Consumer choice models applied on a biobased product

Biobased products are non-food/non-fuel goods derived from plants and other renewable agricultural and forestry materials. Everyday household products made from biobased materials could replace products made with petroleum-based inputs. This research estimates consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for extrinsic attributes (Source, Biodegradable, Biobased label, and Origin) in single-used eating-ware (SUEW) made from a biobased product using data from nationally representative surveys.Study I applies the generalized multinomial logit (GMNL) model based on the data collected by the conjoint surveys. A split sample survey is used to address availability bias and attention bias. Study II extends a rank ordered logit (ROL) regression to a generalized rank ordered logit model (GROL). Best-worst scaling data collected from a survey is used in this study. Study III extends the hybrid mixed choice model (HMC) to a hybrid generalized multinomial logit (HGML) model based on the data collected from a conjoint survey. The choice models of studies 2 and 3 are estimated using Bayesian procedures.Results suggest that the rapidity of product degradability and using non-plastic materials to make SUEW plates were valued most by consumers. Availability bias (e.g., the order of information provided to participants before choice set completion) did not affect WTP estimates in study I while did affect WTP estimates in study II. Inattention bias decreases consumer WTP for SUEW plate study I while did not affect WTP estimates in study II. This difference may be due to differences in the sample, on differences in the methods used to elicit WTP

Characteristics That Influence Financially Risky Occupational Choice

Direct employment in agriculture has historically comprised a small percentage of the total population. Improvement of technology and productivity is one reason for this phenomenon, while another is that agriculture is inherently risky. As a result, reliance on agriculture as an occupation introduces additional risk relative to many non-ag occupations. This study determines the characteristics of individuals, who are willing to choose financially risky occupations, with an emphasis on agricultural occupations, compared to the characteristics of those involved in other, non-risky occupations. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, are used to determine how demographic and risk preferences influence occupational choice. Results indicate that level of income, marital status, and gender has an impact on occupation choice for financially risky versus non-financially risky jobs. However, the results are improved when risk tolerance is included as a choice factor.Agricultural Economic

Re-framing bio-plausible collision detection: identifying shared meta-properties through strategic prototyping

Insects exhibit remarkable abilities in navigating complex natural environments, whether it be evading predators, capturing prey, or seeking out con-specifics, all of which rely on their compact yet reliable neural systems. We explore the field of bio-inspired robotic vision systems, focusing on the locust inspired Lobula Giant Movement Detector (LGMD) models. The existing LGMD models are thoroughly evaluated, identifying their common meta-properties that are essential for their functionality. This article reveals a common framework, characterized by layered structures and computational strategies, which is crucial for enhancing the capability of bio-inspired models for diverse applications. The result of this analysis is the Strategic Prototype, which embodies the identified meta-properties. It represents a modular and more flexible method for developing more responsive and adaptable robotic visual systems. The perspective highlights the potential of the Strategic Prototype: LGMD-Universally Prototype (LGMD-UP), the key to re-framing LGMD models and advancing our understanding and implementation of bio-inspired visual systems in robotics. It might open up more flexible and adaptable avenues for research and practical applications

Fall cone test on biopolymer-treated clay

Fall cone tests were conducted to evaluate the consistency variations of clay soils treated with six types of biopolymers, e.g. carrageenan kappa gum (KG), locust bean gum (BG), xanthan gum (XG), agar gum (AG), guar gum (GG) and sodium alginate (SA) at various concentrations (e.g. between 0.1% to 5% biopolymer to soil mass ratio). The dependences of shear viscosity on water content, and undrained shear strength on water content were established. The results indicated that KG and SA increased the liquid limit (LL) of treated soils after the biopolymer content exceeded a certain limit (e.g. 0.5%), BG and GG contributed to a peak point in LL at biopolymer concentration of 1% to 2%, while XG and AG almost did not change the LL at all. The plastic limit (PL) was about 25% to 50% of the LL, leading to a trend of plasticity index (PI) similar to liquid limit. In order to further simplify the testing procedure and get the Atterberg limits for biopolymer-treated soil, one-point method was adopted

The influence of [H2SiO4]2- from mineral admixtures on the hydration process of tricalcium silicate: a DFT study

