Identification of an Aux/IAA regulator for flesh firmness using combined GWAS and bulked segregant RNA-Seq analysis in watermelon

Watermelon is a highly cultivated fruit crop renowned for its quality properties of fruit flesh.Among various quality factors,fruit flesh firmness is a crucial quality parameter influencing the fruit texture,shelf life and its commercial value.The auxin/indole-3-acetic acid(Aux/IAA)plays a significant role in fruit development and ripening of non-climacteric fruits.However,the regulatory mechanism of Aux/IAA in controlling fruit flesh firmness and ripening in watermelon remains unknown.In this study,we employed an integrative approach combining genome-wide association study(GWAS)and bulked segregant RNA-Seq analysis(BSR-Seq)to identify an overlapping candidate region between 12776310 and 12968331 bp on chromosome 6,underlying an auxin-responsive gene(Aux/IAA)associated with flesh firmness in watermelon.Transcriptome analysis,followed by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR(qRT-PCR),confirmed that the expression of Aux/IAA was consistently higher in fruits with high flesh firmness.The sequence alignment revealed a single base mutation in the coding region of Aux/IAA.Furthermore,the concomitant Kompetitive/Competitive allele-specific PCR(KASP)genotyping data sets for F2 population and germplasm accessions identified Aux/IAA as a strong candidate gene associated with flesh firmness.Aux/IAA was enriched in the plant hormone signal transduction pathway,involving cell enlargement and leading to low flesh firmness.We determined the higher accumulation of abscisic acid(ABA)in fruits with low flesh firmness than hard flesh.Moreover,overexpression of Aux/IAA induced higher flesh firmness with an increased number of fruit flesh cells while reducing ABA content and flesh cell sizes.Additionally,the allelic variation in Aux/IAA for soft flesh firmness was found to exist in Citrullus mucosospermus and gradually fixed into Citrullus lanatus during domestication,indicating that soft flesh firmness was a domesticated trait.These findings significantly enhanced our understanding of watermelon fruit flesh firmness and consequently the watermelon fruit quality.

Innovation and Firm Co-ownership Network in China’s Electric Vehicle Industry

Firms are embedded in complex networks,where diverse ideas combine and generate new ideas.Shareholders of firms are of-ten seen as critical external resources that have significant influence on firm innovation.The current literature tends to focus on the rela-tionship between firms and their shareholders,while paying less attention to the connections between firms with the same shareholders.This article identifies two types of network spillover effects,intra-city network effect and inter-city network effect,by visualizing the co-ownership networks in China’s electric vehicle(EV)industry.We find that firms with the same shareholders,which are defined as co-owned EV firms,are more innovative than non-co-owned ones.Furthermore,there are two dominant types of firm co-ownership ties formed by corporate and financial institution shareholders.While corporate shareholders help exploiting local tacit knowledge,financial institutions are more active in bridging inter-city connections.The conclusion is confirmed at both firm and city levels.This paper theor-izes the firm co-ownership network as a new form of institutional proximity and tested the result empirically.For policy consideration,we have emphasized the importance of building formal or informal inter-firm network,and the government should further enhance the knowledge flow channel by institutional construction.

加权firm阈值奇异值分解及其旋转机械故障诊断

奇异值分解(Singular value decomposition,SVD)作为一种有效的信号降噪方法广泛应用于旋转机械振动信号周期性瞬态冲击提取中。传统SVD以能量为导向,无法提取出能量较弱但含故障信息丰富的奇异分量(Singular Component,SC)。为此,提出加权firm阈值奇异值分解(Weighted Firm Singular Value Decomposition,WFSVD)方法。该方法首先引入平方包络谱峭度(Squared Envelope Spectrum Kurtosis,SESK)作为量化故障敏感度的指标,以评估各个SC所含故障信息的丰富程度;其次,将SESK作为权重因子引入到基于firm阈值的SC去噪中,设计基于SESK的加权firm阈值SC去噪策略;最后,重构信号,实现信号降噪并有效提取故障特征。对于仿真信号与试验数据的分析验证了所提方法在周期性微弱瞬态冲击提取及旋转机械故障诊断中的有效性。

SLAF marker based QTL mapping of fruit-related traits reveals a major-effect candidate locus ff2.1 for flesh firmness in melon

