Rate Of Travel Research Articles

The impact of Covid-19 and government policies on the liquidity of Indonesia Stock Exchange

<p><em>Generally, the main characteristics of emerging markets are low transparency, and the investors in emerging markets are more likely to be short-term oriented, where short-term investors are usually concerned about the liquidity of securities they will trade. These may imply liquidity has important role in emerging markets than in developed markets. Empirical studies have confirmed sporting events, exceptional events, political events, social media content, natural disasters, and religious events may affect the liquidities of capital market. This study aims to identify the effect of Covid-19 and government policies on the liquidity of the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Measurement of liquidity in this study using Amihud Illiquidity. The sample of this research is all stocks listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the period 02 March – 02 June 2020. The results of this study indicate that the independent variables simultaneously affect the liquidity of the emerging stock market of the Indonesia Stock Exchange, while the independent variables that partially affect the liquidity of the Indonesia Stock Exchange are restrictions on the activities of educational institutions, restrictions on workplace activities, control of international travel, transaction volume, and BI rate.</em><em></em></p>

A crowd-sourced valuation of recreational ecosystem services using mobile signal data applied to a restored wetland in China

The travel cost method is the main technique used to evaluate the monetary value of recreational cultural ecosystem services of wetlands. While questionnaires still provide an important way to obtain tourist travel distances, salary rate coefficients, and travel rate data, but they are restricted by the data scale and the need for long-term monitoring. Therefore, the present study introduces mobile phone signal data into the travel cost method and establishes an evaluation model for recreational ecosystem services. By mining mobile phone signal data, the visitors' duration of stay, starting and ending coordinates, age, and gender data were collected in order to estimate the potential costs. Data from 25,087 recreationists were sampled at Pan'an Lake Wetland Park, Xuzhou, China, in 2018. Data mining found that (1) mobile phone signal data have unique advantages in determining the travel distance and cost of overnight accommodations; (2) recreationists were distributed among 229 cities, although 87.2% came from cities located within 500 km of Pan'an Lake Wetland Park, while 72.04% of all recreationists were Xuzhou locals; (3) the consumer surplus associated with visiting Pan'an Lake Wetland Park was 129.79 Chinese Yuan (CNY) per person and the average recreational value was 448.11 CNY. The evaluation results showed that the recreational value of Pan'an Lake Wetland Park was about 836 million CNY in 2018. This suggests that mobile phone signal data can be used as a new data source when assessing the recreational value of wetlands via the travel cost method.

Problems and prospects for the development of the tourism industry in a global pandemic.

The author notes that in a global pandemic, global mobility restrictions have led to a deep crisis in international and domestic tourism. Other sectors of the economy related to tourism, such as transport, hotels, restaurants, services, etc., were also affected. Given that the tourism industry is an important component for the formation of the state budget of many countries, and for some countries - the main budget-generating industry, it is clear how important it is to find mechanisms to minimize losses caused by quarantine restrictions on mobility. Governments are trying to find ways to compensate for the loss of revenue caused by the slowdown in tourism growth, which is needed to finance public services, including in the social sphere, environmental protection, agriculture and the financial sector, and to take measures to meet debt maturities, both in the public and in the private segment. Forecasting and identifying trends for the further development of the tourism business and related sectors of the economy in a pandemic is one of the important tasks of analysts, economists, and logisticians from around the world. The measures currently proposed are aimed at reducing the rate of the global pandemic - mass vaccination of the population, regional and local lockdowns, self-isolation of tourists and various migrants, all this does not work in favor of improving the rate of tourist travel. Thus, it can be stated that the global pandemic has affected the entire tourism business - the work of operators, airlines, hotel chains, digital booking platforms, advertising in the media, so we can confidently predict a global contraction of the tourism industry for at least the next five years.

