Enhancing the online decision-making process by using augmented reality: a two country comparison of youth markets

Although online stores extend the traditional offer of the brick and mortar ones, the limited possibilities to virtually try the product before the effective buying makes the online purchase decision a complex process for consumers. Therefore, online retailers face new challenges for supporting consumers consisting of the introduction of advanced technologies such as augmented reality systems. The present study investigates the effect of augmented reality technologies on consumer behaviour within the online retail environments, by comparing two different cultural settings. Drawing upon the technology acceptance model (TAM), new constructs related to the technology characteristics (e.g. quality of information, aesthetic quality, interactivity, and response time) developed a new conceptual model. This model has been tested for a new technology for virtual try-on (a smart mirror for virtual glasses). Focusing on young consumers, data collected in Italy and Germany yielding a total of 318 participants was used. Findings across these two markets reflect cross-market similarities, but also dissimilarities, related to consumers’ motivation to employ augmented reality systems for supporting their online purchase decision. These insights should prove helpful to retailers in better manage the online channels, that could be easily extended to the mobile one

Modello numerico per la simulazione e l’ottimizzazione di controlli non distruttivi con ultrasuoni

I controlli non distruttivi basati sull’impiego di ultrasuoni sono ampiamente usati per la loro efficacia e affidabilità nel rilevamento di difetti. La generazione di onde ultrasonore e la propagazione in strutture di forma non regolare sono difficili da analizzare, soprattutto se la sorgente impiegata è un laser. Le tecniche numeriche per la simulazione del fenomeno reperibili in letteratura mostrano limiti di applicabilità per frequenze nel campo dei MHz e lunghezze d’onda molto corte. In questo lavoro presentiamo un metodo numerico in grado di risolvere accuratamente ed efficientemente problemi di generazione di onde ultrasonore tramite laser, con frequenze nel range dei MHz, e di propagazione in corpi relativamente estesi. La ricezione viene simulata con la propagazione degli ultrasuoni in aria, al fine di poter ottimizzare la configurazione completa per controlli non distruttivi con ultrasuoni senza contatto. Diverse configurazioni di ispezione sono state prima simulate tramite l’analisi numerica e poi riprodotte sperimentalmente per confrontare i risultati

Regulatory framework of pharmaceutical compounding and actual developments of legislation in Europe

Pharmaceutical preparations are medicines that the pharmacist makes for the special needs of the patients that the pharmaceutical industry cannot comply for economic and logistic reasons. Pharmacy compounding is still an important component of pharmacy practice and a valuable therapeutical service that is an integrant part of the modern health care system, but its legislation is not harmonized among European and US countries.In 2011 the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted a Resolution on quality and safety assurance requirements for medicinal products prepared in pharmacies for the special needs of patients. Aim of this resolution is to harmonize quality assurance and standards for pharmacy-made medicinal products among European countries and to pass the gap in quality assurance and standards between preparation in pharmacies and medicines prepared by the pharmaceutical industry. This article will analyze the actual rules and technical norms that regulate compounding activity and the expectations resultants from the new European and US laws

Robotization of the IR-Thermographic technique – impact on the visualisation quality and considerations on the data workflow

Quality control automation is becoming increasingly popular in industrial production lines. Active thermography techniques are well-regarded for their adaptability, providing fast, non-contact, and full-field non-destructive evaluation. Automating thermographic evaluation can increase assessment speed and repeatability without sacrificing inspection accuracy. By using a robot arm to manipulate the thermographic setup, it becomes possible to inspect large components and refine scans on suspicious zones, even in parts with complex geometries. In this study, the performance of a new thermographic inspection platform is compared with a conventional setup to showcase the potential improvements. A plastic curved-shaped sample with artificial flat bottom hole defects is used as a benchmark for the comparison. The advantages and disadvantages of robotizing the infrared non-destructive setup are analyzed, and the impact of the data workflow and future research activities are also discussed

Modello numerico per la simulazione e l’ottimizzazione di controlli non distruttivi con ultrasuoni

