Economic policy uncertainty has been increasing globally, with consequences for financial sector stability. This paper investigates its influence on the risk-taking behavior of banks. The study examines the functional form of responses of banks to economic policy uncertainty and explores how regulatory quality and safety nets change bank behavior in periods of high uncertainty.
We utilize data from 1999 to 2023 of 796 banks in 21 countries, employing a quadratic two-step system GMM estimation technique to evaluate the impact of economic policy uncertainty on banks' risk-taking. Using the U-test, we confirm the nonlinear relationship and identify its threshold point. Finally, we show the consistency of the estimates by controlling for multiple major crisis periods during the sample period.
We find that economic policy uncertainty generally increases risk-taking among banks. However, beyond a certain point, further increases in economic policy uncertainty could lead to diminishing returns and heightened risk aversion, resulting in decreased risk-taking behavior. Stronger regulatory quality mitigates this effect; however, the reduction in risk-taking is less pronounced when economic policy uncertainty increases. Safetynets moderate the relationship by impacting bank risk-taking sensitivity. Additionally, we find cross-country heterogeneity in the size of economic policy uncertainty and risk-taking. Lastly, we find that the nonlinear effects are robust after controlling for major events like the global financial crisis, the eurozone crisis, COVID-19, and the Ukraine war.
We provide evidence of nonlinearity in the nexus of economic policy uncertainty, regulatory frameworks, safety nets, and bank risk-taking behavior. The findings underscore the significance of robust regulatory quality and safety nets in moderating banks' risk-taking behavior during economic policy uncertainty.
Mohammed Er-Riyad Er-Riyad, Maroua El-Jihaoui, Ibrahim Bamohammed
Crowdfunding platforms are considered valuable tools within Islamic finance due to their potential compliance with Islamic Sharia principles and their absence of any suspicion related to usury (Riba). These platforms are new financing mechanisms based on raising funds from potential contributors to finance specific projects. This research aims to shed light on crowdfunding as a form of financing that can be classified within Islamic finance. The research also explores crowdfunding's role in financing disaster relief efforts and aiding disaster-stricken regions by providing financial solutions managed via digital platforms launched specifically for this purpose. As an example of crowdfunding to mitigate the aftermath of natural disasters, the research examines the "Tasharuky" platform. The platform primarily funds operations that mitigate the effects of certain natural disasters in accordance with Islamic Sharia rulings in regions across the Middle East, Indonesia and Africa.
Background. Neurotransmitter adenosine and B-group vitamins have neuroprotective, remyelinizing and anti-neuroinflammatory properties. Despite the studies of these molecules for decades, the molecular mechanisms of their synergistic effect on neuroinflammation processes are unexplored and not systematized.Objective: to establish the molecular mechanisms of synergism of adenosine, thiamine, niacin and cyanocobalamin in counteracting the pathology of diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN).Material and methods. The molecular mechanisms of action of adenosine, thiamine (vitamin B1), niacin (vitamin PP) and cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12) in the pathophysiology of DPN were determined using functional analysis of genomic and proteomic databases.Results. The analysis of 20,180 annotated proteins of the human proteome identified 504 vitamin-PP-dependent, 22 vitamin-B1-dependent, 24 vitamin-B12-dependent and 50 adenosine-dependent proteins. The proteins of the human proteome were detected, the activity or levels of which are important for reducing neuroinflammation, remyelination, neurogenesis, biosynthesis of neuronal adenosine triphosphate, myelin homeostasis, neuroplasticity, neutralization of homocysteine, regeneration of nerve fibers and maintaining the endothelium of the microvascular bed.Conclusion. The discovered molecular mechanisms of synergism of the studied molecules are of fundamental importance for comprehension of the processes of neuroinflammation regulation and remyelination to prevent diabetic polyneuropathy and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Therapeutics. Pharmacology, Economics as a science
DUNE Collaboration, S. Abbaslu, F. Abd Alrahman
et al.
