Be yourself, it matters what they say : investor reaction to corporations condemning the U.S. Capitol Riot

Purpose: Stakeholders exert increasing pressure on firms to speak up on controversial sociopolitical issues, thus engaging in Corporate Sociopolitical Activism (CSA). Previous research on the financial consequences of firms taking positions on polarizing issues is scarce and inconsistent. Therefore, this study analyzes the investor reaction to firms engaging in CSA by condemning the U.S. Capitol Riot. A particular focus lies on the moderating effect of the engagement’s perceived authenticity. Methodology: An event study was run on a sample of 158 firm-statements given by components of the S&P 500 in the aftermath of the U.S. Capitol Riot in early 2021. The cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) obtained in the event study served as the dependent variable for several multiple regression models used to analyze the moderating effect of the statements’ perceived authenticity. The perceived authenticity is reflected in the firm’s organizational ideology, the message’s content, and the firm’s previous engagements in CSA. Findings: We find marginal evidence to confirm the positive effect of condemning the U.S. Capitol Riot on firm value. The results further suggest that a liberal organizational ideology and making a substantive statement positively affect the investor reaction. Building on stakeholder theory, this phenomenon can be explained by considering CSA as a means for firms to signal the alignment of their values with those of their stakeholders, leading to competitive advantage. Originality: This paper advances the literature of nonmarket strategy and particularly contributes to the research on CSA by analyzing the investor reaction to firms condemning the U.S. Capitol Riot.Objectivo: As partes interessadas exercem uma pressão crescente sobre as empresas para se pronunciarem sobre questões sociopolíticas controversas, envolvendo-se assim no activismo sociopolítico empresarial (CSA). A investigação anterior sobre as consequências financeiras das empresas que tomam posições sobre questões de polarização é escassa e inconsistente. Por conseguinte, este estudo analisa a reacção dos investidores às empresas envolvidas na CSA, condenando o Motim do Capitólio dos EUA. Um foco particular reside no efeito moderador da autenticidade percebida do empenho. Metodologia: Foi realizado um estudo de evento com base numa amostra de 158 declarações dadas por componentes do S&P 500 no rescaldo do Motim do Capitólio dos E.U.A. no início de 2021. Os retornos anormais acumulados (CARs) serviram como variável dependente para vários modelos de regressão múltipla utilizados para analisar o efeito moderador da autenticidade percebida das declarações. A autenticidade percebida reflecte-se na ideologia organizacional da empresa, no conteúdo da mensagem, e nos compromissos anteriores da empresa com a CSA. Conclusões: Encontrámos provas marginais que confirmam o efeito positivo da condenação do Motim do Capitólio dos EUA no valor da empresa. Os resultados sugerem ainda que uma ideologia organizacional liberal e uma declaração substantiva afectam positivamente a reacção do investidor. Com base na teoria dos detentores de participações, este fenómeno pode ser explicado considerando a CSA como um meio para as empresas assinalarem o alinhamento dos seus valores com os dos seus intervenientes, conduzindo a uma vantagem competitiva. Originalidade: Este trabalho contribui para a compreensão da CSA

Method of choice for fabrication of high-quality ZnO-based Schottky diodes

We present a comprehensive comparison of electrical properties of differently fabricated high quality Schottky contacts on ZnO thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition. Thermally evaporated Pd/ZnO Schottky contacts exhibit ideality factors as low as 1.06 due to their high lateral homogeneity. The effective Richardson constant determined using these homogeneous contacts is (7.7±4.8)A cm−2 K−2 close to the theoretical value of 32 A cm−2 K−2. However, their rectification ratio is at most five orders of magnitude due to their comparably small barrier height (≈0.7eV). The largest effective barrier height (1.11 eV) and rectification ratio(7×1010) was obtained for reactively sputtered PdOx/ZnO Schottky contacts. Eclipse pulsed laser deposited IrOx/ZnO Schottky contacts were found to combine very good lateral homogeneity (n≈1.1), with a reasonably large barrier height (0.96 eV) and large rectification ratio (≈9 orders of magnitude). Our results for differently fabricated Schottky contacts suggest that the barrier formation is highly dependent on the presence of oxygen vacancies close to the interface and the different compensation mechanisms involved

Neurological outcome after emergency radiotherapy in MSCC of patients with non-small cell lung cancer - a prospective trial

