nature when designing and fabricating hierarchical matter. More and more, however, nature's own high-information content building blocks, proteins, peptides, and peptidomimetics, are being coopted to build hierarchy because the information that determines structure, function, and interfacial interactions can be readily encoded in these versatile macromolecules. Here, we take stock of recent progress in the rational design and characterization of hierarchical materials produced from high-information content blocks with a focus on stimuli-responsive and "smart" architectures. We also review advances in the use of computational simulations and data-driven predictions to shed light on how the side chain chemistry and conformational flexibility of macromolecular blocks drive the emergence of order and the acquisition of hierarchy and also on how ionic, solvent, and surface effects influence the outcomes of assembly. Continued progress in the above areas will ultimately usher in an era where an understanding of designed interactions, surface effects, and solution conditions can be harnessed to achieve predictive materials synthesis across scale and drive emergent phenomena in the self-assembly and reconfiguration of high-information content building blocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For modern enterprises, equity incentive is an important means to solve the principal-agent problem, the choice of incentive mode and the source of the incentive is an inevitable issue in the implementation of an equity incentive scheme. Based on the sample data of A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2020, this paper constructs a panel two-way fixed effect model, combining regression analysis and three interactions with differential equations (PDE), which empirically explores the relationship between two incentive models of stock option and restricted stock, the source of subject matter and enterprise performance. The study shows that the restricted stock incentive model significantly improved the performance of enterprises, and the intensity of incentives played a significant inverted U-shaped moderating role between the enterprise's performance and the different incentive models. After adding the subject matter incentive source, it is further found that repurchase, as the source of subject matter, has a positive moderating effect on restricted stock and a negative moderating effect on stock option. The intensity of equity incentives moderates the relationship between stock option incentive models and enterprise performance when enterprises use repurchases as the source. The results of the above-given research provide some reference for enterprises to give appropriate incentive intensities, objective selection of the subject matter source under different equity incentive models based on their characteristics, and facilitation of more efficient use of equity incentive tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB) reversibly catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to lactate or lactate to pyruvate and expressed in various malignancies. However, the role of LDHB in modulating immune responses against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unknown. Here, we found that down-regulation of lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB) was coupled with the promoter hypermethylation and knocking down the DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT 3A) restored LDHB expression levels in HCC cell lines. Bioinformatics analysis of the HCC cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas revealed a significant positive correlation between LDHB expression and immune regulatory signaling pathways and immune cell infiltrations. Moreover, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have shown considerable promise for HCC treatment and patients with higher LDHB expression responded better to ICIs. Finally, we found that overexpression of LDHB suppressed HCC growth in immunocompetent but not in immunodeficient mice, suggesting that the host immune system was involved in the LDHB-medicated tumor suppression. Our findings indicate that DNMT3A-mediated epigenetic silencing of LDHB may contribute to HCC progression through remodeling the tumor immune microenvironment, and LDHB may become a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tricalcium silicate (C3S)/polyetherimide (PEI) stents are manufactured through an additive manufacturing process using binder jetting. The key issues of C3S/PEI composite ceramic slurry and additive manufacturing process parameters are discussed in detail. Firstly, the low-temperature auxiliary sintering temperature of the sample was determined, and the influence of PEI content on the compressive strength and bending strength before and after sintering was studied. The sintering temperature and optimal PEI content are 340 °C and 10 wt%. Under this PEI content, the flow rate change during the printing process of the slurry was measured, and a C3S/PEI composite slurry suitable for binder jetting additive manufacturing was obtained, and it had excellent mechanical properties. The effect of the parameters of the binder jetting additive manufacturing process on the molding quality of the C3S/10PEI composite ceramic slurry was studied. The effect of the printed layer height on the deposition line width and height was explored, resulting in a selection rule for the printing layer height using nozzle diameters. The influence of the number of layers of the printed sample on the height and line width of the sample is studied. Under the condition that the height of the printing layer is 80% of the nozzle diameter and the hot air assisted drying, the maximum error of the forming size is only 3.13%. Finally, the