Green finance (GF) regards social responsibility and environmental protection interests as the core of development and has become a new growth point and a new engine for promoting the development of the green economy (GE). To more accurately grasp the coordination between GF and the GE, the selection of appropriate indicators and feasible methods is worth exploring. Aiming at sustainable development by evaluating the coupling coordination between GF and the GE by means of a comprehensive index system and an integrated approach, this study establishes a coupling coordination degree model based on panel data of 30 Chinese provinces over the period 2007–2016. Furthermore, it evaluates the spatial distribution difference and dynamic evolution trend of the coordination by introducing global/local spatial autocorrelation, a space Markov chain, and a local indicators of spatial association (LISA) Markov chain. According to the research results, the coupling coordination degrees of the provinces exhibit gradual upward trends, and most regions in China are in a barely coordinated state at present. The coordination degree of GF and the GE shows strong spatial dependence overall, and partially presents the characteristics of “high-high (HH)” and “low-low (LL)” clustering patterns. The forecast results show that the future coordination of GF and the GE will remain stable and be affected by the coordinated development of surrounding areas.

The aim of the current study is to investigate programmed death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expressions and to analyze the relationship between the expression of PD-L1 and PD-1 proteins and the molecular type, clinicopathological factors, and prognosis of invasive ductal carcinoma. We enrolled 136 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. The expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells and that of PD-1 on paratumor-infiltrating immune cells was detected by immunohistochemistry, and the data were analyzed using SPSS software. The positive expression rates of PD-L1 and PD-1 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) were 47.8 and 43.5%, which were higher than those of other subtypes (P<0.05). The expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells was correlated with the expression of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and Ki-67 (P<0.05). The expression of PD-1 in the tumor-infiltrating immune cells was correlated with the expression of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and Ki-67 and the histological grade (P<0.05). The expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells was correlated with the expression of PD-1 in paratumor-infiltrating immune cells (P<0.001). The expression of PD-L1 in tumor cells was found to be an independent prognostic risk factor with the progression-free survival rate for breast invasive ductal carcinoma (P=0.003). These results indicate that PD-L1 and PD-1 were highly expressed in TNBC which suggests that patients with TNBC may benefit from targeted immune therapies to a greater degree than patients with other subtypes. PD-L1 expression is an independent risk factor for breast invasive ductal carcinoma and expression of PD-L1 is expected to be a prognostic factor for breast cancer.

Background/Aims: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are considered to be responsible for tumor relapse and metastasis, which serve as a potential therapeutic target for cancer. Aspirin has been shown to reduce cancer risk and mortality, particularly in colorectal cancer. However, the CSCs-suppressing effect of aspirin and its relevant mechanisms in colorectal cancer remain unclear. Methods: CCK8 assay was employed to detect the cell viability. Sphere formation assay, colony formation assay, and ALDH1 assay were performed to identify the effects of aspirin on CSC properties. Western blotting was performed to detect the expression of the stemness factors. Xenograft model was employed to identify the anti-cancer effects of aspirin in vivo. Unpaired Student t test, ANOVA test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used for the statistical comparisons. Results: Aspirin attenuated colonosphere formation and decreased the ALDH1 positive cell population of colorectal cancer cells. Aspirin inhibited xenograft tumor growth and reduced tumor cells stemness in nude mice. Consistently, aspirin decreased the protein expression of stemness-related transcription factors, including c-Myc, OCT4 and NANOG. Suppression of NANOG blocked the effect of aspirin on sphere formation. Conversely, ectopic expression of NANOG rescued the aspirin-repressed sphere formation, suggesting that NANOG is a key downstream target. Moreover, we found that aspirin repressed NANOG expression in protein level by decreasing its stability. Conclusion: We have provided new evidence that aspirin attenuates CSC properties through down-regulation of NANOG, suggesting aspirin as a promising therapeutic agent for colorectal cancer treatment.

high-dose colchicine in the treatment of acute gout. 4 Consistent with the recommendations of the European League Against Rheumatism, low-dose colchicine was found to be equally effective as high-dose drug in the reduction of gouty pain; the rate of gastrointestinal adverse events with lowdose colchicine was one-third that observed with high-dose colchicine. In response to these study findings, the FDA approved Colcrys, which, consequently, became the first colchicine product to ever be approved for the treatment of acute gout. Considering that the Waxman-Hatch Act (https://www. govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-98/pdf/STATUTE-98-Pg1585.pdf) resulted in market exclusivity for a newly approved drug, URL Pharma received this benefit. In addition to a period of exclusivity, the manufacturer was able to remove all generic competitors from the market. Upon FDA approval, the manufacturer increased the price of colchicine from what had previously been only a few cents to $5 a tablet. A second colchicine brand-name product (Mitigare) was approved in 2015 at the very conclusion of the 4-year Colcrys monopoly.An additional point considering the study findings 1 is the fact that the potential uses for colchicine currently extend beyond acute gout. The increase in potential indications will likely result in even more demand for this drug. As the authors noted, 1 colchicine has been found to have value in the treatment of pericarditis, as well as prevention of additional cardiovascular complications after myocardial infarction. Currently, the Montreal Heart Institute (NCT04322682) 5 is studying colchicine in the treatment of COVID-19 infection. Early results as of October 2020 suggest that early in-hospital initiation of low-dose colchicine treatment within 3 days of myocardial infarction significantly reduces the risk of future ischemic cardiovascular events. Notably, all the colchicine products used for these indications have been trade products; there have been no approved independent colchicine generics marketed after the approval of Colcrys.Wouters et al 6 estimated the investment required to bring a new medicine to market. The median capitalized research and development investment was estimated to be between $985.3 and $1335.9 million. Such investments inevitably require an appropriate return on investment, which usually translates into a high selling price of the drug. However, such investment and its resultant cost should be associated with potential worth to society. The ideal investment would be a new molecular entity that provides an objective, meaningful improvement in public health. Colchicine does not fit this example. Only a fraction of an investment was required for Colcrys, a product that has provided no increased value and an unnecessary, long-term cost burden to the health care system. The current study findings 1 illustrate that we can never allow such an egregious case to take place again.