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Traditional single-ended fault location method is influenced by the fault resistance and the remote in feed, which reflects as the two equations built by fault phase have four unknowns. And in the grid-connected converter system, the weak feedback characteristic further reduces the performance of the method. To solve it, a single-ended fault location method based on control and protection coordination is proposed in this paper. First, using the high controlled-ability of the converter, the control strategy for fault ride-through (FRT) operation is divided into two stages by switching control modes. Then, according to the electrical quantities under two stages, four uncorrelated equations can be established, and the equations still have four unknown parameters. The fault distance can be calculated by solving them. The simulation results show that the proposed method has high accuracy and is immune to fault resistance and fault location, it solves the problem of insufficient equations in principle.

In this paper, we address the assembly flowshop scheduling problem, which is a generalisation of two well-known scheduling problems in the literature: the three-stage Assembly Scheduling Problem (ASP) and its variant with two stages denoted as the two-stage ASP. For this problem, we prove several theoretical results which are used to propose a speed-up procedure. This acceleration mechanism can be applied in any insertion-based method for the problem under study and, consequently, also for their special cases. In addition, we propose four efficient constructive heuristics for the problem, based on both Johnson’s algorithm and the NEH heuristic. These proposals are compared against 47 algorithms existing in the literature for related problems. The results show the excellent performance of the proposals.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the combination of Bacillus subtilis TM3 formulation with botanical pesticides in suppressing Fusarium verticilloides infection in corn. The research was carried out at the Plant Pathology Laboratory and the Experimental Farm of Indonesian Cereals Research Institute (ICERI) from February to November 2019. The research consisted of two stages, namely an in vitro test of antagonists of botanical pesticides against F. verticilloides using 5 types of plant extracts namely betel leaf extract, turmeric, galangal, cosmos, and clove leaf. The second stage was to test the effectiveness of the combination of the formulation of B. subtilis TM3 with the best 3 types of plant extracts in vitro testing in suppressing F. verticilloides infection in plants. The results of the in vitro study showed that the plant extracts of betel leaf, clove leaf and galangal had the best inhibitory ability on the mycelia growth of F. verticilloides. Meanwhile, the field test found that the application of the B. subtilis TM3 formulation, either alone or in combination with plant extracts, was able to suppress F. verticilloides infection. The combination of B. subtilis TM3 formulation with betel leaf extract showed the best inhibition of 20% against stem rot disease and 13.33% against corn cob rot. This treatment did not affect production quantitatively, but was able to suppress the decline in seed quality due to F. verticilloides infection. Seeds grown by the Plastic Rolled Paper Test (PRPT) method were not only infected with F. verticilloides, but also infected with other seed-borne pathogens, such as Aspergillus niger and A. falvus. The presence of these two pathogens did not inhibit the growth of F. verticilloides in kernels.

