Search Results (13)

Transparent glass-ceramics with a Li₂O–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ (LAS) system have been extensively utilized in optical systems in which thermal stability is of utmost importance. This study is aimed to develop thermal treatment routes that can effectively control the structure of transparent LAS glass-ceramics and tune its thermal expansion coefficient within a wide range for novel applications in photonics and integrated optics. The optimal conditions for the nucleation and crystallization of LAS glass were determined by means of differential scanning calorimetry and a polythermal analysis. XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and TEM microscopy were employed to examine the structural changes which occurred after heat treatments. It was found that the second stage of heat treatment promotes the formation of β-eucryptite-like solid solution nanocrystals, which enables effective control of the coefficient of thermal expansion of glass-ceramics in a wide temperature range of −120 to 500 °C. This work provides novel insights into structural rearrangement scenarios occurring in LAS glass, which are crucial for accurately predicting its crystallization behavior and ultimately achieving transparent glass-ceramics with desirable properties. Full article

Achieving research reproducibility is a precarious aspect of scientific practice. However, many studies across disciplines fail to be fully reproduced due to inadequate dissemination methods. Traditional publication practices often fail to provide a comprehensive description of the research context and procedures, hindering reproducibility. To address these challenges, this article presents a tutorial on reproducible research using the R programming language. The tutorial aims to equip researchers, including those with limited coding knowledge, with the necessary skills to enhance reproducibility in their work. It covers three essential components: version control using Git, dynamic document creation using rmarkdown, and managing R package dependencies with renv. The tutorial also provides insights into sharing reproducible research and offers specific considerations for the field of sleep and chronobiology research. By following the tutorial, researchers can adopt practices that enhance the transparency, rigor, and replicability of their work, contributing to a culture of reproducible research and advancing scientific knowledge. Full article

Combining eye tracking and virtual reality (VR) is a promising approach to tackle various applied research questions. As this approach is relatively new, routines are not established yet and the first steps can be full of potential pitfalls. The present paper gives a practice example to lower the boundaries for getting started. More specifically, I focus on an affordable add-on technology, the Pupil Labs eye tracking add-on for the HTC Vive. As add-on technology with all relevant source code available on GitHub, a high degree of freedom in preprocessing, visualizing, and analyzing eye tracking data in VR can be achieved. At the same time, some extra preparatory steps for the setup of hardware and software are necessary. Therefore, specifics of eye tracking in VR from unboxing, software integration, and procedures to analyzing the data and maintaining the hardware will be addressed. The Pupil Labs eye tracking add-on for the HTC Vive represents a highly transparent approach to existing alternatives. Characteristics of eye tracking in VR in contrast to other headmounded and remote eye trackers applied in the physical world will be discussed. In conclusion, the paper contributes to the idea of open science in two ways: First, by making the necessary routines transparent and therefore reproducible. Second, by stressing the benefits of using open source software. Full article

Active packaging has played a significant role in consumers’ health and green environment over the years. Synthetic polymers, such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene, poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), polycarbonate (PC), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), etc., and naturally derived ones, such as cellulose, starch, chitosan, etc., are extensively used as packaging materials due to their broad range of desired properties (transparence, processability, gas barrier properties, mechanical strength, etc.). In recent years, the food packaging field has been challenged to deliver food products free from microbes that cause health hazards. However, most of the used polymers lack such properties. Owing to this, active agents such as antimicrobial agents and antioxidants have been broadly used as potential additives in food packaging substrates, to increase the shelf life, the quality and the safety of food products. Both synthetic active agents, such as Ag, Cu, ZnO, TiO₂, nanoclays, and natural active agents, such as essential oils, catechin, curcumin, tannin, gallic acid, etc., exhibit a broad spectrum of antimicrobial and antioxidant effects, while restricting the growth of harmful microbes. Various bulk processing techniques have been developed over the years to produce appropriate food packaging products and to add active agents on polymer matrices or on their surface. Among these techniques, extrusion molding is the most used method for mass production of food packaging with incorporated active agents into polymer substrates, while injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding, electrospinning, etc., are used to a lower extent. This review intends to study the antimicrobial and antioxidant effects of various active agents incorporated into polymeric substrates and their bulk processing technologies involved in the field of food packaging. Full article

