Explore the vast range of titles available.

As a crucial component of internal corporate governance, remuneration controls possess the potential to influence the cash holdings of firms. However, identifying the causal relationship between these controls and such holdings presents a considerable challenge. To address this research gap, this paper leverages the implementation of China’s Guidance on Further Regulating the Remuneration Management of Heads of Central Enterprises as a quasi-natural experiment to investigate the relationship between executive remuneration controls and firms’ cash holdings, utilizing a double-difference approach. Based on an analysis of a sample of listed companies from 2007–2012, the results indicate that firms subject to regulated executive compensation exhibit lower cash holdings. To ensure the robustness of these findings, various statistical techniques such as parallel trend tests, variable replacement, propensity score matching, and placebo tests were employed. Additionally, a mechanism test was conducted, whereby the mediating effect of executive compensation controls on firms’ cash holdings was examined, revealing a reduction in internal agency costs. Finally, the analysis of heterogeneity demonstrated that the impact of executive compensation controls on firms’ cash holdings was more pronounced in companies with high-quality internal controls, stronger management oversight, and lower information asymmetry.

Redox catalysts play a vital role in chemical looping oxidative dehydrogenation processes, which have recently been considered to be a promising prospect for propylene production. This work describes the coupling of surface acid catalysis and selective oxidation from lattice oxygen over MoO 3 -Fe 2 O 3 redox catalysts for promoted propylene production. Atomically dispersed Mo species over γ-Fe 2 O 3 introduce effective acid sites for the promotion of propane conversion. In addition, Mo could also regulate the lattice oxygen activity, which makes the oxygen species from the reduction of γ-Fe 2 O 3 to Fe 3 O 4 contribute to selectively oxidative dehydrogenation instead of over-oxidation in pristine γ-Fe 2 O 3 . The enhanced surface acidity, coupled with proper lattice oxygen activity, leads to a higher surface reaction rate and moderate oxygen diffusion rate. Consequently, this coupling strategy achieves a robust performance with 49% of propane conversion and 90% of propylene selectivity for at least 300 redox cycles and ultimately demonstrates a potential design strategy for more advanced redox catalysts. A MoO 3 -Fe 2 O 3 redox catalyst with dispersed Mo species on γ-Fe 2 O 3 is synthesized for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane via chemical looping. Acid sites and lattice oxygen regulation promote the production of and selectivity for propylene.

The catalytic partial oxidation of methane (POM) presents a promising technology for synthesizing syngas. However, it faces severe over-oxidation over catalyst surface. Attempts to modify metal surfaces by incorporating a secondary metal towards C–H bond activation of CH 4 with moderate O* adsorption have remained the subject of intense research yet challenging. Herein, we report that high catalytic performance for POM can be achieved by the regulation of O* occupation in the atomically dispersed (AD) MoNi alloy, with over 95% CH 4 conversion and 97% syngas selectivity at 800 °C. The combination of ex-situ/in-situ characterizations, kinetic analysis and DFT (density functional theory) calculations reveal that Mo-Ni dual sites in AD MoNi alloy afford the declined O 2 poisoning on Ni sites with rarely weaken CH 4 activation for partial oxidation pathway following the combustion reforming reaction (CRR) mechanism. These results underscore the effectiveness of CH 4 turnovers by the design of atomically dispersed alloys with tunable O* adsorption. The catalytic partial oxidation of methane (POM) is a promising technology for synthesizing syngas but suffers from severe over-oxidation on the catalyst surface. Here the authors demonstrate that regulating O* occupation in an atomically dispersed MoNi alloy can achieve high catalytic performance for POM.

Vascular calcification (VC) is high prevalent and predicts cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients. The mechanisms are not known clearly. Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO), a gut-microbiota derivate metabolite, is also associated with cardiovascular outcomes in hemodialysis (HD) patients. This study aims to evaluate serum TMAO levels and establish their relation to VC in HD patients. Serum TMAO concentrations were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Vascular calcification was evaluated by abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) scores. Taking the AAC score value 5.5 as the cutoff value, the participants were divided into the high AAC score group and the low AAC score group. A total of 184 HD patients and 39 healthy controls were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Serum Ln(TMAO) (the natural logarithm of TMAO) concentrations were significantly higher in HD patients than that of control subjects (1.82 ± 0.62 vs. −1.60 ± 0.77, p < 0.001). Compared with the group with low AAC scores, the HD patients with high AAC scores showed significantly higher serum Ln(TMAO) levels (2.09 ± 0.55 vs. 1.67 ± 0.54, p < 0.001). In the multivariate regression analysis, serum Ln(TMAO), HD vintage, with diabetic mellitus, age and plasma intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) were independent determinant factors for VC in HD patients. Higher serum TMAO levels, older age, longer HD vintage, higher plasma iPTH and with diabetes mellitus were independent risk factors for VC in HD patients. The underlying mechanism deserves further investigations and the finding hints at a new target for the treatment of VC.

