High Level Of Transparency Research Articles

Transparent organic photovoltaics: A strategic niche to advance commercialization

<h2>Summary</h2> After more than a decade of organic photovoltaics making introductory steps into the market, the scientific and industrial communities keep working toward the consolidation of this technology in the market. The recent development of materials that yield simultaneously high levels of efficiency and transparency brings the opportunity to enter important niche markets, such as transparent photovoltaic windows, in which organic semiconductors might become the best alternative absorber. In this perspective, we provide an overview of the technological progress in organic photovoltaics especially relevant for target semitransparent applications, highlighting key R&D aspects that demand more attention from an industrial and product-development perspective. We conclude that strong effort is needed to develop higher-performing photoactive materials and roll-to-roll compatible interlayer materials and electrodes. Although this is already a significant research focus of the academic community, we identify that reinforcing research effort on topics such as improvement in device lifetime, color portfolio, and module design and efficiency will help in making a significant effect on changing the status of organic photovoltaics from a novel technology to a mature industry.

Consumer response tendency and its implications for satisfaction and recommendation intention

ABSTRACT It is important to understand customer satisfaction and loyalty from the perspective of business and services. However, when comparing these indicators among multiple services, it is doubtful whether superiority or inferiority in customer satisfaction and loyalty is due to different levels of service quality. In other words, there is a possibility that consumer response tendency may differ depending on the service and the attributes of the respondent. Few academic studies address response tendency in this context. This study filled this gap in the literature and clarify response tendency by service type, which has not been sufficiently addressed until now. This study evaluates the response tendencies of satisfaction and recommendation intention by service and respondent using an integrated survey covering 20 types of services. As a result of one-way analysis of variance, a high score was confirmed for the car sharing and streaming industries, for which consumer recommendations are incorporated into services, and the moving industry scored highly due to a high level of transparency in operations. Additionally, the younger generation, who habitually post recommendations on social networks, showed a significantly higher recommendation intention. This study shows that understanding respond tendency in advance and excluding bias from data provides truer results.

DETERMINANTS OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES MOBILISATION OF INTEREST-FREE COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN ILORIN, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Interest-free Cooperative society is introduced as a mirror of conventional cooperatives though on the principle of Islamic finance, to mobilise financial resources with the aim of promoting the socio-economic welfare of their members. There is however some restriction to the quantity of savings that could be mobilized. The study therefore assessed the determinants of savings mobilization in interest-free cooperative in Ilorin Kwara State. Data were collected with the use of questionnaire which was administered on 365 members of institution-based interest-free cooperative societies in Ilorin metropolis. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Cronbach’s alpha tests were performed to establish the validity and reliability of the research instrument. Logistic regression analysis was conducted and it was found that mode of saving, credit administration, internal governance and member’s awareness have positive effect on volume of savings mobilized and the effects are significant at 5% and 1% level of significance. The study concluded that the mode of savings, credit administration, internal governance, and members awareness affect resources mobilization of Islamic cooperatives in Ilorin metropolis. Direct deduction of savings from salaries, higher level of transparency and accountability, sensitization campaign are recommended for effective and efficient financial resources mobilization in interest-free cooperative societies.

Optical clearing in cardiac imaging: A comparative study

The optical clearing of the cardiac tissue has always been a challenging goal to obtain successful three-dimensional reconstructions of entire hearts. Typically, the developed protocols are targeted at the clearing of the brain; cardiac tissue requires proper arrangements to the original protocols, which are usually tough and time-consuming to figure out. Here, we present the application of three different clearing methodologies on mouse hearts: uDISCO, CLARITY, and SHIELD. For each approach, we describe the required optimizations that we have developed to improve the outcome; in particular, we focus on comparing the features of the tissue after the application of each methodology, especially in terms of tissue preservation, transparency, and staining. We found that the uDISCO protocol induces strong fiber delamination of the cardiac tissue, thus reducing the reliability of structural analyses. The CLARITY protocol confers a high level of transparency to the heart and allows deep penetration of the fluorescent dyes; however, it requires long times for the clearing and the tissue loses its robustness. The SHIELD methodology, indeed, is very promising for tissue maintenance since it preserves its consistency and provides ideal transparency, but further approaches are needed to obtain homogeneous staining of the whole heart. Since the CLARITY procedure, despite the disadvantages in terms of tissue preservation and timings, is actually the most suitable approach to image labeled samples in depth, we optimized and performed the methodology also on human cardiac tissue from control hearts and hearts with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Past, present and no future—survivors’ perceptions of organizational decline

