Actual Product Research Articles

Look-smell-taste labels on food date marking: Assessing their effectiveness for reducing food waste at a consumer level as part of the European Green Deal

The frequent misinterpretation of “best before” labels among consumers is linked to substantial amounts of food waste generated in the US and the EU. To counteract this problem, the European Commission plans to revise current regulations of date marking. Among other initiatives, it is considered to use “Look-Smell-Taste” (LST) labels on food packaging, which depict visual cues motivating consumers to engage in sensory food assessments. Against this background, this paper aims to investigate the LST labels’ effectiveness in reducing consumers’ food waste behavior using an online- and a food lab experiment. The studies examine selected date marking options varying in their wording and presence of the LST label with regard to their potential (1) to increase the overdate acceptance and actual product use, as well as (2) to motivate the sensory assessment of dairy products that passed the “best before” date. Findings show that LST labels did not significantly increase the overdate acceptance, the actual use of expired products, or consumers’ engagement in sensory assessment. Participants did however indicate their preference for date marking options with LST labels over text-only options. The paper provides insights into current and future attempts to reduce food waste related to date marking and recommendations for respective revisions as part of the European Green Deal.

Dairy factory milk product processing and sustainable of the shelf-life extension with artificial intelligence: a model study

This study models milk product processing and sustainable of the shelf-life extension in a dairy factory using artificial intelligence. The Cappadocia dairy factory was used to study chemical processes and computational system modeling and simulation. Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm was used to create an artificial neural network model from real-time data. An AI-based method utilizing a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was employed to precisely analyze productivity data in dairy factories. There are 9 product types and production quantities used as input parameters, and 90 datasets of actual dairy products used as output values. The model was trained using the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm on 62 datasets for training, 14 for validation, and 14 for testing. The accuracy of the model is affected by the optimal data segmentation. The model showed how AI algorithms can improve processes and industrial production by increasing dairy production efficiency from 20 to 40%. Model efficiency values were compared to observed values to determine prediction accuracy. Model mean squared error was 4.02E-06, and coefficient of determination was 0.99984. Model efficiency predictions and observed values differed by −0.04% on average. This study investigated using artificial intelligence to optimize salvage processes and systems to increase energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact. The results show that a neural network model trained with real data can predict dairy plant productivity.

Investigation into the fabrication of plant-based simulant connective tissue utilizing algae polysaccharide-derived hydrogel

Connective tissue is an important component of meat products that provides support to animal muscles. Hydrogels are considered a promising alternative to connective tissues and simulate actual products by adjusting the gel texture and mouthfeel. This study used soybean protein isolate (SPI), corn starch (CS), konjac glucomannan (KGM), and seaweed powder (SP) as raw materials to examine the effect of different added SP and KGM concentrations on the gel texture. The G' of the gel increased five-fold when the SP and KGM concentration was increased from 1 % to 3 %. The results of mechanical property tests showed that with the addition of SP, the gel hardness increased from 316.00 g to 1827.23 g and the tensile strength increased from 0.027 MPa to 0.089 MPa. Sensory evaluation showed that the samples with 2 % SP and KGM presented the highest overall acceptability score and the most significant similarity to real connective tissue. The connective tissue simulants exhibited excellent water-holding capacity (>90 %), significantly increasing their juiciness. SEM indicated that 2 % KGM addition improved gel network structure stability. The results demonstrate the potential of seaweed polysaccharide-derived hydrogels as connective tissue mimics. This provides a new strategy for the preparation of high mechanical strength hydrogels and lays the foundation for structural diversification of plant-based meat.

