706 research outputs found
Social Beliefs and Ergonomics on Traditional Seat of Wooden Furniture Review of Related Literature
The main purpose of this review paper was to highlight Social Beliefs and Ergonomics on Traditional Seat of Wooden Furniture Review of Related Literature. More specifically, the review of limited literature on traditional seat of wooden furniture in view of ergonomics which characterized the basic structure, safety, functions and aesthetics properties. The paper then provides possible solutions to redesign traditional seats that promote healthier sitting behaviours centered on appropriate configuration of its components. The paper also explores the cross-cultural considerations associated with traditional seat furniture design.
 
Do financial asset holdings affect investor expectations under negative events? The shock of COVID-19 pandemic
Holding excessive financial assets will lead to corporate financialization,
making investors underestimate its risks in front of
extreme benefits and the “reservoir effect” in boom periods, especially
in rapid-growing emerging economies. Few studies have
explored the investors’ real perceptions and attitudes towards
such risks when dealing with unexpected shocks. The 2019 novel
coronavirus disease (COVID-19) provides new insights into these
questions. Using event study method, this study examines how
investors react to corporate financialization in the risk-release condition.
First, we find that firms with more financial asset holdings
experience significant lower market return during the COVID-19
pandemic. Second, we find that the pandemic-induced drop in
stock returns is milder when firms hold more low-liquidity or safe
financial assets, have higher solvency, are less exposed to COVID-
19 pandemic and have better information environment. These
findings show that the investors’ attitude is widely negative
towards corporate financialization when the negative shock
comes and strong financial flexibility and good corporate governance
can alleviate the risk. It implicates that the hidden risks of
corporate financialization can be perceived by investors and
responded by “voting with their feet” and the managers should
be alert to it rather than just seeking financial benefits
Giant-cavity-based quantum sensors with enhanced performance
Recent progresses have revealed that quantum systems with multiple
position-dependent couplings, e.g., giant atoms, can exhibit some
unconventional phenomena, such as non-exponential decay etc. However, their
potential applications are still open questions. In this paper, we propose a
giant-cavity-based quantum sensor for the first time, whose performance can be
greatly enhanced compared to traditional cavity-based sensors. In our proposal,
two cavities couple to a dissipative reservoir at multiple points while they
couple to a gain reservoir in a single-point way. To detecting a unknown
parameter using this sensor, a waveguide is coupled to one of the cavities
where detecting fields can pass through for homodyne detection. We find that
multiple position-dependent couplings can induce an inherent non-reciprocal
coupling between the cavities, which can enhance the performance of sensors.
Output noise in our scheme can be reduced to the shot noise level, which is
about one order magnitude lower than the results in Ref. [Nature
Communications, 2018, 9, 4320.]. Besides, the signal-to-noise ratio per photon
is also enhanced by about one order of magnitude. These results show that the
multiple-point-coupling structure is beneficial to nowadays quantum devices.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Frontiers in Physics ( Research
Topic on Quantum Optics with Giant Atoms: Theory, Experiment and Application
Store-Assistance Management for a Supply Chain with Consumer Return under Consignment Contract
In this paper, the strategy problems of pricing and store-assistance service investment are investigated for a supply chain with consumer return, where the considered supply chain under consignment contract consists of a single manufacturer and a single retailer. Firstly, we use differential equation to model the evolution of store-assistance service level and depict the effect of store-assistance service level on the return rate. By applying two-stage game, both optimal pricing and store-assistance service strategies are obtained based on the presented optimal control model. Subsequently, the committed dynamic consignment price contract is designed to coordinate and improve the performance of supply chain. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the impacts of the effectiveness of store-assistance service level and decay rate on the feasible region of corresponding contract
Exercise Activates p53 and Negatively Regulates IGF-1 Pathway in Epidermis within a Skin Cancer Model
Citation: Yu M, King B, Ewert E, Su X, Mardiyati N, Zhao Z, et al. (2016) Exercise Activates p53 and Negatively Regulates IGF-1 Pathway in Epidermis within a Skin Cancer Model. PLoS ONE 11(8): e0160939. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0160939Exercise has been previously reported to lower cancer risk through reducing circulating IGF-1 and IGF-1-dependent signaling in a mouse skin cancer model. This study aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms by which exercise may down-regulate the IGF-1 pathway via p53 and p53-related regulators in the skin epidermis. Female SENCAR mice were pair-fed an AIN-93 diet with or without 10-week treadmill exercise at 20 m/min, 60 min/day and 5 days/week. Animals were topically treated with TPA 2 hours before sacrifice and the target proteins in the epidermis were analyzed by both immunohistochemistry and Western blot. Under TPA or vehicle treatment, MDM2 expression was significantly reduced in exercised mice when compared with sedentary control. Meanwhile, p53 was significantly elevated. In addition, p53-transcriptioned proteins, i.e., p21, IGFBP-3, and PTEN, increased in response to exercise. There was a synergy effect between exercise and TPA on the decreased MDM2 and increased p53, but not p53-transcripted proteins. Taken together, exercise appeared to activate p53, resulting in enhanced expression of p21, IGFBP-3, and PTEN that might induce a negative regulation of IGF-1 pathway and thus contribute to the observed cancer prevention by exercise in this skin cancer model
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