This article investigates the work attitudes of survivors during the ongoing decline of a firm with no prospect of recovery due to external causes. Data from a German firm is used as a case study. In particular, we explore whether transparency is a tool for keeping and regaining trust while decreasing stress and, hence, leads to high and stable employee satisfaction even during adverse times. Analyzing data from both an employee attitude survey and an executive attitude survey with over 25,000 and 1,700 initial responses, we run multiple mediation models and find that transparency is a tool for keeping and regaining trust while decreasing stress and, hence, is associated with increasing satisfaction during a decline. Thus, for both employees and their executives, high levels of transparency and trust seem to be effective in mitigating the negative effects of downsizing. We discuss the results with regard to potential declines in several key industries.

Multilayer Ensemble Evolving Fuzzy Inference System

In order to tackle high dimensional, complex problems, learning models have to go deeper. In this article, a novel multilayer ensemble learning model with first-order evolving fuzzy systems as its building blocks is introduced. The proposed approach can effectively learn from streaming data on a sample-by-sample basis and self-organizes its multilayered system structure and meta-parameters in a feedforward, noniterative manner. Benefiting from its multilayered distributed representation learning ability, the ensemble system not only demonstrates the state-of-the-art performance on various problems, but also offers high level of system transparency and explainability. Theoretical justifications and experimental investigation show the validity and effectiveness of the proposed concept and general principles.

User Evaluation of the Swedish Patient Accessible Electronic Health Record: System Usability Scale.

BackgroundTransparency is increasingly called for in health care, especially, when it comes to patients’ access to their electronic health records. In Sweden, the e-service Journalen is a national patient accessible electronic health record (PAEHR), accessible online via the national patient portal. User characteristics and perceived benefits of using a PAEHR influence behavioral intention for use and adoption, but poor usability that increases the effort expectancy can have a negative impact. It is, therefore, of interest to explore how users of the PAEHR Journalen perceive its usability and usefulness.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore how the users of the Swedish PAEHR experience the usability of the system and to identify differences in these experiences based on the level of transparency of the region.MethodsA survey study was conducted to elicit opinions and experiences of patients using Journalen. The data were collected from June to October 2016. The questionnaire included questions regarding the usability of the system from the System Usability Scale (SUS). The SUS analysis was the focus of this paper. Analysis was performed on different levels: nationally looking at the whole data set and breaking it down by focusing on 2 different regions to explore differences in experienced usability based on the level of transparency.ResultsDuring the survey period, 423,141 users logged into Journalen, of which 2587 unique users completed the survey (response rate 0.61%). The total mean score for all respondents to the SUS items was 79.81 (SD 14.25), which corresponds to a system with good usability. To further explore whether the level of transparency in a region would affect the user’s experience of the usability of the system, we analyzed the 2 regions with the most respondents: Region Uppsala (the first to launch, with a high level of transparency), and Region Skåne (an early implementer, with a low level of transparency at the time of the survey). Of the participants who responded to at least 1 SUS statement, 520 stated that they had received care in Region Skåne, whereas 331 participants had received care in Region Uppsala. Uppsala’s mean SUS score was 80.71 (SD 13.41), compared with Skåne’s mean of 79.37 (SD 13.78).ConclusionsThe Swedish national PAEHR Journalen has a reasonably good usability (mean SUS score 79.81, SD 14.25); however, further research into more specific usability areas are needed to ensure usefulness and ease of use in the future. A somewhat higher SUS score for the region with high transparency compared with the region with low transparency could indicate a relationship between the perceived usability of a PAEHR and the level of transparency offered, but further research on the relationship between transparency and usability is required.

