Quality Perspective Research Articles

Laser powder bed fusion of metallic components: Latest progress in productivity, quality, and cost perspectives

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is an innovative metal Additive Manufacturing process that enables the production of highly complex parts with unique precision, making it a crucial technology for demanding applications such as aerospace and automotive industries. However, the efficiency of the L-PBF process should be enhanced compared to traditional manufacturing methods to approach alleviated production costs and improved productivity. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the L-PBF process, including the primary factors that impact productivity and quality performance. Hence, several efforts have been undertaken to address these limitations and explore various innovative strategies. Modifications to process parameters, such as increasing the layer thickness and employing statistical approaches, optimization algorithms, and numerical modeling to advance the construction rate, are part of efforts to improve the efficacy of L-PBF. Considering the economic implications and practical implementation of these innovations alongside such approaches is essential. These factors are critical for ensuring that the advantages of increased productivity and decreased costs are realized across various applications. Through a series of illustrative case studies, this paper demonstrates how these approaches can improve the performance of L-PBF and help realize its full potential across an extensive range of applications.

How digital transformation affects the cost of equity capital: the role of information disclosure quality and stock liquidity

Abstract To achieve high-quality development, a critical question needs to be addressed: can enterprise digital transformation effectively alleviate enterprise financing problems by reducing the cost of equity capital? This study uses the text mining to analyze the financial statement from Chinese companies listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share markets between 2011 and 2021, in order to define the digital transformation. Further, this study empirically tests the influencing mechanisms of digital transformation on the cost of equity capital, considering the perspectives of information disclosure quality and stock liquidity. The conclusions are as follows: (i) enterprise digital transformation can significantly reduce the cost of equity capital, and under the control of other variables, the cost of equity financing will be reduced by 8.8% for every 1% increase in digital transformation; (ii) digital transformation not only leads to a decrease in the cost of equity capital through the two independent mediation channels, improving information disclosure and accelerating stock liquidity, but also reduces the cost of equity capital through the chain mediation channel from information disclosure quality to stock liquidity; (iii) heterogeneity analysis finds that the effect of digital information on the cost of equity capital is more pronounced in larger, non-state-owned, non-high-tech and eastern enterprises. This study enriches the research of the influence of digital transformation on external financing, and plays an important role in the promotion of enterprise digital transformation and the formulation of targeted policies.

Accounting and Financial in Pharmacy Practice: Quality Perspective

Accounting and Financial in Pharmacy Practice: Quality Perspective

Correlation of drug exposure and bacterial susceptibility with treatment response for Mycobacterium avium complex lung disease: protocol for a prospective observational cohort study

IntroductionThe burden of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) lung disease is increasing globally and treatment outcome is in general poor. Therapeutic drug monitoring has the potential to improve treatment outcome by...

Education Between Future Perspective and Demand for Quality and Accreditation

The study aimed to identify the current education system between looking to the future and the issue of quality and reliability, as the issue of quality and accreditation many educators and specialists in the field from the principle of providing a high level of reliability to all educational and educational programmers and youth in the teacher, the curriculum and the educational environment, whether in school stage university mother represented, in addition to the importance of the presence of modern technology in education and its impact on future generations in the future; where this study came to shed light on the importance of education and its impact on individuals and society through the introduction of all kinds of educational and technological innovations; The study followed the qualitative analytical approach based on the theoretical research study. This study concludes that it is necessary to work on strengthening education, whether in school or university, with all the new knowledge and modern technologies, the impact of which is reflected on students and society, contributing to the continuity of progress, growth, and prosperity of societies.

The Home Healthcare Boom: Opportunities and Obstacles in India’s Changing Healthcare Landscape

India is currently experiencing a demographic and epidemiological transition characterized by an aging population and an increase in chronic diseases, resulting in a greater demand for home healthcare services. Despite the critical nature and expansion of this area, home healthcare delivery in India remains under-researched. There is a dearth of information about the services, providers and organizations that offer services at home. There are various concerns in the provision of home healthcare services. These relate to accessibility and availability, information on providers, regulatory issues, standards of care, costs, safety concerns, and grievance redressal mechanisms for providers and users, which are among the topics discussed in this article. The article concludes that there is a need to recognize the “home” as a place for providing healthcare and as a “workplace” of care providers, develop standardized processes and guidelines for delivering care for different conditions at home, adopt standard human resource practices in deployment of care providers, bring transparency in the calculation of the cost of services and regulation of costs, and establish grievance redressal mechanisms for users, providers, and organizations. Further research is recommended on aspects such as user and provider perspective, training and supervision of providers, and financing, accreditation, and quality of services.