biocompatibility and cell adsorption effect of the scaffold were studied, and it was found that the C3S/PEI scaffold, which was additively manufactured by binder jetting and sintered at low temperature, had good biological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the roots of Euphorbia fischeriana Steud., a new ent-rosane diterpenoid, ebracteolatas D (1), were isolated together with five known ones (2–6). Their structures and relative configurations were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic methods, especially 2D NMR techniques. Compound 1 exhibited moderate cytotoxic effects against A549, with IC50 values of 22.03 ± 0.39 μM, respectively. Compound 4 showed antiproliferative activities against HCT-116, A549, and HepG-2 cells with IC50 values of 33.18 ± 0.47 μM, 2.81 ± 0.65 μM, and 27.24 ± 0.41 μM. Moreover, preliminary biological tests showed that compound 1 promoted the apoptosis of the A549 cell line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting the aging population. Particularly, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to play vital roles in PD, while the role of lncRNA SNHG8 in PD remains to be further explored. C57BL/6 mice were induced by rotenone to establish a PD model in vivo, and then the dopaminergic (DA) neuronal damage and locomotor dysfunction in rotenone-treated mice were evaluated. Murine DA cell line MN9D was treated with rotenone to establish a cellular PD model in vitro. Then, the viability, apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and autophagy in rotenone-treated MN9D cells were assessed. Expression levels of SNHG8, microRNA-421-3p (miR-421-3p), and sorting nexin 8 (SNX8) in the substantia nigra (SN) of PD mice and rotenone-treated MN9D cells were detected. The interaction between SNHG8 and miR-421-3p, and the targeting relationship between SNX8 and miR-421-3p were confirmed. SNHG8 and SNX8 expression levels were decreased while miR-421-3p expression level was increased in the SN of PD mice and rotenone-treated MN9D cells. Upregulated SNHG8 ameliorated dopaminergic neuron damage and locomotor dysfunction in PD mice. Meanwhile, upregulated SNHG8 enhanced viability, diminished apoptosis, and alleviated mitochondrial dysfunction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and autophagy in rotenone-treated MN9D cells. Mechanistically, SNHG8 bound to miR-421-3p, and miR-421-3p targeted SNX8. Overexpressed SNHG8 downregulates miR-421-3p to alleviate rotenone-induced dopaminergic neuron injury in PD via upregulating SNX8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gasification and combustion are two common methods for Zhundong (ZD) coal utilization. In the present study, it was intended to investigate the thermal transformation of Na in ZD coal at the Lurgi fixed bed gasifier (Lurgi) and circulating fluidized bed boiler (CFBB). To this end, raw coal samples before gasification and gasified slags were gathered from Lurgi, and the raw coal before combustion, burned slag, and fly ash were collected from CFBB. The occurrence form of Na was analyzed by extraction experiments, and the samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma‐optical emission spectrometry (ICP‐OES), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The obtained results revealed that insoluble Na in Lurgi slag exceeded 90% under the high‐pressure gasification process. It was found that the high temperatures and high in Lurgi intensify the conversion of sodium to Na2Ca3Si2O8 and NaAlSiO4. The performed analyses revealed that the insoluble Na content in CFBB slag and fly ash was above 92%, and Na2SiO3 and NaAlSi3O8 were the main sodium minerals in CFBB solid residue. It was found that 76.64% of the initial Na content of raw coal in Lurgi migrated into slag after the gasification process, which was 7.05% higher than the sum of slag and fly ash in CFBB after combustion. During the sodium thermal transformation in Lurgi and CFBB, high pressures significantly reduce the release of gaseous Na from coal ash so more Na was retained in slag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber-reinforced thermoplastic polymer composites are widely applied in engineering. The use of continuous fibers in these composites provides superior mechanical properties and material performance compared with those achieved when short fibers are used. In this study, pure poly(ethersulfone) (PES) and its continuous fiber-reinforced composites were manufactured using fused deposition modeling 3D printing technology. PES composite filaments reinforced with continuous basalt fiber (BF) were prepared. The method and temperature for printing the BF-reinforced PES, the strength of the interfacial bonding between the BF and the PES matrix, and the abrasiveness of the composite were all studied in detail. The results revealed that PES printed at 360 °C exhibits the highest tensile strength. Furthermore, the tensile and bending strengths of the PES/BF composite were found to be increased by 217.06 % and 87.96%, respectively, compared with those of pure PES. To improve the interfacial bonding properties between the fiber and resin matrix, the fiber was modified using a silane coupling agent. This decreased the mass wear and the wear scar width by 80% and 45%, respectively, compared with those for pure PES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastric cancer (GC) is a highly heterogeneous disease featuring many various histological and molecular subtypes. Therefore, it is imperative to have well-characterized in vitro models for personalized treatment development. Gastric cancer patient-derived organoids (PDOs), re-capitulating in vivo conditions, exhibit high clinical efficacy in predicting drug sensitivity to facilitate the development of