Impact of ultralow yttrium concentration on formation, morphology and optical properties of DC magnetron co-sputtered yttrium-doped ZnO films

In this article, we reveal the effect of ultralow concentration of Y dopant on the formation, structure peculiarities and optical properties of yttrium-doped ZnO (YZO) films. The YZO films were deposited on glass substrates at 250 °C and at room temperature (HT and RT, correspondingly) with the magnetron co-sputtering method in a direct current (DC) regime. The Y content in the ZnO matrix was varied by DC power applied to the Y target, and did not exceed 0.14 and 0.11 at.% for RT and HT regimes, correspondingly. For the first time it was revealed that the presence of ultralow Y dopant in the co-sputtering process at RT abruptly increases the growth rate of the YZO films by 20%, enlarges the size of crystallites and degree of texture, and cardinally changes the morphology. For the HT regime, the smooth increasing of the deposition rate and the morphological changing of the YZO films with an increase in the Y content were registered. The deposited YZO films demonstrated a high level of optical transparency in the visible and IR region. Ultralow Y doping of ZnO led to decreasing of the bandgap width. The ZnO and YZO films possessed the resistivity typical for insulators even at the highest Y content at both RT and HT deposition regimes.

Sow what you sell: strategies for integrating organic breeding and seed production into value chain partnerships

ABSTRACT The development of an independent organic breeding and seed sector poses a significant challenge for organic agriculture in Europe. It should deliver cultivars suitable to the principles and conditions of organic farming and secure the integrity of future product supply. This study seeks to identify promising pathways to address this challenge by analyzing value chain organization. It is based on a mixed method approach combining the assessment of qualitative data from a stakeholder dialogue with an analysis of quantitative farm survey data. The results from the stakeholder dialogue show that a value chain partnership is a promising strategy to distribute the burden for refinancing breeding, as the whole organic sector would profit from organic breeding. A cross-sector pool funding strategy is proposed for joining forces among all value chain partners of the organic sector to invest in organic breeding and collectively secure the integrity of the future organic product supply. Four success factors have been identified: a long-term commitment, a pool fund for organic cultivar development, awareness-raising on the importance of breeding, and a high level of transparency in the process. The funding strategy is backed up by findings on market channels. Farmers who market their products through long value chains use less organic seed than those marketing through short value chains. This highlights the need to better integrate long organic value chains such as processors, traders, and retailers, and seed supply. Regardless of the marketing channel, farmers consider the development of organic breeding a vital measure to achieve higher organic seed use. This indicates that overcoming organic seed shortage is more likely to be achieved when also including breeding activities.

Diminished autonomy and justice in liver transplantation – The price of scarcity?

Patient autonomy and distributive justice are fundamental ethical principles that may be at risk in liver transplant units where decisions are dictated by the need to maximise the utility of scarce donor organs. The processes of patient selection, organ allocation and prioritisation on the wait list have evolved in a constrained environment, leading to high levels of complexity and low transparency. Regarding paternalism, opaque listing and allocation criteria, patient factors such as passivity, guilt, chronic illness and sub-clinical encephalopathy are cited as factors that may inhibit patient engagement. Regarding justice, established regional, gender and race based inequities are described. The paradox whereby hepatologists both advocate for individual patients and discharge their duty of stewardship to apportion organs according to larger utilitarian principles is explored. Competing subjective factors such as physicians’ perception of moral responsibility, the qualitative nature of expert medical assessment and institutional or personal loyalty to re-transplantation candidates are described. Realistic limits of self-determination and justice are discussed, and possible future directions in terms of patient involvement proposed.

A Commitment to Public Office Ethics Reduces the Administrative Corruption Manifestation in Sudan

This paper dealt with the issue of a commitment to the public office ethics reduces the administrative corruption manifestations in Sudan. The purpose of this paper is to find out what are the administrative corruption manifestations and how the commitment to the public office ethics contributes in the decreasing of administrative corruption forms. This paper depends on the literature review and uses descriptive approach in order to describe the forms of corruption which are related to the administration. Qualitative method has been followed in this work because, according to the view of the researcher, it is acceptable for this kind of study. The findings show that, embezzlement, extortion, exploitation of public position, forgery, deception, mediation, nepotism, favouritism and gifts to the public office are all shapes of administrative corruption that are pervasive in Sudan, Also, it indicates that, high levels of corporate transparency (auditing and reporting) and high Internet access can be beneficial in Sudan, that by combating corruption in the public sector and adopting effective policies to encourage the development of the private sector. Likewise, increase of salaries and wages for public sector workers can contribute in corruption reduction. The study recommends strongly to implement the principles of ethics of public offices, and law should be set in order to organize the bad morals of individuals in government agencies in Sudan.

