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Emerged market multinational corporations (EDMNCs) ‒ those based in emerged markets that have transitioned out of emerging economic status ‒ have received little research interest from the international business scholarship, despite their growing presence in the global market. EDMNCs face significant competitive pressure to leverage cross-border knowledge to innovate and leapfrog their middle-zone status between emerging and developed market multinational corporations. Analyzing 174 publicly listed South Korean MNCs and their outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), we find that an EDMNC’s OFDI into developed and emerging markets contributes unequally to its home-country innovation. We also elaborate on the moderating effect of industry peers’ OFDI into developed countries through crowding out and spillover effects. These findings have implications for the OFDI and innovation literature in general, and particularly for international business scholarship focusing on an under-investigated category of MNCs that are increasingly becoming successful in international competition.

Two new naphthalene-chroman coupling derivatives, cladonaphchroms A (1) and B (2), along with four known compounds (3-6) were obtained from EtOAc extract of the mangrove-derived fungus Cladosporium sp. JJM22. Their structures were elucidated by detailed analysis of comprehensive spectroscopic data. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibit antibacterial or antifungal activities.

Two new 2-arylbenzofurans derivatives sesbcanfuran A and B (1 and 2) together with six known 2-arylbenzofurans derivatives (3–8) were isolated from the stems of Sesbania cannabina (Retz.) Poir. The structures of these compounds were elucidated using comprehensive spectroscopic methods. The inhibitory activities of all compounds against three cancer cell lines were evaluated. Compound 2 showed the highest cytotoxicity against the MCF-2 (IC50 = 1.5 μM) and A549 (IC50 = 4.8 μM) cell lines. The other compounds showed modest activities or were inactive.

Age-related chronic inflammatory process is often referred to as "inflammaging", which had been described in several human disorders, including sarcopenia. Recently, mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA) has moved into the spotlight as a "damage-associated molecular pattern" (DAMP) agent that can potentially elicit inflammation. Yet, the roles of this mitochondrial DAMP have never been investigated in sarcopenia.Cross-sectional study.From January 2021 to June 2021, elderly outpatients ≥65 years and able to finish a comprehensive geriatric assessment were recruited in our study.Participants were divided into sarcopenia group and non-sarcopenia group according to the DXA scans and grip strength. Genomic DNA was extracted from plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and changes in MtDNA copies were quantified using qPCR. Plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines were measured using ELISA kits. Loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) in PBMCs was analyzed using the fluorescent probe JC-1.Participants with sarcopenia were significantly older, more likely to be physically inactive, and had higher levels of circulating cell-free MtDNA (ccf-MtDNA) (all p 0.05). After adjusting for potential confounders, ccf-MtDNA was independently associated with increased odds of sarcopenia (adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 1.576; p = 0.009). Furthermore, ROC curve analysis showed that ccf-MtDNA had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.726 (95% CI: 0.607-0.844; p 0.05) for distinguishing elderly subjects from sarcopenia. Compared with non-sarcopenia subjects, plasma interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 were significantly higher in sarcopenia subjects (both p 0.05). By performing a correlation test, it was found that the level of IL-6 was positively correlated with ccf-MtDNA (r = 0.301; p 0.05). Then, PBMCs were used as surrogates for mitochondria-rich cells, and the results showed that the relative amplification of MtDNA in PBMCs was significantly reduced (p 0.05), whereas the depolarization of Δψm was significantly increased in sarcopenia subjects (p 0.05).Taken together, our data suggested that circulating MtDNA might be a novel and important source of inflammatory stimuli potentially relevant for sarcopenia in elderly people, and this would provide an attractive therapeutic target to improve this disease.

This study examines whether an acquirer’s pre-announcement corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement can provide an insurance-like effect to preserve acquirer returns during the announcement of an acquisition event. Drawing on stakeholder theory and signaling theory, we posit that CSR engagement accrues positive moral capital for an acquirer and sends a positive signal indicating the acquirer’s altruism, both of which temper stakeholders’ negative responses and prevent a reduction in market returns around the announcement of an acquisition. However, high-CSR engagement could backfire when the acquirer makes a hostile takeover announcement. In-congruent signals between high-CSR engagement and the hostile practice are a sign of hypocrisy in the eyes of stakeholders, which can worry investors and hurt acquirer returns. By analysing 1,310 acquisition transactions from 2002–2012, the results of our event study show that high-CSR acquirers generally enjoy positive acquirer returns during their acquisition announcements, but negative returns when the acquisitions are hostile. These findings support the idea that CSR engagement can provide insurance-like benefits during an event that is often seen as “negative”, while also identifying signal in-congruence as an important boundary condition.

BiVO 4 /PDA(Polydopamine)/g-C 3 N 4 was synthesized by facile ultrasonic dispersion and self-assembly at the room temperature, and monoclinic BiVO 4 was embedded on PDA/g-C 3 N 4 sheet, which PDA was first formed in situ on the surface of g-C 3 N 4 via self-polymerization of dopamine. The dependence of photocatalytic activity on the structural, electronic and optical properties of the BiVO 4 /PDA/g-C 3 N 4 nanostructure has been explored using XRD, XPS, TEM, SEM, DRS, PL, BET and photocurrent. The BiVO 4 /PDA/g-C 3 N 4 photocatalysts show higher activity of glyphosate degradation than BiVO 4 , g-C 3 N 4 and BiVO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 under visible light irradiation. The enhanced activity of BiVO 4 /PDA/g-C 3 N 4 can be significantly attributed to the improved visible light absorption, enhanced specific surface area and increased charge separation. PDA has a strong and irreversible binding ability onto BiVO 4 and g-C 3 N 4 to form BiVO 4 /PDA/g-C 3 N 4 . This simple method at the room temperature is promising for the synthesis of high performance composite photocatalysts for different applications, such as pollutant degradation, photocatalytic splitting water, etc.

The phytochemical investigation of the aerial parts of Pteris morii Masamune led to the isolation of a new pterosin derivative pteririene A (1), together with seven pterosin sesquiterpenes (2–8). Structure elucidation of these compounds were performed on the basis of NMR spectral data and MS. All compounds were isolated from the P. morii for the first time. The chemotaxonomic significance of the isolates was also discussed.

We draw on an organizational learning perspective to examine how the speed of foreign direct investments (FDIs) affects firm performance. We argue that firms in general suffer from being either too slow or too fast in their FDI expansions and that the relationship between the speed of FDI expansions (SFEs) and firm performance is best captured by an inverse U-shape. Moreover, the inverse U-shaped relationship varies with the level of globalization pressure in such a way that the inverse U-shaped curve will have a steeper upward and steeper downward curvature for firms operating in global industries than for those in multidomestic industries. Using a panel data set of 1263 Japanese firms’ FDIs from 1986 to 1997, we find strong support for the arguments.

The phytochemical investigation of leaves of Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden & Betche) Cheel led to the isolation of a new monoterpenoid glycoside derivative melaleuoside (1), together with four known monoterpenoid glycoside derivatives (2–5). Structure elucidation of these compounds was performed based on NMR spectral data and MS. Compounds 2–5 were isolated from the genus of Melaleuca for the first time. Furthermore, we also discussed the chemotaxonomic significance of the isolates in this thesis.

Two new sulfur-containing iridoid glucosides saprosmosides J and K (1 and 2) together with seven known iridoid glucosides (3⿿9) were isolated from the stems of Saprosma merrillii. The structures of these compounds were elucidated using comprehensive spectroscopic methods. The absolute configuration of 3 was determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis for the first time. The absolute configuration 4 was determined by comparing CD spectra of 3 and 4. The inhibitory activities of all compounds against two cancer cell lines were evaluated.

In this work, the preparation and physiochemical characterization of tungsten, nitrogen and sulfur codoping TiO2 photocatalysts (W, N, S-TiO2) was undertaken. W, N, S-TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized via the precipitation-impregnation method. To investigate the structural, optical, and electronic properties, the as-prepared W, N, S-TiO2 photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflection spectrum (DRS). W, N, S-TiO2 samples showed photo-absorption in the visible light region and higher visible light photocatalytic activity than TiO2. 0.011W, 0.030(N, S)-TiO2 exhibited the highest visible light photocatalytic activity, and the photocatalyic degradation activity of 0.011W,0.030(N,S)-TiO2 is nearly 10 times higher than that of TiO2. Compared with the undoped TiO2, the improved photocatalytic activity of W, N, S-TiO2 samples under visible light irradiation is attributed to the increase of the visible light absorption and the reduction in photogenerated electron-hole recombination.

