This paper tests the proposition that politicians and their affiliated firms (i.e., firms operating in their province) temporarily suppress negative information in response to political incentives. ...We examine the stock price behavior of Chinese listed firms around two visible political events—meetings of the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party and promotions of high-level provincial politicians—that are expected to asymmetrically increase the costs of releasing bad news. The costs create an incentive for local politicians and their affiliated firms to temporarily restrict the flow of negative information about the companies. The result will be fewer stock price crashes for the affiliated firms during these event windows, followed by an increase in crashes after the event. Consistent with these predictions, we find that the affiliated firms experience a reduction (an increase) in negative stock return skewness before (after) the event. These effects are strongest in the three-month period directly preceding the event, among firms that are more politically connected, and when the province is dominated by faction politics and cronyism. Additional tests document a significant reduction in published newspaper articles about affected firms in advance of these political events, suggestive of a link between our observed stock price behavior and temporary shifts in the listed firms' information environment.
Almost 27% of the CEOs in a sample of 790 newly partially privatized firms in China are former or current government bureaucrats. Firms with politically connected CEOs underperform those without ...politically connected CEOs by almost 18% based on three-year post-IPO stock returns and have poorer three-year post-IPO earnings growth, sales growth, and change in returns on sales. The negative effect of the CEO's political ties also show up in the first-day stock return. Finally, firms led by politically connected CEOs are more likely to appoint other bureaucrats to the board of directors rather than directors with relevant professional backgrounds.
Based on a sample of Chinese listed firms from 1998 through 2002, this paper documents that listed firms prop up earnings by using abnormal related sales to their controlling owners. Such related ...sales propping is more prevalent among state-owned firms and in regions with weaker economic institutions. We also find that these abnormal related sales are not entirely accrual-based but can be cash-based as well, and they serve as a substitute rather than complement to accruals management for meeting earnings targets. Since these abnormal related sales can be cash-based, there is significant cash transfer via related lending from listed firms back to controlling owners after the propping. However, no cash transfer via related lending is found to be associated with accruals earnings management.
This paper finds that compared with non-state-owned firms, Chinese state-owned enterprises controlled by province, city, and county governments (local SOEs) are more likely to hire small auditors ...within the same region (small local auditors). In regions with less developed institutions, SOEs controlled by central government (central SOEs) also have such a tendency. However, the tendency of local and central SOEs to hire small local auditors is attenuated as the institutions develop. This auditor choice pattern is likely to be explained by SOEs’ lack of demand for large or non-local auditors, small local auditors’ superior local knowledge, and SOEs’ collusion incentives.
Background
Removal of teeth results in both horizontal and vertical changes of hard and soft tissue dimensions. The magnitude of these changes is important for decision‐making and comprehensive ...treatment planning, with provisions for possible solutions to expected complications during prosthetic rehabilitation.
Objectives
To review all English dental literature to assess the magnitude of dimensional changes of both the hard and soft tissues of the alveolar ridge up to 12 months following tooth extraction in humans.
Methods
An electronic MEDLINE and CENTRAL search complemented by manual searching was conducted to identify randomized controlled clinical trials and prospective cohort studies on hard and soft tissue dimensional changes after tooth extraction. Only studies reporting on undisturbed post‐extraction dimensional changes relative to a fixed reference point over a clearly stated time period were included. Assessment of the identified studies and data extraction was performed independently by two reviewers. Data collected were reported by descriptive methods. Weighted means and percentages of the dimensional changes over time were calculated where appropriate.
Results
The search provided 3954 titles and 238 s. Full text analysis was performed for 104 articles resulting in 20 studies that met the inclusion criteria. In human hard tissue, horizontal dimensional reduction (3.79 ± 0.23 mm) was more than vertical reduction (1.24 ± 0.11 mm on buccal, 0.84 ± 0.62 mm on mesial and 0.80 ± 0.71 mm on distal sites) at 6 months. Percentage vertical dimensional change was 11–22% at 6 months. Percentage horizontal dimensional change was 32% at 3 months, and 29–63% at 6–7 months. Soft tissue changes demonstrated 0.4–0.5 mm gain of thickness at 6 months on the buccal and lingual aspects. Horizontal dimensional changes of hard and soft tissue (loss of 0.1–6.1 mm) was more substantial than vertical change (loss 0.9 mm to gain 0.4 mm) during observation periods of up to 12 months, when study casts were utilized as a means of documenting the changes.
Conclusions
Human re‐entry studies showed horizontal bone loss of 29–63% and vertical bone loss of 11–22% after 6 months following tooth extraction. These studies demonstrated rapid reductions in the first 3–6 months that was followed by gradual reductions in dimensions thereafter.
