We examine whether investors value the disclosure of first-time standalone corporate social responsibility reports, and whether market valuations differ between government-controlled and privately controlled firms. Using a matched sample of Chinese publicly listed firms, we find that CSR initiators have higher market valuations than matched CSR non-initiators, and CSR initiators controlled by the central and local governments have lower market valuations than CSR non-initiators and CSR initiators controlled by private shareholders. Additional analyses demonstrate that CSR initiators with high CSR reporting (...) quality and perceived credibility have higher market valuations than CSR initiators with low CSR reporting quality and medium or low perceived credibility of CSR reporting. We do not find convincing evidence that CSR mandate, litigation risk, and prior stock returns affect market reactions to CSR reporting. Overall, we find that the market values standalone CSR reports, and that CSR reporting quality and perceived credibility are important factors in market valuation. (shrink)

Compared to constraint-based causal discovery, causal discovery based on functional causal models is able to identify the whole causal model under appropriate assumptions [Shimizu et al. 2006; Hoyer et al. 2009; Zhang and Hyvärinen 2009b]. Functional causal models represent the effect as a function of the direct causes together with an independent noise term. Examples include the linear non-Gaussian acyclic model, nonlinear additive noise model, and post-nonlinear model. Currently, there are two ways to estimate the parameters in the models: dependence (...) minimization and maximum likelihood. In this article, we show that for any acyclic functional causal model, minimizing the mutual information between the hypothetical cause and the noise term is equivalent to maximizing the data likelihood with a flexible model for the distribution of the noise term. We then focus on estimation of the PNL causal model and propose to estimate it with the warped Gaussian process with the noise modeled by the mixture of Gaussians. As a Bayesian nonparametric approach, it outperforms the previous one based on mutual information minimization with nonlinear functions represented by multilayer perceptrons; we also show that unlike the ordinary regression, estimation results of the PNL causal model are sensitive to the assumption on the noise distribution. Experimental results on both synthetic and real data support our theoretical claims. (shrink)

The existing literature has explored the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) opening on macrolevel environmental performance. However, few studies have validated its effects on microlevel corporate environmental responsibility performance. Therefore, on the basis of data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2020, we examine the relationship between HSR opening and corporate environmental responsibility performance, along with the underlying reasons for this relationship. Our research reveals that HSR opening can significantly improve the corporate environmental responsibility performance. Talent aggregation and (...) supervisory pressure constitute the two main channels that explain the positive relationship. Furthermore, the results of heterogeneity tests indicate that this positive effect is more significant in cities with larger populations and administrative centers, as well as in nonpolluting industries and companies certified through ISO14001 environmental management systems. This paper confirms that HSR opening contributes to generating positive externalities for firms and provides valuable insights into improving and understanding corporate environmental responsibility performance. (shrink)

This paper studies the state of charge estimation of supercapacitors and lithium batteries in the hybrid energy storage system of electric vehicles. According to the energy storage principle of the electric vehicle composite energy storage system, the circuit models of supercapacitors and lithium batteries were established, respectively, and the model parameters were identified online using the recursive least square method and Kalman filtering algorithm. Then, the online estimation of SOC was completed based on the Kalman filtering algorithm and unscented Kalman (...) filtering algorithm. Finally, the experimental platform for SOC estimation was built and Matlab was used for calculation and analysis. The experimental results showed that the SOC estimation results reached a high accuracy, and the variation range of estimation error was [−0.94%, 0.34%]. For lithium batteries, the recursive least square method is combined with the 2RC model to obtain the optimal result, and the estimation error is within the range of [−1.16%, 0.85%] in the case of comprehensive weighing accuracy and calculation amount. Moreover, the system has excellent robustness and high reliability. (shrink)