Background: The aim of this trial was to investigate neurological outcome after emergency RT in MSCC of NSCLC patients with acute neurological deficit. Methods This pilot trial was prospective, non-randomized, and monocentre, ten patients were treated from July 2012 until June 2013. After onset of neurological symptoms RT was started within 12 hours. The neurological outcome was assessed at baseline, and six weeks after RT using the ASIA Impairment Scale (AIS). Results: The results showed an improved neurological outcome in one patient (10%), one patient (10%) had a decreased, and five patients (50%) a constant outcome after six weeks. Three patients (30%) died within the first six weeks following RT, additional 4 patients (40%) died within 4 month due to tumor progression. Conclusion: In this group of NSCLC patients we were able to show that emergency RT in MSCC with acute neurological deficit had no considerable benefit in neurological outcome. Therefore, short-course regime or best supportive care due to poor survival should be considered for these patients with additional distant metastases. Patients with favorable prognosis may be candidates for long-course RT. Trial Registration: Clinical trial identifier http://www.clinicaltrials.gov

The presence of a (1 × 1) oxygen overlayer on ZnO(0001) surfaces and at Schottky interfaces

The atomic surface and interface structures of uncoated and metal-coated epi-polished ZnO(0001) Zn-polar wafers were investigated via surface x-ray diffraction. All uncoated samples showed the presence of a fully occupied (1 × 1) overlayer of oxygen atoms located at the on-top position above the terminating Zn atom, a structure predicted to be unstable by several density functional theory calculations. The same oxygen overlayer was clearly seen at the interface of ZnO with both elemental and oxidized metal Schottky contact layers. No significant atomic relaxations were observed at surfaces and interfaces processed under typical device fabrication conditions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98601/1/0953-8984_24_9_095007.pd

Important role of stratospheric injection height for the distribution and radiative forcing of smoke aerosol from the 2019–2020 Australian wildfires

More than 1 Tg smoke aerosol was emitted into the atmosphere by the exceptional 2019–2020 southeastern Australian wildfires. Triggered by the extreme fire heat, several deep pyroconvective events carried the smoke directly into the stratosphere. Once there, smoke aerosol remained airborne considerably longer than in lower atmospheric layers. The thick plumes traveled eastward, thereby being distributed across the high and mid-latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, enhancing the atmospheric opacity. Due to the increased atmospheric lifetime of the smoke plume, its radiative effect increased compared to smoke that remains in lower altitudes. Global models describing aerosol-climate impacts lack adequate descriptions of the emission height of aerosols from intense wildfires. Here, we demonstrate, by a combination of aerosol-climate modeling and lidar observations, the importance of the representation of those high-altitude fire smoke layers for estimating the atmospheric energy budget. Through observation-based input into the simulations, the Australian wildfire emissions by pyroconvection are explicitly prescribed to the lower stratosphere in different scenarios. Based on our simulations, the 2019–2020 Australian fires caused a significant top-of-atmosphere (TOA) hemispheric instantaneous direct radiative forcing signal that reached a magnitude comparable to the radiative forcing induced by anthropogenic absorbing aerosol. Up to +0.50 W m−2 instantaneous direct radiative forcing was modeled at TOA, averaged for the Southern Hemisphere (+0.25 W m−2 globally) from January to March 2020 under all-sky conditions. At the surface, on the other hand, an instantaneous solar radiative forcing of up to −0.81 W m−2 was found for clear-sky conditions, with the respective estimates depending on the model configuration and subject to the model uncertainties in the smoke optical properties. Since extreme wildfires are expected to occur more frequently in the rapidly changing climate, our findings suggest that high-altitude wildfire plumes must be adequately considered in climate projections in order to obtain reasonable estimates of atmospheric energy budget changes

A Q-Band Pulsed ENDOR Spectrometer for the Study of Transition Metal Ion Complexes in Solids

We describe the design of a pulsed electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectrometer operating at Q-band frequencies (35 GHz) for studies of transition metal ion complexes in the temperature range between 4.2 and 297 K. Specific features of the spectrometer are a microwave IMPATT generator, a homebuilt cavity, and a commercial Bruker magnet. Standard Davies and Mims ENDOR sequences have been implemented. The performance of the spectrometer is demonstrated for a broad radio frequency range by 1H, 14N, 31P, 133Cs, and 207Pb pulsed ENDOR experiments of Cu 2+, Cr 5+, and V 4+ transition metal ion complexes in both single crystals and disordered materials