Under the leadership of president Xi Jinping, the revitalisation of football has become a key strategic goal for China. His three wishes are to qualify regularly, host and win the FIFA World Cup by ...2050. Considering the statehood of the international sports system and the Chinese political motivation to achieve such ambitious goals, this paper is going to apply an analysis of football from an International Relations perspective. In this regard, three basic premises are identified for the analysis of football: 1. The national interest in sport is winning titles. 2. The national interest is not as relevant as the state’s ability and capacity to win. 3. More resources and investments may guarantee a better performance, but not necessarily winning titles. In conclusion, although football in China is having a considerable development along this decade, if we consider that the conversion of resources into titles is not the same for every country, China might face a power paradox, being incapable to take advantage of its extraordinary capacities to win titles and become a global football power.
•Firms experience positive abnormal returns to new EU regulation on board gender quotas.•The valuation effect of EU quota regulations is stronger in countries with softer board gender diversity ...regulations.•Market reactions to EU quota rule are positively associated with the size of the board gender gap.•Preference for a rapid process of board feminization outweighs the negative aspects of quota interventionism.•Investors value EU institutional intervention on corporate gender equality above internal self-regulation.
We investigate stock market reactions to the announcement of the new, June 2022 European Union (EU) regulation on board gender diversity, which requires firms to appoint a minimum of 33% female directors (or 40% female non-executive directors). We find that the abnormal market returns surrounding the EU announcement are positive. We also note that the observed positive valuation effects are particularly strong for: (1) firms in countries with softer existing regulations on board gender diversity; and (2) firms with a larger gap between current levels of board gender diversity and the 33% gender quota. Our analysis of the EU legislation on gender quotas offers solid evidence that board gender quotas are perceived by investors as beneficial, particularly for firms exposed to a large gender imbalance.
It has been argued that perception, decision making, and movement planning are in reality tightly interwoven brain processes. However, how they are implemented in neural circuits is still a matter of ...debate. We tested human subjects in a temporal categorization task in which intervals had to be categorized as short or long. Subjects communicated their decision by moving a cursor into one of two possible targets, which appeared separated by different angles from trial to trial. Even though there was a 1 second-long delay between interval presentation and decision communication, categorization difficulty affected subjects' performance, reaction (RT) and movement time (MT). In addition, reaction and movement times were also influenced by the distance between the targets. This implies that not only perceptual, but also movement-related considerations were incorporated into the decision process. Therefore, we searched for a model that could use categorization difficulty and target separation to describe subjects' performance, RT, and MT. We developed a network consisting of two mutually inhibiting neural populations, each tuned to one of the possible categories and composed of an accumulation and a memory node. This network sequentially acquired interval information, maintained it in working memory and was then attracted to one of two possible states, corresponding to a categorical decision. It faithfully replicated subjects' RT and MT as a function of categorization difficulty and target distance; it also replicated performance as a function of categorization difficulty. Furthermore, this model was used to make new predictions about the effect of untested durations, target distances and delay durations. To our knowledge, this is the first biologically plausible model that has been proposed to account for decision making and communication by integrating both sensory and motor planning information.
We determined the response properties of neurons in the primate medial premotor cortex that were classified as sensory or motor during isochronous tapping to a visual or auditory metronome, using ...different target intervals and three sequential elements in the task. The cell classification was based on a warping transformation, which determined whether the cell activity was statistically aligned to sensory or motor events, finding a large proportion of cells classified as sensory or motor. Two distinctive clusters of sensory cells were observed, i.e. one cell population with short response‐onset latencies to the previous stimulus, and another that was probably predicting the occurrence of the next stimuli. These cells were called sensory‐driven and stimulus‐predicting neurons, respectively. Sensory‐driven neurons showed a clear bias towards the visual modality and were more responsive to the first stimulus, with a decrease in activity for the following sequential elements of the metronome. In contrast, stimulus‐predicting neurons were bimodal and showed similar response profiles across serial‐order elements. Motor cells showed a consecutive activity onset across discrete neural ensembles, generating a rapid succession of activation patterns between the two taps defining a produced interval. The cyclical configuration in activation profiles engaged more motor cells as the serial‐order elements progressed across the task, and the rate of cell recruitment over time decreased as a function of the target interval. Our findings support the idea that motor cells were responsible for the rhythmic progression of taps in the task, gaining more importance as the trial advanced, while, simultaneously, the sensory‐driven cells lost their functional impact.
