The inconsistency of existing findings on the relationship between institutional investors' shareholdings and the level of corporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure may lie in ...the insufficient consideration of the heterogeneity of institutional investors and investee firms. In this paper, from the perspective of institutional investor heterogeneity, we use a two-way fixed effects model to examine the impact of institutional investors on corporate ESG disclosure and the possible mechanism of this impact using a sample of Chinese A-share-listed firms from 2012 to 2020. We show that institutional investor shareholding can improve the level of corporate ESG information disclosure by enhancing auditor supervision and analyst attention to these external supervision. In terms of institutional investor heterogeneity, it is found that independent institutional investors and stable institutional investors play a stronger role in promoting the level of ESG information disclosure. Moreover, the positive net effect of the institutional investors on improving the level of ESG information disclosure is more pronounced in non-heavily polluting industries and state-owned enterprises. This paper enriches the impact of institutional investors' shareholding on corporate ESG disclosure from a heterogeneity perspective.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Dynamic N
-methyladenosine (m
A) modification was previously identified as a ubiquitous post-transcriptional regulation that affected mRNA homeostasis. However, the m
A-related epitranscriptomic ...alterations and functions remain elusive in human cancer. Here we aim to identify the profile and outcome of m
A-methylation in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and m
A-immunoprecipitation in combination with high-throughput sequencing, we determined the m
A-mRNA levels in human HCC. Human HCC exhibited a characteristic gain of m
A modification in tandem with an increase of mRNA expression, owing to YTH domain family 2 (YTHDF2) reduction. The latter predicted poor classification and prognosis of HCC patients, and highly correlated with HCC m
A landscape. YTHDF2 silenced in human HCC cells or ablated in mouse hepatocytes provoked inflammation, vascular reconstruction and metastatic progression. Mechanistically, YTHDF2 processed the decay of m
A-containing interleukin 11 (IL11) and serpin family E member 2 (SERPINE2) mRNAs, which were responsible for the inflammation-mediated malignancy and disruption of vascular normalization. Reciprocally, YTHDF2 transcription succumbed to hypoxia-inducible factor-2α (HIF-2α). Administration of a HIF-2α antagonist (PT2385) restored YTHDF2-programed epigenetic machinery and repressed liver cancer.
Our results have characterized the m
A-mRNA landscape in human HCC and revealed YTHDF2 as a molecular 'rheostat' in epitranscriptome and cancer progression.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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Cryopreservation by vitrification has been recognized as a promising strategy for long-term banking of living cells. However, the difficulty to generate a fast enough heating rate to ...minimize devitrification and recrystallization-induced intracellular ice formation during rewarming is one of the major obstacles to successful vitrification. We propose to overcome this hurdle by utilizing magnetic induction heating (MIH) of magnetic nanoparticles to enhance rewarming. In this study, superparamagnetic (SPM) Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized by a chemical coprecipitation method. We successfully applied the MIH of Fe3O4 nanoparticles for rewarming human umbilical cord matrix mesenchymal stem cells (hUCM-MSCs) cryopreserved by vitrification. Our results show that extracellular Fe3O4 nanoparticles with MIH may efficiently suppress devitrification and/or recrystallization during rewarming and significantly improve the survival of vitrified cells. We further optimized the concentration of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and the current of an alternating current (AC) magnetic field for generating the MIH to maximize cell viability. Our results indicate that MIH in an AC magnetic field with 0.05% (w/v) Fe3O4 nanoparticles significantly facilitates rewarming and improves the cryopreservation outcome of hUCM-MSCs by vitrification. The application of MIH of SPM nanoparticles to achieve rapid and spatially homogeneous heating is a promising strategy for enhanced cryopreservation of stem cells by vitrification.
Here we report the successful synthesis and application of Fe3O4 nanoparticles for magnetic induction heating (MIH) to enhance rewarming of vitrification-cryopreserved human umbilical cord matrix mesenchymal stem cells (hUCM-MSCs). We found that MIH-enhanced rewarming greatly improves the survival of vitrification-cryopreserved hUCM-MSCs. Moreover, the hUCM-MSCs retain their intact stemness and multilineage potential of differentiation post cryopreservation by vitrification with the MIH-enhanced rewarming. Therefore, the novel MIH-enhanced cell vitrification is valuable to facilitate the long-term storage of hUCM-MSCs and possibly many other important cells to meet their ever-increasing demand by the burgeoning cell-based medicine.