Tax-Exempt Status and Associated Factors among Charitable Foundations in China

Tax exemption plays an important role in the sustainability of charitable organizations (COs). The 2016 Charity Law of China provides stronger tax incentives for charity donations. Using 767 observations of Chinese charitable foundations (CFs) during 2010–2018 from the China Foundation Center database and manually collected tax-exempt status data, this study applies multivariate logistic regression analysis to examine the association between tax-exempt status and related key factors, such as transparency and donation dependency. This study found that a one-point increase in the transparency score of a CF is associated with a 3.9 percentage points higher likelihood of having at least one type of tax-exempt qualification (OR = 1.039, p &lt; 0.01). There is in general a significantly positive association between tax-exempt status and donation dependency of CFs in China. After 2016, the CFs responded actively to the tax incentive provided by the Charity Law, which in return requires a higher level of transparency. These results suggest that taxation under the legal system may effectively function to promote the sustainability of charity foundations in China in the long run. Further studies are needed to explore in-depth why CFs with advanced tax-exempt qualifications concentrate in Beijing and Shanghai.

ANALISIS PENGARUH AKUNTABILITAS DAN TRANSPARANSI PENGELOLAAN KEUANGAN DAERAH TERHADAP KINERJA PEMERINTAH DAERAH

This study aims to prove the influence of accountability and transparency in the financial management of the performance of the local government area of the province of Bengkulu. This study used a questionnaire to collect the data, the sampling method used in this research is purposive sampling with sample criteria, namely Echelon III and Echelon IV, section Accounting or Section Bookkeeping on each Unit (SKPD) in the government of Bengkulu province. The results showed that the accountability of financial management and significant positive effect on the performance of the local government of Bengkulu province. This means that the higher accountability in financial management will be able to improve the performance of the local government of Bengkulu province. Similarly, the transparency of financial management, positive and significant effect on the performance of local government. In this case, the higher level of transparency in the financial management of local government performance will also be better. By increasing accountability and transparency in the financial management of all existing units expected to improve the performance of local governments in order to promote the establishment of good governance.

PENERAPAN GOOD POLITICAL GOVERNANCE SEBAGAI UPAYA TRANSPARANSI DANA PARTAI POLITIK

All Political Parties have fulfilled the Receipt and Use of Campaign Funds (LPPDK) reports, because if they are not fulfilled, they will get sanctions based on KPU Regulations. The preparation of these various reports shows that political parties are obliged to demonstrate good governance to the public, in order to form a stigma that political parties have high accountability with a high level of transparency. However, in reality this is not directly proportional to the daily governance of political parties. This study uses a qualitative research method with an interpretive approach, where data collection uses data triangulation. As for the results of the research, namely the rules that cover political parties are clear, but their application has not been implemented as the existing legal umbrella, namely law. Unlike the case with the implementation of elections related to campaign funds. Realizing good political party governance must start from the awareness of party officials to always present data and reports in a transparent manner, not only obeying during elections but continuously and continuously. Not only afraid of direct sanctions imposed by the KPU, but also pay attention to the continuity and sustainability of political parties. Going concern does not only apply to business entities, but it is also important to apply to political party organizations. Political parties are a gathering place for cadres who become and or will still be public officials who later carry out the mandate and work for the people, this is the reason for the importance of accountability and transparency for good party governance.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INDICATOR SYSTEM IN MODELING OF COMPLEX TECHNICAL SYSTEMS