espanolLa mineria genera impactos ambientales como drenajes acidos de minas (DAM). El rio Cali es uno de los principales recursos hidricos de la ciudad de Santiago de Cali, Colombia, y esta afectado por los drenajes procedentes de minas abandonadas que llegan a traves de la quebrada Las Minas. Como alternativas de biorremediacion se evaluo el uso de humedales de flujo subsuperficial, ademas de piedra caliza como pretratamiento. La metodologia de la investigacion se estructuro en dos etapas: a) caracterizacion fisicoquimica del agua de la quebrada y b) operacion de los sistemas de tratamiento. Se evaluaron cuatro sistemas: 1) humedal con especie vegetal (H1); 2) piedra caliza + H1 (PC + H1); 3) humedal sin especie vegetal (H2), y 4) piedra caliza + H2 (PC + H2). Los resultados mostraron que el agua de la quebrada Las Minas presenta caracteristicas similares a DAM (pH: 2.4-4.0 unidades; acidez: 1 303.2 mg/l ± 139.2; hierro: 715.3 mg/l ± 70.6; sulfatos: 1 134.5 mg/l ± 314.6), y afecta al rio Cali principalmente por el incremento del hierro, aluminio y presencia de precipitados de hidroxido ferrico. Se observo que los sistemas de tratamiento que emplearon PC lograron mayores eficiencias; es recomendable la configuracion PC + H1. Todos los sistemas lograron reducir la acidez del afluente en un rango promedio de 31 y 52 %, y se alcanzaron eficiencias de remocion promedio de hierro total entre 54 y 67 %; sulfatos entre 16 y 35 %; niquel entre 25 y 50 %, y aluminio entre 0 y 73 %. No se logro remover manganeso. EnglishMining generates environmental impacts such as Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). The Cali River is one of the main water resources in the city of Santiago de Cali, Colombia and it is affected by drainage from abandoned mines, which reach the Cali River through the Las Minas brook. As bioremediation alternatives, the use of subsurface flow wetlands coupled with a limestone-based pretreatment was assessed in this study. The research methodology was structured in two stages: a) physicochemical monitoring of Las Minas brook waters, and b) treatment system operations. For these purposes, four systems were evaluated: 1) Wetlands with plants (WL1), 2) Limestone + WL1 (LS + WL1), 3) Wetlands without plants (WL2) and 4) Limestone + WL2 (LS + WL2). The results revealed that the water from the Las Minas brook presents characteristics similar to AMD (pH: 2.4-4.0; acidity: 1 303.2 mg/l ± 139.2; iron: 715.3 mg/50 ± 70.6; sulfate: 1 134.5 mg/l ± 314.6) and affects the Cali River mainly owing to the increase in iron, aluminum, and the presence of ferric hydroxide precipitates. In addition, limestone-based treatment systems achieved greater efficiencies, and the LS + WL1 configuration is recommended. All systems were able to reduce the affluent acidity from 31 to 52 %. Furthermore, the average iron removal efficiencies achieved were between 54 and 67 %; sulfates between 16 and 35 %, nickel between 25 and 50 %, and aluminum between 0 and 73 %. However, manganese could not be removed.

BACKGROUND The widespread use of palm oil in food production affects high consumption of long-chain saturated fatty acids, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Solid or semi-solid wax-based oleogels obtained as a result of edible oils structuring can be an alternative. RESULTS Oleogels, obtained by structuring a mixture of refined rapeseed and linseed oils (1:1) with 30-80 g kg-1 candelilla wax (CW), were investigated using optical techniques: multi-speckle diffusing wave spectroscopy, centrifugal stability analysis, reflection method, and polarized light microscopy. Refined palm oil was a comparative sample. Increasing CW concentration resulted in an increase in values of L* parameter and opacity, a decrease in the Yellowness Index and a slight increase in the average crystal size. The microstructure of oleogels with 30 or 40 g kg-1 CW was least like the crystal network. Solidification of oleogels took place in two stages. Increase in CW concentration shortened solidification time and increased solidification temperature (greater elasticity of oleogels). Palm oil solidified the longest (497.1 min) and at the lowest temperature (29.3 °C). It showed lower resistance to centrifugal force than oleogels at 20 and 30 °C. All oleogels were stable (no oil release occurred) at 20 °C. CONCLUSION Optical methods allow for an objective and detailed analysis of physical properties of palm oil and oleogels, as well as identification and tracking changes at the microstructural level over time. It has great potential in the edible lipid quality control at various stages of processing or storage. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

In this paper, a local surface nanocrystallization technology is used for thin-walled structures with square cross sections, and an energy absorption device of two-staged combined energy absorption structure is proposed. In virtue of the surface nanocrystallization that enables to change the material on local positions, the structural deformation is induced and controlled to maximize the energy absorption capacity. A numerical model of the two-staged combined energy absorption structure is established, and the local surface nanocrystallization layout is optimized. The results show that the specific energy absorption of two-staged combined structure with local surface nanocrystallization can be increased by 34.36% compared with the untreated counterpart of the same material and structural shape. The ratio between the first and second peak crushing forces and the energy absorption allocation ratio between the two stages can be adjusted in the ranges of 0.26–0.55 and 0.31–0.45, respectively, which can be controlled by the local surface nanocrystallization designs. The numerical simulation and experimental results are in good agreement, which shows that the design for energy absorption device with local surface nanocrystallization is feasible and effective.

