Browsing by Author "Lu Y"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Does board diversity in industry-experience boost firm value? The role of corporate innovation
    (Elsevier, 31/08/2023) Huang P; Lu Y; Wu J
    Previous studies examining board diversity disproportionately focus on directors' demographic features. In this paper, we construct a sophisticated measure of board diversity based on directors' industry-experience diversity (BIED) and examine its effect on firm value. Using a sample of S&P1500 firms, we find that higher BIED leads to higher firm value. This result survives both firm fixed effects and an instrumental variable approach, at least partially suggesting a causal relationship. We argue that a more diverse board brings more perspectives, viewpoints, knowledge and information to the firm, enhances directors’ capability of advising, and thus creates higher firm value. We further find one possible underlying economic mechanism through which BIED facilitates value creation. That is, BIED creates value by promoting corporate innovation. Overall, BIED constitutes a valuable corporate governance mechanism.
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    Fine-mapping analysis including over 254,000 East Asian and European descendants identifies 136 putative colorectal cancer susceptibility genes.
    (Springer Nature, 2024-04-26) Chen Z; Guo X; Tao R; Huyghe JR; Law PJ; Fernandez-Rozadilla C; Ping J; Jia G; Long J; Li C; Shen Q; Xie Y; Timofeeva MN; Thomas M; Schmit SL; Díez-Obrero V; Devall M; Moratalla-Navarro F; Fernandez-Tajes J; Palles C; Sherwood K; Briggs SEW; Svinti V; Donnelly K; Farrington SM; Blackmur J; Vaughan-Shaw PG; Shu X-O; Lu Y; Broderick P; Studd J; Harrison TA; Conti DV; Schumacher FR; Melas M; Rennert G; Obón-Santacana M; Martín-Sánchez V; Oh JH; Kim J; Jee SH; Jung KJ; Kweon S-S; Shin M-H; Shin A; Ahn Y-O; Kim D-H; Oze I; Wen W; Matsuo K; Matsuda K; Tanikawa C; Ren Z; Gao Y-T; Jia W-H; Hopper JL; Jenkins MA; Win AK; Pai RK; Figueiredo JC; Haile RW; Gallinger S; Woods MO; Newcomb PA; Duggan D; Cheadle JP; Kaplan R; Kerr R; Kerr D; Kirac I; Böhm J; Mecklin J-P; Jousilahti P; Knekt P; Aaltonen LA; Rissanen H; Pukkala E; Eriksson JG; Cajuso T; Hänninen U; Kondelin J; Palin K; Tanskanen T; Renkonen-Sinisalo L; Männistö S; Albanes D; Weinstein SJ; Ruiz-Narvaez E; Palmer JR; Buchanan DD; Platz EA; Visvanathan K; Ulrich CM; Siegel E; Brezina S; Gsur A; Campbell PT; Chang-Claude J; Hoffmeister M; Brenner H; Slattery ML; Potter JD; Tsilidis KK; Schulze MB; Gunter MJ; Murphy N; Castells A; Castellví-Bel S; Moreira L; Arndt V; Shcherbina A; Bishop DT; Giles GG; Southey MC; Idos GE; McDonnell KJ; Abu-Ful Z; Greenson JK; Shulman K; Lejbkowicz F; Offit K; Su Y-R; Steinfelder R; Keku TO; van Guelpen B; Hudson TJ; Hampel H; Pearlman R; Berndt SI; Hayes RB; Martinez ME; Thomas SS; Pharoah PDP; Larsson SC; Yen Y; Lenz H-J; White E; Li L; Doheny KF; Pugh E; Shelford T; Chan AT; Cruz-Correa M; Lindblom A; Hunter DJ; Joshi AD; Schafmayer C; Scacheri PC; Kundaje A; Schoen RE; Hampe J; Stadler ZK; Vodicka P; Vodickova L; Vymetalkova V; Edlund CK; Gauderman WJ; Shibata D; Toland A; Markowitz S; Kim A; Chanock SJ; van Duijnhoven F; Feskens EJM; Sakoda LC; Gago-Dominguez M; Wolk A; Pardini B; FitzGerald LM; Lee SC; Ogino S; Bien SA; Kooperberg C; Li CI; Lin Y; Prentice R; Qu C; Bézieau S; Yamaji T; Sawada N; Iwasaki M; Le Marchand L; Wu AH; Qu C; McNeil CE; Coetzee G; Hayward C; Deary IJ; Harris SE; Theodoratou E; Reid S; Walker M; Ooi LY; Lau KS; Zhao H; Hsu L; Cai Q; Dunlop MG; Gruber SB; Houlston RS; Moreno V; Casey G; Peters U; Tomlinson I; Zheng W
    Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 200 common genetic variants independently associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, but the causal variants and target genes are mostly unknown. We sought to fine-map all known CRC risk loci using GWAS data from 100,204 cases and 154,587 controls of East Asian and European ancestry. Our stepwise conditional analyses revealed 238 independent association signals of CRC risk, each with a set of credible causal variants (CCVs), of which 28 signals had a single CCV. Our cis-eQTL/mQTL and colocalization analyses using colorectal tissue-specific transcriptome and methylome data separately from 1299 and 321 individuals, along with functional genomic investigation, uncovered 136 putative CRC susceptibility genes, including 56 genes not previously reported. Analyses of single-cell RNA-seq data from colorectal tissues revealed 17 putative CRC susceptibility genes with distinct expression patterns in specific cell types. Analyses of whole exome sequencing data provided additional support for several target genes identified in this study as CRC susceptibility genes. Enrichment analyses of the 136 genes uncover pathways not previously linked to CRC risk. Our study substantially expanded association signals for CRC and provided additional insight into the biological mechanisms underlying CRC development.