Effect of mixed carbon phase state on detonation parameters and reaction zone of explosives under extreme condition

A precise description of the thermodynamic states of gaseous and solid detonation products is essential when using thermodynamic calculations to determine the detonation performance and destructive power of explosives. For high oxygen-lean explosives (the oxygen contained in explosives is insufficient to completely oxidize combustible elements and excess solid carbon will be generated in the detonation products), the phase state of solid carbon product affects the Chapman–Jouguet (CJ) detonation performance parameters, reaction zone, and energy release process. However, the recovery of detonation products demonstrates that the actual detonation carbon product is primarily a mixed state of diamond/graphite stack, as opposed to the existing thermodynamic codes, which essentially treat detonation carbon as single-phase carbon. To understand the thermodynamic effect of the mixed carbon phase state on the non-ideal detonation behavior, in this work, the matching relationship among the VINET equation of state parameters, thermodynamic potential parameters of the solid products of the equivalent system and the phase mixed system was constructed by using the nonlinear fitting method. The relationship between the carbon phase composition at the CJ point and the explosive composition structure was researched. Investigations were conducted into how the mixed carbon phase affected the volume and content of gas products as well as the composition at CJ points. Diamond formation in products is good for enhancing explosive's working capacity. Based on mixed-state potential parameters, the correlation mechanism between the mixed carbon phase and the chemical reaction zone was investigated, and it was found that intramolecular carbon/intermolecular carbon and more detonation graphite/diamond products all would lead to the extension of the reaction zone.

Bridging the Gap Between Information Seeking and Product Search Systems: Q&A Recommendation for E-Commerce

Consumers on a shopping mission often leverage both product search and information seeking systems, such as web search engines and Question Answering (QA) systems, in an iterative process to improve their understanding of available products and reach a purchase decision. While product search is useful for shoppers to find the actual products meeting their requirements in the catalog, information seeking systems can be utilized to answer any questions they may have to refine those requirements. The recent success of Large Language Models (LLMs) has opened up an opportunity to bridge the gap between the two tasks to help customers achieve their goals quickly and effectively by integrating conversational QA within product search. In this paper, we propose to recommend users Question-Answer (Q&A) pairs that are relevant to their product search and can help them make a purchase decision. We discuss the different aspects of the problem including the requirements and characteristics of the Q&A pairs, their generation, and the optimization of the Q&A recommendation task. We highlight the challenges, open problems, and suggested solutions to encourage future research in this emerging area.

P‐69: Cause Analysis of Water Ripple Issue on Charging‐ratio Sensitive LCD Panels Based on TCON Timing Control Theory

Water Ripple is the fine rolling textures phenomenon that occurs on large size, high resolution and high refresh rate LCD panels. It is a tough issue in the field of high‐end TV. The root cause is that such panels are too sensitive to pixel charging‐ratio. To ameliorate the problem, this paper analyzed the causes of charging‐ratio fluctuation from the perspectives of cross clockdomain conversions, display transport protocols and SSC influence, based on the TCON timing control theory. Then a method was proposed to cover the issue. The results show that at least one or two levels of improvement can be achieved. This study can provide an idea for the solution of water ripple, which is important to actual products.

Development of Gold Inks for Inkjet Printing of Gas Sensors Electrodes on Plastic Support

Among the conventional inks used for inkjet printing, metals, oxides, or polymers have been deposited in order to form functional coatings. Gold is one of the most used metals for electrode fabrication in the gas sensor field due to its inert behavior when exposed to reactive gases and conductive properties. However, only a few commercial gold inks are commercially available, and the combination of excessive price, a high minimum purchase quantity, and an unknown composition renders the actual products unappealing. To meet these shortcomings, gold inks were formulated with different solvents in order to reach sufficient properties for the inkjet printing process, such as surface tension and viscosity. On the one hand, gold ink was developed using a gold nanoparticle (AuNP) solution as the metal. This ink was optimized from nanoparticle synthesis, with the ink formulation obtaining a 32 mN·m−1 surface tension and 11.2 mPa·s viscosity in order to be inkjet-printed onto polyimide foil. On the other hand, a particle-free ink, called a precursor based of ink, was also developed. In this case, ink was made by solubilizing gold salt in aqueous medium in order to reach jettable properties. Surface tension was measured at 32 mN·m−1 while viscosity was 14.0 mPa·s. Then, printing and deposition parameters were optimized in order to obtain a highly conductive gold coating. The measured resistivity was 2 × 10−7 Ω·m which is close to the bulk gold conductive value. These coatings could be used for the fabrication of various devices in different working fields.

