Although corporate environmental performance has received widespread attention and its economic consequences have been studied in the literature, little is known about the motivation of firms to ...choose different environmental strategies (corporate environmental expenditures). Constructing an indicator for the capitalization of corporate environmental expenditures, we explore corporate environmental strategies. This paper investigates the impact of environmental legislation on the capitalization of corporate environmental expenditures. By analyzing data on manual environmental expenditures of Chinese listed companies from 2011 to 2020, we find that implementing the new Environmental Protection Law (EPL) can enhance the capitalization of corporate environmental expenditures of high polluting firms. The effect is stronger for firms with higher external legitimacy pressures, such as those with greater public supervision and environmental enforcement. Firms with more internal resources are more likely to experience this effect, as evidenced by lower financing constraints and less managerial myopia. Further mechanistic studies suggest that implementing new EPL raises environmental media attention and perceived environmental risk among high polluting firms. This paper contributes to the environmental accounting literature by introducing a novel measure of corporate environmental strategy—the capitalization of corporate environmental expenditures. It investigates the effect of environmental regulation on the capitalization of corporate environmental expenditures to provide a reference for polluting firms’ corporate environmental strategy and the implementation of the EPL in China.
Although corporate environmental performance has received widespread attention and its economic consequences have been studied in the literature, little is known about the motivation of firms to ...choose different environmental strategies (corporate environmental expenditures). Constructing an indicator for the capitalization of corporate environmental expenditures, we explore corporate environmental strategies. This paper investigates the impact of environmental legislation on the capitalization of corporate environmental expenditures. By analyzing data on manual environmental expenditures of Chinese listed companies from 2011 to 2020, we find that implementing the new Environmental Protection Law (EPL) can enhance the capitalization of corporate environmental expenditures of high polluting firms. The effect is stronger for firms with higher external legitimacy pressures, such as those with greater public supervision and environmental enforcement. Firms with more internal resources are more likely to experience this effect, as evidenced by lower financing constraints and less managerial myopia. Further mechanistic studies suggest that implementing new EPL raises environmental media attention and perceived environmental risk among high polluting firms. This paper contributes to the environmental accounting literature by introducing a novel measure of corporate environmental strategy—the capitalization of corporate environmental expenditures. It investigates the effect of environmental regulation on the capitalization of corporate environmental expenditures to provide a reference for polluting firms’ corporate environmental strategy and the implementation of the EPL in China.
In this paper, we study a slotted-time system where a base station needs to update multiple users at the same time. Due to the limited resources, only part of the users can be updated in each time ...slot. We consider the problem of minimizing the Age of Incorrect Information (AoII) when imperfect Channel State Information (CSI) is available. Leveraging the notion of the Markov Decision Process (MDP), we obtain the structural properties of the optimal policy. By introducing a relaxed version of the original problem, we develop the Whittle's index policy under a simple condition. However, indexability is required to ensure the existence of Whittle's index. To avoid indexability, we develop Indexed priority policy based on the optimal policy for the relaxed problem. Finally, numerical results are laid out to showcase the application of the derived structural properties and highlight the performance of the developed scheduling policies.
TiO2 photocatalysts loaded CuS and NiS as co-catalyst were prepared by hydrothermal approach and characterized by XRD, UV–visible DRS, BET, XPS, SEM and TEM. When TiO2 was loaded MS as co-catalyst, ...it showed higher photocatalytic activities for splitting water into hydrogen in methanol aqueous solution under 500 W Xe lamp. Among the photocatalysts with various compositions, the maximum evolution of H2 obtained from 5 wt% CuS–5 wt% NiS–TiO2 sample was about 800 μmol h−1, which was increased up to about twenty-eight times than that of TiO2 alone. It was proven that CuS, NiS can act as effective dual co-catalysts to enhance the photocatalytic H2 production activity of TiO2.
•The preparation process of photocatalyst is simple and efficient.•Dual co-catalysts MS can improve the efficiency of TiO2 photocatalytic activity.•CuS–NiS/TiO2 is low-priced and stable.
Caenorhabditis elegans larvae reversibly arrest development in the first larval stage in response to starvation (L1 arrest or L1 diapause). Insulin-like signaling is a critical regulator of L1 ...arrest. However, the C. elegans genome encodes 40 insulin-like peptides, and it is unknown which peptides participate in nutritional control of L1 development. Work in other contexts has revealed that insulin-like genes can promote development (“agonists”) or developmental arrest (“antagonists”), suggesting that such agonists promote L1 development in response to feeding. We measured mRNA expression dynamics with high temporal resolution for all 40 insulin-like genes during entry into and recovery from L1 arrest. Nutrient availability influences expression of the majority of insulin-like genes, with variable dynamics suggesting complex regulation. We identified thirteen candidate agonists and eight candidate antagonists based on expression in response to nutrient availability. We selected ten candidate agonists (daf-28, ins-3, ins-4, ins-5, ins-6, ins-7, ins-9, ins-26, ins-33 and ins-35) for further characterization in L1 stage larvae. We used destabilized reporter genes to determine spatial expression patterns. Expression of candidate agonists is largely overlapping in L1 stage larvae, suggesting a role of the intestine, chemosensory neurons ASI and ASJ, and the interneuron PVT in control of L1 development. Transcriptional regulation of candidate agonists is most significant in the intestine, as if internal nutrient status is a more important influence on transcription than sensory perception. Phenotypic analysis of single and compound deletion mutants did not reveal effects on L1 developmental dynamics, though simultaneous disruption of ins-4 and daf-28 increases survival of L1 arrest. Furthermore, overexpression of ins-4, ins-6 or daf-28 alone decreases survival and promotes cell division during starvation. These results suggest extensive functional overlap among insulin-like genes in nutritional control of L1 development while highlighting the role of ins-4, daf-28 and to a lesser extent ins-6.
