Recent prominent analyses on impacts of fabrication errors tend to start from Pierce parameters by assuming a normal distribution on them. We manage to analyze the complicated effects of ...multi-dimensional uncertainties directly from geometrical tolerances and present a general pattern for multi-dimensional geometrical uncertainty analysis on field characteristics. Aided by artificial neural networks (ANNs) which would get hold of the cost surface quickly and serve as rapid interfaces with a calculation speed several orders faster than full-wave code, Monte Caro analysis is accessible and effective to simulate the actual probabilistic distributions through a large-volume sampling on neural networks. Under such data-driven perspective which circumvents sophisticated theoretical analysis, the variations of geometrical parameters are analyzed as an entirety from the viewpoint of distribution. The dynamics of features of distributions of three field characteristics as well as geometrical parameters are therefore possible to be delved and analyzed. Such an analysis pattern is general since none of the steps presented cannot be readily transplanted to other topologies.
•Formal and informal institutional distances perform differently in post-M&A periods.•Institutional distance provides opportunities of knowledge accumulation and arbitrage.•Firms can build ...competitive advantages by utilizing institutional distance.•Informal institutions can be delayed to accept while formal institutions cannot.•Different strategies are required to manage formal and informal institutional distances.
Combining institutional theory and the knowledge-based theory of the firm, this study thoroughly analyzes the complicated effects of formal and informal institutional distance on firms’ short-term and long-term cross-border M&A performance. Using a sample of emerging market firms’ cross-border M&As from 2002 to 2016, the empirical results suggest that (1) the formal institutional distance has a significant negative effect on firms’ cross-border M&A performance in the short term and a significant positive effect in the long term and that (2) the informal institutional distance has a significant positive effect on firms’ cross-border M&A performance in the short term and a significant negative effect in the long term. Additionally, this study finds significant effects of the host country’s economic development, state ownership of the acquirer, acquirer firm size and M&A deal size. Some suggestions for future studies are proposed.
This paper develops an environment input-output (EIO) model to calculate embedded carbon footprints (ECF) from a consumption perspective, based on which an analysis is conducted on the trends and ...spatial distribution of urban households' ECF in China. The results demonstrate that energy efficiency improvements might not definitely result in a reduction of China's ECF, which is consistent with the Jevons paradox. Survival-oriented emissions account for over 35% of China's ECF, but the percentage is declining gradually. Although development-oriented emissions only take up 15% of the total ECF, the recent years has witnessed a dramatic increase of the percentage. These findings indicate the broad scope of China's ECF. Furthermore, a significant discrepancy on the spatial distribution of ECF is observed and is attributed to the diversity of economic development stages, consumptive policies, and consumption patterns among regions. Finally, relevant policy implications are derived and discussed.
It is widely accepted that microfinance has the potential to contribute to household welfare in developing countries, while few studies have highlighted the extent to which microfinance contributes ...to low-income rural households. This article employs household-level data to identify factors that influence low-income households' decisions to participate in microfinance for farming production activities, and how these factors and microfinance affect agricultural income. The study applies an endogenous switching regression model to account for the selection bias and treatment effect, and uses a decomposition method to examine the direction and extent of the effect of participating in microfinance on the agricultural income gap of rural households. The empirical findings show that the participation of low-income households in microfinance has significantly increased their agricultural income. In addition, the study further shows that microfinance has exacerbated the agricultural income gap of rural households.
Doxazosin used in benign prostatic hyperplasia has the side effects of causing hypotension and the risk of heart failure. The 3 targets of α
1A
-adrenoceptors (in the prostate), α
1D
-adrenoceptors ...(in the aorta), and an unknown mechanism (in the heart) are involved, respectively. We hypothesized that there is a chiral recognition of doxazosin enantiomers in the 3 targets. Using isolated rat aorta (α
1D
-adrenoceptors) and rabbit prostate (α
1A
-adrenoceptors), we examined pA
2
and pK
B
values of doxazosin enantiomers. We observed chronotropic and inotropic effects of doxazosin enantiomers in isolated rat and rabbit heart tissues. (–)Doxazosin and (+)doxazosin produced a shift to the right of concentration–contraction curves for noradrenalin (aorta) and phenylephrine (prostate smooth muscle). The pA
2
value of (–)doxazosin (8.625 ± 0.053) was smaller than (+)doxazosin (9.503 ± 0.051) in rat aorta, but their pK
B
values in rabbit prostate were the same. In rat and rabbit heart tissues, (+)doxazosin (3–30 µmol·L
−1
) significantly decreased atrial rate, and produced negative inotropic effects; however, (–)doxazosin did not affect the atrial rate, and produced positive inotropic effects in the atria. Thus, the chiral carbon atom of doxazosin does not affect its activity at the therapeutic target of α
1A
-adrenoceptors in the prostate, but significantly changes its blocking activity against α
1D
-adrenoceptors in the aorta, and produces opposite inotropic effects in the atria via an α
1
-adrenoceptor-independent mechanism.