The impact of Covid-19 on children's active travel to school in Vietnam

This is among the first studies to provide empirical evidence on active school travel rates and determinants before and after the first Covid-19 lockdown in spring 2020. We have collected and analyzed primary survey data on the school travel patterns of 472 school-age children in Hanoi, Vietnam. The findings show that the Covid-19 pandemic has been quite detrimental: once schools reopened, the prevalence of active school travel decreased from 53% to less than 31%. Where parents, especially mothers, did not face barriers to motorized travel, they assumed the role of chauffeur. Parents who were more concerned about community infections were more motivated to shift children to motorized modes. Walking was more affected than cycling because it was seen as more likely to lead to physical contact and virus transmission. Active school travel dropped more steeply in urban districts (as opposed to poorer, non-urban districts) and in those areas where home-school distances were the largest. It appears that the most common perceptions around barriers to active school travel have been exacerbated during the pandemic as parents and children adapt to “the new normal”.

Fabrication of micro-mechanical planar cantilever beam-mass structures on quartz substrates using an ECDM process

Electrochemical discharge machining (ECDM) processes have been used to realize miniature structures such as micro-channels and micro-holes on non-conductive materials such as quartz and Pyrex for a variety of applications. However, for realizing mechanical/physical sensors, actuators, energy harvesters, and resonators on glass substrates, free-standing devices with movable components such as beam-mass structures and cantilevers are required. There has been a negligible focus on developing miniature glass-based devices with movable components primarily due to the non-linear material removal rate (MRR) of the ECDM processes, requiring continuous measurement, tracking, and maintaining the working gap in the range of a few micrometers during micromachining. A couple of techniques were proposed to address maintaining a constant working gap, however, using costly equipment with complex feedback mechanisms. We report a two-stage experimental approach – without using feedback mechanisms and additional equipment – to realize micro-mechanical planar cantilever beam-mass structures on thick quartz substrates in the present work. In the first stage, the process parameters such as applied voltage, tool travel rate (TTR), and initial working gap ( Wg) are optimized for fabricating broader and deeper micro-channels using needle-shaped tools. In the second stage, using the optimized parameters, an array of micro-channels is fabricated. The cumulative depth, corresponding depth, and the width of each layer of the channels are measured, and this data is utilized for fabricating planar beam-mass structures on quartz substrates. We envisage that the experimental results of the present study would be beneficial for ECDM researchers to fabricate glass-based miniature devices with movable components without using complex tools and equipment.

A decade of sexual selection studies reveals patterns and processes of fitness variation in male collared lizards

Territory defence is widely assumed to be adaptive because it enhances reproductive success. However, empirical evidence for such a benefit is scarce or nonexistent for many types of territorial organisms. The roles of intraspecific aggression versus interactions with females in successful breeding by territorial males are also still poorly understood in lower tetrapods, including lizards. We address both of these important issues using 10 years of data on genetic parentage combined with field behavioural studies in collared lizards, Crotaphytus collaris . As predicted, territorial males (T-males) had more mates, sired markedly more total offspring and sired more surviving offspring with more females than did nonterritorial (NT) males. Territorial males in structurally simpler habitats sired a higher proportion of each female's offspring than their counterparts in complex habitats, indicating that the ability of T-males to accrue mating benefits is highest where topography maximizes contact with multiple females. All measures of T-male reproductive success increased with travel rate but decreased with the time spent courting individual females, suggesting a fitness trade-off between these behaviours. We found no evidence that aggressive behaviour was linked to any component of male fitness. Hence, activities of territory owners appear to be shaped by sexual selection to enhance mating opportunities rather than to aggressively dominate same-sex rivals. Our study illustrates the value of long-term research documenting behaviour and fitness of free-ranging individuals over multiple reproductive cycles in evaluating fundamental questions about the adaptive significance of social tactics. • Territorial male collared lizards had higher fitness than nonterritorial males. • Territorial tactics increased mating more effectively in simpler habitats. • Fitness of territory owners increased with travel but not with aggressive behaviour. • Limiting courtship per female promoted travel to interact with additional mates. • Male behaviour is selected to enhance interactions with multiple female mates.