Development Opportunities and Challenges of Digital Therapy in China

With the development of new technologies such as the Internet, big data, and AI, digital therapy has gradually developed into an emerging sector in digital diagnosis and treatment. Even 6 years after the global development of digital therapy, numerous problems that need to be solved have been identified through research and investigation. Through comparative analysis of the current development status of digital therapy both domestically and internationally, this study proposes opportunities for its development in China from both policy and technology perspectives, as well as corresponding challenges from the perspectives of cognition, classification, and quality. In response to these challenges, it proposes prospects and suggestions for the future development of digital therapy.

The Effect of Rotary Friction Welding Conditions on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Ti6Al4V Titanium Alloy Welds.

The main task that the article introduces is the experimental study of how the geometry of contact surfaces affects the quality and mechanical properties of a rotary friction weld (RFW), as well as the findings of whether the RFW technology is suitable for the titanium alloy Ti6Al4V. The experiments were carried out for specimens with a diameter of 10 mm and were performed at 900 RPM. Three types of geometry were proposed for the RFW process: flat on flat, flat on 37.5° and flat on 45°. Based on these results, the best tested flat geometry was selected from the perspective of quality and economic efficiency. The welded joints were subjected to microstructural analysis, tensile testing, microhardness testing, and fractography, as well as spectral analysis of the fracture surface and EDS map analysis of oxygen. The flat geometry of the contact surface resulted in the least saturation with interstitial elements from the atmosphere. Fracturing in the RFW zone led to a brittle fracture with a certain proportion of plastic deformation. A pure ductile fracture occurred in specimens fractured in the HAZ region, where the difference in UTS values compared to specimens fractured by a brittle fracture mechanism was not significant. The average UTS value was 478 MPa.

Comparison of binocular visual quality in six treatment protocols for bilateral cataract surgery with presbyopia correction: a prospective two-center single-blinded cohort study

Objective To compare the postoperative binocular visual quality in six treatment protocols for bilateral age-related cataract surgery with presbyopia correction for clinical decisions. Materials and methods In this prospective two-center single-blinded cohort study, participants from North or South China who underwent bilateral phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation were divided into six protocols: monovision, diffractive bifocal, mixed, refractive bifocal, trifocal, and micro-monovision extended range of vision (EROV). Binocular visual quality was evaluated at 3 months postoperatively, including binocular uncorrected full-range visual acuity, binocular defocus curves (depth of focus [DoF] and area under the curve [AUC]), binocular visual function (fusion function and stereopsis), binocular subjective spectacle independence rates, visual analog scale (VAS) of overall satisfaction, 25-item visual function questionnaire (VFQ-25), and binocular dysphotopsia symptoms. Results Of the 300 enrolled patients, 272 (90.7%; 544 eyes) were analyzed. The trifocal protocol showed excellent binocular full-range visual acuity and the best performance for most DoFs and AUCs. The monovision protocol presented the worst binocular visual quality in most perspectives, especially in convergence, distance, and near stereopsis (p < 0.001). The full-range subjective spectacle independence rates were sorted from highest to lowest as follows: trifocal (84.8%), refractive bifocal (80.9%), EROV (80.0%), mixed (73.3%), diffractive bifocal (65.2%), and monovision (32.6%) protocols, with no statistically significant differences between the former five protocols (p > 0.05). The EROV protocol achieved the highest VAS and VFQ-25 scores. The incidence of postoperative binocular dysphotopsia symptoms was comparable in all protocols. Conclusions The trifocal protocol showed the best performance, and the monovision protocol presented the worst performance in most perspectives of binocular visual quality for presbyopia correction. The refractive bifocal, mixed, or EROV protocols can provide an approximate performance as a trifocal protocol. Ophthalmologists can customize therapies using different protocols.

