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This study investigates the impact of inventor CEOs on firm performance using a manually collected database of firms' inventors. Our findings reveal that, on average, firms with inventor CEOs experience a one- and two-percentage-point increase in ROA and ROE, respectively, compared to firms with noninventor CEOs. To address potential endogeneity issues, we employ turnover analysis, an instrumental variable approach, and propensity score matching. The estimation results suggest that inventor CEOs significantly enhance firm performance by fostering innovation and total factor productivity. This research contributes novel evidence on the relationship between inventor CEOs and firm performance.

Sucrose is the end product of photosynthesis in plants. Sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) is a plant enzyme involved in sucrose biosynthesis that plays a crucial role in sugar metabolism, plant growth and biomass accumulation. So far, SPS gene family in grape (Vitis vinifera) has not been described. In this study, the genome-wide identification and characterization of SPS genes (VviSPS) in grape were analyzed. The physical and chemical properties, gene structure, evolutionary relationship, conserved domains, protein structure prediction and expression analyses were performed. In the results, total 4 putative VviSPS genes were identified, all of which had similar characteristics in genome and peptide sequences. Meanwhile, the four VviSPS genes also showed similar expression patterns in different tissues. They were mainly active in leaves and pulps, especially in mature leaves and early pulps. In conclusion, these results would provide a reference for the VviSPS gene function analysis in the future.

Due to variation of working conditions and influence of noise in vibration data, rolling bearing intelligent diagnosis based on deep learning faces challenges in efficient utilization of monitoring data and scientific extraction of fault features. This study proposes a one-dimensional convolution neural network (1D-CNN)-based intelligent diagnosis method for a rolling bearing, which fuses the horizontal and the vertical vibration signals, makes full use of spectral order features by full-spectrum analysis, and achieves accurate classification of fault pattern by 1D-CNN model. The experimental datasets of constant and variable working conditions of rolling bearing are constructed. The test results of the proposed method show that spectral order features are extracted effectively by full-spectrum analysis and high diagnostic accuracy is obtained by the constructed 1D-CNN model on both datasets. The comparison with the other four similar methods indicates that the diagnostic accuracy of the proposed method outperforms the comparative methods significantly in the case of variable operating conditions.

To evaluate the surgical outcomes of total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage focusing on survival, postoperative and pulmonary venous obstruction. Further investigate the role of primary sutureless technique in patients with preoperative pulmonary venous obstruction. Consecutive patients underwent total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage repair in our institution during Jan 2000 to Dec 2019 were enrolled into this retrospective analysis. Since 2016, sutureless repair was regularly applied in patients with preoperative pulmonary venous obstruction. All patients with preoperative pulmonary venous obstruction referred before 2016 had underwent traditional repair. A total of 95 patients were included. During follow-up time of 85 months, main endpoints were documented in 21 patients, including 9 (9.5%) early deaths, 3 (2.3%) late deaths and 9 (9.5%) postoperative pulmonary venous obstructions. Preoperative pulmonary venous obstruction was presented in 26 (27.4%) patients with more emergent surgery (14/26 vs 3/69, P

The CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat)-Cas (CRISPR-associated) nucleases have been widely applied for genome engineering. Cas9 (Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 [SpCas9] and Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 [SaCas9]) and Cpf1 (i.e., Francisella novicida U112 Cpf1 [FnCpf1], also named FnCas12a) were harnessed to perform gene editing in human cells. Precise genetic modification by homology-directed repair (HDR) is an attractive approach for in situ gene correction. However, so far, the comparative efficiencies of HDR mediated by different CRISPR orthologs remain unknown. To address this question, in this study, we developed a reporter system to investigate HDR efficiencies triggered by various CRISPR orthologs. We found that SpCas9 and SaCas9, the two most commonly used Cas9 enzymes, possessed a similar ability to induce HDR. Interestingly, with the increasing amount of coding plasmids or additional nuclear localization sequences, FnCpf1 could improve the HDR efficacy. Collectively, our study provides insights for the rational selection of appropriate tools for human genome manipulation.

