Breathing life into equity: How air pollution influences corporate pay gap.

Using a dataset encompassing 19,229 Chinese listed firm-year observations from 2014 to 2020, this study investigates the relationship between air quality and the pay gap between executives and employees. Our empirical results indicate that companies tend to reduce the pay gap in response to air pollution. These results exhibit robustness through various methodological approaches: employing thermal inversion as an instrumental variable (IV) for IV regressions, adopting quantile regressions, utilizing alternative metrics for assessing air pollution and corporate pay gap, expanding control variables, excluding firms undergoing reorganization, and applying firm-level clustering.

pH-activated metal-organic layer nanozyme for ferroptosis tumor therapy.

Nanozymes have made great achievements in the research of tumor therapy. However, due to the complex tumor microenvironment, the catalytic activity and biosafety of nanozymes are limited. High catalytic efficiency is a relentless pursuit for the preparation of high-performance nanozymes.

Purification and Characterization of γ-Glutamyl Transpeptidase from and Its Function on Formation of Sulfur-Containing Volatiles.

γ-Glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) in shoot (TS) was extracted and purified through salt precipitation, ion-exchange column, and gel filtration chromatography methods. The GGT had two peptides with M.W.

Effects on tricuspid regurgitation by different techniques for passing permanent pacemaker leads through the tricuspid valve: a randomized, open-label, superiority clinical trial study protocol.

Background: In recent years, lead-induced tricuspid regurgitation (LITR) has attracted increasing attention. At present, there are two commonly used transvalvular methods for pacing lead wires to enter the right ventricle. The first transvalvular approach involves placing the tip of the pacing lead directly through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle, including "direct-crossing" and "drop-down.

Comprehensive mapping of somatotroph pituitary neuroendocrine tumour heterogeneity using spatial and single-cell transcriptomics.

Background: Pituitary neuroendocrine tumours (PitNETs) are common intracranial tumours that are highly heterogeneous with unpredictable growth patterns. The driver genes and mechanisms that are crucial for tumour progression in somatotroph PitNETs are poorly understood.

Methods: In this study, we performed integrative spatial transcriptomics (ST) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis on somatotroph tumours and normal pituitary samples to comprehensively characterize the differences in cellular characteristics.

Upstream regulation of microRNA-9 through a complex cellular machinery during neurogenesis.

While microRNAs (miRs) like miR-9 are crucial for neurogenesis and neuronal differentiation, their regulatory mechanisms are not well understood. miR-9 is highly expressed in the brain and plays a significant role in neurogenesis. Using the Collaborative Cross resource, we identified significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) through genetic analyses.

Predictive value of contrast-enhanced MRI for the regrowth of residual uterine fibroids after high-intensity focused ultrasound treatment.

Objectives: To investigate whether the signal intensity (SI) ratio of residual fibroid (RF) to myometrium using Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CE-MRI) could predict fibroid regrowth after high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted among 164 patients with uterine fibroids who underwent HIFU. To predict the RF regrowth, the SI perfusion parameters were quantified using the RF-myometrium SI ratio on CE-MRI on day 1 post-HIFU and then compared with the fibroid-myometrium SI ratio on the T2-weighted image (T2WI) and Funaki classification 1 year later.

A sample of the Moon's far side retrieved by Chang'e-6 contains 2.83-billion-year-old basalt.

Remote sensing observations have shown that the far side of the Moon (lunar farside) has different geology and rock composition to those of the nearside, including the abundances of potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorus (collectively known as KREEP). The Chang'e-6 (CE-6) spacecraft collected samples from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin on the farside and brought them to Earth. We used lead-lead and rubidium-strontium isotope systems to date low-titanium basalt in a CE-6 sample, finding a consistent age of 2830 (±5) million years.

Development and validation of a prognostic nomogram based on the hub genes of patients with hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage.

Objective: Hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HICH) is frequently associated with high disability, high mortality, and poor prognosis. The present study aimed to identify genes associated with HICH to construct prognostic models to improve accuracy in predicting HICH prognosis.

Methods: Hub genes were identified by screening out differentially expressed genes from data in the Gene Expression Omnibus database and conducting weighted gene co-expression network analysis.

Multi-scale hyperspectral recovery networks: RGB-hyperspectral imaging consistency empowered deep spectral super-resolution.

Hyperspectral imaging, which analyzes a spectrum of light instead of primary colors, can provide rich physical and chemical information not regularly available to traditional imaging modalities. To physically obtain hyperspectral images, various methods have been designed relying on dispersion elements, filters, and coded masks, inevitably making the system complicated and expensive. To address these challenges, emerging deep neural networks can achieve spectral super-resolution by tackling the ill-posed problem, thereby enhancing the spectral recovery capabilities of RGB cameras.

Comprehensive analysis of single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing reveals postoperative progression markers for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer and predicts responses to immunotherapy.

