Do language skills affect investment decisions? This article addresses this question by identifying the effect of English proficiency on the stock market participation of immigrants in the United States and Australia. To establish causality, we construct an instrumental variable for English proficiency by exploiting the phenomenon that younger children acquire languages more easily than older children. We find that English proficiency has a significant positive effect on stock ownership among immigrants in both countries. Moreover, we provide evidence that a reduction in information costs and an increase in trust may serve as the mechanisms underlying the language ability effect.

The validity of network observations is sometimes of concern in empirical studies, since observed networks are prone to error and may not represent the population of interest. This lack of validity is not just a result of random measurement error, but often due to systematic bias that can lead to the misinterpretation of actors’ preferences of network selections. These issues in network observations could bias the estimation of common network models (such as those pertaining to influence and selection) and lead to erroneous statistical inferences. In this study, we proposed a simulation-based sensitivity analysis method that can evaluate the robustness of inferences made in social network analysis to six forms of selection mechanisms that can cause biases in network observations—random, homophily, anti-homophily, transitivity, reciprocity, and preferential attachment. We then applied this sensitivity analysis to test the robustness of inferences for social influence effects, and we derived two sets of analytical solutions that can account for biases in network observations due to random, homophily, and anti-homophily selection.

A conventional Differential GPS (DGPS) techniques-based velocity and acceleration method (named here as ‘DVA’) may be difficult to implement in the Antarctic as there is a sparse distribution of reference stations over Antarctica. Thus, in order to overcome the baseline limitations and to obtain highly accurate and reliable velocity and acceleration estimates for airborne gravimetry, a network-based velocity and acceleration determination approach (named here as ‘NVA’), which introduces a wide network of stations and is independent of precise clock information, is applied. Here its performance for velocity and acceleration determination is fully exploited by using Global Positioning System (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou observations. Additionally, a standalone receiver-based method named ‘SVA’, which requires precise clock information, is also implemented for comparison. During static tests and a flight experiment over Antarctica, it was found that the NVA method yields more robust results than the SVA and DVA methods when applied to a wide area network. Moreover, the addition of GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou systems can increase the accuracy of velocity and acceleration estimates by 39% and 43% with NVA compared to a GPS-only solution.

This study investigates the origins of discrete interpersonal emotions in team-member dyads using two independent samples from an education institute and a telecommunication services company in China. Results across both studies showed that the quality of team members’ dyadic relationships positively relates to interpersonal admiration, sympathy, and envy, and negatively relates to interpersonal contempt. Furthermore, teams’ cooperative goals moderate these dyad-level linkages. The association of relationship quality with interpersonal emotions is particularly pronounced in teams with less cooperative goals but buffered in teams with more cooperative goals. Finally, on the individual level of analysis, envy and contempt are inversely associated with team members’ work performance, objectively measured. These findings provide new insights about key antecedents and crucial moderators in the development of interpersonal emotions in Chinese work teams and reiterate the relevance of these emotions for tangible performance outcomes.

Background: Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a large number of genetic variants for obesity and its related traits, representing a group of potential key genes in the etiology of obesity. Emerging evidence suggests that epigenetics may play an important role in obesity. It has not been explored whether the GWAS-identified loci contribute to obesity through epigenetics (e.g., DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) methylation) in addition to genetics. Method: A multi-stage cross-sectional study was designed. We did a literature search and identified 117 genes discovered by GWAS for obesity and its related traits. Then we analyzed whether the methylation levels of these genes were also associated with obesity in two genome-wide methylation panels. We examined an initial panel of seven adolescent obese cases and seven age-matched lean controls, followed by a second panel of 48 adolescent obese cases and 48 age- and gender-matched lean controls. The validated CpG sites were further replicated in two independent replication panels of youth (46 vs. 46 and 230 cases vs. 413 controls, respectively) and a general population of youth, including 703 healthy subjects. Results: One CpG site in the lymphocyte antigen 86 (LY86) gene, which showed higher methylation in the obese in both the initial (p = .009) and second genome-wide DNA methylation panel (p = .008), was further validated in both replication panels (meta p = .00016). Moreover, in the general population of youth, the methylation levels of this region were significantly correlated with adiposity indices (p ≤ .02), insulin resistance (p = .001), and inflammatory markers (p < .001). Conclusion: By focusing on recent GWAS findings in genome-wide methylation profiles, we identified a solid association between LY86 gene DNA methylation and obesity.