Digital smoke signals: Event-driven online search trends in Heated Tobacco Products in Poland.

Heated tobacco products (HTPs) have emerged as a prominent category in the tobacco market, particularly within European countries such as Poland. The introduction of HTPs has been met with increasing public interest, reflected in online search behavior. However, the public health implications of this new form of tobacco consumption remain a concern due to the lack of comprehensive research on its long-term effects. This study aimed to track the trends in online searches related to HTPs in Poland between 2016 and 2022, and to assess the impact of significant events on these trends in order to provide insights into public awareness of HTPs. Utilizing Google Trends, a free source tool, this study analyzed relative search volume (RSV) for HTP-related keywords in Poland. Key events were identified and mapped against the fluctuations in RSV to understand their impact on search behavior. The analysis was confined to specific HTP-related keywords, excluding broader tobacco-related terms. A notable increase in HTP-related search queries was observed, particularly around the time of product launches and legislative changes. The largest increases occurred during the introduction of HTPs to the Polish market and during major events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The study demonstrates a market interest in HTPs among Polish internet users, with search trends influenced by product launches and policy changes. The findings highlight the importance of monitoring online behaviors to inform public health efforts, despite limitations such as the lack of demographic data. Further research is needed to deepen the understanding of how these online trends correlate with actual consumer behavior and product sales.

The impact of green brand trust repair strategies on trust repair after greenwashing: From a brand legitimacy perspective

AbstractAn increasingly worrying trend is enterprises undertaking greenwashing rather than producing actual green products. When such greenwashing behaviours are exposed, green brand trust between enterprises and stakeholders may be damaged, resulting in stakeholders becoming suspicious of these supposedly green brands. Then, enterprises need to adopt several trust repair strategies to repair the damaged green brand trust. We investigated green brand trust repair from a green brand legitimacy perspective and found the following: (1) higher green brand legitimacy suggests the use of considered informational, emotional and corrective repair strategies. (2) Meanwhile, lower green brand legitimacy requires the use of timely informational, emotional and corrective repair strategies. Using the correct set of repair strategies may provide practical and effective approaches for enterprises to repair their brand trust.

Multi Level Marketing From A Sharia Economic Perspective

Multi-level marketing (MLM) is a business model in which a company sells products through a network of independent distributors. From a sharia economic perspective, MLM often causes debate because some of its practices can be questioned from a sharia compliance perspective. First of all, MLM emphasizes the aspect of buying and selling products, which is in line with sharia economic principles which encourage legitimate business activities and avoid usurious or speculative transactions. However, many MLMs face criticism because they tend to focus more on recruiting new members than actual product sales. This is contrary to sharia principles which emphasize justice and honesty in business. Second, in MLM, there is an element of profit sharing which is usually disproportionate between the company, distributors and network members. In sharia economics, the distribution of profits must be fair and balanced, and practices that cause injustice in the distribution of profits must be avoided.

Characteristic substance analysis and rapid detection of bacteria spores in cooked meat products by surface enhanced Raman scattering based on Ag@AuNP array substrate

BackgroundBacterial spores are the main potential hazard in medium- and high-temperature sterilized meat products, and their germination and subsequent reproduction and metabolism can lead to food spoilage. Moreover, the spores of some species pose a health and safety threat to consumers. The rapid detection, prevention, and control of bacterial spores has always been a scientific problem and a major challenge for the medium and high-temperature meat industry. Early and sensitive identification of spores in meat products is a decisive factor in contributing to consumer health and safety. ResultsIn this study, we developed a novel and stable Ag@AuNP array substrate by using a two-step synthesis approach and a liquid-interface self-assembly method that can directly detect bacterial spores in actual meat product samples without the need for additional in vitro bacterial culture. The results indicate that the Ag@AuNP array substrate exhibits high reproducibility and Raman enhancement effects (1.35 × 105). The differentiation in the Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of five bacterial spores primarily arises from proteins in the spore coat and inner membrane, peptidoglycan of cortex, and Ca2⁺-DPA within the spore core. The correct recognition rate of linear discriminant analysis for spores in the meat product matrix can reach 100 %. The average recovery accuracy of the SERS quantitative model was at around 101.77 %, and the limit of detection can reach below 10 CFU/mL. SignificanceIt provides a promising technological strategy for the characteristic substance analysis and timely monitoring of spores in meat products.

