Corporate Governance, Firm Risk, And Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence From Korean Firms

Given that the prior studies on the relationship between corporate governance structures and firm performance are silent on firms’ social responsible roles, this study introduces an integrated model by combining corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate governance structures. This model is used to investigate how CSR moderates the relationship between corporate governance and firm risk in a sample of 640 firm-by-year cases for 215 firms listed on the Korean Stock Exchange between 2005 and 2010. The results show that foreign ownership and board size have a significant and negative relationship with firm risk, whereas management ownership and outside director ratio have no significant effect on firm risk. The results demonstrate that CSR partially moderates the relationship between governance structures (especially management ownership and board size) and firm risk. These findings suggest that Korean firms with concentrated ownership structures can leverage CSR activities as invisible assets to achieve more efficient governance structure model.

An Experimental Study on the Measurement of Fuel to Air Ratio Using Flame Chemiluminescence

This study is aiming at establishing the relationship between the optical signal of flame and an equivalent ratio of flame. In this experiment, flame optical signal in a furnace is measured using photodiode. The combustion system which is composed of metal fiber burner and vertical furnace and flame chemiluminescence is measured at various experimental conditions. In this study, the flame chemiluminescence of laminar premixed flame is measured by using commercially available photodiode. It is experimentally investigated the relationship between equivalent ratio and photodiode signal. In addition, The strategy of combustion control method is proposed by using the optical signal and fuel pressure. The results showed that certain relationship between optical data of photodiode and equivalence ratio exists and this leads to the successful application of this system for instantaneous measurement of equivalence ration of the combustion system

Blood Flow Restriction Exercise for Successful Aging

PURPOSE Generally, an increase in life expectancy is accompanied by various geriatric diseases. However, there is a possibility that geriatric diseases can be prevented and improved through exercise. Exercise is recommended for older adults, but high-intensity exercise (HIE) increases the risk of potential injury. Therefore, blood flow restriction exercise (BFRE) is attracting attention as an alternative for older people who cannot perform HIE. However, mechanisms underlying the physiological effects and benefits of BFRE in older adults have not yet been fully elucidated. This study aimed to summarize the effects of BFRE on aging-related physiological changes and examine its applicability as an effective intervention for successful aging. METHODS A literature search of electronic databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, was conducted for literature published between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2022. RESULTS BFRE can effectively increase muscle mass and strength in older adults. Chronic BFRE improved blood pressure, vascular function, and arterial compliance. Although BFRE did not induce changes in bone mineral density (BMD) and cognitive function, positive effects were shown by increasing bone formation markers and neurotrophic factors expression. Relatively, the risk of side effects of BFRE was very low, and even older patients with cardiovascular diseases appeared to have no risk. CONCLUSIONS This review confirms that BFRE can be an effective and safe intervention to increase muscle mass and strength and improve cardiovascular function. Moreover, BFRE can potentially improve BMD and cognitive function in older adults. In conclusion, BFRE can be an effective intervention for successful aging; additional follow-up studies are needed

MadSGM: Multivariate Anomaly Detection with Score-based Generative Models

The time-series anomaly detection is one of the most fundamental tasks for time-series. Unlike the time-series forecasting and classification, the time-series anomaly detection typically requires unsupervised (or self-supervised) training since collecting and labeling anomalous observations are difficult. In addition, most existing methods resort to limited forms of anomaly measurements and therefore, it is not clear whether they are optimal in all circumstances. To this end, we present a multivariate time-series anomaly detector based on score-based generative models, called MadSGM, which considers the broadest ever set of anomaly measurement factors: i) reconstruction-based, ii) density-based, and iii) gradient-based anomaly measurements. We also design a conditional score network and its denoising score matching loss for the time-series anomaly detection. Experiments on five real-world benchmark datasets illustrate that MadSGM achieves the most robust and accurate predictions

Cardiometabolic Disease Risk in Normal Weight Obesity and Exercise Interventions for Proactive Prevention