Az új büntetőeljárási törvény a korábban egységes nyomozási szakaszt felderítésre és vizsgálatra osztotta. A két nyomozási szakaszban egyrészről eltérő a nyomozó hatóság és az ügyészség kapcsolata és a jogköreik, másrészt a jogalkotó másféle nyomozási „módszert” képzelt el és javasol a felderítés, és mást a vizsgálat során (a felderítés eredetileg adatgyűjtő jellegű, míg a vizsgálat bizonyító jellegű eljárási szakasz lenne). Ha áttekintjük a büntetőeljárási törvény szóhasználatát vagy megvizsgáljuk a korábbi büntetőeljárási kódexeinket, illetve a jogtudományi álláspontokat, a felderítés kifejezés egészen eltérő jelentéstartományaival találkozhatunk. Ugyancsak mást jelent a felderítés a külföldi, elsősorban az angolszász jogterületen történő nyomozás kapcsán, de a magyar kriminalisztika tudományában is jellegzetes elméleti álláspontok ismertek. Tanulmányomban ezek áttekintését és összevetését végzem el, illetve azt kívánom megállapítani, hogy ezeknek mennyiben feleltethető meg a hatályos büntetőeljárási törvény felderítéskoncepciója.

Purpose This article aims to evaluate how the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) respond to the intravitreal injection of bevacizumab and to assess the correlation between these changes. It will also assess the use of the baseline SFCT as a predictor for BCVA changes in eyes of treatment-naive, diabetic macular edema (DME) patients. Methods This retrospective, consecutive case series comprised 59 eyes of 39 treatment-naive DME patients. Complete slit-lamp assessment, swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) scans to measure SFCT and BCVA values were performed at two stages: baseline and one month after the third monthly injection of intravitreal bevacizumab. Results Patients' ages ranged from 46.3 to 76.4 years (mean: 62.6 ± 2.3). The mean SFCT was 318 ± 82 μm at baseline, which decreased after 3 months to 300 ± 66 μm (P-value = 0.021). There was an improvement in the mean of the logMAR best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) from 0.7 (decimal equivalent: 0.2) to 0.5 (decimal equivalent: 0.3) (P-value = 0.019). There was no association between SFCT changes and BCVA changes (P-value = 0.180). Wilcoxon signed-rank test disclosed that a better BCVA improvement was related to a greater subfoveal choroidal thickness at baseline P-value Conclusion Eyes with a higher baseline subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) attained greater BCVA improvement than eyes with a lower baseline SFCT. In addition to this, changes to SFCT do not appear to correlate with BCVA changes. These findings do not support using OCT SFCT changes as a prognostic factor for changes to BCVA after intravitreal bevacizumab treatment in evaluating treatment-naive DME eyes.

Este estudo objetivou mapear e analisar escalas existentes na literatura nacional sobre comprometimento organizacional. A pesquisa contou com duas etapas: (i) pesquisa bibliográfica, na qual foram mapeadas as publicações sobre o tema, abrangendo o período de 1990 a 2020; e (ii) mapeamento e análise das escalas a nível nacional, buscando verificar aspectos relacionados à formulação de itens, escala de respostas e procedimento de validação. Foram analisadas 314 publicações a partir da busca nas principais bases e sites dos periódicos brasileiros e verificou-se que os anos de 2008 a 2018 foram os dez anos mais produtivos no Brasil, com 213 trabalhos. Identificou-se a predominância das medidas que se baseiam no modelo tridimensional, porém é significativa a produção de escalas que vão além desse modelo, propondo mais dimensões em alguns casos e uma perspectiva unidimensional em outros. Como limitação, destaca-se a não comparação sistematizada de índices psicométricos entre todas as escalas propostas, devido à indisponibilidade de tais dados em alguns estudos analisados.

The ability of the Paris Agreement to achieve its ambitious long-term temperature goal depends on mechanisms that can promote a ramp-up of ambitions. Pledge-and-review may facilitate deeper cooperation over time by enhancing trust between parties. It has been proposed that starting out with easier cooperation that entails larger shares of domestic benefits, such as cooperation on short-lived climate pollutants, could also help promote the credibility and trust necessary for the ramping-up of contributions over time. Using a lab experiment we explore how these two mechanisms perform across two stages in a controlled and stylized setting where individual participants face incentives that mirror those of countries deciding on national contributions. We find that starting with easier cooperation does not produce higher levels of trust, and it leads to lower levels of cooperation when cooperation becomes more difficult in stage 2. The pledge-and-review approach does not, in itself, lead to significantly higher levels of cooperation, but it does offset the negative effect of starting with the easy cooperation. It can be seen as a safeguard against failed strategies.