Double deformable mirrors (DMs) with different actuator densities are cascaded to optimize the wavefront aberrations to improve the focus intensity of the Shanghai super-intense ultrafast laser ...facility (SULF), which plans to generate 10 PW laser pulse. The beam aberrations near the focal spot are corrected from 0.556 um to 0.112 um in RMS by a 300-mm DM with a large stroke installed after the compressor. After then, it is further optimized to 0.041 um using a 130-mm DM with a high spatial resolution working after the main amplifier. The corrected beam is focused to 2.75 × 2.87 um
at the full width at half maximum (FWHM) with an f/2.5 off-axis parabolic mirror (OAP), which contains approximately 27.69% energy. A peak intensity of 2 × 10
W/cm
is achieved at the output of 5.4 PW, and it could exceed 10
W/cm
in the SULF 10 PW laser facility using an f/1.8 OAP.
Variable climatic conditions frequently have harmful effects on plants.
Reaumuria trigyna
, a salt-secreting xerophytic shrub, occurs in Inner Mongolia, which has a poor environment for plant growth. ...To explore the physiological and molecular mechanisms of
R. trigyna
in response to environmental stress, this study investigated the abiotic resistance of
R. trigyna
in terms of growth regulation, antioxidant defense, osmotic regulation, ion transport, and ion homeostasis-related genes.
R. trigyna
seedlings were treated with 400 mM NaCl, 400 mM neutral salts (NaCl:Na
2
SO
4
= 9:1), 50 mM alkaline salts (NaHCO
3
:Na
2
CO
3
= 9:1), 10% polyethylene glycol (PEG), and UV-B. Seedlings under 400 mM NaCl and 400 mM neutral salt stress showed less damage. While alkaline salt, PEG, and UV stress caused more damage, specifically in oxidative damage, proline levels, electrolyte leakage, and activation of antioxidant defenses. Furthermore, under the abiotic stress treatments, the accumulation of Na
+
increased while the accumulation of K
+
decreased. Further analysis showed that the flow rate of Na
+
and K
+
under alkaline salt stress was higher than under neutral salt stress. Neutral salt induced high expression of
RtNHX1
and
RtSOS1
, while alkaline salt induced high expression of
RtHKT1
, and alkaline salt stress significantly reduced the activity of root cells. These results indicated that
R. trigyna
seedlings were more tolerant to neutral than alkaline salts; this might be because root activity decreased at high pH levels, which impaired membrane permeability and the ion transfer system, leading to an imbalance between Na
+
and K
+
, and in turn to excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreased plant stress resistance.
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of a novel systemic immune-inflammation score (SIIS) to predict oncological outcomes in upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma(UTUC) after ...radical nephroureterectomy(RNU).
The clinical data of 483 patients with nonmetastatic UTUC underwent surgery in our center were analyzed. Five inflammation-related biomarkers were screened in the Lasso-Cox model and then aggregated to generate the SIIS based on the regression coefficients. Overall survival (OS) was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analyses. The Cox proportional hazards regression and random survival forest model were adopted to build the prognostic model. Then we established an effective nomogram for UTUC after RNU based on SIIS. The discrimination and calibration of the nomogram were evaluated using the concordance index (C-index), area under the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve (time-dependent AUC), and calibration curves. Decision curve analysis (DCA) was used to assess the net benefits of the nomogram at different threshold probabilities.
According to the median value SIIS computed by the lasso Cox model, the high-risk group had worse OS (p<0.0001) than low risk-group. Variables with a minimum depth greater than the depth threshold or negative variable importance were excluded, and the remaining six variables were included in the model. The area under the ROC curve (AUROC) of the Cox and random survival forest models were 0.801 and 0.872 for OS at five years, respectively. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that elevated SIIS was significantly associated with poorer OS (p<0.001). In terms of predicting overall survival, a nomogram that considered the SIIS and clinical prognostic factors performed better than the AJCC staging.
