Compensation paradox: the influence of monetary rewards on user behaviour

Many e-commerce companies collect users’ personal data for marketing purposes despite privacy concerns. Information-collecting companies often offer a monetary reward to users to alleviate privacy concerns and ease the collection of personal information. This study focused on the negative effects of monetary rewards on both information privacy concerns (IPC) and information disclosure. A survey approach was used to collect data and 370 final responses were analysed using a two-way analysis of variance and a binomial logistic regression model. The results show that monetary rewards increase IPC when an information-collecting company requires sensitive information. Additional results indicate that building trust is a more effective way of collecting personal data. This study identifies how organisations can best execute information-collection activities and contributes additional insights for academia and practitioners.     

双级时效对7050-T7451铝合金搅拌摩擦焊组织及应力腐蚀敏感性的影响

采用搅拌摩擦焊方法对3 mm厚7050-T7451铝合金进行焊接，为改善接头应力腐蚀敏感性，焊后进行121 ℃ × 5 h + 163 ℃ × 27 h双级时效处理. 通过对微观组织、显微硬度以及应力腐蚀敏感性的分析，研究双级时效对焊接接头性能的影响. 结果表明，双级时效后晶粒发生粗化，晶界内析出相和周边无沉淀析出带(PFZ)变宽，导致在热影响区和热力影响区出现大量不连续晶界；接头热影响区的显微硬度有所下降，但范围明显变窄，接头组织的均一性得到改善；时效处理后的接头在进行应力腐蚀试验 60天后仍未发生断裂，而未经时效处理的接头在1天内全部发生断裂，说明双级时效有效降低了焊接接头的应力腐蚀敏感性.     

The Critical Role of Passive Permeability in Designing Successful Drugs

Passive permeability is a key property in drug disposition and delivery. It is critical for gastrointestinal absorption, brain penetration, renal reabsorption, defining clearance mechanisms and drug-drug interactions. Passive diffusion rate is translatable across tissues and animal species, while the extent of absorption is dependent on drug properties, as well as in vivo physiology/pathophysiology. Design principles have been developed to guide medicinal chemistry to enhance absorption, which combine the balance of aqueous solubility, permeability and the sometimes unfavorable compound characteristic demanded by the target. Permeability assays have been implemented that enable rapid development of structure-permeability relationships for absorption improvement. Future advances in assay development to reduce nonspecific binding and improve mass balance will enable more accurately measurement of passive permeability. Design principles that integrate potency, selectivity, passive permeability and other ADMET properties facilitate rapid advancement of successful drug candidates to patients.     

Applications of Diglycolamide Based Solvent Extraction Processes in Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing,Part 1: TODGA

Over the last decade there has been much interest in the applications of diglycolamide (DGA) ligands for the extraction of the trivalent lanthanide and actinide ions from PUREX high active raffinates or dissolved spent nuclear fuel. Of the DGAs, the N,N,N’,N’-tetraoctyldiglycolamide (TODGA) is the best known and most widely studied. A number of new actinide separation processes have been proposed based on extraction with TODGA. This review covers TODGA-based processes and extraction data, specifically focusing on how phase modifiers have been used to increase metal loading and thus enhance the operating process envelopes. Effects of third phase formation and the organic phase speciation are reviewed in this context. Relevant aspects of the extraction chemistry of important solvents (TODGA-modifier-diluent combinations) are described and their performances demonstrated by a consideration of the published flowsheet tests. It is seen that modifiers are successfully enabling the use of TODGA in actinide separation processes but to date the identification and testing of suitable modifiers has been rather empirical. There is a growing understanding of the fundamental chemistry occurring in the organic phase and how that affects extractant speciation and metal loading capacity but studies are still needed if TODGA-based flowsheets are to become an industrially deployable option for minor actinide (MA) recovery processes.     

Molten salt synthesis of MAX phases in the Ti-Al-C system

The molten salt method was used to synthesise the MAX phase compounds Ti₂AlC and Ti₃AlC₂ from elemental powders. Between 900–1000?°C, Ti₂AlC was formed alongside ancillary phases TiC and TiAl, which decreased in abundance with increasing synthesis temperature. Changing the stoichiometry and increasing the synthesis temperature to 1300?°C resulted in formation of Ti₃AlC₂ alongside Ti₂AlC and TiC. The type of salt flux used had little effect on the product formation. The reaction pathway for Ti₂AlC was determined to be the initial formation of TiC_1-x templating on the graphite and titanium aluminides.     

High‐performance thermosets with tailored properties derived from methacrylated eugenol and epoxy‐based vinyl ester

A renewable chemical, eugenol, is methacrylated to produce methacrylated eugenol (ME) employing the Steglich esterification reaction without any solvent. The resulting ME is used as a low‐viscosity co‐monomer to replace styrene in a commercial epoxy‐based vinyl ester resin (VE). The volatility and viscosity of ME and styrene are compared. The effect of ME loading and temperature on the viscosity of the VE–ME resin is investigated. Moreover, the thermomechanical properties, curing extent and thermal stability of the fully cured VE–ME thermosets are systematically examined. The results indicate that ME is a monomer with low volatility and low viscosity, and therefore the incorporation of ME monomer in VE resins allows significant reduction of viscosity. Moreover, the viscosity of the VE–ME resin can be tailored by adjusting the ME loadings and processing temperature to meet commercial liquid molding technology requirements. The glass transition temperatures of VE–ME thermosets range from 139 to 199 °C. In addition, more than 95% of the monomer is incorporated and fixed in the crosslinked network structure of VE–ME thermosets. Overall, the developed ME monomer exhibits promising potential for replacing styrene as an effective low‐viscosity co‐monomer. The VE–ME resins show great advantages for use in polymer matrices for high‐performance fiber‐reinforced composites. This work is of great significance to the vinyl ester industry by providing detailed experimental support. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry     

Electricity prices and firms' decisions and outcomes: The case of India after a decade of the Electricity Act

This paper examines the impact of electricity tariff on electricity consumption pattern and performance of Indian firms. The question is addressed against the backdrop of the Electricity Act of 2003 which was implemented with varying degrees across different states. The paper uses the 2013–14 World Bank Enterprise Survey data for India and builds three sets of hypotheses- first, high tariffs lead to electricity consumption pattern shifting towards self-generation, a decline in total electricity used, substitution of capital with labor and eventually deterioration in the performance of firms. Second, the negative effect of tariff on the performance of firms is more pronounced in states that haven't implemented the Electricity Act effectively. Third, the effect will be stronger for firms that face relatively higher tariff as compared to other comparable consumer categories. Taking account of the endogeneity between a firm's performance outcomes and location choices, the paper uses appropriate econometric models and finds strong evidence for each of the hypotheses. High tariffs hamper the profitability and productivity of firms only in those states which have not implemented the Electricity Act effectively. Moreover, the above evidence only exists if there are high tariff differences between different consumer groups. Finally, we do not find evidence for performance impairment in large firms.