Search

Digitalization and greening are key themes in global development, the manufacturing industry, as a major sector of energy consumption and carbon emissions, is in urgent need of transformation to realize energy conservation and emission reduction, digital transformation provides an opportunity for its green development. However, whether digital transformation can restrain the carbon emission intensity (CEI) of enterprises is still controversial. Based on the data of China's A‐share manufacturing listed companies from 2013 to 2020, this paper uses fixed effect model and intermediary effect model to explore the relationship between digital transformation and enterprise CEI and the influence path. the results show that: (1) Digital transformation has significantly reduced the CEI of manufacturing enterprises. (2) Mechanism analysis indicates that green technological innovation and resource allocation efficiency play a chain mediating role in this relationship. (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the carbon emission reduction effect of digital transformation is more significant when enterprises belong to an energy‐intensive manufacturing industry or face strong environmental regulations and industry competition. The analysis of this paper not only deepens enterprises' understanding of digital transformation and green development but also provides a policy basis for China to advocate the coordinated development of the digital economy and green economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microsampling has revolutionized pharmaceutical drug development and clinical research by reducing sample volume requirements, allowing sample collection at home or nontraditional sites, minimizing animal and patient burden, and enabling more flexible study designs. This perspective paper discusses the transformative impact of microsampling and patient‐centric sampling (PCS) techniques, emphasizing their advantages in drug development and clinical trials. We highlight the integration of liquid chromatography‐mass spectrometry (LC–MS) strategies for analyzing PCS samples, focusing on our research experience and a review of current literatures. The paper reviews commercially available PCS devices, their regulatory status, and their application in clinical trials, underscoring the benefits of PCS in expanding patient enrollment diversity and improving study designs. We also address the operational challenges of implementing PCS, including the need for bridging studies to ensure data comparability between traditional and microsampling methods, and the analytical challenges posed by PCS samples. The paper proposes future directions for PCS, including the development of global regulatory standards, technological advancements to enhance user experience, the increased concern of sustainability and patient data privacy, and the integration of PCS with other technologies for improved performance in drug development and clinical studies. By advancing microsampling and PCS techniques, we aim to foster patient‐centric approaches in pharmaceutical sciences, ultimately enhancing patient care and treatment efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper showcases Oral Histories and Futures interviews as an approach and series of innovations for researching crises with qualitative methods. It presents new possibilities for methodological innovations to embrace the multi‐directional and longitudinal temporalities of crises across the life‐course and the life‐course of crises. As an exciting avenue for methodological enhancement, I build on and bring together techniques across Oral Histories and creative biographical interviewing. Developed as part of a recent study exploring reproduction, economic crisis and the life‐course, with this approach I aimed to elicit people's experiences and opinions about their pasts, present and futures by innovating with traditional qualitative methodologies. I outline five areas of innovation—and associated observations, opportunities and obstacles—including a focus on younger generations, on the future, the inclusion of reflexive activities, interviewing in the midst of crises, and remote interviewing. Conclusions highlight what can be learned from an Oral Histories and Futures approach for thinking about socio‐temporal horizons. This paper presents new possibilities for qualitative methodologies to embrace the multi‐directional and longitudinal temporalities of crises across the life‐course and the life‐course of crises. I outline five areas of innovation—and associated observations, opportunities and obstacles—including a focus on younger generations, on the future, the inclusion of reflexive activities, interviewing in the midst of crises, and remote interviewing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of the current political developments in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, such as Ukraine, Poland, and Romania, the question arises as to the role played by economic transformation and the resulting innovation linkages in these countries over the last 20 years. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of economic and institutional dimensions on the development of CEE countries, explicitly distinguishing between European Union (EU) members and non‐members, and thus reflecting the differences in institutions and path dependency. Furthermore, the paper contrasts the performance of CEE countries with that of Western European countries. To achieve these objectives, the impact of factors such as innovation, institutions, and political practices on the economic development of 37 European countries from 2000 until 2020 is followed using fixed effects regression and Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The results of the analysis show the importance of institutional factors such as low levels of corruption, political freedoms, and intellectual property. The effect of institutional variables was particularly pronounced in the case of non‐EU countries, which indicates the particular importance of the