cancer precision medicine. PDOs were established from surgically resected GC tumor tissues. Histological and molecular characterization of PDOs and primary tissues were performed via IHC and sequencing analysis. We also conducted drug sensitivity tests using PDO cultures with five chemotherapeutic drugs and twenty-two targeted drugs. We have successfully constructed a PDOs biobank that included EBV+, intestinal/CIN, diffuse/GS, mixed and Her2+ GC subtypes, and these PDOs captured the pathological and genetic characteristics of corresponding tumors and exhibited different sensitivities to the tested agents. In a clinical case study, we performed an additional drug sensitivity test for a patient who reached an advanced progressive stage after surgery. We discovered that the combination of napabucasin and COTI-2 exhibited a stronger synergistic effect than either drug alone. PDOs maintained the histological and genetic characteristics of original cancer tissues. PDOs biobank opens up new perspectives for studying cancer cell biology and personalized medicine as a preclinical study platform. • Living biobank encompassed 18 normal and 21 gastric cancer organoids. • Established organoids biobank included most of the known subtypes of gastric cancer. • High-throughput screening revealed potential targeted drugs for personalized medicine. • Napabucasin combined with COTI-2 indicated a potential therapy strategy for advanced progressive patients of gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Tricalcium silicate (C3S) has excellent biocompatibility and osteoconductivity, however its use in implant scaffold manufacture is primarily achieved through hand kneading, making it difficult to accurately control the resulting size and shape. 3D printing is a rapid prototyping technology that can be used to accurately manufacture scaffolds with complex shapes. However, tricalcium silicate reacts rapidly with water, and the slurry solidifies quickly, making it impossible to use it to synthesize complex structures by 3D printing. In this study, a Tricalcium Silicate / Silica gel slurry suitable for 3D printing was prepared by combining silica gel (SG) particles and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) with Tricalcium Silicate (C3S). The effect of HPMC solution concentration on powder agglomeration was studied. The printability of the C3S/SG slurry was tested by measuring the printable time. The mechanical properties and in vitro degradation rate of C3S/SG and changes in composition during the degradation process, were evaluated. The C3S/SG slurry was used for printing complex scaffolds with high precision. The study of the C3S/SG slurry provides a new approach for the manufacture of tricalcium silicate implants, which can be applied as prosthetic materials in orthopedics, dentistry, and other areas of clinical medicine. Highlights • The tricalcium silicate cement scaffolds with different structures are manufactured by pneumatic 3D printing. • A uniform and stable composite slurry suitable for 3D printing is prepared with a powder to liquid mass ratio of 1 g/0.6 g. • Relieving powder agglomeration, extending printable time to prepare a suitable slurry for pneumatic-injection 3D printing. • Through experimental verification of evaluation experiments, the prepared composite slurry has excellent performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) conjugation has been the gold standard to ameliorate the pharmacokinetic (PK) and immunological profiles of proteins. PEG polymer does become immunogenic once attached to proteins, evoking PEG‐specific antibody (Ab) responses. The anti‐PEG Abs could cause PEGylated biologic treatments to fail and even result in lethal adverse reactions. Thus the zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine) (PCB) has been introduced as a PEG substitute for protein modification. Addressed herein is anti‐polymer Ab induction by conjugating PEG and PCB polymers to a series of carrier proteins with escalating immunogenicity. Results indicate that titers of PEG‐specific Abs were quantitatively correlated to the immunogenicity of carrier proteins, whereas the generation of PCB‐specific Abs was minimal and insensitive to increased protein immunogenicity. This work provides insight into the immunological properties of PEG and PCB and has far‐reaching implications for the development of polymer‐protein conjugates. Risk management: Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine) (PCB) as a promising PEG substitute were explored for their immunogenic risks. A strong quantitative correlation between the level of PEG‐specific antibodies (Abs) and the immunogenicity of proteins carrying PEG was observed, revealing the propensity of PEG to become immunogenic. In contrast, PCB manifested low immunogenic risk, as PCB‐specific Abs were negligible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) conjugation has been the gold standard to ameliorate the pharmacokinetic (PK) and immunological profiles of proteins. PEG polymer does become immunogenic once attached to proteins, evoking PEG‐specific antibody (Ab) responses. The anti‐PEG Abs could cause PEGylated biologic treatments to fail and even result in lethal adverse reactions. Thus the zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine) (PCB) has been introduced as a PEG substitute for protein modification. Addressed herein is anti‐polymer Ab induction by conjugating PEG and PCB polymers to a series of carrier proteins with escalating immunogenicity. Results indicate that titers of PEG‐specific Abs were quantitatively correlated to the immunogenicity of carrier proteins, whereas the generation of PCB‐specific Abs was minimal and insensitive to increased protein immunogenicity. This work provides insight