Essays on managerial foreign experience and corporate behaviours in China : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Managerial foreign experience is a type of resource which allows managers to think globally and act locally. This thesis contributes to the literature on how foreign experienced managers impact corporate behaviour in China, the world’s largest emerging market. The first essay examines how managers with foreign experience influence corporate risk-taking. I find that foreign experienced managers are positively associated with corporate risk-taking. This relationship only robustly exists among private firms rather than state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The excess risk-taking through foreign experienced managers is positively related to Tobin’s Q, indicating that foreign experienced managers increase firm value through value-enhancing projects, which benefits shareholders. The second essay concentrates on the relationship between managerial foreign experience and earnings quality. I find that foreign experienced managers improve corporate earnings quality, and this improvement is more pronounced in private firms. Moreover, I document that the improved earnings quality is an important mechanism for which foreign experienced managers increase stock returns and decrease agency costs. The third essay in the thesis investigates the relationship between foreign experienced managers and corporate labour investment. I find foreign experienced managers are more likely to recruit and retain high skilled employees, which in turn increases labour cost for firms in total. The positive relationship between managerial foreign experience and labour cost is significant in both SOEs and private firms. Foreign experienced managers may focus on employees’ well-being to complete political goals in SOEs while they are more likely to retain and attract high skilled employees to benefit shareholders’ value in private firms. I further document that the increased labour costs through managerial foreign experience can influence firm value positively. However, it also increases the labour stickiness cost. Overall, this thesis documents the benefits and costs of hiring foreign experienced managers in firms

A review in rational design of graphene toward advanced Li–S batteries

For lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries, the problems of polysulfides shuttle effect, slow dynamics of sulfur species and growth of lithium dendrite during charge/discharge processes have greatly impeded its practical development. Of core importance to advance the performances of Li–S batteries lies in the selection and design of novel materials with strong polysulfides adsorption ability and enhanced redox electrocatalytic behavior. Graphene, affording high electrical conductivity, superior carrier mobility, and large surface area, has presented great potentials in improving the performances of Li–S cells. However, the properties of intrinsic graphene are far enough to achieve the multiple management toward electrochemical catalysis of energy storage systems. In addition, a general and objective understanding of its role in Li–S systems is still lacking. Along this line, we summarize the design routes from three aspects, including defect engineering, dimension adjustment, and heterostructure modulation, to perfect the graphene properties. Thus-synthesized graphene materials are explored as multifunctional electrocatalysts targeting high-efficiency and long-lifespan Li–S batteries, based on which the regulating role of graphene is comprehensively analyzed. This project provides a perspective on the effective engineering management of graphene materials to boost Li–S chemistry, meanwhile promote the practical application process for graphene materials

Stabilizing Crystal Framework of an Overlithiated Li_1+xMn₂O₄ Cathode by Heterointerfacial Epitaxial Strain for High-Performance Microbatteries

To meet the increasing demands of high-energy and high-power-density lithium-ion microbatteries, overlithiated Li1+xMn2O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) is an attractive cathode candidate due to the high theoretical capacity of 296 mAh g-1 and the interconnected lithium-ion diffusion pathways. However, overlithiation triggers the irreversible cubic-tetragonal phase transition due to Jahn-Teller distortion, causing rapid capacity degradation. In contrast to conventional lithium-ion batteries, microbatteries offer the opportunity to develop specific thin-film-based modification strategies. Here, heterointerfacial lattice strain is proposed to stabilize the spinel crystal framework of an overlithiated Li1+xMn2O4 (LMO) cathode by epitaxial thin film growth on an underlying SrRuO3 (SRO) electronic conductor layer. It is demonstrated that the lattice misfit at the LMO/SRO heterointerface results in an in-plane epitaxial constraint in the full LMO film. This suppresses the lattice expansion during overlithiation that typically occurs in the in-plane direction. It is proposed by density functional theory modeling that the epitaxial constraint can accommodate the internal lattice stress originating from the cubic-tetragonal transition during overlithiation. As a result, a doubling of the capacity is achieved by reversibly intercalating a second lithium ion in a LiMn2O4 epitaxial cathode with a complete reversible phase transition. An impressive cycling stability can be obtained with reversible capacity retentions of above 90.3 and 77.4% for the 4 and 3 V range, respectively. This provides an effective strategy toward a stable overlithiated Li1+xMn2O4 epitaxial cathode for high-performance microbatteries.</p

Solidification Enhancement in a Triple-Tube Latent Heat Energy Storage System Using Twisted Fins

Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. This work evaluates the influence of combining twisted fins in a triple-tube heat exchanger utilised for latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) in three-dimensional numerical simulation and comparing the outcome with the cases of the straight fins and no fins. The phase change material (PCM) is in the annulus between the inner and the outer tube, these tubes include a cold fluid that flows in the counter current path, to solidify the PCM and release the heat storage energy. The performance of the unit was assessed based on the liquid fraction and temperature profiles as well as solidification and the energy storage rate. This study aims to find suitable and efficient fins number and the optimum values of the Re and the inlet temperature of the heat transfer fluid. The outcomes stated the benefits of using twisted fins related to those cases of straight fins and the no-fins. The impact of multi-twisted fins was also considered to detect their influences on the solidification process. The outcomes reveal that the operation of four twisted fins decreased the solidification time by 12.7% and 22.9% compared with four straight fins and the no-fins cases, respectively. Four twisted fins improved the discharging rate by 12.4% and 22.8% compared with the cases of four straight fins and no-fins, respectively. Besides, by reducing the fins’ number from six to four and two, the solidification time reduces by 11.9% and 25.6%, respectively. The current work shows the impacts of innovative designs of fins in the LHTES to produce novel inventions for commercialisation, besides saving the power grid.Jiangsu Provincial Basic Research Program (Natural Science Fund); Natural Science Research Project of Jiangsu Province Colleges and Universities; Philosophy and Social Science Project of Jiangsu Province Colleges and Universitie