Consumers’ health plan choices are highly persistent even though optimal plans change over time. This paper separates two sources of inertia, inattention to plan choice and switching costs. We develop a panel data model with separate attention and choice stages, linked by heterogeneity in acuity, i.e., the ability and willingness to make diligent choices. Using data from Medicare Part D, we find that inattention is an important source of inertia but switching costs also play a role, particularly for low-acuity individuals. Separating the two stages and allowing for heterogeneity is crucial for counterfactual simulations of interventions that reduce inertia. (JEL D12, G22, H51, I13, I18, L65)

With increasing wind farms scale, the practical problems become more complicated. One of the prominent problems is over-voltage production due to frequent switching activity. The over-voltage cruelty mainly depends on the wind farm topology, defined for an arrangement of the wind farm feeders between the turbines. In this paper, the switching over-voltages in different wind farm topologies are presented by simulating ZAAFRANA wind farm in Egypt with the support of DIGSILENT. First, the four different topologies named radial, single-sided ring, double-sided ring, and star, are examined by measuring the generated over-voltages. Finally, based on the more accurate and comprehensive analysis of the over-voltage produced by the four topologies, an effective methodology is proposed for reducing the amount of the over-voltage peaks, in the low-cost radial topology, by splitting the switching process into two stages. The proposed methodology is applied to ZAAFRANA wind farm and found that the destructive effects are reduced remarkably.

This study presents the structural behaviour of tyre-bale sandwich wall under four-point bending and punching shear load. The research entails two stages: (a) full-scale experimental testing and (b...

We analysed options to optimize the use of sires in sheep and goat community-based breeding programmes (CBBP) for three scenarios occurring under field conditions: premature sale of selection candidates, fixed service periods of selected sires and incomplete sire pedigrees. The first scenario was studied by looking at the outcome of combinations of selection pressures in successive selection stages. A compromise of early sale of sire candidates and genetic progress can be obtained by selecting in two stages, such that selection pressure in the first stage is chosen in terms of achieving an acceptable selection potential after the second stage. Simulations showed the dependency of this compromise on selection accuracies and correlation between selection criteria. For a typical sheep CBBP, only 20% of the top three months weighting male lambs need to be retained to achieve 80% of the potential selection differential on six months weight. For the second scenario, two alternatives to fixed service periods were analysed. When across-age BLUP EBVs are not available, individual sires can be programmed to stay in service according to their initial ranking. In typical sheep, CBBPs genetic progress can be increased by about 9% over response to selection with optimum fixed sire service periods. When BLUP EBVs are available, a simulated retrospective analyses of across-age selection of sires in two current sheep CBBPs increased more than twofold the average breeding values actually observed. Thirdly, we studied the benefit of considering possible sires and their mating probabilities when estimating BLUP breeding values instead of setting such sires as unknown. In a current goat CBBP with up to three possible sires included in the pedigree, the accuracy of breeding values nears the accuracy when sires are known and are higher than accuracies when sires are unknown or when possible sires are ignored.

Made available in DSpace on 2022-04-29T08:31:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-01-01 Research has shown the occurrence of the hormesis effect in some upland rice cultures resulting from low-dose application of glyphosate. Glyphosate herbicide is widely used in Brazilian agriculture for controlling the large quantity of weeds. The aim of this work was to verify the effects of low-dose application of glyphosate herbicide on agronomic characteristics in upland rice. The experimental design used was randomized blocks comprising five low-dose applications of glyphosate herbicide (10, 20, 40, 70, and 100 g acid equivalent [a.e.] ha−1) and the control, in two stages of development of the rice culture (tillering [V4] and floral differentiation [R1]) with four repetitions. The agronomic traits of upland rice were evaluated. Data were subjected to variance analysis, polynomial regression analysis for the quantitative factor, and Tukey’s test for the qualitative factor at p < 0.05. The grain yield and the number of spikelets per panicle increased with the application of 10 g a.e. ha−1 of glyphosate at the floral differentiation stage. Until the low dose of 75 g a.e. ha−1, there was an increase in the number of panicles. Low doses between 70 and 100 g a.e. ha−1 applied in R1 provided less spikelets per panicle, lower 100-grain weight, and lower grain yield. The leaf flavonoid content increased due to the increase in the low doses of glyphosate herbicide. College of Agricultural and Technological Sciences São Paulo State University (Unesp) São Paulo State University (Unesp) Campus of Registro College of Agricultural and Technological Sciences São Paulo State University (Unesp) São Paulo State University (Unesp) Campus of Registro

