The effect of board size on shareholder value: Evidence from bank mergers and acquisitions

This study examines the effect of board size on the economic impact of bank mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the US. Using a hand-collected dataset of 508 M&A between 2012 and 2018, we find that board size is negatively related to acquirer excess returns. In an additional analysis, we show that large boards have positive value implications for banks that combine the CEO and chairman roles as well as for large banks. Our findings indicate that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to board size is not necessarily in the interests of shareholders; instead, a more flexible and proactive formulation is needed.     

合作与破裂:山东地方官与大刀会关系研究

山东地方官对大刀会、拳会的宽容的政策与态度由来已久，早在甲午中日战争期间，官军就与大刀会形成默契，在共同缉捕盗匪方面取得显著成效，直至义和团在中外联合势力的绞杀下失败，在此期间，大刀会、拳会等名目的民间团体组织与官府的关系就处在一种半合作半破裂的游离状态，即这种宽容政策具有一定的延续性。就义和团运动而言，大刀会等民间会社势力仅仅是为义和团运动构筑的可能性力量而已，程度很高，却极不稳定，它们有待于官方的开掘、引导与锤炼及外力催逼，即官方对刀会、拳会的宽容态度与政策，以及西方列强、教会势力的威逼现实这两种因素，而前者更为重要。     

新乡贤重塑乡规民约:历史承继、时代价值及实现路径

当前乡村治理中乡规民约面临德治退化、自治弱化及法治虚化等现实困境。新乡贤作为乡村社会精英群体,在增强乡规民约的现代性、厚植乡规民约的乡土性及强化乡规民约的权威性等方面具有显著的时代价值,是重塑乡规民约的有益主体选择。实现新乡贤在重塑乡规民约中的时代价值,需要强化乡贤文化的敦风化俗功能、构建乡贤群体的风险防范机制及发挥乡贤组织的协商共治作用。     

近代早期城市的能源贸易与能源消费问题——以英格兰海煤为中心

中世纪至近代早期,海煤逐渐发展成为英格兰重要的贸易商品。贸易交换的增加,带动了英格兰的海煤消费。因此有学者认为,英格兰近代早期的城市污染与海煤的贸易和使用有密切关系。通过梳理英格兰海煤的贸易轨迹,得知近代早期英格兰海煤的贸易特点:以纽卡斯尔和布里斯托尔为典型的出口港口,以伦敦为典型的进口港口。近代早期英格兰的城市污染,尽管有消费海煤带来的影响,但二者之间并不存在明显的直接相关。海煤在英格兰近代化的历程中发挥重要的积极作用。     

孤山智圆净土思想之天台教义探赜

孤山智圆是北宋天台宗山外派的著名学僧，也是宋代倡导儒佛互融的代表性人物。智圆一生致力于天台三观，同时又“刻心净土”，力求以天台宗圆教的“心性”论统摄净土法门的“唯心净土”，又以“心性”为诸法之体来消解净秽二土之别。智圆不仅是“唯心净土”论者，也是“实在净土”的坚定信仰者，其净土思想具有鲜明的“唯心净土”和“实在净土”两重性。     

Assessing social work and nursing students’ intentions to work with dying patients

This study assessed social work and nursing students’ intentions to provide end-of-life care, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A total of 181 social work and nursing students completed a questionnaire examining intentions to provide end-of-life care, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, death anxiety, subjective knowledge, and sociodemographic characteristics. Students manifested a moderate level of intentions to provide end-of-life care, with nursing students indicating higher levels of intentions than social work students. Multiple regression analyses revealed that attitudes, subjective norms, and previous experience were the main predictors of intentions to provide end-of-life care. Recommendations for academic programs are discussed.     

Israel's military public diplomacy evolution: Historical and conceptual dimensions

This study provides an historical overview of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit (ISU) from the early years of the State of Israel until 2009. Analyzing five periods during which the ISU played a key role in Israel's public diplomacy, this research sheds light on the challenges the ISU faced in different periods and circumstances and examines how the ISU tried to modify its methods and actions in response to geopolitical changes and media development, albeit not always successfully. The study suggests better understanding the adaptation process by applying a three-layer framework for analysis: the tactical layer, the strategic layer and the perceptional layer. The findings of this work demonstrate that in adapting to new circumstances, the ISU focused mainly on the tactical response level, with the result that it did not undertake any review or debate over the need for deeper perceptional changes in ISU policies.     

教育时空拓展:教师专业成长的机遇与挑战

随着人类文明的进步、社会的发展以及信息技术的普及，教育时间和空间得到迅速拓展。教育时空拓展正如一把双刃剑，给教育活动的实施带来机遇的同时也带来了挑战。教师作为教育活动的主要组织者和实施者，在享受机遇的同时也要迎接教育时空拓展所带来的挑战。通过分析教育时空拓展的内涵与表征，发现教师专业成长正处在社会化、终身化与数字化的发展大潮中，因此教师要充分利用好教育时空拓展带来的机遇，同时慎重应对由此面临的挑战，不断提高应变能力，以促进教师专业成长和教育事业的发展。     

Emotions into Disorder: Anxiety Disorders and the Social Meaning of Fear

This article explores what we refer to as norm-stimuli-state discrepancies, which are disparities between people's physical-emotional responses to emotional cues and the normative meanings of those cues. Drawing on forty qualitative interviews and participant observation research at support groups, we show that people with anxiety disorders describe two forms of norm-stimuli-state discrepancies. The first form involves discrepancies of type, in which people label fearful emotional states as deviant for being caused by the “wrong” stimuli. The second involves discrepancies of intensity, in which people label fearful states as deviant for involving feelings or displays of “too much” anxiety in response to an “appropriate” stimuli. The article further addresses the role of stimuli in prompting treatment seeking. Unexpected and intense emotional distress in combination with the falling away of external cues—which we refer to as “stimuli-less fear”—serve as a critical juncture on the path to an anxiety disorder diagnosis.     

Surgical Identity Play: The Anatomy Lab Revisited

The anatomy lab has been studied by sociologists interested in professional socialization since the 1950s. This is because the act of dissecting a cadaver is thought to be foundational for both the student's medical knowledge and the development of the student's professional identity. In this paper, I revisit the anatomy lab both historically and ethnographically. Drawing on theoretical insights from the laboratory ethnography tradition within science and technology studies, I show that students use material artifacts in the lab to support their “surgical identity play.” This activity is structured by the laboratory's performative architecture even while it is unsupervised by anatomy faculty. While many analyses of professional socialization focus on how students learn to interact with patients during their training, I show that the anatomy lab experience is an important form of professional socialization because here students learn to employ surgical instruments, language, and dress, and begin to relate to each other as colleagues.