Long-term performance of mergers and acquisitions in ASEAN countries

The study looks at mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in ASEAN countries and examines the post-M&A performance using data from 2001 to 2012. The industry-adjusted operating performance tends to decline in the 3 years following an M&A. Yet, the results suggest that M&As completed during the financial crisis are more profitable than those implemented before and/or after the crisis. We argue that this is mainly due to the synergies created between the firms’ resources during the crisis which augur well for firms’ economic performance. We find that, during the crisis, certain characteristics of the firms like the relative size of the target, cross-border nature of deals, acquirer\u27s cash reserves and friendly nature of deals are important determinants of long-term post-M&A operating performance. However, for M&As during the crisis, there appears to be no relationship between performance and firms’ characteristics linked to M&A activity such as payment method, industry relatedness and percentage of target\u27s share acquired

On the Self-Repair of WS2/a-C Tribocoating

This study investigates the self-healing capacity of a WS2/amorphous carbon (a-C) tribocoating. It is found that prenotches up to 45 µm wide in the WS2/a-C coating surface can be completely healed under the stimulus of sliding operations. The in situ tribotest of 100, 500, 2000, and 6000 laps confirms a dynamic filling of tribofilms that patch the voids and prenotched damages. The stabilized coefficient of friction (CoF) remains at an ultralow value down to 0.02, independent of the prenotched damage at the top of coating. The sites of notched damage in fact act as lubricant reservoirs to accumulate the otherwise “wasted” debris, which are restored as a superlubricant by the sliding operation. High resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that WS2 (002) nanoplatelets in the healed notch are parallel to the top coating surface but conformal to the coating/notch interface. The patchy tribofilm holds excellent promise for the self-repair of damages in the field of tribology

Magnetic structure of superconducting Eu(Fe0.82Co0.18)2As2 as revealed by single-crystal neutron diffraction

The magnetic structure of superconducting Eu(Fe0.82Co0.18)2As2 is unambiguously determined by single-crystal neutron diffraction. A long-range ferromagnetic order of the Eu2+ moments along the c-direction is revealed below the magnetic phase transition temperature Tc = 17 K. In addition, the antiferromagnetism of the Fe2+ moments still survives and the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural phase transition is also observed, although the transition temperatures of the Fe-spin density wave (SDW) order and the structural phase transition are significantly suppressed to Tn = 70 K and Ts = 90 K, respectively, compared to the parent compound EuFe2As2.We present the microscopic evidences for the coexistence of the Eu-ferromagnetism (FM) and the Fe-SDW in the superconducting crystal. The superconductivity (SC) competes with the Fe-SDW in Eu(Fe0.82Co0.18)2As2.Moreover, the comparison between Eu(Fe1-xCox)2As2 and Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 indicates a considerable influence of the rare-earth element Eu on the magnetism of the Fe sublattice.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Applicability of zirconium loaded okara in the removal and recovery of phosphorus from municipal wastewater

© 2019 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. Recently, there is a new trend to consider wastewater as a precious resource. Since phosphorus is a limited non-renewable element, and MAP (Magnesium Ammonium Phosphate - MgNH4PO4.6H2O) is a valuable slow-release fertilizer, the recovery of phosphorous as MAP has received special attention from scientists all over the world. However, the application of this process with municipal wastewater is still a challenge, due to low concentration of phosphorus and high volume of municipal wastewater. This study investigates the potential of reclaiming MAP from municipal wastewater by combination of adsorption and crystallization. Soybean milk residue (okara) was loaded with Zirconium (Zr) to prepare the adsorbent (ZLO). Adsorption and desorption experiments were conducted in a semi-pilot scale ZLO packed colum system. Effects of P: N: Mg molar ratios, chemical sources and temperature on the formation of MAP were examined in an attempt to identify the optimal crystallization conditions. The attained precipitate was characterized using XRD, SEM, FTIR techniques. It was found that the ZLO packed column adsorption-desorption system could pre-concentrate phosphorus from municipal wastewater up to 28.36 times, fitting well the minimum requirement (50 mg P/L) for the economical MAP recovery. Up to 95.19% of dissolved phosphorus in desorption solution was recovered at pH = 9, Mg: N: P molar ratio = 2:2:1, using a combination of MgCl2.6H2O and NH4Cl. The harvested MAP exhibited high purity (92.59%), high P-availability (89% by mass), and extremely low levels of heavy metals. The results prove that it is viable to recover MAP from municipal wastewater by employing ZLO as adsorbent, followed by crystallization. This paves the way for mining phosphorus from municipal wastewater and reducing okara as an agricultural byproduct in a green way