In this paper the decay of $$B_{c}^{ + }$$ meson, consisting of two b and c heavy quarks, into the $$D_{s}^{ + }{{\bar {D}}^{0}}$$ and $$D_{s}^{ + }{{D}^{0}}$$ mesons are studied in two stages. In the first step, the QCD factorization (QCDF) approach is considered in the initial evaluation, the result of calculations are (in units of $${{10}^{{ - 6}}}$$ ): $$\mathcal{B}{{(B_{c}^{ + } \to D_{s}^{ + }{{\bar {D}}^{0}})}_{{{\text{QCDF}}}}} = 3.52 \pm 0.82$$ and $$\mathcal{B}{{(B_{c}^{ + } \to D_{s}^{ + }{{D}^{0}})}_{{{\text{QCDF}}}}} = 11.96 \pm 2.27$$ . While the available experimental result for these decays are (in units of $${{10}^{{ - 6}}}$$ ) $$\frac{{{{f}_{c}}}}{{{{f}_{u}}}}\mathcal{B}(B_{c}^{ + } \to D_{s}^{ + }{{\bar {D}}^{0}}) = 2.70 \pm 3.34,\,$$ $$\,\frac{{{{f}_{c}}}}{{{{f}_{u}}}}\mathcal{B}(B_{c}^{ + } \to D_{s}^{ + }{{D}^{0}}) = - 3.42 \pm 2.36,$$ by applying the upper limit of the theoretical value of $${{{{f}_{c}}} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{{{f}_{c}}} {{{f}_{u}}}}} \right. \kern-0em} {{{f}_{u}}}}$$ that span the range of $$[0.4,1.2]$$ %, the results for QCDF approach become (in units of $${{10}^{{ - 8}}}$$ ) $$\frac{{{{f}_{c}}}}{{{{f}_{u}}}}\mathcal{B}{{(B_{c}^{ + } \to D_{s}^{ + }{{\bar {D}}^{0}})}_{{{\text{QCDF}}}}} = 4.22 \pm 0.98,\,\,\,\,\frac{{{{f}_{c}}}}{{{{f}_{u}}}}\mathcal{B}{{(B_{c}^{ + } \to D_{s}^{ + }{{D}^{0}})}_{{{\text{QCDF}}}}} = 14.35 \pm 2.72.$$ The results for QCDF approach are about $${{10}^{2}}$$ times smaller than experimental one. Therefore, it is decided to calculate the theoretical branching ratio by applying the final state interaction (FSI) through the t(crossed and uncrossed)-channels. The FSI effects are very sensitive to the changes in the phenomenological parameter $$\eta $$ . This parameter appears in the FSI form factors that increase strong interaction share. In most calculation changing two units in this parameter, makes the final result multiply in the branching ratio, therefore the decision to use FSI is not unexpected. In this study there are nineteen intermediate states for $$B_{c}^{ + } \to D_{s}^{ + }{{\bar {D}}^{0}}$$ decay and four middle states for $$B_{c}^{ + } \to D_{s}^{ + }{{D}^{0}}$$ decay in which the contribution of each one is calculated and summed in the final amplitudes. By choosing the value of the $$\eta $$ according to the mass of the exchange meson, as $$\eta = 3$$ for exchange meson of $$D{\text{*}}$$ (or $$D$$ ) and $${{{{f}_{c}}} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{{{f}_{c}}} {{{f}_{u}}}}} \right. \kern-0em} {{{f}_{u}}}} = 1.2\% $$ the obtained results in FSI are (in units of $${{10}^{{ - 6}}}$$ ) $$\frac{{{{f}_{c}}}}{{{{f}_{u}}}}\mathcal{B}{{(B_{c}^{ + } \to D_{s}^{ + }{{\bar {D}}^{0}})}_{{{\text{FSI}}}}} = 2.57 \pm 0.54,\,\,\,\,\frac{{{{f}_{c}}}}{{{{f}_{u}}}}\mathcal{B}{{(B_{c}^{ + } \to D_{s}^{ + }{{D}^{0}})}_{{{\text{FSI}}}}} = 9.44 \pm 1.52,$$ that are in very good agreement with the experimental results.

