Consumer neuroscience: usability of brain imaging methods in marketing research

Consumer neuroscience (neuromarketing) is an emerging field of marketing research which uses brain imaging techniques to study neural conditions and processes that underlie consumption. The purpose of this study was to map this fairly new and growing field in Finland by studying the opinions of both Finnish consumers and marketing professionals towards it and comparing the opinions to the current consumer neuroscience literature, and based on that evaluate the usability of brain imaging techniques as a marketing research method. Mixed methods research design was chosen for this study. Quantitative data was collected from 232 consumers and 28 marketing professionals by means of online surveys. Both respondent groups had either neutral opinions or lacked knowledge about the four themes chosen for this study: benefits, limitations and challenges, ethical issues and future prospects of consumer neuroscience. Qualitative interview data was collected from 2 individuals from Finnish neuromarketing companies to deepen insights gained from quantitative research. The four interview themes were the same as in the surveys and the interviewees’ answers were mostly in line with the current literature, although more optimistic about the future of the field. The interviews also exposed a gap between academic consumer neuroscience research and practical level applications. The results of this study suggest that there are still many unresolved challenges and relevant populations either have neutral opinions or lack information about consumer neuroscience. The practical level applications are, however, already being successfully used and this new field of marketing research is growing both globally and in Finland.siirretty Doriast

THE EFFECT OF TURBULENCE INTERMITTENCE ON THE EMISSION OF SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLES BY CORONAL AND INTERPLANETARY SHOCKS

Major solar energetic particle events are associated with shock waves in solar corona and solar wind. Fast scattering of charged particles by plasma turbulence near the shock wave increases the efficiency of the particle acceleration in the shock, but prevents particles from escaping ahead of the shock. However, the turbulence energy levels in neighboring magnetic tubes of solar wind may differ from each other by more than one order of magnitude. We present the first theoretical study of accelerated particle emission from an oblique shock wave propagating through an intermittent turbulence background that consists of both highly turbulent magnetic tubes, where particles are accelerated, and quiet tubes, via which the accelerated particles can escape to the non-shocked solar wind. The modeling results imply that the presence of the fast transport channels penetrating the shock and cross-field transport of accelerated particles to those channels may play a key role in high-energy particle emission from distant shocks and can explain the prompt onset of major solar energetic particle events observed near the Earth's orbit

Aerostatic bearing for large rotor

In cardboard and paper manufacturing, the paper web is handled with large scale rolls. From the machine design point of view, those rolls are large rotors with high stiffness, accuracy and balance requirements. In paper machines, the rotors not only guide the web but also are used to perform different treatments for the manufactured product. In the cases where highest load and straightness is required, deflection compensated rolls are applied. Commonly, deflection compensated paper machine rolls consist of stationary axle in the middle of the roll and hydrostatically supported rotating shell. Main downside of the traditional deflection compensated roll is high energy consumption. High friction occurs in the hydrostatic system supporting the rotating shell. In this research, test device was built to perform conceptual investigation of suitability of aerostatic bearings to be applied in the deflection compensated rolls. Porous material aerostatic bearing was built in concave shape to interact with the shell of a roll. The bearing design was a combination of a bearing and a sealed chamber restricted with the bearing itself from the ambient. Air consumption, load and drive motor current were measured at various rotating speeds. The results of the research show the performance of the investigated bearing at various operating parameters, from which the point of highest performance can be determined. The results suggest that the porous material based aerostatic bearings as a technology is feasible to be applied in the deflection compensation systems. The validation of the feasibility of the concept of the aerostatic deflection compensation enables further investigations into optimizing the performance of the system for widespread utilisation

Cavity-enhanced cantilever-enhanced photo-acoustic spectroscopy

We have improved the sensitivity of a state-of-the-art cantilever-enhanced photo-acoustic trace gas sensor by combining it with an optical power build-up cavity. The build-up cavity enhances the photo-acoustic signal by a factor of approximate to 100, resulting in an exceptionally good normalised noise equivalent absorption (NNEA) value of 1.75 x 10(-12) W cm(-1) Hz(-1/2). We demonstrate the sensor platform in the 1530 nm wavelength range with a simple distributed feedback diode laser, achieving 75 ppt sensitivity for C2H2 with a 10 s integration time.Peer reviewe

Aerostatic pump seal

Process pumps commonly utilize water-lubricated mechanical face seals. The seal faces are commonly silicon carbide or other durable materials. However, the reliance on water flush for the lubrication of the seal poses challenges due to wear. The wear is result of abrasive particles and corrosion problems originating from the leaking water. To address these issues, this paper investigates the feasibility of an aerostatic seal system. The proposed seal comprises two aerostatic seals mounted to a pressure-fed chamber: one facing the pump chamber and the other facing the ambient. Both of the sealing surfaces are flexibly supported and preloaded against the seals. A chamber between the seals is pressurized, which causes flow through the air gaps of the seals towards the ambient and the pump chamber. The flow prevents pump chamber liquid from leaking into, and through the seal. Thus, only seal supply gas is exhausted to the ambient. The feasibility of the seal concept was validated experimentally. The seal air consumption, leakage, and pressures in various parts of the system were measured. The application of this type of seal in the paper industry, particularly for pumping cellulose-liquid mixtures using centrifugal pumps, could reduce the frequency of seal replacements and eliminate water leakage