In longitudinal cohort studies involving large populations over extended periods, informed consent entails numerous urgent challenges. This paper explores challenges regarding informed consent in long‐term, large‐scale longitudinal cohort studies based on the longitudinal and dynamic nature of such research. It analyzes and evaluates widely recognized broad consent and dynamic consent methods, highlighting limitations concerning their ability to adapt to evolving research objectives and participant perspectives. This paper discusses trust‐based informed consent and emphasizes the needs to establish and maintain trust with (...) research participants and to balance information disclosure with respect for participants' autonomy. Informed consent in long‐term studies is an evolving process that must adapt to changing research environments. Based on participant trust, researchers should observe and assess potential research risks. Finally, the paper recommends enhancing institutional credibility, implementing reconsent procedures, and ensuring robust ethical oversight to safeguard participants' rights despite the complexity of modern biomedical research. (shrink)

This study examines how the social climate of comparison in which a founder grew up impacts family business (FB) philanthropy, emphasizing the founder's role in FB decisions. With a dataset of 758 Chinese FBs, we find that the stronger the social climate of comparison in the founder's region of upbringing, the more charitable donations the FB tends to make. This effect is more pronounced in areas with a high concentration of FBs. The unspoken rules of Chinese society, related to ‘face (...) (Mianzi)’ and ‘favours’ significantly influence business decisions. (shrink)

The present study explored the correlation between music preference and mental health of college students to make an empirical contribution to research in this field. The self-reported music preference scale and positive mental health scale of college students were adopted to conduct a questionnaire survey in college students. Common method variance was conducted to test any serious common method bias problem. No serious common method bias problem was observed. The results showed that college students’ preference for pop music, Western classical (...) music, and Chinese traditional music has a significant and positive correlation with their mental health. Furthermore, college students’ preference for heavy music has a significant and inverse correlation with their mental health. This research presents a correlational study; therefore, no causality can be inferred. (shrink)

The multicultural work, The Dream of the Red Chamber, posits a field for exploring the interconnection between Confucian interpretations and its intrinsic Goddess narrative. In this article, I examine the reconciliation of the former with the latter. The immanent transcendence in Neo-Confucianism is not enough for interpreting this novel, for covering the question of a natural connection between Vermilion Pearl and Shen Ying, for a dichotomy of tian and the earth, the transcendent and the immanent. The Goddess narrative of repairing (...) tian can rectify this difficult position and a nomadic spirituality forged in a mutually cultivating process is proposed, both to rescue the Confucian interpretation of the novel and to find a way of reconciling the Confucian ‘tian’ and the Goddess. (shrink)

As a promising method with excellent characteristics in terms of resilience and dependability, distributed methods are gradually used in the field of energy management of microgrid. However, these methods have more stringent requirements on the working conditions, which will make the system more sensitive to communication failures and cyberattacks. As a result, it is both theoretical merits and practical values to investigate the malicious effect of cyber attacks on microgrid. This paper studies the distributed economic dispatch problem under denial-of-service attacks (...) for the microgrid, in which each generator can communicate with its neighbors and has the computational capability to implement local operation. Firstly, a DoS attack model is proposed, in which the DoS attacker intentionally jams the communication channel to deteriorate the performance of the microgrid. Then, the evolution mechanism of the dispatch system of the microgrid under different attack scenarios is adequately discussed. On this basis, an optimal attack strategy based on enumerating-search algorithm is presented to allocate the limited attack resources reasonably, so as to maximize the effect of DoS attacks. Finally, the validity of the theoretical studies about the attack effect under different scenarios and the effectiveness of the proposed enumerating-search-based optimal attack strategy are illustrated through the simulation examples on the IEEE 57-bus system and IEEE 39-bus system, respectively. (shrink)

