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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore whether and to what extent the changes in state corporate income tax rates affect corporate tax aggressiveness. Design/methodology/approach Using a differences-in-differences approach with dynamic treatment, the authors investigate the effect of staggered changes in state corporate income tax rates in the USA on corporate tax aggressiveness. Findings Firms become more aggressive in avoiding taxes following state tax increases but are insensitive to tax cuts. The effect of state tax increases on tax aggressiveness is weaker for firms with greater debt tax shields and marginal tax rates. Firms are more likely to shift their operations and relocate their headquarters out of states experiencing tax increases. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to study the relation between state tax policy changes and corporate tax aggressiveness. This paper finds an asymmetrical pattern of corporate tax aggressiveness in response to state tax changes.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of social capital in the issuances of Rule 144A debt. Using a sample of 1,378 debt offerings from 1997 to 2015 in the US, this paper provides empirical evidence on whether and to what extent social capital affects the cost of Rule 144A debt.Design/methodology/approachThis paper employs a county-level measure of social capital and links social capital to the yield spreads of Rule 144A debt. A Heckman selection model is sued to address the sample selection bias, and an instrumental variable approach and propensity score matching methodology are implemented to deal with the potential endogeneity issue. The authors check for robustness using an alternative measure of social capital.FindingsThe results of the analysis provide evidence that issuers headquartered in the counties with higher levels of social capital experience lower yield spreads in their Rule 144A debt offerings. The findings are robust to a Heckman selection model, an instrumental variable approach and propensity score matching. Furthermore, the analysis reveals the marginal effect of social capital that the effect of social capital is more pronounced for the issuing firms with higher agency cost of debt and lower institutional ownership. The effect of social capital is more prominent after financial crisis.Originality/valueThis paper provides novel evidence of the effect of social capital on the cost of privately placed debt. The issuances of Rule 144A debt are subject to significant information asymmetry and are targeted at sophisticated institutional investors. This paper sheds further light on how institutional investors incorporate the regional social capital in their pricing scheme of private placement of Rule 144A debt.

Zhenshuo He,1,&ast; Haizhi Wang,2,&ast; Shan Wang,3,&ast; Lu Li4 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Sixth People’s Hospital of Hengshui City, Hengshui, 053099, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, The People’s Hospital of Hengshui City, Hengshui, 053099, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Laboratory Medicine, The People’s Hospital of Huangmei, Huanggang, 435599, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Nephrology, The First People’s Hospital of Jiangxia District, Wuhan, 430299, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Lu Li, Department of Nephrology, The first People’s hospital of jiangxia district, No. 1 of Cultural Avenue, Wuhan, 430299, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86027-87958740, Email 307034153@qq.comBackground: We wanted to demonstrate whether the initial platelet-to-albumin ratio (PAR) had predictive value for cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) and prognosis of critical care patients.Methods: This is an observational and multi-center study from the MIMIC-IV database, the eICU-CRD database as well as CS patients at our institution. Logistic regression and Cox regression analyses were applied to determine the predictive value for CSA-AKI and in-hospital mortality. LASSO and SVM-RFE models were then employed to discover the coincident variables connected with CSA-AKI. The main objective of this research was the incidence of CSA-AKI, whereas the secondary endpoint was in-hospital death.Results: The higher PAR value (≥ 4.67) had a higher risk of CSA-AKI (adjusted OR = 4.02, 95% CI 3.41– 4.75, P < 0.001) and in-hospital mortality (HR = 2.41 95% CI 1.44– 4.03, P = 0.001) after adjusted for other confounding factors including patients with or without chronic kidney disease. The proposed nomogram based on PAR and others clinical factors selected by LASSO and SVM-RFE models for CSA-AKI had the C-index 0.821 (95% CI 0.807– 0.834), 0.808 (95% CI 0.787– 0.829), 0.745 (95% CI 0.728– 0.762), and 0.826 (95% CI 0.753– 0.899) in these cohorts, respectively. The nomogram exhibited both remarkable calibration capacity and therapeutic helpfulness in all groups.Conclusion: PAR is a relative excellent measure for the event AKI and prognosis of ICU patients who undergone CS. The suggested nomogram based on PAR resulted in an accurate prediction for the detection of critical care patients with CSA-AKI.Keywords: platelet to albumin ratio, cardiac surgery, acute kidney injury, nomograms, prognosis

