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The overall aim of this research work was the improvement of the failure behavior of printed circuit boards (PCBs). In order to describe the mechanical behavior of PCBs under cyclic thermal loads, thin copper layers were characterized. The mechanical properties of these copper layers were determined in cyclic four-point bend tests and in cyclic tensile-compression tests, as their behavior under changing tensile and compression loads needed to be evaluated.

Specimens for the four-point bend tests were manufactured by bonding 18-μm-thick copper layers on both sides of 10-mm-thick silicone plates. The silicone was characterized in tensile, shear and blow-up tests to provide input data for a hyperelastic material model. Specimens for the cyclic tensile-compression tests were produced in a compression molding process. Four layers of glass fiber-reinforced epoxy resin (thickness 90 μm) and five layers of copper (thickness 60 μm) were applied.

The results showed that, due to the hyperelastic material behavior of silicone, the four-point bend tests were applicable only for small strains, while the cyclic tensile-compression tests could successfully be applied to characterize thin copper foils in tensile and compression up to 1 percent strain.

Thin copper layers (foils) could be characterized successfully under cyclic tensile and compression loads.

This paper aims to highlight the importance of braille for visually impaired people and the possibility of printing it by using the ultra-violet (UV) inkjet printing technique.

The vision impairment, definitions and statistics, as well as braille letter and standards, are first reviewed. Then, the methods of printing braille have been discussed, with a focus on UV ink-jet printing. Finally, this study indicates a significant role of UV ink-jet printed Braille, its possibilities and its advantages.

Research studies in the field of UV ink-jet printed braille are showing that it is possible to print good legible braille of the adequate height of dots. This paper highlights some advantages of printing braille with UV ink-jet, like the possibility of achieving greater dot height than embossing and no need for printing form. Printing of additional elements on top of braille dot has also been tested, and possible use for differentiation of the written notation is shown. This paper also indicates the importance of technological and operating conditions in UV inkjet braille printing. It predicts a significant role of UV inkjet in braille printing.

This paper provides a detailed review of UV ink-jet printed braille: possibilities, advantages and application.

This paper aims to solve the Falkner–Skan problem over an isothermal moving wedge using the combination of the quasilinearization method and the fractional order of rational Chebyshev function (FRC) collocation method on a semi-infinite domain.

The quasilinearization method converts the equation into a sequence of linear equations, and then by using the FRC collocation method, these linear equations are solved. The governing nonlinear partial differential equations are reduced to the nonlinear ordinary differential equation by similarity transformations.

The entropy generation and the effects of the various parameters of the problem are investigated, and various graphs for them are plotted.

Very good approximation solutions to the system of equations in the problem are obtained, and the convergence of numerical results is shown by using plots and tables.

The article applies the citizen science phenomenon – i.e. lay people involvement in research endeavours aimed at pushing forward scientific knowledge – to healthcare. Attention is paid to initiatives intended to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic as an illustrative case to exemplify the contribution of citizen science to system-wide innovation in healthcare.

A mixed methodology consisting of three sequential steps was developed. Firstly, a realist literature review was carried out to contextualize citizen science to healthcare. Then, an account of successfully completed large-scale, online citizen science projects dealing with healthcare and medicine has been conducted in order to obtain preliminary information about distinguishing features of citizen science in healthcare. Thirdly, a broad search of citizen science initiatives targeted to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic has been performed. A comparative case study approach has been undertaken to examine the attributes of such projects and to unravel their peculiarities.

Citizen science enacts the development of a lively healthcare ecosystem, which takes its nourishment from the voluntary contribution of lay people. Citizen scientists play different roles in accomplishing citizen science initiatives, ranging from data collectors to data analysts. Alongside enabling big data management, citizen science contributes to lay people's education and empowerment, soliciting their active involvement in service co-production and value co-creation.

Citizen science is still underexplored in healthcare. Even though further evidence is needed to emphasize the value of lay people's involvement in scientific research applied to healthcare, citizen science is expected to revolutionize the way innovation is pursued and achieved in the healthcare ecosystem. Engaging lay people in a co-creating partnership with expert scientist can help us to address unprecedented health-related challenges and to shape the future of healthcare. Tailored health policy and management interventions are required to empower lay people and to stimulate their active engagement in value co-creation.