development of stable institutions for achieving higher levels of economic development for this category of countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the roles of different types of technological proximity on the interregional spillovers of innovation growth. Using a panel dataset containing Chinese province patents and R&D inputs from 2002 to 2019, this paper estimates a knowledge production function with the spatial weight matrices constructed based on the linkage‐based and structure‐based technological proximity. We find that the two types of technological proximity are significantly different and their contributions to interregional innovation spillovers differ. The structure‐based proximity shows a lower influence on spillovers and its effect in the process of interregional innovation spillovers is affected by the regional development level. This paper originates to clarify two conceptualizations of technological proximity, compare their influences on innovation spillovers, and explore their regional differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green innovation (GI) can enable win‒win style economic and ecological benefits. Using China's pilot scheme for the construction of the intellectual property protection (IPP) system as an example, this paper empirically tests the impact of IPP system reform on the GI level and its spatial spillover effect. The results show that IPP system reform has significantly promoted urban GI, indicating that a progressive reform model characterized by experimentalist governance is applicable to innovation policy practices in developing countries. The dynamic effect analysis shows that IPP system reform can be applied to continuously promote urban GI. The mechanism analysis shows that such use of IPP system reform can improve the level of urban GI by promoting investment and talent agglomeration, confirming the viewpoint of the institutionalist school. The heterogeneity analysis shows that IPP system reform plays a stronger role in promoting GI in peripheral cities than in central cities, in cities with lower rather than higher scientific and educational levels and in cities with weaker rather than stronger GI capacity. Consistent with the theory of institutional diffusion, IPP system reform has a significant spatial spillover effect, promoting GI activities in surrounding cities while working to improve the local GI level. This paper affirms the effectiveness of the pilot regional innovation policy with Chinese characteristics, with important theoretical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational technology innovations leveraging large language models (LLMs) have shown the potential to automate the laborious process of generating and analysing textual content. While various innovations have been developed to automate a range of educational tasks (eg, question generation, feedback provision, and essay grading), there are concerns regarding the practicality and ethicality of these innovations. Such concerns may hinder future research and the adoption of LLMs‐based innovations in authentic educational contexts. To address this, we conducted a systematic scoping review of 118 peer‐reviewed papers published since 2017 to pinpoint the current state of research on using LLMs to automate and support educational tasks. The findings revealed 53 use cases for LLMs in automating education tasks, categorised into nine main categories: profiling/labelling, detection, grading, teaching support, prediction, knowledge representation, feedback, content generation, and recommendation. Additionally, we also identified several practical and ethical challenges, including low technological readiness, lack of replicability and transparency and insufficient privacy and beneficence considerations. The findings were summarised into three recommendations for future studies, including updating existing innovations with state‐of‐the‐art models (eg, GPT‐3/4), embracing the initiative of open‐sourcing models/systems, and adopting a human‐centred approach throughout the developmental process. As the intersection of AI and education is continuously evolving, the findings of this study can serve as an essential reference point for researchers, allowing them to leverage the strengths, learn from the limitations, and uncover potential research opportunities enabled by ChatGPT and other generative AI models. Practitioner notesWhat is currently known about this topic Generating and analysing text‐based content are time‐consuming and laborious tasks.Large language models are capable of efficiently analysing an unprecedented amount of textual content and completing complex natural language processing and generation tasks.Large language models have been increasingly used to develop educational technologies that aim to automate the generation and analysis of textual content, such as automated question generation and essay scoring.What this paper adds A comprehensive list of different educational tasks that could potentially benefit from LLMs‐based innovations through automation.A structured assessment of the practicality and ethicality of existing LLMs‐based innovations from seven important aspects using established frameworks.Three recommendations that could potentially support future studies to develop LLMs‐based innovations that are practical and ethical to implement in authentic educational contexts.Implications for practice and/or policy Updating existing innovations with state‐of‐the‐art models may further reduce the amount of manual effort required for adapting existing models to different educational tasks.The reporting standards of empirical research that aims to develop educational technologies using large language models need to be improved.Adopting a human‐centred approach throughout the developmental process could contribute to resolving the practical and ethical challenges of large language models in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accelerating pace of technological advancements necessitates specialised expertise and