Green technology innovation is an important means to break out of the constraints of resources and the environment, enhance the competitiveness of enterprises, and achieve the upgrading of industrial structures, and promote high-quality economic growth. In order to realize the overall improvement of the green technology innovation capability of Chinese enterprises, it is necessary to measure the efficiency of industrial enterprises’ green technology innovation and explore their regional differences. In this paper, from the perspective of a two-stage innovation value chain, by introducing the industrial carbon emissions per unit of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the “three wastes” pollutants into the research framework of green technology innovation efficiency, we established a novel green innovation efficiency evaluation indicator system for industrial enterprises. Furthermore, we used a two-stage network DEA with shared input to measure the efficiency of regional enterprises’ green technology innovation and explored the regional differences in industrial enterprises’ green technology R&D and the efficiency of green technology achievement transformation. Finally, we provide some suggestions for improving China’s industrial enterprises’ green innovation efficiency, so that they can ameliorate the significant regional imbalances and differences and realize high-quality economic growth.
BackgroundRetinitis pigmentosa is a common genetic disease that causes retinal degeneration and blindness for which there is currently no curable treatment available. Vision preservation was observed in retinitis pigmentosa animal models after retinal stem cell transplantation. However, long-term safety studies and visual assessment have not been thoroughly tested in retinitis pigmentosa patients.MethodsIn our pre-clinical study, purified human fetal-derived retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) were transplanted into the diseased retina of Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats, a model of retinal degeneration. Based on these results, we conducted a phase I clinical trial to establish the safety and tolerability of transplantation of RPCs in eight patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa. Patients were studied for 24 months.ResultsAfter RPC transplantation in RCS rats, we observed moderate recovery of vision and maintenance of the outer nuclear layer thickness. Most importantly, we did not find tumor formation or immune rejection. In the retinis pigmentosa patients given RPC injections, we also did not observe immunological rejection or tumorigenesis when immunosuppressive agents were not administered. We observed a significant improvement in visual acuity (P < 0.05) in five patients and an increase in retinal sensitivity of pupillary responses in three of the eight patients between 2 and 6 months after the transplant, but this improvement did not appear by 12 months.ConclusionOur study for the first time confirmed the long-term safety and feasibility of vision repair by stem cell therapy in patients blinded by retinitis pigmentosa.Trial registrationWHO Trial Registration, ChiCTR-TNRC-08000193. Retrospectively registered on 5 December 2008.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13287-017-0661-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
This study examines the effects of reputation in the nascent but rapidly growing online labor markets. In these markets, contract winners (vendors) provide clients with customized products such as computer software, business plans, and artistic designs. The products are used primarily for business purposes and require time for production after project-specific contracts are awarded. These characteristics render it unclear whether online reputation will have similar effects as in online retailing, where finished and standardized products are sold for consumption. We analyze field transaction data from a major online labor market. The analyses using matched contract samples and vendor panels consistently show that despite the governing power provided by contracts as well as the litigation and arbitration options, vendors’ online reputation can still be influential on clients. Vendors who have no reputation ratings are less likely to be chosen, and those with higher ratings are more likely to win subsequent bids. Importantly, however, such influences depend on the contract form that is used for a particular transaction—they are significant in output-based contracts but nonsignificant in input-based contracts. Besides extending the research on online reputation to the markets of customized production, this study shows contract form as an important boundary condition for the effectiveness of reputational information. It also provides direct managerial implications for electronic commerce in general and online labor markets in particular. This paper was accepted by Pradeep Chintagunta, marketing.
Objectives To evaluate the long‐term biosafety and efficacy of transplantation of human embryonic stem cells‐derived retinal pigment epithelial (hESC‐RPE) cells in early‐stage of Stargardt macular degeneration (STGD1). Materials and methods Seven patients participated in this prospective clinical study, where they underwent a single subretinal transplantation of 1 × 105 hESC‐RPE cells in one eye, whereas the fellow eye served as control. These patients were reassessed for a 60‐month follow‐up through systemic and ophthalmic examinations. Results None of the patients experienced adverse reactions systemically or locally, except for two who had transiently high intraocular pressure post‐operation. Functional assessments demonstrated that all of the seven operated eyes had transiently increased or stable visual function 1‐4 months after transplantation. At the last follow‐up visit, two of the seven eyes showed visual function loss than the baseline; however, one of them showed a stable visual acuity when compared with the change of fellow eye. Obvious small high reflective foci in the RPE layer were displayed after the transplantation, and maintained until the last visit. Interestingly, three categories of patients who were classified based on autofluorescence, exhibited distinctive patterns of morphological and functional change. Conclusions Subretinal transplantation of hESC‐RPE in early‐stage STGD1 is safe and tolerated in the long term. Further investigation is needed for choosing proper subjects according to the multi‐model image and function assessments.
Epidemiological studies have demonstrated inconsistent associations between drinking water magnesium levels and risk of mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD); thus, a meta-analysis was performed to assess the association between them. Relevant studies were searched by the databases of Cochrane, EMBASE, PubMed and Web of Knowledge. Pooled relative risks (RR) with their 95% CI were calculated to assess this association using a random-effects model. Finally, nine articles with 10 studies involving 77,821 CHD cases were used in this study. Our results revealed an inverse association between drinking water magnesium level and CHD mortality (RR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.79–0.99, I2 = 70.6). Nine of the 10 studies came from Europe, and the association was significant between drinking water magnesium level and the risk of CHD mortality (RR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.69–0.98). In conclusion, drinking water magnesium level was significantly inversely associated with CHD mortality.
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