Non-conventional digital signatures and their implementations – A review

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19713-5_36The current technological scenario determines a profileration of trust domains, which are usually defined by validating the digital identity linked to each user. This validation entails critical assumptions about the way users’ privacy is handled, and this calls for new methods to construct and treat digital identities. Considering cryptography, identity management has been constructed and managed through conventional digital signatures. Nowadays, new types of digital signatures are required, and this transition should be guided by rigorous evaluation of the theoretical basis, but also by the selection of properly verified software means. This latter point is the core of this paper. We analyse the main non-conventional digital signatures that could endorse an adequate tradeoff betweeen security and privacy. This discussion is focused on practical software solutions that are already implemented and available online. The goal is to help security system designers to discern identity management functionalities through standard cryptographic software libraries.This work was supported by Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) under the project S2013/ICE-3095-CM (CIBERDINE) and the Spanish Government project TIN2010-19607

Corrigendum to “On the S/W stoichiometry and triboperformance of WS_xC(H) coatings deposited by magnetron sputtering” [Surface and Coatings Technology 365 (2019) 41-51]

The authors regret that in Fig. 1b some data points of s/w ratio were not correctly aligned with the x-axis of target-to-substrate distance. The corrected Fig. 1b is shown below. [Figure presented] The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused

Formation of PAHs and Carbonaceous Solids in Gas-Phase Condensation Experiments

Carbonaceous grains represent a major component of cosmic dust. In order to understand their formation pathways, they have been prepared in the laboratory by gas-phase condensation reactions such as laser pyrolysis and laser ablation. Our studies demonstrate that the temperature in the condensation zone determines the formation pathway of carbonaceous particles. At temperatures lower than 1700 K, the condensation by-products are mainly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), that are also the precursors or building blocks for the condensing soot grains. The low-temperature condensates contain PAH mixtures that are mainly composed of volatile 3-5 ring systems. At condensation temperatures higher than 3500 K, fullerene-like carbon grains and fullerene compounds are formed. Fullerene fragments or complete fullerenes equip the nucleating particles. Fullerenes can be identified as soluble components. Consequently, condensation products in cool and hot astrophysical environments such as cool and hot AGB stars or Wolf Rayet stars should be different and should have distinct spectral properties.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Statistical relational learning with soft quantifiers

Quantification in statistical relational learning (SRL) is either existential or universal, however humans might be more inclined to express knowledge using soft quantifiers, such as ``most'' and ``a few''. In this paper, we define the syntax and semantics of PSL^Q, a new SRL framework that supports reasoning with soft quantifiers, and present its most probable explanation (MPE) inference algorithm. To the best of our knowledge, PSL^Q is the first SRL framework that combines soft quantifiers with first-order logic rules for modelling uncertain relational data. Our experimental results for link prediction in social trust networks demonstrate that the use of soft quantifiers not only allows for a natural and intuitive formulation of domain knowledge, but also improves the accuracy of inferred results

A Review: Cytochrome P450 in Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Yu-Jie Jiang,1,2 Ye-Ming Cao,1 Yong-Bing Cao,1 Tian-Hua Yan,2 Cheng-Lin Jia,1 Ping He1 1Institute of Vascular Anomalies, Shanghai Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200082, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 211100, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Cheng-Lin Jia; Ping He, Institute of Vascular Anomalies, Shanghai Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 200082, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +1 522 136 9352 ; +1 301 693 1191, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Alcoholic fatty liver disease (FALD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have similar pathological spectra, both of which are associated with a series of symptoms, including steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis. These clinical manifestations are caused by hepatic lipid synthesis and metabolism dysregulation and affect human health. Despite having been studied extensively, targeted therapies remain elusive. The Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) family is the most important drug-metabolising enzyme in the body, primarily in the liver. It is responsible for the metabolism of endogenous and exogenous compounds, completing biological transformation. This process is relevant to the occurrence and development of AFLD and NAFLD. In this review, the correlation between CYP450 and liver lipid metabolic diseases is summarised, providing new insights for the treatment of AFLD and NAFLD.Keywords: CYP450, liver metabolism, lipid accumulation, monooxygenases, alcoholic fatty liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver diseas

Self-healing WS2 tribofilms: An in-situ appraisal of mechanisms

Self-healing tribocoatings are being developed for aerospace applications to improve the lifetime and reduce the surface maintenance of components in motion. Here the tribo-induced self-healing behaviour of a WS2/a-C tribocoating has been evaluated for the first time by in-situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to evaluate the mechanisms of damage and self-recovery. In-situ SEM imaging reveals that scratch damage results in coating brittle fracture and spalling, and that Hertzian pressure affects healing rate at early stages of sliding. WS2 nanocrystallites, formed via atomic rearrangement at flexural interfaces, enable the healing of irregular damages and congruently offer superlubrication in vacuum. Such damage control in tribo-service may make flawless coatings an unnecessary prerequisite in tribo-applications