Along with cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity, coagulation disorder is a common early complication of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy. However, the mechanisms and prognostic significance of CAR-T-related coagulation disorders are not fully known. This study explored the possible correlation factors and prognostic significance of coagulation disorders after CAR-T cell infusion in patients with relapsed/refractory hematological malignancies.This cohort study included 56 patients with relapsed/refractory hematological malignancies who were treated with CAR-T cells between April 2017 and February 2022. The median follow-up was 26.8 months. Coagulation disorders were defined as the abnormality in at least one coagulation parameters, including prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), thrombin time (TT), fibrinogen, and D-dimer. The correlation factors of coagulation disorders were analyzed using Wilcoxon rank-sum test, Fisher's exact test, pairedThe incidence of coagulation disorders was 59% within 1 month of CAR-T cell infusion. PT prolongation, APTT prolongation, TT prolongation, and D-dimer increase peaked at a median of 6-9 days, and fibrinogen decreased to its lowest value at a median of 12 days. Coagulation disorders in patients with severe CRS were more significant (P0.001). Abnormality of coagulation parameters was closely related to cytokines, CAR-T cells, liver function parameters, and von Willebrand Factor (VWF) in both peak level and peak time (P0.05). Statistical analysis showed that coagulation disorders were associated with higher initial response rates (TT, P=0.006; D-dimer, P=0.010) and also longer progression-free survival (PFS) (PT, P=0.017; APTT, P=0.018; TT, P=0.001; Fibrinogen, P=0.003; D-dimer, P0.001) in CAR-T therapy, with TT prolongation (HR =0.279, 95% CI: 0.099-0.782, P=0.015) and D-dimer increase (HR =0.218, 95% CI: 0.087-0.548, P=0.001) independent predictors for PFS.The protection of liver and endothelial cells may reduce CAR-T-related coagulation disorders. Further, coagulation disorders occurring within 1 month of CAR-T cell infusion can serve as a new predictor for prognosis in patients with hematological malignancies.

The effects of personal bankruptcy law on the activities of traditional credit markets have attracted significant interests in many studies. In this study, we focus on the online Peer-to-Peer (P2P)...

An experimentally obtained volcano-type curve is observed for propane dehydrogenation over a group of atomically dispersed Pt catalysts on various supports. The oxidation state of Ptδ+ active sites plays a determining role in enhancing the activity.

The structure–performance relationship is a critical fundamental issue in heterogeneous catalysis, and the size-dependent structure sensitivity of catalytic reactions has long been researched in ca...

This study investigates the effects of investments by qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs) on the informational efficiency of stock prices in Chinese A‐share stock markets. Employing a large sample of listed firms from 2004 to 2012, we document a significant and positive relationship between stock price informativeness and stock ownership by foreign institutional investors. We also use the instrument‐variable approach, propensity‐score matching method, as well as an alternative measure of informational efficiency to ensure the robustness of our findings. We document that the effects of foreign ownership on informational efficiency is stronger for firms with lower levels of assets intangibility and in regions with less developed institutions. In addition, we document that the effects of foreign ownership on informational efficiency is more pronounced when QFIIs have better local information and more incentives to monitor.

This paper empirically investigates the effect of mandatory pension contributions on firm innovation. We find that firms with mandatory contributions experience a decline in their innovation output. This effect is stronger for firms with financial constraints, more short-term institutional investors, higher levels of managerial short-termism. We also document that mandatory pension contributions result in a reduction in firm research and development expenditures and an increase in firm debt-to-asset ratio. Moreover, we report that firms with mandatory contributions increase their alliance activities to pursue innovation with external partners.