To reduce the disassembly costs to enterprises and improve the disassembly efficiency of waste products, this study proposed a partial sequence-dependent disassembly line balancing problem (PSD-DLBP) and established a multi-objective mathematical model to simultaneously minimize the number of workstations, total disassembly time, idle balance index and the number of disassembly tools. Then, a Pareto-discrete hummingbird algorithm (PDHA) was proposed to address PSD-DLBP effectively. The PDHA includes two stages: self-searching stage and information-interacting stage. With these two stages, the exploration and exploitation abilities of PDHA can be balanced. Later, the effectiveness and superiority of the PDHA were verified by comparing it with the other four algorithms for two different-scale examples. Finally, the model and PDHA were applied to the optimization of a partial sequence-dependent disassembly line of waste laptops. The optimization results show that the partial disassembly can make the line smoother and the utilization efficiency of workstations higher than full disassembly, and PDHA is superior in solving the PSD-DLBP.

An approach to the assembly of wood laths using the press with a new design is considered. The suggested approach decreases the duration of piezo treatment due to separation of the assembly process into two stages, namely, blocking of glued surfaces in a press and with termination of product gluing outside of a press until full polymerization of glue is achieved. A design of a press for implementation of the suggested assembly approach is suggested, and analytical relationships and results of experimental studies are given, which confirm the possibility of lath assembly on the equipment with a reduced travel period.

Background and Purpose: This study’s aim was to examine the persuasive effects of a blue documentary (BD), representing marine life extinction on viewers’ perceptions and their attitudinal change toward conservation. Methodology: This study selected 36 participants using purposive sampling technique, according to the characteristics of their location and age categories. A total of 72 semi-structured interviews were conducted in two stages – the pre- and post-viewing of the documentary. A documentary program of Lestari Ujana Marin (LUM) was the media text used in gathering the necessary data. The data were then perused qualitatively through the employment of thematic analysis. Findings: The findings suggest that the participants’ perceptions and attitudinal changes were more positive toward marine life conservation after being exposed to the documentary. The attitudinal changes have been sustainable and exhibited through the participants’ real actions in supporting marine life conservation. Contributions: This study paves the way for collaboration between experts in different fields, such as filmmakers, oceanologists, and non-governmental organizations, who are fundamentally concerned in disseminating knowledge about environmental conservation for the benefits of future generations. Keywords: Media, blue documentary, persuasion, pro-conservation, marine life, young generation. Cite as: Mat, N. H., Rashid, R. A., Che Noh, C. H., & Said Al-Rawahi, M. A. (2021). The effects of blue documentaries on viewers’ perceptions and attitudinal change toward marine life conservation. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 6(2), 379-402. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol6iss2pp379-402

Current interest in reusing waste polymer shows substantial benefits of using it as a sustainable polymer in improving asphalt properties, attaining environmental stability and promoting industrial-economic benefits. Waste plastics have a vital role in the current asphalt applications. Trial sections of roads made with waste plastic modified asphalt, during 2019 in Australia, highlighted the significant importance of laboratory assessments yet to be conducted. As such, this study is aimed to investigate the impact of using local waste Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic in binder class C320, which is a common bitumen type used for local road surfacing in Australia. The evaluation of various contents of PET modified bitumen is carried out through two stages for unaged and aged conditions. Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR), Rolling Thin Film Oven (RTFOT) and Pressure Aging Vessel (PAV) tests were utilised to investigate the rutting, fatigue and aging of bitumen binder. The results showed that the ideal content of waste plastic is 6–8% to improve the rutting and aging resistances. Moreover, 8% PET improves the fatigue cracking resistance as it shows a low fatigue factor (G* sin δ). Hence, application of locally-attained plastic in pavements not only reduces the costs but also improve sustainability of environment and natural resources. Further rutting and fatigue tests on asphalt samples are recommended to better understand the mechanical properties of PET plastic on asphalt mixtures with 6–8% PET plastic. In the event that the outcomes demonstrate an enhancement in the properties of the concrete paving mixture, usage of such a material would be extremely compensating in Australia. Also, this would help decrease the amount of waste scrap plastic, in turn, sustaining the environment.