Enhanced energy density with a wide thermal stability in epitaxial Pb0.92La0.08Zr0.52Ti0.48O3 thin films

High-quality epitaxial Pb0.92La0.08Zr0.52Ti0.48O3 (PLZT) films of thickness of 880 nm were fabricated using pulsed laser deposition on (001) Nb doped SrTiO3 (Nb:STO) substrates. Besides a confirmation of the epitaxial relationship [100]PLZT//[100]Nb:STO and (001)PLZT//(001)Nb:STO using X-ray diffraction, a transmission electron microscopy study has revealed a columnar structure across the film thickness. The recoverable energy density (Wrec) of the epitaxial PLZT thin film capacitors increases linearly with the applied electric field and the best value of 31 J/cm3 observed at 2.27 MV/cm is considerably higher by 41% than that of the polycrystalline PLZT film of a comparable thickness. In addition to the high Wrec value, an excellent thermal stability as illustrated in a negligible temperature dependence of the Wrec in the temperature range from room temperature to 180 C is achieved. The enhanced Wrec and the thermal stability are attributed to the reduced defects and grain boundaries in epitaxial PLZT thin films, making them promising for energy storage applications that require both high energy density, power density, and wide operation temperatures

Rare Copy Number Variants Identify Novel Genes in Sporadic Total Anomalous Pulmonary Vein Connection

Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) is a rare congenital heart anomaly. Several genes have been associated TAPVC but the mechanisms remain elusive. To search novel CNVs and candidate genes, we screened a cohort of 78 TAPVC cases and 100 healthy controls for rare copy number variants (CNVs) using whole exome sequencing (WES). Then we identified pathogenic CNVs by statistical comparisons between case and control groups. After that, we identified altogether eight pathogenic CNVs of seven candidate genes (PCSK7, RRP7A, SERHL, TARP, TTN, SERHL2, and NBPF3). All these seven genes have not been described previously to be related to TAPVC. After network analysis of these candidate genes and 27 known pathogenic genes derived from the literature and publicly database, PCSK7 and TTN were the most important genes for TAPVC than other genes. Our study provides novel candidate genes potentially related to this rare congenital birth defect (CHD) which should be further fundamentally researched and discloses the possible molecular pathogenesis of TAPVC

Joint Estimation Algorithm of Target State and Measurement Bias for Doppler Sensor

In recent years, Doppler-only sensors have demonstrated an excellent estimation performance for target tracking. Most of the existing tracking algorithms that utilize Doppler sensors rely on the assumption that sensors capture only measurement errors, disregarding measurement biases. However, in many practical situations, there can be significant measurement biases, which can severely compromise the performance of target state estimation. Recognizing this issue, the study proposes a new joint estimation algorithm that is exclusively reliant on Doppler-only sensors. The proposed algorithm not only provides the estimated results of the target state, but also the measurement bias of the Doppler sensor in use. The approach unfolds in two stages: the first stage is to estimate the target state without considering the measurement bias; the second is to perform bias compensation using the least squares method, and the target state and measurement bias are jointly estimated by linearization of the measurement equation. To validate the efficacy of this method, we analyzed the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for measurement bias estimation and designed simulations under both static and moving sensor scenarios to assess its performance. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm can effectively estimate the target state, outperforming Kalman filter (KF) in both the moving and static sensor scenario. The root mean square error (RMSE) of the bias estimation can approach the CRLB

Bismuthene Arrays Harvesting Reversible Plating‐Alloying Electrochemistry Toward Robust Lithium Metal Batteries

3D lithiophilic skeletons have attracted enormous attention in homogenizing local current distribution and optimizing metal deposition in the pursuit of robust Li metal anodes. Nonetheless, their practicability is markedly plagued by the cumbersome production routes and mediocre Coulombic efficiency (CE) of Li plating/stripping. Herein, scalable in situ growth of uniform bismuthene arrays over commercial Cu foam via spontaneous galvanic replacement reaction is demonstrated. Exhaustive structural/electrochemical measurements in combination with theoretical calculations collectively disclose the reversible plating‐alloying mechanism, wherein the formed Li3Bi alloy interphase aids to lower the Li nucleation overpotential and elevate the CE performance. The thus‐designed Li metal electrode sustains a stable cyclic operation at 1 mA cm−2/1 mAh cm−2 for 1600 h. When paired with LiFePO4 and sulfur cathodes, the Li metal batteries enable gratifying rate capability and cycling durability. This straightforward maneuver opens a new frontier in the scalable manufacturing of pragmatic current collectors in an economic fashion