scholarly journals Explorative Imaging and Its Implementation at the FleX-ray Laboratory

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Bethany Coban ◽  
Felix Lucka ◽  
Willem Jan Palenstijn ◽  
Denis Van Loo ◽  
Kees Joost Batenburg

In tomographic imaging, the traditional process consists of an expert and an operator collecting data, the expert working on the reconstructed slices and drawing conclusions. The quality of reconstructions depends heavily on the quality of the collected data, except that, in the traditional process of imaging, the expert has very little influence over the acquisition parameters, experimental plan or the collected data. It is often the case that the expert has to draw limited conclusions from the reconstructions, or adapt a research question to data available. This method of imaging is static and sequential, and limits the potential of tomography as a research tool. In this paper, we propose a more dynamic process of imaging where experiments are tailored around a sample or the research question; intermediate reconstructions and analysis are available almost instantaneously, and expert has input at any stage of the process (including during acquisition) to improve acquisition or image reconstruction. Through various applications of 2D, 3D and dynamic 3D imaging at the FleX-ray Laboratory, we present the unexpected journey of exploration a research question undergoes, and the surprising benefits it yields.

Risks ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Ioana Lavinia Safta ◽  
Andrada-Ioana Sabău (Popa) ◽  
Neli Muntean

Creative accounting has its background since early studies in 1975, until the present time. It continues to be a subject of great interest for the companies and interested parties. Thus, the current paper will aim to answer the following proposed research questions: 1. Which are the most used methods for detecting the manipulation of financial statements in the literature? 2. Which are the terms that are most frequently encountered in the literature associated with “creative accounting? 3. Which are the journals that have the highest frequency of articles written on the topic “creative accounting”? 4. Over time, how did research evolve in the field of creative accounting? 5. Which countries are most preoccupied in publishing regarding this topic? To answer the research question 1, the models published in the literature for measuring manipulation techniques through creative accounting were reviewed and analyzed. For the remaining research questions, a bibliometric analysis for the publications in this area was performed. For collecting the sample, articles on this topic were selected from the international Web of Science database. Following this, a bibliometric analysis of the articles was performed, using the VOSviewer program. A total of 4045 publications on creative accounting were identified. Through the bibliometric analysis we have answered research question 2, by identifying the key words that have the closest proximity to creative accounting. To answer the remaining research questions, we identified the journals with the highest frequency of publication and the countries with the highest interest on the topic. It is especially important to evaluate the quality of this many research papers and to obtain valuable information.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Ansu-Mensah ◽  
Frederick Inkum Danquah ◽  
Vitalis Bawontuo ◽  
Peter Ansu-Mensah ◽  
Tahiru Mohammed ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Free maternal healthcare financing schemes play an essential role in the quality of services rendered to clients during antenatal care in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, healthcare managers’ and providers’ perceptions of the healthcare financing scheme may influence the quality of care. This scoping review mapped evidence on managers’ and providers’ perspectives of free maternal healthcare and the quality of care in SSA. Methods We used Askey and O’Malley’s framework as a guide to conduct this review. To address the research question, we searched PubMed, CINAHL through EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Google Scholar with no date limitation to May 2019 using keywords, Boolean terms, and Medical Subject Heading terms to retrieve relevant articles. Both abstract and full articles screening were conducted independently by two reviewers using the inclusion and exclusion criteria as a guide. All significant data were extracted, organized into themes, and a summary of the findings reported narratively. Results In all, 15 out of 390 articles met the inclusion criteria. These 15 studies were conducted in nine countries. That is, Ghana (4), Kenya (3), and Nigeria (2), Burkina Faso (1), Burundi (1), Niger (1), Sierra Leone (1), Tanzania (1), and Uganda (1). Of the 15 included studies, 14 reported poor quality of maternal healthcare from managers’ and providers’ perspectives. Factors contributing to the perception of poor maternal healthcare included: late reimbursement of funds, heavy workload of providers, lack of essential drugs and stock-out of medical supplies, lack of policy definition, out-of-pocket payment, and inequitable distribution of staff. Conclusion This study established evidence of existing literature on the quality of care based on healthcare providers’ and managers’ perspectives though very limited. This study indicates healthcare providers and managers perceive the quality of maternal healthcare under the free financing policy as poor. Nonetheless, the free maternal care policy is very much needed towards achieving universal health, and all efforts to sustain and improve the quality of care under it must be encouraged. Therefore, more research is needed to better understand the impact of their perceived poor quality of care on maternal health outcomes.


