Month: June 2024

Ethics and Banking: Do Banks Divest Their Kind?

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Abstract

A growing group of institutional investors use divestment strategically to deter misconducts that are harmful for the climate and society. Based on Kantian ethics, we propose that divestment represents investors’ universal and absolute moral commitment to socially responsible investing (SRI). Following categorical and hypothetical imperatives and reciprocity as a norm, we hypothesize how institutional investors’ commit to SRI through a divestment strategy against ethically reprehensible behaviour of banks, especially when these investors represent banks themselves. Using a hand-collected database of the revelation dates of enforcement actions on banks, we find evidence that banks are less likely to divest equity holding on banks with misconduct (fined banks) than their non-bank institutional investors peers. Banks that commit to invest responsibly by signing for the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) are not significantly more likely to divest on fined banks stocks than non-signatory banks. Moreover, divestment of fined banks whose own legitimacy to operate is in question is not significantly different from non-fined banks divestment. We find that European banks are more inclined to sell their holdings permanently on fined banks than their United States peers. Therefore, bank’s moral commitment to SRI via divestments is influenced more by cultural and reciprocity norms than their moral commitment to participate in the PRI.

Evaluating narrative visualization: a survey of practitioners

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Abstract

Narrative visualization is characterized by the integration of data visualization and storytelling techniques. These characteristics provide challenges in its evaluation. Little is known about how these evaluation challenges are addressed by narrative visualization practitioners. We surveyed experienced narrative visualization practitioners to investigate their methods of evaluation. To gain deeper insight we conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with practitioners. We found that there is usually an informal approach to narrative visualization evaluation, where practitioners rely on prior experience and their peers for evaluation. Our study also revealed novel approaches to evaluation. We introduce a practice-led heuristic framework to aid practitioners to evaluate narrative visualization systematically. Our practice-led heuristic framework couples first-hand practitioner experience with recent research literature. This work sheds light on how to address narrative visualization evaluation to better inform both academic research and practice.

Evaluating narrative visualization: a survey of practitioners

Latest Results

Abstract

Narrative visualization is characterized by the integration of data visualization and storytelling techniques. These characteristics provide challenges in its evaluation. Little is known about how these evaluation challenges are addressed by narrative visualization practitioners. We surveyed experienced narrative visualization practitioners to investigate their methods of evaluation. To gain deeper insight we conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with practitioners. We found that there is usually an informal approach to narrative visualization evaluation, where practitioners rely on prior experience and their peers for evaluation. Our study also revealed novel approaches to evaluation. We introduce a practice-led heuristic framework to aid practitioners to evaluate narrative visualization systematically. Our practice-led heuristic framework couples first-hand practitioner experience with recent research literature. This work sheds light on how to address narrative visualization evaluation to better inform both academic research and practice.

Global value chains participation and environmental degradation in SAARC economies

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Abstract

The rapid rise in the globalization of production processes, knowledge spillovers, grave environmental concerns, and sustainable development goals have attracted researchers and policymakers to explore the causes and consequences of these transformations. The developing countries such as The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries are considered highly vulnerable to climatic changes. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of global value chains participation both at the aggregated and disaggregated level on CO2 emissions in selected SAARC countries. The relationship among the modeled variables is estimated through the random-effects and fixed-effects models by using the robust standard errors as proposed by Driscoll and Kraay (1998). The findings indicate that the global value chains participation is pollution-intensive. Moreover, it is found that the global financial crisis of 2008 led to a decline in CO2 emissions. However, the emergence of World Trade Organization (WTO) particularly after the Doha agreement of 2001 has a significant positive impact on CO2 emissions in these countries. Based upon the empirical findings, some policy suggestions are also provided.

Impact of change in land use/land cover and climate variables on groundwater recharge in a tropical river basin

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Abstract

Groundwater plays an important part in protecting the ecological values of the earth's systems. Assessment of groundwater (GW) recharge due to change in land use/land cover (LULC) and climate variables is essential for integrated water management and adaptation. This study is an attempt to check the combined influence of change in LULC and climate variables on GW recharge in Kallada river basin, Kerala, India. The LULC map is predicted for the year 2030 based on LULC maps during the years 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015 using Markov chain and multilayer perceptron model. The major LULC category in the study area is plantation with an area of 797.8 km2 (49.6% in 2015) and dense forest with an area of 366.5 km2 (22.8% in 2015). Considering the period 1985–2005, a decrease of 7.43% dense forest and an increase of 2.55% built area were observed. The predicted LULC shows that there is a reduction in plantation (3.77%) and dense forest (1.28%) and increase in built-up land (4.12%) by 2030 as compared to the year 2015. The CMIP5 General Circulation Model is used for future projections of climate variables, namely daily precipitation, maximum temperature and minimum temperature under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios. Multilayer perceptron neural network model was used for statistical downscaling of GCM projections. The SWAT model was used to estimate the groundwater recharge for the year 2030 using the predicted LULC map and hydro-meteorological variables. The results illustrate a significant drop in GW recharge in Kallada river basin by the year 2030. Average GW recharge in the Vettikavala and kottarakkara, which is in the western region of the basin, is reduced to 4.6% and 9.3% under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios, compared to the average GW recharge in 2005, which was 24.8% of rainfall. The decline in the groundwater recharge in the western regions may be due the increase in built-up area and decrease in plantation. The proposed model results provide a reliable insight for water resources planners in conducting future research on groundwater resources.