into the immunological properties of PEG and PCB and has far‐reaching implications for the development of polymer‐protein conjugates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The influence of heating rate on pure oxygen combustion index is weak. • Under pure oxygen atmosphere, the larger coke particle (<500 μm) ignited first. • Activation energy is less affected by changes in coke particle size at oxygen saturation. Non-isothermal thermogravimetry technique was used to analyze three groups of coke samples (S-ZD, M-ZD, and L-ZD) of varying particle sizes. The effect of particle size on kinetic parameters was studied in a pure oxygen atmosphere. The ignition (T i), peak (T p), and burnout (T f) temperatures and the flammability (C) and combustion characteristic (S n) indexes were determined by varying the heating rate (β). The activation energy (E α) was evaluated following the Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) and Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) methods. T i , T p , T f , C , and S n correlated positively with the increase in β in a pure oxygen atmosphere. The order of ignition was L-ZD > M-ZD > S-ZD, and the E α values for the S-ZD, M-ZD, and L-ZD samples were 98.49, 98.35, and 95.17 kJ·mol−1 (FWO) and 90.32, 90.92, and 89.25 kJ·mol−1 (KAS), respectively. Particle size exerted little effect on the kinetics of coke combustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The wear mechanism of 20G at different erosion conditions was analyzed. • The coupling characteristics between erosion wear and ammonia gas high temperature corrosion was studied. • The ammonia gas atmosphere promoted the erosion wear. The phenomenon of erosion wear and high temperature corrosion will lead to thinning of tube wall, and serious tube burst will occur after long operation in circulating fluidized bed boiler. To obtain the effect on tubes by erosion wear and ammonia gas high temperature corrosion, a high-temperature gas–solid erosion wear test facility was used to simulate the SNCR conditions. This paper mainly studies the erosion wear characteristics, ammonia gas high temperature corrosion characteristics and coupling characteristics under different erosion speeds, erosion angles and heating temperatures. The results showed that the main erosion wear mechanism of 20G (SA106B of United States Standard) is cutting wear at low erosion angle, while deformation wear is the main action, and crack is the supplementary action at high erosion angle. The impingement velocity is varied from 29 to 43 m/s, the mass loss is varied from 0.0343 g to 0.1367 g. Erosion velocity plays an important role in affecting the wear of the specimen, while there is little effect of heating temperature on the wear of the material. In the studying of coupling characteristics, it is found that ammonia gas increases the critical temperature of the material. Furthermore, ammonia gas can accelerate the wear of specimens, but erosion wear is still the main cause of tube burst in fluidized bed boiler. In boiler operation, measures to prevent erosion wear should be taken to restrain coupling erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The two mycotoxins Ochratoxin A (OTA) and Fumonisin B1 (FB1) generate substantial global concern due to their toxicity in both humans and animals. Herein we describe the development of an immunoarray to detect these toxins. The immunoarray was prepared by immobilization of two antigen (Ag) conjugates on aldehydized slides. Standard curves were plotted, and the experimental conditions were optimized. The sensitivities were 5.43 ng/mL and 109.06 ng/mL, with detection ranges of 0.1-1 0 and 5-200 ng/mL for OTA and FB1, respectively, with good logistic and linear correlation ( R2 > 0.99). Next, unknown samples were detected by immunoarray and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The errors were relatively small for both methods, while the detection range of the immunoarrays was broader and more sensitive than traditional ELISA. The high-throughput immunoarray is a novel method for concurrent analysis of multiple mycotoxins that is technically simple, highly sensitive and relatively inexpensive. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The immunoarray technique used in this study provides an analytical tool with the specificity and sensitivity for rapid detection of two mycotoxins, Ochratoxin A and Fumonisin B1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prokaryotic Argonaute proteins (pAgos) have been reported to cleave or interfere with DNA targets in a guide-dependent or independent manner. It is often difficult to characterize pAgos in vivo due to the extreme environments favored by their hosts. In the present study, we expressed functional Thermus thermophilus pAgo (TtAgo) in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells at 37 °C. Initial attempts to express TtAgo in BL21(DE3) cells at 37 °C failed. This was not because of TtAgo mediated general toxicity to the host cells, but instead because of TtAgo-induced loss of its expression plasmid. We employed this discovery to establish a screening system for isolating loss-of-function mutants of TtAgo. The E. colifabI gene was used to help select for full-length TtAgo loss of function mutants, as overexpression of fabI renders the cell to be resistant to the triclosan. We isolated and characterized eight mutations in TtAgo that abrogated function. The ability of TtAgo to induce loss of its expression vector in vivo at 37 °C is an unreported function that is mechanistically different from its reported in vitro activity. These results shed light on the mechanisms by which TtAgo functions as a defense against foreign DNA invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]