Is it rewarding to become carbon neutral?

The world is on the move towards a carbon-neutral era to reduce the impact of climate change. For companies, it is increasingly relevant to participate in this development. My research therefore examines how the announcement of planned climate neutrality affects companies' share prices in the short term. Using the event study methodology, I study market reactions on 117 corporate climate neutrality announcements by publicly traded U.S. companies between 2020 and March 2022. The analysis shows that the companies' share prices respond significantly positive with a 1.43% cumulative average abnormal return (CAAR) in the five days around the announcement. I have further investigated the stock market reactions by clustering the dataset based on company characteristics. I discover that companies that announce stricter carbon reduction targets have a higher cumulative abnormal return (CAR). In addition, companies that declare their carbon neutrality in association with voluntary membership in the Climate Pledge Initiative experience a higher CAR than the announcement without the membership. Finally, a multivariate regression analysis is used to examine whether agency problems influence the level of market reactions. However, no definitive conclusion can be obtained.A sociedade atual está direcionada para uma era neutra em carbono de forma a reduzir o seu impacto nas alterações climáticas. É cada vez mais relevante para as empresas participarem nesta tendência. O meu trabalho pretende examinar como o anúncio de neutralidade climática pelas empresas afeta os seus respetivos preços de ações. Usando a metodologia de estudo de eventos, analisei as reações do mercado em 117 anúncios de neutralidade climática de empresas norte-americanas cotadas em bolsa entre 2020 e março de 2022. A análise mostra que os preços das ações das empresas respondem de forma significativamente positiva com um retorno anormal médio acumulado (CAAR) de 1,43%. nos cinco dias após o anúncio. Analisei ainda as reações do mercado de ações agrupando o conjunto de dados com base nas características empresariais. Os resultados mostram que as empresas que anunciam metas de redução de carbono mais rígidas têm um retorno anormal cumulativo (CAR) mais elevado. Para além disso, as empresas que declaram neutralidade carbónica associadas a uma adesão voluntária à Climate Pledge Initiative apresentam um CAR mais alto comparativamente ao anúncio sem a adesão. Adicionalmente, realizei uma análise de regressão multivariada de forma a examinar se os problemas de agência influenciam o nível de reações do mercado. No entanto, não foi possível obter uma conclusão definitiva através dos resultados obtidos

Organic photovoltaic cells : a set of lessons and activities for three age groups

Science is continuously aiding us in developing new technologies we use in our everyday life, but STEM fields are not producing enough graduates to meet the demand. Science experiments that are not only interesting, but also have real-world applications and geared to younger students and non-science professionals are hard find in the literature. In the science activities that follow you will find age-appropriate technical background, the activity procedure, prepared worksheets, and a description of material safety. This thesis was done with the hope that any teacher or interested person could understand the activity and convey the ideas behind it to others.Thesis (B.?)Honors Colleg

The impact of the covid-19 crisis on the practices and mental health of psychologists in belgium: between exhaustion and resilience

peer reviewedWhile the COVID-19 pandemic has created psychological distress in the general population and increased the need for psychological care, little research has been done on how mental health practitioners (MHP) have been affected by the pandemic, and these health professionals have received little attention from public authorities. In this article, we focus on psychologists and the impact that the pandemic has had on their mental health and practices by exploring the adaptive and innovative responses generated. This study is based on an online survey (including multiple choice questions, several validated scales, and eight free text items) completed by 187 psychologists (86% female) one year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium (February–April 2021). Most participants considered that the crisis had an impact on their well-being and mental health. However, the prevalence of symptoms of depression and anxiety was relatively low (17%; 12%). On the other hand, the majority of psychologists (72%) suffered from a medium level of burnout (BO), 7% suffered from a high level of BO, and only 21% had low levels of BO. Psychologists working in face-to-face settings had the highest scores on the “exhaustion” subscale of the BO, and those working primarily with patients in precarious situations had significantly higher scores of BO and exhaustion. Qualitative analysis of free text items showed that MHP were resilience and developed new frameworks and modes for proactive interventions in order to reach their patients, meet the psychological and social population’s needs, and maintain their relationships with the network. In a crisis or pandemic context, public policies should take into account the psychological and social needs of the most socially precarious populations in reinforcing and supporting mental health professionals working in this sector

