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This study aims to experimentally assess the effect of thickness and preparation direction on the damping properties of Sn58Bi and Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solders.

Sn58Bi and Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder strips with different thicknesses were prepared from the bulk in longitudinal and horizontal directions, and the ratio of loss modulus and storage modulus of the samples was measured by the dynamic mechanical analysis method as the index of damping properties.

Sn58Bi and Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solders exhibited viscoelastic relaxation, and their damping properties decreased with decreasing thickness. The damping properties of both solders had no obvious difference in longitudinal and horizontal directions. Sn58Bi has a more obvious high-temperature damping background than Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder. In addition, compared with Sn58Bi solder, Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder had an obvious internal friction peak, which moved toward high temperature with increasing frequency. The activation energies of Sn58Bi solder with a thickness of 0.5 mm at the longitudinal and horizontal directions were 0.84 and 0.67 eV, respectively, which were 0.39 and 0.53 eV, respectively, for the Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder.

The damping properties of Sn58Bi and Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder decreased with decreasing thickness, while their damping properties changed insignificantly when they were prepared from different directions. The internal friction peak of Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu solder moved to higher temperatures with increasing frequency.

This paper explores ontological assumptions of disasters and introduces some concepts from Chinese disaster scholarship. The authors suggest an approach to explore and engage with different ontologies of disaster without direct comparison, that can further interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaboration.

By reviewing the academic literature and focussing on two recent key translational texts by Chinese scholars, the authors show what can be revealed about ontology and the potential influence on thinking about human-environment interactions and disaster risk reduction (DRR) policy.

In Chinese disaster studies, the goal of a “harmonious human-environment relationship” is a foundational concept. There is a clear hierarchical and ontological distinction between humans and the natural ecological system viewed as an integrated whole, with underlying rules that can be discovered by scientific research to enable management of a harmonious relationship.

The authors suggest a practical way to begin with the following questions: What is the societal goal/aim? What is nature? What is society? How do these interact to create disasters? And what are the implications for DRR research and practice? The authors also demonstrate the importance of probing and understanding the underlying ontologies that are the foundation for theory, which in turn is the foundation for policy and action.

Identification of ontological differences in interdisciplinary and cross-cultural research collaborations and working across these boundaries is challenging and rarely questioned. Yet, as demonstrated here, considering ontological assumptions of the causes of disaster, within and across cultures and disciplines, is essential for collaboration and further research.

The study aims to empirically examine the effect of bank liquidity creation on non-performing loans (NPLs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Berger and Bouwman's (2009) three-step methodology was employed to calculate the level of liquidity creation of a selected sample of 111 commercial banks in ten MENA countries from 2010–2017. Next, the two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator was used to investigate the linkage between bank liquidity creation and NPLs.

The results demonstrated a significant negative effect of bank liquidity creation on NPLs in the short and long term, implying that liquidity creation through both on- and off-balance sheet activities decreases NPLs. These findings accord with the “economic-enhancing” view. Furthermore, regression analysis investigated whether this relationship remained similar for Islamic and conventional banks. The results showed that liquidity creation diminishes Islamic and conventional bank NPLs.

The empirical findings raise several significant policy implications. Bank liquidity creation may decrease rather than increase NPLs, although the process of liquidity creation is viewed as risky by rendering banks more illiquid. Therefore, policy-makers should encourage bank liquidity creation to stimulate the economy. In a robust economy, borrowers are more likely to repay their debts, consequently diminishing banks' NPLs.

To the best of the author's knowledge, the current study is the first to provide empirical evidence on the effect of bank liquidity creation on NPLs in MENA countries.

Communication of an impending hazard to people in near real time is critical. The purpose of this paper is to develop an internet‐SMS based geo‐hazard warning communication system.

A warning system based on an internet‐resident concept and the available cellular mobile infrastructure is proposed in this study. The functionality of the system is modular in architecture.

The messages have been transmitted in a set of 20 SMSs six times, to locally‐owned mobile numbers, resulting in a total number of 120. It has been found that 58 messages got delivered within ten seconds, the rest within 40 more seconds. The threat messages reached the impending threat areas within acceptable time delay.

The paper describes the implementation of a novel and stand‐alone system for dynamic hazard warning. Cellular or mobile phone, a gadget used by common man, is expected to be the best proposition to effectively warn people individually and to propagate hazard messages to users in large regions ubiquitously. The concept allows pervasiveness and redundancy, important to withstanding hazards and bringing several original elements through the development of this “fast warning system”, as current warning strategies do not include such solutions.

This paper aims to investigate the potential impact of the Basel III liquidity requirements, namely, the net stable funding ratio (NSFR) and the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR), on bank liquidity creation.

The authors developed a dynamic panel model using the Quasi-Maximum Likelihood estimation on an unbalanced panel dataset of 129 commercial banks operating in 10 Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries from 2009 to 2017.

The results show that the NSFR significantly negatively affects liquidity creation. Similarly, the LCR exerts a substantial negative impact on the liquidity creation of the sampled MENA banks. These findings suggest that complying with both liquidity requirements tends to curtail liquidity creation. Moreover, further regression analysis of large and small bank sub-samples uncovered results similar to the overall MENA sample.

The findings raise interesting policy implications and suggest a trade-off between the benefits of the financial resiliency induced by implementing liquidity requirements and the creation of liquidity essential for promoting economic growth in the region.

Most empirical research focuses on the relationship between bank capital and liquidity creation. To the knowledge, this paper is the first to provide empirical evidence on the effect of both the NSFR and LCR regulatory liquidity standards on bank liquidity creation in the MENA region.