This article uses a research method that combines theoretical research and empirical analysis. It first introduces the relevant theories of energy service city distribution sites in the context of e-commerce and then the types of energy service city distribution sites and the composition of energy service city distribution systems. The network layout of the service city distribution site and the location objectives, principles, and processes of the model is studied to determine the network layout plan of the energy service city (...) distribution system in this paper. This paper fully considers the characteristics of the network operation mode of the energy service city distribution site and establishes an optimization model for the location selection and vehicle routing of the distribution center with the lowest total system cost under the simultaneous delivery service mode; based on the hierarchical solution strategy, a combination of deep learning is designed. Algorithms mainly include two-stage hybrid heuristic algorithm of cluster analysis, maximum coverage and genetic algorithm; simulation analysis is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the model and algorithm by data simulation, finally get the integrated optimization plan of distribution center location and routing, and put forward the operation strategy through the result expansion analysis. This paper studies the planning model based on the network layout planning of the energy service city distribution system under the e-commerce environment, aiming to promote the breakthrough development of urban smart logistics and prove the importance of the energy service city distribution station network layout planning. The purpose and results of the research are to reduce traffic and environmental pressures, achieve joint direct distribution, improve the efficiency of urban logistics and distribution, and solve the problem of the last mile of the city. (shrink)

Relevance deprivation syndrome refers to feelings of incompetence among retired people caused by them leaving their high status or influential jobs. The question then arises: do people in positions of power, like Danwei leaders in China, have a lower life satisfaction post-retirement compared to other groups? This study investigated the influence of serving as a Danwei leader before retirement on retirees’ life satisfaction, as well as differences in this influence and the channels through which they are affected. Based on the (...) data of 5,873 respondents of the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, ordinary least-squares, ordered logistic regression, and propensity score matching models were used to investigate the influence, differences, and influential mechanisms of serving as a Danwei leader before retirement on retirees’ life satisfaction. We found that Danwei leaders experience a significantly positive impact on their life satisfaction post-retirement. Second, the positive impact of having served in this role on peoples’ post-retirement life satisfaction is related to the resulting higher income, social status, and better living habits. In contrast to the perspective of relevance deprivation syndrome, in China, having been a Danwei leader before retirement has a significantly positive impact on peoples’ life satisfaction post-retirement, with there being a significant difference observed among different types of retired Danwei leaders. (shrink)

Emerging medical biotechnology typically exhibits a ‘dual-use’ nature, which, while promoting human well-being, concurrently presents potential risks of misuse or abuse, thereby posing significant threats. Globally, including in China, emerging medical biotechnology is developing rapidly. To understand the views and perspectives of Chinese scientists on dual-use concerns, this empirical study conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with researchers (n=14) from various specialties within the Chinese medical field, analysing their perspectives and ethical considerations regarding dual-use concerns. The findings of this study reveal a (...) spectrum of attitudes among interviewees towards the exploration and application of emerging medical biotechnology, ranging from aggressive to conservative. This tension reflects the complexity and challenges of seeking a balance between promoting scientific innovation and maintaining ethical boundaries. Furthermore, while there is a consensus among scientists that the development and application of biotechnology encompass both risks and benefits, their stances on weighing these factors differ, reflecting how risk perception is influenced by professional limitations. Moreover, although scientists recognise the indispensability of both self-regulation and external oversight in practice, they also exhibit misunderstandings in ethical cognition and misinterpretations of regulatory measures. In light of these findings, it is imperative for us to urgently fortify national regulatory mechanisms and the construction of legal and ethical frameworks while also enhancing the ethical awareness and risk assessment capabilities of researchers. These measures are crucial for minimising the potential risks associated with dual use and fostering the sustainable and responsible development of emerging medical biotechnology. (shrink)

Biobanks are vital for advancing medical research, and public participation is a crucial determinant of their success. This study uses a survey to assess the awareness, attitudes, and motivation of the public in China with regard to participating in biobanks. We conducted an online survey that yielded 616 responses from participants with diverse demographic backgrounds. The survey included questions on the respondents’ awareness of biobanks, their attitudes toward them, their preferences with regard to consent, and their concerns. The results of (...) the survey revealed that 57.95% of the respondents were aware of biobanks. Altruism was the respondents’ primary motivation for participation in biobanks. Their preferences for models of consent varied. The respondents raised concerns about the commercialization of biobanks (56.66%) and data privacy (55.84%). Notably, only 37.01% of the respondents were concerned about the risk of discrimination in biobanks, where this was lower compared with the results for populations in Western countries. This study provides valuable insights into the Chinese public’s awareness of and attitudes toward biobanks. To foster public trust and enhance participation, biobanks should prioritize transparent and continual communication to ensure that the participants are well informed about the use and protection of the samples that they have donated. Future research should explore the influence of cultural nuances to develop strategies that address specific concerns and ethical challenges in the context of public participation in biobanks. (shrink)

