Initial Public Offering and Corporate Governance in China's Transitional Economy

This paper empirically investigates the performance of Chinese initial public offerings (IPOs). The data used covers the period from mid-1995 to mid-1999 with the sample including 884 companies (both in the A- and B-share markets). In an examination of growth, profitability and stability of listed companies either individually or as a combination, it can be seen that the only industries in which listed companies in China display strong performance are public utilities, transportation and finance. If one examines the changes in listed companies' financial indicators following the IPO, it becomes apparent that with the exception of earnings related indicators (EPS and ROE) there are no significant changes. What's more, the financial indicators tend to fall rapidly year on year. This means that the IPO is of little obvious help to companies' operational performance, and may actually make things worse. One of the reasons for this is that in order to implement the IPO and secure stock market listing, companies tend to submit inflated figures in the financial statements that they are required to provide. Another possible factor is the poor corporate governance characteristics of Chinese enterprises.

An integrated analysis tool for analyzing hybridization intensities and genotypes using new-generation population-optimized human arrays

The cross-sample plot of the multipoint LOH/LCSH analyses of the three samples used in Fig. 5. The plot comprises four panels: (a) The top-left panel is a cross-sample and cross-chromosome plot. The vertical axis is the index of study samples, and the horizontal axis is the physical position (Mb) on each of the 23 chromosomes. The blue and red bars represent SNPs without and with LOH/LSCH, respectively. (b) The top-right panel is a histogram of cross-chromosome aberration frequency. The vertical axis is the index of study samples, and the horizontal axis is the cross-chromosome aberration frequency of the corresponding samples. The pink (skyblue) background represents that the genetic gender of a sample is female (male). The histogram represents the aberration frequency of LOH/LCSH SNPs across the chromosomes of the corresponding samples. (c) The bottom-left panel is a histogram of the cross-sample aberration frequency. The vertical axis is the cross-sample aberration frequency of a SNP, and the horizontal axis is the physical position (Mb) on each of the 23 chromosomes. The purple line represents the aberration proportion of samples carrying the SNPs with LOH/LCSH. (d) The bottom-right panel is the legend of the genetic gender that is used in panel (b), where the pink (skyblue) background represents that the genetic gender of a sample is female (male). (TIFF 1656 kb

GPER-induced signaling is essential for the survival of breast cancer stem cells.

G protein-coupled estrogen receptor-1 (GPER), a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, mediates estrogen-induced proliferation of normal and malignant breast epithelial cells. However, its role in breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) remains unclear. Here we showed greater expression of GPER in BCSCs than non-BCSCs of three patient-derived xenografts of ER- /PR+ breast cancers. GPER silencing reduced stemness features of BCSCs as reflected by reduced mammosphere forming capacity in vitro, and tumor growth in vivo with decreased BCSC populations. Comparative phosphoproteomics revealed greater GPER-mediated PKA/BAD signaling in BCSCs. Activation of GPER by its ligands, including tamoxifen (TMX), induced phosphorylation of PKA and BAD-Ser118 to sustain BCSC characteristics. Transfection with a dominant-negative mutant BAD (Ser118Ala) led to reduced cell survival. Taken together, GPER and its downstream signaling play a key role in maintaining the stemness of BCSCs, suggesting that GPER is a potential therapeutic target for eradicating BCSCs

Why Differentiation Strategy Fails?

Differentiation strategy has been considered critical for securing a competitive advantage. However, not all firms can create competitive advantages through differentiation. In this paper, we draw on a Taiwanese hotel, restaurant, and TV program provider to show why differentiation strategy fails. On the basis of these three cases, three failed differentiation strategies are proposed and a framework for implementing a differentiation strategy is provided. Finally, we present the discussion and conclusions for the theory and practice of differentiation strategy

Developing clinical guidelines to improve home care for patients after prostatectomy

Purpose: This study aims to develop clinical guidelines for both patients and their families with regard to taking care of those with prostatectomy home care (PHC). This would help to improve the quality of PHC and reduce the re-admission rate due to the complication of hematuria. Methods: This study was an action research. The subjects were post-prostatectomy patients without complication. A task force was composed of three urologiests, five nurses, and two administrators. The postoperative care procedure was analyzed by the task force using a quality control circle approach, while references were cross-checked and charts were reviewed. The care processes used were carefully examined. Regular meetings were held among the five nurses and three urologists to delineate the care quality indicators. Three dimensional models were applied to analyze the care process, staffing, and patient characteristics. An analysis of the results showed three factors related to poor quality care: (1) with regard to the process, there was lack of monitoring standards for postoperative care quality; (2) with regard to the nursing staff, there was a the lack of coherence and integrity in the content of the guidance guidelines; and, (3) with regard to the patients, there was a lack of knowledge about hematuria, and thus greater anxiety. We thus develop a guidelines for caregiver education, including an innovative urinary color card and educational tools. Interventions include: (1) The development of clinical guidelines for post-prostatectomy care, focusing on six aspects, such as diet, exercise, Foley care, incontinence care with Kegel exercise (pelvic floor), urine color differentiation (for hematuria), and re-scheduling for subsequent diagnosis. (2) The innovative design of a urine color education card (UCEC) for urine color differentiation. And (3) organizing in-service education on prostatectomy home care (PHC). Results: A total of 525 subjects were included from February 2014 to May 2016, and an analysis of their data showed the completion rate of PHC was 99.5% (with the threshold set at 90%). Meanwhile, the percentage of telephone consultations for home care service after discharge was 10%, down from 25%, indicating an improvement of 60%. The re-admission rate for hospitalization due to hematuria in the 14 days after discharge was 2%, down from 9%, indicating an improvement of 78%. Conclusion: This research focused on the development of clinical care guidelines for PHC. Care service quality could be closely monitored and regularly checked for improvement. The innovative urine color education card designed as part of this work could be applied in the home care guide for post-prostatectomy patients, in order to effectively improve self-care and reduce the re-admission rate due to hematuria. The development of guideline for home care education had the following benefits: (1) Integration of disease care service for more comprehensive post-discharge care; (2) preparation of the urine color education card, inspiring creativity in health care workers and providing a standard tool for educating patients; and (3) from the perspective of risk management, the introduction of clinical care guidelines could identify individual cases at high risk of re-admission and so assist the medical team in establishing systematic preventive measures, and serve as a reference for the effects and quality of post-prostatectomy home care services

The relationship between TCM body constitution deviation and quality of life in patients with psoriasis

Psoriasis patients typically experience reduced quality of life with the recurrence of the disease. By understanding the correlation between body constitution deviation and quality of life among psoriasis patients, medical personnel can provide individualized care according to each patient\u27s body constitution status, thereby improving their quality of life

Ischaemic stroke and influenza A H1N1 vaccination: a case report

We report a 75-year-old male patient who suffered posterior circulation ischaemia after influenza A/H1N1 vaccination. Vaccination provokes a variable magnitude of inflammatory and immunological response that modifies the risk for ischaemic stroke. Whereas a causal relation between vaccination and ischaemic stroke is still unsettled, an inflammatory/immunological response after vaccination may trigger thrombosis superimposing a pre-existing prothrombotic state. Careful monitoring is strongly suggested for individuals who received H1N1 vaccine, especially those with high ischaemic stroke risk