Diversity in Boardrooms and Firm Performance: The Role of Tenure and Educational Level of Board Members

Diversity on corporate boards has been studied from different perspectives in recent decades. The present study aims at investigating the impact on firm performance of two demographic diversity traits in boardrooms: tenure and educational diversity. The extant literature does not provide aligned findings on this topic, thus further research is still needed. The authors hypothesize that both tenure and educational diversity of board members have a positive effect on firm performance. To measure firm performance two dependent variables are used, applying two models for each hypothesis investigated Tobin\u2019s Q and return on assets. The study is conducted using sample data of 187 listed firms within the European area, covering a 9-year period, from 2010 to 2018. Diversity dimensions are measured through indexes constructed on the basis of the mix among the directors in terms of educational level and tenure. The outcomes highlight a significant and positive relationship between tenure diversity on corporate boards and firm performance. In terms of the impact of educational diversity, no evidence indicating a positive effect on firm performance is found. The research carried out is unique because it considers two personal attributes of diversity calculating diversity indexes and measuring their impact on the firm\u2019s performance. The econometric approach used has not been extensively applied in previous research. In fact, the majority of previous empirical studies have measured diversity through percentages or dummy variables, depending on the type of diversity aspect being analyzed, and then used it as the independent variable

Predicting solar cell performance from terahertz and microwave spectroscopy

Mobilities and lifetimes of photogenerated charge carriers are core properties of photovoltaic materials and can both be characterized by contactless terahertz or microwave measurements. Here, the expertise from fifteen laboratories is combined to quantitatively model the current-voltage characteristics of a solar cell from such measurements. To this end, the impact of measurement conditions, alternate interpretations, and experimental inter-laboratory variations are discussed using a (Cs,FA,MA)Pb(I,Br)3 halide perovskite thin-film as a case study. At 1 sun equivalent excitation, neither transport nor recombination is significantly affected by exciton formation or trapping. Terahertz, microwave, and photoluminescence transients for the neat material yield consistent effective lifetimes implying a resistance-free JV-curve with a potential power conversion efficiency of 24.6 %. For grainsizes above ≈20 nm, intra-grain charge transport is characterized by terahertz sum mobilities of ≈32 cm2 V−1 s−1. Drift-diffusion simulations indicate that these intra-grain mobilities can slightly reduce the fill factor of perovskite solar cells to 0.82, in accordance with the best-realized devices in the literature. Beyond perovskites, this work can guide a highly predictive characterization of any emerging semiconductor for photovoltaic or photoelectrochemical energy conversion. A best practice for the interpretation of terahertz and microwave measurements on photovoltaic materials is presented

Haptichem

Haptichem is a 2-year project where haptic interaction has been adopted within the chemistry education field. This report describes the main contributions of the project

Acute respiratory distress caused by a giant mediastinal lipoblastoma in a 16-month-old boy.

Lipoblastoma is a rare benign tumor arising from embryonic fat; it occurs mainly in the extremities and almost exclusively in infants and children younger than 3 years. We present a case of giant mediastinal lipoblastoma in a 16-month-old boy who presented with acute respiratory distress. The mass was completely excised through a left posterolateral thoracotomy. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the pathologic final diagnosis was lipoblastoma. Although extremely rare, mediastinal lipoblastoma can be life threatening; therefore, it should be included in the differential diagnosis of mediastinal mass in younger subject

Is intra-articular injection of autologous micro-fragmented adipose tissue effective in hip osteoarthritis? A three year follow-up

Background: Recently, increased attention on regenerative medicine and biological injective treatments have been proposed to restore native cartilage. Micro-fragmented adipose tissue (MFAT) has been studied for its anti-inflammatory, paracrine, and immunomodulatory effects. The long-term effects of MFAT are still poorly understood: the aim of the present study is to demonstrate how hip articular injections with autologous MFAT can have an impact on clinical outcomes. Methods: Seventy-one consecutive patients affected by early hip osteoarthritis underwent an ultrasound-guided hip injection of autologous MFAT between June 2017 and December 2018. Patients were divided into four groups according to the Oxford Hip Score. All patients received 4 mL of autologous micro-fragmented adipose tissue under an ultrasound guide. A clinical evaluation was done between 29 and 41 months after the initial treatment. During this follow-up period, we recorded any new treatment the patients had done, whether that be injection or arthroplasty surgery. Results: The study included 55 patients. Out of 55 patients, 28 saw benefits and were in no need of further treatment. Moreover, the score between the beginning and control increased by 6.9 points. Ten patients underwent a new articular injection: the mean time between the two injections was 635.7 ± 180 days. Seventeen patients underwent total hip replacement: the mean period between the autologous MFAT injection and the surgery was 495 days. Conclusion: This study found that intra-articular injections with autologous MFAT achieve beneficial clinical results in patients affected by early to moderate hip osteoarthritis, with an OHS between 48 and 30. Furthermore, these subjects are the ideal patients for whom this treatment obtains good clinical results