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Continuous participation intention in on-demand logistics: interactive effects of order assignment and delivery-related information disclosure strategies
No full textPurpose: Couriers are in an unequal relationship with on-demand logistic platforms with regards to order assignment and delivery-related information acquisition, which leads to high courier turnover rates. Based on social cognitive theory and justice theory, this research investigates the impact of order assignment and delivery-related information disclosure strategy on couriers\u27 perceived justice and continuous participation intention and presents managerial suggestions to on-demand logistic platforms to lower the courier turnover rate. Design/methodology/approach: Taking Chinese couriers as experimental subjects, this study conducts experiments by constructing an order receiving scene of order assignment strategy (performance-priority vs distance-priority) and delivery-related information disclosure strategy (detailed-information vs brief-information) and analyzes the results of 452 valid respondents. Findings: The results indicate that the interaction between order assignment and delivery-related information disclosure strategy in on-demand logistics significantly affects couriers’ continuous participation intention, specifically under performance-priority order assignment and detailed-information (vs brief-information) disclosure strategy. Informational justice and distribution justice play mediating roles, and work experience and proactive personality moderate the relationship interactions. Practical/Social implications: The research helps us to understand the order-receiving justice demand and delivery-related information demand of couriers in on-demand logistics platforms and sheds light on cutting down turnover rates through different strategies designs and justice environment construction. Originality/value: This research integrates social cognitive theory into on-demand logistics and combines with justice theory to fill platform strategies, couriers’ justice perception and characteristics, as well as behavior into “triadic reciprocal causation.” Meanwhile, it investigates different impacts and interactive relationships of order assignment and delivery-related information disclosure strategy, expands strategies from the impact of operational efficiency to the impact of couriers’ participation and extends the literature of justice perception and individual characteristics in on-demand logistics
The Economic Case Against Time Travel: Using Science Fiction Ideas to Emphasize Economic Processes in the Classroom
No full textI describe a though experiment in which students can consider the importance of the profit motive, the passage of time, and the dissemination of information in various markets by imagining that time travel is possible. The thought experiment allows students to conclude that because the economic conditions that would result from time travel do not exist outside of the theoretical market models, certain types of time travel cannot exist. But, more importantly, it provides a tool to help students think more deeply about the assumptions of the economic models presented. JEL Classifications: A1, A2, D8, I2
All is Mended? Activism and Eco-Anxiety in Bright Summer Night
No full textWhen New Zealand-based production company The Candle Wasters adapted A Midsummer Night’s Dream, they broke from the patterns established by their previous web series. Instead of vlog-based narratives covering several months, Bright Summer Night is a study of a party lasting one night, depicted in ten episodes, each following a single character. As characters fixate on the personal joys and fears of friendships and romances, they are also preoccupied with the grief and stress of living during a growing global environmental catastrophe. The party setting of Bright Summer Night utilizes the carnivalesque party setting as a transformative green world, substituting substance abuse for Cupid’s flower and the pressures of the contemporary youth experience for the oppressive laws of Athens. Rather than playing the intoxicated revelries of the partygoers for laughs, however, Bright Summer Night uses the setting to open dialogues about environmentalism (including the eco-anxiety of Millennials and Gen Z), sexuality, non-binary gender expression, relationship toxicity, and emotional expression. Resisting the neat problem-resolution of other adaptations such as Get Over It and A Midsummer Night’s Rave, Bright Summer Night rewrites Shakespeare’s lines and plot points to demonstrate that not every offense can be mended. The series also functions as a meta-commentary on using artistic expression to call attention to social and ethical issues. Drawing on ecocriticism, adaptation theory, and youth studies, this article explores how Shakespeare can be used by young people as social commentary in the digital age