Synthetic organic dyes were extensively used by artists in the first half of the 20th century, knowingly or otherwise. This included Andy Warhol and his À la Recherche du Shoe Perdu (c. 1955), a major portfolio of hand-colored prints, a copy of which resides in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Warhol and his friends were known to use Dr. Ph. Martin’s Synchromatic Transparent Water Colors to bring these prints to life. A historical set of Synchromatic Transparent Watercolors were initially investigated by UV-visible spectroscopy, and samples from the historic set were also characterized by µ-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for fingerprint identification. To better elucidate the nature of the mixtures present, thin-layer chromatography was coupled with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to separate the components of all colorants in the set. The dyes decisively identified include Acid Red 73, Acid Red 87, Acid Red 17, Acid Red 103, Basic Red 1, Acid Orange 7, Acid Yellow 23, Acid Green 1, Basic Green 4, Acid Blue 3, Acid Blue 93, Basic Violet 3, Basic Violet 10, Basic Violet 17, and Acid Black 2. Overall, Acid Blue 3, along with Acid Orange 7 and Acid Black 2, were found in the greatest number of dyes in the Dr. Ph. Martin’s set. Data from the historic set was subsequently used for direct comparison with reflectance spectra from the Warhol portfolio using principal component analysis. Microfade testing on a Synchromatic Transparent Watercolors brochure was also conducted to identify fugitive colorants, the results of which were extrapolated to each of the prints in the Warhol portfolio. The analysis provided further insight into the dyes used in À la Recherche du Shoe Perdu and confirmed the extreme light sensitivity of some colorants and the fastness of others. Full article

Objective: This project aimed to develop and update a dynamic three-dimensional (3D) graphic video learning object demonstrating a current knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of sucking and swallowing in newborns during breastfeeding. Method: To build and update the 3D computer graphics iconographies of the “Virtual Baby”, we defined objectives for the learning object, created a literature review-based script, and organized a guide for structural (static) and functional (dynamic) graphical modeling for the designer. Results: Using 3D computer graphics, we produced a video with static images (anatomical structural) and dynamic sequences (most significant physiological and functional aspects and application of transparency to visualize the anatomical correlations between both). The video showed the anatomy and physiology of sucking and swallowing during breastfeeding. Its updates reflected additional scientific evidence as studies were published. Conclusion: Creation of the Virtual Baby provides a learning tool for visualizing the anatomy and physiology of sucking and swallowing in full-term newborns. The tool addresses the significant morphofunctional aspects of the breastfeeding process, supported by scientific literature, and can be used for student or professional training and in primary health care. Full article

E-commerce has developed greatly in recent years, as such, its regulations have become one of the most important research areas in order to implement a sustainable market. The analysis of a large amount of reviews data generated in the shopping process can be used to facilitate regulation: since the review data is short text and it is easy to extract the features through deep learning methods. Through these features, the sentiment analysis of the review data can be carried out to obtain the users’ emotional tendency for a specific product. Regulators can formulate reasonable regulation strategies based on the analysis results. However, the data has many issues such as poor reliability and easy tampering at present, which greatly affects the outcome and can lead regulators to make some unreasonable regulatory decisions according to these results. Blockchain provides the possibility of solving these problems due to its trustfulness, transparency and unmodifiable features. Based on these, the blockchain can be applied for data storage, and the Long short-term memory (LSTM) network can be employed to mine reviews data for emotional tendencies analysis. In order to improve the accuracy of the results, we designed a method to make LSTM better understand text data such as reviews containing idioms. In order to prove the effectiveness of the proposed method, different experiments were used for verification, with all results showing that the proposed method can achieve a good outcome in the sentiment analysis leading to regulators making better decisions. Full article

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in biomedical and clinical settings can disrupt the traditional doctor–patient relationship, which is based on trust and transparency in medical advice and therapeutic decisions. When the diagnosis or selection of a therapy is no longer made solely by the physician, but to a significant extent by a machine using algorithms, decisions become nontransparent. Skill learning is the most common application of machine learning algorithms in clinical decision making. These are a class of very general algorithms (artificial neural networks, classifiers, etc.), which are tuned based on examples to optimize the classification of new, unseen cases. It is pointless to ask for an explanation for a decision. A detailed understanding of the mathematical details of an AI algorithm may be possible for experts in statistics or computer science. However, when it comes to the fate of human beings, this “developer’s explanation” is not sufficient. The concept of explainable AI (XAI) as a solution to this problem is attracting increasing scientific and regulatory interest. This review focuses on the requirement that XAIs must be able to explain in detail the decisions made by the AI to the experts in the field. Full article