cutting‐edge instruments to maintain competitive research in life sciences. Core facilities – collaborative laboratories equipped with state‐of‐the‐art tools and staffed by expert personnel – are vital resources that support diverse scientific endeavours. However, their adoption in lower‐income communities has been comparatively stagnant due to both financial and cultural challenges. This paper explores the perils of not supporting core facilities on national research enterprises, underscoring the need for balanced investments in discovery science and crucial infrastructure support. We explore the implications from the perspectives of funders, university leaders and lab heads. We advocate for a paradigm shift to recognise these facilities as essential components of national research efforts. Core facilities are positioned not as optional but as strategic investments that can catalyse breakthroughs, particularly in environments with limited resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the asymmetric link between carbon pricing and the comparative advantage in environmental goods exports in South Africa from 1995 to 2021. The non‐linear autoregressive distributed lag model is utilized to investigate the effects of both minor and major positive and negative fluctuations in carbon taxes, technological innovation, and energy transition on comparative advantage. The results reveal that carbon taxes have an asymmetric effect on comparative advantage in both the short and long runs, with positive shocks exerting a greater beneficial influence than negative shocks. Specifically, it is found that a 1% reduction in carbon taxes corresponds to a 1.24% decline in the response variable, whereas a 1% increase in carbon taxes is associated with a 2.72% increase in comparative advantage in environmental goods exports, which is twice as large. The study also uncovers evidence of an asymmetric relationship between low‐carbon technological innovation and comparative advantage in environmental goods exports. However, strong evidence of a long‐run asymmetric linkage between the energy transition and comparative advantage is not established. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that a positive shift in energy transition is linked with a 0.32% rise in comparative advantage in environmental goods exports, whereas a negative shift in energy transition corresponds to a 0.11% decrease. The practical policy implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological advancement makes the world a global village. Security is an evergreen and everlasting area, because of the continuous threat from Hackers and Crackers. The immense use of software systems has modernized human society in every aspect. Thus, it is crucial to devise new processes, techniques, and tools to support teams in the development of secure code from the early stages of the software development process, while potentially reducing the costs and shortening the time to market. Considering the significance of software security, it is important to consider the security practices from the early phase of the software development life cycle (SDLC), that is, requirements engineering (RE). Hence, this study aims to identify and categorize RE practices important to apply for secure software development (SSD) in a geographically distributed development environment. To study the RE practices concerning SSD, we conducted a questionnaire survey with industrial experts in the global software development (GSD) context. Furthermore, the interpretive structure modeling (ISM) approach was applied to evaluate the relationship between the RE security practice core categories. This paper identifies 70 practices and classifies them into 11 fundamental dimensions (categories) to assist GSD organizations in specifying the requirements for SSD. The ISM results show that the "Awareness of Secure Requirement Engineering (SRE)" category has the most decisive influence on the other 10 core categories of the identified RE security practices. With the help of empirical evidence and the ISM approach, this work attempts to identify potential security practices and to give a set of secure RE practices that can be used to improve the security of the software development process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an emerging technology, virtual coupling improves the efficiency and flexibility of metro services by forming multiple trains (units) as a virtually coupled train set (VCTS) without mechanical couplers. However, to realize the desired VCTS operation in practical metro services, a significant gap to be filled is that the implicit and nonlinear safety constraints are hard to be addressed in real‐time control. Thus, this paper proposes a hierarchical control approach with a two‐layer framework. In the upper layer, a trajectory planning method is designed, which addresses the safety constraints and prescribes a reference trajectory for each unit. In the lower layer, a model predictive control approach is constructed, by which each unit accurately tracks its reference trajectory in real time. Afterward, the proposed hierarchical control approach is employed to realize VCTS inter‐station operation in field tests. The average tracking error of speed is around 8 cm/s and the stopping error is less than 12 cm. The following distance between two units in VCTS is reduced to less than 105 m at the speed of 80 km/h, which is a breakthrough in the development of VCTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High performance copolyesters with ultrahigh glass transition temperature (Tg) are crucial in emerging technology fields such as electronic devices, automotives, and coatings. In this paper, a series of poly(ethylene bis[4‐(2‐hydroxyethoxy) phenyl] sulfone 2,6‐naphthalate) (PESNs) with high Tg are synthesized by the copolymerization of 2,6‐naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (2,6‐NDA), bis[4‐(2‐hydroxyethoxy) phenyl] sulfone (BHEBS), and ethylene glycol (EG). The chemical structure and compositions of prepared copolymers