Exchange listing changes: volatility and liquidity effects in Taiwan

We examine the volatility, liquidity and returns effects on stocks that switch exchange listings from the ROSE to the TSE in Taiwan from 1992 to 2000. Switching Jims earn statistically positive returns before the transfer day and earn statistically negative returns after that day. We find evidence of improved liquidity, ownership dispersion and actual trading volume for such firms. The relative volatility of trading volume, compared against the firms ' own histories, and volatility of return also increase after a listing change. We show that increased trading volume and liquidity are associated with the abnormal returns around the transfer date. We find no evidence that the past earnings of firms significantly affect the abnormal returns realized in the post-listing period

Nonlinear Ramsey interferometry with the Rosen-Zener pulses on a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate

We propose a feasible scheme to realize nonlinear Ramsey interferometry with a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate, where the nonlinearity arises from the interaction between coherent atoms. In our scheme, two Rosen-Zener pulses are separated by an intermediate holding period of variable duration and through varying the holding period we have observed nice Ramsey interference patterns in time domain. In contrast to the standard Ramsey fringes our nonlinear Ramsey patterns display diversiform structures ascribed to the interplay of the nonlinearity and asymmetry. In particular, we find that the frequency of the nonlinear Ramsey fringes exactly reflects the strength of nonlinearity as well as the asymmetry of system. Our finding suggests a potential application of the nonlinear Ramsey interferometry in calibrating the atomic parameters such as scattering length and energy spectrum.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Degree-degree Correlated Low-density Parity-check Codes Over a Binary Erasure Channel

Most existing works on analyzing the performance of a random ensemble of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes assume that the degree distributions of the two ends of a randomly selected edge are independent. In the paper, we take one step further and consider ensembles of LDPC codes with degree-degree correlations. For this, we propose two methods to construct an ensemble of degree-degree correlated LDPC codes. We then derive a system of density evolution equations for such degree-degree correlated LDPC codes over a binary erasure channel (BEC). By conducting extensive numerical experiments, we show how the degree-degree correlation affects the performance of LDPC codes. Our numerical results show that LDPC codes with negative degree-degree correlation could improve the maximum tolerable erasure probability. Moreover, increasing the negative degree-degree correlation could lead to better unequal error protection (UEP) design.Comment: accepted by the 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT

Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of Direct Acting Tensioner of an Offshore Floating Platform

The offshore floating platform is the key equipment in offshore and gas development. The significant heave motions occur with the excitation of wind and waves, which will affect the safety of a riser system. A direct acting tensioner can be applied to reduce the effects on the riser system and be widely used on different kinds of offshore platforms. Based on the analysis of the structure and working principle of a direct acting tensioner (DAT), the nonlinear dynamic performance of DAT riser system was studied. Additionally, the dynamic model of the DAT riser system is established and the dynamic response was gained by the numerical integration method. The differences of dynamic responses were compared between a linear model and a nonlinear model. The response on different side of the equilibrium position is asymmetric because of the nonlinear stiffness of DAT. The results can be helpful for the design of DAT

Elevated plasma level of visfatin/pre-b cell colony-enhancing factor in male oral squamous cell carcinoma patients

Objectives: Visfatin, also known as nicotiamide phosphoribosyltransferase or pre-B cell colony enhancing factor, is a pro-inflammatory cytokine whose serum level is increased in various cancers. In this study, we investigated whether plasma visfatin levels were altered in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The relation ship between plasma visfatin levels and the pretreatment hematologic profile was also explored. Study Design: Plasma visfatin concentrations were measured through ELISA in OSCC patients and control sub- D esign: Plasma visfatin concentrations were measured through ELISA in OSCC patients and control sub- esign: Plasma visfatin concentrations were measured through ELISA in OSCC patients and control sub jects. A total of 51 patients with OSCC and 57 age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched control subjects were studied. All study subjects were male. Results: Plasma visfatin was found to be elevated in patients with OSCC (7.0 ± 4.5 vs. 4.8 ± 1.9 ng/ml, p = 0.002). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed visfatin as an independent association factor for OSCC, even after full adjustment of known biomarkers. Visfatin level was significantly correlated with white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil count, and hematocrit (all p < 0.05). In addition, WBC count, neutrophil count, and visfatin gradually increased with stage progression, and hematocrit gradually decreased with stage progression (all p < 0.05). Conclusion: Increased plasma visfatin levels were associated with OSCC, independent of risk factors, and were cor related with inflammatory biomarkers. These data suggest that visfatin may act through inflammatory reactions to play an important role in the pathogenesis of OSC

