Search Results (72)

We investigate the association between voluntary assurance of a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) report and earnings management. A concern with CSR reports is they are used to promote a socially responsible image without a meaningful commitment to CSR activities, referred to as “greenwashing”. To credibly signal the CSR report is reliable, a firm can incur the additional costs to voluntarily obtain assurance. Our results show that strong corporate governance plays a crucial role in limiting earnings management. The most consistent improvements in earnings quality occur when firms combine strong governance with CSR assurance from a non-accounting provider (NonACCT). The combination of strong governance and NonACCT assurance appears to be mutually reinforcing, suggesting a symbolic legitimacy strategy that is also substantively effective. Full article

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder with a high prevalence and challenging treatment options. It significantly affects the function of various organs, including bones, and imposes substantial social and economic costs. Chronic hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and abnormalities in glucolipid metabolism can lead to cellular damage within the body. Bone dysfunction represents a significant characteristic of diabetic osteoporosis (DOP). Recent studies confirm that cell death is a critical factor contributing to bone damage. Regulated cell death (RCD) is a highly controlled process that involves numerous proteins and specific signaling cascades. RCD processes, including apoptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, and cuproptosis, may be linked to the dysfunction of bone cells in T2DM. In this review, the cell death types of bone cell populations during the pathogenic process of DOP were explored, and the link between cellular RCD processes and the pathogenesis of DOP was further explored. In addition, the research progress on targeting RCD for DOP was summarized in this paper. This may provide a foundation for additional explorations and drug development, as well as new therapeutic concepts for the clinical management of DOP. Full article

Historic districts possess significant cultural value, yet visitors with disabilities, particularly wheelchair users, often encounter substantial barriers to physical access. Previous studies have highlighted a gap in the assessment of walking routes utilized by wheelchair users in these districts. Therefore, this study aims to assess the extent to which historic districts’ walking routes are physically accessible for wheelchair users in the Jeddah Historic District, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Saudi Arabia. As a method, we developed a wheelchair accessibility assessment checklist (consisting of 14 assessment indicators) to evaluate 14 walking routes in the Historic District of Jeddah, accompanied by an observation strategy (consisting of five questions) to understand wheelchair users’ behavior using these routes. Our results reveal that the walking route assessments show inconsistent accessibility for wheelchair users, with the lowest rating for the indicator of route crossing signals, followed by route connectivity, the width of wheelchair parking space, accessibility to surrounding buildings, route crossing treatment, route ramp slope, and route ramp pavement quality. These findings offer valuable insights for local authorities to improve regulations and enforce wheelchair accessibility standards, promoting social sustainability and equal access for all. It also helps to underscore the necessity of prioritizing physical accessibility in the design of urban open spaces within historic districts to improve social sustainability. Ultimately, this study offers a practical and cost-effective method for other similar cities around the world to assess wheelchair inclusion in their cultural heritage sites. Full article

Engaging in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) activities entails costs that influence a firm’s financial and market performance. However, it is expected that the long-term benefits of ESG engagement outweigh these costs, leading to superior performance. Despite extensive research on the ESG–performance relationship, findings remain mixed. This study examines the moderating effect of country governance, measured by the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGIs), on the relationship between firms’ ESG scores and their financial and market performance in the European context. Using a two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression model and a dataset spanning 12 years (2011–2022) for 2083 listed European firms, we find that WGI significantly moderates the ESG–performance relationship. Our results indicate that ESG engagement alone has a negative impact on financial performance (ROA), suggesting that the costs associated with ESG investments often outweigh their short-term benefits. However, strong governance structures mitigate these costs, transforming ESG investments into value-enhancing activities. Conversely, ESG engagement positively influences market performance (Tobin’s Q), signaling long-term value to investors. Yet, in jurisdictions with strong governance frameworks, this effect diminishes, as ESG compliance becomes a baseline expectation rather than a differentiating factor. Full article