Coupling porphyrins with semiconductors is demonstrated as one of effective means to facilitate the separation of photogenerated charge in dye-sensitized solar cells as well as photocatalytic hydrogen production. However, there are limited reports about exploring the effect of porphyrin on the behavior of photogenerated charges and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation performance. Herein, we have built a hybrid photoanode containing Ti doped α-Fe

PURPOSE The feasibility of single-port video-assisted thoracic surgery (SPVATS) for pediatric lobectomy has not been clearly established. We compared the feasibilities of single-port (SP), multi-port (MP) VATS and open lobectomy (OL) for surgical treatment of children with lung disease. METHODS In this study, we retrospectively analyzed and compared data for 22,19 and 30 pediatric lung disease patients who had been subjected to SP, MP and OL, respectively. These procedures were performed between March, 2012 and August, 2020 at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University. Perioperative clinical indicators were analyzed. RESULTS Compared to OL, SP was associated with lower intraoperative blood loss (p = 0.008), lower postoperative thoracic drainage volume (p = 0.041), shorter chest drainage duration (p = 0.002) and hospital stay (p = 0.001). Operation time (p = 0.437), volume of estimated blood loss (p = 0.979), conversion rate to thoracotomy (p = 0.861), total thoracic drainage volume (p = 0.824), duration of chest tube drainage (p = 0.543), length of hospital stay (p = 0.812) and incidences of postoperative complications were comparable in MP and SP groups. CONCLUSION SPVATS is a safe and feasible approach for lobectomy in pediatrics, with comparable postoperative clinical outcomes to MPVATS and better outcomes relative to OL. However, studies with large sample sizes in multicenter should be performed to verify our findings.

Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MI/RI) is a major problem in the clinical treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy, and its specific underlying mechanisms are complicated and still unclear. A number of studies have indicated that the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxidase-1(HO-1) signaling pathway might serve as an important target for the management of MI/RI. Catalpol is a kind of iridoid glucoside that has been found to exhibit diverse anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This study was aimed at investigating the role of Catalpol in targeting MI/RI and its related mechanisms in an oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) model in vitro and a preclinical ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) model.This study using both in vitro and in vivo models investigated the possible role and underlying mechanisms used by Catalpol for modulating of MI/RI. The potential effects of Catalpol on the viability of cardiomyocytes were measured by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays. The phenotypes of myocardial injury, oxidative stress and inflammation markers were measured by western blot, immunofluorescence, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) etc. Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway was detected by immunofluorescence and western blot analysis.We found that Catalpol significantly suppressed the process of MI/RI and protected OGD/R-treated cardiomyocytes by inhibiting the various markers of inflammation and suppressing oxidative stress. Additionally, mechanistically it was also demonstrated that Catalpol could effectively activate Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway to suppress the damage caused by inflammation and oxidative stress in MI/RI.In summary, the findings suggest that Catalpol exerted significant cardioprotective effects following myocardial ischemia, possibly through the activation of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

A new static–dynamic equivalence approach for beam bending is developed to determine the critical stability load of a vibrating beam resting on an elastic foundation. It is validated that the criti...

Inflammatory response plays an important role in ischaemia reperfusion injury (IRI) through a variety of inflammatory cells. Apart from neutrophils, macrophages and lymphocytes, the role of dendritic cells (DCs) in IRI has been noticed. The study was aimed at investigating whether the high‐mobility group protein box‐1/toll like receptor 4 (HMGB1/TLR4) signalling pathway regulate the migration, adhesion and aggregation of DCs to the myocardium, induce DCs activation and maturation, stimulate the expression of surface costimulatory molecules and participate in myocardial IRI. In vivo, migration, adhesion, and aggregation of DCs was enhanced; the expression of peripheral blood DCs CD80 and CD86, myocardial adhesion molecules were increased; and the infarct size was increased during myocardial ischaemia reperfusion injury myocardial ischemic/reperfusion injury (MI/RI). These responses induced by MI/RI were significantly inhibited by HMGB1 specific neutralizing antibody treatment. Cellular experiments confirmed that HMGB1 promoted the release of inflammatory cytokines through TLR4/MyD88/NF‐κB, upregulated CD80 and CD86 expression, mediated the damage of cardiomyocytes and accelerated the apoptosis. Our results indicate that DCs activation and maturation, stimulate the expression of surface costimulatory molecules by promoting the release of inflammatory factors through NF‐κB pathway and participate in myocardial IRI.

Sweet cherries are in demand in domestic and international markets due to their medical and health benefits. However, storage and transportation of these cherries are difficult due to their thin skin. In this study, we investigated the effects of pressurized argon (0.5 MPa for 1 h at 0 oC), storage in a controlled atmosphere (5% O2 + 10% CO2 + 85% argon), and their combination on the postharvest quality and browning of sweet cherries during 63 d of storage at 0 oC. Results showed that treatment with pressurized argon, controlled atmosphere, and their combination effectively reduced the fruit decay rate (13.33 (58.54%), 15.56 (68.29%), and 18.89 (82.93%), respectively) compared with the control fruit after 63 d of storage. The treatments also effectively maintained a high good fruit rate (28.89 (72.22%), 36.67 (91.67%), and 45.56 (113.89%), respectively) compared with the control fruit after 63 d of storage and delayed the decline of lightness, saturation, and hue angle. They also inhibited reduction in firmness, levels of total soluble solid, titratable acidity, and ascorbic acid content, thus maintaining better fruit quality. The accumulation of membrane lipid peroxide malondialdehyde and increase in relative permeability was significantly decreased. The decrease in fruit phenolic compound content and increase in polyphenoloxidase and phenylalanine ammonia lyase enzymatic activity were inhibited. Ultimately, the development of fruit browning was reduced, and the browning index was maintained (11.94, 6.94, and 3.10, respectively) at a low level after 63 d of storage. Combined treatment with pressurized argon and a controlled atmosphere yielded the best results and may be considered one of the ideal methods for preserving sweet cherries.