Existing neural network-based autonomous systems are shown to be vulnerable against adversarial attacks, therefore sophisticated evaluation of their robustness is of great importance. However, ...evaluating the robustness under the worst-case scenarios based on known attacks is not comprehensive, not to mention that some of them even rarely occur in the real world. Also, the distribution of safety-critical data is usually multimodal, while most traditional attacks and evaluation methods focus on a single modality. To solve the above challenges, we propose a flow-based multimodal safety-critical scenario generator for evaluating decision-making algorithms. The proposed generative model is optimized with weighted likelihood maximization and a gradient-based sampling procedure is integrated to improve the sampling efficiency. The safety-critical scenarios are generated by efficiently querying the task algorithms and a simulator. Experiments on a self-driving task demonstrate our advantages in terms of testing efficiency and multimodal modeling capability. We evaluate six Reinforcement Learning algorithms with our generated traffic scenarios and provide empirical conclusions about their robustness.
BACKGROUND Flight cadets need to have good physical fitness to cope with the challenges of flying missions. The continuous development of science and technology has led to the constant upgrading of ...fighter jets and the improvement of their performance, which has resulted in new and higher requirements for the physical fitness of flight personnel. The traditional physical training mode, method, and assessment have been used for many years and do not meet current fitness needs. AIM To investigate the impact of a 12-wk comprehensive anti-G fitness training program on the aerobic capacity of aviation cadets and to evaluate its effectiveness. METHODS Fifty-five cadets were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups using a randomized, single-blind design. The control group maintained their existing training regimen, while the experimental group participated in a 12-wk comprehensive training intervention. The training program comprised strength training twice per week, high-intensity interval training three times per week, and supplemental nutritional and psychological support. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), lower limb strength, and hemoglobin levels were measured at baseline, at 6 wk and 12 wk post-intervention. RESULTS Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed significant differences of both VO2max and relative VO2 in both groups across time points (P < 0.05). However, no significant time-group interaction was observed (P > 0.05). Paired t -tests comparing baseline and 12-wk results showed that VO2max and relative VO2 were significantly higher in the experimental group than the control group (P < 0.05). This suggests that the training program effectively enhanced the aerobic capacity of the experimental group. Key indicators of aerobic capacity, bilateral lower limb strength and hemoglobin levels, were also significantly different over time and between groups (P < 0.05). No significant differences were noted in heart-rate metrics (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION A 12-wk comprehensive anti-G fitness training program significantly improved the aerobic capacity of aviation cadets, thereby enhancing their overall capacity and laying a physiological foundation for enduring high-G flights.
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•Riclin is confirmed as a succinoglycan via methylation and NMR analysis.•Riclin and cyclophosphamide have comparable efficiency in inhibiting sarcoma growth.•Riclin promotes ...lymphocytes proliferation significantly in vivo.•Riclin decreases splenocytes apoptosis and alters splenocytes metabolic profiling.
Natural polysaccharides have attracted considerable interests due to diverse biological activities. Succinoglycan is an extracellular polysaccharide produced by most Agrobacterium strains. Here, we confirmed riclin was a typical succinoglycan by NMR and methylation analysis, and investigated the antitumor effects of riclin in sarcoma 180 tumor-bearing mice. The results showed that riclin inhibited the tumor growth significantly as well as cyclophosphamide (CTX). While CTX caused serious damage to spleen structure, riclin increased the spleen index and promoted lymphocytes proliferation in peripheral blood, spleen and lymph nodes. Riclin decreased splenocytes apoptosis as evidenced by alterations of B-cell lymphoma-2 family proteins and Cleaved Caspase-3 protein. Moreover, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics analysis revealed that riclin partially altered the metabolic profiles of splenocytes. In conclusion, riclin is a succinoglycan that performed strong immunogenicity and suppressed sarcoma growth in mice. Succinoglycan riclin could be a potential antitumor agent for functional food and pharmaceutical purpose.
Abstract
Background and Aims
Hypoxia inducible factor-prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor (HIF-PHI) is a novel small molecule inhibitor in clinical treatment for renal anemia. Several studies have shown ...that sustained HIF activation may also have deleterious effects, such as tubulointerstitial fibrosis. Here, the potential effects of different treatment frequency of HIF-PHI (FG-4592) on CKD (chronic kidney disease) mice were investigated.
Method
Male C57BL/6J mice were constructed by subtotal nephrectomy of 5/6 to serve as a model for CKD. We then compared four different strategies based on the frequency of FG-4592(intragastric administration, 30mg/kg) over 9 weeks: once a week (qw), twice a week (biw), three times a week (tiw), and every day (qd).
In vitro, HK-2 cells were divided into three groups according to the different administration methods of FG-4592(30μM): FG-4592 for 20h (FG0); FG-4592 for 8h, followed by washing with medium for 12h(FG1); twice FG-4592 for 8h, followed by washing twice with medium for2h(FG2).
Results
Hemoglobin in the biw group, tiw group or qd group was significantly higher than that in vehicle group. EPO, HIF-1α and HIF-2α of tiw group, biw group and qd group were significantly higher than those in vehicle group. Makers of fibrosis and inflammation in qd group were higher than that in vehicle group, while there was no statistical difference in the changes of the above indicators in tiw group and biw group. HIF-1α and HIF-2α were increased in intermittent administration, but the expression of VEGF, makers of fibrosis or inflammation were not affected. In HK2, HIF-1α and HIF-2α were activated by continuous administration of FG-4592. At the same time, the expression of VEGF, inflammatory and fibrosis indicators were increased significantly during continuous administration. In HepG2, EPO was increased in intermittent administration in HepG2 cells without VEGF increasing.
Conclusion
Taken together, our studies demonstrated that FG-4592 administration 2-3 times a week can effectively improve renal anemia without side effects on inflammatory and fibrosis.
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