Service requirement for terminal delivery: an empirical study from the perspective of online shoppers

To investigate customer’s service requirement for parcel delivery, combining with theoretical analysis and empirical test, a measuring model of customer service requirement was proposed for terminal delivery. Based on literature reviews, five potential dimensions with 27 items were initially discussed. Through exploratory factor analysis on samples collected from Taobao networks, four dimensions with 18 measurement items were finally confirmed including service attitude, service reliability, service standardization and service flexibility. By further confirmatory factor analysis, the fitness of this measuring model was proved to be acceptable. The research revealed that online shoppers paid attention to not only service result but also service process, so related suggestions were also proposed for express firms to promote their service management.Peer Reviewe

Sonication-enabled rapid production of stable liquid metal nanoparticles grafted with poly(1- octadecene-alt-maleic anhydride) in aqueous solutions

Gallium-based liquid metals are attractive due to their unique combination of metallic and fluidic properties. Liquid metal nanoparticles (LM NPs), produced readily using sonication, find use in soft electronics, drug delivery, and other applications. However, LM NPs in aqueous solutions tend to oxidize and precipitate over time, which hinders their utility in systems that require long-term stability. Here, we introduce a facile route to rapidly produce an aqueous suspension of stable LM NPs within five minutes. We accomplish this by dissolving poly(1-octadecene-alt-maleic anhydride) (POMA) in toluene and mixing with deionized water in the presence of a liquid metal (LM). Sonicating the mixture results in the formation of toluene-POMA emulsions that embed the LM NPs; as the toluene evaporates, POMA coats the particles. Due to the POMA hydrophobic coating, the LM NPs remain stable in biological buffers for at least 60 days without noticeable oxidation, as confirmed by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. Further stabilization is achieved by tuning the LM composition. This paper elucidates the stabilization mechanisms. The stable LM NPs possess the potential to advance the use of LM in biomedical applications

Aerobinen bakteeriviljelynäyte haavasta

Pinnallisen haavan bakteeriviljelyn näytteenotto on tärkeä tutkimuksen osa-alue luotettavan viljelytuloksen saamisen kannalta. Näytteenottoon liittyy monia vaiheita, jotka on tärkeä suorittaa oikein, jotta mahdollinen infektion aiheuttaja löytyisi ja potilas saisi tarvittaessa nopeasti mikrobilääkehoidon, eikä hänen paraneminen viivästyisi. Näytteenoton oikeel-lisuutta on mahdotonta arvioida laboratoriossa, joten oikea tulos on täysin hyvän bakteeri-viljelynäytteenoton varassa. Opinnäytetyössäni kartoitettiin yhdentoista Suomen laboratorion sekä Oslon, Tukholman ja Kööpenhaminan laboratorioiden pinnallisten haavanäytteiden näytteenotto-ohjeiden eroja induktiivisen sisällönanalyysin teoriaa soveltaen. Työssä pyrittiin tarkastelemaan ohjeita mahdollisimman tarkasti, jotta saatiin laaja kuva laboratorio kohtaisista eroista ja yhtäläi-syyksistä. Aiempien tutkimusten ja hyvän ohjeen kriteerien perusteella arvioitiin mitkä koh-dat ohjeissa ovat tärkeitä ja missä laboratorioilla olisi parantamisen varaa pinnallisen haavan bakteeriviljelynäytteenotonohjetta päivitettäessä. Työn tutkimustulosten perusteella laboratorioiden pinnallisen haavan bakteeriviljelynäyt-teenoton ohjeiden rakenne oli pääpiirtein samankaltainen laboratoriosta riippumatta. Suuria eroja löytyi kappaleiden sisältä, sillä monet laboratoriot olivat painottaneet ohjeessaan eri näytteenoton vaiheita. Tiettyjen laboratorioiden ohjeista löytyi suuria puutteita esimerkiksi haavan puhdistusvaiheen ja näytteenoton kuvaamisen suhteen. Yleisin puute oli ky-rettinäytteen ottamisen ja säilytyksen suhteen. Kansalliset näytteenoton suositukset voisivat täten olla hyödyllisiä, jotta ainakin Suomen sisällä pinnallisen haavan bakteeriviljely-näytteiden laatu olisi yhtenevä.Superficial wound sampling is one of the most important parts of getting reliable cultivation results. There are many steps in taking the specimen correctly, these steps needs to be followed thoroughly to ensure the quick determination of the infectious agent. Leading to the correct antibiotic treatment being administered with minimum delay to overall patient recovery. It is impossible to asses in a laboratory whether the sample was taken properly. A correct result is dependent on good bacteria sampling. The purpose of this final project was to study the differences of the superficial wound sam-pling instructions at eleven Finnish laboratories, one laboratory in Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen by applying the methods of inductive content analysis. It was necessary to look at the instructions as precisely as possible in order to get a comprehensive picture of laboratory-specific differences and similarities. Previous studies and good guide criteria were used to evaluate which parts were important in the instructions and which parts the laboratories could improve their superficial wound sampling instructions by updating it. Based on the project results the structures of the laboratory instructions of the superficial wound sampling were roughly similar apart of laboratory. The biggest differences were found inside the chapters for many laboratories had stressed different parts of sampling. Certain instructions contained major shortcomings in the area of wound cleansing and sampling. The most common deficiency was taking and transportation of curette specimen. National sampling recommendations may be useful. This way superficial wound sampling instructions would be congruent at least in Finland