A highly transmittable and pathogenic viral infection, COVID-19, has dramatically changed the world with a tragically large number of human lives being lost. The epidemic has created psychological resilience and unbearable psychological pressure among patients and health professionals. The objective of this study is to analyze investor psychology and stock market behavior during COVID-19. The psychological behavior of investors, whether positive or negative, toward the stock market can change the picture of the economy. This research explores Shanghai, Nikkei 225, and (...) Dow Jones stock markets from January 20, 2020, to April 27, 2020, by employing principal component analysis. The results showed that investor psychology was negatively related to three selected stock markets under psychological resilience and pandemic pressure. The negative emotions and pessimism urge investors to cease financial investment in the stock market, and consequently, the stock market returns decreased. In a deadly pandemic, the masses were more concerned about their lives and livelihood and less about wealth and leisure. This research contributes to the literature gap of investors’ psychological behavior during a pandemic outbreak. The study suggests that policy-makers should design a plan to fight against COVID-19. The government should manage the health sector’s budget to overcome future crises. (shrink)

Interpersonal physiological synchrony has been consistently found during collaborative tasks. However, few studies have applied synchrony to predict collaborative learning quality in real classroom. To explore the relationship between interpersonal physiological synchrony and collaborative learning activities, this study collected electrodermal activity and heart rate during naturalistic class sessions and compared the physiological synchrony between independent task and group discussion task. The students were recruited from a renowned university in China. Since each student learn differently and not everyone prefers collaborative learning, (...) participants were sorted into collaboration and independent dyads based on their collaborative behaviors before data analysis. The result showed that, during group discussions, high collaboration pairs produced significantly higher synchrony than low collaboration dyads. Given the equivalent engagement level during independent and collaborative tasks, the difference of physiological synchrony between high and low collaboration dyads was triggered by collaboration quality. Building upon this result, the classification analysis was conducted, indicating that EDA synchrony can identify different levels of collaboration quality. (shrink)

Purpose: Discuss the relationship among college students’ media internalized pressure, social physique anxiety, weight control self-efficacy, and sports participation in providing a reference for promoting college students to develop healthy and confident living habits.Methods: Take Southwest University in China as the object, select the subjects by stratified random sampling, and process the data with SPSS19.0 and AMOS21.0 statistical software.Results: Media internalized pressure is positively correlated with social physique anxiety, weight control self-efficacy, and sports participation; social physique anxiety is significantly positively (...) correlated with weight control self-efficacy and sports participation, and weight control self-efficacy is significantly positively correlated with sports participation; media internalized pressure has a direct effect on sports participation, and social physique anxiety and weight control self-efficacy play significant mediating roles in the relationship between media internalized pressure and sports participation, respectively; the chained mediating force of social physique anxiety and weight control self-efficacy also reaches a significant level.Conclusion: Media internalized pressure can influence college students’ sports participation through the direct path as well as indirect paths such as social physique anxiety, the intermediary effect of weight control self-efficacy, and chained intermediary effect of social physique anxiety–weight control self-efficacy, and social physique anxiety is another key factor affecting college students’ sports participation except media internalized pressure. (shrink)

This study extends regulatory capture theory to investigate how and to what extent a firm’s political and nonpolitical ties jointly influence corporate regulatory participation. In the context of regulatory standards setting, although firms with political ties are better able to promote firm standards into industry regulations, it remains unclear whether the coexistence of firms’ nonpolitical ties (i.e., university ties and interlocked firms in our study) is more or less likely to reduce the effect of political ties. Although corporate leaders with (...) political and nonpolitical ties may provide complementary resources, they may follow different mechanisms to drive firm actions. We, thus, argue that nonpolitical ties likely reduce the effect of political ties on regulatory standards setting. Using a sample of public manufacturing firms in China, we find evidence that supports our predictions. Our study contributes to the regulatory capture literature by redirecting attention to the dynamics of political versus nonpolitical ties. (shrink)

