International accounting network memberships and audit fees: Evidence from China.

This paper investigates the international accounting network memberships' impact on audit fees. We find that, firstly, the audit fees charged by the member audit firms are significantly higher; secondly, if the revenue, ranking or audit and accounting business share of the international network the audit firm join is higher, the charge is also higher. Additional results show that economic policy uncertainty will intensify this positive relationship, and member audit firms charge higher fees by improving their overseas expertise. We also find that international network memberships will reduce abnormal audit fees, and improve the quality of financial reports.

Clinical Usefulness of Ultrasound Elastography in Colonic Diseases: A Narrative Review.

Ultrasound elastography is an innovation of ultrasound technology that has developed since the 1990s. It has been successfully applied for many organs, such as the thyroid, breast, liver, prostate, and muscle systems, providing qualitative and quantitative information about tissue stiffness for clinical diagnoses. For colorectal tumors, ultrasound elastography can distinguish colon adenoma from colon adenocarcinoma and predict the chemotherapeutic effects of colon cancer by monitoring the stiffness changes of cancer tissue. In Crohn's disease, ultrasound elastography helps assess the stages of the course and guides further treatment strategies. Compared with colonoscopy, ultrasound elastography frees patients from the fears of uncomfortable procedures and enables operators to comprehensively observe the bowel wall and the surrounding structures. In this review, we introduced the principles and the pathological basis of ultrasound elastography and compared the diagnostic efficacies of colonoscopy with colonic ultrasound elastography. Meanwhile, we summarized the ultrasonography of colonic diseases and reviewed the clinical usefulness of ultrasound elastography in colonic diseases.

Correlation between myeloid-derived suppressor cells and S100A8/A9 in tumor and autoimmune diseases.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogeneous population of cells that constitute an important component of immune regulatory system. Two calcium-binding proteins S100A8 and S100A9 act as important mediators in acute and chronic inflammation. In recent years, many researchers have found that MDSCs and S100A8/A9 operated with one another through a positive feedback loop to promote tumor development and metastasis. However, the correlation between MDSCs and S100A8/A9 in autoimmune diseases (AIDs) remains unknown. In this review, we discussed the co-operation of MDSCs and S100A8/A9 in tumor environment, and also, the role of these two components in AIDs.