A novel type of thioglycollic acid (TGA) capped CdS QDs functionalized g-C3N4 nanohybrids was prepared successfully by in-situ electron beam radiation at room temperature. When the radiation dose was chosen to be 10 kGy, the concentration of CdCl2 was 0.5 mmol/L and the optimum ratio of TGA to CdCl2 was 3 : 1 at pH = 9.0, the TGA-CdS QDs/g-C3N4 nanohydrids had the highest degradation rate at the modified TGA-CdS QDs content of 3.0 wt % and the removal rate of TGA-CdS QDs/g-C3N4 on the dye of MO was reached 94.7% in less than 20 min. The introduction of TGA-CdS QDs was confirmed successfully by a series of morphologies and structures of characterization and analysis with UV–vis, FL, Inverted-FL, DRS, FTIR, XRD, XPS, FE-SEM and HR-TEM, etc. After the introduction of TGA-CdS QDs into the surfaces of g-C3N4, the recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs can be significantly reduced and the photocatalytic activity and photostability can be also improved. It is favorable to enhance the photocatalytic performance for the photo-generated holes are rapidly transferred to the solution and hindered the photo-corrosion of TGA-CdS QDs.

Two novel epimer pairs of acetaminophen derivatives penicilquei A-D (1-4) were isolated from Penicillium herquei JX4. Their structures were elucidated using comprehensive spectroscopic methods. The absolute configurations of penicilquei A-D (1-4) were determined by modifified Mosher's method, and comparing their experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Penicilquei A-D (1-4) are the first example of acetaminophen derivatives featuring an unprecedented carbon skeleton. The inhibitory activities of all compounds against nine phytopathogenic fungi and α-glucosidase were evaluated. Penicilquei A-D (1-4) showed strong inhibitory activities against at least eight phytopathogenic fungus.

Research Summary: We examine the value of political ties on firm performance in an emerging economy. Using social exchange theory, we posit that political connections propel firms to engage more in proself and prosocial activities, which mediate the relationship between political ties and firm performance. The institutional environment moderates the dual mediations such that as the institutional environment improves, the mediation effect through proself engagement weakens, whereas the mediation effect through prosocial engagement strengthens. We found support for these propositions by analyzing two samples of firms in China: A surveyed sample of 363 small- and medium-sized firms and data from 2,780 publicly listed firms from 1999 to 2014. Our findings shed light on the strategic value of political ties, coinciding with the development of institutional environments.

In this paper, we tackle the problem of embedding a set of relational structures into a metric space for purposes of matching and categorisation. To this end, we view the problem from a Riemannian perspective and make use of the concepts of charts on the manifold to define the embedding as a mixture of class-specific submersions. Formulated in this manner, the mixture weights are recovered using a probability density estimation on the embedded graph node coordinates. Further, we recover these class-specific submersions making use of an iterative trust-region method so as to minimise the L2 norm between the hard limit of the graph-vertex posterior probabilities and their estimated values. The method presented here is quite general in nature and allows tasks such as matching, categorisation and retrieval. We show results on graph matching, shape categorisation and digit classification on synthetic data, the MNIST dataset and the MPEG-7 database.

In the recent years, the method to expand Pawlak's rough set model in different kinds of information systems has become a hot topic. This article presents explorative research focusing on the transition from the traditional information system to a complex system—the incomplete information system. In such information system, “do not care” and lost unknown attribute values coexist. With a further investigation of Grzymala-Busse's characteristic relation in the incomplete information system, two unreasonable situations in the analysis of the classified problem are presented. To conduct sound classification in the incomplete information system, a new characteristic relation is proposed and by use of this new characteristic relation, the complete covering on the universe is formed. Based on the maximal complete compatible classes in the complete covering, two notions of the knowledge representation system are presented and some important properties associated with these knowledge representation systems are discussed. For further illustration, an example is analyzed. The research is meaningful both in theory and in applications for the extension of the rough set theory in incomplete information systems.

