The effect of IS-related human capital and CIOs in top management teams on green IS innovation activities

Climate change and the fast-changing natural environment necessitate firms to adapt their way of doing business towards environmental sustainability. As information systems (IS) are seen as a potential lever to facilitate this adaption successfully, this study focuses on the role of IS-related human capital of top management team (TMT) members in facilitating green IS innovation activities in firms. Using a panel data set of firms listed in the S&P 500 index, this study finds that IS-related education and experience of TMT members are positively associated with green IS innovation activities. In addition, the results show that the presence of a CIO positively moderates the positive association of IS-related experience with green IS innovation activities. Consequently, this study contributes to the IS literature on the intersection of human capital theory from an upper echelon perspective and environmental sustainability

Digital orientation and environmental performance in times of technological change

Digitalization is increasingly seen as a strategic means for firms to yield competitive and environmental advantages. Still, current empirical research does not yet provide ample evidence on how a firm's strategic posture towards digitalization connects to environmental performance. This study examines the link between digital orientation and environmental performance as well as the moderating role of technological turbulence. The natural-resource-based view and literature on strategic orientations provide the conceptual foundations. The hypotheses are tested with data from 515 U.S. Standard and Poor's 500 companies with 2,800 firm observations from 2009 to 2019. The results indicate that, first, a firm's digital orientation has a significant and positive effect on environmental performance and, second, this effect is even more pronounced in technologically turbulent business environments. In sum, our findings suggest that managers can improve their firm's environmental performance and competitive position by increasing the digital orientation within their organizations. We thus add to the literature on the natural-resource-based view by identifying digital orientation as a strategy aligned with the natural environment. Finally, we derive practical implications for managers and policymakers aiming to bring together digitalization and green strategies

Decoding the Mindset: A Neural Network Approach for Analyzing CEO’s Digital Strategy and Its Innovation Implications

The swift advancement of digital technologies demands CEOs to prioritize digital innovation strategies to stay competitive. However, an overemphasis on digitality, neglecting aspects like customer focus, operations, and collaboration, can hinder innovation. Using a neural network, we evaluated CEOs’ digital strategies by training on 1,000 company pitches and applying this to S&P 500 CEOs\u27 Shareholder Letters (2001-2018). We discovered an inverted U relationship between digital strategy intensity and innovation performance. This stresses the need for a balanced strategy with the right digital focus. Our research illuminates top executives\u27 digital mindset in driving innovation, emphasizing the potential pitfalls of a purely digital approach. Furthermore, our machine-learning method offers a novel, scalable way to quantify digital strategy, paving the way for subsequent research

Black Hole Lightning from the Peculiar Gamma-Ray Loud Active Galactic Nucleus IC 310

The nearby active galaxy IC 310, located in the outskirts of the Perseus cluster of galaxies is a bright and variable multi-wavelength emitter from the radio regime up to very high gamma-ray energies above 100 GeV. Originally, the nucleus of IC 310 has been classified as a radio galaxy. However, studies of the multi-wavelength emission showed several properties similarly to those found from blazars as well as radio galaxies. In late 2012, we have organized the first contemporaneous multi-wavelength campaign including radio, optical, X-ray and gamma-ray instruments. During this campaign an exceptionally bright flare of IC 310 was detected with the MAGIC telescopes in November 2012 reaching an averaged flux level in the night of up to one Crab above 1 TeV with a hard spectrum over two decades in energy. The intra-night light curve showed a series of strong outbursts with flux-doubling time scales as fast as a few minutes. The fast variability constrains the size of the gamma-ray emission regime to be smaller than 20% of the gravitational radius of its central black hole. This challenges the shock acceleration models, commonly used to explain gamma-ray radiation from active galaxies. Here, we will present more details on the MAGIC data and discuss several possible alternative emission models.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference, 30 July - 6 August, 2015, The Hague, The Netherland

Effects of Increasing Seawater Carbon Dioxide Concentrations on Chain Formation of the Diatom Asterionellopsis glacialis

Diatoms can occur as single cells or as chain-forming aggregates. These two strategies affect buoyancy, predator evasion, light absorption and nutrient uptake. Adjacent cells in chains establish connections through various processes that determine strength and flexibility of the bonds, and at distinct cellular locations defining colony structure. Chain length has been found to vary with temperature and nutrient availability as well as being positively correlated with growth rate. However, the potential effect of enhanced carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and consequent changes in seawater carbonate chemistry on chain formation is virtually unknown. Here we report on experiments with semi-continuous cultures of the freshly isolated diatom Asterionellopsis glacialis grown under increasing CO2 levels ranging from 320 to 3400 mu atm. We show that the number of cells comprising a chain, and therefore chain length, increases with rising CO2 concentrations. We also demonstrate that while cell division rate changes with CO2 concentrations, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cellular quotas vary proportionally, evident by unchanged organic matter ratios. Finally, beyond the optimum CO2 concentration for growth, carbon allocation changes from cellular storage to increased exudation of dissolved organic carbon. The observed structural adjustment in colony size could enable growth at high CO2 levels, since longer, spiral-shaped chains are likely to create microclimates with higher pH during the light period. Moreover increased chain length of Asterionellopsis glacialis may influence buoyancy and, consequently, affect competitive fitness as well as sinking rates. This would potentially impact the delicate balance between the microbial loop and export of organic matter, with consequences for atmospheric carbon dioxide

Male sex pheromone components in Heliconius butterflies released by the androconia affect female choice.