are confirmed by hydrogen nuclear magnetic spectra (1H NMR). Tg of copolyesters (121.1–152.2 °C) depends on composition and is comparable to that of polyetheretherketone (PEEK: 143 °C), increasing as the amount of BHEBS units is increased. The Fox, Gordon–Taylor, and Kwei equations are employed to evaluate the variation of Tg with respect to the composition of PESNs, respectively. In these three equations, the data calculated by Kwei equation fit the actual results best, attributed to the peculiar dielectric properties. In addition, PESNs show good solubility in 1,1,2,2‐tetrachloroethane, DMF, and DMSO, which is conducive to meet the needs of polyester coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's display industry faces transistor‐level challenges similar to those of complementary metal‐oxide semiconductor (CMOS) metal‐oxide semiconductor field‐effect transistors (MOSFETs) in the mid‐1990s. Learnings from MOSFETs inform the display industry's response to the limitations of silicon‐based thin‐film transistors (TFTs). Improvements sustaining Moore's Law drove the need to rethink MOSFET materials and structures. The display industry needs fundamental innovation at the device level. New thin‐film devices enable an inflection point in the use of displays, just as fin field‐effect transistor (FinFET) defined the inflection point in CMOS in the 2000s. This paper outlines two innovations in thin‐film device technology that offers improvement in image quality and power consumption of flat panel displays: amorphous metal gate TFTs (AMeTFTs) and amorphous metal nonlinear resistors (AMNRs). Linked through a single core material set based on mass‐producible, thin‐film amorphous metals, these two innovations create near‐ and long‐term roadmaps simplifying the production of high‐image quality, low‐power consumption displays on glass (now) and plastic (future). In particular, the field‐effect mobility of indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) AMeTFTs (55–72 cm2/Vs) exceeds that of IGZO TFTs developed by existing display manufacturers without the need for atomic layer deposition or vertical stacking of heterostructure semiconductor films, making AMeTFTs a natural choice for the new G8.5–G8.7 fabs targeting IGZO backplanes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand social issues and practices such as those related to climate change and technological change that are clearly future‐oriented – collectively experienced events that are "not yet" – and co‐constructed by different actors, we need nuanced conceptualizations of how people think about, negotiate and co‐create futures that allow us to understand not only what people (can) think and do about future‐related issues but also how that happens, what for and with which implications. However, so far, one of the key theoretical approaches that has conceptualised how people make meaning in situations of change and uncertainty – the socio‐psychological social representations theory (SRT) – has not often engaged with the future or with different forms of temporality. By contrast, the French pragmatic sociology of engagements and critique (PS) has engaged with these notions, conceptualising them in relation to materiality and a plurality of moral orientations – two dimensions often seen as key to how collective futures are made and imagined. To offer a more nuanced and systematic conceptualization of how people represent the future and with what consequences, this paper will present, compare and synthesise SRT and PS, as a first step towards an interdisciplinary research agenda on social change and representations of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the opening decades of the twenty‐first century certain cities around the world emerged as hubs of entrepreneurial innovation. This paper explores this urban economic change phenomenon through in‐depth and comparative qualitative analysis. It focuses on the recent contemporary history of New York, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Tokyo and Shanghai prior to the global COVID pandemic. Based on an analysis of the drivers, mechanisms and processes of change, it is found that these cities acted as places of possibility for many individuals who previously may have been unlikely to engage in entrepreneurship. The cities were found to have established new development paths through entrepreneurial innovation stemming from co‐creation network dynamics, with key human agents playing pivotal roles. Common elements include the rise of venture capital, the growth of entrepreneurial cultures, and institutional policy changes. Notably, entrepreneurial innovation was found to be closely tied to changes in large corporates. This innovation evolved through the proliferation of new infrastructure such as co‐working spaces and innovation incubators, with each city being utilised as a test‐bed for new ideas. Finally, the emergence of a darker side to entrepreneurial innovation is found in terms of growing urban inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultural diversity brought by migrants has attracted widespread interest in recent years. This paper investigates the relationship between migrant cultural diversity and regional innovation by constructing panel data of provincial migrant cultural diversity and combining them with invention applications data from China's State Intellectual Property Office. The empirical results show that the migrant cultural diversity, measured by migrant's hukou and dialect respectively, has a positive impact on regional innovation. The effect still holds after a series of robustness tests and addressing endogeneity issues. Furthermore, the further analysis implies that the effects of the migrant cultural diversity in workers aged from 30 to 50, engaged in an innovative occupation, working in high market‐competitiveness or inclusive provinces are more pronounced. Our study supplements the current research on the relationship between migrant cultural diversity and regional innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoTs) era, a variety of miniaturized and distributed electronics appear in every corner of industrial production and daily life. The shortage of fossil fuels requires renewable clean energy to replace traditional energy to meet the needs of smart and low‐power devices. Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a new technology for converting high‐entropy mechanical energy into electric energy to power these devices. However, improving the output energy and durability of TENG remains a considerable challenge for practical applications. To solve these problems and push forward its commercialization process, this paper systematically reviews how to improve the durability of the sliding mode TENG (S‐TENG) from the aspects of material optimization and structural design. Besides, a variety of ways are introduced to improve the electric output of the S‐TENG under the premise of high durability. At last, challenges and future research focus in this field are also predicted, which provide a guideline for the research of the high electric output and ultra‐durability TENG for highly efficient energy harvesting and self‐powered sensing applications in the IoTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible electronics has emerged as a promising field for the development of electronic devices with applications in wearables, biomedical sensors, and edible electronics. Biomaterials play a crucial role in fabricating flexible substrates, and the utilization of polymer blends offers exciting possibilities for tuning mechanical and chemical properties. This paper highlights the potential of a novel polymer blend based on ethyl cellulose (EC) and hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) in the fabrication of substrates for flexible electronics. By blending the two cellulose ethers, it is possible to tune the mechanical and chemical properties of the final substrate, tailored to meet specific requirements. To exploit such innovative green substrates for photolithographic processes, their stability, and processability is extensively investigated. The feasibility of photolithographic processes on such biodegradable and edible substrates is demonstrated by fabricating both resistive and capacitive sensors through standard photolithographic processes, presenting a breakthrough in terms of applicability. The utilization of such biomaterials holds tremendous potential for driving technological advancements in various fields. These materials pave the way for innovative devices catering to diverse applications, from agriculture to food and biomedicine. Importantly, they also promote a sustainable approach for their fabrication, laying the foundation for an environment‐aware future of technological progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to spatially and regionally examine academic engagement within Brazil, identifying patterns. Moreover, our investigation can contribute to a better understanding of how knowledge can be turned into a tool to fight regional inequality. We depart from two hypotheses: first, universities situated in peripheral regions interact more with companies from relatively more dynamic regions, and second, in the absence of industrial knowledge demand, universities tend to collaborate more closely with a diverse range of stakeholders in the region. To evaluate these hypotheses and find empirical evidence, we consider 4497 research groups and 4603 nonacademic organizations as "nodes" connected by 8830 collaborations throughout all Brazilian regions. Social network tools are used to illustrate the spatial and regional dimensions of academic engagement more accurately. The results show that academic engagement is not regionally homogeneous, demonstrating essential differences regarding local nonacademic partnerships. Innovation policies, which encourage only university–firm interactions, perpetuate regional inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible electronics has emerged as a promising field for the development of electronic devices with applications in wearables, biomedical sensors, and edible electronics. Biomaterials play a crucial role in fabricating flexible substrates, and the utilization of polymer blends offers exciting possibilities for tuning mechanical and chemical properties. This paper highlights the potential of a novel polymer blend based on ethyl cellulose (EC) and hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) in the fabrication of substrates for flexible electronics. By blending the two cellulose ethers, it is possible to tune the mechanical and chemical properties of the final substrate, tailored to meet specific requirements. To exploit such innovative green substrates for photolithographic processes, their stability, and processability is extensively investigated. The feasibility of photolithographic processes on such biodegradable and edible substrates is demonstrated by fabricating both resistive and capacitive sensors through standard photolithographic processes, presenting a breakthrough in terms of applicability. The utilization of such biomaterials holds tremendous potential for driving technological advancements in various fields. These materials pave the way for innovative devices catering to diverse applications, from agriculture to food and biomedicine. Importantly, they also promote a sustainable approach for their fabrication, laying the foundation for an environment‐aware future of technological progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human microbiome plays a crucial role in maintaining health, with advances in high‐throughput sequencing technology and reduced sequencing costs triggering a surge in microbiome research. Microbiome studies generally incorporate five key phases: design, sampling, sequencing, analysis, and reporting, with sequencing strategy being a crucial step offering numerous options. Present mainstream sequencing strategies include Amplicon sequencing, Metagenomic Next‐Generation Sequencing (mNGS), and Targeted Next‐Generation Sequencing (tNGS). Two innovative technologies recently emerged, namely MobiMicrobe high‐throughput microbial single‐cell genome sequencing technology and 2bRAD‐M simplified metagenomic sequencing technology, compensate for the limitations of mainstream technologies, each boasting unique core strengths. This paper reviews the basic principles and processes of these three mainstream and two novel microbiological technologies, aiding readers in understanding the benefits and drawbacks of different technologies, thereby guiding the selection of the most suitable method for their research endeavours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managed pressure cementing (MPC) is a new technology based on managed pressure drilling, which has a greater advantage in facing narrow density window formations. However, the existing pressure prediction models during MPC injection stage consider fewer factors and have lower accuracy. To this end, combined with the characteristics of the injection stage, a predictive model of the distribution of annular fluid type was first proposed. Then, based on the experimental results, fluid density and rheology as a function of temperature and pressure were fitted. The governing equation of temperature‐pressure field was established. Eventually the fluid performance parameters–temperature–pressure coupling prediction model was developed in this paper. By comparing the predicted pump pressure with the measured pump pressure, the maximum relative error is not more than 10%. Using this model, the fluid type distribution, temperature field distribution, and pressure field distribution were investigated. The results indicated that the distribution of fluid types in the wellbore presented a complex variation, with up to 10 fluids in the casing and up to five fluids in the annulus. The trend of temperature field is complex, with three turning points. The larger the formation temperature gradient, the higher the fluid temperature in the annulus. The influence law of fluid heat conduction coefficient is reversed at 6750 m. Decreasing drilling fluid density will trigger gas channeling, while increasing drilling fluid density will increase the risk of fracturing formation, and safe operation can be realized by MPC. The variation of the static pressure in the casing is more complicated than in the annulus and the annular circulation pressure in the eccentric casing is smaller than that of the concentric casing, which is due to the smaller annular friction pressure. This study can provide a theoretical basis for the prediction of hydrodynamic parameters during the MPC injection stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Experimental Book Object: Materiality, Media, Design" is an anthology that explores the evolving role of traditional paper books in the digital age. Written by over 20 scholars, the book examines how practitioners in the field of book authoring, designing, and publishing are rethinking and reinventing the essence, functionalities, and forms of books through innovative experimentations. Divided into three parts, the anthology covers topics such as the materiality of books, their mediating qualities, and various book designs. The authors argue that the physical aspects of books contribute to meaning construction and interpretations, and they discuss how these innovations allow physical books to occupy a unique space at the intersection of physical and digital realms. The anthology also embraces diversity by examining various genres and cultural artifacts and giving voice to those who shape the essence of books. While informative, the anthology could benefit from a broader scope that includes more global literary contributions and representation of children's literature. Overall, the anthology provides a valuable resource for scholars and learners interested in the evolution of books and offers fresh pathways for future research. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the importance of materials throughout human history and their role in economic progress and social well-being. It emphasizes the application of materials in the form of devices and the ongoing research on advanced and functional materials to enhance existing technologies. The article highlights the challenges faced by researchers in synthesizing, analyzing, and characterizing materials, and the need for collaboration among scientists, engineers, and individuals from industries. The article also provides an overview of the 3rd National Conference on Materials and Devices (NCMD), which aimed to connect young researchers with senior scientists and professors and facilitate discussions on materials and their device applications. The conference featured plenary and invited speakers, as well as research papers and poster presentations by young researchers. The article expresses gratitude to the organizers, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, and the journal "Macromolecular Symposia" for their support and publication of selected papers from the conference. [Extracted from the article]

The IET Radar, Sonar & Navigation (RSN) journal has a history of publishing special issues focused on new technologies or conference papers. They plan to continue and expand these special issues under the oversight of Professor Alessio Balleri. The journal has also embraced the open access model, with 27 of their hybrid journal programs transitioning to Gold OA in 2020. They now have 43 open access journals in their portfolio. Open access offers benefits such as wider readership, faster impact, and increased recognition for authors. The RSN journal prides itself on its rapid processing and publication times, with an average time of 29 days from submission to first decision and 25 days from acceptance to e-first publication. The editors express their gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their contributions to maintaining the journal's quality and speed. The article concludes with a statement that no new data were created or analyzed during the study. [Extracted from the article]