Gross ecosystem product accounting in Miyun County: the supply and use of ecosystem services

The ability of an ecosystem to provide services differs from its actual consumption and use by human society. Overuse of ecosystems can degrade ecosystems. In order to evaluate the supply capacity and use status of the ecosystem in Miyun County, so as to better apply the ecosystem services to different policies and management, the supply and use of 10 types of ecosystem services in Miyun County were calculated by using value indicators, namely potential gross ecosystem product (GEP) and actual gross ecosystem product. The results show that: (1) In 2020, potential gross ecosystem product of Miyun County is 254.32 billion yuan, and actual gross ecosystem product is 53.28 billion yuan, accounting for 21% of the potential gross ecosystem product. (2) Among all kinds of ecosystem services, the contribution of water conservation services in potential gross ecosystem product is the highest, and the contribution of climate regulation services in actual gross ecosystem product is the highest. (3) The contribution of wetland was the highest in potential gross ecosystem product, while the contribution of forest was the highest in actual gross ecosystem product. (4) Natural ecosystem area and vegetation coverage are the main factors affecting potential gross ecosystem product, while actual gross ecosystem product is mainly affected by GDP and population. (5) By studying the potential supply and actual use of ecosystem services, we evaluated and distinguished between the services that ecosystem could produce and the services that were actually used by humans, and compared the supply capacity and actual use to assess the sustainability of ecosystem services, in order to formulate different policies and management measures for gross ecosystem product surplus and deficit regions. Potential gross ecosystem product could provide data support for the assessment of ecological protection benefits. Actual gross ecosystem product could be included in the system of national accounts, and as a standard for ecological compensation and ecological trading. Confusing potential supply and actual use in policy application would affect the effect of policy implementation, and distinguishing them could ensure policy implementation. The relative size of the relationship between the two could reflect the present and future levels of human well-being in a region. Both together provided management basis and policy-making support for guiding regional ecological protection and sustainable development.

역공학 교육프로그램 개발을 통한 고등학교 기술과 공학교육 사례연구

This study develops a reverse engineering education program and analyzes its implications in response to the emphasis on engineering in the revised 2022 high school Technology Education curriculum. To this end, the study examined the concept and model of reverse engineering as well as the technology curriculum. A reverse engineering education program was developed following the stages of hands-on activity development. To ensure the program’s completeness, expert validation and teacher feedback from case presentations at the A City Teachers' Association were incorporated to achieve both quantitative and qualitative improvements. Program practicality was assessed through a preliminary class conducted with 15 general high school students in City A over a period of four days in January 2024, consisting of 10 sessions. The meaning of the class was assessed through students' online portfolio materials, recorded class videos, and teacher reflection journals. The study’s results are as follows: First, reverse engineering offers students opportunities to learn product design principles, understand the functions of each component, discern the relationships between components, and identify areas for product improvement by dismantling a completed product. It affords students a concrete understanding of previously abstract engineering principles by working with actual products. Second, developed as a 10-session program following the stages of preparation, development, and improvement, the program was applied to 15 general high school students in City A during a four-day preliminary class, and the resulting data informed final modifications and completion of the education program. Third, student experiences were analyzed through themes such as understanding engineering principles through participation, experiences of failure and challenges, sense of accomplishment in product operation, interest in engineering, and career exploration. This study provides insights into implementing the engineering education emphasized in the revised 2022 technical and vocational curriculum in school settings. The results have implications for the technology education field and future curriculum revisions.

Recycling Product Model and Its Application for Quantitative Assessment of Product Recycling Properties

The consideration of environmental factors is common in current product design. For the purpose of the assessment of recycling properties of a product, quantitative measures have been defined in the literature. The main obstacle in using these measures in practical design is lack of data in typical product models. In this article, a Recycling Product Model (RPM) is presented. The RPM enables calculations of quantitative assessment measures defined in the literature directly from a CAD 3D product model. The term RPM and elements of the RPM are described. The functionality of the software dedicated for the RPM is presented. The use of the RPM is demonstrated based on a case study of an actual CAD 3D product model. The article concludes by outlining the potential use of the RPM for other purposes; the limitations of the RPM are elucidated in the conclusions of the article.

