Software Features Research Articles

Decoding Consumer Preferences in Food Packaging with the Kano Model

Abstract This study investigates the efficacy of the Kano Model in decoding consumer preferences for food packaging. Recognizing the pivotal role of packaging in product satisfaction and purchase decisions, this research integrates the Kano Model with contemporary market analysis. A survey was conducted with a diverse panel of consumers who rated various packaging features of existing food products. The results were analyzed to determine the impact of these features on consumer satisfaction and their potential to elevate the perceived value of the products. The study uncovered that while basic safety and hygiene factors were deemed essential, innovative elements such as eco-friendly materials and interactive labels significantly enhanced customer delight. The practical implications of this research are profound, providing food manufacturers with a nuanced understanding of how to prioritize packaging features to align with consumer desires, thereby fostering brand loyalty and competitive advantage. The Kano Model's application in this context demonstrates its versatility and potential for adaptation in the dynamic field of food packaging.

Modeling of Heat Transfer for a Three-Dimensional Microelectromechanical Mirror Element with Consideration of Its Packaging Features

Modeling of Heat Transfer for a Three-Dimensional Microelectromechanical Mirror Element with Consideration of Its Packaging Features

Analyzing the Importance of Building Positive Brand Image

After getting a lot of praise for being a sales champion, Perfect Diary's reputation went downhill because of a number of problems with the brand itself. On the other hand, there are not many articles that discuss how to improve this issue and construct a positive image for the business. This paper addressed this subject in more detail. Using an examination of marketing mix theory and a SWOT analysis, the purpose of this paper was to investigate how Perfect Diary creates a favorable image for its brand. According to the findings of the study, Perfect Diary's brand image will suffer if the company maintains its low-price approach for an extended period of time, does not pay attention to place expansion, and engages in excessive promotion. Nonetheless, consumers will be drawn to the brand due to the packaging and other characteristics of its products, which will have a beneficial effect on the brand's image. As a result, in order to create a favorable public perception of their brand, Perfect Diary needs to implement the four pillars of the marketing mix theory.

Hidden realities: Food waste from servings in mini size packaging

This paper provides data obtained from real-life measurement of the Food Waste (FW) associated with the services offering food in mini size (9–20 g) single-use packaging representing the impact of the difficulties in emptying the food from such packages and service characteristics. We collected discarded such food packages from commercial public eateries (a time-share thermal town, student canteen, and student refectory), quantified FW, and subjected data to statistical analysis regarding the eatery places, package characteristics, and food type. The results suggest that service style, packaging, and consumer wastefulness can cause 10–47 %, 3–11 %, and 5–37 % FW, respectively, indicating hidden part of the wastage iceberg from mini size food portions with vast implication on the food and relevant packaging sustainability. Regarding the packing, the dominant cause of FW is difficulties in emptying the food, such as the shape, size, depth, width, and material of the package. Concerning the consumer wastefulness, our measurements seem to imply that the groups with relatively higher affluency creates more FW. Our results will prove to be highly beneficial in both promoting efforts to raise awareness of not only consumers but also industry players and decision makers on the sustainability for food and relevant packaging material.

The Use of Packaging Descriptors in a Rapidly Growing Market for Capsule Cigarettes: Evidence From Mexico.