Flesh firmness(FF) is an important and complex trait for melon breeders and consumers. However, the genetic mechanism underlying FF is unclear. Here, a soft fruit melon(P5) and a hard fruit melon(P10) were crossed to generate F2, and the FF and fruit-related traits were recorded for two years. By performing quantitative trait locus(QTL) specificlocus amplified fragment(SLAF)(QTL-SLAF) sequencing and molecular marker-linkage analysis, 112 844 SLAF markers were identified, and 5 919 SNPs were used to construct a genetic linkage map with a total genetic distance of1 356.49 cM. Ten FF-and fruit-related QTLs were identified. Consistent QTLs were detected for fruit length(FL) and fruit diameter(FD) in both years, and QTLs for single fruit weight(SFW) were detected on two separate chromosomes in both years. For FF, the consistent major locus(ff2.1) was located in a 0.17-Mb candidate region on chromosome 2. Using 429 F2individuals derived from a cross between P5 and P10, we refined the ff2.1 locus to a 28.3-kb region harboring three functional genes. These results provide not only a new candidate QTL for melon FF breeding but also a theoretical foundation for research on the mechanism underlying melon gene function.

The impact of political connections on firm pollution: New evidence based on heterogeneous environmental regulation

Increasing attention has been focused on the extent to which corporate political connections influence the growing pollution due to the rapid growth in the popularity of firm pollution in developing countries.We adopt a static threshold regression model to investigate the effects of heterogeneous environmental regulation on political connections and firm pollution based on the panel data from China’s A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2019.The empirical results show a non-linear relationship between the degree of political connection of listed company executives and the level of firm pollution.And the relationship between the two roughly presents a U-shaped relationship under the action of the marketincentive environmental regulation threshold.However,it roughly presents an inverted N-shaped relationship under the action of the command-control environmental regulation threshold.Additionally,the group test results show that the existence of regional and ownership heterogeneity causes certain differences in the environmental behaviour of politically connected enterprises.These findings indicate that diverse environmental regulations are needed to promote sustainable green development and to further expand the theoretical and practical exploration of political connections on firm pollution.

Resource constraints and firm innovation:When less is more?

This paper explores the relationship between resource constraints and innovation of new firms.Drawing upon the relevant literature,we incorporate resource constraints as the antecedent to the bricolage-innovation link.Compared to prior studies that treated resource constraints as a one-dimensional variable,we operationalize it along two dimensions:knowledge constraints and financial constraints.Our argument posits that knowledge constraints and financial constraints act as catalysts for innovation in new firms,with bricolage serving as a mediating role.To test our hypotheses,we conducted a survey involving 183 entrepreneurs in the United States.The data analysis demonstrates that bricolage fully mediates the relationship between knowledge con‐straints and innovation and partially mediates the relationship between financial constraints and innovation.Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Identifying Spatial Heterogeneity in the Effects of High-Tech Firm Density on Housing Prices:Evidence from Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area,China

Innovation capitalization is a new concept in innovation geography research.Extant research on a city scale has proven that innovation is an important factor affecting housing prices and verified that innovation has a capitalization effect.However,few studies investigate the spatial heterogeneity of innovation capitalization.Thus,case verification at the urban agglomeration scale is needed.Therefore,this study proposes a theoretical framework for the spatial heterogeneity of innovation capitalization at the urban agglomeration scale.Examining the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area(GHMGBA),China as a case study,the study investigated the spatial heterogeneity of the influence of high-tech firms,representing innovation,on housing prices.This work verified the spatial heterogeneity of innovation capitalization.The study constructed a data set influencing housing prices,comprising 11 factors in 5 categories(high-tech firms,convenience of living facilities,built environment,the natural environment,and the fundamentals of the districts)for 419 subdistricts in the GHMGBA.On the global scale,the study finds that high-tech firms have a significant and positive influence on housing prices,with the housing price increasing by 0.0156%when high-tech firm density increases by 1%.Furthermore,a semi-geographically weighted regression(SGWR)analysis shows that the influence of high-tech firms on housing prices has spatial heterogeneity.The areas where high-tech firms have a significant and positive influence on housing prices are mainly in the GuangzhouFoshan metropolitan area,western Shenzhen-Dongguan,north-central Zhongshan-Nansha district,and Guangzhou—all areas with densely distributed high-tech firms.These results confirm the spatial heterogeneity of innovation capitalization and the need for further discussion of its scale and spatial limitations.The study offers implications for relevant GHMGBA administrative authorities for spatially differentiated development strategies and housing policies that consider the role of innovation in successful urban development.

Variation and Probability Grading of Fruit Firmness in Peach Germplasm Resource

Objective The aim was to provide basis for further studies on fruit firmness in peach fruits and the standardization and standardization of peach germplasm resource. [ Method] The analysis of fruit firmness of peach germplasm resource was based on the improved firmness measurement, and the probability grading of characteristics was carried out on peach fruit firmness. [Result] The coefficient of variation of peach fruit firmness with skin was less than that of fruit firmness without skin; the fruit firmness with skin and fruit firmness without skin were both fitted the normal distribution; the probability grading of characteristics were divided into five series based on four points of （X-1. 281 8s）, （X-0. 524 6s）, （X＋0. 524 6s） and （X＋1.281 8s）, so that the probability of 1 -5 were 10%, 20%, 40%, 20% and 10%. [Conclusion] There was more abundant genetic basis in fruit firmness, which held a potential for greater choice.

Study on Inheritance Mechanism of Tomato Fruit Firmness

[Objective] This study aimed to investigate the inheritance mechanism of tomato fruit firmness.[Method] Two tomato cultivars significantly different in fruit firmness were selected for investigation of the inheritance mechanism of tomato fruit firmness using combination analysis of six generations （P1,P2,F1,F2,B1 and B2）.[Result] The results indicated that the heredity of tomato fruit firmness was consistent with the additive-dominant model controlled by one pair of major genes; the additive effect （d）,dominant effect （h） and degree of dominance （h/d） of major genes were 17.37,-7.96 and-0.46,respectively,showing positive additive effect and incompletely dominant-negative effect; the hereditability of major gene effect in B1,B2 and F2 generation was 88.59％,45.81％ and 85.62％,respectively.[Conclusion] The heredity of fruit firmness was controlled by one pair of major gene,showing significant additive effect and dominant effect.

Absorptive capacity and R&D strategy of labor-managed firms

Taking absorptive capacity effects on research spillovers into consideration, this paper focuses on the R＆D investment decisions and the output decisions of labor-managed firms. Based on the general model of the cost-reducing R＆D, the strategic interactions of output and R＆D investment between labor-managed firms in a duopoly are analyzed. Moreover, the impact of absorptive capacity effects on optimal output in the production stage is discussed. In the R＆D stage, the impacts of absorptive capacity effects on the equilibrium R＆D investment in cooperative and non-cooperative R＆D are analyzed. Finally, the R＆D strategy of labor-managed firms is compared with the behavior of profit-maximizing firms. The results show that equilibrium R＆D investment is always higher than that in the exogenous spillover rate, which is similar to the behavior of the profit-maximizing firms. However, unlike the profit-maximizing firms, the impact of the absorptive capacity that affects the relationship between the optimal output and its own（rival＇ s）R＆D is shown to be dependent upon a return-to-scale of the production.

R&D subsidy policy of domestic firm considering foreign firm competition

Taking the advanced technology of the foreign firm into account, a mixed duopoly three-stage game model is established in the context of research and development（RD）investment subsidies and product subsidies for domestic firms provided by the government, and the RD subsidy policy of domestic firms in competition with foreign firms is analyzed.The equilibrium output, RD investment of the domestic firm, social welfare and the value of government subsidies are derived, in the case of the two policies, RD investment subsidies and product subsidies for domestic firms, provided by the government. The results show that, the equilibrium output and the optimal social welfare under the RD investment subsidy policy are both less than those under the product subsidy policy; the optimal RD investment under the RD investment subsidy policy is less than that under the product subsidy policy; and the RD product subsidy has a more obvious incentive effect on firm RD investment. Under the background of the leading edge of technology of foreign firms, the product subsidy policy drawn up by the government to encourage RD innovation of domestic firms is more effective than the RD investment subsidy policy.

Security investment and information sharing for complementary firms with heterogeneous monetary loss

Two complementary firms＇ information sharing and security investment are investigated. When two complementary firms with heterogeneous assets are both breached, it is assumed that they suffer different losses which are associated with their information assets. Some insights about optimal strategies for the firms and the attacker are obtained by the game theory, which forms a comparison with those derived from substitutable firms, and those derived from complementary firms with homogenous loss. In addition, both the unit transform cost of investment and the extent of firms＇loss affect the optimal strategies.Assuming that firms can control information sharing, security investments and both of them, respectively, the effect of the social planner is further analyzed on the information sharing, firms＇ aggregate defence, the aggregate attack and social total cost. Finally, some policy advice is provided through numerical simulation. Results show that firms are willing to choose security investment centrally rather than individually, but an intervention in information sharing by the social planner may not necessarily be preferable.