China’s Belt and Road (B&R) initiative provides new ideas and opportunities for international cooperation. Renewable energy plays a crucial role not only in the national sustainable development framework of China and the Philippines but also in bilateral cooperation between them. However, some obstacles still need to be addressed because renewable energy cooperation between China and the Philippines has not been thoroughly and comprehensively studied to date. Based on an in-depth analysis of current renewable energy cooperation between China and the Philippines, this paper employs PESTEL analysis to fully investigate the cooperative advantages and disadvantages by considering politics (P), economy (E), society (S), technology (T), environment (E), and legislation (L) and proposes several constructive suggestions. The ultimate purpose was to design feasible schemes to ensure the sufficient utilization of renewable energy and the construction of integrated power grid systems to meet shortages of electricity supply especially in the isolated small islands in the Philippines through cooperation with China. In particular, it offers valuable advice concerning the U.S.-China trade war and COVID- 19 pandemic, outlining how cooperation in the exploitation of potential renewable energy is vital.

As the biggest country in power consumption and generation, China owns the largest scale of transmission line worldwide. The application of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in inspection has been carried out for many years in China because of its strong adaptability and safety compared to the traditional manual way. For the further development of UAV application technology in transmission line inspection, China has accumulated rich experiences and greatly improved line inspection efficiency and formed a relatively complete UAV transmission line inspection standardization system including operation safety management, an equipment configuration method, and functional quality requirements. However, there still exist some obstacles that need to be tackled due to the fact that China’s UAV transmission line inspection standardization and its international promotion have not been thoroughly and comprehensively studied at present. Based on an in-depth analysis of China’s current UAV transmission line inspection standardization system, this study employs SWOT-PEST analysis to insightfully investigate international promotion opportunities/challenges under the current situation, upon which several constructive suggestions are proposed from four aspects of politics, economy, society, and technology. The ultimate purpose is to design feasible schemes to boost the international promotion of China’s UAV transmission line inspection standardization and further development of international UAV inspection technology.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate universal banks as an important source of external funding and their effects on borrowing firms’ innovation outputs.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ regression analyses including a difference-in-difference approach and a two-sided matching method to ensure the robustness of the findings. The authors further explore some potential channels and boundary conditions for the main findings.FindingsThe authors find that borrowing from universal banks is negatively associated with the quantity of firm innovation, but not the quality of firm innovation. The authors document that borrowing firms reduce their R&D expenditures and rely more on external partners to produce innovation outputs after loan originations from universal banks. The negative relation between universal bank lending and the quantity of firm innovation is more prominent for unrelated innovation and for financially constrained firms.Research limitations/implicationsThe evidence reveals that universal banks may use their informational advantage and market power to limit their corporate borrowers’ investment in innovation activities.Originality/valueThe paper extends the line of research on the source of financing and firm innovation, and establishes a robust relationship between capital market and product market.

Both wind strength and anthropogenic emissions have been assumed to be the dominant factors in determining the occurrence of hazy weather in China. However, few records are available with sufficient temporal length and resolution, which enable the two signals to be separated, and hence address the dynamics of haze days and the global impact of the anthropogenic emissions in China, particularly in the context of global warming. Here we present the first long-term (last 180 years) lake sediment records of changes in wind strength and atmospheric loading of anthropogenic emissions in China. Our results show that the atmospheric loading of anthropogenic emissions and haze formation are closely related to the changes in wind strength associated with temperature changes, which are likely forced by tropical sea surface temperature. Comparison of our results with Pb isotope records from Japan and with the record of Pb concentrations in Greenland ice core indicates that the anthropogenic pollutants emitted in China stagnate mainly over the source area and neighboring regions, which thus favors haze formation under a warming climate. However, they would be transported worldwide under conditions of strong winds and decreased temperature. Climatic warming, together with the periodic changes in temperature, has caused unprecedented heavy haze days in recent decades in China. The observed pattern of periodic temperature variations suggests that in the next 30 years, wind strength will increase and thus reduce the incidence of haze days. However, this reduction may be attenuated by continued climatic warming as anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions continue.

