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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of share pledging by controlling shareholders on earnings informativeness.

Using a sample of 23,120 firm-year observations from 2003 to 2019 in China, this paper examines how share pledging by controlling shareholders affects earnings informativeness, measured by earnings persistence and earnings response coefficients.

This paper finds that share pledging by controlling shareholders makes earnings less informative. The adverse impacts are more pronounced when share pledging distorts incentives of controlling shareholders to a greater extent and when the signaling of share pledging about a firm’s weak future performance is stronger. Finally, this paper further shows that the 2018 new regulation on share pledging effectively alleviates the negative impacts of share pledging on earnings informativeness.

First, this paper adds to the growing literature on the economic consequence of share pledging by documenting the adverse impacts of share pledging on earnings informativeness. The literature on the economic consequence of share pledging is often mixed, which justifies further research on the impacts of share pledging on earnings informativeness. Second, this paper documents a new signaling channel through which share pledging affects earnings informativeness. Third, the finding of this paper on the 2018 new regulation on share pledging may be interesting to research agencies, such as the Chartered Financial analyst institute and Institutional Shareholder Services institute that recommend tightening regulations on share pledging.

Accurate prediction of seasonal power consumption trends with impact disturbances provides a scientific basis for the flexible balance of the long timescale power system. Consequently, it fosters reasonable scheduling plans, ensuring the safety of the system and improving the economic dispatching efficiency of the power system.

First, a new seasonal grey buffer operator in the longitudinal and transverse dimensional perspectives is designed. Then, a new seasonal grey modeling approach that integrates the new operator, full real domain fractional order accumulation generation technique, grey prediction modeling tool and fruit fly optimization algorithm is proposed. Moreover, the rationality, scientificity and superiority of the new approach are verified by designing 24 seasonal electricity consumption forecasting approaches, incorporating case study and amalgamating qualitative and quantitative research.

Compared with other comparative models, the new approach has superior mean absolute percentage error and mean absolute error. Furthermore, the research results show that the new method provides a scientific and effective mathematical method for solving the seasonal trend power consumption forecasting modeling with impact disturbance.

Considering the development trend of longitudinal and transverse dimensions of seasonal data with impact disturbance and the differences in each stage, a new grey buffer operator is constructed, and a new seasonal grey modeling approach with multi-method fusion is proposed to solve the seasonal power consumption forecasting problem.

The highlights of the paper are as follows:

1. A new seasonal grey buffer operator is constructed.

2. The impact of shock perturbations on seasonal data trends is effectively mitigated.

3. A novel seasonal grey forecasting approach with multi-method fusion is proposed.

4. Seasonal electricity consumption is successfully predicted by the novel approach.

5. The way to adjust China's power system flexibility in the future is analyzed.

A new seasonal grey buffer operator is constructed.

The impact of shock perturbations on seasonal data trends is effectively mitigated.

A novel seasonal grey forecasting approach with multi-method fusion is proposed.

Seasonal electricity consumption is successfully predicted by the novel approach.

The way to adjust China's power system flexibility in the future is analyzed.

This paper aims to obtain the evolution law of dynamic performance of CR400BF electric multiple unit (EMU).

Using the dynamic simulation based on field test, stiffness of rotary arm nodes and damping coefficient of anti-hunting dampers were tested. Stiffness, damping coefficient, friction coefficient, track gauge were taken as random variables, the stochastic dynamics simulation method was constructed and applied to research the evolution law with running mileage of dynamic index of CR400BF EMU.

The results showed that stiffness and damping coefficient subjected to normal distribution, the mean and variance were computed and the evolution law of stiffness and damping coefficient with running mileage was obtained.

Firstly, based on the field test we found that stiffness of rotary arm nodes and damping coefficient of anti-hunting dampers subjected to normal distribution, and the evolution law of stiffness and damping coefficient with running mileage was proposed. Secondly stiffness, damping coefficient, friction coefficient, track gauge were taken as random variables, the stochastic dynamics simulation method was constructed and applied to the research to the evolution law with running mileage of dynamic index of CR400BF EMU.