Context. The problem of determining the optimal topology of a neuromodel, which is characterized by a high level of logical transparency in modeling complex technical systems, is considered. The object of research is the process of applying an indicator system to simplify and select the topology of neuromodels.&#x0D; Objective of the work is to develop and use a system of indicators to determine the level of complexity of the modeling problem and gradually select the optimal logically transparent topology of the neuromodel.&#x0D; Method. A method is proposed for selecting an optimal, logically transparent neural network topology for modeling complex technical systems using a system of corresponding indicators. At the beginning, the method determines the overall level of complexity of the modeling task and, using the obtained estimate, determines the method for further optimization of the neuromodel. Then, using Task data and input data characteristics, the method allows to obtain the most optimal structure of the neural model for further modeling of the system. The method reduces trainingvtime and increases the level of logical transparency of neuromodels, which significantly expands the practical use of such models, without using neuroevolution methods, which may not be justified by resource-intensive tasks.&#x0D; Results. The developed method is implemented and investigated in solving the problem of modeling the dynamics of pitting processes of steel alloys. Using the developed method made it possible to reduce the training time of the model by 22%, depending on the computing resources used. The method also increased the level of logical transparency of the model by reducing the number of computing nodes by 50%, which also indicates faster and more efficient use of resources.&#x0D; Conclusions. The conducted experiments confirmed the operability of the proposed mathematical support and allow us to recommend it for use in practice in the design of topologies of neuromodels for further solving modeling, diagnosis and evaluation problems. Prospects for further research may consist in the development of methods for structural optimization of previously synthesized models and the development of new methods for feature selection.

The effects of corruption on growth, human development and natural resources sector: empirical evidence from a Bayesian panel VAR for Latin American and Nordic countries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of corruption on economic growth, human development and natural resources in Latin American and Nordic countries.Design/methodology/approachUsing the hierarchical prior of Gelman et al. (2003), a Bayesian panel Vector AutoRegression (VAR) model is estimated. In addition, two alternative approaches are considered, namely, a panel error correction VAR model and an asymmetric panel VAR model.FindingsThe results reveal some relevant contrasts: (1) in Latin America there is support for the sand the wheels hypothesis in Bolivia and Chile, support for the grease the wheels hypothesis in Colombia and no significant impact of corruption on growth in Brazil and Peru, while in Nordic countries the response of growth to shocks in corruption is negative in all cases; (2) corruption negatively affects human development in all countries from both regions; (3) corruption tends to spur natural resources sector in Latin American countries, while it is detrimental for natural resources sector in Nordic countries.Research limitations/implicationsThe panel VAR approach uses recursive scheme identification. The authors have analyzed robustness using alternative ordering of the variables. The authors also have followed two alternatives suggested by the Referee: a panel error correction VAR model and a panel asymmetric VAR model. However, another more sophisticated identification scheme could be used. Also other variables could be introduced in the VAR model.Practical implicationsRegardless of the issue of the “grease” vs the “sand the wheels” debate, corruption should be reduced because it is anyway harmful for human development. The differences in the results for Latin American and Nordic countries show that the effects of corruption have to be assessed considering the different institutional and economic conditions of the countries analyzed.Social implicationsGovernments should seek to reduce corruption because, despite corruption can have mixed effects on economic growth in some contexts, it is anyway harmful for human development. Besides, the finding that in some Latin American countries more activity in the extractive industries is generated by means of corruption confirm the association between corruption and extractivism found by Gudynas (2017) and can explain why there are issues of environmental damage and social conflict linked to natural resources in those countries.Originality/valueThe present study contributes to the literature by presenting evidence on the effects of corruption on growth, human development and natural resources sector in Latin American and Nordic countries. It is the first study on economics of corruption which directly compares Latin American and Nordic countries. This is relevant because there are important differences between both regions since Latin American countries tend to suffer from widespread corruption, while the Nordic ones have a high level of transparency. It is also the first in using a Bayesian panel VAR approach in order to evaluate the effects of corruption.