This article documents evidence that intra-industry uncertainty has a positive relation with firm valuation. Specifically, the reduction of intra-industry uncertainty about firm future profitability leads to a decline of firm ME/BE ratios over time. The authors find that the positive relation is more prominent for firms in high-tech sectors and those with intensive product market competition. Their results are robust to the control of firm-level uncertainty and alternative measures of intra-industry uncertainty. TOPICS:Fundamental equity analysis, statistical methods

Introducing sulfur species into Pt catalysts has been proven to be an effective method to improve their performance in various reactions. However, the role of sulfur addition on Pt catalysts catalyzing propane dehydrogenation (PDH) is still not clear. This work combines catalyst characterizations, catalytic kinetics studies and DFT calculations to understand the influence of H2S addition in the feed on Pt/θ-Al2O3 catalyzed PDH from a mechanistic perspective. With the addition of a trace amount of H2S in the feed (3 ppm), the propylene selectivity increases from 79% to 96% and the deactivation factor decreases from 33% to 18%, at the expense of a slight activity loss. The improved catalytic performance can be partially attributed to the electron transfer from sulfur species to Pt atoms as indicated by CO-DRIFTS results. DFT calculations show that H2S could be the dominating sulfur species on Pt particles and donate electrons to Pt atoms, which further proves that sulfur species improve the catalytic performance by donating electrons. In addition, the repulsion between sulfur species and C3 hydrocarbons also explains the improved catalytic performance. © 2019. This is the authors' accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CY02393J

We empirically investigate whether taking senior bank loans would enhance market discipline and control risk-taking among borrowing banks. Controlling for endogeneity concern arising from borrowing bank self-select into taking senior bank debt, we document that both the spreads and covenants in loan contracts are sensitive to bank risk variables. Our analysis also reveals that borrowing banks reduce their risk exposure after their first issuance of senior bank debt. We also find that lending banks significantly increase their collaboration with borrowing banks and increase their presence in the home markets of borrowing banks.

Empirical rainfall thresholds derived from various types of rainfall intensities have widely used in characterizing rainfall conditions that cause debris flows and landslides. However, few works have studied the differences among these various thresholds, due to limited information on the instantaneous intensity triggering debris flows. The detail records of the storms on 21 July, 2012, 20 July, 2016, and 16 July, 2018, together with the occurrence time of debris flows, provide an opportunity to evaluate the thresholds based on various rainfall intensities. Based these data, a new rainfall threshold of debris flows is derived from the instantaneous rainfall intensity in Beijing. At the same time, the thresholds based on average rainfall intensities as used in most previous studies, including the average over the periods from the beginnings of rainfall to the occurrences of the debris flows and over the whole period of the rainstorms, are reconstructed. The result shows that the instantaneous rainfall threshold has a higher ability in separating the rainstorms inducing from those without reducing debris flows than those derived from average intensities, indicating a high accurate of the instantaneous threshold. Our data also indicate that the debris flows in Beijing should be triggered by the concert works of rainfall intensity and cumulative precipitation. Only when enough water to infiltrate, saturate, mobilize the debris sediments, and sufficient high water flows and surges caused by intensive storms to incorporate and retain the mobilized sediments, are satisfied simultaneously do the debris flows occur.

A versatile pore network model is used to study deactivation by coking in a single catalyst particle. This approach allows to gain detailed insights into the progression of deactivation from active site, to pore, and to particle – providing valuable information for catalyst design. The model is applied to investigate deactivation by coking during propane dehydrogenation in a Pt‐Sn/Al2O3 catalyst particle. We find that the deactivation process can be separated into two stages when there exist severe diffusion limitation and pore blockage, and the toxicity of coke formed in the later stage is much stronger than of coke formed in the early stage. The reaction temperature and composition change the coking rate and apparent reaction rate, informed by the kinetics, but, remarkably, they do not change the capacity for a catalyst particle to accommodate coke. On the other hand, the pore network structure significantly affects the capacity to contain coke.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation has emerged as a treatment option for treatment-resistant depression. While existing data largely support efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation for major depressive disorder, ongoing research aims to optimize treatment parameters and identify biomarkers of treatment response. In this article, the authors describe data from controlled trials and ongoing efforts to enhance transcranial magnetic stimulation outcomes for major depressive disorder. Findings from preliminary research aimed at identifying neuroimaging and neurophysiological biomarkers of transcranial magnetic stimulation effects are discussed.

