Determinants of Gasoline Price: Can Consumer Spending Make a Difference?

This paper investigates the determinants to gasoline prices in the United States. The regression contains five different independent variables: the price of imported oil per barrel, the number of barrels of oil imported to the United States, the number of barrels of oil produced domestically in United States, the commodity price of oil, the number of automobiles purchased monthly in the United States, and the dependent variable, Gasoline Price. By using these variables in a linear regression model, the results show that the price of gasoline is primarily driven by the price of imported crude oil, followed shortly thereafter by the domestic oil produced

Certain Conditions of the Motivation Process

The article discusses the topic of the motivation process, which appears to be important and complex from the point of view of the organization. No one today needs to be convinced about the extremely important mechanism of shaping interpersonal relations in a company by motivating. The importance of motivation is analysed at the level of both business entities and public organizations. In addition to imposing demands on the employee and issuing instructions, there are various, more or less visible ways of influencing the employee, which are aimed at increasing the efficiency of his work. There are no universal rules for building incentive systems that would work in every situation. So, what motivates you to perform your duties diligently? The prospect of receiving a reward or promotion, or maybe the spectre of punishment

Photophysics of multicomponent molecules under dynamic control

PhD ThesisThis work focusses on seeking to gain a deep understanding of the photophysical processes inherent to multi-functional and/or multi-component supermolecules in the condensed phase. To do this, a variety of molecular systems have been subjected to spectroscopic examination, most commonly using steady-state and time-resolved emission spectroscopy to interrogate the samples. A common feature of all the molecular architectures examined herein relates to the possibility for structural motion on timescales of concern to the photophysical event. Furthermore, to provide a spectroscopic signature, most of the target dynamic systems comprise a donor covalently attached to a complementary acceptor. These systems possess the potential to be used as solar-energy concentrators or for specific sensing applications. However, attention is given only to the fundamental properties. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to the field of molecular rotors and to the concepts of energy and electron transfer in molecular systems. Key literature examples are used to illustrate the current state-of-the-art and to set the tone for later discussions. Each chapter includes a brief introduction to the specific topic under discussion while avoiding the generic details covered in the main introduction. The essential experimental details and underlying analytical protocols for all the studies described are provided in the final chapter. Chapter 2 describes a new series of molecular rotors based on the boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) structure. This series includes structurally-similar compounds that exhibit surprisingly disparate behaviours as putative probes for solvent viscosity. In fact, the results tend to challenge the conventional understanding of BODIPY-based molecular probes. In this chapter, we highlight the importance of asymmetry, question how it might be used to one’s advantage in the design of next generation probes, and raise ideas about porosity of the excited-state potential energy surface

Recent advances in highly-efficient near infrared OLED emitters

Near infrared (NIR) light (700–1400 nm) can be used in numerous biological/medical as well as technological applications. In this work we review the most recent examples of highly efficient NIR organic light-emitting diode (OLED) emitters among the most relevant types of luminophores: platinum(II), iridium(III), and osmium(II) complexes, unimolecular thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters and exciplexes, fluorescent dyes, and the emerging group of stable luminescent radicals. We dive into the structural design principles of emitters with improved NIR efficiency. In our discussion we consider unimolecular emission as well as that arising from aggregated luminophores, as the latter often leads to a longer wavelength NIR. Our analysis of numerous emitters from various groups concludes, without a doubt, that platinum(II) complexes present superior efficiency in nearly all wavelengths from 700 to 1000 nm. We report on an apparent NIR boundary line, which appears to be a current limitation for NIR OLED efficiency. Presently, virtually only platinum(II) complexes exceed the efficiency limit set out by this boundary. So far efficient OLEDs, i.e. >1% external quantum efficiency, emitting significantly beyond 1000 nm have not yet been reported

Are the Rates of Dexter Transfer in TADF Hyperfluorescence Systems Optically Accessible?

Seemingly not, but for unexpected reasons. Combining the triplet harvesting properties of TADF materials with the fast emission rates and colour purity of fluorescent emitters is attractive for developing high performance OLEDs. In this “hyperfluorescence” approach, triplet excitons are converted to singlets on the TADF material and transferred to the fluorescent material by long range Förster energy transfer. The primary loss mechanism is assumed to be Dexter energy transfer from the TADF triplet to the non-emissive triplet of the fluorescent emitter. Here we use optical spectroscopy to investigate energy transfer in representative emissive layers. Despite observing kinetics that at first appear consistent with Dexter quenching of the TADF triplet state, transient absorption, photoluminescence quantum yields, and comparison to phosphor-sensitised “hyperphosphorescent” systems reveal that this is not the case. While Dexter quenching by the fluorescent emitter is likely still a key loss mechanism in devices, we demonstrate that – despite initial appearances - it is inoperative under optical excitation. These results reveal a deep limitation of optical spectroscopy in characterizing hyperfluorescent systems

Electrochemical and Spectroelectrochemical Comparative Study of Macrocyclic Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescent Compounds: Molecular Charge Stability vs OLED EQE Roll-Off