Skin is the largest organ of the human body and holds the functions of sensing, protecting, and regulating. Since ancient times, people have decorated their skin by painting themselves, cutting, and using accessories to express their personality and aesthetic consciousness as a kind of artistic expression, one that shows the development and change of aesthetic consciousness. However, there are concerns regarding the inconvenience, high time cost, and negative body perception with traditional tattoos. In addition, the trend of skin decoration has gradually withdrawn due to a lack of intelligent interaction. In response to these problems, we proposed a wearable electronic skin tattoo that offers a novel means of communication and emotional expression for individuals with communication impairments, WABEIT. The tattoo uses skin-friendly PDMS as the base material, combines multi-mode sensing components such as silver wire circuit, a programmable Surface-Mounted Device (SMD), a thin-film-pressure sensor, and a heart rate sensor, and combines the embedded development board Arduino Nano for intelligent interaction, forming a wearable electronic interactive tattoo capable of sensing the environment, human–computer interaction, and the changeable performance of intelligent perception. The sensor is also equipped with a mobile power supply to support portability. The advantages of WABEIT are as follows: first, it avoids the pain, allergy, and long production process of traditional tattoos. Second, the patterns can adapt to different needs and generate feedback for users, which can effectively express personal emotions. Thirdly, the facility of removal reduces social discrimination and occupational constraints, which is especially suitable for East Asia. Experimental results indicate that the device exhibits a high sensitivity in signal response, a wide variety of pattern changes, and reliable interactive capabilities. The study demonstrates that the proposed design philosophy and implementation strategy can be generalized to the interactive design of other wearable devices, thereby providing novel insights and methodologies for human–computer interaction, electronic devices, and sensor applications. Full article

Recently, urban spatial equity has become a research hotspot, but research focuses on the equity of work commuting from different dimensions. This paper aims to determine the fairness difference of work commuting in Chengdu from three different dimensions by analyzing job accessibility in Chengdu. Firstly, population residence and employment data are obtained by using mobile phone signaling data, real-time travel data are obtained by using Amap API, and regional housing information is obtained from a real estate website. Secondly, the differences in time and cost of job accessibility in different regions are calculated under different time thresholds. Finally, the equity of job accessibility is evaluated by using the Theil index and the Gini coefficient from three new perspectives: transport mode, house price economy, and spatial region. The experimental results show that (1) when time threshold increases, public transport in Chengdu is more equitable, while car traffic is opposite; (2) regions with higher prices are generally fairer; and (3) Chengdu’s equality disparities are more between areas than within areas. In addition to proposing a new accessibility formula based on travel impedance, this study suggests a new method for analyzing equity differences in Chinese cities that can serve as a reference for future researchers. At the same time, the results provide a scientific basis for optimizing the social spatial distribution of public transport services in Chengdu. Full article

This study explores the impact of International Monetary Fund (IMF)-linked conditionality on government education expenditures in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Understanding the impact of conditional lending by international financial institutions on education spending is important due to the pivotal role education plays in fostering social and economic development. We use country-level panel data encompassing a representative set of 10 MENA countries from 1990 to 2020 and employ a cross-national fixed effects regression model. Our findings suggest that IMF conditionality demonstrates a positive relationship with government education expenditures in the MENA region. The proposed explanation is that the application of IMF policy advice can have a catalytic effect on donor financing, including for education. This indicates that the Fund’s financing arrangements in the region can free up fiscal space for social spending, which, in turn, signals a sort of departure of the IMF from the reputation that typically precedes it—its traditional bias for macroeconomic stability irrespective of social costs. We argue that our findings are instructive for policy, especially if one shares the idea that education is a necessary prerequisite for achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: guaranteeing inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting enduring learning opportunities for all. Full article

This paper investigates manufacturer encroachment on a sustainable supply chain, where the manufacturer holds exclusive information on product greenness and is responsible for both corporate social responsibility (CSR) and greening. The manufacturer and the retailer play a signaling game whereby CSR effort and wholesale price serve as joint green signals. Findings reveal that, firstly, encroachment induces higher CSR efforts from manufacturers. When customers exhibit a strong CSR preference, the resulting CSR increment leads to increased offline demand and drives up both wholesale and retail prices in a mutually beneficial manner. This phenomenon is referred to as the CSR effect, yielding a win-win encroachment. Secondly, when signaling product greenness to highly CSR-sensitive customers, the high-greenness manufacturer principally distorts her CSR effort downward to an extent unprofitable for the low-greenness manufacturer to mimic and subordinately distorts the wholesale price downward to counter CSR-induced demand decrement and mitigate CSR cost pass-through downstream. Finally, the win-win encroachment pattern is characterized by encroachment profit and signal expense sharing, with encroachment strengthening downward-distorted signaling while signaling weakens the CSR effect. These insights contribute valuable guidance for green manufacturers in CSR decision-making, which functions as a component of green signaling and facilitates transitioning to dual-channel sustainable supply chains. Full article