It has been demonstrated that circ_0001874 and circ_0001971 are potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of oral squamous carcinoma (OSCC). MiR-186 was reported to serve as a tumor suppressor in OSCC, and the down-regulation of miR-186 was reported to lead to higher expression of oncogenic factor SHP2 and the activation of growth promoting signaling. In this study, we aimed to explore the possible molecular role of circ_0001874 and circ_0001971 signaling in the pathogenesis of OSCC. RT-qPCR, Western blot, online bioinformatics tools and luciferase assay were utilized to study the molecular signaling pathways of circ_0001874 and circ_0001971. MTT assay and FCM assay were performed to investigate the synergistic effect of circ_0001971 and circ_0001874 on cell proliferation and apoptosis. By observing the effect of different miRNAs on the levels of circ_0001847 and circ_0001971, it was identified that circ_0001847 and circ_0001971 respectively sponged the expression of miR-296 and miR-186 via binding to these miRNAs. Also, SHP2 mRNA and PLK1 mRNA were respectively targeted by miR-186 and miR-296-5p. We also established two signaling pathways, i.e., circ_0001971/miR-186/SHP2 and circ_0001874/miR-296-5p/PLK1, and validated the synergistic effect of circ_0001971 and circ_0001874 via observing their positive effect on cell proliferation and negative effect on cell apoptosis. The expression of miR-186 and miR-296-5p was generally lower in saliva of OSCC patients compared with that in OLK patients, while the expression of miR-186 and miR-296-5p was specifically up-regulated in saliva of OSCC patients. In conclusion, the finding of this study demonstrated that the relative level of hsa_circ_0001971 and hsa_circ_0001874 were different in the saliva of OSCC patients and could be used as predictive biomarkers for the development of OSCC. Furthermore, oncogenic effects of hsa_circ_0001971 and hsa_circ_0001874 in the development of OSCC might be, at least partially, mediated by its downstream signaling pathways including hsa_circ_0001971/microRNA-186/SHP2 and hsa_circ_0001874/microRNA-297/PLK1.

Subcutaneous fat deposition significantly influences animal growth, carcass quality, and meat characteristics. This study investigates the effects of varying dietary protein levels on backfat thickness, antioxidant capacity, fatty acid composition, differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and lipid molecules in Tibetan sheep. Sixty lambs were randomly assigned to two groups: a high-protein group (13.03% protein) and a low-protein group (11.58% protein), with each group containing 30 lambs (3 replicates per group, 10 lambs per replicate). Results showed that the low-protein group had significantly smaller fat cell diameters than the high-protein group ( P  < 0.05, as determined by H&E staining). Additionally, the low-protein group exhibited significantly higher activities of GSH-Px and SOD, and lower MDA content compared to the high-protein group. Gas chromatography identified 33 fatty acids in the fat samples, with oleic, stearic, and palmitic acids being most abundant. The LP group had significantly lower C22:0 and higher C20:2, C20:3n6, C20:4n6, and C20:3n3 levels than the HP group ( P  < 0.05). Transcriptomic analysis revealed 70 DEGs, of which 33 were upregulated and 37 were downregulated. KEGG analysis showed DEGs were enriched in 5 lipid metabolism pathways, including osteoclast differentiation, IL-17 signaling, and fluid shear stress/atherosclerosis. PPI analysis identified key lipid metabolism genes (FOS, FOSB, JUN, NR4A1, JUNB, PPARG). qRT-PCR validated RNA-Seq data accuracy. Lipid analysis detected 39 lipid classes and 2,605 lipid species, such as 856 TGs, 335 DGs, 279 Cer, 226 PCs, and 205 PEs. The LP group had higher DG and TG proportions, with significant increases in DG (40:4e), DG (32:1e), DG (34:4e), DG (20:5_18:2), and TG (16:18:1_18:3) levels. Correlation analysis showed that NR4A1 , FOS , JUN , and JUNB positively correlated with catalase (CAT) activity, while FOS , JUN , and JUNB were linked to fatty acid metabolism and adipocyte development. PPARG positively correlated with PUFAs (C20:2, C20:3n6, C20:4n6, C20:3n3, and C20:5n3). Lipid differential molecules (DG (40:4e) and DG (20:5_18:2)) positively correlated with CAT activity, and DG (32:1e) positively correlated with C22:0. Lipid differential molecules including DG (40:4e), DG (32:1e), DG (34:4e), DG (20:5_18:2), and TG (16:18_18:3) negatively correlated with adipocyte diameter. In conclusion, a diet with 11.58% protein regulates lipid-related gene expression, enhances antioxidant capacity in subcutaneous fat, and increases unsaturated fatty acid content.

