Prior research has shown mixed results for the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance. Call for investigations on mediators and moderators have ...been put on notice to provide further explanations of previous mixed findings. This study responds to the calls for research by investigating the mediation effect of CSR outcomes, on the relationship between CSR governance and financial performance. We extract CSR governance and outcomes data from the Bloomberg environmental, social and governance (ESG) database and financial performance data from the COMPUSTAT database. Using a sample of 1980 firm-year observations from the top 500 Green companies in the United States for the years 2009 through 2013, we find that CSR outcomes mediate the relationships between CSR governance and financial performance. The results suggest that whether companies implement CSR governance successfully to generate good CSR outcomes plays an important role influencing companies’ financial performance. The results of our study contribute to the CSR literature by providing an explanation of the mediation effects of actual CSR outcomes to the previous heterogeneous findings on CSR-financial return relationships.
•CSR governance contributes to superior financial performance by achieving good CSR outcomes.•This study adopts the growing Bloomberg ESG database which measures CSR related governance and outcomes separately.•This study emphasizes the importance of the strategies to implement CSR governance.•The results provide an explanation for previous heterogeneous findings on CSR-financial return relationships.
The present study analyzes the English diaries written by a young Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learner over a 1-year period in an attempt to determine the developmental process of ...Chinese EFL young learners’ written language in terms of syntactic complexity. This study aimed to use a wide range of metrics to explore densely collected data based on Dynamic Systems Theory. The longitudinal study data were analyzed through eight large-grained measures related to sentential, clausal, and phrasal features by using L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer, as well as fine-grained measures related to seven modifiers, an adjective placed before a noun, ordinal numerals are indicated (ADJA), cardinal numeral (CARD), predicative adjective, adverbial adjective (ADJP), adverbs (ADV), prepositional phrases (PREP), subordinate (SUB), and relative clause (REL), through manual annotations. The results show that, first, the developmental process was not linear but spiral in terms of large-grained measures. The sentential level varied, and the development process of the young learner is different from Chinese English learners studying in colleges. Second, the dynamic features of fine-grained measures are also prominent in the seven indicators. ADJA, PREP, and REL showed a steady increase, ADJP showed an obvious decline, while ADV and SUB first increased and then declined. Third, the correlation analysis revealed a competitive interaction within fine-grained measures and between large-grained and fine-grained measures.
In the past few decades, natural gas has attracted worldwide attention as one of the most desired energy sources owing to its more efficient and cleaner combustion process compared to that of coal ...and crude oil. Due to the presence of impurities, raw natural gas needs to be upgraded to meet the pipeline specifications. Membrane-based separation is a promising alternative to conventional processes such as cryogenic distillation and pressure swing adsorption. Among the existing membranes for natural gas upgrading, polymeric membranes and inorganic membranes have been extensively explored, but each type has its own pros and cons. The development of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) by incorporating organic/inorganic fillers into the polymer matrix provides a good strategy to combine the merits of each material and fabricate novel membranes with superior gas separation performance. In this review, we first discuss the recent advances in MMMs showing potentials in natural gas upgrading. Special attention is paid to a detailed evaluation on the polymer and filler choices for acidic gas removal. After that, we analyze factors that influence the membrane separation performance and summarize effective strategies reported in the open literature for the fabrication of high-performance MMMs. Finally, a perspective on future research directions in this field is presented.
The Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping complexes comprise the central segment of the Trans-North China Orogen (TNCO) in the North China Craton (NCC). The tectonic evolution of these complexes is regarded as ...representative for the entire TNCO, although the timing of the events has been controvesial. On the basis of new Nd isotope and structural data, and a re-appraisal of published geochemical and geochronological data, a refined model for the tectonic evolution in the Neoarchean to Paleoproterozoic has been proposed. A major ocean, named the Proto-North China Ocean, developed between the Western and Eastern Blocks prior to ∼2565
Ma. Northwest-ward intra-oceanic subduction resulted in the formation of a proto-arc, as represented by the ∼2565–2540
Ma Wutai granitoids. The proto-arc was rifted, and a back-arc basin propagated and extended to form an intra-oceanic arc-basin system at about ∼2540–2525
Ma. The main products during the development of this system were a MORB-arc-back arc basalt–adakite association in the Wutai greenstone belt and synchronous granitoids in the Wutai Complex. The main subduction–accretion process involving multiple subduction zones occurred at ∼2525–2475
Ma, resulting in closure of the Wutai back-arc basin and the formation of diverse arc magmas. Although the tectonic history between ∼2.5 and 1.8
Ga remains uncertain, final collision between the Eastern and Western Blocks and the buildup of the TNCO most likely took place at ∼1.9–1.8
Ga. The tectonic evolution of the TNCO is characterized by subduction–accretion processes and the development of arc-basin systems, thus it is more likely a Cordilleran-type orogen than a simple continent–continent collisional orogen.
The aim of this study was to examine sex disparity in metabolic syndrome prevalence and its risk factors among Chinese adults.
Using the 2010-2012 China National Nutrition and Health Survey (CNNHS), ...a nationally representative cross-sectional study on nutrition and non-communicable chronic diseases, a total of 98,042 participants aged 18 years and older were included in the analysis. Dietary information was collected with a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the updated NCEP ATP III criteria. A multivariable logistic regression model was performed to examine the associations between sociodemographic and dietary factors with metabolic syndrome prevalence, and the results are presented using odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
The overall standardized prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 24.2% (24.6% in men and 23.8% in women). The metabolic syndrome prevalence was positively associated with age in men and women. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was negatively associated with the physical activity level among men and inversely associated with the education level among women (P for trend < 0.01). Frequent consumption of fungi and algae was an underlying risk factor for metabolic syndrome in men, whereas frequent consumption of nuts and pork was associated with a decreased prevalence of metabolic syndrome in women.