The purpose of this study is to prepare ZnFe₂O₄ nanospheres, sheet MoS₂ and three ZnFe₂O₄@MoS₂ core-shell composites with various shell thicknesses, and add them to the base oil for friction and wear tests to simulate the wear conditions of hybrid bearings.

Through the characterization and analysis of the morphology of wear scars and the elemental composition of friction films, the tribological behavior and wear mechanism of sample materials as lubricant additives were investigated and the effects of shell thickness and sample concentration on the tribological properties of core–shell composite lubricant additives were discussed.

The findings demonstrate that each of the five sample materials can, to varying degrees, enhance the lubricating qualities of the base oil and that the core–shell nanocomposite sample lubricant additive has superior lubricating properties to those of ZnFe₂O₄ and MoS₂ alone, among them ZnFe₂O₄@MoS₂-2 core–shell composites with moderate shell thickness performed most ideally. In addition, the optimal concentration of the ZnFe₂O₄@MoS₂ lubricant additive was 0.5 Wt.%, and a concentration that was too high led to particle deposition and affected the friction effect.

In this work, ZnFe₂O₄@MoS₂ core–shell composites were synthesized for the first time using ZnFe₂O₄ as the carrier and the lubrication mechanism of core–shell composites and single materials were compared and studied, which illustrated the advantages of core–shell composite lubricant additives. At the same time, the influence of different shell thicknesses on the lubricant additives of core–shell composites was studied.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-12-2022-0367/

In order to systematically grasp the changes and matching characteristics of wheel and rail profiles of high speed railway (HSR) in China, 172 rail profile measurement points and 384 wheels of 6 high-speed electric motive unites (EMUs) were selected on 6 typical HSR lines, including Beijing–Shanghai, Wuhan–Guangzhou, Harbin–Dalian, Lanzhou–Xinjiang, Guiyang–Guangzhou and Dandong–Dalian for a two-year field test.

Based on the measured data, the characteristics of rail and wheel wear were analyzed by mathematical statistics method. The equivalent conicity of wheel and rail matching in a wheel reprofiling cycle was analyzed by using the measured rail profile.

Results showed that when the curve radius of HSR was larger than 2,495 m, the wear rate of straight line and curve rail was almost the same. For the line with annual traffic gross weight less than 11 Mt, the vertical wear of rail was less than 0.01 mm. The wear rate of the rail with the curve radius less than 800 m increased obviously. The wheel tread wear of EMUs on Harbin–Dalian line, Lanzhou–Xinjiang line and Dandong–Dalian line was relatively large, and the average wear rate of tread was about 0.05–0.06 mm·(10,000 km)⁻¹, while that of Beijing–Shanghai line, Wuhan–Guangzhou line and Guiyang–Guangzhou line was about 0.03–0.035 mm·(10,000 km)⁻¹. When the wear range was small, the equivalent conicity increased with the increase of wheel tread wear. When the wear range of wheel was wide, the wheel–rail contact points were evenly distributed, and the equivalent conicity did not increase obviously.

This research proposes the distribution range of the equivalent conicity in one reprofiling cycle of various EMU trains, which provides guidance for the condition-based wheel reprofiling.

The cultural tourism industry, which has subtly met the needs and solved the major problem of the current age, is a new growth point for the current city economic growth. Therefore, its position in the industrial structure system will be increasingly improved. The development of the cultural tourism industry also provides an important opportunity for the renewal and re-engineering of urban space. For the current urban space construction crisis needs the integration of historical and cultural elements urgently while the development of the cultural tourism industry itself happened to need the city to provide the necessary carrying space and incubation carrier urgently as well. Thus this research discusses the construction of urban visual planning system and the specific implementation path from the perspective of the development of cultural tourism industry.

Psychosocial factors have received increasing attention regarding significantly influencing safety in the construction industry. This research attempts to comprehensively summarize psychosocial factors related to safety performance of construction workers. In the context of coronavirus disease 2019, some typical psychosocial factors are selected to further analyze their influence mechanism of safety performance.

First, a literature review process was conducted to identify and summarize relevant psychosocial factors. Then, considering the impact of the epidemic, hypotheses on the relationship between six selected psychosocial factors (i.e. work stress, role ambiguity, work–family conflict, autonomy, social support and interpersonal conflict) and safety performance were proposed, and a hypothetical model was developed based on job demands-resources theory. Finally, a meta-analysis was used to examine these hypotheses and the model.