Factors Affecting Financial Performance of Tourism Destination Firms Listed on Stock Exchanges in China

Purpose:the aim of this research is to test the effect of financial ratio on the financial performance of tourism destination firms listed on stock exchange in China.The research selected ratios:current ratio(CR)as a dimension of liquidity,total asset turnover ratio(TATR)as a dimension of asset utilization,debt ratio(DE)as a dimension of leverage,natural logarithm of total asset(LNTA)as a dimension of firm size,GDP growth rate as a dimension of economic prosperity,and effective tax rate as a dimension of effective tax.This research will use return on asset(ROA),return on sales(ROS),return on equity(ROE)and sales growth(SG)to determine the financial performance.Since stock exchange founded in China,tourism destination firm developed very fast.However tourism destination listed firms have weakness financial performance.Design/methodology/approach:the research data collected from quarterly financial report,from 2012 Q1 to 2018 Q4.The secondary data has been analyzed by multiple regression.Finding:the result indicate that CR,TATR,GDP growth rate have positive impact on financial performance.While DE has negative impact on financial performance.And LNTA has a mix result with financial performance.Originality/value:This study led to the effect of financial ratios on tourism's financial performance since past researches with this aim were difficult to identify and certain references were not specifically linked to the topic.

Evolution of Manufacturing Strategy and System in Multinational Corporations:Internationalisation and Inter-firm Collaboration Redefine the Boundaries of Manufacturing and Firm

In recent decades, the world economy has been stron gl y driven by worldwide foreign direct investment (FDI) of transnational corporati ons (TNCs). And business globalisation is leading to widespread re-structuring of international manufacturing systems in TNCs. However, still very little sys tematic research in manufacturing engineering or production/operations managemen t (P/O M) has focused on these new types of globalised manufacturing systems, an d little communication is organised between different academic disciplines such as manufacturing, management/ business studies, economics, geography, internatio nal development studies and so on. Many critical issues are still poorly unders tood and are not covered by current research agendas, for example: · properties of international manufacturing network systems in terms of structu ral architecture, dynamic mechanisms, strategic capabilities, strategy processes , new technology, and alliance relationships · knowledge management and organisational learning mechanisms in international manufacturing context, especially in globally coordinated networks at both intra - and inter- organisational levels · global economic trends, regional collaboration, national culture/identity, an d their impacts on industrial sector development, and company’s manufacturin g system design/re-structuring In industry, lack of global vision and appropriate strategies during internation alisation have become major barrier to the effective management of international operations. In academia, limited multi-discipline exchanges have inhibited de velopments not only in each area but also knowledge contribution to industry whi ch could arise from discipline integration. This paper, based on recent years case observations and action research work on manufacturing internationalisation, especially globalisation, introduces an evol utionary process of manufacturing systems. It seeks to explore the external and internal driving forces of the transformation and the responses of manufacturin g systems in terms of static architectures, dynamic mechanisms, and strategic ca pabilities in the evolutionary process. The paper Reviews recent researches on manufacturing internationalisation in dif ferent disciplines to gain a comprehensive picture about international manufactu ring system from different perspectives. Based on the empirical observations of industrial issues and difficulties, a further research framework is proposed to tackle wider issues in international manufacturing covering manufacturing value creation process, internationalisation process, and strategic alliance formatio n process. The paper argues that, besides deep research on three dimensions of international manufacturing system, development of strategy process to synthesis e these three processes is more important in the future research work. It sugge sts that it is necessary to enhance the collaboration between countries and disc iplines, and stimulate explorations of new frameworks that can provide more insi ghts about new manufacturing systems and foresights their development.

Simulation About the Growth of Chinese Firm's Safety Management Capability

Aiming at the deficiency of exterminating measures of Chinese firm safety management, a simulation model of Chinese firm＇s safety management capability based on the organizational learning theory, in which the simulation method of system dynamics is utilized. The level variable and rate variable are designed based on the practical situation and change situation of corresponding variables of firm＇s safety management ca- pability. Simulation firms are built with accident case groups of the oil industry, chemical industry, machine industry, coal mining industry, and weapon industry. Through analyzing the simulation result, the growth law of Chinese firm＇s safety management capability is obtained as follows： the accumulating and the coupling of safety knowledge should be emphasized at the same time; the balance of learning behavior of individual, group and organization should be considered together; different types of Chinese firm should take different safety policies according to their practical situations.

Co-alignment between Environment Risk,Capital Structure,Growth and High-tech Firm Performance

To examine whether there is a co-alignment relationship between environment risk, capital structure, growth and high-tech firm performance, the environment risk was measured from the viewpoint of environment change, the long-term debt ratio was adopted as the measure of the capital structure, and the total asset growth and sales growth were chosen to measure the growth of high-tech firms. Regression analysis shows that there is a significant relationship between environment risk, growth and performance of hightech firms measured by the return on equity and cash flow, respectively.