The global market for capsule cigarettes has grown rapidly, especially in Latin America. This research examined the sales trends and patterns as well as packaging characteristics of capsule cigarette in Mexico in recent years. National data on cigarette sales in Mexico between October 2018 and September 2021 licensed from NielsenIQ were supplemented with cigarette pack pictures and Internet searches to determine whether characterizing flavor, concept flavor, and action descriptors were used. Market share in sales value and volume was calculated by capsule and flavor status, descriptors, price tier, manufacturer, pack size, and cigarette length for the whole time period and for each month. Number of unique brand variants was also examined. Capsule cigarette sales totaled US$4.29 billion or 30.99 billion sticks during the assessed period, comprising 37.7% of the cigarette market share in sales value or 35.5% in sales volume. Over half of capsule cigarettes sold during this time period had concept flavor descriptors, 17.8% contained characterizing flavor descriptors, and 15.1% contained action descriptors that were suggestive of the interactive aspects of capsules. The monthly market share of capsule cigarette sales volume among all cigarette sales in Mexico increased steadily from 33.3% in October 2018 to 37.3% in September 2021. The expanding capsule cigarette market in Mexico is concerning, given the product's associated misconceptions of reduced harm and greater appeal among youth. Findings underline the need for enhanced regulations to address the public health threat posed by capsule cigarettes. Capsule cigarettes have a substantial market share in Mexico, with increasing popularity. Descriptors and other product characteristics such as cigarette length might be used to increase the appeal and target particular populations. Policy makers should consider banning capsules and flavors in cigarettes including descriptors or other indication in product presentation that could be perceived as denoting a taste, aroma, or sensation, and making the appearance and design of tobacco products more commensurate with the harm they cause by adopting plain and standardized packaging.

Potential Use of PLA-Based Films Loaded with Antioxidant Agents from Spent Coffee Grounds for Preservation of Refrigerated Foods.

The aim of this work concerned the production of an active food packaging suitable for refrigerated foods. Polylactic-acid-based films were produced by optimizing the solvent casting technique and testing different loadings of extracts obtained from spent coffee grounds. Indeed, an extract obtained by high-pressure and -temperature extraction (HPTE) and a further purified extract by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) were separately used as active agents, and the effects on packaging features and active compounds migration were analyzed. The selected active agents showed antioxidant and lipid peroxidation inhibition effects on food simulants (peroxide values of 9.2 ÷ 12.0 meqO2/kg extra virgin olive oil), demonstrating the possibility of enhancing food shelf life. In addition, significant effects on the packaging structure due to the presence of the extract were observed, since it can enhance gas barrier properties of the polymer (O2 permeability of 1.6 ÷ 1.3 × 10-9 cm2/s) and confer better processability. In general, the HPTE extract exhibited better performances than the further purified extract, which was due to the presence of a complex pool of antioxidants and the browning effect on the film but a limited loading capacity on the polymer (840 μg caffeine/g PLA), while higher loading capabilities were enabled using LLE extract.

Designing of Yogurt Packaging Product Using Quality Function Deployment Technique (Case Study at UMKM Ceriyogurt)

Yogurt is a dairy product made through a fermentation process. Currently, yogurt packaging uses bottle-shaped plastic material. The current problem with yogurt packaging is that the visual image of the packaging, packaging shape, material thickness, packaging size and completeness of the packaging label is still low, so it is considered that it does not meet customer needs. Currently, yogurt packaging uses bottle-shaped plastic material. The problem of yogurt packaging is that the visual image of the packaging, packaging shape, material thickness, packaging size and completeness of the packaging label is still low, so it is considered that it does not meet customer needs. This research aims to identify a list of customer needs, a list of technical characteristics, directions of improvement, and the priority of technical characteristics of Yogurt product packaging. The research methodology uses the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) technique with the House of Quality (HOQ) matrix. The research generates 5 customer needs which were interpretated into 7 technical characteristics with directions for improvement, namely increased material thickness, fixed packaging volume size, reduced packaging length, reduced packaging width, reduced packaging height, improved visual image design, and increased label component completeness. The House of Quality produces a priority order of improvement, with the weight of importance of each technical characteristic, namely packaging length (90), packaging width (90), packaging height (90), packaging volume size (60), visual image size (60), completeness of label components (60), and thickness of packaging material (45).