Ribosome Profiling and Mass Spectrometry Reveal Widespread Mitochondrial Translation Defects in a Striatal Cell Model of Huntington Disease

Huntington disease (HD) is caused by an expanded polyglutamine mutation in huntingtin (mHTT) that promotes prominent atrophy in the striatum and subsequent psychiatric, cognitive deficits, and choreiform movements. Multiple lines of evidence point to an association between HD and aberrant striatal mitochondrial functions; however, the present knowledge about whether (or how) mitochondrial mRNA translation is differentially regulated in HD remains unclear. We found that protein synthesis is diminished in HD mitochondria compared to healthy control striatal cell models. We utilized ribosome profiling (Ribo-Seq) to analyze detailed snapshots of ribosome occupancy of the mitochondrial mRNA transcripts in control and HD striatal cell models. The Ribo-Seq data revealed almost unaltered ribosome occupancy on the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial transcripts involved in oxidative phosphorylation (SDHA, Ndufv1, Timm23, Tomm5, Mrps22) in HD cells. By contrast, ribosome occupancy was dramatically increased for mitochondrially encoded oxidative phosphorylation mRNAs (mt-Nd1, mt-Nd2, mt-Nd4, mt-Nd4l, mt-Nd5, mt-Nd6, mt-Co1, mt-Cytb, and mt-ATP8). We also applied tandem mass tag–based mass spectrometry identification of mitochondrial proteins to derive correlations between ribosome occupancy and actual mature mitochondrial protein products. We found many mitochondrial transcripts with comparable or higher ribosome occupancy, but diminished mitochondrial protein products, in HD. Thus, our study provides the first evidence of a widespread dichotomous effect on ribosome occupancy and protein abundance of mitochondria-related genes in HD.

Bimetallic Fe/Ni metal organic framework-based hypoxanthine biosensor for early monitoring of freshness changes of aquatic products

The timely detection of freshness changes of aquatic products is crucial. In this study, we have developed a reliable, cost-effective, and user-friendly method for rapidly detecting hypoxanthine using a xanthine oxidase (XOD)/nanozyme enzymatic cascade system. The nanozyme, derived from the Fe7/Ni3 metal–organic framework (Fe7Ni3MOF), exhibited good peroxidase-mimetic activity and stability. Our proposed XOD/Fe7Ni3MOF enzymatic cascade system demonstrated a linear response to hypoxanthine in the range of 3–70 μM, with a low detection limit of 1.39 μM. We also analyzed hypoxanthine in actual aquatic products, achieving spiked recoveries ranging from 90.04 % to 107.37 %. The correlation coefficient between our developed colorimetric method and the HPLC method was 0.98. Importantly, our proposed method holds several advantages over alternative techniques, particularly in terms of cost-effectiveness, precision, and speed. Consequently, this methodology shows great promise for the early detection of freshness changes in aquatic samples.

Green innovation and product line decisions under environmental standard upgrading

With the continuous improvement of product environmental standards, using or selling older generation products will increase additional environmental costs, resulting in a decrease in consumer preference for older generation products or products on hand. This paper investigates the impact of specific product environmental standards implementation on enterprise product line extension and pricing strategies. We find that if the production cost is low or the consumers’ green sensitivity is high enough, the manufacturer’s green production can be better than the designated standard. When the unit production cost of new products is within a certain range, the manufacturer’s profit will increase, otherwise it will decrease. In addition, we present the manufacturer’s product line update strategy in different market segments defined by different cost thresholds, which indicate the cases where the manufacturer will be forced to withdraw from the market. Moreover, we examine the correlation between consumer quality preference and market demand, and discover that an elevation in consumer preference for product functional quality does not necessarily result in a corresponding increase in product demand. Finally, we investigate the relationship between the manufacturer’s actual green product decision and the specified environmental standard, and give the decision areas where the manufacturer’s actual green decision is higher (or lower) than or equal to the specified green standard. The results suggest that blindly improving environmental standards by policymakers does not necessarily lead to an improvement in manufacturers’ green decisions.

