Effects Of Various Types Research Articles

Comparison of the effectiveness of antimicrobial radiation treatment of fish preserves on different installations

The specificity of fish preserves determines the increased risk of microbiological contamination and the relevance of using radurization to reduce it. The paper shows the results of comparing the effectiveness of various types of ionising radiation (γ-radiation of the 60Co radioisotope, electron radiation with an electron energy of 4.8 MeV, bremsstrahlung X-rays with quantum energy not exceeding 4.8 MeV) for processing fish preserves considering sensory and microbiological indicators (quantity and species composition). Almost complete inhibition of microorganisms was caused by the action of γ-radiation with an absorbed dose of 6 kGy. The action of electronic and X-ray radiation gave a significant (from 80 to 99%) decrease in the number of microorganisms at absorbed doses from 1.5 to 3 kGy. The revealed differences in the efficiency of the action of γ-radiation and radiation generated by an electron accelerator (electron and X-ray radiation) were associated with differences in the radiation energy and the parameters of irradiation sources. Irradiation of fish preserves at doses of 3 and 6 kGy reduces the species diversity of microorganisms. Survived microorganisms belonged to the yeast-like fungi of the Candida, Pichia and Kacuria genera. The results of the study showed the effectiveness of the use of radiation processing of fish preserves as an additional element in the production technology, which ensures their microbiological safety and increases the shelf life.

ACTIVATION OF SINABUNG MOUNT VOLCANIC ASH USING VARIOUS MINERAL ACIDS

The effect of various types of mineral acids in activating the silica of volcanic ash of Mount Sinabung has been carried out. The use of various types of mineral acids is aimed at reducing impurities in the form of metals contained in the ash so that it can increase the SiO2 content in the ash. In the treatment, volcanic ash is prepared beforehand by grinding and sieving with a 200 mesh sieve. The sieved ash was then added with mineral acids, namely HCl, HNO3 and concentrated H2SO4 and heated at 100oC for 2 hours. After that, it was neutralized with distilled water and in an oven at 120oC for 6 hours and characterized using XRF to determine the impurities that had been lost. Based on the results obtained using XRF characteristics, the SiO2 content of volcanic ash activated with HCl was 80,23%, HNO3 was 77,23% and H2SO4 was 76,89%. This shows that activation using HCl is more optimal than using HNO3 and H2SO4.

A comparative clinical evaluation of the effect of chamomile, Aloe Vera and chlorhexidine 0.12% mouthwash on gingival health among visually impaired

Oral health is considered of paramount importance for visually impaired individuals due to the difficulties they face to maintain a good oral hygiene practice in different aspects, knowledge, physical and social. Thus, the provision of adequate training and education about oral health and the chemical role of mouthwashes is required for this group of society. This research aims at comparing the effect of various types of mouthwashes on gingival health among visually impaired persons. 92 students with a vision impairment of ages between (10-20) years suffering from gingivitis caused by dental plaque accumulation were included in this research. The sample was divided into 4 groups according to the type of used mouthwash as follows:1) Chamomile group, 2) Aloe Vera group, 3) Chlorhexidine group, 4) Distilled water group.Dental plaque index (PI) and gingival index (GI) were recorded before the initiation of the treatment and after 15 days. One-way (ANOVA test) and the (Bonferroni test) were used for results analysis at p<0.05. Statistical analyses were completed using (SPSS) software –v13. Aloe Vera and CHX groups have improved the dental plaque index (PI) without significant statistical differences. Both (CHX and Aloe Vera) have proven superiority over the Chamomile group which was statistically significant. Gingival index (GI) has improved in the Chamomile, Aloe Vera, and CHX groups without any statistical differences.: Within the limitation of our study, we concluded that (Aloe Vera) mouthwashes can be used as a substitute to CHX in controlling plaque accumulation and gingival inflammation among visually impaired persons. Also, Chamomile mouthwashes have a distinguished impact on gingival inflammation, yet more researches are required.