Cuticle thickening associated with fenitrothion and imidacloprid resistance and influence of voltage-gated sodium channel mutations on pyrethroid resistance in the tropical bed bug, Cimex hemipterus.

The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., and the tropical bed bug, Cimex hemipterus (F.), are now widely regarded as important public health pests following their rapid global resurgence, largely due to insecticide resistance and an increased rate of global travel. The insecticide resistance mechanisms are well documented in C. lectularius, however, only one mechanism is validated in C. hemipterus thus far. This demands further understanding on the resistance mechanisms involved in C. hemipterus. Here, we identified differences in resistance to fenitrothion (organophosphate) and imidacloprid (neonicotinoid) related cuticle thickness in C. hemipterus. There is evidence of a possible association between cuticle thickness and resistance, but the association can be tenuous, likely because resistance is multifactorial in C. hemipterus. We also discovered a novel T1011 residue in domain IIS6 of the voltage-gated sodium channel that likely enhanced susceptibility to deltamethrin (pyrethroid) despite the presence of a L1014F mutation known to confer pyrethroid resistance in C. hemipterus. Our findings also confirmed that the M918I mutation enhanced resistance to pyrethroid when present with the L1014F mutation, which was consistent with a super-kdr phenotype, as reported previously. Multiple resistance mechanisms can be found within a single C. hemipterus population, and the presence of both M918I + L1014F mutations likely masked the influence of cuticle thickness in conferring resistance against deltamethrin. The elevated metabolic enzyme activities in some strains were not necessarily associated with increased insecticide resistance. This study has enhanced our understanding on the penetration resistance mechanism and target site insensitivity of sodium channels in C. hemipterus.

Evaluation of the returning traveler with fever and neurologic symptoms.

Exposure to infectious disease increases in tandem with international travel rates. Globally, up to 70% of travelers to developing countries report health problems while traveling, most being self-limiting. Few travelers are ill enough to seek medical care while abroad or upon returning home. Although fever is one of the more common symptoms in these travelers, little attention has been paid to those who return with fever and neurologic symptoms. This article describes conditions that can present with fever and neurologic changes and how to evaluate patients in a timely manner to prevent progression of neural dysfunction and spread of disease in local communities.

Imaging findings of human hepatic fascioliasis: a case report and review of the literature

BackgroundFascioliasis is a food-borne hepatobiliary zoonosis caused by Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. Human infestations are predominantly seen in developing countries where the disease is endemic, but, due to the increase in international travel rates, hepatic fascioliasis is also appearing in nonendemic areas including Europe and the USA. The clinical and laboratory findings are usually nonspecific. Cross-sectional imaging can be very helpful in the diagnosis of fascioliasis as well as to differentiate it from other liver diseases with a very similar clinical picture. The objectives of this case report are to discuss imaging findings of hepatic fascioliasis and to review the literature.Case presentationWe report the case of a 35-year-old Iranian patient who presented with right upper quadrant pain, low-grade fever, fatigue, and anorexia. The patient had a history of recent travel to the Gilan Province of Iran, almost a month before the onset of symptoms, which is an endemic area of fascioliasis in the country. Laboratory examinations revealed eosinophilia, elevated hepatic enzymes, and slightly raised C-reactive protein. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the patient shows clusters of focal ill-defined hypodense lesions with mild peripheral enhancement in the right liver lobe and subcapsular regions. Magnetic resonance imaging of the liver revealed multiple ill-defined lesions of low signal intensity on the T1-weighted image and high signal intensity on the T2-weighted image, extending from the liver capsule into deeper parenchyma toward periportal regions, which shows mild peripheral enhancement on post-contrast images. Imaging-based diagnosis of fascioliasis was made depending on the characteristic distribution of subcapsular tracts/lesions on the above-mentioned imaging, which was then confirmed by serologic tests using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The patient was treated with triclabendazole, showing great clinical improvement, and was eventually discharged in good health condition.ConclusionThe imaging findings in this case report highlight the importance of cross-sectional imaging for further evaluation of suspected cases of fluke-induced liver disease. The hypothesis of hepatic fascioliasis should be always considered when consistent radiological findings are observed. Clusters of tortuous subcapsular lesions with peripheral contrast enhancement extending into deeper liver parenchyma are characteristic imaging findings that strongly suggest hepatic fascioliasis.

Rapid Prototyping of Pneumatic Directional Control Valves.

The main objective of the study was to design a pneumatic directional control valve for controlling pneumatic drives and produce it using a rapid prototyping technique. As the basic design assumption was to achieve high performance through a high flow rate and a low pressure drop, it was necessary to determine two flow parameters: the sonic conductance and the critical pressure ratio. The flow rate of compressed air and the diameters of the pneumatic conduits and fittings are important as they affect the rate of travel of the pneumatic cylinder piston. The 3D solid model of the directional control valve, developed in a CAD program, was used to simulate and optimize the flow rate. The analysis was performed by means of ANSYS CFX, a computational flow dynamics program. The main elements of the valve, i.e., the spool and the body, were produced using the PolyJet Matrix technology. The prototype was tested experimentally to determine the nominal flow-rate, calculate the flow parameters in accordance with the ISO 6358-1989 standard and compare them with the CFD simulation data. The simulation results showed very good agreement with the measurement data. The CFD analysis of the 3D solid model enabled us to optimize the flow of compressed air through the valve. The rapid prototyping method was found to be suitable to produce a fully functional directional control valve, which was confirmed through measurements at a test stand. The attempt to combine rapid prototyping used to fabricate pneumatic directional control valves with CFD used to simulate their operation was successful. The study shows that it is possible to design and construct a fully functional directional control valve characterized by high efficiency, high performance and a small pressure loss in a very short time and at a very low cost, which makes rapid prototyping superior to conventional methods of prototype making.

Interspecific Encounters Among Diurnal Primates in Danum Valley, Borneo

Polyspecific associations, in which individuals of multiple species move together, have not been reported in Asian primates. However, only one study in India has shown this lack of association quantitatively. We collected data on interspecific encounters among 5 species of diurnal primates in Danum Valley by censusing 4 predetermined routes of 9.9 km, covering 1544.3 km, and tracking red leaf monkeys (Presbytis rubicunda) for 423 h over 25 mo. We tested the null hypothesis that the frequency and duration of encounters did not differ from chance levels. During censuses, we detected primates 373 times and found 2 species on the same 100-m segment only 6 times. This frequency was not significantly different from the chance level. While following red leaf monkeys, the frequency of encounters was lower than expected by chance with Müeller’s gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) but higher than expected by chance with Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in the nonfruiting season. Interspecific encounters accounted for 6.4% of tracking time, and the encounter duration was significantly longer than expected by chance for orangutans. Red leaf monkeys did not change their rate or direction of travel on meeting another species. We could not distinguish the association between red leaf monkeys and orangutans in the nonfruiting season from the possibility that the two species were independently attracted to the same place. In conclusion, we show the absence of active and consistent polyspecific association and identify avoidance in some species pairs in an Asian primate community.

First insights on the horizontal movements of short‐finned pilot whales in the Gulf of Mexico

AbstractThis study is the first assessment on how short‐finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) move within the Gulf of Mexico. In April 2018, seven adult animals were tagged using location‐only satellite transmitters in the south‐western Gulf (18°59′N and 95°19′W). When tagged, all animals were in a medium‐size aggregation that split after a week and followed two routes, indicating that the initial aggregation was consisted of at least two social units. Regardless of the route, short‐finned pilot whales moved at a low travel rate (mean = 3.4 km/hr; 50% IC: 1.5–4.8) on the south‐western continental shelf‐break, between the 500‐ and 800‐m isobaths. The oceanography and hydrographic features of the south‐western Gulf's continental shelf‐break would favour the aggregation of prey, influencing the low dispersion observed during the transmission period, as well as the co‐occurrence of several social units. However, given the relatively short period covered (up to 87 days) and the few animals tagged, the movement patterns described here could vary at longer temporal and spatial scales.