We determined the response properties of medial premotor (MP) cells that were classified as sensory or motor (based on a statistical algorithm) during a task that involved isochronous tapping to a sensory metronome. Motor cells were involved in the rhythmic progression of movements in the task, gaining more importance as the trial evolves, whereas, simultaneously, the sensory cells lost their functional influence as the trial entered the internally driven phase.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, we find that Australian firms with environmentally sustainable practices generated higher abnormal returns. Firms with CEOs who were exposed to ...significant health risks from COVID-19 experienced poorer stock market performance. Firms with low pre-COVID default risk and high pre-COVID liquidity performed better during the COVID-19 stock market crash. This research signifies the importance of environmental sustainability for Australian firms to endure pandemics such as COVID-19.
•The integrated production, inventory and distribution problem is studied.•The research considers non-negligible preservation costs and multi-compartment vehicles.•Routing decisions are decoupled ...from the integrated problem.•Multi-period distribution routes are computed by a column generation method.•Solutions to examples generated from realistic data are presented.
This paper deals with the problem of optimally planning the production, inventory and distribution of products transported via multi-compartment vehicles. It assumes that facilities in the distribution network have preservation-storing devices to inventory products on-site. Production activities may be performed on any time period of the planning horizon. Due to problem complexity, a two-stage solution strategy that first generates a set of multi-period distribution routes through a column generation approach is proposed. The routes are used for feeding the MILP formulation of the problem. Several valid inequalities are proposed for expediting the MILP resolution. The aim is to maximize the profit obtained by the company that fabricates and distributes the products. This profit is computed as the total income from sales minus the sum of all costs incurred along the planning horizon. The effectiveness of the two-stage solution strategy is tested on an extensive set of realistic instances.
The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of shade allocation and shade plus fan on growth performance, dietary energy utilization and carcass characteristics of feedlot cattle ...under tropical ambient conditions.
Two trials were conducted, involving a total of 1,560 young bulls (289±22 kg BW) assigned to 24 pens (65 bulls/pen and 6 pens/treatment). Pens were 585 m2 with 15 m fence line feed bunks. Shade treatments (m2 shade/animal) were: i) limited shade (LS) to 1.2 m2shade/animal (LS1.2); ii) limited shade to 2.4 m2 shade/animal (LS2.4); iii) total shade (TS) which correspond to 9 m2/animal, and iv) total shade equipped with fans (TS+F). Trials lasted 158 and 183 days. In both studies, the average weekly maximum temperature exceeded 34°C.
Increasing shade allocation tended (p = 0.08) to linearly increases average daily gain (ADG), and dry matter intake (DMI, quadratic effect, p = 0.03). This effect was most apparent between LS1.2 and LS2.4. Shade allocation, per se, did not affect gain efficiency or estimated dietary net energy (NE). Compared with TS, TS+F increased (p<0.05) ADG, gain efficiency, and tended (p = 0.06) to increase dietary NE. There was a quadratic effect of shade on longissimus area and marbling score, with values being lower (p<0.01) for LS2.4 than for LS1.2 or TS. Likewise, marbling score was lower for TS+F than for TS. Percentage kidney, pelvic, and heart (KPH) linearly decreased with increasing shade. In contrast, KPH was greater for TS than for TS+F.
Providing more than 2.4 m2 shade/animal will not further enhance feedlot performance. The use of fans in combination with shade increases ADG and gain efficiency beyond that of shade, alone. These enhancements were not associated with increased DMI, but rather, to an amelioration of ambient temperature humidity index on maintenance energy requirement.
Wastewater surveillance represents an alternative approach to regulating contamination and the early detection of infectious agents and outbreaks of diseases of public health importance. This study ...evaluated domestic wastewater effects on recreational waters in estuarine and seawater bodies in Guayas and Santa Elena provinces in Ecuador, South America. Fecal indicator bacteria (thermotolerant coliforms) served as key indicators for evaluation. Physical, chemical, and microbiological quality markers following the Ecuadorian environmental quality standard and the discharge of effluents to the water resource were analyzed. Samples were collected from 44 coastal sites and 2 oxidation lagoons during the dry and rainy seasons of 2020 and 2021, respectively. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in samples with higher E. coli concentrations using reverse transcription quantitative PCR to detect the genes N and ORF1ab. All samples analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 showed Ct ˂ 40 for at least one gene. Four samples showed at least 20 genome copies of gene N per reaction. These were at an artisanal fishing port, an estuarine area (Palmar), a recreational bay, and an oxidation lagoon. A moderate correlation was found between SARS-CoV-2 RNA, thermotolerant coliform and E. coli (p-value ≤ 0.0037), and a strong and positive correlation between thermotolerant coliform and E. coli. (p-value ≤ 0.00001), highlighting the utility of these established parameters as a proxy of the virus. Significant differences were found in the concentrations of thermotolerant coliforms between seasons (p-value = 0.016) and sites (p-value = 0.005). The highest levels of coliforms were found in the dry season (63000 MPN/100 mL) in Anconcito and during the rainy season (14000 MPN/100 mL) at Esterillo in Playas County. It is recommended that the decentralized autonomous governments of the surveyed provinces in Ecuador implement urgent corrective actions and establish medium-term mechanisms to minimize a potential contamination route. Additional parameters must be included in the monitoring, such as Enterococcus and intestinal parasites, due to their public health implications. In the oxidation lagoons, maintenance actions must be carried out, including the dissolution of sediments, an increase in water retention times, and in situ treatment of the sludge, to improve the system's performance.