Determining the content and needs assessment a mobile-based self-care program in infertile men

BackgroundInfertility is a public health problem in the world, using new technology, such as mobile phones, is increasing in the field of health. This study aimed to determine the Necessity of self-care training contents by performing a needs analysis among men with infertility problems to design a mobile phone-based application.MethodsFollowed by reviewing the related literature, a questionnaire including 40 educational items and seven software features was designed in three general sections and distributed among 30 specialists in nutrition (n = 18) and infertility (n = 12). The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts in nutrition, infertility, and medical informatics. The questionnaire’s reliability was also corroborated by Cronbach’s alpha of 86.4.ResultsAll items related to the software features and most items in the questionnaire were deemed necessary by participants. However, the items: “Occupation and history of chronic diseases” in the demographic information section and “Effects of infertility and food allergy” in the educational section were not confirmed.ConclusionThe present findings could not only highlight the patients’ roles in managing their disease but also increase the healthcare workers’ awareness in designing the hospital information system.

Toward Real-Time Animal Tracking with Integrated Stimulus Control for Automated Conditioning in Aquatic Eco-Neurotoxicology.

Aquatic eco-neurotoxicology is an emerging field that requires new analytical systems to study the effects of pollutants on animal behaviors. This is especially true if we are to gain insights into one of the least studied aspects: the potential perturbations that neurotoxicants can have on cognitive behaviors. The paucity of experimental data is partly caused by a lack of low-cost technologies for the analysis of higher-level neurological functions (e.g., associative learning) in small aquatic organisms. Here, we present a proof-of-concept prototype that utilizes a new real-time animal tracking software for on-the-fly video analysis and closed-loop, external hardware communications to deliver stimuli based on specific behaviors in aquatic organisms, spanning three animal phyla: chordates (fish, frog), platyhelminthes (flatworm), and arthropods (crustacean). The system's open-source software features an intuitive graphical user interface and advanced adaptive threshold-based image segmentation for precise animal detection. We demonstrate the precision of animal tracking across multiple aquatic species with varying modes of locomotion. The presented technology interfaces easily with low-cost and open-source hardware such as the Arduino microcontroller family for closed-loop stimuli control. The new system has potential future applications in eco-neurotoxicology, where it could enable new opportunities for cognitive research in diverse small aquatic model organisms.

SMIwiz: An integrated toolbox for multidimensional seismic modelling and imaging

This paper contributes an open source software - SMIwiz, which integrates seismic modelling, reverse time migration (RTM), and full waveform inversion (FWI) into a unified computer implementation. SMIwiz has the machinery to do both 2D and 3D simulation in a consistent manner. The package features a number of computational recipes for efficient calculation of imaging condition and inversion gradient: a dynamic evolving computing box to limit the simulation cube and a well-designed wavefield reconstruction strategy to reduce the memory consumption when dealing with 3D problems. The modelling in SMIwiz runs independently: each shot corresponds to one processor in a bijective manner to maximize the scalability. A batchwise job scheduling strategy is designed to handle large 3D imaging tasks on computer with limited number of cores. The viability of SMIwiz is demonstrated by a number of applications on benchmark models. Program summaryProgram Title: SMIwizCPC Library link to program files:https://doi.org/10.17632/tygszns27k.1Developer's repository link:https://github.com/yangpl/SMIwizLicensing provisions: GNU General Public License v3.0Programming language: C, Shell, FortranExternal dependencies: MPI [1], FFTW [2]Nature of problem: Seismic modelling and imaging (FWI and RTM)Solution method: High-order finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) for modelling on staggered grid; Quasi-Newton LBFGS algorithm for nonlinear optimization; line search to estimate step length based on Wolfe condition References[1]https://www.mpich.org/[2]http://fftw.org/

Device Features and/or Personality Traits? Disentangling the Determinants of Smartphone Nomophobia and Pathology among Urban Millennials