Analysis of Travel Hot Spots of Taxi Passengers Based on Community Detection

It is an important content of smart city research to study the activity track of urban residents, dig out the hot spot areas and spatial interaction patterns of different residents’ activities, and clearly understand the travel rules of urban residents' activities. This study used community detection to analyze taxi passengers’ travel hot spots based on taxi pick-up and drop-off data, combined with multisource information such as land use, in the main urban area of Nanjing. The study revealed that, for the purpose of travel, the modularity and anisotropy rate of the community where the passengers were picked up and dropped off were positively correlated during the morning and evening peak hours and negatively correlated at other times. Depending on the community structure, pick-up and drop-off points reached significant aggregation within the community, and interactions among the communities were also revealed. Based on the type of land use, as passengers' travel activity increased, travel hot spots formed clusters in urban spaces. After comparative verification, the results of this study were found to be accurate and reliable and can provide a reference for urban planning and traffic management.

Evaluation of Current, Force and Temperature Signals on Welding Formation of Bobbin Friction Stir Welded AA1100

Understanding process response through measuring process signal provides on-site information in the area of process monitoring, which saves time and costs. The type of signals depends upon the type of process, equipment and machines used through sensors attached on the equipment used in the process. This is an important method for detecting changes in the process that reflect the condition or quality of the weld. The benefits of this method, however, has not been well performed for Bobbin friction welding. This process is different from conventional friction welding due to the different process set-up in term of tooling and parameters, hence the need to evaluate the signal response. Consequently, signal measuring for welding plate AA1100 was carried out. Tool rotation ranged from 750 rpm to 950 rpm with a fixed travel rate of 130 mm/min on a CNC milling machine and a fixed spacing tool. During the joining process, welding temperature, current consumption and welding force were measured. The resulting data were then plotted on the X-Y axis chart and mapped using the welded plate identifying the welding phase. From the welding force and current measurement, it is found that high force and current is detected at the tool entry phase and exit. As the tool moves towards the end of the plate, the temperature increased. The highest current and strength are measured when the spindle speed is at the lowest, while the highest temperature is at the fastest spindle speed. In weld phase, a current of approximately 6.5 A, a force of 1 kN and a temperature of 320º was measured. A maximum weld strength of 102.860 MPa achieved using a speed of 950 rpm. A slow spindle speed at the entrance area and a high spindle speed at the weld phase are needed to optimise the process.

Further Insights on the Migration Biology of Monarch Butterflies, Danaus plexippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) from the Pacific Northwest.