A random-pattern skin flap plays an important role in the field of wound repair; the mechanisms that influence the survival of random-pattern skin flaps have been extensively studied but little attention has been paid to endogenous counterinjury substances and mechanism. Previous reports reveal that the apelin-APJ axis is an endogenous counterinjury mechanism that has considerable function in protecting against infection, inflammation, oxidative stress, necrosis, and apoptosis in various organs. As an in vivo study, our study proved that the apelin/APJ axis protected the skin flap by alleviating vascular oxidative stress and the apelin/APJ axis works as an antioxidant stress factor dependent on CaMKK/AMPK/GSK3β signaling. In addition, the apelin/APJ-manipulated CaMKK/AMPK/GSK3β-dependent mechanism improves HUVECs’ resistance to oxygen and glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R), reduces ROS production and accumulation, maintained the normal mitochondrial membrane potential, and suppresses oxidative stress in vitro. Besides, activation of the apelin/APJ axis promotes vascular migration and angiogenesis under relative hypoxia condition through CaMKK/AMPK/GSK3β signaling. In a word, we provide new evidence that the apelin/APJ axis is an effective antioxidant and can significantly improve the vitality of random flaps, so it has potential be a promising clinical treatment.

Objective This study aimed to provide an insight into the impact of early outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the care management for patients with congenital heart disease. Methods This study respectively enrolled a cohort of surgical patients (patients undergoing surgery in 2018 [group I], 2019[group II], and 2020 [group III]) and a cohort of follow-up patients (patients having follow-up in 2017 [group A], 2018 [group B] and 2019 [group C]) from 13 children hospitals. Results During the COVID-19 era, there was a significant decrease in total surgical volume and a change in case mix in terms of an increase in the proportion of emergency operations. Decrease in migration scale index was correlated to the decrease in both surgical volume (r=0.64, p=0.02) and outpatient visit volume (r=0.61, p=0.03). There was a significantly higher proportion of patients who had follow-up through the internet or phone in group C (26.4% vs. 9.6% in group B and 8.9% in group A; p< 0.0001). There was no statistical difference in death or rehospitalization among the 3 follow-up groups (p=0.49). There was higher parents’ anxiety score (p < 0.0001) and more utilization of telemedicine (p = 0.004) in group C comparing to group A and B. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a considerable decrease in total surgical volume and a change of case mix, which seems to be related to the strict traffic ban. Follow-up through the online medical service appears to be an effective alternative to the conventional method., Graphical abstract

This study investigates the timely support and multi-echelon support in relation to the structure partition of the surrounding rock. The instability behavior of the roadway bearing structure for different working depths and ground pressures is studied and the impact of the supports on the stability of the roadway is analyzed. Considering the distribution of the secondary stress field and the degree of deterioration of the surrounding rock strength resulting from the excavation, a new division method is proposed that involves “deep-shallow-critical” coupling bearing strata. In a similar simulation experiment, we used a stress-loading device fabricated in-house and a support airbag to simulate the impact of ground pressure and timely support force on the stability of the bearing structure and the development of fracture in the surrounding rocks. The results indicate that, with the increase in the ground pressure, the deep and critical bearing strata will move farther away from the roadway wall, the shallow bearing stratum would expand, and hence, the difficulty and expense of providing support will also increase. Timely support can control the movement of the bearing structure and the expansion of the affected range. With the increase in the ground pressure, the bearing structure will become unstable easily, and the stress in the arch foot of the roadway will be considerably concentrated. The instability will lead to more serious damage to the surrounding rocks, which is necessary to reinforce the support in advance. According to the bearing structure of the naked roadway, a multi-echelon support method is proposed. The effective support area is designed based on the outer boundaries of the deep, shallow, and critical bearing strata. The improved multi-echelon support can impose limits on the unfavorable impacts exercised by burial depths on the stability maintenance of the roadway bearing structure and eliminate the adverse effects on the integrity of the surrounding rock. Finally, the relationship between the area of failure and the bearing stratum is established theoretically, and the polynomial interaction equation is fitted according to the results of the simulation.