In this work, we present how a small change in molecular structure can affect the electrochemical stability of organic compounds. A new electron donor-acceptor-donor-acceptor (D-A-D-A) macrocyclic π-conjugated compound (tBuMC) comprising of dibenzophenazine as As and N,N’-bis(t-butylphenyl)-p-phenylenediamines as Ds has been synthesized. The photophysical investigation uncovered that tBuMC showed thermally activated delayed fluorescence and that the organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) fabricated with tBuMC as the emitter achieved high external quantum efficiency (EQEs) of ca. 10%. However, the OLED with tBuMC showed a slightly lower EQE than that of the OLED with MC (11.6%) and showed greater EQE roll-off. Comparative studies on electrochemical properties of tBuMC, MC, and a linear analogue (Linear) revealed the introduction of t-Bu groups in the D-A-D-A scaffold causes a significant change in redox behavior. Full electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical studies gave clues to understand how the steric hindering group is affecting the charge distribution in the new molecules which results in a significant difference in the OLED roll-off. The electrochemical investigations together with UV-Vis-NIR and EPR analyses supported by quantum chemical theoretical calculations were performed, which provided us insights on the effect of structural modification on the redox properties of the D-A-D-A scaffold.This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: A. Nyga, S. Izumi, H. F. Higginbotham, P. Stachelek, S. Pluczyk, P. de Silva, S. Minakata, Y. Takeda, P. Data, Asian J. Org. Chem. 2020, 9, 2153., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/ajoc.202000475. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving

Improvement of calf behaviour and veal quality using rearing at foster cows

The experiment was carried out at the ecological farm Ekofarma Kaszubska in Poland. Ten Holstein-Friesian bulls of the same age were selected for the experiment and divided into two experimental groups. Five calves were raised in a pen without access to their mothers. They were taken with whole milk served from a bucket equipped with a teat. The remaining five bulls were reared at two foster cows. The rearing lasted six months, after which the animals were slaughtered. During the rearing, behavioural observations of each of the experimental groups were carried out every month for 3 hours. During the observation, the number of ‘licking cases’ of the pen equipment or other calf was counted. The study was conducted in three identical replications one after the other. The collected experimental data were statistically analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics. It was found that calves reared with suckler cows gained weight faster and were characterised by better muscle class (assessed in the EUROP system) compared to the control group. Behavioural assessments showed less adverse behaviours, such as licking other calves or pen equipment, in the suckling group compared to the control group. This difference was most evident in relation to calves up to 3 months of age. No significant differences were found between the groups of older calves. This is due to the increased need for calves to suck in the first weeks of life. Strong urine drinking tendencies were demonstrated in both groups, so this type of behaviour would not be related to the rearing system, but rather to mineral deficiencies in the diet. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the increased availability of milk, and the frequent natural intake of milk directly from the udder, have a positive effect on calves’ growth and well-being

Strategies for keeping dairy cows and calves together - a cross-sectional survey study

Although it is still most common to rear dairy calves separately from adult cattle, the interest in pro-longed contact between dairy calves and lactating cows during early life is increasing. Previous research has documented positive effects of cow-calf contact (CCC) on for example early calf growth and udder health of suckled cows, but also negative effects such as increased separation distress and reduced weight gains after weaning. The aim of this study was to use information from European farms with prolonged cow-calf contact to identify innovative solutions to common challenges for CCC farms. Commercial dairy farms that kept calves with adult lactating cows for seven days or more after birth were invited to participate, and interviews were performed with 104 farmers from six countries. During interviews, information about farm management, calf rearing, farmers' perception of animal health on their farm, and farmers' drivers and barriers for implementing CCC were collected. We found that CCC was practised in a large variety of housing and management systems, and that calves could be reared together with their dam, with foster cows, or using a combination of the two. The contact period varied considerably (7-305 days) between farms and about 25% of the farms manually milk fed the calves during parts of the milk feeding period. Daily contact time varied between farms, from 30 minutes per day to permanent contact except at milking. Behaviours indicative of separation distress, most commonly vocalisation in cows and calves, were reported by 87% of the farmers. Strategies to alleviate separation distress, for example simultaneous gradual weaning and separation, were used on some farms. Building constraints were most often mentioned as a barrier for implementing CCC. Our findings suggest that CCC is practised in a variety of commonly used husbandry systems. Reported challenges were primarily related to weaning and separation, and to building constraints; these aspects should be areas of future research.@2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Animal Consortium. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Vergleich von kuhgebundener Aufzucht und Aufzucht mit Nuckeleimern von Mastkälbern auf ihren Geburtsbetrieben

3 Versuche wurden auf 3 biologischen Milchviehbetrieben in CH, DE und PL durchgeführt, um Kälber zu vergleichen, die mit und ohne Kuhkontakt (CC) gemästet wurden. CC-Kälber besaugten sich weniger gegenseitig, in PL hatten sie mehr Zunahmen und der Fleisch-pH nach 24 Std. war niedriger