Simple SummaryMonarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus, are known the world over for their iconic long-distance migration from the eastern United States and Canada to Mexico for overwintering. In this study, we shed more light on the less well-known migration of monarchs in the Pacific Northwest of North America. Utilizing the efforts of citizen scientists who captive-reared monarchs and tagged them, we confirmed that the majority of monarchs in Washington and Oregon migrate hundreds of kilometers south during late July–October to overwinter at sites on the California coast. However, some eastern Washington and most Idaho monarchs tended to migrate towards the southeast and may have an alternative winter destination, possibly Mexico. Overwintering monarchs in coastal California remain at sites for 2–3 months and can live for up to ten months. A small number of fall migrants may eschew overwintering and join winter-breeding populations in inland central and southern California. Wildfire smoke and infection with a protozoan parasite does not appear to greatly interfere with the survival and migration success of migrating monarch. Our data improve our understanding of western monarch migration, serving as a basis for further studies and providing information for conservation planning.The fall migration of monarch butterflies, Danaus plexippus (L.), in the Pacific Northwest was studied during 2017–2019 by tagging 14,040 captive-reared and 450 wild monarchs. One hundred and twenty-two captive-reared monarchs (0.87%) were recovered at distances averaging 899.9 ± 98.6 km for Washington-released and 630.5 ± 19.9 km for Oregon-released monarchs. The greatest straight-line release to recovery distance was 1392.1 km. A mean travel rate of 20.7 ± 2.2 km/day and maximum travel of 46.1 km/day were recorded. Recovery rates were greater for Oregon-released monarchs (0.92%) than Washington-released (0.34%) or Idaho-released monarchs (0.30%). Most monarchs (106/122) were recovered SSW-S-SSE in California, with 82 at 18 coastal overwintering sites. Two migrants from Oregon were recovered just weeks after release ovipositing in Santa Barbara and Palo Alto, CA. Two migrants released in central Washington recovered up to 360.0 km to the SE, and recoveries from Idaho releases to the S and SE suggests that some Pacific Northwest migrants fly to an alternative overwintering destination. Monarchs released in southern Oregon into smoky, poor quality air appeared to be as successful at reaching overwintering sites and apparently lived just as long as monarchs released into non-smoky, good quality air. Migration and lifespan for monarchs infected with the protozoan parasite, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (McLaughlin and Myers), appeared to be similar to the migration and survival of uninfected monarchs, although data are limited. Our data improve our understanding of western monarch migration, serving as a basis for further studies and providing information for conservation planning.

Challenges in credibly estimating the travel demand effects of mobility services

Abstract Mobility services including carsharing and transportation network company (TNC) services have been growing rapidly in North America and around the world. Measuring the effects of these services on traveler behavior is challenging because the results of any such analysis are sensitive to how (1) outcomes are measured and (2) counterfactuals are constructed. The lack of good control groups or randomization of assignment leaves lingering uncertainty over the contributions of selection bias and treatment effects to reported differences in travel behavior between users and non-users of these services. This paper reports on two approaches for measuring the effects of mobility service adoption on travel rate and car ownership. We first tried a pretest-posttest randomized encouragement experiment to deal with the shortcomings of poor control groups. Then, we turned to the approach of self-reported effects based on hypothetical controls to investigate whether variations in survey question presentation could influence respondents’ answers and thus lead to changes in estimated effects. The data to conduct this study came from two sources: a panel survey administered by the authors at the University of Washington (UW), and a survey by Populus Technologies, Inc. (Populus). Various statistical tests were applied to analyze the data, and the results highlight the pivotal role that the research design plays in influencing the outcomes, and manifest the fundamental challenge of establishing credible estimates of the causal effects of adopting mobility services on travel behaviors.

Spatial distribution of Escherichia coli ST131 C subclades in a centralized Canadian urban region.

Escherichia coli ST131 is the most common multidrug-resistant (MDR) E. coli clone causing bloodstream infections (BSIs) in Calgary. This study describes patient characteristics and spatial distribution of ST131 subclades C1 and C2 causing BSIs in Calgary. E. coli from blood (n = 685) obtained in Calgary, Canada, (2016) were PCR screened for ST131 and positives (n = 141) underwent whole genome sequencing. Patient characteristics were analysed using Fisher's Exact/t-tests and spatial analysis was used to identify clusters. Overall, 21% of E. coli was identified as ST131 and clade C dominated the population. ST131-C2 was associated with blaCTX-M-15 and significantly more MDR than ST131-C1. The spatial distribution in Calgary showed that ST131-C1 was mainly present in long-term care (LTC) residents whereas ST131-C2 clustered in a specific North East (NE) Calgary sector comprising of six neighbourhoods without LTC centres. This NE sector has high immigration and travel rates from the Indian subcontinent. This study showed that ST131 C subclades have different geographical distribution patterns in Calgary. We believe that recent travel to and immigration from certain high-risk regions for antimicrobial resistance are responsible for the ST131-C2 NE Calgary clustering pattern.