Citizen science relies on the wisdom of the crowd to address major issues faced by healthcare organizations. The article comes up with a state of the art investigation of citizen science in healthcare, shedding light on its attributes and envisioning avenues for further development.

Artificial fruit ripening is hazardous to mankind. In the recent past, artificial fruit ripening is increasing gradually due to its commercial benefits. To discriminate the type of fruit ripening involved at the vendors’ side, there is a great demand for on-sight ethylene detection in a nondestructive manner. Therefore, this study aims to deal with a comparison of various laboratory and portable methods developed so far with high-performance metrics to identify the ethylene detection at fruit ripening site.

This paper focuses on various types of technologies proposed up to date in ethylene detection, fabrication methods and signal conditioning circuits for ethylene detection in parts per million and parts per billion levels. The authors have already developed an infrared (IR) sensor to detect ethylene and also developed a lab-based setup belonging to the electrochemical sensing methods to detect ethylene for the fruit ripening application.

The authors have developed an electrochemical sensor based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes whose performance is relatively higher than the sensors that were previously reported in terms of material, sensitivity and selectivity. For identifying the best sensing technology for optimization of ethylene detection for fruit ripening discrimination process, authors have developed an IR-based ethylene sensor and also semiconducting metal-oxide ethylene sensor which are all compared with literature-based comparable parameters. This review paper mainly focuses on the potential possibilities for developing portable ethylene sensing devices for investigation applications.

The authors have elaborately discussed the new chemical and physical methods of ethylene detection and quantification from their own developed methods and also the key findings of the methods proposed by fellow researchers working on this field. The authors would like to declare that the extensive analysis carried out in this technical survey could be used for developing a cost-effective and high-performance portable ethylene sensing device for fruit ripening and discrimination applications.

This paper aims to focus on the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on victims of child trafficking. It highlights findings from research on other pandemics and outbreaks, the impact of child trafficking on children, the impact of COVID-19 on children and the impact of COVID-19 on victims of child trafficking.

This paper focuses on the global impact of COVID-19 on victims of child trafficking. It highlights findings from research on other pandemics, the impact of child trafficking on children, the impact of COVID-19 on children and the impact of COVID-19 on victims of child trafficking. The findings provide a useful framework to guide the development of social policies to address this global crisis and to empower social workers and allied professionals to implement effective service responses. This is a crucial time for the entire world to diminish the impact of COVID-19, address this unprecedented crisis and uphold the human rights of all children.

These findings provide a useful framework to guide the development of social policies to address this global pandemic and to support social workers and allied professionals to implement effective service responses.

The author proposes three basic action items: commit to the promises made in international and regional mandates and guidelines; address the risk and vulnerability factors that have been identified; and implement the promising prevention activities described in the literature.

Savant syndrome, a very rare condition in the world, refers to individuals who have extraordinary talents but might have disabilities that prevent them from maintaining their life. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the views of conservatory instructors about the education of Buğra Çankır (BC), a musical savant with autism.

As it was difficult to communicate with BC and elicit his views, interviews were conducted with his teachers, who had similar experiences in his music education process. The participants were six instructors who worked as full-time instructors in the conservatory. The participants were administered a semi-structured focus group interview form that described the difficulties, experiences, perceptions and feelings they had in their interactions with BC. Data obtained from the study were subjected to content analysis methods performed by the researchers; analysis involved identification of the codes and themes and formation of sub-themes and codes in line with these themes.

Results showed that the participants had difficulties in teaching BC because of having insufficient knowledge about his features. In addition, while planning the conservatory education processes, the participants were found to redesign the teaching content considering the features of the student.

The present case study is important in terms of revealing the problems experienced in the education processes of these individuals. More detailed qualitative studies or action research could be utilised in studies to be conducted in the future.

BC’s educational experience is the first case for educational institutions and instructors in Turkey.