The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation neutrino experiment with a rich physics program that includes searches for the hypothetical phenomenon of proton decay. Utilizing liquid-argon time-projection chamber technology, DUNE is expected to achieve world-leading sensitivity in the proton decay channels that involve charged kaons in their final states. The first DUNE demonstrator, ProtoDUNE Single-Phase, was a 0.77 kt detector that operated from 2018 to 2020 at the CERN Neutrino Platform, exposed to a mixed hadron and electron test-beam with momenta ranging from 0.3 to 7 GeV/c. We present a selection of low-energy kaons among the secondary particles produced in hadronic reactions, using data from the 6 and 7 GeV/c beam runs. The selection efficiency is 1\% and the sample purity 92\%. The initial energies of the selected kaon candidates encompass the expected energy range of kaons originating from proton decay events in DUNE (below $\sim$200 MeV). In addition, we demonstrate the capability of this detector technology to discriminate between kaons and other particles such as protons and muons, and provide a comprehensive description of their energy loss in liquid argon, which shows good agreement with the simulation. These results pave the way for future proton decay searches at DUNE.
У даному дослідженні розглядається концепція управління талантами та описано ключові процеси талант-менеджменту, такі як: ідентифікація, адаптація, розвиток, мотивація та збереження талантів, а також оцінка ефективності управління талантами. Проаналізовано методи розвитку талановитих працівників, такі як асесмент-центри, коучинг, наставництво, тренінги та курси від компанії. Визначено, що для збереження талантів необхідна мотивація як у вигляді матеріальних винагород з різноманітними методами систем оплати праці, так і у вигляді нематеріальних заохочень. Надано рекомендації з впровадження стратегії управління талантами в організації. Доведено ефективність талант-менеджменту та його позитивний вплив на діяльність підприємства.
The international collaboration designing and constructing the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) has developed a two-phase strategy toward the implementation of this leading-edge, large-scale science project. The 2023 report of the US Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) reaffirmed this vision and strongly endorsed DUNE Phase I and Phase II, as did the European Strategy for Particle Physics. While the construction of the DUNE Phase I is well underway, this White Paper focuses on DUNE Phase II planning. DUNE Phase-II consists of a third and fourth far detector (FD) module, an upgraded near detector complex, and an enhanced 2.1 MW beam. The fourth FD module is conceived as a "Module of Opportunity", aimed at expanding the physics opportunities, in addition to supporting the core DUNE science program, with more advanced technologies. This document highlights the increased science opportunities offered by the DUNE Phase II near and far detectors, including long-baseline neutrino oscillation physics, neutrino astrophysics, and physics beyond the standard model. It describes the DUNE Phase II near and far detector technologies and detector design concepts that are currently under consideration. A summary of key R&D goals and prototyping phases needed to realize the Phase II detector technical designs is also provided. DUNE's Phase II detectors, along with the increased beam power, will complete the full scope of DUNE, enabling a multi-decadal program of groundbreaking science with neutrinos.
The determination of the direction of a stellar core collapse via its neutrino emission is crucial for the identification of the progenitor for a multimessenger follow-up. A highly effective method of reconstructing supernova directions within the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is introduced. The supernova neutrino pointing resolution is studied by simulating and reconstructing electron-neutrino charged-current absorption on 40Ar and elastic scattering of neutrinos on electrons. Procedures to reconstruct individual interactions, including a newly developed technique called ``brems flipping'', as well as the burst direction from an ensemble of interactions are described. Performance of the burst direction reconstruction is evaluated for supernovae happening at a distance of 10 kpc for a specific supernova burst flux model. The pointing resolution is found to be 3.4 degrees at 68% coverage for a perfect interaction-channel classification and a fiducial mass of 40 kton, and 6.6 degrees for a 10 kton fiducial mass respectively. Assuming a 4% rate of charged-current interactions being misidentified as elastic scattering, DUNE's burst pointing resolution is found to be 4.3 degrees (8.7 degrees) at 68% coverage.
The Module-0 Demonstrator is a single-phase 600 kg liquid argon time projection chamber operated as a prototype for the DUNE liquid argon near detector. Based on the ArgonCube design concept, Module-0 features a novel 80k-channel pixelated charge readout and advanced high-coverage photon detection system. In this paper, we present an analysis of an eight-day data set consisting of 25 million cosmic ray events collected in the spring of 2021. We use this sample to demonstrate the imaging performance of the charge and light readout systems as well as the signal correlations between the two. We also report argon purity and detector uniformity measurements, and provide comparisons to detector simulations.
