National institutions, stakeholder engagement, and firms' environmental, social, and governance performance

This paper studies the influence of different national institutions on corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance through the varieties of institutional systems approach. This research complements previous research that used traditional approaches such as the national business systems and the varieties of capitalism, because it considers companies in understudied economies in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. To that aim, a dataset of 4, 751 firms within 52 countries is examined through a multilevel model, which allows establishing three levels of analysis: (a) yearly observations of a firm ESG performance, (b) the companies, and (c) the countries. This technique is useful to address the nested nature of firms' ESG performance within higher level institutional contexts. The results identify which specific national institutions enhance/restrict companies' ESG performance. This provides interesting implications because firms' ESG represent most of the companies' contributions to environmental preservation, social well-being, and community development

Corporate social and environmental disclosure as a sustainable development tool provided by board sub-committees: Do women directors play a relevant moderating role?

he aim of this research is to examine the impact of three audit committee characteristics on corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSR) disclosure: the existence of an audit committee, audit committee independence, and audit committee financial expertise. Moreover, this research analyzes the moderating effect of board gender diversity between these audit committees' attributes and CSR reporting. The results of analyzing 13,178 firm-year observations of non-financial companies show that the presence of an audit committee and audit committee financial expertise are positively associated with CSR disclosure. However, a higher proportion of non-executive directors in audit committees has a negative effect on the disclosure of CSR information. These findings suggest that some audit committees' features play an important role in ensuring the reporting of environmental, social, and economic information. Our evidence also indicates that the presence of female directors on boards increases the positive impact of financial expert membership of audit committees on CSR disclosure, while women directors moderate any negative effect of the percentage of independent directors on audit committees on CSR reporting by increasing the latter. In addition, female directors moderate the positive impact of the existence of an audit committee on the disclosure of CSR information by reducing the latter

Inhibition of the SphK1/S1P signaling pathway by melatonin in mice with liver fibrosis and human hepatic stellate cells

30 p.The sphingosine kinase 1/sphingosine 1-phosphate (SphK1/S1P) system is involved in different pathological processes, including fibrogenesis. Melatonin abrogates activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and attenuates different profibrogenic pathways in animal models of fibrosis, but it is unknown if protection associates with its inhibitory effect on the SphK1/S1P axis. Mice in treatment groups received carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) 5 μL/g body wt i.p. twice a week for 4 or 6 weeks. Melatonin was given at 5 or 10 mg/kg/day i.p, beginning two weeks after the start of CCl4 administration. At both 4 and 6 weeks following CCl4 treatment, liver mRNA levels, protein concentration and immunohistochemical labelling for SphK1 increased significantly. S1P production, and expression of S1P receptor (S1PR)1, S1PR3 and acid sphingomyelinase (ASMase) were significantly elevated. However, there was a decreased expression of S1PR2 and S1P lyase (S1PL). Melatonin attenuated liver fibrosis, as shown by a significant inhibition of the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and collagen (Col) Ι. Furthermore, melatonin inhibited S1P production, lowered expression of SphK1, S1PR1, SP1R3 and ASMase, and increased expression of S1PL. Melatonin induced a reversal of activated human HSCs cell line LX2, as evidenced by a reduction in α-SMA, TGF-β, and Col I expression. Melatonin-treated cells also exhibited an inhibition of the SphK1/S1P axis. Antifibrogenic effect of SphK1 inhibition was confirmed by treatment of LX2 cells with PF543. Abrogation of the lipid signaling pathway by the indole reveals novel molecular pathways that may account for the protective effect of melatonin in liver fibrogenesi

Melatonin inhibits the sphingosine kinase 1/sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling pathway in rabbits with fulminant hepatitis of viral origin

25 p.The sphingosine kinase (SphK)1/sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) pathway is involved in multiple biological processes, including liver diseases. This study investigate whether modulation of the SphK1/S1P system associates to the beneficial effects of melatonin in an animal model of acute liver failure (ALF) induced by the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV). Rabbits were experimentally infected with 2x104 hemagglutination units of a RHDV isolate and received 20 mg/kg of melatonin at 0 hr, 12 hr and 24 hr postinfection. Liver mRNA levels, protein concentration and immunohistochemical labelling for SphK1 increased in RHDV-infected rabbits. S1P production and protein expression of the S1PR1 receptor were significantly elevated following RHDV infection. These effects were significantly reduced by melatonin. Rabbits also exhibited increased expression of toll-like receptor (TLR)4, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) p50 and p65 subunits and phosphorylated inhibitor of kappa B (IκB)α. Melatonin administration significantly inhibited those changes and induced a decreased immunoreactivity for RHDV viral VP60 antigen in the liver. Results obtained indicate that the SphK1/S1P system activates in parallel to viral replication and the inflammatory process induced by the virus. Inhibition of the lipid signaling pathway by the indole reveals novel molecular pathways that may account for the protective effect of melatonin in this animal model of ALF, and supports the potential of melatonin as an antiviral agen

Influence of Thickness on the Holographic Parameters of H-PDLC Materials

For photopolymers the compound concentrations and final thickness of the sample should be known in order to model hologram formation and introduce the reaction-diffusion kinetics of the monomer-polymer system. In principle the cell thickness can be controlled by bead spacers between the two pieces of ITO glass. In this paper we report a study of the influence of thickness on the holographic properties of this type of materials. To fit the physical and optical thickness of the samples we used the rigorous coupled wave analysis assuming an exponential decay in the refractive index modulation