The effect of the definition of \u2018pandemic\u2019 on quantitative assessments of infectious disease outbreak risk

In the early stages of an outbreak, the term ‘pandemic’ can be used to communicate about infectious disease risk, particularly by those who wish to encourage a large-scale public health response. However, the term lacks a widely accepted quantitative definition. We show that, under alternate quantitative definitions of ‘pandemic’, an epidemiological metapopulation model produces different estimates of the probability of a pandemic. Critically, we show that using different definitions alters the projected effects of key parameters—such as inter-regional travel rates, degree of pre-existing immunity, and heterogeneity in transmission rates between regions—on the risk of a pandemic. Our analysis provides a foundation for understanding the scientific importance of precise language when discussing pandemic risk, illustrating how alternative definitions affect the conclusions of modelling studies. This serves to highlight that those working on pandemic preparedness must remain alert to the variability in the use of the term ‘pandemic’, and provide specific quantitative definitions when undertaking one of the types of analysis that we show to be sensitive to the pandemic definition.

Classifying season long livestock grazing behavior with the use of a low-cost GPS and accelerometer

• Season long monitoring of livestock behavior using accelerometers and GPS. • Model predictions line up with expected livestock behavior. • Data processing code can be used to streamline GPS/accelerometer integration. Remote tracking of livestock through the use of GPS technology has tremendous potential for the study of livestock use patterns on the landscape. The addition of high frequency accelerometers on GPS units has potential to give researchers and managers the capability of accurately partitioning GPS points into differing behaviors, providing further insight into livestock grazing selection, pasture use, and changes in forage preference through time. Most studies to date have examined the use of GPS collars with accelerometers on small pastures and over relatively short time periods; evaluation of this technology is needed on larger pastures over extended time periods. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of predicting season-long livestock behavior through the use of a low-cost, non-commercial, lab-constructed GPS collar outfitted with a high frequency 3-axis accelerometer. Collars were deployed on yearling steers continuously grazing native grassland pastures for 3 months. GPS devices were set to record a fix at 1-minute intervals. Accelerometers were programmed to record X, Y, and Z positions at 12 Hz (12 records per second). The accelerometer data was aggregated to 1 s intervals initially, and mean, minimum, maximum, and standard error of X, Y, and Z axes were calculated between the start and stop time of each GPS fix. Additional metrics were calculated from the GPS fix data to include rate of travel and stationary point identification to aid in classification. Direct visual observations of cattle wearing the GPS collars were recorded for numerous time periods each grazing season to provide data for classifying GPS data into graze and non-graze behaviors. Several classification algorithms were tested to assess misclassification rates and predict behavior of unobserved data. Overall misclassification rate was lowest for a random forest model (11.2%). Time spent grazing ranged from 8.67 to 10.49 h daily, and timing of grazing tended to be heaviest during morning and evening hours, both of which were expected from yearling steers grazing native pasture in the summer. These results show there is great promise in using accelerometer-equipped GPS collars to accurately identify livestock grazing locations, which could benefit researchers and land managers monitoring rangeland use.

COVID-19 and Its Global Economic Impact.

Pandemics are enormous threats to the world that impact all aspects of our lives, especially the global economy. The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged since December 2019 and has affected the global economy in many ways. As the world becomes more interconnected, the economic impacts of the pandemic become more serious. In addition to increased health expenditures and reduced labor force, the pandemic has hit the supply and demand chain massively and caused trouble for manufacturers who have to fire some of their employees or delay their economic activities to prevent more loss. With the closure of manufacturers and companies and reduced travel rates, usage of oil after the beginning of the pandemic has decreased significantly that was unprecedented in the last 30years. The mining industry is a critical sector in several developing countries, and the COVID-19 pandemic has hit this industry too. Also, world stock markets declined as investors started to become concerned about the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tourism industry and airlines have also experienced an enormous loss too. The GDP has reduced, and this pandemic will cost the world more than 2 trillion at the end of 2020.