This paper introduces a novel track-length extension fitting algorithm for measuring the kinetic energies of inelastically interacting particles in liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs). The algorithm finds the most probable offset in track length for a track-like object by comparing the measured ionization density as a function of position with a theoretical prediction of the energy loss as a function of the energy, including models of electron recombination and detector response. The algorithm can be used to measure the energies of particles that interact before they stop, such as charged pions that are absorbed by argon nuclei. The algorithm's energy measurement resolutions and fractional biases are presented as functions of particle kinetic energy and number of track hits using samples of stopping secondary charged pions in data collected by the ProtoDUNE-SP detector, and also in a detailed simulation. Additional studies describe the impact of the dE/dx model on energy measurement performance. The method described in this paper to characterize the energy measurement performance can be repeated in any LArTPC experiment using stopping secondary charged pions.
ProtoDUNE Single-Phase (ProtoDUNE-SP) is a 770-ton liquid argon time projection chamber that operated in a hadron test beam at the CERN Neutrino Platform in 2018. We present a measurement of the total inelastic cross section of charged kaons on argon as a function of kaon energy using 6 and 7 GeV/$c$ beam momentum settings. The flux-weighted average of the extracted inelastic cross section at each beam momentum setting was measured to be 380$\pm$26 mbarns for the 6 GeV/$c$ setting and 379$\pm$35 mbarns for the 7 GeV/$c$ setting.
Sustainability reporting has become an increasingly common practice among companies around the globe as around 90% of the world’s 250 largest companies from Fortune 500 prepare and publish its sustainability reporting. Aiming to help researchers to grasp the intellectual landscape of global research on sustainable reporting, we conducted a bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace software by applying evaluative and relational techniques to 928 articles published in 480 different journals in Scopus and 698 articles published in 374 different journals in Web of Science Core Collection from 1981 to 2020. Our findings indicate that the number of articles published in the field has increased rapidly, especially since 2009. We identified the leading countries (the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands and Italy), the most prolific journals (Journal of Cleaner Production, Business Strategy and the Environment, Journal of Business Ethics), main journals categories (Business, Economics, Management and Finance, Environmental and Ecology and Science, Technology and Engineering), and the major research directions in the near future (sustainability reporting, corporate social responsibility, sustainable development, disclosure). From our findings we infer that the sustainability reporting research has just recently (2013-2019) gained traction in the literature. Moreover, our findings testify that a kind of bifurcation point has occurred is 2011 that manifests the maturity of the field of sustainability reporting. All this provides the reader with a high-view look at sustainable reporting as these quantitative findings complementing qualitative and providing valuable insights into the field.
A. I. Elfeky, Thouqan Saleem Masadeh, Marwa Yasien Helmy Elbyaly
Abstract Flipped Classroom (FC) has been considerably investigated in research and practice contexts because of the capacity it assumes to have in enhancing learners’ outcomes. However, research that explores advance organizers' impact, which might result in affecting the expected learning outcomes in the FC, is still insufficient. Hence, the present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of advance organizers utilization in FC via Learning Management System to develop learners’ integrated science process skills. It was carried out on all home economics students enrolled in a course entitled "Research Proposal" who were randomly divided into two equal groups, experimental and control. Data were collected through a five- domain product evaluation card namely, the operational definition; identifying and controlling variables; formulating hypothesis; experimenting; and interpreting data. Results showed that achievement and performance of participants who learnt the course content via FC lectures with the use of an advance organizer were better than the performance and achievement of their colleagues in the control group that were not provided by any advance organizer. In light of these results, the study concluded that advance organizers, if used in FC could have interesting benefits for research and development of learners’ integrated science process skills.
