•Drivers completed either a self-persuasion, direct-persuasion, or control task.•Self-persuasion had no effect on drivers’ car use attitudes and behaviours.•Drivers in self-persuasion condition ...generated more typical benefits than unique ones.•The types of arguments in both persuasion groups were very similar.•Drivers in both persuasion conditions had similar ratings of argument convincingness.
Car use is a common travel mode in many societies but it has negative impacts on the environment and public health. There have been various interventions to reduce car use but self-persuasion has not been tested as a potential intervention. Self-persuasion involves asking people to generate arguments in favour of a specific issue. Our goal was to investigate the effectiveness of self-persuasion in changing drivers’ car use attitudes and behaviours. A sample of New Zealand drivers (n = 183) completed two online questionnaires; one immediately after and one at least 2 weeks after the intervention. We randomly assigned the drivers to one of three conditions: self-persuasion (generating arguments on the benefits of reducing car use), direct-persuasion (reading arguments on the benefits of reducing car use), and control (completing a different travel-related task). There were no significant differences between the three groups of drivers on car use intentions for commuting trips, weekly car use for commuting and non-commuting trips, or attitudes towards reducing car use. We attributed the ineffectiveness of self-persuasion to the average quality of arguments generated, the effortful nature of reducing car use, and the COVID-19 situation in New Zealand. Although self-persuasion may not be an appropriate intervention in the travel behaviour domain, future research needs to continue identifying new ways to reduce car use to reduce its detrimental effects.
Satisficing is the tendency to make ‘good enough’ decisions. Consumers tend to satisfice when making routine decisions (e.g., grocery shopping). Commuters also make routine decisions about their ...daily commute. Our goals were to investigate whether, like consumers, commuters tend to satisfice when deciding to use the modes they typically use for commuting and to understand the psychological and travel characteristics that distinguish commuters with strong from those with weak tendencies to satisfice. A sample of New Zealand commuters (n = 313) completed an online questionnaire measuring their satisficing scores, psychological and travel characteristics. A factor analysis revealed two measures of satisficing such that commuters may satisfice when deciding to use (decision-satisficing) and when using (behaviour-satisficing) their usual modes for their daily commute. Commuters tend to satisfice when deciding to use modes that they use frequently (usual modes) compared to modes that they use infrequently (alternative modes). Commuters with high satisficing tendencies (decision and behaviour) tend to be more positive and more satisfied with their usual-mode commutes compared to commuters with low satisficing tendencies. Cyclists had the strongest decision-satisficing tendencies while solo drivers had the weakest decision-satisficing tendencies. We demonstrated that commuters do satisfice during their daily commutes and there are some differences between high- and low-satisficing commuters. Mode-shift interventions could target commuters' satisficing decision-making strategy to encourage the use of sustainable modes.
•Commuters satisfice more for usual modes than for alternative modes.•High satisficers are more satisfied with their daily commute than low satisficers.•High satisficers are more positive towards their daily commute than low satisficers.•High satisficers travel less often and over shorter distances than low satisficers.•High satisficers were mostly cyclists and low satisficers were mostly car users.
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The current study explored hepatoprotective effect of Aegle marmelos (L.) Corrêa, Rutaceae, leaves extract. Potentiation of A. marmelos hepatoprotective effect with piperine ...co-administration was also explored. Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups: (i) normal control, (ii) paracetamol group, (iii) silymarin group, (iv) extract-25 group (25mg/kg body), (v) extract-50 group: (50mg/kg), (vi) extract-100 group (100mg/kg) and (vii) extract-25+piperine group. Hepatotoxicity was induced by administering paracetamol orally in a dose of 400mg/kg for seven days. The drugs were administered 30min prior to paracetamol administration and continued for seven days. Animals were ‘sacrificed’ at the end of treatment and serum was collected for evaluating alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, lactate dehydrogenase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase IL-10 and TNF-α levels. Liver homogenates were used for determination of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde, reduced glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, GSH-S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase). Serum biochemical markers were significantly higher in paracetamol group as compared to normal control group. Significant increase in oxidative stress parameters and inflammatory mediators was also observed. Treatment with A. marmelos curtailed the toxic effects of paracetamol in a dose dependent fashion. 100mg/kg dose of A. marmelos was found to be most hepatoprotective. The results of extract-100 group were comparable to silymarin group. Low dose of A. marmelos i.e., 25mg/kg was combined with piperine to evaluate potentiation of hepatoprotective effects of A. marmelos. Piperine co-administration potentiated the hepatoprotective effects, because the combination group results were comparable to high dose A. marmelos group. A. marmelos exerts hepatoprotective activity through its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which was enhanced by piperine.
First results on Formula omitted, Formula omitted and K/p fluctuations are obtained with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC as a function of centrality in Formula omitted collisions at Formula ...omitted. The observable Formula omitted, which is defined in terms of the moments of particle multiplicity distributions, is used to quantify the magnitude of dynamical fluctuations of relative particle yields and also provides insight into the correlation between particle pairs. This study is based on a novel experimental technique, called the Identity Method, which allows one to measure the moments of multiplicity distributions in case of incomplete particle identification. The results for Formula omitted show a change of sign in Formula omitted from positive to negative towards more peripheral collisions. For central collisions, the results follow the smooth trend of the data at lower energies and Formula omitted exhibits a change in sign for Formula omitted and K/p.