This paper makes a quantitative analysis of the comprehensive influence of music networks. Firstly, 11 music features are selected from energy, popularity, and other aspects to build a comprehensive evaluation index of music influence, and the PageRank algorithm is used to quantify the music influence. Secondly, the multiobjective logistic regression is used to construct the music similarity measurement model and, combined with music influence and music similarity, to judge whether the influence of different musicians is the actual influence. Thirdly, the (...) influence and similarity of the same music genre and different music genres are analyzed by using the two-way cluster analysis method. Finally, the lasso region is used for feature selection to obtain the change factors in the process of music evolution and analyze the dynamic changes in the process of music development. Therefore, this paper uses network science to build a dynamic network to analyze the similarity of music, the evolution process, and the impact of music on culture, which has certain research significance and practical value in the fields of music, history, social science, and practice. (shrink)

While the rate of Internet use among the older population in China is rapidly increasing, the outcomes associated with Internet use remain largely unexplored. Currently, there are contradictory findings indicating that Internet use is sometimes positively and sometimes negatively associated with older adults’ subjective well-being. Therefore, we examined the associations between different types of Internet use, social networks, and loneliness among Chinese older adults using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Ageing Society Survey. Internet use was classified as interpersonal communication and (...) information acquisition, and social networks were divided into family and friendship ties. The results showed that both interpersonal communication and information acquisition were associated with lower loneliness. Interpersonal communication can increase social networks, and family ties have a mediating effect on the association between Internet use for interpersonal communication and loneliness. Although information acquisition can directly decrease loneliness in older adults, it can also damage existing social networks and further increase loneliness. Family ties act as a suppressor in the association between Internet use for information acquisition and loneliness. Our study further discusses important implications for improving the subjective well-being of older adults in the digital era, based on the empirical findings. (shrink)

PurposesThis paper aims to discuss the relationship between college students’ sports participation, school bullying, emotional intelligence and self-esteem. At the same time, it explores the intrinsic mechanisms of school bullying, in order to provide a reference for reducing bullying phenomenon among college students, and pave the way for college students to lead happy, healthy and confident lives.MethodsA total of 1,317 students from four universities in Southwest China were selected as subjects for this survey. They were selected by stratified random sampling, (...) and the data needed was obtained using a structured questionnaire. The data was subsequently processed with statistical software SPSS19.0 and AMOS21.0.Results Sports participation has a significant and positive correlation with emotional intelligence and self-esteem, likewise, it has a significant negative correlation with school bullying. Emotional intelligence has a marked positive correlation with self-esteem, at the same time it has a significant negative correlation with school bullying. In addition, self-esteem is strongly negative correlated with school bullying. Sports participation has a direct effect on school bullying. Emotional intelligence and self-esteem also play a significant mediating role between sports participation and school bullying, and the chain mediating force of emotional intelligence—self-esteem also reaches a significant level.ConclusionSports participation affects school bullying among college students not only directly but also indirectly, such as through emotional intelligence, the mediating role of self-esteem, and the chain mediating role of emotional intelligence to self-esteem. Apart from sports participation, emotional intelligence is another key factor that affects college students’ school bullying. Therefore, while attaching great importance to college students’ sport participation, schools should also provide courses aimed at developing students’ emotional intelligence. (shrink)

To solve the problem of user privacy disclosure caused by attacks on anonymous areas in spatial generalization privacy protection methods, a K and P Dirichlet Retrieval method based on k-anonymity mechanism is proposed. First, the Dirichlet graph model is introduced, the same kind of information points is analyzed by using the characteristics of Dirichlet graph, and the anonymous set of users is generated and sent to LBS server. Second, the relationship matrix is generated, and the proximity relationship between the user (...) position and the target information point is obtained by calculation. Then, the private information retrieval model is applied to ensure the privacy of users’ target information points. Finally, the experimental results show that the KPDR method not only satisfies the diversity of l 3 / 4, but also increases the anonymous space, reduces the communication overhead, ensures the anonymous success rate of users, and effectively prevents the disclosure of user privacy. (shrink)