The political pressure from the US upon RMB exchange rate

In this study, we investigate the motives and results of US political pressure on the RMB exchange rate. “Classified event-abnormal return rate method” is applied to determine whether political pressures from the US caused abnormal return rate of the RMB exchange rate from July 22, 2005, to December 31, 2018. After examining the combined effect of various types of pressure events, we found that in general, the US political pressure events did not cause the abnormal return rate of the RMB exchange rate. During the state of appreciation (2005.7.22–2014.1.31), the RMB exchange rate was influenced significantly by the political pressures from the US, whereas the influence became insignificant since February 2014 when RMB started to depreciate. In comparison to the pressure events initiated by the US Congress, the pressure events of administrative departments had more significant impacts on the abnormal return rate of the RMB exchange rate.

Effects of the Carbon Fiber Orientations for the Strengthening of Thin-Walled Steel Cylinders under Compressive Loads and Bending Shear Loads

In this study, the effects of carbon fiber orientations on the strengthening of small-scale thin-walled steel cylinders (TSCs) under axial compression were experimentally and numerically investigated. Besides, the strengthening effects of various types of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) on the load-carrying capacity of full-scale TSCs were numerically investigated. The results showed that circumferential CFRP layers (0°) have significant effects on the increased load-carrying capacity of TSCs under axial compression, whereas, only 90° CFRP layers had small strengthening effects for TSCs under axial compression. When the TSCs subjected to bending shear loads with high values of internal pressures, the appearances of circumferential fibers also brought better strengthening effects than only the angled fibers for TSCs.

Speed change and traffic safety power model for inter-urban roads with heterogeneous traffic

The aim of this study is to develop the power model of the relationship between speed and traffic safety. As the inter-urban roads are characterised with heterogeneous traffic, the heterogeneity became the focus of the analysis. The present study analysed the effects of various types of vehicles through a number of speed change combinations and developed six equations: number of fatal accidents, number of fatalities, number of fatal and serious injury accidents, number of fatal or serious injuries, number of injury accidents and number of injured road users. The results indicated that the Power Model showed high predictability of the speed-accident relationship. The models fit the data well with Rsq in the range of 0.6-0.8. The vehicle category-specific ratio power models exhibited how traffic heterogeneity accounts for traffic safety. The equations' power varies with the types of vehicles, indicating the different sensitivity of accidents and casualties to the speed ratios. Overall, with the power estimates around one, except for all injured victims, the estimates were systematically smaller than those that were initially inferred in Nilsson's Power model. The values indicated that the increase in speed determined the increase in the number of accidents and casualties from year to year. The present study successfully developed the first speed-traffic safety Power Model for Indonesia. As it is exclusively dependent on the speed changes, the model can well describe the direction of change in traffic safety irrespective of other changes in the driving environment factors.

КОМПЛЕКСООБРАЗОВАНИЕ ЭРИОХРОМЦИАНИНА R С ИОНАМИ АЛЮМИНИЯ И ЖЕЛЕЗА (III) В ПРИСУТСТВИИ ПАВ

The effect of various types of surfactants on the complexation of aluminum and iron (III) ions with eriochromecyanine R have been studied. According to the light absorption spectra of the dye and complexes with metal ions without surfactants and in the presence of catamine AB, oxyphos B, and syntanol DS-10 at various pH and the concentration of surfactants determined the optimal conditions for complexation have been determined. Oxyphos B has a negative effect on the spectrophotometric characteristics of the complexes. Syntanol DS-10 has practically no effect. The presence of catamine AB causes a bathochromic shift in the maximum of light absorption of the complex, increases the contrast of the photometric reaction and the value of the extinction coefficient. The composition of the complexes in the absence and in the presence of catamine AB has been determined by saturation and isomolar series methods. The presence of catamine AB increases the molar ratio of metal: reagent in the complex from 1: 2 to 1: 3. By Babko's method, conditional stability constants of the complexes have been determined, calibration curves have been constructed, and molar light absorption coefficients have been calculated.

ВЛИЯНИЕ МНОГОВАРИАНТНЫХ СИСТЕМ ВЕДЕНИЯ ДОЛГОЛЕТНИХ СЕНОКОСОВ НА БОТАНИЧЕСКИЙ СОСТАВ И КАЧЕСТВО КОРМА

A significant part of bulky feed obtained from natural fodder lands is characterized by low quality due to the loss of valuable forage plants from herbage and non-observance of the terms and technologies of harvesting. Nutritional adjustment is an effective means of improving the composition of the herbage and the feed quality. To study the effect of various types and doses of fertilizers on the botanical composition and quality of forage for long-term hayfield at the FWRC FPA long-term field experiment has been conducted since 1947. For the 72–74th years, the use of hayfield without fertilizer application, with use of one- and two-component fertilizer and complete mineral fertilizer with a low dose of nitrogen, phytocenoses are formed with a predominance of short grasses, significant content of forbs and legumes (in technologies without the use of mineral nitrogen). The forage obtained from such grasslands meets the requirements of state standard specification for the first and second classes of hay of natural grasslands. Applying a complete mineral fertilizer with a nitrogen dose of N90–180, phytocenoses forms a predominance of high grasses. Considering the higher requirements of the standard for the hay of sown grasslands, the feed obtained from such grasslands mainly meets the second class’s requirements. In all management systems, the second cut provides a higher quality of forage, which is associated with an increase after mowing in the content of well-leafed shoots of grasses and legumes. The authors noted the effect of weather conditions on the quality of hay. In years with favorable moisture conditions, the efficiency of the applied fertilizers increases, and the quality of feed improves.

A Novel Neural Network Model Applied to Modeling of a Tandem-Wing Quadplane Drone

This research focuses on modeling one of the Quadplane flight phases: a hover state, similar to a regular Quadcopter hovering. The process is highly non-linear, and additionally, there are more phenomena to take into account - it is related to air turbulence around the wings and the fuselage. This work thoroughly studies the effectiveness of various types of neural networks to model the drone using the data recorded from real free-flight experiments. Finally, we introduce a novel type of neural-based model: the Feature-Sequence-To-Sequence (fseq2seq) Recurrent Neural Network Model. The new Model has interesting features: the input-data-driven initialization of RNN's internal states and a simplification of the input layer (significant reduction of used neurons' weights). We demonstrate that the new network outperforms all classic model types.

The effect of various types of nasal septal deviation, concha bullosa and hypertrophic inferior turbinate on the development of sinusitis

To determine the impact of various types of unilateral nasal septum deviation (NSD), concha bullosa (CB) and hypertrophic inferior turbinate (HIT) on the development of sinusitis. This study was conducted in the Irkutsk State Medical University and the Irkutsk City Clinical Hospital No. 1 from October 2017 to November 2018. By continuous sampling retrospective analysis of 1300 protocols of paranasal sinuses MSCT of adult patients was performed. We used MSCT scanners Somatom Emotion 16 Siemens and GE BrightSpeed 16. The studies were carried out on the patients lying on the back with the subsequent reconstruction on a graphical station in the coronal and axial projections using the slices around 1 mm in the thickness. Inclusion criteria: unilateral or absence NSD. Exclusion criteria: bilateral NSD, chronic polyposis or allergic rhinitis. We have analyzed 272 protocols: 70 without NSD and 172 with unilateral NSD, on the right side - 89 (52%) and on the left - 83 (48%). 108 (44.6%) patients were male and 134 (55.4%) were female with average age 38.5±12 years. All patients were divided into 4 groups by R. Mladina' classification (1987): with NSD types 1, 2, 3, and 5. The results were evaluated using the Yates corrected chi-square and the Fisher's exact test by Statistica 10.0. There were 34 patients with NSD type 1: 12 with sinusitis; 9 had CB: 6 with sinusitis, 3 without it; HIT was in 27 cases: 33% with sinusitis, 67% without it. There were 69 patients with NSD type 2: 12 had sinusitis; 22 had CB: 5 with sinusitis, 17 without it; HIT was in 42 cases: 26% with sinusitis, 74% without it. There were 43 patients with NSD type 3: 26 had sinusitis; 15 had CB: 6 with sinusitis, 9 without it; 30 had HIT: 57% with sinusitis, 43% without it. There were 26 patients with NSD type 5: 11 had sinusitis; 9 had CB: 3 with sinusitis, 6 without it; 24 had HIT: 42% with sinusitis, 58% without it. NSD type 2 was statistically significant prevailed in patients without sinusitis (p=0.000005); NSD type 3 (p=0.03) and the combination of NSD type 1 with contralateral CB (p=0.04) prevailed in patients with sinusitis. NSD type 3 (by R. Mladina), as well as the combination of type 1 with contralateral CB are have influence to the development of sinusitis. CB and HIT are statistically significant prevailed on the contralateral side to unilateral NSD, but do not affect to development of sinusitis.

Umbelliprenin Suppresses Angiogenesis Signaling in SKBR-3 Cell Line by Downregulation of EGF/CoCl2 -Mediated PI3K/AKT/MAPK

Background and objectives: Umbelliprenin, a prenylated coumarin from different species of Ferula, has demonstrated anti-cancer effects in various types of cancer cells, but the potential molecular mechanisms for the anti-angiogenic activity of umbelliprenin in breast cancer cells have not yet been studied. In this study, we investigated the possible molecular pathways involved in the anti-angiogenic effect of umbelliprenin in EGF and CoCl2 stimulated SKBR-3 breast cancer cells. Methods: Effects of umbelliprenin on the changes in EGFR signaling genes (EGFR, PI3K, AKT, mTOR, S6K, 4EBP1, ERK1/2, HIF-1α, HIF-1β, VEGF, VEGFR) and proteins (VEGF/HIF-1α) expression were assayed in SKBR-3 via Quantitative PCR and Western blotting assays. Results: Umbelliprenin dramatically decreased the living cells in a concentration related manner (IC50=103.9 µM) and non- toxic doses of umbelliprenin IC5 and IC10 (10 and 20 µM, respectively) were used for evaluating in vitro anti-angiogenic effects. Umbelliprenin significantly reduced pro-angiogenic AKT, ERK1, ERK2, mTOR, S6K, HIF-1α, HIF-1b, VEGF and VEGFR mRNAs in EGF-treated, and AKT, ERK2, S6K, HIF-1α, HIF-1b, VEGF and VEGFR mRNAs in CoCl2-treated cells. Umbelliprenin significantly increased anti-angiogenic 4EBP1 mRNA in EGF / CoCl2-treated cells. It significantly decreased the levels of HIF-1α and VEGF proteins, in CoCl2-treated cells. Conclusion: Our findings showed that umbelliprenin exhibits anti-angiogenic effects by decreasing the expression of AKT/mTOR/MAPK angiogenesis pathways in EGF or CoCl2 treated SKBR-3 breast cancer cells.

Urban-Rural Disparities for COVID-19: Evidence from 10 Countries and Areas in the Western Pacific.

Limited evidence on the effectiveness of various types of social distancing measures, from voluntary physical distancing to a community-wide quarantine, exists for the Western Pacific Region (WPR) which has large urban and rural populations. We estimated the time-varying reproduction number (R t ) in a Bayesian framework using district-level mobility data provided by Facebook (i) to assess how various social distancing policies have contributed to the reduction in transmissibility of SARS-COV-2 and (ii) to examine within-country variations in behavioural responses, quantified by reductions in mobility, for urban and rural areas. Social distancing measures were largely effective in reducing transmissibility, with R t estimates decreased to around the threshold of 1. Within-country analysis showed substantial variation in public compliance across regions. Reductions in mobility were significantly lower in rural and remote areas than in urban areas and metropolitan cities (p < 0.001) which had the same scale of social distancing orders in place. Our findings provide empirical evidence that public compliance and consequent intervention effectiveness differ between urban and rural areas in the WPR. Further work is required to ascertain the factors affecting these differing behavioural responses, which can assist in policy-making efforts and increase public compliance in rural areas where populations are older and have poorer access to healthcare.

THE INTENSITIES OF VARIOUS FORMS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS OFFERED BY UNIVERSITIES FOR MALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various forms of physical activity (PA) among male students in physical education (PE) programs offered by universities in Poland, Hungary and the United Kingdom. The study involved 200 full-time male university students (mean age: 19.86±0.82), enrolled in nine different PA programs. The participants’ anthropometric traits and body composition parameters were determined with the InBody analyser. Based on the students’ physiological parameters, the effectiveness of various types of PA was measured with Suunto. Ambit3 peak heart rate monitors during 60 minutes of physical exertion. The average values of body mass, body mass index (BMI), body fat mass (BFM), percent body fat (PBF), waist hip ratio (WHR), and visceral fat (VFL) were significantly (p&lt;0.05) lower in students who performed jogging, followed by sauna (JFBS) and martial arts than in the remaining PA groups. Minutes of difficult and very difficult intensities were highest in martial art students, followed by jogging students, and they were significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher than the values noted in the remaining PA groups (golf, bodybuilding/fitness, swimming, general PE classes, cycling and individual training). Physiological parameters were significantly (p&lt;0.05) lowest in golf players and students who trained individually. Martial arts and JFBS are the most effective types of PA among male university students. Students performing martial arts and JFBS were characterized by the lowest relative, body fat, whereas students who practiced swimming had the highest body fat levels in the population sample.

The Effect of Personality Traits on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Outcomes in Student Pharmacists with Rat Phobia: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Little is known about which personality traits determine the effectiveness of various types of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on animal phobia. The objective of the present study was to investigate a possible association between personality traits and the outcome of single- and multi-session CBT.Methods: The present randomized clinical trial was conducted from November 2018 to May 2019 in Shiraz, Iran. Forty female students with rat phobia, who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) criteria, were systematically allocated into a single- and a multi-session therapy group (odd numbers one-session treatment, even numbers multi-session treatment). In both groups, the students were gradually exposed to rats as part of the treatment. Psychological measures (state-anxiety, rat phobia, and disgust questionnaires) were used to compare pre- and post-intervention outcomes. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to assess which personality traits influenced the intervention outcome. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (version 20.0) and P values<0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results: Rat phobia was positively and significantly affected by conscientiousness (P=0.001) and agreeableness (P=0.003). Of these personality traits, only a higher degree of conscientiousness resulted in a further reduction of state anxiety after the intervention (P=0.005). There were no significant differences between the pre- and post-intervention outcomes.Conclusion: The outcome of single- and multi-session rat phobia therapies was associated with specific personality traits of the participants, namely conscientiousness and agreeableness. Both intervention methods had an equal effect on reducing rat phobia.

Особливості театральності та театралізації камерно-вокального циклу на вірші Едуарда Мьоріке в творчості Гуго Вольфа

Research objective. The aim of the work is an investigation of the peculiarities of theatricality and theatricalization of the chamber-vocal cycle based on the poems of Eduard Mörike in Hugo Wolf’s work. The research methodology is based on musicological research, as well as systematic-analytical, comparative, and comparative-typological methods. This methodology eases the revelation of the peculiarities of theatricality and theatricalization of the chamber-vocal genre in Wolf’s work, as well as the general and distinctive features of these concepts and the principles of their use in the vocal cycle Mörike’s Poems for Solo Voice and Piano, Set to Music by Hugo Wolf. The scientific novelty is a substantiation of the principles of theatricality and theatricalization as defining in Wolf’s creative method, revealed in all the figurative manifestations of the cycle through special, specific verbal-musical characteristics. Conclusions. It was found that theatricality and theatricalization became one of the general themes associated with the search for new artistic phenomena – a synthesis of arts inspired by the artists of the era of Romanticism. It has been determined that theatricality and theatricalization are conditional artistic quality, an extra-musical principle, which testifies to the internal connection of music with theatrical art and makes it possible to manifest them at different stages of musical creation – composition, interpretation, reception. It is proved that, following the path of theatricalization of the song genre, Wolf goes beyond the traditional chamber-vocal lyrics and combines a complex of “dramatic” and “lyrical” means within the framework of a new type of vocal-poetic composition. First of all, this consists in replacing the “I” of the lyrical hero with the “not I” of another subject (character), which contributes to the penetration of acting and theatrical illusion into the chamber-vocal genre. The cycle Mörike’s Poems for Solo Voice and Piano, Set to Music by Hugo Wolf shows the characteristic&nbsp;features of the composer’s style and the principles of theatricalization used by him. These principles include polyphonic interaction of musical-poetic images in their integrity, imparting properties inherent in theatrical performance to works; use of the cross-cutting symphonic development of thematic within the framework of vocal miniatures with the involvement of a complex of musical expressive means aimed at creating the effect of various types of depiction; attraction of various forms of monologic and dialogic utterance (from monologues and characteristicportrait sketches to songs of a proper dialogical stamp); cross-cutting development of the plot, dialogueness, and poeticness, recitative-declamatory principle in combination with the growing role of accompaniment, attitude to the word, visibility of movement and gesture, from which the theatricalization of the chamber-vocal genre arises. Hugo Wolf’s use of such principles testifies to the reading of musical-poetic texts in line with the tendencies of romantic tension, theatricality/theatricalization, and psychologism.

ВЛИЯНИЕ ПОВЕРХНОСТНО-АКТИВНЫХ ВЕЩЕСТВ НА СПЕКТРОФОТОМЕТРИЧЕСКИЕ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ КОМПЛЕКСОВ СКАНДИЯ С ЭРИОХРОМЦИАНИНОМ R

The effect of various types of surfactants on the complexation of scandium ions with eriochromecyanine R. The optimal conditions were determined from the light absorption spectra of the dye and complexes with metal ions without surfactants and in the presence of catamine AB, oxyphos B and syntanol DS-10 at various pH values and surfactant concentrations complexation. The presence of catamine AB causes a bathochromic shift in the maximum of light absorption of the complex, increases the contrast of the photometric reaction and the value of the extinction coefficient. The composition of the complexes in the absence and in the presence of catamine AB was determined by saturation and iso- molar series methods. It also increases the molar ratio of Sc : eriochromecyanine R in the complex from 1:2 to 1:3. The conditional stability constants of the complexes were determined by Babko's method, calibration curves were constructed, and the coefficients of molar light absorption were calculated. Oxyphos B has a negative effect on the spectrophotometric characteristics of the complexes. Syntanol DS-10 has practically no effect.

Incorporation of Cost-Benefit Analysis Considering Epistemic Uncertainty for Calculating the Optimal Design Flood

Design flood via flood frequency analysis provides basic information for designing hydraulic structures. Quantification of uncertainty in flood frequency analysis has become an important issue during the past three decades. However, few studies have considered practical procedures for selecting a single design flood in the uncertainty range. Cost-benefit analysis can be incorporated to select a single design flood by calculating the optimal value in the total expected cost function. In particular, in this study, the relationship between conventional flood frequency analysis and cost-benefit analysis is addressed. Additionally, the parameter uncertainty is quantified by the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm to find the optimal design floods considering parameter uncertainty. The annual maximum (AM) series and partial duration (PD) series were used to identify the effect of various types of data. The optimal design floods obtained by the cost-benefit analysis considering parameter uncertainty were systematically larger than the design flood obtained by the conventional flood frequency analysis. Regarding the types of data, the generalized Pareto distribution (GPD) had the largest values in all return periods, while the Gumbel distribution had the smallest values in all cases.

Influences of PVA modification on performance of microencapsulated reversible thermochromic phase change materials for energy storage application

The aim of the paper was to enhance the mechanical properties and anti-permeability performance of microcapsules through shell modification to keep complete and stable structure during the manufacturing process. The effect of PVA adding dosage, modified methods and types of PVA on the performance of microcapsules was discussed in detail. When the PVA/MF ratio (0.04–0.25) was appropriate, the supercooling degree of microcapsules was reduced and thermal stability was improved to some extent. Furthermore, the modified method of adding PVA-1788 into microcapsules after curing probably formed the second protective encapsulation for RTPCMs, which contributed to obtaining MicroRTPCMs-2 with excellent mechanical properties and anti-permeability performance. Compared among the effects of various types of PVA modification on the performance of MicroRTPCMs, PVA with larger polymerization degree and higher alcoholysis degree can form modified resin with larger crosslinking degree, which was beneficial to generating more stable composite shell structure. Therefore, MicroRTPCMs1-2699 presented more outstanding mechanical properties and anti-permeability performance, satisfactory cycle stability and long-term reliability, as well as reversible thermochromic coloration and leakage-prevention performance. In the end, the main characteristic of RTPCMs was to in-situ observe the heat absorption, energy storage and heat release process of PCM cores, which would be great significance for the practical application of MicroRTPCMs in the fields of thermoregulated fibers, thermal energy storage textiles, heat energy transfers and energy-saving building materials.

The impact of economic freedom on the gender pay gap: evidence from a survey of UK households

PurposeUsing survey datasets, the purpose of this work explores the impact of economic freedom on the gender pay gap in the UK.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis combines Economic Freedom of the World data with the Understanding Society (USoc) Microdata series.FindingsThe results document that economic freedom positively affects the gender pay gap. When the components of the index are considered, the findings indicate different effects of various types of policy, i.e. less government spending, stronger trade liberalization conditions and levels of corruption lead to higher gaps; stronger legal and property rights and a sounder money system have no impact on the gap. Moreover, a stronger impact in the manufacturing industry, part-time workers and those who work in the non-London regions is observed.Practical implicationsThe findings imply that reductions to government spending programmes can potentially aggravate the gap in hourly wages paid between males and females and should, therefore, be implemented. It may be also possible to provide females the training or education necessary to effectively compete in the workforce, before eliminating any spending programme they rely on.Originality/valueThe first study explores the link between economic freedom and gender pay gap through a unique survey dataset with UK households.

Outcomes of advanced biodiesel with nanoparticle additives on performance of CI engines

Abstract Biodiesel is a potential alternative fuel source that shows the importance of fossil fuels and helps to keep diesel engines in use for a long time. Numerous research works have shown that biodiesel suffers from its drawbacks, including high viscosity, low volatility, low heat value and high NOx emissions, although some features of biodiesel promote their use, such as CO2, HC, and PM reduce emissions. Some researchers have also noted that these impairments can be overcome with the help of additives and increasing the use of biodiesel. The reduction in harmful effects of emissions on the environment has attracted the attention of researchers towards biodiesel additives. In this work the conclusion of experimental works from different types of additives mixed with jatropha biodiesel is presented. Experimental work includes various nanoparticles such as aluminum (Al), copper (C), zinc oxide (ZnO), carbon nano tubes (CNT), graphene oxide (GO), graphene nanoplates (GNP), carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) etc. In addition to jatropha biodiesel and blends, nano additives reduced the ignition delay period. The combustion process began early, and brake specific fuel consumption decreased as well as an increase in brake thermal efficiency. The effects of various types of biodiesel additives on controlled and uncontrolled emissions of combustion ignition engines have been noted. Their qualities and demerits are also discussed.