Smartphones have emerged as a mobile device that provides users with "smart" functionalities, aesthetics features and capabilities. These smart devices are the “must have” advanced communication tools and have been assimilated as an integral part of the everyday life. Although academic scholars and practitioners have started to venture into a research stream that focuses on behavioral models to elucidate and predict smartphone consumption trends and behavior, however, there is limited empirical research that attempts to unleash factors that triggered smartphone users to become nomophobia (no mobile phone phobia) and consecutively in turn become pathology (also known as addiction or dependency) user. Henceforth, this work seeks to explore both emerging phenomena by developing and validating a research model which is based on the Media Dependency Theory. The structural equation modelling analysis was conducted using Smart Partial Least Square (SmartPLS3) procedure with a dataset of 272 smartphone users who belong to the urban Millennials generational cohort. Two main predictors are hypothesized, which are the smartphone features (software and hardware) and users’ personality traits (openness, neuroticism, and extraversion). The results suggest that multiple facets of smartphone users’ personalities, particularly neuroticism significantly cause the smartphone users to become nomophobia and subsequently pathological. Whereas, the device hardware features have a positive significance effect on nomophobia, nevertheless not trigger pathology. Surprisingly, software features of the smartphone do not offer evidence of their effect on nomophobia as well as pathology. The key findings uncovered from this exploratory research provide rich insights for theoretical and practical implications.

Tourism policy networks in four Caribbean countries

This paper examines formal power and its influence on the policy roles of tourism actors in four Caribbean countries. The power of policy actors was calculated with a beta centrality measure, and hypotheses of power, policy roles, and policy actor types were tested using the Quadratic Assignment Procedure and Multiple Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure features of Social Network Analysis software. Power differentials of the tourism policy actors were statistically significant in the Barbados policy network, while policy roles were statistically significant in the Jamaica policy network. Power struggles are a concern as these affect the rate and pace of tourism development and change tourism development outcomes.

Nonlinear dynamics in a circular-sided square microcavity laser

Self-chaotic dual-mode and tri-mode microcavity lasers have been recently proposed and demonstrated for high-speed random number generation. Here, we report the characteristics of irregular pulse packages and self-chaos operation for a dual-mode circular-sided square microcavity laser. In addition to the mode interaction between the fundamental and first-order transverse modes, we observed irregular pulse packages due to the mode beating of near-degenerate modes for the first time to our best knowledge. Moreover, a successive route from periodic-one and periodic-three states to chaos is first experimentally illustrated by increasing injection current. The chaotic state is observed over a current range of 10 mA, and the maximum chaos effective bandwidth of 22.4 GHz is realized with a flatness of ±4 dB. Chaotic characteristics are also investigated for different longitudinal modes, which indicates that the self-chaotic microlaser can provide robust parallel chaotic outputs for practical application.

Utilising Features of Sport Commentating to Provide a Framework for Co-Teaching the Online Lecture

Higher education teaching abruptly changed during the COVID-19 pandemic to remote, on-line learning and teaching. The use of on-line communication software to teach became the norm and remains at many institutions. This software contains features, such as the chat, that offer teaching and learning advantages; however, potential benefits can be challenging to realise for academics used to traditional modes of lecture delivery. In most cases a solo-taught lecture designed for a physical room does not transition well to the on-line space. Co-teaching, which involves two or more academics teaching the same class, is a pedagogy that can improve engagement and satisfaction for students and academics alike. However, how co-teaching can transition to the on-line space and take full benefit of the communication software features is not well known. We recognised that some aspects of sports announcing (commentating) align with desirable qualities of co-teaching on-line. In this paper we use these features to develop a practical framework for co-teaching in the on-line space and evaluate the model in a second-year university science subject. Using data from student surveys, we found that the co-teaching model helped integrate the chat functionality into the main lecture and led to improved engagement and enjoyment of on-line classes. The model also assisted students in identifying key learning outcomes. Using the framework as a practical guide for how to incorporate co-teaching into on-line classes helps realise the benefits of contemporary communication software.