2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-141
Author(s):  
Roberto Pecoits–Filho

The bench-to-bedside approach to translational research is becoming increasingly important to efficiently advance understanding of the mechanisms underlying disease and to improve the quality of patient care. Although this investigation model has been practiced since the early days of the therapy, robust research platforms built to practice translational research have only recently been structured in the field of peritoneal dialysis. Experience with a translational research environment that generated most of the information cited in this overview is the core of this manuscript. The central investigation theme described is how to approach the cardiovascular complications of peritoneal dialysis. The research question was, could the continuous activation of inflammatory pathways be central in this process and represent a relevant target for interventions?


Author(s):  
ERIC FRANCIS ESHUN

This paper reports the validity of the hypothesis that giving and receiving peer feedback during studio critique supports the assumption that the nature of feedback affects student learning and student perceptions of the quality of the learning experience. The research question is whether peer feedback operated under studio pedagogy has the potential of enhancing quality learning. The purpose of this study is to examine student perceptions of peer feedback in a studio-based learning environment. This is a case study where data was collected qualitatively. This study clearly demonstrates the positive perceptions of peer feedback held by design students and the influence these perceptions have on students’ learning outcomes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (12) ◽  
pp. 77-86
Author(s):  
Michał Kozłowski

The article presents the conclusion of the practical experience as well as the results of the author's research in the field of airport management, formulated in the context of the implementation of the investment of the Central Polish Airport. The subject of the considerations and implications is the process of designing the Airport Master Plan – AMP, which in the current situation should be modified in order to ensure effectiveness and efficiency of implementation and quality of results. At the beginning, AMP was characterized on the basis of a study concerning legal acts and selected standard documents, and a study of the quality and risk issues of the AMP was carried out. On the basis of the results obtained, conclusions have been formulated regarding the need for standardization and integration of the dynamic process of AMP design.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
mulono apriyanto bin sugeng rijanto

Most cocoa beans in Indonesia are traditionally produced by farmers using non fermented and sun drying method. Thequality of cocoa beans produced by farmer in yogyakarta may be improved by the fermentation method. However, it needsoptimization for best fermentation process. The aims of the study was to improve quality of cocoa bans by fermentation ofsun dried cocoa beans. The characteric fermented cocoa beans was determined by maesuring changes pH, acidity andfermentation indexs of cocoa beans during fermentation. This study used preconditioned cocoa beans to resamble obtainfrom the farmer. Preconditioning was done in order to get 15% mouisture content of pulp at same level as moisture contentof pulp from traditional process. Before fermentation, therefor sun dried cocoa beans was rehydrated to obtain a moisturecontent of pulp similiar to fresh beans pulp, and then fermentation was conducted for 120 hours. Changes in acidity andfermentation indexs of cocoa beans during fermentation were measured. The fermentation process used 3 level treatmenti.e. control (without inoculum), mixed culture of microbies added at the begining fermentation. The result show all cocoabeans acidity increase during fermentation from 4,48% to 6,45% for control, 4,64% to 6,39% for addition of inoculum atbegining of fermentation and from 4,45% to 6,59% for addition of inoculum at the begining and midle of fermentation andfermentation indexs of cocoa beans increase for all level of inoculum addition i.e. 0,31 to 0,88 for control, 0,32 to 0,99 foraddition of inoculum at the beginning fermentation and 0,33 to 1,03 for addition of inoculum at the beginning and midle offermentation. The study indicated that addition of mix culture microbies in fermetation improved the quality of cocoabeans that characterized by pH, acidity and fermentation indexs of cocoa beans.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. e045819
Author(s):  
Jinhui Ma ◽  
Megan Cheng ◽  
Lehana Thabane ◽  
Caihong Ma ◽  
Ning Zhang ◽  
...  

