Interest in why firms conduct environmental, social and governance (ESG) activity is longstanding and increasing. Our understanding, however, remains fragmented with alternative accounts that seek to ...explain the relationship between ESG performance (ESGP) and corporate financial performance (CFP). This paper reviews alternative accounts for the relationship and finds that the weight of empirical evidence shows a positive, statistically significant but economically modest ESGP–CFP link, consistent with theoretical expectations. This economically modest relationship suggests ESG activity is unlikely to be primarily motivated by narrow measures of CFP. Further scholarship viewing ESG as part of overall firm activity would be constructive.
Background
The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of epidemiologic and physician‐diagnosed pollen‐induced AR (PiAR) in the grasslands of northern China and to study the impact of the ...intensity and time of pollen exposure on PiAR prevalence.
Methods
A multistage, clustered and proportionately stratified random sampling with a field interviewer‐administered survey study was performed together with skin prick tests (SPT) and measurements of the daily pollen count.
Results
A total of 6043 subjects completed the study, with a proportion of 32.4% epidemiologic AR and 18.5% PiAR. The prevalence was higher in males than females (19.6% vs 17.4%, P = .024), but no difference between the two major residential and ethnic groups (Han and Mongolian) was observed. Subjects from urban areas showed higher prevalence of PiAR than rural areas (23.1% vs 14.0%, P < .001). Most PiAR patients were sensitized to two or more pollens (79.4%) with artemisia, chenopodium, and humulus scandens being the most common pollen types, which were similarly found as the top three sensitizing pollen allergens by SPT. There were significant regional differences in the prevalence of epidemiologic AR (from 18.6% to 52.9%) and PiAR (from 10.5% to 31.4%) among the six areas investigated. PiAR symptoms were positively associated with pollen counts, temperature, and precipitation (P < .05), but negatively with wind speed and pressure P < .05).
Conclusion
Pollen‐induced AR (PiAR) prevalence in the investigated region is extremely high due to high seasonal pollen exposure, which was influenced by local environmental and climate conditions.
Iron selenide superconductors exhibit a number of unique characteristics that are helpful for understanding the mechanism of superconductivity in high-Tc iron-based superconductors more generally. ...However, in the case of AxFe2Se2 (A = K, Rb, Cs), the presence of an intergrown antiferromagnetic insulating phase makes the study of the underlying physics problematic. Moreover, FeSe-based systems intercalated with alkali metal ions, NH3 molecules or organic molecules are extremely sensitive to air, which prevents the further investigation of their physical properties. It is therefore desirable to find a stable and easily accessible FeSe-based superconductor to study its physical properties in detail. Here, we report the synthesis of an air-stable material, (Li0.8Fe0.2)OHFeSe, which remains superconducting at temperatures up to ~40 K, by means of a novel hydrothermal method. The crystal structure is unambiguously determined by a combination of X-ray and neutron powder diffraction and nuclear magnetic resonance. Moreover, antiferromagnetic order is shown to coexist with superconductivity. This synthetic route opens a path for exploring superconductivity in other related systems, and confirms the appeal of iron selenides as a platform for understanding superconductivity in iron pnictides more broadly.
Avermectins are major antiparasitic agents used commercially in animal health, agriculture and human infections. To improve the fermentation efficiency of avermectins, for the first time a plasma jet ...generated by a novel atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APGD) was employed to generate mutations in Streptomyces avermitilis. The APGD plasma jet, driven by a radio frequency (RF) power supply with water-cooled and bare-metallic electrodes, was used as a new mutation method to treat the spores of S. avermitilis. The plasma jet yielded high total (over 30%) and positive (about 21%) mutation rates on S. avermitilis, and a mutated strain, designated as G1-1 with high productivity of avermectin B1a and genetic stability, was obtained. Because of the low jet temperature, the high concentrations of the chemically reactive species and the flexibility of its operation, the RF APGD plasma jet has a strong mutagenic effect on S. avermitilis. This is a proof-of-concept study for the use of an RF APGD plasma jet for inducing mutations in microbes. We have shown that the RF APGD plasma jet could be developed as a promising and convenient mutation tool for the fermentation industry and for use in biotechnology research.
Understanding land-surface biophysical feedbacks to the atmosphere is needed if we are to simulate regional climate accurately. In the Arctic, previous studies have shown that enhanced vegetation ...growth decreases albedo and amplifies warming. In contrast, on the Tibetan Plateau, a statistical model based on in situ observations and decomposition of the surface energy budget suggests that increased vegetation activity may attenuate daytime warming by enhancing evapotranspiration (ET), a cooling process. A regional climate model also simulates daytime cooling when prescribed with increased vegetation activity, but with a magnitude smaller than observed, likely because this model simulates weaker ET enhancement in response to increased vegetation growth.