As the generalization of Fisher discriminant criterion, in this paper, the conception of the generalized Fisher discriminant criterion is presented. On the basis of the generalized Fisher discriminant criterion, the generalized Foley-Sammon transform (GFST) is proposed. The main difference between the GFST and the Foley-Sammon transform (FST) is that the sample set has the minimum within-class scatter and the maximum between-class scatter in the subspace spanned by all discriminant vectors constituting GFST while the sample set has these properties only on the one-dimensional subspace spanned by each discriminant vector constituting FST, that is, the transformed sample set by GFST has the best discriminant ability in global sense while FST has this property only in part sense. To calculate the GFST, an iterative algorithm is proposed, which is proven to converge to the precise solution. The speed and errors of the iterative procedure are also analyzed in detail. Lastly, our method is applied to facial image recognition, and the experimental results show that present method is superior to the existing methods in terms of correct classification rate.

This paper presents a multisensor integrated vision system and sensor fusion algorithm for the navigation of an autonomous mobile robot equipped with a laser range finder radar (LRFR) and a color CCD camera to acquire information about the environment. The 2D model of the environment is constructed and the obstacles on the road are detected by fusing knowledge included in the range of images obtained by the LRFR and the color camera. The fusion algorithm is based on the generalized Dempster-Shafer's theory of evidence (DSTE). The Dempster's rule of combination in the DSTE requires that the combined evidence should be independent of each other, but, as our research has proved, it is more reasonable to assume that the information obtained by the vision system is dependent, and under this assumption the data fusion results are more reliable in many cases. But to achieve this, generalizing the Dempster's rule of combination to the dependent conditions is necessary, so this forms the other major subject of this paper. The presented system and algorithm have been tested in real environments, and their effectiveness has been proved.

A new algorithm for camera calibration using a three-dimensional (3D) reference point as the calibration target is described. The main idea of the method is that the relationship between two cameras' parameters, i.e. the pan angle θ (horizontal viewing angle) and the tilt angle ω (looking angle) and the world coordinates of a given 3D calibration point can be established by the principles of perspective projection and geometrical optics, and the solution of the transcendental equations for calibrating camera parameters can be then solved by an iterative algorithm. The experimental results show that using our method, the maximum relative errors of calibrated parameters θ and ω are 4.02 and 5.53%, respectively. The method has two important advantages: (1) calibration can be done even in the case that the calibration target is far away from the camera; (2) the shape of the calibration object is the simplest among currently available calibration methods.

The Fisher optimal discriminant vector is a very efficient means in high-dimensional pattern analysis. In the case of a small number of samples, the within-class scatter matrix S w is singular; therefore, the calculation of the Fisher optimal discriminant vector becomes very important. In this paper, the conception of the rank decomposition of matrices is first introduced, and a new method for calculating the Fisher optimal discriminant vector is presented which is particularly well suited to the case of a small number of samples in the sense that the scatter matrices are rank-deficient. The new method is compared with the pseudoinverse and perturbation methods in Tian ( J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 5, 1670–1672 (1988)) and Hong and Yang ( Pattern Recognition 24, 317–324 (1991)). An important conclusion is proved: in the three methods, our method is the best one for calculating the Fisher optimal discriminant vectors in the cases of both a large and a small number of samples. The experimental results have also shown that our method can give the highest recognition rate in the case of a small number of samples among the three methods.

This study examines 2,933 cases of Japanese investment in 27 provinces and regions in China to identify the role that policy determinants had in influencing the sub-national location decision of Japanese firms in China. The empirical results show that the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Opening Coastal Cities (OCCs) were a successful policy instrument initially, as SEZs and OCCs had a strong influence on Japanese foreign investment during the early years of China's liberalized foreign investment environment. Since the mid-1990s SEZs and OCCs have attracted proportionally less foreign investment as competition from other special investment zones has intensified in China. From these observations, we discuss the periodic influence of SEZs and OCCs and introduce and review the influence of newly emerging investment zones. We also draw inferences to the location choice literature in terms of understanding the variable influence of policy factors and traditional locational indicators as driven by temporal changes in investor motivations and preferences in a country.