Global emergency care: a quality and safety perspective.

Global emergency care: a quality and safety perspective.

Rethinking environmental flow management strategies in reservoir operations from an integrated water quality perspective

River damming causes appreciable nutrient retention in reservoirs, increasing the risk of eutrophication in reservoir water. Environmental flow (e-flow) management strategies have been extensively studied to direct reservoir release to meet water quantity demands of downstream ecosystems. However, such strategies also impact reservoir nutrient transport and transformation as well as stored and discharged water quality, which has rarely been considered in existing e-flow management. This study combines a reservoir operation optimization model and a coupled hydrodynamic-eutrophication-sediment model to evaluate e-flow management strategies from an integrated water quality perspective. Multiple nutrients, water, and sediment processes are accounted for as well as the quality of both stored and discharged water. Five common e-flow strategies that focus on various ecosystem protection targets were used to generate operation scenarios. Subsequently, the coupled hydrodynamic-eutrophication-sediment model was used to simulate nutrient cycling processes and water quality under each scenario. Modeling results show that e-flow management strategies cause complex effects on reservoir nitrogen, phosphorus, and algal dynamics. In general, reservoir water quality was the worst in the scenario with largest e-flow release, implying that tradeoffs exist between water quantity and quality of reservoir release. Lower e-flow release resulted in reservoir storage level increases and promoted sediment nutrient release, but the effect was offset by the increase in the nutrient dilution capacity of reservoir water. Additionally, the comparison between inflow and discharged water quality showed that the reservoir contributed to reducing river nitrogen loads under low e-flow releases while increasing river phosphorus loads in all scenarios. The findings support e-flow management decision-making to account for both water quantity and quality targets as well as to coordinate reservoir services and ecological protection.

MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE PACKAGING OF CAULIFLOWER FOR ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COOL BOT COLD STORAGE TO PRESERVE THE POSTHARVEST QUALITY IN NEPAL

In recent years, cool bot storage was introduced to smallholder farmers in Nepal as a low-cost alternative to cold storage. The present study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of different poly films in perforated modified atmosphere packaging on the postharvest life of cauliflower in cool bot-equipped cold rooms and ambient room conditions in the years 2019 and 2020 in the month of December. The cauliflower curds (hybrid variety White Top) were harvested from commercial vegetable growers at a fully mature stage. The compact and mature curds were harvested in the morning and brought to the National Horticulture Research Centre in Khumaltar. The curds were kept overnight for pre-cooling. Four different poly films (25 μ, 50 μ, 75 μ, and 100 low-density polyethylene with 16 perforations were used during storage in two different storage conditions. The study was conducted in a completely randomized block design. Curds were kept at ambient room conditions (15.5°C, 58% RH) for 10 days and at cool, bot devised, cold storage (11.25°C, 96% RH) for 15 days and analyzed for various postharvest quality parameters every 5 days of storage. The results modified atmosphere packaging i.e.50μ LDPE was found effective in cauliflower stored in ambient room conditions with quality perspective but the packaging didn’t provide additive effects in shelf life and quality of cauliflower in cool bot storage conditions.

Urban Water-Related Problems

Urban areas are considered to be the most vulnerable to water-related problems, which involve a lack or excess of water problems from the perspectives of quantity and quality [...]

Comparative Study of Conventional Rotary and Rotary-Percussion Techniques in Grout Hole Drilling from the Perspectives of Time, Cost, and Quality

A dam foundation structure is usually strengthened by grouting, which begins with grout hole drilling. This paper aims to examine a comparison between conventional rotary and rotary-percussion drilling techniques in a drilling case study of the Tugu Dam Project, from the perspective of time, cost, and quality comprehensively. Primary data was obtained from the field investigation and interviews. Secondary data was gathered from available project documents of the PT Wijaya Karya-APTA KSO Project Contractor. The findings have highlighted that the implementation of the rotary-percussion technique for grout hole drilling is better than conventional rotary drilling. There are 16 days of time-saving and 3.84% cost-savings for the rotary-percussion technique, as a result of faster rate of penetration. The quality of grouting work using the rotary-percussion drilling technique tends to be of better quality, although there is a shortcoming due to the limited drilling depth of only 5m particularly.