Neutrophil Emigration in the Skin, Lungs, and Peritoneum: Different Requirements for CD11/CD18 Revealed by CD18-deficient Mice

To determine the role of CD11/CD18 complexes in neutrophil emigration, inflammation was induced in the skin, lungs, or peritoneum of mutant mice deficient in CD18 (CD18−/− mutants). Peripheral blood of CD18−/− mutants contained 11-fold more neutrophils than did blood of wild-type (WT) mice. During irritant dermatitis induced by topical application of croton oil, the number of emigrated neutrophils in histological sections of dermis was 98% less in CD18−/− mutants than in WT mice. During Streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia, neutrophil emigration in CD18−/− mutants was not reduced. These data are consistent with expectations based on studies using blocking antibodies to inhibit CD11/CD18 complexes, and on observations of humans lacking CD11/CD18 complexes. The number of emigrated neutrophils in lung sections during Escherichia coli pneumonia, or in peritoneal lavage fluid after 4 h of S. pneumoniae peritonitis, was not reduced in CD18−/− mutants, but rather was greater than the WT values (240 ± 30 and 220 ± 30% WT, respectively). Also, there was no inhibition of neutrophil emigration during sterile peritonitis induced by intraperitoneal injection of thioglycollate (90 ± 20% WT). These data contrast with expectations. Whereas CD11/CD18 complexes are essential to the dermal emigration of neutrophils during acute dermatitis, CD18−/− mutant mice demonstrate surprising alternative pathways for neutrophil emigration during pneumonia or peritonitis

Impaired Negative Selection of T Cells in Hodgkin's Disease Antigen CD30–Deficient Mice

AbstractCD30 is found on Reed–Sternberg cells of Hodgkin's disease and on a variety of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cells and is up-regulated on cells after Epstein–Barr virus, human T cell leukemia virus, and HIV infections. We report here that the thymus in CD30-deficient mice contains elevated numbers of thymocytes. Activation-induced death of thymocytes after CD3 cross-linking is impaired both in vitro and in vivo. Breeding the CD30 mutation separately into αβTCR- or γδTCR-transgenic mice revealed a gross defect in negative but not positive selection. Thus, like TNF-receptors and Fas/Apo-1, the CD30 receptor is involved in cell death signaling. It is also an important coreceptor that participates in thymic deletion

Increased Seroreactivity to Glioma-Expressed Antigen 2 in Brain Tumor Patients under Radiation

Background: Surgery and radiation are the mainstays of therapy for human gliomas that are the most common primary brain tumors. Most recently, cell culture and animal studies provided the first convincing evidence that radiation not only eliminates tumor cells, but also modulates the immune response and likely improves anti-tumor immunotherapy. Methology/Pricipal Findings: We present an in vivo study that analyzes the effects of radiation on the immune response in tumor patients. As readout system, we utilized the reactivity of glioma patients ’ sera against antigen GLEA2 as the most frequent antigen immunogenic in glioblastoma patients. We established an ELISA assay to analyze reactivity of 24 glioblastoma patients over a period of several months. As control we used 30 sera from healthy donors as well as 30 sera from lung cancer patients. We compared the course of GLEA2 seroreactivity at different times prior, during and after radiation. The GLEA2 seroreactivity was increased by the time of surgery, decreased after surgery, increased again under radiation, and slightly decreased after radiation. Conclusions/Significance: Our results provide in vivo evidence for an increased antibody response against tumor antigens under radiation. Antigens that become immunogenic with an increased antibody response as result of radiation can serv