An Experimental Economics Investigation of Shipper-carrier Interactions in the Choice of Mode and Shipment Size in Freight Transport

The paper discusses the theoretical and empirical evidence on the subject and concludes that freight mode choice can be best understood as the outcome of interactions between shippers and carriers, and that mode choice depends to a large extent on the shipment size that results from shipper-carrier interactions. These conclusions are supported by economic experiments designed to test the hypothesis of cooperative behavior. This was accomplished by conducting two sets of experiments (ones with the shipper playing the lead role in selecting the shipment size; and others in which the shipment size decision was left to the carriers), and by comparing their results to the ones obtained numerically under the assumption of perfect cooperation. The comparison of results indicated that the experiments converged to the perfect cooperation case. This is in line with the conclusion from game theory that indicates that under typical market conditions the shipper and carrier would cooperate. These results also imply that it really does not matter who “makes” the decision about the shipment size and mode to be used at a given time period, as over time the shipper—that is the customer—ends up selecting the bids more consistent with its own interest. In other words, these results do not support the assumption that freight mode choice is solely made by the carriers.     

Discrete Time Sliding Mode Controller Using a Disturbance Compensator for Nonlinear Uncertain Systems

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - In this paper, we propose a new sliding mode control for discrete time nonlinear uncertain systems. The uncertainties include both...     

脉冲功率电容器用PbLa(ZrTi)O_3陶瓷性能研究

采用固相反应法制备了Pb0.96La0.06(Zr1-xTix)O3陶瓷,研究了Ti含量对所制陶瓷的电性能和储能特性的影响。结果表明,PbLa(ZrTi)O3陶瓷介电常数与电场强度呈非线性变化关系。当Ti含量x为0.08时,所测电滞回线细长狭窄,并呈下凹趋势,此时极化强度为22.18×10–6 C/cm2,储能密度为1.06 J/cm3。通过流延法制备的脉冲功率电容器击穿电压可大幅度提升,储能密度达1.95 J/cm3,具有高能量转换效率。     

Toward a generic approach to build up air drying models

Few versatile software programs allowing for the precise simulation of drying processes in a whole industrial plant are available. This work was done during the creation of a generic convective drying simulator for food solid particle in ProSimPlus, a chemical engineering software. Modeling approaches are discussed, and among them a compromise between first-principle modeling, reduced lab work, ability to accurately predict kinetics for a wide range of drying conditions, and low simulation time is presented. Predictive models of some required food product properties are examined. Two toolboxes were created: one estimating physical properties of foodstuffs and another simulating transfers in air and in the product. This approach is validated on four food products (with various formulations and shapes).     

Local Notions of Healthy Eating and National Dietary Guidelines: A Comparison in Vulnerable Salvadoran Communities

This study presents an assessment of local definitions and perceptions concerning healthy eating through a study in four resource-poor border communities in El Salvador. The study included focus groups, key-informant interviews, and observations of the food environment. Local definitions of healthy eating elicited through focus groups were compared to the national Salvadoran dietary guidelines recommendations. The comparison revealed several areas of overlap (including the importance of dietary variety, fruits, and vegetables, among others) and omissions (mention of limiting sweets/candy, salt, sugar, and alcohol). Focus group participants expressed concerns over the origin of their foods and whether food contained harmful chemicals. These conversations also revealed the contradictions between nutrition knowledge and preferences for foods classified as unhealthy. This article concludes with a discussion about barriers to healthy eating identified in the focus groups and through the food environment assessment.     

Explaining the Difference Between Real Part and Virtual Design of 3D Printed Porous Polymer at the Microstructural Level

The combination of experimental and numerical approaches is attempted to shed more light on 3D microstructural imperfections and mechanical performance of 3D printed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene parts. The starting point is the virtual building of airy structures using a reverse engineering approach. This approach combines microstructure generator, finite element model, and optimization strategy to propose virtual airy structures satisfying structural and mechanical criteria up to a desired porosity content of 60%. Optimal structures are printed using fused deposition modeling and X‐ray microtomography is used to assess all microstructural defects. Compression testing is performed for load levels above 50% of reduction in sample height. The main outcome of this work is the demonstration of small amount of process induced porosity inducing high pore connectivity. The interdependence of process induced and desired porosity reveals genuine microstructural effects that are only characteristics of 3D printed materials.

     

Persistent organic pollutants in farmed European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax,Linnaeus, 1758) from Sicily (Italy)

Farmed European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax, Linnaeus, 1758) were collected during 2016 from one Sicilian fish farm that uses two different rearing systems – sea cage and concrete tank – for determination of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), organochlorine pesticides (OCP) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) residues by HRGC-MS/MS. Moreover, commercial feed was analysed. This study aimed to determine whether the different rearing systems affect the concentration of these compounds, and to assess the safety of cultured fish. PCBs represent the pollutants with the highest concentration; in particular, PCB138 and 153 have the highest concentration in almost all samples. Among OCPs, only 4,4′-DDE, 4,4′-DDD and 4,4′-DDT residues have been detected. Concerning PAHs, only fluorene and phenanthrene were detected, in both rearing systems. Although some residues of organic pollutants were found in the analysed samples, they were always below the MRLs, so the results suggest that farmed sea bass are safe for human consumption.     

Multiplexed toxin analysis using four colors of quantum dot fluororeagents

Quantum dots (QDs) have the potential to simplify the performance of multiplexed analysis. In this work, we prepared bioinorganic conjugates made with highly luminescent semiconductor nanocrystals (CdSe-ZnS core-shell QDs) and antibodies to perform multiplexed fluoroimmunoassays. Sandwich immunoassays for the detection of cholera toxin, ricin, shiga-like toxin 1, and staphylococcal enterotoxin B were performed simultaneously in single wells of a microtiter plate. Initially the assay performance for the detection of each toxin was examined. We then demonstrated the simultaneous detection of the four toxins from a single sample probed with a mixture of all four QD-antibody reagents. Using a simple linear equation-based algorithm, it was possible to deconvolute the signal from mixed toxin samples, which allowed quantitation of all four toxins simultaneously.     

Self-assembled nanoscale biosensors based on quantum dot FRET donors

The potential of luminescent semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) to enable development of hybrid inorganic-bioreceptor sensing materials has remained largely unrealized. We report the design, formation and testing of QD-protein assemblies that function as chemical sensors. In these assemblies, multiple copies of Escherichia coli maltose-binding protein (MBP) coordinate to each QD by a C-terminal oligohistidine segment and function as sugar receptors. Sensors are self-assembled in solution in a controllable manner. In one configuration, a beta-cyclodextrin-QSY9 dark quencher conjugate bound in the MBP saccharide binding site results in fluorescence resonance energy-transfer (FRET) quenching of QD photoluminescence. Added maltose displaces the beta-cyclodextrin-QSY9, and QD photoluminescence increases in a systematic manner. A second maltose sensor assembly consists of QDs coupled with Cy3-labelled MBP bound to beta-cyclodextrin-Cy3.5. In this case, the QD donor drives sensor function through a two-step FRET mechanism that overcomes inherent QD donor-acceptor distance limitations. Quantum dot-biomolecule assemblies constructed using these methods may facilitate development of new hybrid sensing materials.