I controlli non distruttivi basati sull’impiego di ultrasuoni sono ampiamente usati per la loro efficacia e affidabilità nel rilevamento di difetti. La generazione di onde ultrasonore e la propagazione in strutture di forma non regolare sono difficili da analizzare, soprattutto se la sorgente impiegata è un laser. Le tecniche numeriche per la simulazione del fenomeno reperibili in letteratura mostrano limiti di applicabilità per frequenze nel campo dei MHz e lunghezze d’onda molto corte. In questo lavoro presentiamo un metodo numerico in grado di risolvere accuratamente ed efficientemente problemi di generazione di onde ultrasonore tramite laser, con frequenze nel range dei MHz, e di propagazione in corpi relativamente estesi. La ricezione viene simulata con la propagazione degli ultrasuoni in aria, al fine di poter ottimizzare la configurazione completa per controlli non distruttivi con ultrasuoni senza contatto. Diverse configurazioni di ispezione sono state prima simulate tramite l’analisi numerica e poi riprodotte sperimentalmente per confrontare i risultati

modello numerico per la simulazione e l ottimizzazione di controlli non distruttivi con ultrasuoni

I controlli non distruttivi basati sull'impiego di ultrasuoni sono ampiamente usati per la loro efficacia e affidabilita nel rilevamento di difetti. La generazione di onde ultrasonore e la propagazione in strutture di forma non regolare sono difficili da analizzare, soprattutto se la sorgente impiegata e un laser. Le tecniche numeriche per la simulazione del fenomeno reperibili in letteratura mostrano limiti di applicabilita per frequenze nel campo dei MHz e lunghezze d'onda molto corte. In questo lavoro presentiamo un metodo numerico in grado di risolvere accuratamente ed efficientemente problemi di generazione di onde ultrasonore tramite laser, con frequenze nel range dei MHz, e di propagazione in corpi relativamente estesi. La ricezione viene simulata con la propagazione degli ultrasuoni in aria, al fine di poter ottimizzare la configurazione completa per controlli non distruttivi con ultrasuoni senza contatto. Diverse configurazioni di ispezione sono state prima simulate tramite l'analisi numerica e poi riprodotte sperimentalmente per confrontare i risultati

Occurrence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Mediterranean Sea

Seawater could be considered a reservoir of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. In this communication, we evaluated the presence of bacterial strains in seawater collected from different coasts of Sicily by combining microbiological and molecular methods. Specifically, we isolated viable bacteria that were tested for their antibiotic resistance profile and detected both antibiotic and heavy metal resistance genes. Both antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, Vibrio and Aeromonas, and specific antibiotic resistance genes were found in the seawater samples. Alarming levels of resistance were determined towards cefazolin, streptomycin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ceftriaxone, and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, and mainly genes conferring resistance to β-lactamic and sulfonamide antibiotics were detected. This survey, on the one hand, presents a picture of the actual situation, showing the pollution status of the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily, and, on the other hand, can be considered as a baseline to be used as a reference time for future analysis

Testing the Dispersion of Nanoparticles in a Nanocomposite with an Ultra-Low Fill Content Using a Novel Non-Destructive Evaluation Technique

A non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technique capable of testing the dispersion of nanoparticles in a nanocomposite would be of great use to the industry to check the quality of the products made and to ensure compliance with their specifications. Very few NDE techniques found in the literature can evaluate the level of dispersion of the nanoparticles in the whole nanocomposite. Here, a recently developed NDE technique based on pulsed phase thermography (PPT) in transmission mode was used to assess the particle dispersion in ultra-low, less than 0.05 wt%, Ag enriched polymeric based nanocomposite manufactured with an innovative nano-coating fragmentation technique. The phasegrams obtained with the presented technique clearly showed clusters or bundles of Ag nanoparticles when present, down to the size of 6 µm. Therefore, the new NDE approach can be applied to verify that the expected levels of dispersion are met in the production process

LNL irradiation facilities for radiation damage studies on electronic devices

In this paper we will review the wide range of irradiation facilities installed at the INFN Legnaro National Laboratories and routinely used for radiation damage studies on silicon detectors, electronic components and systems. The SIRAD irradiation facility, dedicated to Single Event Effect (SEE) and bulk damage studies, is installed at the 14MV Tandem XTU accelerator and can deliver ion beams from H up to Au in the energy range from 28MeV to 300 MeV. An Ion Electron Emission Microscope, also installed at SIRAD, allows SEE testing with micrometric sensitivity. For total dose tests, two facilities are presently available: an X-rays source and a 60Co γ-ray source. The 7MV Van de Graaff CN accelerator provides 1H beams in the energy range 2–7MeV and currents up to few μA for both total dose and bulk damage studies. At this facility, very high dose rates (up to ∼100 krad/s (SiO2)) can be achieved. Finally, also neutron beams are available, produced at the CN accelerator, by the reaction d + Be ⇒ n+B