A Study of the Conformers of the (Nonafluorobutanesulfonyl)imide Ion by Means of Infrared Spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory (DFT) Calculations

Pyrrolidinium-based ionic liquids with anions of the per(fluoroalkylsulfonyl)imide family are particularly interesting for their use as electrolytes in lithium batteries. These ions have several geometric isomers and the presence of different ion conformers and their distribution affects the ILs (Ionic liquids) physical and chemical properties. In the present work, we report the temperature dependence of the infrared spectra of the N-butyl-N-methyl-pyrrolidinium(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) (nonafluorobutanesulfonyl)imide (PYR14-IM14) ionic liquid; DFT (Density Functional Theory) calculations performed with different models provides indications about the IM14 conformers and their vibrational spectra. Moreover the temperature dependence of the intensity of the lines identified as markers of different conformers provide indications about the conformers’ distribution and the difference of their enthalpy in the liquid phase

The International Debate of Business Combination in Public Sector: The Role of IPSAS 40

Practice and Academy have recently involved in the accounting of business combination in the public sector representing a debated topic at national and international levels; in part, by reason of the reorganization action being aimed at rationalizing the public expenditure, on the other hand due to the logic (always in the key resource optimization) modification of territorial composition of territorial entities, as is happening in many countries with the merger of the municipalities. The contribution is based on a critical analysis of the content of IPSAS 40 providing all the approaches for accounting recognition of business combination in public sectors in order to assess whether IPSASB will determine a higher harmonization in this field. In this context, IPSASB has positively orientated the efforts towards the definition of an accepted accounting policy. Keywords: IPSAS 40, Public Sector, Business Combination, Conceptual pape

An infrared spectroscopy study of the conformational evolution of the Bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ion in the liquid and in the glass state

We measure the far-infrared spectrum of N,N-Dimethyl-N-ethyl-N-benzylammonium (DEBA) bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide (TFSI) ionic liquid (IL) in the temperature range between 160 and 307 K. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements indicate that such IL undergoes a glass transition around 210K. DFT calculations allow us to assign all the experimental absorptions to specific vibrations of the DEBA cation or of the two conformers of the TFSI anion. We find that the vibration frequencies calculated by means of the PBE0 functional are in better agreement with the experimental ones than those calculated at the B3LYP level, largely used for the attribution of vibration lines of ionic liquids. Experimentally we show that, in the liquid state, the relative concentrations of the two conformers of TFSI depend on temperature through the Boltzmann factor and the energy separation, ΔH, is found to be ≈2 kJ/mol, in agreement with previous calculations and literature. However, in the glassy state, the concentrations of the cis-TFSI and trans-TFSI remain fixed, witnessing the frozen state of this phase

Wave propagation in three-coupled periodic structures

Free wave propagation patterns for general three-coupled periodic structures are investigated by means of the transfer matrix approach. It is shown that an exhaustive description of the propagation domains requires spaces that are stratified in homogeneous regions, whose dimension is given by the number of invariants of the transfer matrix characteristic equation and whose boundaries are represented by codimension-one manifolds. Three types of three-coupled periodic mechanical models characterized by constitutive elastic and/or inertial coupling between mono- and bi-coupled dynamics, namely pipes, thin-walled beams and truss beams, are considered. From the design standpoint, an adequate representation of the propagation domains pattern is obtained through a nonlinear mapping from the space of the invariants to the physical parameters plane. The analyzed models give rise to equations of motion where the three-coupled nature stems from the coupling between transversal (bi-coupled) and longitudinal (mono-coupled) dynamics for the pipes and truss beams, whilst coupling occurs between transversal and torsional (mono-coupled) dynamics when it comes to the thin-walled beams. A mechanical interpretation associated with the bounding frequencies of the propagation regions is given and the evolution of the propagation properties when coupling parameters tend to vanish is discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Earnings Management: Empirical Evidence from the Top 5,000 Non-Listed Stock Italian Companies

Account manipulation has been the subject of accounting discussions not only in the U.S. but across the world, especially during times of financial crises. This paper investigates the impact of the recent financial crisis on account manipulation probability by adopting the Beneish Model (1999, 2013) of eight performance ratios. The analysis has been conducted using the Top 5,000 Non-Listed Stock Italian Companies (Società Per Azioni) ranked by revenues during the time period 2005-2012. We use the AIDA Bureau Van Dijk database. We test the existence of earnings management (EM) within the Top Non-Listed Stock Italian Companies through a comparison between the pre-crisis period (2005-2008) and the crisis period (2009-2012). Our findings show that the number of firms with a higher likelihood of earnings manipulation decreases by 4.53% from the pre-crisis to crisis period. As a consequence, we argue that EM increases when the crisis is weak while EM decreases during the crisis period

Hydrogen absorption properties of amorphous (Ni0.6Nb0.4−yTay)100−xZrx membranes

Ni based amorphous materials have great potential as hydrogen purification membranes. In the present work the melt spun (Ni0.6Nb0.4−yTay)100−xZrx with y=0, 0.1 and x=20, 30 was studied. The result of X-ray diffraction spectra of the ribbons showed an amorphous nature of the alloys. Heating these ribbons below T < 400 °C, even in a hydrogen atmosphere (1−10 bar), the amorphous structure was retained. The crystallization process was characterized by differential thermal analysis and the activation energy of such process was obtained. The hydrogen absorption properties of the samples in their amorphous state were studied by the volumetric method, and the results showed that the addition of Ta did not significantly influence the absorption properties, a clear change of the hydrogen solubility was observed with the variation of the Zr content. The values of the hydrogenation enthalpy changed from ~37 kJ/mol for x=30 to ~9 kJ/mol for x=20. The analysis of the volumetric data provides the indications about the hydrogen occupation sites during hydrogenation, suggesting that at the beginning of the absorption process the deepest energy levels are occupied, while only shallower energy levels are available at higher hydrogen content, with the available interstitial sites forming a continuum of energy levels

The CSR committee as moderator for the ESG score and market value

This paper investigates the relationship between the ESG score and market values. Specifically, we test the moderating role of CSR committee defined as organizational subcommittees of boards of directors that make social and environmental recommendationsto the boards of directors and support members in their CSR-related tasks. We built a panel data set with all the listed companies in STOXX Europe 600, covering the period 2014–2020. Firms' data come from Refinitiv Eikon database which contains financial and ESG scores data of all EU listed companies. Our sample of firm-level data contains a dataset of 600 European listed companies which are part of the STOXX Europe 600 Index. We included ESG data of STOXX Europe 600 Index components in the period 2014–2020. Our dataset contains a total of 4800 firm-year observations. We found a negative relationship between ESG score and stock prices while the presence of CSR committee as moderating variable generates no significant evidence of ESG score. The presence of CSR committee is not considerably supporting ESG in achieving higher market performance. The CSR committee plays an essential role in monitoring management activities. This may support management practitioners in better understanding and reacting to stakeholder expectations

Hydrogen induced abrupt structural expansion at high temperatures of a Ni32Nb28Zr30Cu10 membrane for H2 purification

Ni-Nb-Zr amorphous membranes, prepared by melt-spinning, show great potential for replacing crystalline Pd-based materials in the field of hydrogen purification to an ultrapure grade (>99.999%). In this study, we investigate the temperature evolution of the structure of an amorphous ribbon with the composition Ni32Nb28Zr30Cu10 (expressed in atom %) by means of XRD and DTA measurements. An abrupt structural expansion is induced between 240 and 300 °C by hydrogenation. This structural modification deeply modifies the hydrogen sorption properties of the membrane, which indeed shows a strong reduction of the hydrogen capacity above 270 °C