This research proposes a general conceptual framework of individuals' emotional experiences during crises by reviewing the existing literature. The framework includes two different stages of information-processing induced emotions. The importance of sensemaking in both two stages is highlighted in the framework. This framework proposes that cognition-oriented and emotion-oriented individuals have different attitudes and behavioral intentions. The research then tests the framework in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak using interviews with travelers to ascertain the specific nature of individuals' emotional experiences in that specific context. The research demonstrates that the general framework can be applied to different contexts, and the framework specific to travelers’ emotional experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak may be used to underpin future research in the area of tourism crisis.

En este artículo se presenta un novedoso método de predicción espacio-temporal de variables de balance hídrico en el humedal de la cuenca del río Urama, Venezuela. La metodología consta de dos etapas: 1. Compilación de información utilizando datos meteorológicos de precipitación y evaporación de 73 estaciones climáticas; imágenes Landsat y modelo de elevación digital para la cuenca en estudio. 2. Procesamiento de información: a) modelización de predicción estadística espacial; b) modelo de pronóstico; y, c) pronóstico de series temporales de variables de balance hídrico. La ventaja del método está en utilizar datos para pronosticar variables de balance hídrico mediante modelos de predicción estadística espacial seleccionando aquellas con tendencias estacionales que se aproximan a las observaciones. Se obtuvieron coeficientes de correlación mayores que 0.99, indicando predicciones satisfactorias, por lo que el método, es adecuado para reproducir el perfil espacio-temporal de períodos futuros para ser aplicados en gestión sostenible de humedales.

This paper studies the design of position auctions when bidders have multi-unit demands for advertising positions. I propose an ascending clock auction with two stages: allocation stage and assignment stage. The allocation stage determines the quantity of positions assigned to each advertiser using a generalized version of the Ausubel (2004) auction under the context of differentiated items. The assignment stage determines the ranking of advertisements using a generalized version of the generalized English auction under the context of multi-unit demands. I show that this two-stage ascending clock auction dynamically implements the VCG outcome in an ex post perfect equilibrium under pure private values.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of global death. Hypercholesterolemia is among the main risk factors for developing cardiovascular events, and is highly prevalent in the Mexican population. The primary objective of the present work was to assess the effect of a dietary portfolio (DP) with functional foods containing dehydrated nopal, soy protein, chia seeds, inulin, and oats in LDL-C and TC concentrations of subjects with mild hypercholesterolemia. Also, we explored the changes in the profile of the lipoprotein subclasses measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).Sixty-two subjects (47 women, 15 men) with mild hypercholesterolemia (LDL-C, ≥130 ≤ 190 mg/dL, TC 200 mg/dL) completed the randomized, parallel, controlled study. The dietary intervention was given in two stages. First, a dietary standardization stage with a low saturated fat diet (LSFD) which matched the habitual energy intake of the volunteers for 2-weeks, followed by 2.5 months of dietary intervention with a LSFD plus placebo (PL) or DP.Subjects who consumed the LSFD + DP interventions had a significantly higher reduction of LDL-C (-18.05%, P = 0.003) and TC (-17.08%, P = 0.02) compared to volunteers who consumed an LSFD for the same period. Furthermore, the lipoprotein subclass profiling showed that the small low-density-lipoproteins, and the small high-density-lipoproteins significantly decreased (P = 0.04, P 0.001, respectively), conveying a less atherogenic state. At the end of the study, 78% of the subjects who consumed LSFD + DP reduced their LDL-C below 160 mg/dL, and of these, 47% reduced it below 130 mg/dL.Based on the results obtained from this study, the inclusion of functional foods as part of the lifestyle modifications is recommended to treat mild hypercholesterolemia and reduce cardiovascular risk. Registered under ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier no. NCT04148976.