Christian Di Pietro, Mariafortuna Pietroluongo, Marco M. Sorge
We investigate pairwise stochastic comparisons of stationary solutions to the linear recurrence <inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>X</mi><mrow><mi>t</mi><mo>+</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msub><mo>=</mo><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>t</mi></msub><msub><mi>X</mi><mi>t</mi></msub><mo>+</mo><msub><mi>B</mi><mi>t</mi></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>t</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><math display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi>B</mi><mi>t</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> are non-negative random variables. We establish novel order-preserving properties, which enable us to obtain comparison theorems about well-known measures of conditional size, tail variability and skewness across probability distributions. While useful in studies of ergodic wealth accumulation processes and the persistence of inequality, our results can fruitfully be exploited to conduct comparative statics exercises in structural models entailing Kesten-type reduced-form representations. An application of our analysis to a dynamic asset accumulation model uncovers the qualitatively similar effects of capital income and earnings taxation on expected wealth concentration over higher quantiles as well as on conditional upper tail dispersion of wealth holdings, qualifying previous results that solely rely on the determination of Pareto exponents.
We present Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (Fermi-GBM) and Swift Burst Alert Telescope (Swift-BAT) searches for gamma-ray/X-ray counterparts to gravitational wave (GW) candidate events identified during the third observing run of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. Using Fermi-GBM on-board triggers and sub-threshold gamma-ray burst (GRB) candidates found in the Fermi-GBM ground analyses, the Targeted Search and the Untargeted Search, we investigate whether there are any coincident GRBs associated with the GWs. We also search the Swift-BAT rate data around the GW times to determine whether a GRB counterpart is present. No counterparts are found. Using both the Fermi-GBM Targeted Search and the Swift-BAT search, we calculate flux upper limits and present joint upper limits on the gamma-ray luminosity of each GW. Given these limits, we constrain theoretical models for the emission of gamma-rays from binary black hole mergers.
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, the KAGRA Collaboration
et al.
Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects.
R. Epanchin‐Niell, D. Jackson‐Smith, R. Wilson
et al.
Owners and managers of private lands make decisions that have implications well beyond the boundaries of their land, influencing species conservation, water quality, wildfire risk, and other environmental outcomes with important societal and ecological consequences. Understanding how these decisions are made is key for informing interventions to support better outcomes. However, explanations of the drivers of decision making are often siloed in social science disciplines that differ in focus, theory, methodology, and terminology, hindering holistic understanding. To address these challenges, we propose a conceptual model of private land conservation decision-making that integrates theoretical perspectives from three dominant disciplines: economics, sociology, and psychology. The model highlights how heterogeneity in behavior across decision-makers is driven by interactions between the decision context, attributes of potential conservation behaviors, and attributes of the decision-maker. These differences in both individual attributes and context shape decision-makers' constraints and the potential and perceived consequences of a behavior. The model also captures how perceived consequences are evaluated and weighted through a decision-making process that may range from systematic to heuristic, ultimately resulting in selection of a behavior. Outcomes of private land behaviors across the landscape feed back to alter the socio-environmental conditions that shape future decisions. The conceptual model is designed to facilitate better communication, collaboration, and integration across disciplines and points to methodological innovations that can expand understanding of private land decision-making. The model also can be used to illuminate how behavior change interventions (e.g., policies, regulations, technical assistance) could be designed to target different drivers to encourage environmentally and socially beneficial behaviors on private lands.
El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar los f lujos del comercio exterior de las compañías más grandes de la Argentina durante el Gobierno de la alianza Cambiemos (2015-2019). Las transformaciones institucionales en este período tuvieron un claro enfoque ortodoxo y, entre otras cosas, acarrearon un proceso de desindustrialización y reprimarización del perfil de especialización y de inserción internacional. Por otra parte, debido a la gravitación que poseen las empresas líderes en el conjunto de la economía, el comportamiento de estas explicó en buena medida el derrotero del frente externo en el transcurso de esta experiencia neoliberal. Dicho poder económico mostró gran dinamismo en los flujos comerciales, ya sea gracias al aumento de las exportaciones mayormente asociadas a la explotación de recursos naturales o a su papel en el boomimportador de bienes que compitieron de lleno con la producción nacional. Finalmente resaltamos que la gestión de Cambiemos, realizó cambios relevantes en las reglas de juego del comercio exterior. De acuerdo con el enfoque ortodoxo imperante, en la etapa estudiada se aplicaron diversas políticas que, en su articulación, condujeron a un agudo proceso de desindustrialización y reprimarización del perfil de especialización e inserción de la Argentina en el mercado mundial.