Synthesis of Arylpropiolic Acids via Carboxylation of Arylacetylenic Grignard Reagents
No full textA discovery-based experiment for the synthesis of arylpropiolic acids via carboxylation of arylacetylenic Grignard reagents was developed. This experiment shows the dual utility of Grignard reagents. In the synthesis of arylpropiolic acids reported here, we have demonstrated the use of a Grignard reagent as a base in a Grignard exchange reaction to form a second Grignard reagent that is used as a nucleophile in a subsequent reaction. In the first step of the synthesis, ethylmagnesium bromide is used as a base to deprotonate an unknown arylacetylene affording the corresponding arylacetylenic Grignard reagent. In the second step of the synthesis, the arylacetylenic Grignard reagent reacts with carbon dioxide to afford the arylpropiolic acid upon acidic workup. Many organic chemistry textbooks show the importance of Grignard reagents as carbon nucleophiles in the formation of new carbon-carbon bonds but rarely show their use as bases. In fact, discussions of Grignard reagents as bases are presented as limitations when considering the choice of solvents for the Grignard reaction. This experiment shows students that Grignard reagents can be used both as a base and as a nucleophile in organic syntheses. Students utilize acid-base extraction to isolate and purify the product. Students use the 1H NMR spectrum of the product obtained to determine the structure of their assigned unknown arylacetylene
Maerid amphipods (Crustacea: Amphipoda) from Okinawa, Japan with description of a new species
No full textTwo species of Maeridae are reported from extensive tidal flat collections on the east coast of Okinawa Island, Japan. A range extension is reported for Ceradocus mizani Lim, Azman & Othman, 2010. Elasmopus mukuinu sp. nov. is described and is most similar to species in the Elasmopus pectenicrus (Bate, 1862) group in Hughes & Lowry (2011). The new species is distinguished from other species based on the gnathopod 2 propodus bearing a subrectangular hump near insertion of the dactylus, the propodus being covered in dense tufts of long setae and the posterior margins of pereopods 5, 6, and 7 (almost smooth, serrate, and crenulate, respectively)
The herpetofauna of Queretaro, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status
No full textThe herpetofauna of the state of Queretaro, Mexico, consists of 129 species, including 27 anurans, seven caudates, 92 squamates, and three turtles. Regarding the distribution of the herpetofaunal species among the three recognized physiographic regions in the state, the total number of species ranges from 43 in the Transmexican Volcanic Belt to 102 in the Sierra Madre Oriental. The individual species inhabit from one to three regions (x = 1.6). The majority (78.3%) of the native herpetofauna of Queretaro is found in one or two of the three regions, which is of conservation significance. The majority of the remaining single-region species inhabit the Sierra Madre Oriental (54), followed by 15 in the Central Plateau and eight in the Transmexican Volcanic Belt. The Coefficient of Biogeographic Resemblance (CBR) indicates that the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Central Plateau share the largest number of species (45) due to their adjacent positions, relatively large areas, and because they contain the first and second largest numbers of species. A similarity dendrogram based on the Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Averages (UPGMA) demonstrates that the Central Plateau and the Transmexican Volcanic Belt share the highest level of herpetofaunal resemblance (0.60). Within the distributional categories, the largest numbers of species are the country endemics (67 of 129), followed by the non-endemics (60) and the non-natives (2). The principal environmental threats to the herpetofauna of Queretaro are the increasing and unregulated clearing of forests for farming and raising livestock, road construction, the ever-increasing pollution of bodies of water, and the cultural perceptions of various herpetofauna. The conservation status of the native species was evaluated by employing the SEMARNAT (NOM-059), IUCN, and EVS systems, of which the EVS was the most useful. Using the two Relative Herpetofaunal Priority (RHP) methods to designate the rank order significance of the physiographic regions, the highest ranks were obtained for the Sierra Madre Oriental. In considering the features of the three protected areas in Queretaro, we determined that two are located in the Transmexican Volcanic Belt, which is the least important region from a conservation perspective. We also determined that only 79 of the 127 native species recorded from Queretaro are known to occur in any of the three protected areas. Finally, we provide a set of conclusions and recommendations in an effort to ensure the future protection of the herpetofauna of Queretaro