The pretreatment levels of SIIS were an independent predictor of prognosis in upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma after RNU. Therefore, incorporating SIIS into currently available clinical parameters helps predict the long-term survival of UTUC.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Oxidative stress plays an important role in the occurrence and development of malignancy. However, the relationship between oxidative stress and upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) ...prognosis remains elusive. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of systematic oxidative stress indices as a predictor of patient outcomes in UTUC after radical nephroureterectomy.
Clinical data for 483 patients with UTUC who underwent radical nephroureterectomy were analyzed. Patients were categorized according to an optimal value of systematic oxidative stress indices (SOSIs), including fibrinogen (Fib), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GGT), creatinine (CRE), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and albumin (ALB). Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to investigate associations of SOSIs with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Moreover, associations between SOSIs and OS and PFS were assessed with univariate and multivariate analyses.
High values of Fib, γ-GGT, CRE, and LDH, and low values of ALB were associated with reduced OS. SOSIs status correlated with age, tumor site, surgical approach, hydronephrosis, tumor size, T stage, and lymph node status. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed a significant discriminatory ability for death and progression risks in the two groups based on SOSIs. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models showed that SOSIs were an independent prognostic indicator for OS (p = 0.007) and PFS (p = 0.021). SOSIs and clinical variables were selected to establish a nomogram for OS. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year AUC values were 0.77, 0.78, and 0.81, respectively. Calibration curves of the nomogram showed high consistencies between the predicted and observed survival probability. Decision curve analysis curves showed that the nomogram could well predict the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year OS.
SOSIs are an independent unfavorable predictor of OS and PFS in patients diagnosed with UTUC undergoing RNU. Therefore, incorporating SOSIs into currently available clinical parameters may improve clinical decision-making.
The massive global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic makes the development of more effective and easily popularized assays critical. Here, we developed an ultrasensitive nanomechanical method based on ...microcantilever array and peptide nucleic acid (PNA) for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA. The method has an extremely low detection limit of 0.1 fM (10
5
copies/mL) for N-gene specific sequence (20 bp). Interestingly, it was further found that the detection limit of N gene (pharyngeal swab sample) was even lower, reaching 50 copies/mL. The large size of the N gene dramatically enhances the sensitivity of the nanomechanical sensor by up to three orders of magnitude. The detection limit of this amplification-free assay method is an order of magnitude lower than RT-PCR (500 copies/mL) that requires amplification. The non-specific signal in the assay is eliminated by the
in-situ
comparison of the array, reducing the false-positive misdiagnosis rate. The method is amplification-free and label-free, allowing for accurate diagnosis within 1 h. The strong specificity and ultra-sensitivity allow single base mutations in viruses to be distinguished even at very low concentrations. Also, the method remains sensitive to fM magnitude lung cancer marker (miRNA-155). Therefore, this ultrasensitive, amplification-free and inexpensive assay is expected to be used for the early diagnosis of COVID-19 patients and to be extended as a broad detection tool.
Early cancer diagnosis requires ultrasensitive detection of tumor markers in blood. To this end, we develop a novel microcantilever immunosensor using nanobodies (Nbs) as receptors. As the smallest ...antibody (Ab) entity comprising an intact antigen-binding site, Nbs achieve dense receptor layers and short distances between antigen-binding regions and sensor surfaces, which significantly elevate the generation and transmission of surface stress. Owing to the inherent thiol group at the C-terminus, Nbs are covalently immobilized on microcantilever surfaces in directed orientation via one-step reaction, which further enhances the stress generation. For microcantilever-based nanomechanical sensor, these advantages dramatically increase the sensor sensitivity. Thus, Nb-functionalized microcantilevers can detect picomolar concentrations of tumor markers with three orders of magnitude higher sensitivity, when compared with conventional Ab-functionalized microcantilevers. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates an ultrasensitive, label-free, rapid, and low-cost method for tumor marker detection. Moreover, interestingly, we find Nb inactivation on sensor interfaces when using macromolecule blocking reagents. The adsorption-induced inactivation is presumably caused by the change of interfacial properties, due to binding site occlusion upon complex coimmobilization formations. Our findings are generalized to any coimmobilization methodology for Nbs and, thus, for the construction of high-performance immuno-surfaces.
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