Shares in the EMCA : the time is ripe for true no par value shares in the EU, and the 2nd directive is not an obstacle

The most interesting proposal in the draft European Model Companies Act ( EMCA) concerning shares and the focus of this Article is the recommendation to introduce true no par value shares, as they have been in use in the US for many years and were introduced in Australia, New Zealand but also Finland more recently. Contrary to what has often been assumed, the 2nd EU Company Law Directive does not preclude no par value shares. There is nothing in the wording of the Directive to suggest otherwise, and the reference in the Directive to shares without a nominal value is a reference to Belgian law, which has allowed true no par value shares in all but name since at least 1913. EU member states could therefore introduce such shares even for public companies. True no par value shares offer a far more flexible framework in case of capital increases or mergers, but since under a no par value system there is no link between par value and shareholder rights, additional disclosure about these rights might be warranted under a no par value system. Traditional par value shares offer no protection to creditors, shareholders or other stakeholders, so that their abolition should not be mourned. The threat of new share issues at an unacceptably high discount is more efficiently countered by disclosure and shareholder decision rights

The Distribution of Transcutaneous CO2 Emission and Correlation With the Points Along the Pericardium Meridian

AbstractThis study aimed to understand energy metabolism distribution along the pericardium meridian and verify the correlation between the body surface (points), and classic meridian theory. A highly sensitive CO2 instrument was used to measure the transcutaneous CO2 emission at 13 points along the pericardium meridian line (12 points on the line and one point beyond the line) and 13 control points beside them. Results showed that the distribution of transcutaneous CO2 emission is highly related to the position on the body. Transcutaneous CO2 emission is significantly higher at P7 and P3, than the control points beside them. The points along the meridian and the points beside them were clustered with relative distance by SAS statistics software. Two distance matrixes were then obtained. The correlation coefficients between the points along the line and between the control points were calculated. The results showed that the 13th point beyond the line was far from the 12 points on the line (distance, 0.24), while acupoints on the line clustered earlier when compared with the non-acupoints. The average correlation coefficients among the acu-points was 0.65 which was significantly higher than 0.56, among the non-acupoints. No such characteristics were found among the control points. It was concluded that there is a strong correlativity of energy metabolism activity between the body surfaces along the meridian, and an even stronger correlativity between the acupoints on the meridian

Novel Two-Dimensional Siloxene Material for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Sensor Applications

After discovering graphene, the two-dimensional materials have gained considerable interest in the electrochemical applications, especially in energy conversion, storage, and bio-sensors. Siloxene, a novel two-dimensional low-buckled structure of Si networks with unique properties, has received the researcher’s attention for a wide range of applications. Though the electronic and optical properties of siloxene have been explored in detail previously, there is a lack of electrochemistry studies of siloxene as the result of material degradation, and the investigation is still open-ended to enhance the electrochemical application. Recently, siloxene has been used for supercapacitor, lithium-ion batteries, and dopamine bio-marker detections. This chapter highlights the recent development of siloxene synthesis and its electrochemical properties in energy and sensor applications. The plannar Si structure with Si6 rings interconnected with different oxygen, hydroxyl functional groups, and large interlayer spacing of siloxene sheets can promote the active sites for enhanced electrochemical performance. This chapter provides the current state-of-the-art in the field and a perspective for future development in the electrochemistry field of siloxene

Toward Real Setting Applications of Organic and Perovskite Solar Cells: A Comparative Review

The development of efficient, reliable, and clean energy sources is one of the global priorities for enabling a sustainable transition toward a green society and economy. The third‐generation solar cells, such as organic solar cells (OSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs), are among the most promising platforms for the generation of electrical power from sunlight for a wide range of applications. However, the widespread diffusion of emerging photovoltaics technologies is hampered by issues occurring in the translation of laboratory‐scale R&D efforts to real settings. Herein, starting from a thorough survey of latest research on OSC and PSC technologies, critical factors related to fabrication and operation of solar cells, especially in terms of materials properties/requirements and beyond metrics built on efficiency only, are analyzed. On this basis, OSCs and PSCs are compared in terms of their potential in real application scenarios, also highlighting their peculiarities in view of their future large‐scale utilization