•Nutrient availability affects expression of the majority of insulin-like genes.•Putative agonists tend to be expressed in ASI, ASJ, PVT and the intestine.•The intestine is the major site of transcriptional regulation.•ins-4 and daf-28 function redundantly to regulate L1 arrest.
Newcastle disease virus (NDV) belongs to Paramyxoviridae, which contains lethal human and animal pathogens. NDV RNA genome is replicated and transcribed by a multifunctional 250 kDa RNA-dependent RNA ...polymerase (L protein). To date, high-resolution structure of NDV L protein complexed with P protein remains to be elucidated, limiting our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of Paramyxoviridae replication/transcription. Here, we used cryo-EM and enzymatic assays to investigate the structure-function relationship of L-P complex. We found that C-terminal of CD-MTase-CTD module of the atomic-resolution L-P complex conformationally rearranges, and the priming/intrusion loops are likely in RNA elongation conformations different from previous structures. The P protein adopts a unique tetrameric organization and interacts with L protein. Our findings indicate that NDV L-P complex represents elongation state distinct from previous structures. Our work greatly advances the understanding of Paramyxoviridae RNA synthesis, revealing how initiation/elongation alternates, providing clues for identifying therapeutic targets against Paramyxoviridae.
Type II topoisomerases are ubiquitous enzymes that play a pivotal role in modulating the topological configuration of double-stranded DNA. These topoisomerases are required for DNA metabolism and ...have been extensively studied in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. However, our understanding of virus-encoded type II topoisomerases remains limited. One intriguing example is the African swine fever virus, which stands as the sole mammalian-infecting virus encoding a type II topoisomerase. In this work, we use several approaches including cryo-EM, X-ray crystallography, and biochemical assays to investigate the structure and function of the African swine fever virus type II topoisomerase, pP1192R. We determine the structures of pP1192R in different conformational states and confirm its enzymatic activity in vitro. Collectively, our results illustrate the basic mechanisms of viral type II topoisomerases, increasing our understanding of these enzymes and presenting a potential avenue for intervention strategies to mitigate the impact of the African swine fever virus.
The measurements of the total cross section of the e+e−⟶γγγ reaction from the VENUS, TOPAS, OPAL, DELPHI, ALEPH, and L3 collaborations, collected between 1989 and 2003, are used to perform a χ2 test ...to validate the current quantum electrodynamics (QED) theory and search for possible deviations with the direct contact term annihilation. By observing a deviation from the QED predictions on the total cross section of the e+e−⟶γγγ reaction above s=180.0 GeV, a non-QED direct contact term is introduced following the dimension 6 effective theory to explain the deviation. In the non-QED direct contact term, a threshold energy scale Λ is included and explained to the finite interaction length in direct contact term and in consequence the size of the electron involved in the annihilation area. The experimental data of the total cross section is compared to the QED cross section by a χ2 test, which gives a best fit of the Λ to be 1576±202 GeV, corresponding to a finite interaction length of re=1.25±0.16×10−17 (cm). In the direct contact term annihilation, this interaction length is a measure of the size of an electron re. By combining all the data results from the mentioned collaborations, we have at least 2 to 3 times more statistics than every single experiment at high s region. This induces the best precision on re compared to the previous measurements.
This paper proposes a predictive driver coaching (PDC) system for fuel economy driving for hybrid electric trucks using upcoming static map and dynamic traffic data. Unlike traditional methods that ...optimize over engine torque and brake to obtain a speed profile, we propose to optimize over driving modes of trucks to achieve a trade-off between fuel consumption and trip time. The optimal driving mode is provided to the driver as a coaching recommendation. To obtain the optimal solution, the truck dynamics are firstly modeled as a hybrid controlled switching dynamical system with autonomous subsystems and then a hybrid optimal control problem (HOCP) is formulated. The problem is solved using an algorithm based on discrete hybrid minimum principle. A warm-start strategy to reduce algorithmic iterations is used by employing a shrinking horizon strategy. In addition, an extensive analysis of the proposed algorithm is provided. We prove that the the coasting mode is never optimal given the truck configuration and and we provide a guideline for tuning parameters to maintain the optimal mode sequence. Finally, the algorithm is validated using real-world data from baseline driving tests using a DAF hybrid truck. Significant reduction in fuel consumption is achieved when the data is perfectly available.
Behavior-based autonomous systems rely on human intelligence to resolve multi-mission conflicts by designing mission priority rules and nonlinear controllers. In this work, a novel two-layer ...reinforcement learning behavioral control (RLBC) method is proposed to reduce such dependence by trial-and-error learning. Specifically, in the upper layer, a reinforcement learning mission supervisor (RLMS) is designed to learn the optimal mission priority. Compared with existing mission supervisors, the RLMS improves the dynamic performance of mission priority adjustment by maximizing cumulative rewards and reducing hardware storage demand when using neural networks. In the lower layer, a reinforcement learning controller (RLC) is designed to learn the optimal control policy. Compared with existing behavioral controllers, the RLC reduces the control cost of mission priority adjustment by balancing control performance and consumption. All error signals are proved to be semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB). Simulation results show that the number of mission priority adjustment and the control cost are significantly reduced compared to some existing mission supervisors and behavioral controllers, respectively.
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