Search

This paper selects H-share companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong from 2008 to 2018 as research samples and designs an OLS regression model to empirically test the impact of the quality of the audit committee measured by the four aspects of the characteristics of the audit committee on the earnings management level of the company based on the Jones model. It concludes that when the overall quality of the company's audit committee is higher, the company's earnings management level is lower. This conclusion strongly proves that the establishment and effective operation of an audit committee plays an important role in improving corporate governance and restraining earnings manipulation by the management team and the governance role. This paper provides empirical evidence to help corporation leaders and stakeholders make better decisions on management and investment on H-share listed companies. The innovation and contributions and to audit and earnings management literature and implications and innovation for regulators and investors are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The impact of digital device use on health and well-being is a pressing question. However, the scientific literature on this topic, to date, is marred by small and unrepresentative samples, poor measurement of core constructs, and a limited ability to address the psychological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the relationships between device use and well-being. Recent authoritative reviews have made urgent calls for future research projects to address these limitations. The critical role of research is to identify which patterns of use are associated with benefits versus risks and who is more vulnerable to harmful versus beneficial outcomes, so that we can pursue evidence-based product design, education, and regulation aimed at maximizing benefits and minimizing the risks of smartphones and other digital devices. Objective: The objective of this study is to provide normative data on objective patterns of smartphone use. We aim to (1) identify how patterns of smartphone use impact well-being and identify groups of individuals who show similar patterns of covariation between smartphone use and well-being measures across time; (2) examine sociodemographic and personality or mental health predictors and which patterns of smartphone use and well-being are associated with pre-post changes in mental health and functioning; (3) discover which nondevice behavior patterns mediate the association between device use and well-being; (4) identify and explore recruitment strategies to increase and improve the representation of traditionally underrepresented populations; and (5) provide a real-world baseline of observed stress, mood, insomnia, physical activity, and sleep across a representative population. Methods: This is a prospective, nonrandomized study to investigate the patterns and relationships among digital device use, sensor-based measures (including both behavioral and physiological signals), and self-reported measures of mental health and well-being. The study duration is 4 weeks per participant and includes passive sensing based on smartphone sensors, and optionally a wearable (Fitbit), for the complete study period. The smartphone device will provide activity, location, phone unlocks and app usage, and battery status information. Results: At the time of submission, the study infrastructure and app have been designed and built, the institutional review board of the University of Oregon has approved the study protocol, and data collection is underway. Data from 4182 enrolled and consented participants have been collected as of March 27, 2023. We have made many efforts to sample a study population that matches the general population, and the demographic breakdown we have been able to achieve, to date, is not a perfect match. Conclusions: The impact of digital devices on mental health and well-being raises important questions. The Digital Well-Being Study is designed to help answer questions about the association between patterns of smartphone use and well-being. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/49189 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans can hold a live animal like a hamster without overly squeezing despite the fact that its soft body undergoes impedance and size variations due to breathing and wiggling. Although the exact nature of such biological motor controllers is not known, existing literature suggests that they maintain metastable interactions with dynamic objects based on prediction rather than reaction. Most robotic gripper controllers find such tasks very challenging mainly due to hard constraints imposed on the stability of closed-loop control and inadequate rates of convergence of adaptive controller parameters. This paper presents experimental and numerical simulation results of a control law based on a relaxed stability criterion of reducing the probability of failure to maintain a stable grip on a soft object that undergoes temporal variations in its internal impedance. The proposed controller uses only three parameters to interpret the probability of failure estimated using a history of grip forces to adjust the grip on the dynamic object. Here, we demonstrate that the proposed controller can maintain smooth and stable grip tightening and relaxing when the object undergoes random impedance variations, compared with a reactive controller that involves a similar number of controller parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery has many advantages compared to conventional open surgery and also certain drawbacks: it causes less operative trauma and faster recovery times but does not allow for direct tumour palpation as is the case in open surgery. This article reviews state-of-the-art intra-operative tumour localisation methods used in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery and in particular methods that employ force-based sensing, tactile-based sensing, and medical imaging techniques. The limitations and challenges of these methods are discussed and future research directions are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a fiber optic based tactile array sensor that can be employed in magnetic resonance environments. In contrast to conventional sensing approaches, such as resistive or capacitive-based sensing methods, which strongly rely on the generation and transmission of electronics signals, here electromagnetically isolated optical fibers were utilized to develop the tactile array sensor. The individual sensing elements of the proposed sensor detect normal forces; fusing the information from the individual elements allows the perception of the shape of probed objects. Applied forces deform a micro-flexure inside each sensor tactel, displacing a miniature mirror which, in turn, modulates the light intensity introduced by a transmitting fiber connected to a light source at its proximal end. For each tactel, the light intensity is read by a receiving fiber connected directly to a 2-D vision sensor. Computer software, such as MATLAB, is used to process the images received by the vision sensor. The calibration process was conducted by relating the applied forces to the number of activated pixels for each image received from a receiving fiber. The proposed approach allows the concurrent acquisition of data from multiple tactile sensor elements using a vision sensor such as a standard video camera. Test results of force responses and shape detection have proven the viability of this sensing concept. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hip weakness is a common symptom affecting walking ability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). It is known that resistance strength training (RST) can improve strength in individuals with MS, however; it remains unclear the duration of RST that is needed to make strength gains and how to adapt hip strengthening exercises for individuals of varying strength using only resistance bands. This paper describes the methodology to set up and implement an adapted resistance strength training program, using resistance bands, for individuals with MS. Directions for pre- and post-strength tests to evaluate efficacy of the strength-training program are included. Safety features and detailed instructions outline the weekly program content and progression. Current evidence is presented showing that significant strength gains can be made within 8 weeks of starting a RST program. Evidence is also presented showing that resistance strength training can be successfully adapted for individuals with MS of varying strength with little equipment.