By combining various databases of academic publications and patents of China’s publicly listed firms, we explore the effects of academic publications on firm values and possible mechanisms. We find that Chinese firms’ academic publications are positively associated with their market valuation; more importantly, such a positive relation is more pronounced when these firms have stronger patent records, highlighting a synergy between basic research and applied technologies. Mechanism tests indicate that firm’s academic publications promote their market values through enhancing their human capital and sending credible signals to professional investors and the general public. Additional tests show that publications in English-language journals are more value-relevant than in Chinese-language journals.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how the pay gap between the management and ordinary employees influence corporate technology innovation.Design/methodology/approachThis study built a tournament model based on inventor innovation and career promotion. In addition, the authors use IV-GMM estimation method to address the possible endogeneity issue in the regressions.FindingsBased on the unbalanced panel data of patents and pay gap in 1,501 Chinese listed manufacturing firms during 2001-2015, this paper finds that the pay gap could lead inventor innovation and improve technology innovation. The pay gap could encourage corporate innovation significantly: 1 percent increase in pay gap may increase the number of patents by 2 percent in the next year. The pay gap between the management and ordinary employees facilitates corporate innovation via two possible channels. First, inventor innovation and career promotion. Inventors are selected into the management mainly based on their innovation output. The larger the pay gap, the more innovation incentives and patents would gain. Second, investment increase in technology innovation. The pay gap and more patents that inventors gain would increase the ratio of inventors promoted to the management, who tend to pour more resources into R&D activities and absorb more inventors to the management due to their sectionalism and R&D preference. The above two channels constitute a positive feedback mechanism among technology innovation, inventor promotion and increase in R&D investment.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper highlights that pay gap between the management and ordinary employees is an important issue that could encourage corporate innovation. The conclusions imply that pay gap could encourage inventors to work hard and produce more patents, which could help them to enter into the management such as executives or directors.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the current literature by implying that pay gap could have positive effects on innovation through theoretical and empirical analysis. Also, this study finds that inventor promotion due to the pay gap is a critical channel to stimulate corporate technology innovation.

We report single-event transient (SET) responses of an on-chip linear voltage regulator in 130 nm commercial standard CMOS technology by heavy ion experiments at first. Responses can be distinguished by the load current. When the light load current was applied, the negative SET on the output of the regulator larger than 200 mV was not observed, while the positive SETs that are larger than 400 mV and last for about 200 ns were observed. By comparison, when the heavy load current was applied, both positive and negative SETs that are larger than 400 mV and last for several hundred ns were observed. Next, the mechanism behind the phenomenon is analysed and then verified by the post-layout SPICE circuit simulation. It is demonstrated that the input voltage, load current and the load capacitance are key elements in determining the severity of SET. Finally, the most sensitive node is located by analysis and SPICE circuit simulation, which lies in the output of the amplifier inside of the bandgap reference (BGR). This result is a primary consideration in the development of the hardening technique.

We assessed the effects of postharvest exogenous melatonin (50,100 and 150 µmol L−1) on the senescence and quality of sweet cherries during storage at 0 ± 0.5 °C. Melatonin treatment decreased decay incidence, respiration rate, and weight loss. It delayed the degradation of firmness, lightness, saturation, hue angle, titratable acidity, and total soluble solids content, thus maintaining better fruit quality. Melatonin treatment inhibited increases in O2 −, H2O2, malondialdehyde content, and relative membrane permeability, while maintaining higher endogenous melatonin levels and increasing superoxide dismutase and catalase activity. Additionally, melatonin treatment enhanced the activity of antioxidant enzymes, increased the levels of ascorbic acid, and reduced glutathione levels, which are related to the ascorbate–glutathione cycle, as well as increasing the AsA:DHA and GSH:GSSG ratios. Delayed senescence in sweet cherries after exogenous melatonin treatment may be associated with high endogenous melatonin levels and increased antioxidant activity and content.

The human capital in management teams plays an increasingly important role in firms' governance and policies. We construct a comprehensive index of top management quality using a principal component analysis to empirically prove top management quality's positive impacts on corporate innovation. This study finds that higher-quality management teams tend to invest more in research and development projects and apply for more and higher-quality of patents. These results are consistent after conducting a series of robustness checks. We control for potential endogeneity using a firm fixed-effects model, the instrumental variable approach, and the propensity score-matching method. Three main channels are tested through which higher-quality top management teams will lead to higher innovation: higher tolerance for failure, easing of financial constraints, and more hiring of high-quality inventors. Finally, further analyses reveal that the positive effects of top management quality on innovation are more obvious for high-tech, state-owned, and growing enterprises.