This study analyzes the feasibility of satisfying the demand of three Football Stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, using the wind’s kinetic energy. For all three selected locations ...(Lusail, Al Rayyan, and Al Wakrah), the wind potentiality is calculated through an environmental parameters study, from which the wind power density is obtained. Furthermore, a commercial wind turbine with proper characteristics is selected, and the same case study for each location is presented, to quantify the capacity that wind energy offers for satisfying the maximum energy demand of each associated stadium. In addition, the environmental benefits and the time required by each wind farm to satisfy the energy demand are computed. The results reveal that the conditions enable the use of wind energy for this purpose, based on a 5.06 m/s, 4.63 m/s, and 5.18 m/s velocity mean for Lusail, Al Rayyan, and Al Wakrah, respectively; from which values of 187.49 W/m², 150.96 W/m², and 187.29 W/m² of wind power density are obtained. Also, the proposed wind farms could produce 69,952.56 MWh/year, 59,550.19 MWh/year, and 75,333.70 MWh/year, respectively. Moreover, the wind farms should produce energy for a period of 5.64 h, 4.41 h, and 5.23 h, to satisfy the maximum demand by a football match in its associated location. Additionally, to avoid the implementation of a storage system, the electricity obtained from the wind is connected to the power grid, decreasing the quota of fossil fuel power plants. In consequence, Qatar will eliminate the emissions of approximately 23.376 tons of CO₂ in total per trio of matches held in these stadiums. Finally, a post 2022 FIFA World Cup scenario is analyzed, obtaining a positive outcome from both environmental and economic perspectives, in which an average of 14,675 tons of CO₂ and 6.03 Million US$ can be saved annually.
The establishment of Alternate Care Sites (ACS) helped the most severely impacted countries expand their response capability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and ...risk factors associated with the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at Alternate Care Site in Mexico City.
A monocentric cohort study was conducted at Mexico City's Temporary Unit COVID-19 (UTC-19). Sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory and treatment variables were included in the analysis.
A total of 4865 patients were included, with a mean age of 49.33 years ± SD 15.28 years (IQR 38 to 60 years); 50.53% were women. 63.53% of the patients presented at least one comorbidity, the most frequent being: obesity (39.94%), systemic arterial hypertension (25.14%), and diabetes mellitus (21.52%). A total of 4549 patients (93.50%) were discharged due to improvement, 64 patients (1.31%) requested voluntary discharge, 39 patients (0.80%) were referred to another unit, and 213 patients (4.37%) died. Factors that were independently and significantly associated with death included male gender (odds ratio OR, 1.60), age ≥ 50 years (OR 14.75), null or low schooling (OR 3.47), have at least one comorbidity (OR 3.26), atrial fibrillation (OR 22.14). In the multivariate analysis, the lymphopenia ≤ 1 × 10
3/
μL (OR 1.91), and having required steroid treatment (OR 2.85), supplemental oxygen with high-flow nasal cannula (OR 3.12) or invasive mechanical ventilation (OR 42.52), was significantly associated with an increased risk of death.
This study identified the clinical characteristics and risk factors for mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at ACS in Mexico City.
KEY MESSAGES
An Alternate Care Site (ACS) is any building or structure that is temporarily converted or constructed for healthcare use during a public health emergency.
Factors associated with death included male gender, age over 50 years, and lower educational attainment (elementary school or less).
The findings corroborate the utility of the CALL score as a predictor of mortality; lymphopenia ≤1 × 10
3
/μL was the most relevant biomarker.
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