I build a dynamic capital structure model that demonstrates how business cycle variation in expected growth rates, economic uncertainty, and risk premia influences firms' financing policies. ...Countercyclical fluctuations in risk prices, default probabilities, and default losses arise endogenously through firms' responses to macroeconomic conditions. These comovements generate large credit risk premia for investment grade firms, which helps address the credit spread puzzle and the under-leverage puzzle in a unified framework. The model generates interesting dynamics for financing and defaults, including market timing in debt issuance and credit contagion. It also provides a novel procedure to estimate state-dependent default losses.
Abstract The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a widespread neuromodulatory system that plays important roles in central nervous system development, synaptic plasticity, and the response to endogenous ...and environmental insults. The ECS comprises cannabinoid receptors, endogenous cannabinoids (endocannabinoids), and the enzymes responsible for the synthesis and degradation of the endocannabinoids. The most abundant cannabinoid receptors are the CB1 cannabinoid receptors; however, CB2 cannabinoid receptors, transient receptor potential channels, and peroxisome proliferator activated receptors are also engaged by some cannabinoids. Exogenous cannabinoids, such as tetrahydrocannabinol, produce their biological effects through their interactions with cannabinoid receptors. The best-studied endogenous cannabinoids are 2-arachidonoyl glycerol and arachidonoyl ethanolamide (anandamide). Despite similarities in chemical structure, 2-arachidonoyl glycerol and anandamide are synthesized and degraded by distinct enzymatic pathways, which impart fundamentally different physiologic and pathophysiologic roles to these two endocannabinoids. As a result of the pervasive social use of cannabis and the involvement of endocannabinoids in a multitude of biological processes, much has been learned about the physiologic and pathophysiologic roles of the ECS. This review provides an introduction to the ECS with an emphasis on its role in synaptic plasticity and how the ECS is perturbed in schizophrenia.
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We consider the symmetry resolution of relative entropies in the 1+1 dimensional free massless compact boson conformal field theory (CFT) which presents an internal U(1) symmetry. We ...calculate various symmetry resolved Rényi relative entropies between one interval reduced density matrices of CFT primary states using the replica method. By taking the replica limit, the symmetry resolved relative entropy can be obtained. We also take the XX spin chain model as a concrete lattice realization of this CFT to perform numerical computation. The CFT predictions are tested against exact numerical calculations finding perfect agreement.
Dysbiosis, departure of the gut microbiome from a healthy state, has been suggested to be a powerful biomarker of disease incidence and progression
. Diagnostic applications have been proposed for ...inflammatory bowel disease diagnosis and prognosis
, colorectal cancer prescreening
and therapeutic choices in melanoma
. Noninvasive sampling could facilitate large-scale public health applications, including early diagnosis and risk assessment in metabolic
and cardiovascular diseases
. To understand the generalizability of microbiota-based diagnostic models of metabolic disease, we characterized the gut microbiota of 7,009 individuals from 14 districts within 1 province in China. Among phenotypes, host location showed the strongest associations with microbiota variations. Microbiota-based metabolic disease models developed in one location failed when used elsewhere, suggesting that such models cannot be extrapolated. Interpolated models performed much better, especially in diseases with obvious microbiota-related characteristics. Interpolation efficiency decreased as geographic scale increased, indicating a need to build localized baseline and disease models to predict metabolic risks.
Delirium is a critical and highly prevalent problem among critically ill patients. The Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU) and the Intensive Care Delirium Screening ...Checklist (ICDSC) are the most recommended assessment tools for detecting intensive care unit (ICU) delirium.
To synthesize the current evidence and compared the diagnostic accuracy of the two tools in the detection of delirium in adults in ICUs.
Systematic review and meta-analysis.
A comprehensive search of the following electronic databases was performed using PubMed, Embase, CINAHL and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses A&I. The date range searched was from database inception to April 26, 2019.
Two researchers independently identified articles, systematically abstracted data and evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the CAM-ICU or the ICDSC against standard references. Bivariate diagnostic statistical analysis with a random-effects model was performed to summarize the pooled sensitivity and specificity of the two tools.
In total, 29 CAM-ICU and 12 ICDSC studies were identified. The pooled sensitivity was 0.84 and 0.83 and pooled specificity was 0.95 and 0.87 for the CAM-ICU and the ICDSC, respectively. The CAM-ICU had higher summary specificity than the ICDSC did (p = 0.04). The percentage of hypoactive delirium, ICU type, use of mechanical ventilation, number of participants, and female percentage moderated the accuracy of the tools. Most of the domains of patient selection, index test, reference standards, and flow and timing were rated as having a low or unclear risk of bias.
Although both the CAM-ICU and the ICDSC are accurate assessment tools for screening delirium in critically ill patients, the CAM-ICU is superior in ruling out patients without ICU delirium and detecting delirium in patients in the medical ICU and those receiving mechanical ventilation. Further investigations are warranted to validate our findings. The study protocol is registered at PROSPERO (CRD42020133544).