In the Arctic, climate warming enhances vegetation activity by extending the length of the growing season and intensifying maximum rates of productivity. In turn, increased vegetation productivity reduces albedo, which causes a positive feedback on temperature. Over the Tibetan Plateau (TP), regional vegetation greening has also been observed in response to recent warming. Here, we show that in contrast to arctic regions, increased growing season vegetation activity over the TP may have attenuated surface warming. This negative feedback on growing season vegetation temperature is attributed to enhanced evapotranspiration (ET). The extra energy available at the surface, which results from lower albedo, is efficiently dissipated by evaporative cooling. The net effect is a decrease in daily maximum temperature and the diurnal temperature range, which is supported by statistical analyses of in situ observations and by decomposition of the surface energy budget. A daytime cooling effect from increased vegetation activity is also modeled from a set of regional weather research and forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model simulations, but with a magnitude smaller than observed, likely because the WRF model simulates a weaker ET enhancement. Our results suggest that actions to restore native grasslands in degraded areas, roughly one-third of the plateau, will both facilitate a sustainable ecological development in this region and have local climate cobenefits. More accurate simulations of the biophysical coupling between the land surface and the atmosphere are needed to help understand regional climate change over the TP, and possible larger scale feedbacks between climate in the TP and the Asian monsoon system.
We explore the dependence of the incidence of moderate-luminosity (L0.5−8 keV = 1041.9−43.7 erg s-1) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and the distribution of their accretion rates on host color at 0.5 ...<z < 2.5. Based on the deepest X-ray and UV-to-far-infrared data in the two The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) fields, we identify 221 AGNs within a mass-complete parent galaxy sample down to M∗ > 1010 M⊙. We use extinction-corrected rest-frame U−V colors to divide both AGN hosts and non-AGN galaxies into red sequence (red), green valley (green), and blue cloud (blue) populations. We find that the fraction of galaxies hosting an AGN at fixed X-ray luminosity increases with stellar mass and redshift for all the three galaxy populations, independent of their colors. However, both the AGN fraction at fixed stellar mass and its evolution with redshift are clearly dependent on host colors. Most notably, red galaxies have the lowest AGN fraction (~5%) at z ~ 1 yet with most rapid evolution with redshift, increasing by a factor of ~5 (24%) at z ~ 2. Green galaxies exhibit the highest AGN fraction across all redshifts, which is most pronounced at z ~ 2 with more than half of them hosting an AGN at M∗ > 1010.6 M⊙. Together with the high AGN fraction in red galaxies at z ~ 2, this indicates that (X-ray) AGNs could be important in both transforming (quenching) star-forming galaxies into quiescent ones and subsequently maintaining their quiescence at high redshift. Furthermore, consistent with previous studies at lower redshifts, we show that the probability of hosting an AGN for the total galaxy population can be characterized by a universal Eddington ratio (as approximated by LX/M∗) distribution (p(λEdd) ~ λEdd-0.4), which is independent on host mass. Yet consistent with their different AGN fractions, galaxies with different colors appear to also have different p(λEdd) with red galaxies exhibiting more rapid redshift evolution compared with that for green and blue galaxies. Evidence for a steeper power-law distribution of p(λEdd) in red galaxies (p(λEdd) ~ λEdd-0.6) is also presented, though larger samples are needed to confirm. These results suggest that the AGN accretion or the growth of supermassive black holes is related to their host properties, and may also influence their hosts in a different mode dependent on the host color.
High-temperature superconductivity emerges on doping holes or electrons into antiferromagnetic copper oxides. The large energy scale of magnetic excitations, for example, compared with phonon ...energies, is thought to drive superconductivity with high transition temperatures (Tc). Comparing high-energy magnetic excitations of hole- and electron-doped superconductors provides an opportunity to test this hypothesis. Here, we use resonant inelastic X-ray scattering at the Cu L3-edge to reveal collective excitations in the electron-doped cuprate Nd2xCexCuO4. Surprisingly, magnetic excitations harden signicantly across the antiferromagnetic high-temperature superconductivity phase boundary despite short-ranged antiferromagnetic correlations, in contrast to the hole-doped cuprates. Furthermore, we nd an unexpected branch of collective modes in superconducting compounds, absent in hole-doped cuprates. These modes emanate from the zone centre and possess a higher temperature scale than Tc, signalling a distinct quantum phase. Despite their dierences, the persistence of magnetic excitations and the existence of a distinct quantum phase are apparently universal in both hole- and electron-doped cuprates.
Brown planthopper (BPH), white‐backed planthopper (WBPH) and small brown planthopper (SBPH), are the closely related rice pests that perform differentially on wheat plants. Using fecundity as a ...fitness measure, we found that SBPH well‐adapted on wheat plants, followed by WBPH, while BPH had the worst performance. The transcriptomic responses of SBPH and BPH to wheat plants have been compared previously. To understand the different fitness mechanisms of three planthoppers, this study first investigated the transcriptomic responses of WBPH to rice and wheat plants. Genes involved in detoxification, transportation and proteasome were significantly enriched in WBPH in response to different diets. Moreover, comparative analysis demonstrated that most co‐regulated genes in BPH and SBPH showed different expression changes; whereas most co‐regulated genes in BPH and WBPH exhibited similar expression changes. Subsequently, this study also investigated the influences of host plants on the bacterial community of three planthoppers. The three planthoppers harboured distant diversity of bacterial communities. However, there was no dramatic change in bacterial diversity or relative abundance in planthoppers colonized on different hosts. This study illustrates generic and species‐specific changes of three rice planthoppers in response to different plants, which deepen our understanding towards the host fitness for planthopper species.
The majority of co‐regulated genes changed similarly between BPH and WBPH, but reciprocally between SBPH and WBPH.
No dramatic change in bacterial community when planthoppers colonized on different hosts.
Host transfer frequency may account for the easier adaptation of SBPH to wheat plants than that of WBPH and BPH
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