Mineral admixtures are increasingly being employed in concrete production to replace cement, thus reducing carbon dioxide emissions. However, leaching of silicon can exert a significant influence on the cement hydration process. In this study, density functional theory was used to study the influence of [H2SiO4]2- on the adsorption and dissociation of water on the C3S surface in the initial hydration process. The results demonstrate that [H2SiO4]2- can promote the dissociation of water molecules around it. This is mainly due to the fact that the two non-hydroxylated O atoms of [H2SiO4]2- can adsorb the dissociated H from water molecules, thus preserving more active ionic O sites on the C3S surface, thereby promoting the dissociation of water molecules. The charge transfer and bonding mechanisms of the adsorption of [H2SiO4]2- with its hydration shell were also calculated. This work provides an atomic-level understanding of the influence of the aluminum phase from the mineral admixture on the initial hydration of cement and also offers certain assistance for the widespread application of mineral admixtures

The Effects of Icariin on Enhancing Motor Recovery Through Attenuating Pro-inflammatory Factors and Oxidative Stress via Mitochondrial Apoptotic Pathway in the Mice Model of Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe medical problem leading to crucial life change. Icariin (ICA) is a natural flavonoid compound extracted from the Chinese herb Epimedium brevicornum which has neuroprotective effects. But little is known about the relationship between ICA and SCI. We hypothesized ICA may enhance motor recovery through attenuating inflammation, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Mice were randomly assigned to sham, SCI, ICA 20 μmol/kg (low dose) and ICA 50 μmol/kg (high dose) groups. And Behavioral, biochemical, molecular biological, immunofluorescent and histological assays were performed. First, ICA enhanced motor recovery greatly at 14, 28, and 42 days and protected spinal cord tissues especially in the high dose group. Meanwhile, ICA decreased the production of interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and inducible nitric oxide synthase at 24 h and 3 days after SCI. The level of mitochondrial reduced glutathione, superoxide dismutase, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), Na+-K+-ATPase, mitochondrial membrane potential, state III respiration rate and the respiratory control ratio were also significantly increased, while malondialdehyde level and Ca2+ concentration were decreased by ICA. Furthermore, ICA decreased the expression of mitochondrial apoptotic proteins at 3 days after SCI. More importantly, transferase UTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) and Nissl staining implied that ICA at a high dose inhibited the neuronal apoptosis after SCI. Our research indicated that early and continuous treatment of ICA at a high dose significantly enhanced motor recovery after SCI through inhibiting pro-inflammatory factors, oxidative stress and neuronal apoptosis via mitochondrial apoptotic pathway

Intelligent Multi-Modal Sensing-Communication Integration: Synesthesia of Machines

In the era of sixth-generation (6G) wireless communications, integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) is recognized as a promising solution to upgrade the physical system by endowing wireless communications with sensing capability. Existing ISAC is mainly oriented to static scenarios with radio-frequency (RF) sensors being the primary participants, thus lacking a comprehensive environment feature characterization and facing a severe performance bottleneck in dynamic environments. To date, extensive surveys on ISAC have been conducted but are limited to summarizing RF-based radar sensing. Currently, some research efforts have been devoted to exploring multi-modal sensing-communication integration but still lack a comprehensive review. Therefore, we generalize the concept of ISAC inspired by human synesthesia to establish a unified framework of intelligent multi-modal sensing-communication integration and provide a comprehensive review under such a framework in this paper. The so-termed Synesthesia of Machines (SoM) gives the clearest cognition of such intelligent integration and details its paradigm for the first time. We commence by justifying the necessity of the new paradigm. Subsequently, we offer a definition of SoM and zoom into the detailed paradigm, which is summarized as three operation modes. To facilitate SoM research, we overview the prerequisite of SoM research, i.e., mixed multi-modal (MMM) datasets. Then, we introduce the mapping relationships between multi-modal sensing and communications. Afterward, we cover the technological review on SoM-enhance-based and SoM-concert-based applications. To corroborate the superiority of SoM, we also present simulation results related to dual-function waveform and predictive beamforming design. Finally, we propose some potential directions to inspire future research efforts.Comment: This paper has been accepted by IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorial