Initial Action Research Articles

The behavior of the serve, return of serve, and third action in male young athletes from the Brazilian national padel team

The objective of this study was to investigate the initial actions' behavior in Padel (serve, service return, and third action) among young athletes from the Brazilian national team. The sample consisted of a total of 1547 points from 52 matches, involving 32 athletes from the youth category of the Brazilian male national team. A Chi-square test was conducted to verify associations, along with descriptive analysis of variables related to the serve (first or second serve, direction, and effectiveness), service return (type of shot, direction, and effectiveness), and third action (type of action, effectiveness, and player executing it). The results revealed that most serves were directed towards the glass (50.2%), and service returns were predominantly executed with flat shots towards the net (55.1%) to the player positioned diagonally (53.9%), who predominantly performed the third action through volleys (50.3%) and lobs (28.5%). However, a statistically significant relationship was not found in the studied model. These findings contribute to a more targeted training planning for such competitive demands and provide insights for coaches aiming at the long-term development of youth athletes.

Mechanism of Inhibiting Spontaneous Coal Combustion by Dopa Hydrosol

ABSTRACT A new type of biomass environmentally friendly hydrosol (DEP) was proposed to inhibit coal spontaneous combustion (CSC). The DEP consists of two parts, the PDopa side chain solution formed by the redox reaction of Dopa and EGCG and the main chain sol solution formed by the free radical polymerization of AA under the action of APS initiator. The −COOH, −NH2, and −OH in Dopa can be grafted onto the skeleton of the main chain via double strong hydrogen bonding interactions with the −COOH group in PAA to form a stable three-dimensional cross-linked network structure. DEP can inhibit CSC through three aspects: oxygen isolation, increasing the activation energy of coal oxidation, scavenging active groups and free radicals. The calculation simulation results show that EGCG in DEP can remove various active free radicals with lower activation energy at room temperature, breaking the chain cycle reaction of coal spontaneous combustion, which proves its high efficiency. This study provides a new way to apply mussel-inspired adhesion mechanisms to the prevention of CSC.

Sustainable development as the basis of a strong and long-term peace

The purpose of this paper is to suggest some ways and mechanisms for creating long-term peace based on sustainable development of the world and the purpose of the work is to develop recommendations aimed at counteracting the emergence of dictatorial regimes that were legitimately established. Five common features of such dictators have been identified, namely: coming to power in a legitimate way, using manipulative technologies, openly declaring their aggressive intentions, gradually implementing their aggressive intentions, creating a military potential with the active participation of developed countries, including those with established democracies. The reasons for the creation of dictatorial regimes are substantiated, namely: the imperfection of electoral legislation, excessive conservatism of legislation, insufficient determination and timeliness of countering the strengthening of dictatorships, “national egoism”, the unscrupulousness of dictators in their foreign and domestic policies. It was determined that in order to actively oppose dictatorial regimes, it is necessary to: improve the system of elections to the highest positions and to the legislative bodies of the state, put a strong barrier against manipulative technologies and fakes, through the improvement and effective application of international legislation with the involvement of artificial intelligence, determine the strategy of relations with dictators in all directions in advance: economic, diplomatic, sports, scientific and technical, etc., establish the scope of relations in direct proportion to the index of democracy in a country with an authoritarian regime and, in order to prevent negative consequences on the economy and social condition of the society of one’s country, determine and carefully regulate import and export activities. It is proposed to start an indicator of the effectiveness of the head of state and an internal truth index of the head of state, as well as measures for moral stimulation of heads of state. As a result of the study, two root causes of threats to the existence of humanity were additionally identified, which directly affect the formation of dictatorial regimes. 1) The emergence on the basis of modern information technologies of a powerful system of manipulative technologies, the use of which leads to the power of future dictators. 2) Belated opposition of the democratic world to the formation of dictatorships. This is expressed in condescension to the initial illegal actions of future dictators, uncontrolled cooperation in the economic, political and humanitarian spheres. Two key mechanisms for achieving sustainable development and long-term peace are proposed.

Carbon monoxide poisoning: assessment and actions for nurses working in service users' homes.

Carbon monoxide is a colourless, tasteless and odourless gas that is a by-product of incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons such as gas or coal. Carbon monoxide poisoning is associated with high levels of mortality and morbidity, although the symptoms of exposure are non-specific and difficult to diagnose. Historically, healthcare professionals who work directly in service users' homes have faced a higher risk of exposure to environments contaminated with carbon monoxide. Despite improved heating engineering and greater protective legislation, there still remains a tangible risk for community nurses and service users, particularly in homes still using open fires, old heating systems and poorly maintained heating appliances. This article provides a scientific summary of carbon monoxide poisoning for nurses working in the community setting. It outlines evidence-based guidance on prevention and initial treatment actions, along with safety instructions to follow in the event of exposure to carbon monoxide.

Self-healing and degradable functionalization of EVA hot-melt adhesives based on disulfide bonds and polymer free radical copolymerization

This study aims to provide a new approach for the industrialization of self-healing adhesive or membrane materials. EVA hot melt adhesive has a market share of over 50 %, and it needs to be cured during use. It is a thermosetting resin that is difficult to recycle and reuse. In response to the defects mentioned above, we developed a self-healing and degradable EVA-based hot-melt adhesives (EDS) based on disulfide bonds and polymer free radical copolymerization. Specifically, we used divinyl disulfide as a crosslinking agent. Under the action of a peroxide initiator, disulfide and EVA formed a cross-linked network through free radical copolymerization. In the study, we characterized the Functionality and comprehensive performance of EDS using various testing methods such as FT-IR, DSC, and SEM. The research results indicate that EDS achieves self-healing and degradation by utilizing the rearrangement reaction of disulfide bonds under ultraviolet light and its reducibility under strong alkaline conditions. While maintaining the same electrical insulation performance, the barrier performance, thermal conductivity, aging resistance, and mechanical properties of EDS have all been improved. Meanwhile, we discussed the self-healing mechanism, curing kinetics, degradation mechanism, and aging mechanism of EDS.

Andragogy and Edutainment Approach: A Cross-Generational Solution for Improved Worship Practices

This research is a Participatory Action Research (PAR) that aims to improve the understanding and practice of ibadah in the Kampung Batu Dalam, Solok district community. Research is carried out through several cycles of planning, action, observation, and reflection. In Cycle 1, diagnosis of problems is carried out through initial observation, identification of problems, analysis of root problems, and consultation with stakeholders. The lecture and learning methods were chosen as the initial action. Cycle 2 focuses on religious learning activities such as worship, sanctification, and sacrament and is taught to the community and children. The methods used include routine learning, competition, and active involvement of the community and children. Evaluations at Cycle 3 show success in raising children's spirits, but the main challenge is the difficulty of reaching older people who are still tied to the old tradition. The main findings of this study were the importance of combining an andragogic approach for the elderly and innovative game-based learning methods for children. Combining these two approaches is a creative and replicable solution to address similar problems in other societies with different characteristics.

The Orangist Appropriation of Erasmus

The attribution of an Erasmian spirit to William of Orange is tenuous but has nevertheless been made consistently since the early twentieth century. This article makes use of reception theory to connect this association to events of the early nineteenth century that happened in response to the French dominance in the Netherlands and their subsequent expulsion. In 1810 and 1813 Rotterdam Orangists and opponents of the French presence appropriated the Erasmus statue in the city for their own cause by adorning it with orange accessories and by attaching short verses to it. The repetitive recollection of these events throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century culminated in the attribution of an Erasmian mind to William of Orange, who was himself associated with Orangism as of the twentieth century. While the initial Orangist actions were local and public endeavours, the association gradually entered the national political and academic sphere in the twentieth century. This transfer is exemplary for the changeability of ‘isms’ such as Orangism and Erasmianism. This article therefore ultimately emphasizes that besides the caution it requires, this changeability provides opportunities for reception histories.

Identifying temperature refuges in Utah using temperature, biota, and habitat data

AbstractUnderstanding where on landscapes to make investments, such as designating protected areas, is a critical component of biodiversity management. Locations for management actions should achieve current management objectives while also having the best chance of continued success in the future. Climate change has the potential to undermine biodiversity management, as it may lead to substantial changes in environmental conditions that are outside local managers' control. Following changes in environmental conditions, areas on the landscape may become unsuitable for the species or habitats that the initial actions were intended to benefit. The potential for local actions to be undermined by global‐scale threats makes it essential to account for and minimize exposure to temperature change. We present a series of analyses identifying priority areas for wildlife and habitat management. We conducted our analyses using a systematic landscape planning approach that identifies areas within species' ranges or current distributions of key habitats that are predicted to be less affected by future temperature change. We used the ranges of 142 animal and 149 plant species identified as species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) together with the distributions of 14 terrestrial and 19 aquatic key habitats in Utah, USA. We measured temperature change in 2 ways: as changes in mean annual temperature between 2020 and the year 2100 (temperature difference) and by quantifying how far a species range or habitat would have to shift to maintain its current temperature envelope (climate velocity). We identified the sub‐watersheds with hydrologic unit code 12 (HUC 12) that collectively encompassed the ranges of our SGCNs and key habitats while minimizing overall exposure to temperature change. These high priority HUC 12s represented areas that were not only hotspots for SGCNs and key habitats but also acted as temperature refugia, where management actions are likely to be robust to temperature change. We hope that our identification of high‐priority HUC 12s will help inform and guide future management actions to improve their long‐term outcomes.

Penerapan Metode Pembelajaran Aktif dalam Meningkatkan Keterampilan Berpikir Kritis Siswa Sekolah Dasar

This classroom action research is based on the use of a learning model that cannot train students in critical thinking, causing low student thinking. The purpose of this research is to improve students' critical thinking skills using an active learning method, namely PBL (Problem Based Learning). This class action research is carried out in accordance with the PTK stages, namely the initial condition (pre-action), action (action), and result (post-action). The material used in this study is the material of Changing the Form of Objects. The research was carried out in two cycles or two meetings. The stages of each cycle are planning, implementation, observation, and reflection. The assessment of critical thinking skills uses test questions in the form of PG questions as many as 10 items and descriptions as many as 3 items. The object of the research was 15 students in grade III of SDN Sukasirna I. The data collection techniques used in this study are observation and written tests. The data analysis techniques used are using qualitative data analysis and quantitative data analysis. The results of the research showed a significant increase by using the active learning method in improving students' critical thinking from cycle I and cycle II

Проблемы диагностики субъектности в проектной группе

<p>A child-adult group building an educational project is an effective environment for the formation of adolescent agency. Agency is аn important parameter of professionalism and maturity in any work. However, so far, the diagnostics of agency has not been sufficiently developed; conceptually grounded indicators of agency in activity have not been formulated. The aim of our research is to develop indicators of agency and create diagnostic techniques based on the thinking-activity approach. Agency is not an ability, but a certain level of mastery of activity, allowing grasping it as a whole, managing it and developing it. Either an individual person or a community-group or a community consisting of individual groups can be an agent. There are two main phases in the process of the agency formation: agency initiation and agency action. From the point of view of project agency formation, we can distinguish three activities which form it: game, educational and project activities. The types of agency corresponding to them form a hierarchy.</p>

Infants expect some degree of positive and negative reciprocity between strangers

Social scientists from different disciplines have long argued that direct reciprocity plays an important role in regulating social interactions between unrelated individuals. Here, we examine whether 15-month-old infants (N = 160) already expect direct positive and negative reciprocity between strangers. In violation-of-expectation experiments, infants watch successive interactions between two strangers we refer to as agent1 and agent2. After agent1 acts positively toward agent2, infants are surprised if agent2 acts negatively toward agent1 in a new context. Similarly, after agent1 acts negatively toward agent2, infants are surprised if agent2 acts positively toward agent1 in a new context. Both responses are eliminated when agent2’s actions are not knowingly directed at agent1. Additional results indicate that infants view it as acceptable for agent2 either to respond in kind to agent1 or to not engage with agent1 further. By 15 months of age, infants thus already expect a modicum of reciprocity between strangers: Initial positive or negative actions are expected to set broad limits on reciprocal actions. This research adds weight to long-standing claims that direct reciprocity helps regulate interactions between unrelated individuals and, as such, is likely to depend on psychological systems that have evolved to support reciprocal reasoning and behavior.

Counseling Psychologists Assist Post-Disaster Psychological Rescue Experience in Major Disasters

<p>近年國內多起重大災難事件造成個體與社會群體的影響與不安，諮商心理師身為專業醫事人員提供受災者災後心理救援，也衍生災難事件危機介入的實踐與困境。本研究以現象學的研究方法、半結構式訪談蒐集資料，受訪者為六位諮商心理師，其中三位具督導資格，研究結果包含二類與八個主題：（1）諮商心理師災後心理救援經驗，包含：（a）災後心理救援前的自我評估與專業知能；（b）災後心理救援時的角色與功能；（c）災後心理救援時的預備、初期、中期、中長期作為與督導者作為；（d）災後心理救援後的多重困境、身心壓力與文化民俗挑戰。（2）因應災後心理救援困境的實務規劃，包含（a）落實演練與心理教育；（b）持續增能與案例討論；（c）建立名單與督導關係；（d）熟悉雲端與資訊操作；（e）調整期待與服務心態。作者依研究結果提出災後心理救援「停、看、問」三個步驟與九項建議：（1）「停」—介入之前：（a）自評身心狀態與投身意圖；（b）具足所需專業知能與增能；（c）培育多元文化介入的能力。（2）「看」—介入當下：（a）理解角色功能適才適性；（b）調整不同階段介入作為；（c）理解困境挑戰正面因應。（3）「問」—介入之後：（a）身心自我調適與回歸原有平衡；（b）尋求督導協助重整介入經驗；（c）系所課程培育與繼續教育增能，最後提及未來研究建議。</p> <p> </p><p>Since the ""Taiwan Disaster Year"" began with the 921 earthquake, Taiwan has witnessed numerous significant disaster events in recent years, resulting in extensive financial losses and loss of life. These events have profoundly affected individuals’ trust and sense of security, leading to a widespread impact on social groups and cultures. As professional healthcare providers, counseling psychologists frequently engage in post-disaster psychological rescue and reconstruction efforts during major disasters or crises. This practice has raised challenges for crisis intervention during such events. Researchers thus aim to understand the landscape and challenges of psychological rescue efforts during domestic disasters. This study uses phenomenological research methods and semi-structured interviews to gather data. It includes interviews with six counseling psychologists, three of whom are certified supervisors who acted as supervisors during disaster events, while the other three provided crisis intervention services as psychologists. The study categorizes its findings into two main themes and eight sub-themes: Experiences of counseling psychologists in post-disaster psychological support: (1) Self-assessment and professional knowledge before providing post-disaster psychological support: This theme explores how psychologists evaluate their readiness and expertise before engaging in disaster relief efforts. (2) Roles and functions of post-disaster psychological support: This examines the specific responsibilities and activities undertaken by psychologists during the support process. (3) Preparatory, initial, mid-term, and long-term actions, including the role of supervisors: This delves into the different stages of psychological support and the crucial role of supervisors in guiding and supporting these efforts. (4) Multiple challenges, physical and mental stress, and cultural and folk challenges after providing post-disaster psychological support: This theme addresses the complex challenges psychologists face following their intervention, including stress and cultural issues. Practical planning to address the challenges of post-disaster psychological support: (1) Implementing drills and psychological education: Emphasizes the importance of preparedness through regular drills and education. (2) Continuous capacity building and case discussions: Highlights the need for ongoing training and discussion of cases to enhance skills and knowledge. (3) Establishing lists and supervisory relationships: Focuses on creating structured relationships and lists to streamline support efforts. (4) Familiarity with cloud and information operations: Stresses the need for proficiency in modern technology to facilitate efficient support. (5) Adjusting expectations and service mentality: Discusses the necessity of adapting expectations and maintaining a service-oriented mindset. Based on the research results, the researcher proposes a systematic approach comprising three steps (""Stop, Look, Ask"") and nine specific suggestions for post-disaster psychological support, serving as a practical reference for crisis intervention practice: ""Stop""—before intervention: (1) Self-assess physical and mental state and willingness to engage: Psychologists need to evaluate their readiness and motivation. (2) Equip with necessary professional knowledge and capacity building: Psychologists need to ensure that they have the required expertise and training. (3) Cultivate the ability for multicultural intervention: Develop skills to effectively engage with diverse cultural backgrounds. ""Look""—during intervention: (1) Understand the roles and functions and fit them appropriately: Matching roles and tasks to individuals’ strengths. (2) Adjust intervention actions at different stages: Modify approaches according to the phase of intervention. (3) Understand challenges and respond positively: Recognize and constructively address difficulties encountered. ""Ask""—after intervention: (1) Physical and mental selfadjustment and return to original balance: Focusing on recovery and well-being. (2) Seek supervisory assistance to reorganize intervention experiences: Utilizing supervision to reflect and improve.(3) Curriculum development and continued education for capacity building: Advocating for ongoing education and training in disaster psychology. Finally, the study concludes with recommendations for future research and suggests areas for further exploration to enhance the effectiveness of psychological support in disaster scenarios.</p> <p> </p>

The Role of the New Media in Spreading the Culture of Volunteering in the Iraqi Society: Facebook as a Model

Volunteering is considered and continues to be the cornerstone of building society, spreading love, and fostering social cohesion among its members. This practice varies from time to time and from one community to another. Sometimes it decreases, and other times it increases. It can take the form of monetary donations or other charitable deeds. Volunteering is a humanitarian act closely tied to all the meanings of goodness and pure, righteous deeds for the sake of Allah. It is connected to the religious aspect, as Allah says: 'So whoever volunteers good, it is better for him. So volunteering has become a necessity among life's necessities due to its social message aimed at participation in building, developing, and strengthening the foundations of society. Consequently, the culture of volunteering has become an integral part of the cultures of developed societies, representing a system of principles, ethics, standards, and practices that encourage initiative and positive actions that benefit others (1). At the global level, volunteering has received increasing attention from the United Nations through its programs and institutions that provide assistance to the poor, marginalized, afflicted, and refugees. December 5th has been designated as International Volunteer Day as a tribute by the international organization to the significant role that volunteering can play in all areas of humanitarian and developmental work (2). In this research, the study indicates a significant increase in the number of donors among both young and adult individuals. The study seeks to shed light on the role of new media in promoting a culture of volunteering within Iraqi society, especially among the audience in Thi Qar province. The aim of promoting the culture of volunteering through new media platforms is to instill positive values of volunteering, encourage active participation in volunteer programs at the individual, institutional, and community levels, and extend this to regional and international levels. It emphasizes that volunteering is not merely about good intentions; rather, it has evolved into a professionally performed activity that employs new skills in management, finance, service delivery, and communication with others. The study emphasizes the importance of setting performance standards and evaluation criteria to develop, renew, and innovate new mechanisms for volunteering (3).

Preparation of p-isopropylphenol polyoxyethylene ether and evaluation of its performance in concrete

P-isopropenylphenol polyoxylates (IPP-PE) were obtained by alkoxylation reaction using p-isopropylphenol phenol (IPP) and ethylene oxide (EO) as raw materials, and P-PCE polycarboxylic acid superplasticizer was obtained by free radical polymerization of ipp-PE and acrylic acid (AA) under the action of initiator and chain transfer agent. The effects of reaction temperature, acid-ether ratio, amount of chain transfer agent and initiator, and reaction time on the dispersion properties of superplasticizer were studied, and the molecular structure and microscopic morphology of the superplasticizer were characterized by FTIR,1HNMR, and SEM, and the influence of superplasticizer on concrete properties was evaluated by concrete performance tests. The test results determined that the optimal synthesis process of polycarboxylic acid superplasticizer was as follows: reaction temperature 40 °C, n(AA):n(IPP-PE)=6:1, chain transfer agent and initiator were 0.4% and 0.6% of the mass of large monomer, respectively, and the reaction time was 4.5h. The experimental results of the concrete performance test showed that the workability of concrete mixed with the self-made superplasticizer was excellent, and the initial and 1h longitudinal flowability of the superplasticizer reached 228 mm and 215 mm, respectively. The water reduction rate reached 36%, the 28d compressive strength reached 56.8 MPa, the initial slump reached 226 mm, and it had a certain retarding and air entrainment effect.

World Modeling for Autonomous Wheel Loaders

This paper presents a method for learning world models for wheel loaders performing automatic loading actions on a pile of soil. Data-driven models were learned to output the resulting pile state, loaded mass, time, and work for a single loading cycle given inputs that include a heightmap of the initial pile shape and action parameters for an automatic bucket-filling controller. Long-horizon planning of sequential loading in a dynamically changing environment is thus enabled as repeated model inference. The models, consisting of deep neural networks, were trained on data from a 3D multibody dynamics simulation of over 10,000 random loading actions in gravel piles of different shapes. The accuracy and inference time for predicting the loading performance and the resulting pile state were, on average, 95% in 1.2 ms and 97% in 4.5 ms, respectively. Long-horizon predictions were found feasible over 40 sequential loading actions.

Herpes simplex virus-mediated skin infections: cytokines and its interplay

The skin, as the first physical barrier for invading pathogens, also serves as an immunologically active organ. Breaching the skin barrier is thus essential for pathogens to enter the body. The skin contains various immune responsive cells that initiate both the innate and adaptive immune response upon invasion. Activated immune cells help to regulate cytokine response and their differentiation to promote or suppress the crucial immune response against invading pathogens. Human herpes simplex viruses (HHSVs) are the oldest pathogen that can escape immune surveillance of the human host by a well-developed escape mechanism within ganglia, as their evolutionary strategy. In primary infection, a non-specific defense of the host initiates the response against the invading virion. The initial direct antiviral action of the host is regulated by activated macrophages, via the release of cytokines like tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and type-1 interferon (IFN-1). The host-derived cytokines including IFN-12, TNF, and IFN-1 in turn induce natural killer (NK) cells to release IFN-γ. Their positive feedback with synergistic interactions collectively releases nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) against the invading virus. Simultaneously, the combination of cytokines, macrophages, and other cells activates the immune system to eliminate the pathogen. However, the virus has also evolved various mechanisms to counter the host defense strategies. This review will highlight virus-mediated skin infections, especially by HSV, and portray a detailed role of virus-induced cytokines in host-immunity to challenge the invading virion during mucocutaneous HSV infection. Further, this review will discuss the viral-interference on host defense to provide a simplistic overview of the complications of cutaneous HSV infection.

Russian and English folk riddles about animals

Folk riddles have recently become a fairly popular object of linguistic and linguocultural research due to their complex structural and semantic organization, which allows analyzing this folklore genre in semantic, structural and functional aspects. This study explores the description features of wild and domestic animals within the framework of an enigmatic text. The object of our research is to identify the presence of linguistic and cultural connotations in the description of wild and domestic animals and to trace the degree of taboo in using animal names in folk riddles. The tasks set are due to the fact that an archaic person’s life was largely connected with agricultural activities carried out with the help of livestock, as well as the need to protect themselves from wild animals attacking livestock. During the analysis of the linguistic material, we found that Russian and English folk riddles about animals were characterized either by omission of the subject of action in the descriptive part of the riddle, or the introduction of occasional vocabulary, which is largely consistent with the laws of taboo. In the Russian folk riddle, an occasional noun of this type is often introduced for the name of an animal: stuchikha (someone knocking), gremikha (someone rattling), with a rather transparent semantics that actualizes the initial action: (stuchat' – stuchikha, gremet' – gremikha). In the corpus of English folk riddles, we have noted a conversion transition (the verb lick transforms into the noun lick), as a result of which the noun also develops the meaning of the subject of a given action. In addition, we found the absence of a linguocognitive component in the description of animals, since the description of the denotation is mainly based on the actualization of a typical feature (the ability to bark, the presence of a certain number of hooves, horns, the ability to hunt animals).

Property $\mathrm{(NL)}$ for group actions on hyperbolic spaces (with an appendix by Alessandro Sisto)

We introduce Property \mathrm{(NL)} , which indicates that a group does not admit any (isometric) action on a hyperbolic space with loxodromic elements. In other words, such a group G can only admit elliptic or horocyclic hyperbolic actions, and consequently its poset of hyperbolic structures \mathcal{H}(G) is trivial. It turns out that many groups satisfy this property, and we initiate the formal study of this phenomenon. Of particular importance is the proof of a dynamical criterion in this paper that ensures that groups with “rich” actions on compact Hausdorff spaces have Property \mathrm{(NL)} . These include many Thompson-like groups, such as V, T and even twisted Brin–Thompson groups, which implies that every finitely generated group quasi-isometrically embeds into a finitely generated simple group with Property \mathrm{(NL)} . We also study the stability of the property under group operations and explore connections to other fixed point properties. In the appendix (by Alessandro Sisto), we describe a construction of cobounded actions on hyperbolic spaces starting from non-cobounded ones that preserves various properties of the initial action.

EXPRESS: The Role of Real-Time Event Monitoring in Dynamic Response to Disruptions

This paper investigates a risk-averse firm’s investment strategy in real-time event-monitoring technologies coupled with dynamic disruption response decisions. The firm does not know how long the disruption will last, and the event-monitoring solutions provide the firm with a quicker update regarding the length of the disruption. When the firm receives an update, it has the flexibility to revise its initial response action. We model a two-stage stochastic program to study this problem where the risk aversion is modeled in the form of a Service-at-Risk (SaR) constraint. Our paper makes four important contributions. First, it characterizes the optimal recourse strategies given an update and identifies the conditions when the firm benefits from the recourse. Second, we characterize the optimal investment and initial response strategies where we find that the investment behavior is non-monotone. Third, our paper shows an interesting impact of risk aversion on the investment decision such that the firm may benefit from investing in event monitoring under moderate degrees of risk aversion, but not necessarily under low or high degrees of risk aversion. Fourth, we find that a firm’s benefit from event monitoring is more profound when the capacity of contingency response is moderately limited.

Acrylamide macromolecules modified wine lees‐soy protein wood adhesive

AbstractTo expand the diverse applications of wine lees and enhance the adhesive properties of its protein‐based adhesive, the supernatant of wine lees, separated using the alkali solubilization method, was combined with a small quantity of soybean protein as the raw material. Cross‐linking modification was then conducted using polyacrylamide polymers to prepare the protein‐based adhesive. The results indicated that a total mass fraction of 2.5 wt% NaOH and 3.0 wt% urea effectively stretched the protein structure. Additionally, a mass ratio of 4:10 of trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether and acrylamide, under the action of the ammonium persulfate initiator, resulted in effective cross‐linking of polyacrylamide macromolecules. The addition of 7 wt% polyacrylamide macromolecules as a cross‐linking agent effectively facilitated the cross‐linking reaction with wine lees‐soy protein. After the cross‐linking modification, the surface of the adhesive became tight and smooth. As a result, the water‐resistance strength of the plywood increased from 0.2 to 1.27 MPa, marking a 635% enhancement, which significantly surpassed the standard for Class II plywood (GB/T 9846‐2015).