This work presents a visual analytics approach to explore microsaccade distributions in high-frequency eye tracking data. Research studies often apply filter algorithms and parameter values for microsaccade detection. Even when the same algorithms are employed, different parameter values might be adopted across different studies. In this paper, we present a visual analytics system (VisME) to promote reproducibility in the data analysis of microsaccades. It allows users to interactively vary the parametric values for microsaccade filters and evaluate the resulting influence on microsaccade behavior across individuals and on a group level. In particular, we exploit brushing-and-linking techniques that allow the microsaccadic properties of space, time, and movement direction to be extracted, visualized, and compared across multiple views. We demonstrate in a case study the use of our visual analytics system on data sets collected from natural scene viewing and show in a qualitative usability study the usefulness of this approach for eye tracking researchers. We believe that interactive tools such as VisME will promote greater transparency in eye movement research by providing researchers with the ability to easily understand complex eye tracking data sets; such tools can also serve as teaching systems. VisME is provided as open source software. Full article

Although the principle of transparency and openness is not new, recent years have brought increased attention to the need for greater government and private sector accountability driven mostly by the open government, smart disclosure and open data movements. But opening data in the government and private sectors brings about a set of challenges that need to be mitigated if we are to achieve greater information access. This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the challenges and motivations for data disclosure in the private sector. We used the sustainable coffee supply chain as a case study, gathering data through a workshop and a series of interviews with coffee supply chain participants and other stakeholders. We identified five challenges and six motivating factors facing data producers along the supply chain. These challenges and motivating factors can be further classified into four areas: market dynamics, information policies, data challenges, and technological capability. We believe that these findings can be generalized to inform discussion and policy design in other market areas. The paper concludes with a proposal for possible future steps to promote openness and innovation in the private sector. Full article

The risks and benefits of research using large databases of personal information are evolving in an era of ubiquitous, internet-based data exchange. In addition, information technology has facilitated a shift in the relationship between individuals and their personal data, enabling increased individual control over how (and how much) personal data are used in research, and by whom. This shift in control has created new opportunities to engage members of the public as partners in the research enterprise on more equal and transparent terms. Here, we consider how some of the technological advances driving and paralleling developments in genomics can also be used to supplement the practice of informed consent with other strategies to ensure that the research process as a whole honors the notion of respect for persons upon which human research subjects protections are premised. Further, we suggest that technological advances can help the research enterprise achieve a more thoroughgoing respect for persons than was possible when current policies governing human subject research were developed. Questions remain about the best way to revise policy to accommodate these changes. Full article

Partnership working is necessary to allow nations to harness the evolving opportunities presented by climate finance and to progress towards climate compatible development (CCD). However, the new multi-stakeholder partnerships being formed and the factors affecting their outcomes remain poorly understood. This paper aims to identify the characteristics of partnership models that can lead to successful delivery of CCD projects by analyzing case study data from two projects in Zambia. The projects are primarily funded under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility and support activities such as conservation farming which can have carbon storage (mitigation), adaptation and rural development benefits. In each of the case study projects, multiple partnerships have been established between private sector companies, government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), traditional authorities and community stakeholders to achieve project aims. A new partnership evaluation model is developed and applied to analyze the partnerships formed. Findings show that the rationale behind the partnership, partner-related factors, and process-related factors can all affect achievement of the project’s aims. Good practices are identified which can inform future partnerships and projects. For example, when establishing a project, the initiating partner must identify gaps that can be addressed by establishing one or more partnership(s). Careful consideration of which partners can best address these gaps allows for synergies in contributions across the partnership required for successful project implementation. Transparency, openness and communication over roles and responsibilities are key to successful partnerships, and power imbalances between partners will reduce the utilization of each partner’s strengths. When working with communities, extra care must be taken to ensure projects are appropriate and relevant to local needs, as well as allowing goals to be met, by engaging communities from the beginning of the project. Full article