This study investigates whether and to what extent bank control over firms by their representation on boards of directors and by equity holdings through trust business may affect corporate environmental responsibility. Using a large sample of listed firms in the United States from 2004 to 2016, we find that banker directors with equity affiliation improve firms’ environmental performance scores and such impact is associated with affiliated bank’s shareholdings, investment horizon, and environmental orientation. Additionally, we document that the effects of bank control on firm’s environmental investments is stronger for firms with more short-term institutional investors but weaker for firms with more analyst coverage. Moreover, we find that when firms are financially constrained, banker directors reduce environmental investments. Finally, product-market competition matters for a firm’s environmental strategies as the relation of bank control and environmental investments is more profound under conditions of greater industry competition.

We investigate the effects of bank financing on regional entrepreneurial activities in China. We present contrasting findings on the role of quantity vs. quality of bank financing on small business formation in China: while we document a consistent, significantly positive relationship between the quality of bank financing and new venture formation, we find that the quantity of supplied credit is insignificant. We report that formal institutions are positively correlated to regional entrepreneurial activities, and informal institutions substitute formal institutions. Our findings also reveal that the institutional environment tends to supplement bank financing in promoting regional entrepreneurial activities.

Adopting an instrumental approach for stakeholder management, we focus on two primary stakeholder groups (employees and creditors) to investigate the relationship between employee treatment and loan contracts with banks. We find strong evidence that fair employee treatment reduces loan price and limits the use of financial covenants. In addition, we document that relationship bank lenders price both the levels and changes in the quality of employee treatment, whereas first-time bank lenders only care about the levels of fair employee treatment. Taking a contingency perspective, we find that industry competition and firm asset intangibility moderate the relationship between good human resource management and bank loan costs. The cost reduction effect of fair employee treatment is stronger for firms operating in a more competitive industry and having higher levels of intangible assets.

The hydrophobically modified ceramic membranes have great potential for energy-efficient membrane distillation. In this work, flat-sheet ceramic membranes with a superhydrophobic surface were fabricated by grafting 1 H ,1 H ,2 H ,2 H -perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane or 1 H ,1 H ,2 H ,2 H -perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane and followed by ultraviolet irradiation. The surface water contact angle was improved from 46° of original ceramic membrane to 159°, which exhibited a stable and excellent superhydrophobic effect. The modified membranes showed a high flux of 27.28 kg·m − 2 ·h − 1 and simultaneously maintained an excellent retention rate of 99.99%, when used in vacuum membrane distillation process for treatment of a 1 wt% NaCl (75 °C) aqueous solution. These results suggested that superhydrophobic modification of ceramic surface is a facile and cost-effective way to achieve higher membrane distillation performance. The superhydrophobically-modified ceramic membrane with an excellent desalination capacity would show considerable potential in practical membrane distillation utilizations.

In methanol synthesis, hydrogen from purge gas is commonly recycled. In order to recycle hydrogen in a methanol synthesis loop effectively, multicomponent mathematical model for a hydrogen recycling process using membrane separation is established. With the help of L’Hopital’s rule, we get the boundary conditions easily, which greatly simplified the calculation. The mathematical software MATLAB was used to solve the model. Various operating conditions and membrane separator parameters were considered to investigate the effects of various parameters on the hydrogen recovery. Results from the model are in good agreement with literature values. This model can therefore be used in the analysis of operating conditions for hydrogen recovery from purge gas and in the analysis of other gas separation processes. It can be a significant guide to industrial applications of gas separation process.

Using a sample of syndicated loan facilities granted to US corporate borrowers from 1987 to 2013, we directly gauge the lead banks’ market power, and test its effects on both price and non-price terms in loan contracts. We find that bank market power is positively correlated with loan spreads, and the positive relation holds for both non-relationship loans and relationship loans. In particular, we report that, for relationship loans, lending banks charge lower loan price for borrowing firms with lower switching cost. We further employ a framework accommodating the joint determination of loan contractual terms, and document that the lead banks’ market power is positively correlated with collateral and negatively correlated with loan maturity. In addition, we report a significant and negative relationship between banking power and the number of covenants in loan contracts, and the negative relationship is stronger for relationship loans.

