Sensor System based on in-fiber Bragg Grats and Interrogator with Spectral Time Channel Separation

The principle of construction and a variant of the software and hardware implementation of the sensor system based on intra-fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) by the example of temperature measurement are proposed. The use of spectral-time separation of measuring channels, which takes into account the features of the functioning and placement of sensors based on FBGs, can significantly reduce the cost, dimensions, weight and power consumption of the interrogator, and neutralize the difficulties in setting up and periodic calibration typical for serial products. The test results of the system show the directions and prospects of using the developed equipment as part of portable and on-board monitoring and control systems.

Application of automotive safety design methodologies to the development of Euro 7 emission control systems including on board monitoring.

Euro 7 and California HD-OBD present a shift of approach in emissions control. Legislative bodies concentrate on individual vehicle conformity to standards during its lifetime on top of type approval processes in test environment. The main change is NO_x trackers in software and sensors in the exhaust pipes of all vehicles. As a consequence of constant supervision not only single point faults are taken into account in the analysis, but also cumulative parameter drift of components due to aging. To achieve normative requirements and prevent emission standards violation during exploitation, methodologies known from automotive functional safety domain and SOTIF are used to evaluate and modify a propulsion system design. An illustrative example of analysis is presented in the paper.

Director Compensation in the Banking Industry Around the Dodd-Frank Act

Directors’ monitoring and advising activities as agents were supposed to increase after the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act significantly increases the pressure on the board of directors to be more effective agents of the stockholders even after the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) became effective. Director compensation, especially incentive-based compensation, is intended to align with the interests of shareholders and motivate director behavior. This paper empirically tests how banks respond to the Dodd-Frank Act by redesigning their director compensation plans. Our findings suggest that banks recognize the need for improved board monitoring by highlighting the importance of director workload and qualifications through the design of director compensation packages in the post-Dodd-Frank Act period. We also find that the negative impact of excessive director equity compensation on firm performance was attenuated after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. The findings of this study shed light on the rationale of director compensation policies for banking firms.

Are social connections of independent directors all the same? Evidence from corporate monitoring

PurposeStudies on corporate boards examine how social ties between the CEO and independent board members affect the effectiveness of board monitoring. Much evidence suggests that social connections between the CEO and independent directors are associated with inadequate monitoring and lower firm value (Hwang and Kim, 2009; Fracassi and Tate, 2012). In this study, the authors note that social connections of the independent directors are of different nature and thus should not be treated as a homogeneous group; that is, the nature of connections among directors can be quite different from that between the CEO and directors, which is the primary focus of previous studies.Design/methodology/approachThe authors classify independent directors into four mutually exclusive groups based on their social connections to the CEO and other independent board members and examine what role each type of connection plays in corporate monitoring using panel data and cross-sectional fixed effect regressions.FindingsThe authors find that Only_CEO%, the proportion of independent directors who are connected only to the CEO, is negatively associated with monitoring intensity. Specifically, firms with higher Only_CEO% have larger CEO compensation, lower likelihood of dismissing the CEO, more co-opted board and worse firm performance. In contrast, No_CEO_Ind%, the proportion of independent directors who have no connection to either the CEO or other independent directors is associated with more effective monitoring. These findings suggest that independent directors with different degrees of social connections exhibit different monitoring qualities.Practical implicationsWhen more independent directors, who are connected exclusively to the CEO, are on the board, they consistently deliver low monitoring quality. However, when more independent directors with no connections to either the CEO or any independent directors are on the board, they enhance monitoring quality. These findings can be used to construct board structures with more effective monitoring ability.Originality/valueThis paper extends the literature on social networks in corporate finance. The authors show that independent directors with exclusive connections to other independent directors do not have a significant effect on board monitoring, but those truly independent directors are associated with better monitoring quality. These findings suggest that different types of social connections of independent directors play a different role in board monitoring and help extend our understanding of the function of social connections of independent directors in corporate governance.

Near-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging as a Monitoring Tool for On-Demand Manufacturing of Inkjet-Printed Formulations

This study evaluates the potential use of near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (NIR-HSI) for quantitative determination of the drug amount in inkjet-printed dosage forms. We chose metformin hydrochloride as a model active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and printed it onto gelatin films using a piezoelectric inkjet printing system. An industry-ready NIR-HSI sensor combined with a motorized movable linear stage was applied for spectral acquisition. Initial API-substrate screening revealed best printing results for gelatin films with TiO2 filling. For calibration of the NIR-HSI system, escalating drug doses were printed on the substrate. After spectral pre-treatments, including standard normal variate (SNV) and Savitzky-Golay filtering for noise reduction and enhancement of spectral features, principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression were applied to create predictive models for the quantification of independent printed metformin hydrochloride samples. It could be shown that the concentration distribution maps provided by the developed HSI models were capable of clustering and predicting the drug dose in the formulations. HSI model prediction showed significant better correlation to the reference (HPLC) compared to on-board monitoring of dispensed volume of the printer. Overall, the results emphasize the capability of NIR-HSI as a fast and non-destructive method for the quantification and quality control of the deposited API in drug-printing applications. Graphical abstract

Board monitoring and capital structure dynamics: evidence from bank-based economies

We examine the impact of board characteristics on the speed of adjustment and the capital structure dynamics of firms in bank-based economies. Using 3927 firm-year observations over a 10-year (2009–2019), we find that board characteristic influences firms' speed of adjustment in a bank-based (stakeholder-oriented) system. We also find some evidence that board characteristics have varying impacts on the capital structure of Japanese, French and German firms. We conclude that firms' capital structure reflects the corporate governance environment they operate. Our results are robust to accounting for endogeneity and alternative leverage measure.

On-Board Monitoring of SO2 Ship Emissions Using Resonant Photoacoustic Gas Detection in the UV Range

A photoacoustic gas detector for SO2 was developed for ship exhaust gas emission monitoring. The basic measurement setup is based on the absorption of electromagnetic radiation of SO2 at 285 nm wavelength. A commercially available ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diode (LED) is used as the light source and a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) microphone as the detector. In order to achieve the required detection limits in marine applications, a measuring cell which allows an acoustically resonant amplification of the photoacoustic signal was developed and characterized. A limit of detection of 1 ppm was achieved in lab conditions during continuous gas flow. Long-term measurements on a container ship demonstrated the application relevance of the developed system.