PMIM: generating high-resolution air pollution data via masked image modeling

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Abstract

Air pollution data provides important information on air quality, which can be used to assess the impact of atmospheric pollution on human health, the environment, and the economy, as well as to develop corresponding policies and measures to reduce pollutant emissions and improve air quality. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to improve the resolution of meteorological data via masked image modeling (PMIM) to generate high-resolution air pollution data. In order to apply the image masking modeling to process air pollution data, we convert the data format and use radial basis function visualization to generate smooth distribution maps of air pollution data. To generate high-resolution air pollution data, we design several different masking strategies and use the masked image modeling to simulate the reconstruction process from low-resolution grid data to high-resolution grid data, obtaining the reconstructed high-resolution grid images. Finally, we use the mapping relationship between the pixel colors of the reconstructed images and the air pollution data to generate high-resolution air pollution concentration data. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, we conduct comparative experiments using different masking strategies and test air pollution data of different resolutions. The results show that our method has good applicability and effectiveness in different situations.

Graphical abstract

Tanshinone IIA is superior to paricalcitol in ameliorating tubulointerstitial fibrosis through regulation of VDR/Wnt/β-catenin pathway in rats with diabetic nephropathy

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Abstract

Glomerulosclerosis and tubulointerstitial fibrosis (TIF) are closely involved in the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Moreover, the development of TIF is closely related to epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Tanshinone IIA (Tan) has various pharmacological effects, especially the anti-fibrotic effect. And it is mainly used in the clinical treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Currently, the protective effect of Tan on DN and its possible mechanism have not been clearly elucidated. Our previous studies illustrated that Tan could improve the EMT of HK-2 cells induced by high glucose by regulating the vitamin D receptor (VDR)/Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Here, we collected demographic information and laboratory results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database in order to investigate the relationship between VD and DN. Then, we established a DN model and treated DN rats with Tan and paricalcitol (Par) for 6 weeks. We subsequently compared the changes in general condition, renal function, pathological changes, and TIF-related protein expression levels of control rats, DN rats induced by STZ, DN rats with Tan at 5.4 mg/kg, DN rats with Tan at 10.8 mg/kg, and DN rats with Par at 0.054 µg/kg, to explore the effect and mechanism of Tan and Par on DN rats. The results showed that VD had a protective effect against DN in diabetic patients. And we found that Tan had a protective effect on renal fibrosis in DN rats, which was superior to Par in improving the symptoms of “three more and one less,” reducing fasting blood glucose level, improving renal index, BUN/SCr, and UACR, reducing histopathological damage of kidney, and improving the expression of fibrosis-related proteins in kidney tissue by regulating VDR/Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Tan was superior to Par in ameliorating tubulointerstitial fibrosis by regulating VDR/Wnt/β-catenin pathway in rats with diabetic nephropathy.

Tourism triumphs: unraveling the essence of Asia’s allure through governance, FDI, and natural bounties

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Abstract

The tourism sector has witnessed significant expansion throughout the last century, emerging as a crucial catalyst for economic progress in numerous global governments. However, the conservation of natural and cultural heritage areas faces challenges due to tourism activities. This study investigates the role of good governance and economic performance in the international tourism industry in Asia. Panel data from 39 Asian countries spanning the years 1996 to 2022 has been analyzed using advanced statistical techniques. The findings reveal that the rule of law positively influences the tourism industry, while political instability and a lack of accountability have a negative impact. Moreover, foreign direct investment, travel and transportation services, and natural resources significantly contribute to the growth of the Asian tourism sector. These insights provide valuable implications for policymakers and stakeholders to foster sustainable regional tourism development.

Impact of knockout of dual-specificity protein phosphatase 5 on structural and mechanical properties of rat middle cerebral arteries: implications for vascular aging

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Abstract

Vascular aging influences hemodynamics, elevating risks for vascular diseases and dementia. We recently demonstrated that knockout (KO) of Dusp5 enhances cerebral and renal hemodynamics and cognitive function. This improvement correlates with elevated pPKC and pERK1/2 levels in the brain and kidneys. Additionally, we observed that Dusp5 KO modulates the passive mechanical properties of cerebral and renal arterioles, associated with increased myogenic tone at low pressure, enhanced distensibility, greater compliance, and reduced stiffness. The present study evaluates the structural and mechanical properties of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in Dusp5 KO rats. We found that vascular smooth muscle cell layers and the collagen content in the MCA wall are comparable between Dusp5 KO and control rats. The internal elastic lamina in the MCA of Dusp5 KO rats exhibits increased thickness, higher autofluorescence intensity, smaller fenestrae areas, and fewer fenestrations. Despite an enhanced myogenic response and tone of the MCA in Dusp5 KO rats, other passive mechanical properties, such as wall thickness, cross-sectional area, wall-to-lumen ratio, distensibility, incremental elasticity, circumferential wall stress, and elastic modulus, do not significantly differ between strains. These findings suggest that while Dusp5 KO has a limited impact on altering the structural and mechanical properties of MCA, its primary role in ameliorating hemodynamics and cognitive functions is likely attributable to its enzymatic activity on cerebral arterioles. Further research is needed to elucidate the specific enzymatic mechanisms and explore potential clinical applications in the context of vascular aging.