With the widespread popularization of higher education, the increased supply of knowledge laborers has heightened the risk of overeducation, posing a significant threat to employment quality. Utilizing data from the CGSS2015 survey, this study controls for selection bias by matching employed and self-employed individuals using Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to distinguish and estimate the signaling and productivity effects of overeducation in China. The findings indicate that the signaling effects of overeducation are not significant, challenging the Weak Screening Hypothesis (WSH) and suggesting that overeducation in China is not genuine overeducation. It is also acknowledged that overeducation has dual productivity effects, including the loss of personal productivity and the promotion of job productivity. This implies that overeducation has contributed to the increase of social productivity at the cost of personal sacrifice. Full article

In the last three decades, the development of new electricity-generation strategies based on renewable energy has been promoted, which has made it possible to offset the increase in electricity consumption, reduce production costs, and positively impact climate change. These new-generation strategies are based on distributed generation (DG) at different points of the electrical power system, which has economic, social, and environmental impacts by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The new concept of an electric microgrid, which is an integrated energy generation and management system with autonomous capacity, allows efficient production and consumption, with alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) microgrids being available. This work presents a topology of direct current microgrids for island mode operation, which aims to supply electricity to variable and constant power loads (CPLs), as well as for the autonomous charging and discharging of batteries. To achieve this objective, a microgrid model is developed, current and voltage control loop controllers are designed, and their performance in different types of operation is analyzed. As a contribution to this work, the parasitic elements in the microgrid model are considered, and the design of the controller in the voltage loop is presented for the power supply to the local linear and non-linear loads, in addition to managing the energy coming from CPLs and controls the charge and discharge of the battery. To validate the performance of the controllers, three microgrid operation tests are carried out, which are presented in the Simulations section. In these tests, it is observed that with the PI controller in the voltage loop, the DC_Link signal presents transients with an amplitude of 5 V below and above the 200 V reference, which shows the poor performance of the controller. However, in all three tests with the modified PI-P controller, the DC_Link voltage remains constant at 200 V, with a negligible transient amplitude of almost 0 V, showing better performance. Full article

In late December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 was identified as the cause of a new pneumonia (COVID-19), leading to a global pandemic declared by the WHO on 11 March 2020, with significant human, economic, and social costs. Although most COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic or mild, 14% progress to severe disease, and 5% develop critical illness with complications such as interstitial pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). SARS-CoV-2 primarily targets the respiratory system but can affect multiple organs due to the widespread presence of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors, which the virus uses to enter cells. This broad distribution of ACE2 receptors means that SARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, renal, hepatic, central nervous system, and ocular damage. The virus triggers the innate and adaptive immune systems, resulting in a massive cytokine release, known as a “cytokine storm”, which is linked to tissue damage and poor outcomes in severe lung disease. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is particularly important in this cytokine release, with elevated levels serving as a marker of severe COVID-19. IL-6 is a multifunctional cytokine with both anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory properties, acting through two main pathways: classical signalling and trans-signalling. Classical signalling involves IL-6 binding to its membrane-bound receptor IL-6R and then to the gp130 protein, while trans-signalling occurs when IL-6 binds to the soluble form of IL-6R (sIL-6R) and then to membrane-bound gp130 on cells that do not express IL-6R. The soluble form of gp130 (sgp130) can inhibit IL-6 trans-signalling by binding to sIL-6R, thereby preventing it from interacting with membrane-bound gp130. Given the central role of IL-6 in COVID-19 inflammation and its association with severe disease, we aimed to analyse the behaviour of IL-6 and its soluble receptor complex during different waves of the pandemic. This analysis could help determine whether IL-6 levels can serve as prognostic markers of disease severity. Full article

