Board gender diversity and carbon proactivity : the influence of cultural factors

Due to inadequate studies, our knowledge of the effect of female directors and national culture on the corporate response to climate change is still limited. To address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamic relationship between gender diversity on the board of directors and corporate carbon proactivity and how two dimensions of national culture (individualism and indulgence) moderate this relationship. This study focuses on large companies that disclosed carbon-related information via the CDP survey in 2011–2017. Our findings show that gender diversity promotes corporate carbon proactivity. Furthermore, the positive effect of gender diversity on carbon proactivity is weaker when firms are in countries marked by a higher level of individualism and indulgence. As far as we know, this study is the first to explore and document the empirical evidence on the dynamic impact of gender diversity in the corporate governance body and national culture on managers’ climate change behaviors in terms of green proactivity

Asynchronous vibration response characteristics of connectors with looseness fault and its verification

For the universal phenomenon of the aero-engine connectors with the looseness fault, a single degree of freedom lumped mass model was established and a looseness fault model was introduced. The response of the system was obtained by numerical integration methods and the asynchronous response characteristics were analyzed. The experiments were conducted on the connectors with looseness clearance. It is found that the acceleration response of the mass block after noise reduction has up-down asymmetrical impact characteristics in the waveform, also the pseudo-critical subharmonic resonance and the pseudo-critical ultra-harmonic resonance appear in frequency spectrum. These characteristics are in agreement with the results of the numerical simulation, which can be identified as the characteristics of the looseness fault. The reason leading to the looseness characteristics is that the period of stiffness changes in the period of the rotating speed. When the changing period of stiffness is equivalent to the vibration period, frequency multiplication will appear and the natural frequency of the system will be excited at specific speeds. When the changing period of stiffness is equivalent to n times the vibration period, 1/n frequency division and frequency multiplication will appear and the natural frequency of the system will be excited at specific speeds

Hierarchical porous nitrogen-rich carbon monoliths via ice-templating: high capacity and high-rate performance as lithium-ion battery anode materials

Hierarchical porous nitrogen-rich carbon monoliths were prepared from a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor by employing a novel & facile ice-templating, thermal annealing and pyrolysis technique. The achieved carbon monoliths were characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Hg-intrusion porosimetry, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), N2 gas-sorption, elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Electrochemical evaluation of the carbon materials as anodes for the rechargeable lithium-ion battery revealed an impressive stable reversible capacity as high as 745 mA h g−1 at a current density of 50 mA g−1. Incorporation of melamine (for further N-doping) and graphene into the carbon monoliths was achieved easily, and found to significantly enhance high rate performance – with a reversible capacity of about 300 mA h g−1 obtained at the ultra high current density of 10 A g−1

Chinese merchant group culture, corporate social responsibility, and cost of debt : evidence from private listed firms in China

Chinese merchant groups are commercial organizations that have developed over thou-sands of years. Given the importance of private firms to China’s sustainable development, this study investigates the impact of the traditional Chinese concept of merchant groups on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and cost of debt, using Chinese private listed firms during 2008–2020. We measure merchant group culture based on the company’s geographic location. Ordi-nary least squares regression models are used to test the hypotheses. According to the results, the CSR performance of firms from five traditional Chinese merchant groups is better than non-members. A positive relationship exists between the strength of merchant group culture and CSR performance; this relationship is stronger among merchant group companies. The closer the culture to CSR values, the better the CSR performance, which is negatively related to the cost of debt. The findings are in line with the peer effect theory. Therefore, the study provides evidence that it is essential to consider the traditional Chinese merchant group culture for firms’ CSR strategies beyond formal financial and regulatory factors in China. This study is a first step in exploring the impact of merchant group culture in China on CSR performance and the economic application of this relationship

A Preliminary Study on Analysis of Lower Limb Energy during Walking in the Patients with Knee Replacement

BackgroundKnee replacement surgeries is used to reduce pain and enhance functionality for individuals with knee arthritis. It is predicted that the annual volume of total knee replacement surgeries conducted in the US will surge by a substantial 673% by 2030. Though a lot of studies have done gait analysis on patients with knee replacement, little research is on energy changes in the lower limbs during gait. This study aimed to investigate the mechanical energy changes in the lower limbs for patients with total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and unicondylar knee arthroplasty (UKA), and ultimately to provide a specific tool to analyze limb energy during gait in clinical practice.Methods10 TKA and 8 UKA patients were recruited for gait analysis. The control group consisted of 11 individuals without knee replacement surgery. Vicon motion capture system and Plug-in-Gait model were used to collect gait data to obtain marker coordinates and gait parameters. The kinetic energy, potential energy, and rotational energy for each segment in the lower limbs were calculated. The energies in the centre of pelvis were considered as the approximate to the centre of mass. The energy recovery coefficients were analysed for each segment during gait. SPSS was used to identify the differences between different groups.ResultsThe results showed that during walking, the upper leg had the highest recovery coefficient, approximately 40%, followed by the foot at 10%, and the lowest recovery coefficient was observed in the lower legs, approximately 1–3%. However, the energy recovery coefficients at the centre of pelvis were significantly higher in the control group than the TKA and UKA groups by roughly 12%–15%.ConclusionsThe energy difference between the operative and non-operative sides is not significant regardless of the type of surgery. The TKA and UKA groups were more active in potential energy than control group. The upper leg has the highest recovery efficiency of kinetic and potential energy exchanges when walking. The control group used the energy for whole body is better than the patient groups. This study provides a new and useful way to analyze mechanical energy in the lower limbs during gait and could be applied in clinical practice

Establishment of Evaluation System of Porcine Intestinal Barrier Integrity and Preliminary Screening of Candidate lncRNA Related to Intestinal Barrier

Session for Student

Unimolecular branched block copolymer nanoparticles in methanol for the preparation of poorly water-soluble drug nanoparticles

Unimolecular branched polymer nanoparticles are formed in methanol via a simple thermal annealing process, which can be used to produce aqueous drug nanoparticle suspensions.</p

Association of the Porcine Cluster of Differentiation 4 Gene with T Lymphocyte Subpopulations and Its Expression in Immune Tissues

Cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) is mainly expressed on CD4+ T cells, which plays an important role in immune response. The aim of this study was to detect the association between polymorphisms of the CD4 gene and T lymphocyte subpopulations in pigs, and to investigate the effects of genetic variation on the CD4 gene expression level in immune tissues. Five missense mutations in the CD4 gene were identified using DNA pooling sequencing assays, and two main haplotypes (CCTCC and AGCTG) in strong linkage disequilibrium (with frequencies of 50.26% and 46.34%, respectively) were detected in the population of Large White pigs. Our results indicated that the five SNPs and the two haplotypes were significantly associated with the proportions of CD4−CD8−, CD4+CD8+, CD4+CD8−, CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+ in peripheral blood (p0.05). These results indicate that the CD4 gene may influence T lymphocyte subpopulations and can be considered as a candidate gene affecting immunity in pigs