A new prediction method for sodium aluminate solution evaporation integrating process knowledge and data-driven spatial-temporal adaptive model

In alumina production, the evaporation as the key process uses recyclable resources and reduces environmental pollution. In fact, the quality of export product with offline and delayed, results in low precision of process control and high energy consumption. To ensure green and efficient production, in this paper, a new prediction method integrating process knowledge and data-driven spatial-temporal adaptive model is put forward. First, to preprocessed production data for ensuring modeling accuracy, data reconciliation technology is adopted. Then, based on material and heat transfer mechanism, for equipment and industrial process, the mechanism models are established. Furthermore, with time difference and moving window model, an error compensation method is utilized in terms of double locally weighted kernel PLS for estimation error in hypothesis-based mechanism modeling. Finally, the data-driven spatial-temporal adaptive model and the process knowledge-based mechanism model are integrated. To illustrate the model feasibility, an industrial sodium aluminate solution evaporation is used. It demonstrates that, for the developed model, the prediction accuracy can reach more than 90% within the ±2% error range, and effectively estimate the actual product quality and ensure the prediction effect.

Research on the Development Strategy of Intangible Cultural Heritage Theme Study Tour for Primary and Secondary School Students in Tai'an City

The implementation of the policy of reducing the homework burden and extracurricular training burden on students in compulsory education reflects the emphasis on cultivating comprehensive abilities of students at the national level. Study tour is a comprehensive practical education activity course that closely integrates on campus education and off campus education. Its learning, exploratory, and experiential nature is an effective way to enhance students' comprehensive quality, cultivate innovative spirit, and practical ability. In recent years, the country and various provinces and cities have regarded study tours as an important part of promoting quality education, and have successively introduced various policy measures to encourage the development of study tours. Intangible cultural heritage study tour is a cultural tourism education activity that integrates the design and development of "intangible cultural heritage" and "study tour". It can not only guide the learning and practice of primary and secondary school students, but also promote the "active" inheritance of intangible cultural heritage. This article takes Tai'an City as the research object, starting from stakeholder theory, tourism experience theory, and education related theory, and adopts literature research, questionnaire survey, and field investigation methods to study the intangible cultural heritage study tour in Tai'an City. It proposes three principles for the development of intangible cultural heritage study tour products, and proposes to build a "big publicity pattern", develop a type of "diversified curriculum", and provide a "comprehensive support" The development strategy of building a "professional team" is to design an intangible cultural heritage study tour product that combines ancient architecture and shadow puppetry, in order to explore a development model suitable for the actual study tour product in Tai'an City, and provide reference and ideas for other counties and even larger study tour markets.

Examination of Turkish-made products with the theory of planned behavior: A research on regular migrants in Turkey

This paper investigates the examination of Turkish-made products with the theory of planned behavior. The exploration of regular immigration, encompassing individuals relocating to other countries either temporarily or permanently for various reasons, stands as a prominent subject in current international research. This article examines the attitudes of regular immigrants towards products made in Turkey, employing the theory of planned behavior. In the research, where the quantitative research method was followed, regular immigrants residing in Turkey were selected as the research population. A survey was used as a data collection technique in the research, and the prepared survey form was applied online to regular immigrants currently residing in Turkey, and 444 responses were obtained. The obtained data were analyzed using AMOS and SPSS 26.0 statistical programs, and according to the research questions, correlation and regression analyses were applied. The findings showcase that the attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls of regular immigrants towards Turkish-made products significantly influence their behavioral intentions. Moreover, these intentions have a positive effect on their actual product usage or purchases. Notably, individuals exhibit favorable behavioral intentions towards Turkish products, which has a significant positive effect on their purchasing behavior. Since this study focuses specifically on Turkey, a host to one of the largest immigrant populations globally, and aims to dissect the impact of migrated country products on consumption preferences in multiple ways, it is important.