Optimizing Software Development: A Comparative Study of Python and R for Enhanced Efficiency and Quality

Abstract: The constantly changing and evolving realm of software development requires incessant improvement to meet the growing demand for effective top-quality solutions. The main objective of this paper is to present an encompassing comparative analysis of Python and R programming languages which will be focusing on the software efficiency and features through the use of several algorithms. This paper attempts to delve into these languages and understand their weaknesses and strengths in order to provide professionals to make abreast decisions. The results of this comparative analysis are intended to give decisionmakers, data scientists and computer scientists a useful understanding of the pros and cons of R and Python in different scenarios related to software efficiency and development.

Rigid Polyethylene Terephthalate Packaging Waste: An Investigation of Waste Composition and Its Recycling Potential in Austria

The need for increased recycling of plastic packaging waste (PPW) is apparent from a legal and waste management perspective and, therefore, further waste streams need to be investigated in detail in terms of their recycling potential. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) PW is already closed-loop recyclable (bottle-to-bottle recycling); however, other rigid PET PW is mainly thermally recovered. Explicit quantitative and qualitative data on rigid PET packaging waste are limited. Therefore, this study investigates the composition and packaging characteristics of rigid PET packaging waste contained in separate waste collection as well as in the mixed PET sorting stream in Austria by conducting a manual sorting analysis. Furthermore, the waste volume is projected, and the recycling potential is extrapolated according to new European recycling rate reporting formats. The results show that approximately 11% of separate collection represents rigid PET packaging waste. Most PW derives from food packaging and is transparent. Contained residues with more than 1% of the total packaging weight might negatively impact the sortability. The applicable net quantity indicator (ALR) amounts to 0.888 at the stage of sorting. The volume of rigid PET PW is extrapolated to 26–36 kt in 2020 with a high-quality recycling rate of 25%, which contributes 2.6% to the Austrian PPW recycling target of 50%.

PyFMLab: Open-source software for atomic force microscopy microrheology data analysis.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is one of the main techniques used to characterize the mechanical properties of soft biological samples and biomaterials at the nanoscale. Despite efforts made by the AFM community to promote open-source data analysis tools, standardization continues to be a significant concern in a field that requires common analysis procedures. AFM-based mechanical measurements involve applying a controlled force to the sample and measure the resulting deformation in the so-called force-distance curves. These may include simple approach and retract or oscillatory cycles at various frequencies (microrheology). To extract quantitative parameters, such as the elastic modulus, from these measurements, AFM measurements are processed using data analysis software. Although open tools exist and allow obtaining the mechanical properties of the sample, most of them only include standard elastic models and do not allow the processing of microrheology data. In this work, we have developed an open-source software package (called PyFMLab, as of python force microscopy laboratory) capable of determining the viscoelastic properties of samples from both conventional force-distance curves and microrheology measurements. PyFMLab has been written in Python, which provides an accessible syntax and sufficient computational efficiency. The software features were divided into separate, self-contained libraries to enhance code organization and modularity and to improve readability, maintainability, testability, and reusability. To validate PyFMLab, two AFM datasets, one composed of simple force curves and another including oscillatory measurements, were collected on HeLa cells. The viscoelastic parameters obtained on the two datasets analysed using PyFMLab were validated against data processing proprietary software and against validated MATLAB routines developed before obtaining equivalent results. Its open-source nature and versatility makes PyFMLab an open-source solution that paves the way for standardized viscoelastic characterization of biological samples from both force-distance curves and microrheology measurements.

Esthetic Clinic Management Software—Can we improve patient safety?