3D printing high interfacial bonding polyether ether ketone components via pyrolysis reactions

Recently, 3D-printed polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) components have been shown to offer many applications in state-of-the-art electronics, 5G wireless communications, medical implantations, and aerospace components. Nevertheless, a critical barrier that limits the application of 3D printed PEEK components is their weak interfacial bonding strength. Herein, we propose a novel method to improve this unsatisfied situation via the interface plasticizing effect of benzene derivatives obtained from the thermal pyrolysis of trisilanolphenyl polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (POSS). Based on this method, the bonding strength of the filaments and interlayers of 3D-printed POSS/PEEK components can reach 82.9 MPa and 59.8 MPa, respectively. Moreover, the enhancing mechanism of the pyrolysis products derived from the POSS is characterized using pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray computed tomography (X-CT). Our proposed strategy broadens the novel design space for developing additional 3D-printed materials with satisfactory interfacial bonding strength

Trade Privacy for Utility: A Learning-Based Privacy Pricing Game in Federated Learning

To prevent implicit privacy disclosure in sharing gradients among data owners (DOs) under federated learning (FL), differential privacy (DP) and its variants have become a common practice to offer formal privacy guarantees with low overheads. However, individual DOs generally tend to inject larger DP noises for stronger privacy provisions (which entails severe degradation of model utility), while the curator (i.e., aggregation server) aims to minimize the overall effect of added random noises for satisfactory model performance. To address this conflicting goal, we propose a novel dynamic privacy pricing (DyPP) game which allows DOs to sell individual privacy (by lowering the scale of locally added DP noise) for differentiated economic compensations (offered by the curator), thereby enhancing FL model utility. Considering multi-dimensional information asymmetry among players (e.g., DO's data distribution and privacy preference, and curator's maximum affordable payment) as well as their varying private information in distinct FL tasks, it is hard to directly attain the Nash equilibrium of the mixed-strategy DyPP game. Alternatively, we devise a fast reinforcement learning algorithm with two layers to quickly learn the optimal mixed noise-saving strategy of DOs and the optimal mixed pricing strategy of the curator without prior knowledge of players' private information. Experiments on real datasets validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed scheme in terms of faster convergence speed and enhanced FL model utility with lower payment costs.Comment: Accepted by IEEE ICC202

Organic carbon deposition flux on the North Chukchi Sea shelf based on 210Pb radioactivity dating