Traditionally, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α), a 91 kDa transcription factor, regulates lipid metabolism and long-chain fatty acid oxidation by upregulating the ...expression of several genes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and the mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation pathway. In addition, PGC-1α regulates the expression of mitochondrial genes to control mitochondria DNA replication and cellular oxidative metabolism. Recently, new insights showed that several myokines such as irisin and myostatin are epigenetically regulated by PGC-1α in skeletal muscles, thereby modulating systemic energy balance, with marked expansion of mitochondrial volume density and oxidative capacity in healthy or diseased myocardia. In addition, in our studies evaluating whether PGC-1α overexpression in epicardial adipose tissue can act as a paracrine organ to improve or repair cardiac function, we found that overexpression of hepatic PGC-1α increased hepatic fatty acid oxidation and decreased triacylglycerol storage and secretion in vivo and in vitro. In this review, we discuss recent studies showing that PGC-1α may regulate mitochondrial fusion⁻fission homeostasis and affect the renal function in acute or chronic kidney injury. Furthermore, PGC-1α is an emerging protein with a biphasic role in cancer, acting both as a tumor suppressor and a tumor promoter and thus representing a new and unresolved topic for cancer biology studies. In summary, this review paper demonstrates that PGC-1α plays a central role in coordinating the gene expression of key components of mitochondrial biogenesis and as a critical metabolic regulator in many vital organs, including white and brown adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, heart, liver, and kidney.
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In this paper, we consider the computation of charged moments of the reduced density matrix of two disjoint intervals in the 1+1 dimensional free compactified boson conformal field theory ...(CFT) by studying the four-point function of the fluxed twist fields. We obtained the exact scaling function of this four-point function and discussed its decompactification limit. This scaling function was used to obtain the charged moments of the partial transpose which we refer as charged Rényi negativity. These charged moments and the charged moments of the partial transpose are essential for the problem of symmetry decomposition of the corresponding entanglement measures. We test our analytic formula against exact numerical computation in the complex harmonic chain, finding perfect agreements.
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In this paper, we consider the time evolution of charge imbalance resolved negativity after a global quench in the 1+1 dimensional complex Klein-Gordon theory. We focus on two types of ...global quenches which are called boundary state quench and mass quench respectively. We first study the boundary state quench where the post-quench dynamic is governed by a massless Hamiltonian. In this case, the temporal evolution of charged imbalance resolved negativity can be obtained first by evaluating the correlators of the fluxed twist field in the upper half plane and then applying Fourier transformation. We test our analytical formulas in the underlying lattice model numerically. We also study the mass quench in the complex harmonic chain where the system evolves according to a massive Hamiltonian after the quench. We argue that our results can be understood in the framework of quasi-particle picture.
Visual pH-sensing films containing curcumin (CR) and anthocyanins (ATH) were prepared as on-package indicator labels for nondestructively detecting fish freshness in real time. Fourier transform ...infrared spectroscopy analysis indicated that CR and ATH were successfully immobilized into the film-forming substrate based on starch, polyvinyl alcohol (SPVA) and glycerol. The incorporation of different natural dyes had no significant effect on moisture content, water solubility, water vapor permeability and thickness of colorimetric films. Results of color stability test illustrated that the composite films incorporated with CR were the most stable and the composite film incorporated with ATH was least stable at room temperature for 180 days. The colorimetric film without glycerol was found less sensitive to volatile ammonia. Based on the volatile amines released by fish, an application trial of five colorimetric films containing natural dyes was conducted in bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) at 4 °C. Results showed that the SPVA/glycerol film incorporated with CR and ATH at a ratio of 2:8 (v/v) could provide three different colors, which were assigned to the sign of freshness, medium freshness, and spoilage for packaged fish. Hence, this colorimetric film can be applied as a promising material of intelligent packaging for non-destructively monitoring the real-time freshness of fish products.
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•Five different films were incorporated with anthocyanins, curcumin and their mixed dyes.•Films respond via visible color change to volatiles in the package headspace.•SPVAG/ATH/CR film can discriminate fresh, medium fresh, and spoiled bighead carp.
Mutations of fibrillin‐1 (FBN1) have been associated with Marfan syndrome and pleiotropic connective tissue disorders, collectively termed as “type I fibrillinopathy”. However, few genotype–phenotype ...correlations are known in the ocular system. Patients with congenital ectopia lentis (EL) received panel‐based next‐generation sequencing, complemented with multiplex ligation‐dependent probe amplification. In a total of 125 probands, the ocular phenotypes were compared for different types of FBN1 mutations. Premature termination codons were associated with less severe EL and a thinner central corneal thickness (CCT) than the inframe mutations. The eyes of patients with mutations in the C‐terminal region had a higher incidence of posterior staphyloma than those in the middle and N‐terminal regions. Mutations in the TGF‐β‐regulating sequence had larger horizontal corneal diameters (white‐to‐white WTW), higher incidence of posterior staphyloma, but less severe EL than those with mutations in other regions. Mutations in the neonatal region were associated with thinner CCT. Longer axial length (AL) was associated with mutations in the C‐terminal region or TGF‐β regulating sequence after adjusting for age, EL severity, and corneal curvature radius. FBN1 genotype–phenotype correlations were established for some ocular features, including EL severity, AL, WTW, CCT, and so forth, providing novel perspectives and directions for further mechanistic studies.