Corporate Governance and Market Valuation in China

This paper studies the relationship between the governance mechanisms and the market valuation of publicly listed firms in China empirically. We construct measures for corporate governance mechanisms and measures of market valuation for all publicly listed firms on the two stock markets in China by using data from the firm’s annual reports. We then investigate how the market-valuation variables are affected by the corporate governance variables while controlling for a number of factors commonly considered in market valuation analysis. A corporate governance index is also constructed to summarize the information contained in the corporate governance variables. The index is found to have statistically and economically significant effect on market valuation. The analysis indicates that investors pay a significant premium for well-governed firms in China, benefiting firms that improve their governance mechanisms.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39949/3/wp564.pd

Frequency Demodulation-Aided Condition Monitoring for Drivetrain Gearboxes

Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis (CMFD) of drivetrain gearboxes has become a prominent challenge in assorted industries. Current-based diagnostic techniques have significant advantages over traditional vibration-based techniques in terms of accessibility, cost, implementation and reliability. This paper proposes a current-based, frequency demodulation-aided CMFD method for drivetrain gearboxes. A mathematical model is developed for a drivetrain consisting of a two-stage gearbox and a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG), from which the characteristic frequencies of gearbox faults in the PMSG stator current are derived. An adaptive signal resampling method is proposed to convert the variable fault characteristic frequencies to constant values for the drivetrain running at variable speed conditions. A demodulation method, combining the Hilbert transform, a finite impulse response (FIR) differentiator, and a phase unwrapping algorithm, is developed to extract the instantaneous frequency (IF) patterns that are related to the faultinduced gearbox vibration. A fault detector is proposed for diagnosis of gearbox faults using statistical analysis on the extracted fault signatures. Experimental studies are carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method

Target search in the CRISPR/Cas9 system: Facilitated diffusion with target cues

We study how Cas9, a central component of the CRISPR/Cas9 system, searches for a target sequence on the DNA. We propose a model that includes as key ingredients 3D diffusion, 1D sliding along the DNA, and the effect of short binding sequences preceding the target (protospacer adjacent sequences -- PAMs). This latter aspect constitutes the main difference with traditional facilitated diffusion of transcription factors. We solve our model, obtaining an expression for the average search time of Cas9 for its target. We find that experimentally measured kinetic parameters are close to the values yielding an optimal search time. Our results rationalize the role of PAMs in guiding the search process, and show that Cas9 searches for its targets in a nearly optimal way.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure