Female directors in the boardroom and intellectual capital performance:Does the“critical mass”matter?

This research aims to investigate the influence of female directors on Intellectual Capital Performance(ICP)using a sample of manufacturing-listed companies in China.Our study investigates the link between having two or more female directors and the Modified Value-Added Intellectual Coefficient(MVAIC)methodology,employing the critical mass theory from 2004–2017.We find that having a critical mass of female directors(three or more)shows a significant positive impact on MVAIC and its components,including human capital efficiency,structural capital efficiency,relational capital efficiency,and physical capital efficiency,with physical capital being the critical driver.Our study reveals that the critical mass participation of female directors substantially influences the IC efficiency of privately owned companies compared to state-owned companies.Moreover,the number of female directors also affects the IC performance of manufacturing companies in multiple regions.Our findings support the validity of group classification identified by Kanter and Critical Mass Theory.To the best of our knowledge,this is one of the few pieces of research that studies the role of female board directors in IC performance and Chinese manufacturing firms using MVAIC as an IC measure.

Star Formation in Self-Gravitating Molecular Cloud: The Critical Mass and the Core Accretion Rate

Understanding how stars form in molecular clouds is one of the ongoing research areas in astrophysics. Star formation is the fundamental process to which our current understanding remains incomplete due to the complexity of the physics that drives their formation within molecular clouds. In this article theoretical modelling of the lowest possible mass of the cloud needed for collapse and the core accretion rate has been presented for the molecular cloud collapsing under its gravity. In many of previous studies the critical mass of star forming cloud under its gravity has been modelled using kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy. However, we test the effect of thermodynamic efficiency factor together with other physical processes in describing the critical mass, and controlling or triggering the rate of mass falling onto the central core. Assuming that, the ratio of radiation luminosity to gravitational energy released per unit time of the collapsing MC is less than unity. Following this conceptual framework we have formulated the critical mass and the core accretion rate of the self-gravitating molecular cloud.

Experimental Analysis of the Flow Characteristics of an Adjustable Critical-Flow Venturi Nozzle

The response of an adjustable critical-flow Venturi nozzle is investigated through a set indoor experiments aimed to determine the related critical flow rate,critical pressure ratio,and discharge coefficient.The effect of a variation in the cone displacement and liquid content on the critical flow characteristics is examined in detail and it is shown that the former can be used to effectively adjust the critical flow rate.The critical pressure ratio of the considered nozzle is above 0.85,and the critical flow control deviation of the gas flow is within±3%.Liquid flow can reduce the gas critical mass flow rate accordingly,especially for the cases with larger liquid volume and lower inlet pressure.The set of results and conclusions provided are intended to support the optimization of steam injection techniques in the context of heavy oil recovery processes.

CRITICAL MASS

The Middle Kingdom’s booming Christian community celebrates Christmas教会里的圣诞节并不是购物与狂欢Worldwide,there are two kinds of Christmas.While both are a time of joy,one is relatively secular;its trappings are Christmas trees,gifts,reindeer,and the jolly,red,fat version of Saint Nick(going by圣诞老人,or Christmas Elderly Person in China).

Critical Behavior of Dynamical Chiral Symmetry Breaking with Gauge Boson Mass in QED3

Since the massless quantum electrodynamics in 2＋1 dimensions （QEDa） with nonzero gauge boson mass ζ can be used to explain some important traits of high-Tc superconductivity in planar cuprates, it is worthwhile to apply this model to analyze the nature of chiral phase transition at the critical value ζ. Based on the feature of chiral susceptibility, we show that the system at ζ exhibits a second-order phase transition which accords with the nature of appearance of the high-To superconductivity, and the estimated critical exponents around ζ are illustrated.

Shear strength criteria for rock,rock joints,rockfill and rock masses:Problems and some solutions

Although many intact rock types can be very strong,a critical confining pressure can eventually be reached in triaxial testing,such that the Mohr shear strength envelope becomes horizontal.This critical state has recently been better defined,and correct curvature or correct deviation from linear Mohr-Coulomb（MC） has finally been found.Standard shear testing procedures for rock joints,using multiple testing of the same sample,in case of insufficient samples,can be shown to exaggerate apparent cohesion.Even rough joints do not have any cohesion,but instead have very high friction angles at low stress,due to strong dilation.Rock masses,implying problems of large-scale interaction with engineering structures,may have both cohesive and frictional strength components.However,it is not correct to add these,following linear M-C or nonlinear Hoek-Brown（H-B） standard routines.Cohesion is broken at small strain,while friction is mobilized at larger strain and remains to the end of the shear deformation.The criterion ＇c then σn tan φ＇ should replace ＇c plus σn tan φ＇ for improved fit to reality.Transformation of principal stresses to a shear plane seems to ignore mobilized dilation,and caused great experimental difficulties until understood.There seems to be plenty of room for continued research,so that errors of judgement of the last 50 years can be corrected.

A Numerical Study of the Irradiated Ignition of Obliquely Oriented Thermally-Deformable Polymer

This study numerically investigates the influence of molten matter dynamics on the gasification and subsequent ignitability of an inclined thermoplastic specimen subjected to localized irradiation heat flux normal to the surface. A thermoplastic material is modeled as a phase change material with predefined solidification and melting temperatures, respectively, and the gasification process is modeled by the Arrhenius law of molten matter. Gas phase kinetics is not considered for simplicity purposes;instead, the onset of ignition of polymer is estimated on the basis of the critical mass flux concept. According to the numerical results, as the inclination angle becomes steeper (toward the vertical angle), the estimated ignition delay becomes shorter, showing ignition is promoted, whereas it is turned to be difficult to occur when inclination angles are above the vertical angle (>90?) having a longer delay time for the onset of gasification. With careful observation, the thermal interaction between the hot molten matter and unmelted (cold) solid is found to play an important role in gasification. The formation of a bulge due to resolidification to suppress the dripping downstream could be the source to promote ignition. By contrast, the hot molten matter is enforced to detach from the unmelted solid and “freely fall-off” to prohibit ignition for inclination angles beyond 90?. This supports the notion that high-enthalpy caused by the external heating is simply lost because of dripping, and there is less chance of catching fire there.

Environment Factors and Development Policies in Chinese Rural Telecommunications

Rural telecom development is one of the focal points now. The favorable and unfavorable factors for rural telecom development will coexist with each other in the following years. There are also differences of development between urban telephone service and rural one. This paper studies all these factors and points out the policies for rural telecom development.

Generalized uncertainty principle and black hole thermodynamics

Banerjee-Ghosh's work shows that the singularity problem can be naturally avoided by the fact that black hole evaporation stops when the remnant mass is greater than the critical mass when including the generalized uncertainty principle(GUP)effects with first-and second-order corrections.In this paper,we first follow their steps to reexamine Banerjee-Ghosh's work,but we find an interesting result:the remnant mass is always equal to the critical mass at the final stage of black hole evaporation with the inclusion of the GUP effects.Then,we use Hossenfelder's GUP,i.e.,another GUP model with higher-order corrections,to restudy the final evolution behavior of the black hole evaporation,and we confirm the intrinsic self-consistency between the black hole remnant and critical masses once more.In both cases,we also find that the thermodynamic quantities are not singular at the final stage of black hole evaporation.