Application of the Intervention Mapping Protocol to Develop &lt;i&gt;Sahtak bi Sahnak&lt;/i&gt;, a School-Based Intervention to Prevent Pediatric Obesity among Lebanese Adolescents

Background: Pediatric obesity is a major public health concern worldwide. Improving dietary and physical activity habits at a young age could prevent many health complications during adulthood and later years. Objective: This paper describes the application of the Intervention Mapping protocol for the systematic development of the Lebanese intervention “Sahtak bi Sahnak” (meaning Your health in your plate) that focuses on preventing pediatric obesity and promoting a healthy lifestyle through a systematically designed and culturally appropriate, school-based program. Method: The development of this intervention is based on the six steps of the Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol. This intervention targets Lebanese adolescents aged 15–18 years enrolled in Lebanese public and private high schools, located in urban and rural areas. Its effectiveness will be tested in a Clustered Randomized Controlled Trial in 16 high schools. Discussion and conclusion: The IM protocol allowed us to develop a theory based, low resource intervention which can be integrated as part of the educational curriculum of public and private high schools in Lebanon. This study provides a detailed example of the application of the IM approach in the Lebanese high school context. Even though it is a time-consuming process, IM serves as a valuable tool in the health promotion field and provides a high level of transparency to improve and replicate the process in the future.

The Common European Framework of Reference and the Co-Constructed Language Curriculum

For the last two decades, the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) has been instrumental in the globalisation of language policy not only across Europe but also around the world. The CEFR competency profiles, expressed in action-oriented statements, provide a clear articulation of language proficiency levels. The comprehensive scales of language competence the CEFR have created provide an essential instrument for language professionals and language learners: a shared language. The CEFR scales and statements assist learners in developing an understanding of the standards of performance expected of them, and allow teachers to ensure coherence between desired learning outcomes, classroom activities and assessment tasks, thus bringing a high level of transparency to the language curriculum. Two initiatives making use of the CEFR descriptors will be discussed: the redesign of an entire three year language curriculum and an approach to language curriculum design that gives a voice to students and lead to a collaborative and continuous design process.

Blockchain Networks as Constitutional and Competitive Polycentric Orders

Permissionless blockchains have been described as a novel institutional building block for voluntary economic exchange, with unique protocol features such as automated contract execution, high levels of network and process transparency, and uniquely distributed governance. We argue that conventional institutional economics analysis of blockchain networks is incomplete absent a more robust application of descriptive polycentric analysis. Though the distributed governance that permissionless blockchain protocols provide is novel, these networks nonetheless require ongoing coordination between stakeholders and are subject to competitive pressures much like other private organizations pursuing similar goals for a set of users who can choose among providers. We characterize change on blockchain networks as resulting from internal sources and external sources. These internal sources include constitutional (protocol) design and the related need for collective choice processes to update protocols. In addition to law and regulation, competitive pressure is itself a critical external source of governance. Predominantly through analysis of two leading cryptocurrency networks, Bitcoin and Ethereum, we illustrate how conceptualizing of blockchain as a polycentric enterprise enhances our predictive and descriptive understanding of these networks.

Significant directions of digitalization of the Khabarovsk Territory economy in the implementation of the national program “Digital Economy”

The research is devoted to the modern development of digital transformation in the Russian economy, including in the Khabarovsk Territory; the difficulties of implementing the directions of the “Digital Economy”. In this study, an attempt is made to compare the strategic goals of the development of the “Digital Economy”, modern processes of digital transformation and such an important component of it as "Integration 4.0" related to the “industrial Internet”, digital production, intelligent components, including the collection of large amounts of data, cyberphysical systems, remote monitoring and maintenance. “Industry 4.0” accelerates production processes, increases its efficiency and the quality of manufactured goods, reduces the cost of delivery, tracks production chains, etc. Currently, the industry of Western countries uses Industry 4.0 standards at the production management level. In developed countries, such as Germany, South Korea, etc., they realize the importance of automation and computerization, which became the main tool of the third industrial revolution, and its tools for the transition to “Industry 4.0”. International standards are developed for industries that use computer algorithms to monitor and control physical things, such as equipment, robots and vehicles. Standards that work on the basis of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and cyber—physical systems — intelligent autonomous systems that define all components of the supply chain, transforming production processes into “smart” - from smart manufacturing and factories to smart warehouses and logistics. And, the same systems are associated with the previous stage of industrial production, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP). All this ensures a high level of transparency and control over the activities of the organization. At the present stage, there are excellent opportunities for the development of Industry 4.0 in Russia, but there are also difficulties, overcoming which are significant directions of the digitalization processes of the modern economy. The authors devoted their research to the analysis of such difficulties.