Summary Influential on women's sexual behavior and function, pregnancy plays a significant role along with intimacy in health, quality of life, and well-being. This phenomenon, in turn, is influenced by psychological, physiological, and marital relations as well as sociocultural effects. Therefore, the goal of this study was to investigate the roles of women's sexual satisfaction and intimacy after pregnancy and childbirth. In order to examine this goal, eight-month pregnant women in Shiraz, Iran, were selected during 2017 and 2018 for descriptive and causal-comparative analysis. Data were collected at two stages during pregnancy and eight months after delivery and measured using the Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire (LSSQ; Larson et al., 1998 ) and the Marital Intimacy Needs Questionnaire ( Bagarozzi, 1997 ). The data analyses reported descriptive and inferential statistics. The outcome of the current research has shown that sexual intimacy, physical intimacy, and aesthetic intimacy were significantly different between pregnancy phase (higher scores) and after delivery. Additionally, sexual satisfaction was rated significantly different pre and post-delivery, which can indicate that women and their sexual partners should be aware of the impact of healthy sexual intimacy during and after childbirth.

In this paper we propose and test a staged knapsack model to create a supplier portfolio for retailers. The first two stages in the model use judgement criteria related to supplier characteristics ...

In this work, the influence of rolling ratios on microstructural changes and corrosion behavior of an as-rolled Mg-8 wt.%Li alloy in 0.1 mol/L NaCl solution has been investigated. It revealed that with the rolling ratio being increased from 3 to 10, the α-Mg phases were elongated and fragmented, whilst the area fraction of exposed β-Li phases increased. Meanwhile, the corrosion performance of the alloy decreased with the increased rolling ratios. For all the samples, their corrosion processes were quite similar and can have two stages. At the initial stage with the samples being immersed for less than 6 h, the corrosion mainly occurred in β-Li phases. When the samples were immersed for longer than 6 h, the corrosion attack transferred to α-Mg phases and the hydrogen evolution rate was accelerated.

In this experimental work, the performance of hemispherical distiller has been enhanced via phosphate pellets. To investigate the best approach to the phosphate pellet utilization in a basin of hemispherical distiller to achieve the highest performance, the present study was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, 250 g of phosphate pellets was arranged in a layer of 5 mm thickness placed at the bottom of the basin. In the second stage, the phosphate pellets were distributed in a homogeneous manner in basin salt water with two concentrations 1% (10 g/L) and 2% (20 g/L) without aggregation on the basin. To achieve this idea, in the first test stage, two distillers were compared, the first is the conventional hemispherical distiller which represents the reference distiller (CHSS) and the second is the modified hemispherical distiller with a phosphate layer (MHSS-PL). In the second test stage, three distillers were compared, the first is the CHSS which represents the reference distiller, the second is the modified hemispherical distiller which contained 1% phosphate (MHSS-1), and the third is the modified hemispherical distiller which contained 2% phosphates (MHSS-2). The experimental results show that the cumulative yield was 4.6, 6.32, 6.15, and 6.85 L/m2·day for CHSS, MHSS-PL, MHSS-1, and MHSS-2, respectively. The results showed that the utilization of the phosphate pellets as a storage medium enhanced the performance of the hemispherical distiller. The enhancement in the distiller productivity was 37.4, 33.7, and 47.9% for MHSS-PL, MHSS-1, and MHSS-2, respectively, compared to conventional hemispherical solar still (CHSS). The peak enhancement in the productivity was achieved in the case of modified hemispherical solar still with 2% (20 g/L) phosphate pellets (MHSS-2).

This study investigates the research performance of the Iraqi public and private universities using the Scopus citation database. The investigation consists of three stages. The first stage includes the registration of these universities in the database. The second represents the process of merging the multiple accounts of each university. The two stages have been completed within one year (from start to end of 2017), which result in a significant improvement in the research performance, in term of number of published articles (Pu), number of citations (C) and h index. Analysis of the improved h index obtained from the Scopus site, reveals a clear bias towards large universities, due to neglecting the number of researchers (NS) in calculating the h index. In the third stage, two new empirical equations are suggested for measuring research performance of universities. The first proposed equation predicts a modified h index as a function of Pu, C, and NS and implements to Iraqi universities and selected universities from other countries. The second proposed equation is a combination of three sub-indicators, namely: citations per article, articles per researcher, and percentage of non-cited articles. Discussion of results indicates that the developed equations eliminate the bias of the large universities over the small ones and highlight some useful recommendations for the universities to enhance their ranking in scientific performance.