Critical factors influencing the adoption of building information modelling (BIM) using technological adoption framework and structural equation modelling

PurposeThis paper studies the critical factors from the perspectives of technological quality, personal compatibility and organisational commitment using the technological adoption framework (TAF). The proposed TAF studies the critical factors that influence the intention to use building information modelling (BIM) taking into consideration of the “Perceived Ease of Use (PEU)” and “Perceive Usefulness (PU).”Design/methodology/approachThe proposed study is a quantitative research study using the TAF model and the statistical analysis using “Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).” The questionnaires are developed based on the literature review study and disseminated to the stakeholders in the Malaysian construction industry, including consultants, contractors, and clients. The data collected are analysed using PLS-SEM to identify the correlation between the critical factors influencing BIM adoption and the moderation influence of the PEU and PU towards the “Intention to Use (IU)” BIM.FindingsThe data collected from 185 construction industry stakeholders in Malaysia was utilised to develop the structural equation model. The measurement model was analysed in terms of composite reliability, discriminant validity, and collinearity issues. Subsequently, the SEM is analysed, and the findings on the hypothesis on the correlation between the critical factors and the intention to use BIM are examined. The study also examines the mediation effects of the PEU and PU towards the BIM adoption in the Malaysian construction industry.Originality/valueThis research conceptual framework, TAF, is derived from the integration of the existing underpinning theories of the technological adoption model and the technology–organisation–environment framework. This new TAF can be used for the study of new technology adoption. This cross-sectional research study is in line with the “Construction 4.0 Strategic Plan” in Malaysia to establish the current BIM adoption scenario and formulate the framework to promote incentives to promote BIM adoption.

Revisiting the Uncertainty of Outcome Hypothesis and the Loss Aversion Hypothesis in the National Basketball Association: Adding a Predicted Game Quality Perspective

The unparalleled popularity of major professional sports leagues in the United States has led to numerous sold-out events, regardless of the uncertainty surrounding the game's outcome. This phenomenon prompts us to examine the relationship between outcome uncertainty and attendance, specifically in matchups between high-quality teams compared to games involving lower-quality teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Based on our analyses, we have discovered a notable distinction in the relationship between outcome uncertainty and attendance in high-quality games. When analyzing high-quality games, we observed a linear relationship between these two variables that was only marginally significant. Conversely, when exploring nonhigh-quality games, a U-shaped relationship emerged between outcome uncertainty and attendance. While the attendance of nonhigh-quality games was influenced by varying levels of uncertainty, high-quality games attracted fans irrespective of the outcome uncertainty. This research provides valuable insights into the factors that contribute to the popularity and attendance of NBA games.

Genetic Variability and Diversity in Red Onion (Allium cepa L.) Genotypes: Elucidating Morpho-Horticultural and Quality Perspectives

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is a prominent spice and vegetable crop farmed commercially worldwide. Variability is viewed as a key signal for any red onion enhancement effort. The current study was, therefore, carried out to learn about genetic variability and diversity among selected genotypes of 20 red onions at the C Block Farm, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, India, during the winter (rabi) season of 2021–2022, in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The characters, viz., average weight of bulbs (kg), neck thickness (cm), total soluble solids (°Brix), total sugar (%), and reducing sugar (%) demonstrated high heritability (97.38–99.97%) coupled with high genetic gain. Such traits were the least influenced by environmental effects, and additive gene action played a pivotal role in the manifestation of such characters. Traits with high heritability values (51.37–67.94%) demonstrate that the observed variability was under genetic control and provide an enormous range of possibilities for accomplishing selection depending on their phenotypic performances. For traits with moderate heritability, viz., bolting (%) and doubling (%), selection would be less effective but can still be given great importance. Based on correlation analysis, the character’s neck thickness, equatorial diameter, and polar diameter unveiled highly positive genetic correlation with the average weight of bulbs (0.120, 0.112; 0.194, 0.210 and 0.120, 0.112 for phenotypic and genotypic correlation coefficient values, respectively), which indicates that the average weight of a bulb would be increased by an increase in such components. According to path coefficient analysis, the equatorial diameter exhibited the most positive direct effect on the average weight of bulbs (0.968), followed by polar diameter (0.687) and neck thickness (0.159). A wide range of variations for qualitative traits, including foliage colour, leaf width, foliage behaviour, the degree of leaf waxiness, the shape of the bulb, and bulb skin colour were observed. Based on Mahalanobish D2 analysis, the genotypes were divided into four clusters. The highest number of genotypes was found in cluster I (eleven), followed by cluster IV (six genotypes) and cluster II (two genotypes). Cluster III had a single genotype and was monogenic. The study confirmed that a wide genetic variation prevailed in the onion genotypes taken under study, which could thereby be utilized in breeding programmes.