PURPOSE Normal weight obesity (NWO) is characterized by a normal body mass index but a high body fat mass percentage and low skeletal muscle mass, thereby increasing the risk of cardiometabolic dysfunction and morbidity. However, the effects of exercise intervention in reducing the risk of cardiometabolic disease in NWO have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, this review aimed to summarize the potential cardiometabolic disease risk and to provide implications of exercise interventions for the proactive prevention of cardiometabolic disease risk in NWO. METHODS We searched and summarized the literature on the cardiometabolic risk factors in NWO. In addition, we summarized literature investigating the effects of exercise intervention on the cardiometabolic risk factors in NWO. We performed the literature search using PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases. RESULTS NWO was associated with increased visceral fat, ectopic fat, oxidative stress, inflammatory cytokines, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and subclinical atherosclerosis compared with normal weight lean. NWO requires exercise interventions that induce alterations in body composition, such as decreased body fat percentage and increased muscle mass. Resistance exercise (RE) and high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) can improve lipid components and alter body composition in NWO. In addition, low-intensity blood flow restriction resistance exercise (BFR-RE) may enhance muscular strength and anaerobic power in NWO. CONCLUSIONS The cardiometabolic disease risk is increased in NWO. We suggest that exercise interventions (RE, HIIE, and BFR-RE) may effectively prevent cardiometabolic disease risk and alter body composition in NWO. As this has potential implications for exercise interventions in NWO, further investigations are needed to find the optimal exercise for proactive prevention of cardiometabolic risk in NWO

Effects of Limiting the Number of Ball Touches on Physical and Technical Performance of the Junior Football Players during Small-sided Game

PURPOSE We aimed to examine the effects of limiting the number of ball touches on the physical and technical performances of junior football players during small-sided games (SSGs), which are widely used to improve football-specific physical and technical performances. METHODS Nineteen middle-school football players participated in the study and took a pretest for their physical and technical skills to be evaluated before the main experiment. During the SSG, to balance teams according to the players’ levels of physical fitness and skill, we selected players with the highest to lowest total scores and organized them in an ABBA order. Ten players who obtained the highest scores participated in the SSG once a week for 5 weeks under the limitation of a certain number of ball touches (one, two, three, four, or free touches). Players could only play with a set number of touches. Each SSG consisted of 4-min sets with 4-min breaks after each set on a pitch with a goal. RESULTS As the number of possible touches increased, the total distance and average speed of the players increased, and the distance ratio covered by running (over 13 km/h), but not walking or jogging, also increased. Regarding technical factors, as the number of touches a player could make increased, the number of passes decreased, whereas the rates of dribbles and defensive tackles increased. CONCLUSIONS As the number of ball touches increased during the SSG, the young players covered a greater distance with a higher speed, unlike professional players, and the frequency of skills mostly used, such as passing and dribbling during the SSG, showed different results

Role of TNF-α in vascular dysfunction

Healthy vascular function is primarily regulated by several factors including EDRF (endothelium-dependent relaxing factor), EDCF (endothelium-dependent contracting factor) and EDHF (endothelium-dependent hyperpolarizing factor). Vascular dysfunction or injury induced by aging, smoking, inflammation, trauma, hyperlipidaemia and hyperglycaemia are among a myriad of risk factors that may contribute to the pathogenesis of many cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis. However, the exact mechanisms underlying the impaired vascular activity remain unresolved and there is no current scientific consensus. Accumulating evidence suggests that the inflammatory cytokine TNF (tumour necrosis factor)-α plays a pivotal role in the disruption of macrovascular and microvascular circulation both in vivo and in vitro. AGEs (advanced glycation end-products)/RAGE (receptor for AGEs), LOX-1 [lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1) and NF-κB (nuclear factor κB) signalling play key roles in TNF-α expression through an increase in circulating and/or local vascular TNF-α production. The increase in TNF-α expression induces the production of ROS (reactive oxygen species), resulting in endothelial dysfunction in many pathophysiological conditions. Lipid metabolism, dietary supplements and physical activity affect TNF-α expression. The interaction between TNF-α and stem cells is also important in terms of vascular repair or regeneration. Careful scrutiny of these factors may help elucidate the mechanisms that induce vascular dysfunction. The focus of the present review is to summarize recent evidence showing the role of TNF-α in vascular dysfunction in cardiovascular disease. We believe these findings may prompt new directions for targeting inflammation in future therapies