The results showed these psychosocial factors indirectly influenced workers’ safety performance by impacting on their occupational psychology condition (i.e. burnout and engagement). Work stress, role ambiguity, work–family conflict and interpersonal conflict were negatively related to safety performance by promoting burnout and affecting engagement. Autonomy and social support were positively related to safety performance by improving work engagement and reducing burnout.

This research is the pioneer systematically describing the overall picture of psychosocial factors related to the safety performance of construction workers. Through deeply discussed the mechanism of psychosocial factors and safety performance, it could provide a reference for the theory and application of psychosocial factors in the field of construction safety management.

The relationship between farm size and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has not been clearly defined. This paper aims to assess and compare the impact of farm size on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions derived from wheat and maize production in the North China Plain (NCP), one of the most important agricultural regions in China.

A field survey through face-to-face interviews was conducted to collect the primary data, and life cycle assessment method, a worldwide comparable framework, was then adopted to characterize the farm-size effect on greenhouse gas (GHG) wheat and maize production in NCP.

It was confirmed that GHG emissions from N fertilizer production and use were the primary contributor to total carbon footprint (CF). As farm size increased, maize yield increased but wheat yield barely changed, while area-scaled and yield-scaled CF declined for both crops. These results were supposed to relate to utilize the inputs more efficiently resulting from increased application of modern agriculture methods on larger operations. It was also found maize not only had higher grain yields, but possessed much smaller CFs. More notably, the reduction of CF with farm size seemed to be more sensitive for maize as compared to wheat. To further mitigate GHG emissions, farm size should better be larger for wheat than for maize.

This study provides useful information guide for Chinese agriculture in increasing crop production, raising farm income and relieving environmental burdens caused by the misuse of agricultural resources.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common infectious disease in infants and children. HFMD has caused millions of cases and a large epidemic worldwide. A number of studies have shown that the incidence of HFMD is closely related to various factors such as meteorological factors, environmental air pollution factors and socio-economic factors. However, there are few studies that systematically consider the impact of various factors on the incidence of HFMD. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study used grey correlation analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) method to systematically analyse the impact of meteorological factors, health resource factors, socio-economic factors and environmental air pollution factors on the incidence of HFMD in Shenzhen.

The incidence of HFMD in Shenzhen was affected by multiple factors. Grey correlation analysis found eight influencing factors which are as follows: volume of industrial waste gas emission; the days of air quality equal to or above grade; the volume of industrial nitrogen oxide emission; precipitation; the mean air temperature; the gross domestic product; the expenditure for medical and health care; and the gross domestic product per capita. PCA found that the gross domestic product, the volume of industrial soot emission, the relative humidity, and the days of air quality equal to or above grade have a higher load value.

This study is the one of the first studies that apply the grey correlation analysis to analyse the influencing factors of HFMD in the English literature, which to some extent fills up the blank in this field.

Traditional laboratory measurements of soil water diffusivity (D) and soil water retention curve (SWRC) are always time-consuming and labor-intensive. Therefore, this paper aims to present a simple and robust test method for determining D and SWRC without reducing accuracy.

In this study, a D model of unsaturated soil was established based on Gardner–Russo model and then a combination of Gardner–Russo model with one-dimensional horizontal absorption method to obtain n and a parameters of Gardner–Russo model. One-dimensional horizontal absorption experiments on loam, silt loam and sandy clay loam were conducted to obtain the relationships between measured infiltration rate and cumulative infiltration with wetting front distance. Based on the obtained relationships, the measured infiltration data from the one-dimensional horizontal absorption tests were used to calculate n and a parameters and further constructing D and SWRC.

Both the calculated D and SWRC inversed from the infiltration data were in good agreement with the measured ones that obtained from the traditional horizontal absorption method and the centrifuge method, respectively. Error analysis indicated that only the infiltration data are enough to reliably synchronously determine D and SWRC.

A simple and robust method is proposed for synchronous determination of soil water diffusivity and water retention curve.