To evaluate the features of esthetic-specific Clinic Management Softwares (CMS) and scrutinize these against the General Medical Council (GMC) and Joint Commission (JC) guidance, an indicative CMS framework with GMC and JC compliant features is developed, to improve patient outcomes, service quality, and work toward a centralized database for complications to enable research analysis. A systematic search was performed to evaluate the CMS on the market tailored to esthetic clinics. An analysis was made of the GMC guidance for record keeping and the JC standards for Patient Safety Systems. The CMS features were each scrutinized against the GMC and JC guidance including complication capturing. Eighteen esthetic-specific CMS were identified and analyzed. None of the included CMSs were 100% compliant with both GMC and JC guidance. In 2022, the mean monthly cost of the basic packages for each of the CMS was £106.4, with a standard deviation of £83.3. The main users of the CMSs were doctors and nurses. CMS are a potentially powerful tool to form a centralized database that will allow for increased transparency on the number of procedures performed as well as complications.

Sulfite incorporated thermoplastic cassava starch blended PBAT blown films as antimicrobial and antibrowning packaging

Microbial growth and browning cause quality loss in intermediate moisture foods. This research developed and characterized novel active films to prevent microbial growth and brown discoloration in dried meat and fruits. Biodegradable films based on thermoplastic starch (TPS) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) blends incorporating sodium metabisulfite (SM) (up to 7% w/w) were developed using blown film extrusion. SM interacted with the TPS phase, involving O-H stretching vibration and hydrogen bonding which modified the thermal degradation behavior of the TPS phase and improved the smoothness of the film microstructures. Excessive SM formed crystal particles at ≥ 3% that were detected by X-ray diffraction. Addition of SM decreased the mechanical properties but film clarity and hydrophobicity improved, with enhanced water vapor barrier properties. The SM blend film showed significant antibacterial activity against E. coli, B. cereus, and S. aureus. TPS/PBAT/SM active films effectively prevented mold growth and darkening in packaged salami for at least 16 days, while the non-SM blend film was only effective for 6 days at room conditions. Active films with SM loading, particularly at > 3% prevented browning reaction and darkening in dried bananas and longans at both ambient (60% RH) and 85% RH stored at room temperature. SM addition improved packaging characteristics and functional efficiency, resulting in higher dried fruit and meat product quality. TPS/PBAT/SM composite films showed promise as sustainable active packaging and an alternative technique to sulfite treatment for dried fruit and meat.

Incorporation of papaya (Carica papaya L.) leaf extract into cornhusk for glutinous rice snack packaging application

The present work was performed to evaluate the potency of papaya leaf extract (PLE) to improve the characteristics of cornhusk as a packaging material for glutinous rice snack (GRS). Total phenolic, tannin, and saponin contents of PLE were 7.41 ± 0.65 mgTAE/mL, 1.80 ± 0.70 mgTAE/mL, and 11.78 ± 0.36 mgDE/mL, respectively. The presence of bioactive compounds on the surface of GRS was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. Characteristic bands for saponin were caused by the stretching vibration of C=O (at 1744 cm-1) as well as C‒O and C‒C vibrations (at 1051 cm-1). Tannin was identified as C‒O asymmetric stretch vibration at 1051 cm-1 and C‒H out of plane vibration at 926 and 866-867 cm-1. The antioxidant activity of PLE was found to be 49.53 ± 2.67%. The reductions of total plate counts (TPC), yeast and mould counts (YMC), and Aspergillus flavus-A. parasiticus counts on PLE-incorporated cornhusks after 24 h were in the range of 0.2 - 1.2 log CFU/cm2, and retained the loads below 2 log CFU/cm2 during 14-d storage. PLE decreased the water vapour transmission rate of the cornhusk due to the particles of the extract adhering to the cornhusk surface, as supported by the result of the scanning electron microscopy of PLE-incorporated cornhusk. The incorporation of PLE also increased elongation without reducing the tensile strength of the cornhusk significantly. There were reductions of TPC, YMC, and Aspergillus flavus-A. parasiticus counts of GRS ranging from 0.4 - 2.3 log CFU/g using PLE-incorporated cornhusks during storage. GRS rancidity was minimised by PLE-incorporated cornhusks. Owing to its bioactive compound, PLE could be incorporated into the cornhusk to improve packaging characteristics and controls microbial contamination of GRS while retarding the rancidity.