IntroductionThe aetiology of sleep disruptions is unknown, but hormonal fluctuations during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause have been shown to potentially affect how well a woman sleeps. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate whether hormonal contraceptives are associated with a decreased quality of sleep and increased sleep duration in women of reproductive age.MethodsThis review will analyse data from randomised controlled trials or non-randomised comparative studies investigating the association between hormonal contraceptives and sleep outcomes among women of reproductive age. Reviews addressing the same research question with similar eligibility criteria will be included. A literature search will be performed using the MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases from inception to 7 March 2021. The Cochrane Collaboration’s Risk of Bias for Randomised Trials V.2.0 and The Risk of Bias for Non-randomised Studies of Interventions tool will be used to assess risk of bias for each outcome in eligible studies. Two reviewers will independently assess eligibility of studies and risk of bias and extract the data. All extracted data will be presented in tables and narrative form. For sleep measures investigated by two or more studies with low heterogeneity, we will conduct random-effects meta-analysis to estimate the magnitude of the overall effect of hormonal contraceptives. If studies included in this systematic review form a connected network, a network meta-analysis will be conducted to estimate the comparative effect of different contraceptives. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach will be used to summarise the quality of evidence. Our protocol follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Protocols 2015 guidelines.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval is not required as data were sourced from previously reported studies. The findings of this review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at relevant conferences.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42020199958.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslav Prokša ◽  
◽  
Zuzana Haláková ◽  
Anna Drozdíková ◽  
◽  
...  

The research was focused on solving the following research question: What is the depth and breadth of 16-year-old learners' knowledge of the chemical equilibrium in Slovakia? The main aim of our research was to find out the conceptual understanding of this part of chemistry in the context of submicroscopic, macroscopic and symbolic representations. A special research tool, which consisted of five sets of tasks, was created for this research. The research included a sample of 473 children. The results indicate that knowledge is more at the level of memory reproduction and algorithmic use. Learners have been facing a problem with the conceptual understanding of the given concept. Keywords: chemical equilibrium, submicroscopic, macroscopic and symbolic interpretation, conceptual understanding.


2015 ◽  
pp. 1778-1804
Author(s):  
Thorsten D. Barth

Freedom and equality are the content, the substance and the tension in a liberal democracy of today. Freedom and equality describe the design, stability and the quality of a democracy. Especially in a Quintuple Helix Model, the quality of democracy and sustainable development are closely related, because a high-quality democracy is a prerequisite for promoting sustainability in democracies. By investigating the quality of democracy this article develops two theses: 1.) Democracy with their quality rises or falls with the expression of freedom and/or equality; 2.) Democracy generates its stability from a balanced interaction between freedom and equality. With the concept of Democratic Life this article examines these two theses: Democratic Life as newly developed concept measures the quality of democracy with providing information about the type of a democracy and an approach to measure a democracy´s democratic development for the top 20 of the Democracy Ranking (2009). The central keys of the Democratic Life concept are the ‘Index of Classification' and the ‘Democratic-Life-Index', which are formed from an ‘Index of Freedom' and an ‘Index of Equality'. By empirical examination of the research question of Democratic Life two essential questions in the modern democratic theory can be investigated: 1.) How democratic is a democracy? 2.) How much freedom and equality does a liberal democracy need? The countries analyzed for the Democratic Life concept in this article are the United States, Australia, Sweden and Germany in comparison between 1995 and 2008. This degree of democratic quality will create a lot of problems towards developing sustainability in a democracy, because in the United States there is currently a big disparity between freedom and equality.


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