Background: Non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is renowned for its high recurrence, invasiveness, and poor prognosis. Consequently, developing new biomarkers for risk assessment and investigating innovative therapeutic targets postoperative in NMIBC patients are crucial to aid in treatment planning.

Approaches: Differential gene expression analysis was performed using multiple Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between NMIBC and normal tissue, as well as between NMIBC and muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC).

Exome Sequencing in Fetuses With Bilateral Renal Agenesis Identified on Second Trimester Ultrasound: A Single Referral Center Experience.

Objective: To determine the exome sequencing results in fetuses with bilateral renal agenesis (BRA).

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 14 cases with BRA diagnosed on second trimester anatomy ultrasound. All cases underwent invasive prenatal diagnosis.

Engineered VNP20009 expressing IL-15&15Rα augments anti-tumor immunity for bladder cancer treatment.

Surgical resection combined with intravesical instillation of chemotherapeutics or Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) to remove residual cancer cells is the gold standard for the clinical treatment of patients with bladder cancer. In a recent clinical trial, a new super-agonist complex of IL-15 - N803, has shown promising results when used in combination with BCG to treat patients with bladder cancer who do not respond to BCG. Herein, we used temperature-controlled pBV220 plasmid encoding Interleukin-15 and its receptor alpha subunit (IL-15&15Rα) to transform VNP20009, an attenuated salmonella typhimurium strain, obtaining engineered bacteria named 15&15Rα@VNP.

Health-Related Quality of Life Among Discharged Patients With Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis: A Follow-Up Study.

Purpose: Evaluating the post-discharge health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and exploring its influencing factors.

Patients And Methods: The study was conducted at a regional pediatric medical center and involved pediatric patients diagnosed with HLH between July 2017 and July 2022. Healthy children of the same age and sex were included as the control group.

[Analysis of non-targeted variants by invasive prenatal diagnosis for pregnant women undergoing preimplantation genetic testing].

Objective: To compare the results of invasive prenatal diagnosis and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) and explore the underlying mechanism.

Methods: Clinical data of pregnant women undergoing PGT and invasive prenatal diagnosis at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 2019 to December 2022 were collected. The results of PGT and invasive prenatal diagnosis were compared, and the outcomes of pregnancies were followed up.

Relationship between high levels of D-dimer and prognosis in patients with spontaneous supratentorial cerebral haemorrhage: A retrospective study and double validation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between D-Dimer and unfavorable outcome after surgery for spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage(SSICH) METHODS: A total of 557 patients with spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage underwent surgical treatment, which included craniotomy evacuation of hematoma and puncture and drainage. Based on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) bifurcation, the patients were divided into two subgroups: favorable outcome (mRS score 0-2) and unfavorable outcome (mRS score 3-5). D-dimer levels were measured within 24 h of admission, monitored until discharge, and grouped by quartiles (Q1-Q4).

Investigating the role of gut microbiota in hemorrhagic stroke: Evidence from causal analysis.

Background: Hemorrhagic stroke is potentially fatal and debilitating. Previous studies have indicated a potential correlation between gut microbiota and hemorrhagic stroke.

Methods: We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to assess the potential causal effects of gut microbiota on hemorrhagic stroke, including nontraumatic intracranial hemorrhage (ntICH), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

High-Strength, Thermally Stable, and Processable Wood Fiber/Polyamide Composites for Engineering Structural Components.

Hybrid wood fiber/plastic composites offer a high-value-added utilization for agroforestry waste, which also providing a promising solution for reducing white pollution. However, the interface incompatibility between natural wood fibers and polymers significantly impairs the mechanical properties of the composites. Herein, a straightforward procedure is proposed to solve this problem, involving the removal of low-thermal-stability hemicellulose from wood fibers by hydrothermal pretreatment, followed by compositing with polyamide to produce hydrothermally treated wood fiber/polyamide composites (HWPACs).

Multi-scale study on the electrochemical behavior and corrosion mechanism of 5083 aluminum alloy with different microstructures in a NaCl environment.

We conducted electrochemical experiments on 5083 aluminum alloy with different microstructures and measured the samples before and after corrosion by SEM and EBSD. At the same time, density functional theory was used to calculate the chloride ion adsorption behavior of the MgAl phase, which explained the corrosion mechanism on a multi-scale. The results indicated that edge and heart specimens with varying grain sizes exhibited different trends post heat treatment.

Highly Solvating Electrolytes with Core-Shell Solvation Structure for Lean-Electrolyte Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

The practical energy density of lithium-sulfur batteries is limited by the low sulfur utilization at lean electrolyte conditions. The highly solvating electrolytes (HSEs) promise to address the issue at harsh conditions, but the conflicting challenges of long-term stability of radical-mediated sulfur redox reactions (SRR) and the poor stability with lithium metal anode (LMA) have dimmed the efforts. We now present a unique core-shell solvation structured HSE formulated with classical ether-based solvents and phosphoramide co-solvent.