Why do authoritarian regimes provide public goods? Policy communities, external shocks and ideas in China’s rural social policy making

Recent research on authoritarian regimes argues that they provide public goods in order to prevent rebellion. This essay shows that the ‘threat of rebellion’ alone cannot explain Chinese party-state policies to extend public goods to rural residents in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Drawing on theories of policy making, it argues that China’s one-party regime extended public goods to the rural population under the influence of ideas and policy options generated by policy communities of officials, researchers, international organisations and other actors. The party-state centre adopted and implemented these ideas and policy options when they provided solutions to external shocks and supported economic development goals. Explanations of policies and their outcomes in authoritarian political systems need to include not only ‘dictators’ but also other actors, and the ideas they generate

ZIF-8-Based Quasi-Solid-State Electrolyte for Lithium Batteries.

The quasi-solid-state electrolytes (QSSEs) with an inorganic skeleton, a solid-liquid composite material combining their respective merits, exhibit high ionic conductivity and mechanical strength. However, most quasi-solid electrolytes prepared by immobilizing ionic liquid (IL) or organic liquid electrolyte in inorganic scaffold generally have poor interface compatibility and low lithium ion migration number, which limits its application. Herein, we design and prepare a ZIF-8-based QSSE (ZIF-8 QSSE) in which the ZIF-8 has a special cage structure and interaction with the guest electrolyte to form a composite electrolyte with good ionic conductivity about 1.05 × 10-4 S cm-1 and a higher lithium-ion transference number of about 0.52. With the ZIF-8 QSSE, a protype lithium battery coupled with LiCoO2 cathode shows good electrochemical performances with an initial discharge capacity of 135 mAh g-1 at 50 mA g-1 and a remaining capacity of 119 mAh g-1 after 100 cycles, only 0.119% capacity degradation per cycle. It is worth noting that the ZIF-8-based QSSEs have good thermal stability up to 350 °C that does not show thermal runaway, which is significantly higher than that of a conventional organic liquid battery system

Synthesis of ultrahigh-metal-density single-atom catalysts via metal sulfide-mediated atomic trapping

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) exhibit exceptional intrinsic activity per metal site, but are often limited by low metal loading, which compromises the overall catalytic performance. Pyrolytic strategies commonly used for synthesizing SACs generally suffer from aggregation at high metal loadings. Here we report a universal synthesis approach for ultrahigh-density metal–nitrogen–carbon (UHDM–N–C) SACs via a metal-sulfide-mediated atomization process. We show that our approach is general for transition, rare-earth and noble metals, achieving 17 SACs with metal loadings >20 wt% (including a loading of 26.9 wt% for Cu, 31.2 wt% for Dy and 33.4 wt% for Pt) at 800 °C, as well as high-entropy quinary and vicenary SACs with ultrahigh metal contents. In situ X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy alongside molecular simulations reveals a dynamic nanoparticle-to-single atom transformation process, including thermally driven decomposition of the metal sulfide and the trapping of liberated metal atoms to form thermodynamically stable M–N–C moieties. Our studies indicate that a high N-doping is crucial for achieving ultrahigh-loading metal atoms and a metal-sulfide-mediated process is essential for avoiding metal aggregation at high loadings. As a demonstration, the metal-loading-dependent activity in electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction is demonstrated on SACs with increasing Ni content. (Figure presented.