Sex-specific pheromones are known to play an important role in butterfly courtship, and may influence both individual reproductive success and reproductive isolation between species. Extensive ecological, behavioural and genetic studies of Heliconius butterflies have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of speciation. Male pheromones, although long suspected to play an important role, have received relatively little attention in this genus. Here, we combine morphological, chemical and behavioural analyses of male pheromones in the Neotropical butterfly Heliconius melpomene. First, we identify putative androconia that are specialized brush-like scales that lie within the shiny grey region of the male hindwing. We then describe putative male sex pheromone compounds, which are largely confined to the androconial region of the hindwing of mature males, but are absent in immature males and females. Finally, behavioural choice experiments reveal that females of H. melpomene, H. erato and H. timareta strongly discriminate against conspecific males which have their androconial region experimentally blocked. As well as demonstrating the importance of chemical signalling for female mate choice in Heliconius butterflies, the results describe structures involved in release of the pheromone and a list of potential male sex pheromone compounds

Multiscale mechanical performance and corrosion behaviour of plasma sprayed AlCoCrFeNi high-entropy alloy coatings

The combination of technical advantages of high entropy alloys (HEAs) and manufacturing capabilities of thermal spray (TS) offer potential towards new protective coatings to address extreme engineering environments. In this research, equi-atomic AlCoCrFeNi HEA coatings were synthesized via atmospheric plasma spray (APS) using mechanically alloyed feedstock, and a correlation between microstructure and mechanical properties in terms of both hardness and wear were established at multiscale levels. In addition, electrochemical performance in sea water and the overall residual stress distribution in the HEA coatings were also assessed. Superimposition of scanning electron micrographs and statistically analysed heat and contour maps using nanoindentation datasets revealed deviations in localized properties within and across individual phases; which were supported by Weibull plots of individual phases. Scanning wear tests revealed superior nanowear resistance of oxide phases developed by in-flight oxidation during APS process. In comparison, the HEA phases in the coating exhibited significant localized plastic deformation. The outcome of macroscale wear testing postulated that plasma sprayed AlCoCrFeNi HEA coatings exhibited superior wear resistance at high temperature (500 °C) than at room temperature, signifying high thermal stability of the coating. Residual stress generated due to plasma spray was measured using neutron diffraction and was tensile in nature. The corrosion resistance of the coating was slightly lower than that of SS316L, however, the anodic and cathodic polarization behaviour of HEA coating were identical to that of SS316L, indicating that the AlCoCrFeNi-based HEAs have prospects as corrosion resistant materials. © 2020 Elsevier B.V

Dissecting the impact of CO2and pH on the mechanisms of photosynthesis and calcification in the coccolithophoreEmiliania huxleyi

Coccolithophores are important calcifying phytoplankton predicted to be impacted by changes in ocean carbonate chemistry caused by the absorption of anthropogenic CO2. However, it is difficult to disentangle the effects of the simultaneously changing carbonate system parameters (CO2, bicarbonate, carbonate and protons) on the physiological responses to elevated CO2. Here, we adopted a multifactorial approach at constant pH or CO2 whilst varying dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) to determine physiological and transcriptional responses to individual carbonate system parameters. We show that Emiliania huxleyi is sensitive to low CO2 (growth and photosynthesis) and low bicarbonate (calcification) as well as low pH beyond a limited tolerance range, but is much less sensitive to elevated CO2 and bicarbonate. Multiple up-regulated genes at low DIC bear the hallmarks of a carbon-concentrating mechanism (CCM) that is responsive to CO2 and bicarbonate but not to pH. Emiliania huxleyi appears to have evolved mechanisms to respond to limiting rather than elevated CO2. Calcification does not function as a CCM, but is inhibited at low DIC to allow the redistribution of DIC from calcification to photosynthesis. The presented data provides a significant step in understanding how E. huxleyi will respond to changing carbonate chemistry at a cellular level

Conception of a compact flow boiling loop for the International Space Station- First results in parabolic flights

International audienceThe design of a pipe flow boiling experiment for the International Space Station is proposed, taking into account typical weight, power consumption and size constraints. The effect of singularities such as elbows upstream the test section is investigated. Velocity profiles downstream two elbows, measured by Particle Image Velocimetry are in good agreement with numerical simulation and allow to determine a specific distance (decay length) downstream the elbows for which the velocity profile recover its axisymmetry. From these results a breadboard is designed and tested in parabolic flights. Care has been taken to generate boiling downstream the decay length. Two-phase bubbly flow is observed with 2 perpendicular high-speed cameras in the test section and a symmetry of the bubble distribution in the pipe is verified for different gravity conditions when the bubbles are created after the decay length