Polyploid rice, first discovered by Japanese scientist Eiiti Nakamori in 1933, has a history of nearly 90 years. In the following years, polyploid rice studies have mainly focused on innovations in breeding theory, induction technology and the creation of new germplasm, the analysis of agronomic traits and nutritional components, the study of gametophyte development and reproduction characteristics, DNA methylation modification and gene expression regulation, distant hybridization and utilization among subspecies, species and genomes. In recent years, PMeS lines and neo-tetraploid rice lines with stable high seed setting rate characteristics have been successively selected, breaking through the bottleneck of low seed setting rate of polyploid rice. Following, a series of theoretical and applied studies on high seed setting rate tetraploid rice were carried out. This has pushed research on polyploid rice to a new stage, opening new prospects for polyploid rice breeding.

Bacterial infection has been a critic problem for implant infections. Poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) membrane has great potential for Guided bone regeneration (GBR), however, PLLA lack antibacterial property and thus may face bacterial infections. In this work, a mussel inspired method was used to treat PLLA membrane with dopamine and formed polydopamine (PDA) coated PLLA (PLLA@PDA), and then silver Nanoparticles (AgNPs) was immobilized on the surface of PLLA the reduction effect of PDA. The XPS results showed that the silver element contents may be tuned from 1.6% to 15.4%. The AgNPs coated PLLA (PLLA@Ag) showed good antibacterial property (98.3% bactericidal efficiency may be obtained) and good biocompatibility, implying that the PLLA@Ag membrane have potential application as antibacterial GBR membrane, which may enhance the application of PLLA.

Background/aim The traditional teacher-centered teaching method of pediatric nursing only focuses on the imparting of knowledge, ignoring the cultivation of students’ autonomous learning abilities and the establishment of critical thinking skills. Moreover, the humanized care for pediatric patients is merely a formality, which can’t make a deep impression. This study aimed to explore the application effectiveness of the “One Case to the End” teaching model based on BOPPPS in pediatric nursing teaching. Materials and methods A quasi-experimental research design and convenience sampling were conducted in this study. A total of 276 nursing undergraduates from two parallel classes of a nursing college were recruited, with 138 students in the Grade 2020 serving as the control group and receiving the traditional teaching method, while the students of Grade 2021 served as the experimental group and implemented the “One Case to the End” teaching model based on BOPPPS. At the end of the semester, the study compared the two groups of students’ academic performance, the level of nurses’ professional values and critical thinking abilities. Additionally, it surveyed the experimental group’s satisfaction with the curriculum teaching reform. Results The academic performance, the score of nurses’ professional values and the score of critical thinking abilities of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (all P  <  0.01 ), and the students in the experimental group had a relatively high evaluation of the reform satisfaction with the new teaching model. Conclusion The “One Case to the End” teaching model based on BOPPPS can effectively enhance students’ academic performance, nurses’ professional values and critical thinking abilities, and improve the teaching quality of pediatric nursing.

Chronic apical periodontitis is a prevalent oral disease characterized by bone loss, and its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of the serine protease GZMA in osteoclasts during chronic apical periodontitis. To address this, we employed crRNA/Cas13d to inhibit GZMA expression and examined its impact on osteoclast behavior. Our findings revealed that GZMA plays a significant role in promoting osteoclast cell proliferation while inhibiting cell apoptosis. Additionally, the inhibition of GZMA led to a notable increase in miR-25-3p expression, which, in turn, downregulated the expression of TGF-β. Consequently, the reduction in TGF-β expression led to a decrease in PAR1 expression within the PARs pathway. These results suggest that GZMA might serve as a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of chronic apical periodontitis. Furthermore, our study highlights the potential of targeting GZMA using crRNA/Cas13d as a valuable approach for future therapeutic interventions.