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), share two characteristics in common: (1) a disease prevalence that increases ...markedly with advancing age, and (2) neuroinflammatory changes in which microglia, the primary resident immune cell of the CNS, feature prominently. These characteristics have led to the hypothesis that pathogenic mechanisms underlying age-related neurodegenerative disease involve aging changes in microglia. If correct, targeting features of microglial senescence may constitute a feasible therapeutic strategy. This review explores this hypothesis and its implications by considering the current knowledge on how microglia undergo change during aging and how the emergence of these aging phenotypes relate to significant alterations in microglial function. Evidence and theories on cellular mechanisms implicated in driving senescence in microglia are reviewed, as are "rejuvenative" measures and strategies that aim to reverse or ameliorate the aging microglial phenotype. Understanding and controlling microglial aging may represent an opportunity for elucidating disease mechanisms and for formulating novel therapies.
Extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) in human body fluids are emerging as effective biomarkers for detection of diseases. Saliva, as the most accessible and noninvasive body fluid, has been shown to harbor ...exRNA biomarkers for several human diseases. However, the entire spectrum of exRNA from saliva has not been fully characterized.
Using high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), we conducted an in-depth bioinformatic analysis of noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) in human cell-free saliva (CFS) from healthy individuals, with a focus on microRNAs (miRNAs), piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs).
Our data demonstrated robust reproducibility of miRNA and piRNA profiles across individuals. Furthermore, individual variability of these salivary RNA species was highly similar to those in other body fluids or cellular samples, despite the direct exposure of saliva to environmental impacts. By comparative analysis of >90 RNA-Seq data sets of different origins, we observed that piRNAs were surprisingly abundant in CFS compared with other body fluid or intracellular samples, with expression levels in CFS comparable to those found in embryonic stem cells and skin cells. Conversely, miRNA expression profiles in CFS were highly similar to those in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Using a customized bioinformatics method, we identified >400 circRNAs in CFS. These data represent the first global characterization and experimental validation of circRNAs in any type of extracellular body fluid.
Our study provides a comprehensive landscape of ncRNA species in human saliva that will facilitate further biomarker discoveries and lay a foundation for future studies related to ncRNAs in human saliva.
Digital natives is a term used to describe current higher education (HE) students, whose lives are proliferated by digital technologies. To cater to the needs of this new generation of students, HE ...institutions increasingly adopt digital tools such as virtual learning environments (VLE) and social media (SM). Little is known, however, about the impact of these digital technologies on students' HE outcomes. Drawing from service productivity theories, this study aims to address this gap. Through exploratory sequential mixed research methods, we identify five HE outcomes and reveal that Learning-Oriented Outcomes are the most important in HE even when digital technologies are not used; and these outcomes are further enhanced when students use VLE. Learning-Oriented Outcomes, however, are the least important when SM is used in HE; students tend to prioritise outcomes related to Knowledge Transfer instead. Our research findings derive theoretical and practical contributions and open up avenues for future research.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Fluorescence imaging in near-infrared IIb (NIR-IIb, 1500-1700 nm) spectrum holds a great promise for tissue imaging. While few inorganic NIR-IIb fluorescent probes have been reported, their organic ...counterparts are still rarely developed, possibly due to the shortage of efficient materials with long emission wavelength. Herein, we propose a molecular design philosophy to explore pure organic NIR-IIb fluorophores by manipulation of the effects of twisted intramolecular charge transfer and aggregation-induced emission at the molecular and morphological levels. An organic fluorescent dye emitting up to 1600 nm with a quantum yield of 11.5% in the NIR-II region is developed. NIR-IIb fluorescence imaging of blood vessels and deeply-located intestinal tract of live mice based on organic dyes is achieved with high clarity and enhanced signal-to-background ratio. We hope this study will inspire further development on the evolution of pure organic NIR-IIb dyes for bio-imaging.
Conformal integration of semiconductor gain media is broadly important in on-chip optical communication technology. Here we deploy atomic layer deposition to create conformally deposited organohalide ...perovskitesan attractive semiconducting gain mediumwith the goal of achieving coherent light emission on spherical optical cavities. We demonstrate the high quality of perovskite gain media fabricated with this method, achieving optical gain in the nanosecond pulse regime with a threshold for amplified spontaneous emission of 65 ± 8 μJ cm–2. Through variable stripe length measurements, we report a net modal gain of 125 ± 22 cm–1 and a gain bandwidth of 50 ± 14 meV. Leveraging the high quality of the gain medium, we conformally coat silica microspheres with perovskite to form whispering gallery mode optical cavities and achieve lasing.
PDF