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    Hedgehogs as Amplifying Hosts of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus, China.
    (2022-12) Zhao C; Zhang X; Si X; Ye L; Lawrence K; Lu Y; Du C; Xu H; Yang Q; Xia Q; Yu G; Xu W; Yuan F; Hao J; Jiang J-F; Zheng A
    Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a tickborne bandavirus mainly transmitted by Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks in East Asia, mostly in rural areas. As of April 2022, the amplifying host involved in the natural transmission of SFTSV remained unidentified. Our epidemiologic field survey conducted in endemic areas in China showed that hedgehogs were widely distributed, had heavy tick infestations, and had high SFTSV seroprevalence and RNA prevalence. After experimental infection of Erinaceus amurensis and Atelerix albiventris hedgehogs with SFTSV, we detected robust but transitory viremias that lasted for 9-11 days. We completed the SFTSV transmission cycle between hedgehogs and nymph and adult H. longicornis ticks under laboratory conditions with 100% efficiency. Furthermore, naive H. longicornis ticks could be infected by SFTSV-positive ticks co-feeding on naive hedgehogs; we confirmed transstadial transmission of SFTSV. Our study suggests that the hedgehogs are a notable wildlife amplifying host of SFTSV in China.
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    The Effect of Corporate Sustainability Performance on Leverage Adjustments
    (Elsevier, 2021-01-30) Ho L; Bai M; Lu Y; Qin Y
    We examine the impact of corporate sustainability performance (CSP) on the speed at which firms adjust their leverage ratios to the target levels for a large sample of 31 countries from 2002 to 2018. Using two proxies of CSP, we find that firms with superior CSP tend to adjust faster toward their target leverage ratios. In exploring the potential underlying economic mechanisms through which CSP affects leverage adjustments, we find that better CSP helps firms to ease information asymmetry, enhance stakeholder engagement, push up stock prices in the stock market, and improve competitive advantage in the product market. In the cross section, the positive association between CSP and leverage adjustment speed is less pronounced in countries with high-quality institutions. The results remain unchanged in robustness tests. Overall, this paper highlights the important role of CSP in shaping corporate capital structure dynamics and suggests implications for corporate strategic planning on the privately optimal levels of CSP activities.
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    The physicochemical properties of β-carotene emulsions stabilized by whey protein/octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA)-modified-starch complexes: Influence of OSA substitution degree of starch
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2024-04-01) Lin Q; Yang X; Liu Y; Lu Y; Liu W; Han J; Singh H; Ye A
    Complexes formed between heated whey protein isolate (HWPI) and octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA)-modified starches were prepared to stabilize β-carotene-containing oil-in-water emulsions. The zeta-potential, turbidity, particle size, and microstructure of the complexes were determined to evaluate the impact of the degree of substitution (DS) of OSA-modified starch on the complexes' structure. HWPI and OSA-modified starches with low DS values formed elongated complexes. With increasing DS, the particle size of the complexes reduced. In comparison to the emulsions stabilized by HWPI or OSA-modified starches, the emulsions stabilized by HWPI/OSAS complexes exhibited superior protection of β-carotene during storage under acidic conditions. When the DS of OSA-modified starch increased, the particle size of emulsions stabilized by the complexes decreased, with less droplet aggregation occurring. The physical stability of these emulsions against storage time, ions, and thermal process showed a positive relationship with the DS, while the β-carotene retention in the emulsions during storage showed a negative relationship with the DS. The greater physical stability of the complex-stabilized emulsions containing OSA-modified starch with a higher DS may be ascribed to enhanced electrostatic repulsion among oil droplets and the formation of a more rigid and denser surface structure in the presence of more OSA groups.