The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in men was not different from that in women. There are sex-specific associations between multiple risk factors and metabolic syndrome.
The influence of defects on the photoactivity of ZnO has been revealed. The defects can be formed via ball-milling treatment, and part of the defects can be repaired via annealing treatment. The ...photocatalytic activity of the ZnO sharply decreased as the ball-milling speed and milling time increased. After the annealing treatment, the photocatalytic activity recovered partly but could not return to the activity of the pristine ZnO. The bulk defects such as oxygen vacancies (VO), zinc vacancies (VZn) and a lot of nonradiative defects were formed after the milling treatment. The annealing treatment can only repair part of the bulk defects and nonradiative defects. Thus, only part of the photoactivity was recovered. The species trapping experiments showed that the introduction of the bulk defects did not change the photocatalytic mechanism. The main oxidative species for the pristine ZnO, the milled ZnO, and the annealed ZnO are photogenerated holes and hydroxyl radicals.
Abstract
Background
The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) are the most commonly used scales to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in ...population-based epidemiologic studies. However, their comparison on which is best suited to assess cognition is scarce in samples from multiple regions of China.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 4923 adults aged ≥55 years from the Community-based Cohort Study on Nervous System Diseases. Objective cognition was assessed by Chinese versions of MMSE and MoCA, and total score and subscores of cognitive domains were calculated for each. Education-specific cutoffs of total score were used to diagnose MCI. Demographic and health-related characteristics were collected by questionnaires. Correlation and agreement for MCI between MMSE and MoCA were analyzed; group differences in cognition were evaluated; and multiple logistic regression model was used to clarify risk factors for MCI.
Results
The overall MCI prevalence was 28.6% for MMSE and 36.2% for MoCA. MMSE had good correlation with MoCA (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.8374,
p
< 0.0001) and moderate agreement for detecting MCI with Kappa value of 0.5973 (
p
< 0.0001). Ceiling effect for MCI was less frequent using MoCA versus MMSE according to the distribution of total score. Percentage of relative standard deviation, the measure of inter-individual variance, for MoCA (26.9%) was greater than for MMSE (19.0%) overall (
p
< 0.0001). Increasing age (MMSE: OR = 2.073 for ≥75 years; MoCA: OR = 1.869 for≥75 years), female (OR = 1.280 for MMSE; OR = 1.163 for MoCA), living in county town (OR = 1.386 and 1.862 for MMSE and MoCA, respectively) or village (OR = 2.579 and 2.721 for MMSE and MoCA, respectively), smoking (OR = 1.373 and 1.288 for MMSE and MoCA, respectively), hypertension (MMSE: OR = 1.278; MoCA: OR = 1.208) and depression (MMSE: OR = 1.465; MoCA: OR = 1.350) were independently associated with greater likelihood of MCI compared to corresponding reference group in both scales (all
p
< 0.05).
Conclusions
MoCA is a better measure of cognitive function due to lack of ceiling effect and with good detection of cognitive heterogeneity. MCI prevalence is higher using MoCA compared to MMSE. Both tools identify concordantly modifiable factors for MCI, which provide important evidence for establishing intervention measures.
Ferroelectric tunnel junctions (FTJs) have recently attracted considerable interest as a promising candidate for applications in the next-generation non-volatile memory technology. In this work, ...using an ultrathin (3 nm) ferroelectric Sm0.1Bi0.9FeO3 layer as the tunnelling barrier and a semiconducting Nb-doped SrTiO3 single crystal as the bottom electrode, we achieve a tunnelling electroresistance as large as 10(5). Furthermore, the FTJ memory states could be modulated by light illumination, which is accompanied by a hysteretic photovoltaic effect. These complimentary effects are attributed to the bias- and light-induced modulation of the tunnel barrier, both in height and width, at the semiconductor/ferroelectric interface. Overall, the highly tunable tunnelling electroresistance and the correlated photovoltaic functionalities provide a new route for producing and non-destructively sensing multiple non-volatile electronic states in such FTJs.
Since the Opening of China, the country's economy has continuously and rapidly improved. Various economic, educational, and health policies have been implemented to shape the development of society, ...which may have greatly affected the Chinese diet and related malnutrition issues. The objective of the present review was to comprehensively review long-term trends in dietary intakes, nutrition status, and subsequent health challenges among Chinese adults. The data sources were mainly the 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2010-2012 China National Nutrition Surveys (CNNS) and reports and the 1989-2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). Over decades, there have been significant changes in the dietary structure of Chinese adults, characterized as decreased intake of cereals and vegetables and increased intake of animal foods with pork dominating. Intakes of eggs, fish, and dairy has reminded at a low level, with only a small increase over time. Consumption of cooking oil and salt was substantively far above the recommendations. A great proportion of fat-to-energy intake and "hidden hunger" was still prominent. Despite nutrition deficiency, there have been some modest improvements in related diseases, but overweight and obesity has become a prominent issue, with the prevalence in adults increasing from 16.4% and 3.6% in 1982 to 30.1% and 11.9% in 2012, respectively. In conclusion, this review sheds light on some salient problems with nutrition and malnutrition status in China, especially the dual challenges of undernutrition and overnutrition. Dynamic monitoring of nutritional characteristics in China should be strengthened, and effective strategies to improve nutrition need to be targeted at the national, societal, family, and individual levels.
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