Cooperation Between Co-operative Business Organization and Investor Owned Firm to Stimulate Economic Growth of a Country： A Cooperative Advantage Approach

This study elaborates that the economic growth of a country depending on not only the business performance of the investor owned firms （IOFs）, but also the business surplus of the cooperative organizations （Co-ops）. The policy maker should have the level of understanding and competence to blend five different factors related to organizational structure and business model of the Co-ops and the IOFs to the five similarities factors on the managerial approach of them into one marked. The study investigated five similarities factors and included into a conceptual structural model with its six measurement models, economic growth model, general national factor model, market and industry factors model, Co-ops/IOFs opportunities/threat model, Co-ops/IOFs strength /weakness model, and lastly the Co-ops/IOFs firm dynamic/active： sales, profit, and lost model. Reliability of the six similarities measurement models was tested by the Delphi technique with a sample of 33 respondents. The study found that, apart from the six measurement models, it also has two intervening factor variables that will reduce the power and magnitude of the economic growth which will come from mismanagement of policy maker： These factors are the different in intemational culture among countries, and the global warming and natural disaster from the excess consumption and excess production. These selfish, competition and economic greedy of people will lead to economic, social, and natural disaster problems. To reduce the socioeconomic disadvantages and global disaster, board＇s committee, and Co-ops manager as well as chief executive officer （CEO） of the IOFs must have a good understanding on these five similarities factors. Appropriate management of these five similarities factors will lead the firms to reach their high managerial efficiency, customer value, firm value, and finally economic growth.

Environmental regulation and firms'performance:a quasi-natural experiment from China

This paper investigates whether environmental regulation affects firm's performance including productivity,wage and employment using firm-level data in 1996-2007.The identification uses Two Control Zones(TCZ)policy implemented by the Chinese government in 1998,in which tougher environmental regulations were imposed in TCZ cities but not others.By difference-indifferences estimation,we find that tougher environmental regulation leads to larger increase on both total factor productivity and wage,and firms tend to employ fewer workers under pressure of environmental protection.Heterogeneous tests show that the impacts are better for nonpollution intensive firms,non-exporters and SOEs.Finally,we find that R&D input and exiting firms among industry are the driving forces for enhancing TFP and increasing wage and unemployment.

Capital Structure Determinants and Their Impact on Firm Value： Evidence From Indonesia

This study has two main purposes, i.e., the first is to discover and analyze capital structure determinants, and the second is to discover and analyze the influence of capital structure determinants on firm value in which capital structure treated as a moderating variable. Factors suspected to be determinants of capital structure consist of company growth, profitability, asset structure, leverage, and company size. The population in this study were manufacturing companies listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange. Using purposive sampling method, 125 companies with four years＇ （2008-2011） observation period were collected. The analysis tool used was multiple regression. The results showed that factors which significantly determined capital structure were fixed asset structure, leverage, profitability, and size, while company growth did not influence capital structure. Meanwhile, with capital structure as a moderating variable, asset structure, leverage, and profitability significantly influence the finn value, while company growth and company size did not influence the firm value.

Entrenched Board in New Public Firms： An Empirical Study of Chinese IPOs

This study empirically investigates the impact of managerial entrenchment on firm financial performance of Chinese firms initial public offerings （IPOs）. Using 142 firms listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange （SZSE）, which was collected from the Guotaian Research Service Center （GTA-RSC） databases, this study uses two proxies to measure firm performance and three proxies to measure managerial entrenchment. The two proxies for firm performance are Tobins＇ Q and return on assets （ROA）, and the three proxies for managerial entrenchment are entrenchment 1, entrenchment 2, and entrenchment 3. These three entrenchment proxies are derived from the principal component analysis （PCA）. Though previous studies of managerial entrenchment and firm performance variables suffer from endogeneity, with respect to the corporate governance it is unclear as to which variables are endogenous and which are exogenous. This study confirms that the data are linear and no endogeneity issue should be address in this study, but only heteroskedasticity, non-normality for Tobins＇ Q are a problem, therefore, the regression method employed for Tobins＇ Q is the generalised least square （GLS） and the ordinary least square （OLS） between estimators for ROA. The regression result for Tobins＇ Q reveals that managerial entrenchment is negatively impact on firm performance. The results are in contradiction to the stewardship theory for new firms whereas the managerial entrenchment for new firms is positive. Furthermore, only one entrenchment proxy yields a significant coefficient. In conclusion, the negative results of entrenchment proxies were caused by the different institutional structures and legal systems which are the Chinese corporations that are still largely owned and controlled by a state and hence the centralised state controlled was responsible for all managerial actions.