We examine how hometown, school, and workplace ties between financial analysts and mutual fund managers affect their business decisions. We show that a fund manager is more likely to hold stocks covered by analysts with whom she is socially connected, and that she also makes higher profits from these holdings. Such social tie-related holding returns are higher among more opaque firms. In return, a fund manager tends to cast her star analyst votes in favor of her connected analysts, and her fund company is more likely to allocate trading commissions to her connected analysts' brokerages. Additional tests indicate that analysts more actively acquire information (through conducting corporate site visits) and issue more optimistically biased recommendations for stocks held by fund managers with whom they are connected. Overall, our results illustrate the pronounced influence of social networks on the behaviors of analysts and fund managers. JEL Classifications: G10; G23; M40. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.

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Background A growing body of research investigates the sexual functioning status in women with contraceptives use; however, the evidence is still inconclusive. Aim To examine whether contraceptives use is associated with a higher risk of female sexual dysfunction (FSD). Methods The electronic databases MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library databases, and PsychINFO were systematically screened for eligible studies before December 2019. We only included those studies assessing women's sexual functioning by the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). This study was registered on the PROSPERO (ID: CRD42020167723, http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO). Outcomes The strength of the association between contraceptives use and risk of FSD was presented by calculating the standard mean dierences (SMDs) and the relative risk (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). The pooled results were calculated using a random-effects model. Results A total of 12 studies (7 cross-sectional studies, 3 cohorts, and 1 case-control study) involving 9,427 participants were included. The mean age in the contraceptive users ranged from 22.5 ± 2.4 years to 38.2 ± 4.6 years, while the mean age in the nonusers was 22.5 ± 2.4 years to 36.0 ± 1.0 years. Pooled results showed that no significant difference in the total FSFI scores was observed between contraceptives use and noncontraception (SMD = −1.03, 95% CI: −2.08 to 0.01, P = .053; heterogeneity: I2 = 98.2%, P < .001). In line with this finding, the pooled RR also yielded no association between contraception use and the risk of FSD (RR = 1.29, 95% CI: 0.72–2.28, P = .392; heterogeneity: I2 = 76.0%, P = .0015). However, the subscale sexual desire showed a significant reduction in women who received contraceptives than those did not use contraception (SMD = −1.17, 95% CI: −2.09 to −0.24, P = .014; heterogeneity: I2 = 97.7%, P < .001), while no significant differences were found in sexual arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain domain. Clinical Implications Though evidence from this meta-analysis did not support an association between contraceptives use and the risk of FSD, the sexual desire could be significantly impaired by contraceptives use. Strengths & Limitations This is the first meta-analysis quantifying the relationship between contraceptives use and the risks of FSD. However, substantial heterogeneities were presented across the included studies. Conclusion No direct association between contraceptives use and the risk of FSD was found. Nevertheless, declining sexual desire was significantly associated with contraceptives use. Additional double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials are still warranted.

Purple Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var italica) attracts growing attention as a functional food. Its purple coloration is due to high anthocyanin amounts. Light represents a critical parameter affecting anthocyanins biosynthesis. In this study, ‘Purple Broccoli’, a light-responding pigmentation cultivar, was assessed for exploring the mechanism underlying light-induced anthocyanin biosynthesis by RNA-Seq. Cyanidin, delphinidin and malvidin derivatives were detected in broccoli head samples. Shading assays and RNA-seq analysis identified the flower head as more critical organ compared with leaves. Anthocyanin levels were assessed at 0, 7 and 11 days, respectively, with further valuation by RNA-seq under head-shading and light conditions. RNA sequences were de novo assembled into 50,329 unigenes, of which 38,701 were annotated against four public protein databases. Cluster analysis demonstrated that anthocyanin/phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, photosynthesis, and flavonoid biosynthesis in cluster 8 were the main metabolic pathways regulated by light and had showed associations with flower head growth. A total of 2,400 unigenes showed differential expression between the light and head-shading groups in cluster 8, including 650 co-expressed, 373 specifically expressed under shading conditions and 1,377 specifically expressed under normal light. Digital gene expression (DGE) analysis demonstrated that light perception and the signal transducers CRY3 and HY5 may control anthocyanin accumulation. Following shading, 15 structural genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis were downregulated, including PAL, C4H, 4CL, CHS, CHI, F3H and DFR. Moreover, six BoMYB genes (BoMYB6-1, BoMYB6-2, BoMYB6-3, BoMYB6-4, BoMYBL2-1 and BoMYBL2-2) and three BobHLH genes (BoTT8_5-1, BoTT8_5-2 and BoEGL5-3) were critical transcription factors controlling anthocyanin accumulation under light conditions. Based on these data, a light-associated anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway in Broccoli was proposed. This information could help improve broccoli properties, providing novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underpinning light-associated anthocyanin production in purple vegetables.

The core component, TBM cutterhead, bears a multi-directional impact load because of its direct contact with rock during tunneling. Unreasonable cutter design and parameter set lead to severe vibration or abnormal injury during excavation, seriously affecting the efficiency of the TBM tunneling. Therefore, study of cutterhead dynamics response under impact loads is one of the core content of TBM system design. TBM multi-degree-of-freedom coupled dynamic model contains different geological conditions, cutter speed, body mass, time-varying mesh stiffness, transmission error, etc. A method is proposed to solve the problem based on Newmark algorithm, which further improves the solution efficiency. A tunneling field test was conducted, and the results verify the correctness of the model and the simplified cutter system. The simulation results of the Dahuofang project show that: ① The calculation process of Newmark is simplified, the calculation speed increased 3-4 orders of magnitude higher than Runge-Kutta method, while the solving time was reduced from 2.6e5 s to 155 s under the same precision; ② Compared with the results of two kinds of rock with compressive strength 150 MPa and 95 MPa, the translational vibration amplitude ratio is 3.33 and axial vibration amplitude ratio is 2.08. It indicates that as the rock compressive strength increases, the growth of the cutterhead's vibration amplitude increase accelerated, rather than proportional increases; ③ The vibration decreases along with the cutter speed becomes larger and the system becomes stabilized when the cutterhead speed turns into 4r/min. The cutter head speed clearly affects torsional, lateral and longitudinal vibration. The change rate has reached 0.53-0.61. Therefore, TBM should choose the right cutter speed to avoid bearing damage, seal failure and other serious accidents; ④ The translational vibration of components decreases with the components' mass increase. It has the greatest impact on the horizontal and vertical vibration of the big ring. The vibration changing rate of the big ring reaches 0.31. The big ring has almost no effect on the axial vibration and overturn, but the energy consumed on rock cutting will be reduced as the mass increases. Body weight should be chosen reasonably considering vibration,construction economy and internal excitation of parameters. The above conclusions provide a theoretical basis for TBM dynamics optimization design, vibration control and cutterhead architecture design.