Neutral pion and Formula omitted meson invariant differential yields were measured in non-single diffractive p-Pb collisions at Formula omitted = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC. ...The analysis combines results from three complementary photon measurements, utilizing the PHOS and EMCal calorimeters and the Photon Conversion Method. The invariant differential yields of Formula omitted and Formula omitted meson inclusive production are measured near mid-rapidity in a broad transverse momentum range of Formula omitted and Formula omitted, respectively. The measured Formula omitted ratio increases with Formula omitted and saturates for Formula omitted > 4 Formula omitted at Formula omitted. A deviation from Formula omitted scaling is observed for Formula omitted 2 Formula omitted. The measured Formula omitted ratio is consistent with previous measurements from proton-nucleus and pp collisions over the full Formula omitted range. The measured Formula omitted ratio at high Formula omitted also agrees within uncertainties with measurements from nucleus-nucleus collisions. The Formula omitted and Formula omitted yields in p-Pb relative to the scaled pp interpolated reference, Formula omitted, are presented for Formula omitted 20 Formula omitted and Formula omitted 20 Formula omitted, respectively. The results are compared with theoretical model calculations. The values of Formula omitted are consistent with unity for transverse momenta above 2 Formula omitted. These results support the interpretation that the suppressed yield of neutral mesons measured in Pb-Pb collisions at LHC energies is due to parton energy loss in the hot QCD medium.
Formula omitted meson measurements provide insight into strangeness production, which is one of the key observables for the hot medium formed in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. ALICE measured ...Formula omitted production through its decay in muon pairs in Pb-Pb collisions at Formula omitted TeV in the intermediate transverse momentum range Formula omitted GeV/c and in the rapidity interval Formula omitted. The Formula omitted yield was measured as a function of the transverse momentum and collision centrality. The nuclear modification factor was obtained as a function of the average number of participating nucleons. Results were compared with the ones obtained via the kaon decay channel in the same Formula omitted range at midrapidity. The values of the nuclear modification factor in the two rapidity regions are in agreement within uncertainties.
A measurement of beauty hadron production at mid-rapidity in proton-lead collisions at a nucleon–nucleon centre-of-mass energy sNN=5.02 TeV is presented. The semi-inclusive decay channel of beauty ...hadrons into J/ψ is considered, where the J/ψ mesons are reconstructed in the dielectron decay channel at mid-rapidity down to transverse momenta of 1.3 GeV/c. The bb¯ production cross section at mid-rapidity, dσbb¯/dy, and the total cross section extrapolated over full phase space, σbb¯, are obtained. This measurement is combined with results on inclusive J/ψ production to determine the prompt J/ψ cross sections. The results in p–Pb collisions are then scaled to expectations from pp collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy to derive the nuclear modification factor RpPb, and compared to models to study possible nuclear modifications of the production induced by cold nuclear matter effects. RpPb is found to be smaller than unity at low pT for both J/ψ coming from beauty hadron decays and prompt J/ψ.
An invariant differential cross section measurement of inclusive π0 and η meson production at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at s=8 TeV was carried out by the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The spectra ...of π0 and η mesons were measured in transverse momentum ranges of 0.3<pT<35 GeV/c and 0.5<pT<35 GeV/c, respectively. Next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations using fragmentation functions DSS14 for the π0 and AESSS for the η overestimate the cross sections of both neutral mesons, although such calculations agree with the measured η/π0 ratio within uncertainties. The results were also compared with PYTHIA 8.2 predictions for which the Monash 2013 tune yields the best agreement with the measured neutral meson spectra. The measurements confirm a universal behavior of the η/π0 ratio seen for NA27, PHENIX and ALICE data for pp collisions from s=27.5 GeV to s=8 TeV within experimental uncertainties. A relation between the π0 and η production cross sections for pp collisions at s=8 TeV is given by mT scaling for pT>3.5 GeV/c. However, a deviation from this empirical scaling rule is observed for transverse momenta below pT<3.5 GeV/c in the η/π0 ratio with a significance of 6.2σ.
The transverse momentum (pT) spectra and elliptic flow coefficient (v2) of deuterons and anti-deuterons at mid-rapidity (|y|<0.5) are measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC in Pb–Pb collisions ...at sNN = 2.76 TeV. The measurement of the pT spectra of (anti-)deuterons is done up to 8 GeV/c in 0–10% centrality class and up to 6 GeV/c in 10–20% and 20–40% centrality classes. The v2 is measured in the 0.8 < pT <5 GeV/c interval and in six different centrality intervals (0–5, 5–10, 10–20, 20–30, 30–40 and 40–50%) using the scalar product technique. Measured π±, K± and p+p¯ transverse-momentum spectra and v2 are used to predict the deuteron pT spectra and v2 within the Blast-Wave model. The predictions are able to reproduce the v2 coefficient in the measured pT range and the transverse-momentum spectra for pT > 1.8 GeV/c within the experimental uncertainties. The measurement of the coalescence parameter B2 is performed, showing a pT dependence in contrast with the simplest coalescence model, which fails to reproduce also the measured v2 coefficient. In addition, the coalescence parameter B2 and the elliptic flow coefficient in the 20–40% centrality interval are compared with the AMPT model which is able, in its version without string melting, to reproduce the measured v2(pT) and the B2(pT) trend.
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