Influence of Thickness on the Holographic Parameters of H-PDLC Materials

For photopolymers the compound concentrations and final thickness of the sample should be known in order to model hologram formation and introduce the reaction-diffusion kinetics of the monomer-polymer system. In principle the cell thickness can be controlled by bead spacers between the two pieces of ITO glass. In this paper we report a study of the influence of thickness on the holographic properties of this type of materials. To fit the physical and optical thickness of the samples we used the rigorous coupled wave analysis assuming an exponential decay in the refractive index modulation

New Strategy for a Suitable Fast Stabilization of the Biomethanization Performance

The start-up strategies for thermophilic anaerobic reactors usually consist of an initial mesophilic stage (35 • C), with an approximate duration of 185 days, and a subsequent thermophilic stage (55 • C), which normally requires around 60 days to achieve the system stabilizatio. During the first 8-10 days of the mesophilic stage, the reactor is not fed so that the inoculum, which is generally a mesophilic anaerobic sludge, may be adapted to the organic solid waste. Between mesophilic and thermophilic conditions the reactor is still not fed in an effort to prevent possible imbalances in the proces. As a consequence, the start-up and stabilization of the biomethanization performance described in the literature require, at least, around 245 days. In this sense, a new strategy for the start-up and stabilization phases is presented in this study. This approach allows an important reduction in the overall time necessary for these stages in an anaerobic continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) operated at thermophilicdry conditions for treating the organic fraction of the municipal solid waste (OFMSW): 60 days versus 245 days of conventional strategies. The new strategy uses modified SEBAC technology to adapt an inoculum to the OFMSW and the operational conditions prior to seeding the CSTR

Selective CO removal over Au/CeFe and CeCu catalysts in microreactors studied through kinetic analysis and CFD simulations

A kinetic study of the preferential oxidation of CO in H2 rich streams (CO-PrOx) over a cerium-copper oxide (CeCu) and a gold catalyst supported on cerium-iron oxide (Au/CeFe) is presented. The gold catalyst is very active but the CeCu oxide is more selective. A kinetic model describing the CO-PrOx system with CO2 and H2O in the feed has been formulated considering the oxidation of CO and H2 and the reverse water-gas shift reaction. The rate equations have been implemented in computational fluid dynamics codes to study the influence of the operating variables on the CO-PrOx in microchannels and microslits. The CeCu catalyst is the only one capable of achieving final CO contents below 10-100ppmv. Due to the opposite effect of temperature on activity and selectivity there is an optimal temperature at which the CO content is minimal over CeCu. This temperature varies between 170 and 200°C as the GHSV increases from 10,000 to 50,000h-1. Simulations have evidenced the very good heat transfer performance of the microdevices showing that the CO-PrOx temperature can be controlled using air as cooling fluid although the inlet temperature and flow rate should be carefully controlled to avoid reaction extinction. Both microchannels and microslits behaved similarly. The fact that the microslits are much easier to fabricate may be an interesting advantage in favour of that geometry in this case.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación MAT2006-12386-C05, ENE2009-14522-C0

Characterization of CD34+ hematopoietic cells in systemic mastocytosis: Potential role in disease dissemination

[Background]: Recent studies show that most systemic mastocytosis (SM) patients, including indolent SM (ISM) with (ISMs+) and without skin lesions (ISMs−), carry the KIT D816V mutation in PB leukocytes. We investigated the potential association between the degree of involvement of BM hematopoiesis by the KIT D816V mutation and the distribution of different maturation-associated compartments of bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) CD34+ hematopoietic precursors (HPC) in ISM and identified the specific PB cell compartments that carry this mutation. [Methods]: The distribution of different maturation-associated subsets of BM and PB CD34+ HPC from 64 newly diagnosed (KIT-mutated) ISM patients and 14 healthy controls was analyzed by flow cytometry. In 18 patients, distinct FACS-purified PB cell compartments were also investigated for the KIT mutation. [Results]: ISM patients showed higher percentages of both BM and PB MC-committed CD34+ HPC vs controls, particularly among ISM cases with MC-restricted KIT mutation (ISMMC); this was associated with progressive blockade of maturation of CD34+ HPC to the neutrophil lineage from ISMMC to multilineage KIT-mutated cases (ISMML). Regarding the frequency of KIT-mutated cases and cell populations in PB, variable patterns were observed, the percentage of KIT-mutated PB CD34+ HPC, eosinophils, neutrophils, monocytes and T cells increasing from ISMs−MC and ISMs+MC to ISMML patients. [Conclusion]: The presence of the KIT D816V mutation in PB of ISM patients is associated with (early) involvement of circulating CD34+ HPC and multiple myeloid cell subpopulations, KIT-mutated PB CD34+ HPC potentially contributing to early dissemination of the disease.This work was supported by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias—FIS—of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Madrid, Spain (grant numbers PI11/02399 and PI16/00642, FEDER); Consejería de Educación (Regional Government of Castilla y León, Spain; grant number SA013U16); Biomedical Research Networking Centre Consortium–CIBER-CIBERONC (CB16/12/00400) of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; and Fundacion Ramon Areces, Madrid, Spain (grant CIVP16A1806). AM was supported by a RTICC (Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en Cancer) grant (RD12/0036/0048, FIS, FEDER)