Bipolar membranes have interesting applications because they allow to produce an acid and a base from a neutral salt feed stream. Water dissociation occurred in intermediate layer plays a very important role for efficient bipolar membrane processes. Development of a strong hydrophilic and low resistance intermediate layer is crucial to further improve bipolar membrane efficiency. In this work, an utra-thin graphene oxide (GO) intermediate layer was successfully prepared by an atomizing spray assembly technique, which has greatly improved the water dissociation capacity. An optimal voltage obtained from GO-based bipolar membrane was only 1.85 V at 100 mA/cm2, which was far lower than those previously reported. An electrodialysis test also showed that the H+ concentration was higher than that in a bipolar membrane without GO as an intermediate layer. These clearly indicated that GO was an effective catalyst for water dissociation and could significantly reduce the energy consumption of such a bipolar membrane. The preliminary performances suggested the great prospect of these GO-based membranes for bipolar membrane electrodialysis.

In this study, we examine how noncompetition agreements and the mobility of human capital – a core asset of any firm – affect innovations of publicly traded firms in the United States. We find that firms in states with stricter noncompetition enforcement have fewer patent applications. We also examine patent forward citations and find that tougher enforcement of such contracts is associated with less innovative patents. Notably, we find that stronger enforcement of noncompetition agreements impedes innovation for firms facing intense industry labor mobility. High-powered, equity-based compensation positively moderates the relationship between noncompetition enforcement and innovation, but only for the quality of innovation.

Bipolar membrane processes have evolved as one of the most promising technologies in the field of acid and base production as well as many interesting separation applications. Herein, we report a rapid spray-crosslinked assembly for fabricating a high-performance polyelectrolyte bipolar membrane. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), glutaricdialdehyde (GA) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) are alternatively and successively sprayed onto a supporting cation-exchange membrane. GA crosslinked PVA and PEI are responsible for the interlayer and anion-exchange layer, respectively. Under optimal conditions, at a current density of 100 mA cm−2, the cell voltage of the BPM was as low as 1.79 V. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that the spray crosslinked membrane has good stability in acid and alkali harsh conditions. In contrast to the traditional casting method, spray assembly combined with chemical cross-linking can tune the membrane thickness at the nanoscale and microscale levels, as well as increase its charge density and ion-exchange capacity. This facile approach might open a new way to efficiently and flexibly produce various bipolar membranes with different polyelectrolytes.

We analyze preferences of foreign institutional investors in the Chinese stock market in a sample that covers 2003 to 2014. We find that foreign investors changed their investment behavior during the sample period from generic patterns found in much of the world to China-specific patterns. The results suggest that foreign institutions learned to adjust their investment behavior to account for unique features of the Chinese market.

In this study, we examine whether and to what extent affiliated bankers on board may affect firms’ corporate social performance. Using a propensity score-matched sample from 2002 to 2016, we find that board directors from affiliated banks exert significantly positive influence on firms’ corporate social performance. Furthermore, board of directors from affiliated banks are negatively associated with firm investments in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities when firms experience financial distress. Finally, we find that the effect of affiliated bankers on board on firms’ CSR performance depends on the affiliated banks’ CSR orientation, as affiliated banker directors from banks with higher CSR orientation have a stronger influence on firms’ investments in CSR activities. The results suggest that improving firm’s CSR performance is consistent with the affiliated banks’ interests.

This study examines whether and to what extend global equity offerings at the IPO stage may affect issuing firms' ability to borrow in the domestic debt market. Tracking bank loans taken by U.S. IPO firms in the domestic syndicated loan market, we observe that global equity offering firms experience more favorable loan price than that offered to their domestic counterparts. This finding holds for a set of robustness tests of endogeneity issues. We also find that, compared with their domestic counterparts, global equity offering firms are less likely to have financial distress, engage more in international diversification, and are more likely to wait a longer time to apply for syndicated loans.