Phytochemical Analysis of Mint and Salvia officinalis L. Tea using FTIR Technique

Tea is among the most consumed drinks worldwide with broad health benefits, such as cardiovascular protection and anticancer effect. The chemical compositions of the tea change greatly. The evaluation of the composition of nutrients in tea plants cultivated in different countries is of great importance from the perspective of quality, standards, nutrition, and health. The objective of this study was to use different methods for analysis to determine if the tea extracts contain phenols, flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids and tannins. The determination of phytochemicals is very important for many reasons. From the phytochemicals analysis it was conducted that the presence of tannins was found only in mint leaves and flowers. The analysis showed that flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids and phenols were present in all samples. The pH value was determined. Salvia officinalis had the highest pH value (7.35), while for the mint leaves and flowers the pH value was 6.45 respectively 7.02. TLC analysis of tea extracts was done for confirmation and visualization of bioactive compounds. ATR-FTIR was used to identify the functional groups as well as the possible structures of the compounds found in these plants. It can be concluded that these plants contain different bioactive compounds and can be recommended as plants of phytopharmaceutical importance.

SYMPTOMS AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF PATIENTS WITH CANCER IN PRE-CHEMOTHERAPY

Cancer is a global public health problem, and chemotherapy treatment can cause side effects and physical symptoms that may compromise nutritional status and quality of life. The study objective was to identify the physical symptoms and quality of life of individuals with neoplasms before they started antineoplastic treatment. It is a cross-sectional study carried out with non-probabilistic sampling for convenience. Patients with neoplasms were recruited from the Chemotherapy Outpatient Clinic of the General Public Hospital of Palmas – TO in the day of their first appointment. A total of 38 patients met the inclusion criteria. A Socioeconomic Questionnaire, the Whoquol-Bref Questionnaire (1993) and the PG-SGA filled in by the patient were used for data collection. The most frequent physical symptoms presented before starting treatment were pain (55.3%) and fatigue (31.6%). In the results of the WHOQOL-bref referring to the perspective of quality of life, there was greater impairment in the physical domain. According to the PG-SGA, 65.8% of the patients were as well-nourished and 31.6% with suspected malnutrition or moderate malnutrition. This study showed an outline of nutritional status and quality of life of these patients with cancer before starting chemotherapy. It also brought useful data to promote future health strategies and better nutritional support during treatment.

Exploration of Teaching Mode Reform of Ideological and Political Courses in Higher Vocational Colleges from the Perspective of Professional Quality

Higher vocational colleges as an important place for talent cultivation, facing the new requirements of the development of the new era, how to reform the ideological and political course teaching mode of higher vocational colleges based on professional quality is the main topic of practical education reform exploration. Professional quality refers to a comprehensive performance of workers' understanding and adaptability to social occupation, which is embodied in occupational situation, occupational personality, occupational ability and occupational interest. On the basis of understanding the current situation of ideological and political course education in higher vocational colleges, according to the relationship between ideological and political course teaching and professional quality training, this paper mainly starts from three aspects of teaching objectives, teaching methods and evaluation system, and puts forward reform countermeasures to meet the requirements of enterprises for talents' professional quality in the new era.