From the origin of ancient Greek philosophy to the philosophy of medieval ages, although it appeared the discussion of "nominalism" and "realism" in medieval times, the exploration of the concept of "objective but non-real" did not get further developed. From the view of the inherent integration of the unity of general rationality on science and philosophy, professor Wu Kun revived the concept of "objective but non-reality" and creatively developed his "philosophy of information" system. Because the existence of "objective but non-reality" (...) is inherently a kind of "crossover" field in the traditional philosophy, it certainty solve the problems of traditional philosophy from the ontology, which will lead to the breakthrough in the fundamental paradigm in philosophy, and the philosophy begin its fundamental turn. (shrink)

This paper, a cross-cultural exploration of the Chinese text Dao De Jing, retools Derrida's différance and his questions around the ‘relevant’ translation as a way to deepen an understanding of the heterogeneous and ambiguous aspects of ‘Dao ’, ‘De ’, ‘Qian ’ and Kun. While tracing the etymological roots and evolutions of these Chinese characters that are key to the spirit of Dao De Jing, this paper highlights its polysemic ambiguity and moral productivity, in particular, and shows, with Derrida, how (...) one can benefit from paying deconstructive attention to the “body” of the text that endures the test of time such as acts of translation. (shrink)

From the origin of ancient Greek philosophy to the philosophy of medieval ages, although it appeared the discussion of "nominalism" and "realism" in medieval times, the exploration of the concept of "objective but non-real" did not get further developed. From the view of the inherent integration of the unity of general rationality on science and philosophy, professor Wu Kun revived the concept of "objective but non-reality" and creatively developed his "philosophy of information" system. Because the existence of "objective but non-reality" (...) is inherently a kind of "crossover" field in the traditional philosophy, it certainty solve the problems of traditional philosophy from the ontology, which will lead to the breakthrough in the fundamental paradigm in philosophy, and the philosophy begin its fundamental turn. (shrink)

Hao Wang was one of the few confidants of the great mathematician and logician Kurt Gödel. _A Logical Journey_ is a continuation of Wang's _Reflections on Gödel_ and also elaborates on discussions contained in _From Mathematics to Philosophy_. A decade in preparation, it contains important and unfamiliar insights into Gödel's views on a wide range of issues, from Platonism and the nature of logic, to minds and machines, the existence of God, and positivism and phenomenology. The impact of (...) Gödel's theorem on twentieth-century thought is on par with that of Einstein's theory of relativity, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, or Keynesian economics. These previously unpublished intimate and informal conversations, however, bring to light and amplify Gödel's other major contributions to logic and philosophy. They reveal that there is much more in Gödel's philosophy of mathematics than is commonly believed, and more in his philosophy than his philosophy of mathematics. Wang writes that "it is even possible that his quite informal and loosely structured conversations with me, which I am freely using in this book, will turn out to be the fullest existing expression of the diverse components of his inadequately articulated general philosophy." The first two chapters are devoted to Gödel's life and mental development. In the chapters that follow, Wang illustrates the quest for overarching solutions and grand unifications of knowledge and action in Gödel's written speculations on God and an afterlife. He gives the background and a chronological summary of the conversations, considers Gödel's comments on philosophies and philosophers, and his attempt to demonstrate the superiority of the mind's power over brains and machines. Three chapters are tied together by what Wang perceives to be Gödel's governing ideal of philosophy: an exact theory in which mathematics and Newtonian physics serve as a model for philosophy or metaphysics. Finally, in an epilog Wang sketches his own approach to philosophy in contrast to his interpretation of Gödel's outlook. (shrink)

本书内容包括:四岳之后、姓氏称谓、东海上人、早年坎坷、时定入周、为文王师、封建齐国、强国方略、政略特色等。.