Deposition of organic carbon forms the final net effect of the ocean carbon sink at a certain time scale. Organic carbon deposition on the Arctic shelves plays a particularly important role in the global carbon cycle because of the broad shelf area and rich nutrient concentration. To determine the organic carbon deposition flux at the northern margin of the Chukchi Sea shelf, the 210Pb dating method was used to analyze the age and deposition rate of sediment samples from station R17 of the third Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition. The results showed that the deposition rate was 0.6 mm∙a-1, the apparent deposition mass flux was 0.72 kg∙m-2∙a-1, and the organic carbon deposition flux was 517 mmol C∙m-2∙a-1. It was estimated that at least 16% of the export organic carbon flux out of the euphotic zone was transferred and chronically buried into the sediment, a value which was much higher than the average ratio (~10%) for low- to mid-latitude regions, indicating a highly effective carbon sink at the northern margin of the Chukchi Sea shelf. With the decrease of sea ice coverage caused by warming in the Arctic Ocean, it could be inferred that the Arctic shelves will play an increasingly important role in the global carbon cycle

Hypoxia-Driven Immunosuppressive Metabolites in the Tumor Microenvironment: New Approaches for Combinational Immunotherapy

Hypoxia is not only a prominent contributor to the heterogeneity of solid tumors but also a crucial stressor in the microenvironment to drive adaptations for tumors to evade immunosurveillance. Herein, we discuss the potential role of hypoxia within the microenvironment contributing to immune resistance and immune suppression of tumor cells. We outline recent discoveries of hypoxia-driven adaptive mechanisms that diminish immune cell response via skewing the expression of important immune checkpoint molecules (e.g., cluster of differentiation 47, programmed death ligand 1, and human leukocyte antigen G), altered metabolism and metabolites, and pH regulation. Importantly, inhibition of hypoxic stress-relevant pathways can collectively enhance T-cell-mediated tumor cell killing. Furthermore, we discuss how manipulation of hypoxia stress may pose a promising new strategy for a combinational therapeutic intervention to enhance immunotherapy of solid tumors

Western Upper Peninsula High Level Ecotourism Recommendations

A student research team at Michigan Tech researched and developed an inventory of the Upper Peninsula's eco-tourism resources and gaps. They compared these with similar successful eco-tourism regions and suggested a stronger business model

Effective Application of Solid Expandable Tubular During the Enhancement of Heavy Oil Recovery in China, Lessons Learned and Experience Shared

As the traditional thermal recovery became less effective in exploring the heavy oil reservoirs, some newly developed techniques such as chemical flooding, SAGD and HDCS are demonstrating their advantage in the recovery process in China. However, the ever increasingly used new techniques often compromised severely the well integrity as the flow of extremely high temperature fluid or gas caused quick damage to casing, leaving the wellbore less reliable. This compromise requires urgently a workover strategy that would maximize the well’s life span and guarantee the effectiveness of new techniques.Solid expandable tubular (SET) was field-proven in casing patching activities, but its application in the heavy oil recovery has not been attempted due to severe temperature challenge. We made innovations on the traditional structure of SET and got valuable results. The tubular after expansion was integrated with the original casing as a whole and the rubber was removed in-between, the wellbore size was maintained utmost and the casing was further strengthened. Meanwhile the expansion cone was put outside the tubular which is a big step forward in SET structure.Indoors experiments demonstrated sound performance of the new structure in the simulative temperature of 350 ℃, the plan for the field application was optimized based on the lessons collected in this experiment. High temperature well applications by SET were carried out in Liaohe oilfield which is famous for its heavy oil resource in China, and the detailed process as well as the outcome were compared and analyzed, finally the conclusions were drawn as a result of the whole study.We expect our work will help expand this enabling technology to better facilitate the enhancement of heavy oil recovery and maintain solid well integrity during the heavy oil production.Key words: Solid expandable tubular; Heavy oil recovery; Chin