Little is known about the potential adherence to and the effectiveness of a low-carbohydrate (LC) diet on weight loss and cardiometabolic risk factors in Chinese adults with a habitually high carbohydrate intake. In the present controlled feeding trial, fifty overweight or obese women (age 47·9 (sem 0·9) years; BMI 26·7 (sem 0·3) kg/m2) were randomly assigned to a LC non-energy-restricted diet (initial carbohydrate intake 20 g/d, with a 10 g increase weekly) or an energy-restricted (ER) diet (carbohydrate intake 156–205 g/d, ER to 5021 or 6276 kJ/d, 35 % average energy reduction) for 12 weeks. Over the intervention period, the two diets had comparable compliance (96 %) and self-reported acceptability. At week 12, carbohydrate intake in the LC and ER groups contributed to 36·1 and 51·1 % of total energy, respectively (P< 0·001). Although both diets showed similarly decreased mean body weight (LC − 5·27 (95 % CI − 6·08, − 4·46) kg; ER − 5·09 (95 % CI − 5·50, − 4·67) kg, P= 0·67) and percentage of fat mass measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (LC − 1·19 (95 % CI − 1·88, − 0·50) %; ER − 1·56 (95 % CI − 2·20, − 0·92) %, P= 0·42), participants in the LC group had greater reductions in the ratio of total cholesterol:HDL-cholesterol (P= 0·03) and also in the ratio of TAG:HDL-cholesterol (P= 0·01) than those in the ER group. The present 12-week diet trial suggested that both a LC non-energy-restricted diet and an ER diet were acceptable to Chinese women and both diets were equally effective in reducing weight and fat mass. Moreover, the LC diet showed beneficial effects on blood lipid profiles.

We report the heterogeneous integration of a multifunctional sensor based on polymer porous photonic bandgap (P3BG) structure and xerogel based luminescence sensor technology. The P3BG structure was fabricated using holographic interferometry. Initially, holographic interferometry of a photo-activated prepolymer syrup that included a volatile solvent as well as monomer, photoinitiator, and co-initiator was used to initiate photopolymerization. Subsequent UV curing resulted in well defined lamellae of the polymer separated by porous polymer regions that created a high quality photonic bandgap structure. The resulting P3BG structure was then integrated with the xerogel based luminescence element to produce a luminescence sensor with a selective narrow band reflector. The prototype xerogel based luminescence sensor element consisted of an O2 sensing material based on spin coated tetraethylorthosilane (TEOS) composite xerogel films containing tris (4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium (II) ([Ru(dpp)3]2+) luminophore. We demonstrated enhancement of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of this integrated multifunctional sensor while maintaining the same sensitivity to O2 sensing of the xerogel based element. The resulting advantages and enhanced SNR of this integrated sensor will provide a template for other luminescence based assays to support highly sensitive and cost-effective sensor systems for biomedical applications.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) use microorganisms to simultaneously break down organic materials and generate electricity. One of the greatest challenges in the practical application of MFCs is to sufficiently increase their power generation. Nanomodified graphite carbon anodes were prepared for use in MFCs to enhance the electron transport from the microbes to the electrode. Nanomodification to the anodes included growth of nanoparticles and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Nanoparticles of various metals, including Au, Ni, Pd, and Fe, were synthesized through thermal annealing and Fe catalyzed MWCNTs were synthesized through chemical vapor deposition. Power density was measured in MFCs for each type of nanomodified electrodes. Significant increase in power density was observed for the MFC with anodes decorated with MWCNTs (with 50-100nm diameters).

Nanometer thin membranes with considerable application potential in micro mechanics and materials science can be prepared by transferring cross-linked monomolecular layers of polyisoprenes or polyisobutenes with ionic head groups from the water surface to solid substrates with holes. Especially if monolayers of low glass transition polymers are cross-linked, elastomeric membranes are obtained, which might find application in micro mechanical devices like membrane valves and pumps. Incorporation of hydrophobised colloids leads to composite membranes, which can be converted into porous membranes via removal of the colloids.

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of noble metal thin-films is increasingly important for future memory storage applications. Integration of ferroelectric perovskites and/or high permittivity oxides requires specialized metal interconnect technologies. Platinum and iridium are two preferred metal electrode materials being explored since they are highly resistant to corrosion and exhibit excellent stability at high temperatures. Further, the formation of stable oxides (IrO2) provides a mechanism for decreased inter-diffusion of oxygen and elemental film constituents, and provides improved reliability in silicon-based devices. CVD provides conformal electrode films that are required to achieve high-densities; high purity films of both platinum and iridium were deposited in this research, using (β-diketonate)Ir(I)L and (MeCp)Me3Pt(IV) as the precursors.

Concurrently, chemical etching of these metals is highly desirable for creating patterns of the electrical contacts and for CVD reactor cleaning. To date, etching of noble metal electrodes has relied upon physical sputtering or chemically assisted etching. In this paper, we also report the first chemical etching of iridium films under ambient conditions, such as room temperature.

We have studied smoothing kinetics of Rh (111) surfaces during low temperature annealing using in-situ real-time reflection high energy electron diffraction and scanning tunneling microscopy. The initial surface features were produced by low temperature homoepitaxial growth of Rh (111). Two types of surfaces were studied, surfaces with two-dimensional (2D) islands at submonolayer coverages, and those with 3D multilayered features. 2D islands coarsen rapidly at the onset of the anneal. 3D features are more stable initially. Their annealing process exhibits a distinct transition from an initial slow coarsening, characterized by a nearly linear growth of lateral size, to a rapid flattening. The activation energy for the transition is ˜ 0.6 eV. The observed behavior indicates that the smoothing kinetics in the low temperature regime is limited by adatom detachment from the step-edges, and that the fast process for the 3D features is made possible by the formation of a network of “chain-like” structures which provide new pathways for diffusion thus overcoming the slow detachment kinetics. These effects determine the low temperature stability of the non-equilibrium epitaxial morphologies.