Those with visual impairments, including complete blindness or partial sight loss, constitute a significant global population. According to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), there are at least 2.2 billion people worldwide who have near or distance vision disorders. Addressing their needs is crucial. Introducing a smart cane tailored for the blind can greatly improve their daily lives. This paper introduces a significant technical innovation, presenting a smart cane equipped with dual ultrasonic sensors for obstacle detection, catering to the visually impaired. The primary focus is on developing a versatile device capable of operating in diverse conditions, ensuring efficient obstacle alerts. The strategic placement of ultrasonic sensors facilitates the emission and measurement of high-frequency sound waves, calculating obstacle distances and assessing potential threats to the user. Addressing various obstacle types, two ultrasonic sensors handle overhead and ground-level barriers, ensuring precise warnings. With a detection range spanning 2 to 400 cm, the device provides timely information for user reaction. Dual alert methods, including vibrations and audio signals, offer flexibility to users, controlled through intuitive switches. Additionally, a Bluetooth-connected mobile app enhances functionality, activating audio alerts if the cane is misplaced or too distant. Cost-effective implementation enhances accessibility, supporting a broader user base. This innovative smart cane not only represents a technical achievement but also significantly improves the quality of life for visually impaired individuals, emphasizing the social impact of technology. The research underscores the importance of technological research in addressing societal challenges and highlights the need for solutions that positively impact vulnerable communities, shaping future directions in research and technological development. Full article

Social robots are being conceived with different characteristics and being used in different applications. The growth of social robotics benefits from advances in fabrication, sensing, and actuation technologies, as well as signal processing and artificial intelligence. This paper presents a design and implementation of the humanoid robotic platform Adam, consisting of a motorized human-like head with precise movements of the eyes, jaw, and neck, together with capabilities of face tracking and vocal conversation using ChatGPT. Adam relies on 3D-printed parts together with a microphone, a camera, and proper servomotors, and it has high structural integrity and flexibility. Adam’s control framework consists of an adequate signal exploitation and motor command strategy that allows efficient social interactions. Adam is an innovative platform that combines manufacturability, user-friendliness, low costs, acceptability, and sustainability, offering advantages compared with other platforms. Indeed, the platform’s hardware and software components are adjustable and allow it to increase its abilities and adapt them to different applications in a variety of roles. Future work will entail the development of a body for Adam and the addition of skin-like materials to enhance its human-like appearance. Full article

The design and control of artificial hands remains a challenge in engineering. Popular prostheses are bio-mechanically simple with restricted manipulation capabilities, as advanced devices are pricy or abandoned due to their difficult communication with the hand. For social robots, the interpretation of human intention is key for their integration in daily life. This can be achieved with machine learning (ML) algorithms, which are barely used for grasping posture recognition. This work proposes an ML approach to recognize nine hand postures, representing 90% of the activities of daily living in real time using an sEMG human–robot interface (HRI). Data from 20 subjects wearing a Myo armband (8 sEMG signals) were gathered from the NinaPro DS5 and from experimental tests with the YCB Object Set, and they were used jointly in the development of a simple multi-layer perceptron in MATLAB, with a global percentage success of 73% using only two features. GPU-based implementations were run to select the best architecture, with generalization capabilities, robustness-versus-electrode shift, low memory expense, and real-time performance. This architecture enables the implementation of grasping posture recognition in low-cost devices, aimed at the development of affordable functional prostheses and HRI for social robots. Full article

Ketamine is one of the most commonly abused drugs globally, posing a severe risk to social stability and human health, not only it is being used for recreational purposes, but this tasteless, odourless, and colourless drug also facilitates sexual assaults when it is mixed with drinks. Ketamine abuse is a threat for safety, and this misuse is one of the main uses of the drug. The crucial role of ketamine detection is evident in its contributions to forensic investigations, law enforcement, drug control, workplace integrity, and public health. Electrochemical sensors have gained considerable interest among researchers due to their various advantages, such as low cost and specificity, and particularly screen-printed paper-based electrode (SPBE) biosensors have gained attention. Here, we reported an ePAD (electrochemical paper-based analytical device) for detecting the recreational drug ketamine. The advantages of using a paper-based electrode are that it reduces the electrode’s production costs and is disposable and environmentally friendly. At the same time, nanographite sheets (NGSs) assisted in amplifying the signals generated in the cyclic voltammetry system when ketamine was present. This ePAD was developed by immobilizing a ketamine aptamer on NGS electrodes. The characterization of proper synthesized NGSs was performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), XRD (X-ray Diffraction), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Electrochemical techniques, including cyclic voltammetry (CV) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), were employed to validate the results and confirm each attachment. Furthermore, the versatility of the proposed sensor was explored in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The developed sensor showed a low LOD of about 0.01 μg/mL, and the linear range was between 0.01 and 5 μg/mL. This approach offers a valid diagnostic technique for onsite service with minimal resources. This cost effective and portable platform offers desirable characteristics like sensitivity and selectivity and can also be used for POC (point of care) testing to help in the quick identification of suspicious samples and for testing at trafficking sites, amusement parks, and by the side of the road. Full article