Validation of experimental setup for aerostatic bearing simulation

Aerostatic bearings are extensively used in precision engineering applications that require high positional accuracy and low friction motion. In these bearings, externally pressurized gas is fed through a restrictor into the bearing gap. The viscous shear in the gap restricts the flow, thus forming a pressurized film between the bearing and the guide surface. In the development of models and in investigations of, for example, effects of manufacturing errors and porous material permeability properties, characterization of bearing performance is required. The performance is commonly characterized with a measurement setup, either under static or dynamic conditions. In the present study, an experimental setup for the measurement performance of aerostatic bearings is presented. The investigated measurement setup is validated with a comparison to a literature model. The results of the present study include the load capacity, stiffness, air consumption, and pressure distribution of a commercially available axisymmetric graphite thrust bearing. The results show good agreement between the measurements and the model. Thus, the results show corroborative evidence on the usability of the measurement setup in future aerostatic bearing research

Experimental observation and analysis of the 3v(1)(Sigma g) stretching vibrational state of acetylene using continuous-wave infrared stimulated emission

Peer reviewe

Inquiries into words, constraints and contexts : Festschrift in the honour of Kimmo Koskenniemi on his 60th birthday

Peer reviewe

Double resonant absorption measurement of acetylene symmetric vibrational states probed with cavity ring down spectroscopy

A novel mid-infrared/near-infrared double resonant absorption setup for studying infrared-inactive vibrational states is presented. A strong vibrational transition in the mid-infrared region is excited using an idler beam from a singly resonant continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator, to populate an intermediate vibrational state. High output power of the optical parametric oscillator and the strength of the mid-infrared transition result in efficient population transfer to the intermediate state, which allows measuring secondary transitions from this state with a high signal-to-noise ratio. A secondary, near-infrared transition from the intermediate state is probed using cavity ring-down spectroscopy, which provides high sensitivity in this wavelength region. Due to the narrow linewidths of the excitation sources, the rovibrational lines of the secondary transition are measured with sub-Doppler resolution. The setup is used to access a previously unreported symmetric vibrational state of acetylene, nu(1) + nu(2) + nu(3) + nu(1)(4) + nu(-1)(5) in the normal mode notation. Single-photon transitions to this state from the vibrational ground state are forbidden. Ten lines of the newly measured state are observed and fitted with the linear least-squares method to extract the band parameters. The vibrational term value was measured to be at 9775.0018(45) cm(-1), the rotational parameter B was 1.162 222(37) cm(-1), and the quartic centrifugal distortion parameter D was 3.998(62) x 10(-6) cm(-1), where the numbers in the parenthesis are one-standard errors in the least significant digits. Published by AIP Publishing.Peer reviewe

Nonclinical Characterization of Bexmarilimab, a Clever-1-Targeting Antibody for Supporting Immune Defense Against Cancers

Common lymphatic endothelial and vascular endothelial receptor-1 (Clever-1) is a multifunctional type-1 transmembrane protein that plays an important role in immunosuppression against tumors. Clever-1 is highly expressed in a subset of human tumor-associated macrophages and associated with poor survival. In mice, Clever-1 supports tumor growth and metastasis formation, and its deficiency or blockage induces T-cell-dependent killing of cancer cells. There-fore, targeting Clever-1 could lead to T-cell activation and restoration of immune response also in patients with cancer. This is studied in an on-going clinical trial [Macrophage Antibody To INhibit immune Suppression (MATINS); NCT03733990] in patients with advanced solid tumors where bexmarilimab, a humanized IgG4 antibody against human Clever-1, shows promising safety and efficacy. Here, we report the humanization and nonclinical characterization of physicochemical properties, biological potency, and safety profile of bexmarilimab. Bexmarilimab showed high affinity to Clever-1 on KG-1 cells and bound to Clever-1 on the surface of classical and intermediate monocytes derived from healthy human blood. Bexmarilimab inhibited the internalization of its natural ligand acetylated low -density lipoprotein into KG-1 cells and increased TNF alpha secretion from macrophages but did not impair phagocytic clearance. Bex-marilimab did not induce significant cytokine release in human whole-blood cultures, did not contain nonsafe immunogenic gly-cans, or show any significant binding to human Fcy receptors or complement pathway component C1q. In vivo , bexmarilimab showed dose-dependent duration of monocyte Clever-1 receptor occupancy in cynomolgus monkeys but did not induce a cytokine storm up to a dose of 100 mg/kg. In conclusion, these data support the clinical development of bexmarilimab for the restoration of immune response in cancers