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People are increasingly applying Internet of Things (IoT) devices that help them improve their fitness and provide information about their state of health. Although the acceptance of healthcare devices is increasing throughout the general population, IoT gadgets are reliant on sensitive user data in order to provide full functioning and customized operation. More than in other areas of IoT, healthcare applications pose a challenge to individual privacy. In this study, we examine whether actual and perceived control of collected data affects the willingness to use an IoT healthcare device. We further measure actual behavior as a result of a risk-benefit trade-off within the framework of privacy calculus theory. Our experiment with N = 209 participants demonstrates that while actual control does not affect the willingness to use IoT in healthcare, people have a higher intention to use an IoT healthcare device when they perceive to be in control of their data. Furthermore, we found that, prior to their decision, individuals weigh perceived risks and anticipated benefits of information disclosure, which demonstrates the potential to apply the privacy calculus in the context of IoT healthcare technology. Finally, users' moral considerations of IoT in healthcare are discussed., (Copyright © 2020 Princi and Krämer.)

The morphology of polyester-based polyurethanes was observed by transmission electron microscopy, which highlighted a nanostructured system made by a continuous distribution of hard domains with size equal to few nanometres in the soft matrix., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this work, a study concerning the composition of Italian papers from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries was carried out using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy coupled to energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS). The analyzed samples consisted of papers employed for drawing, writing, printing, and absorbance. Observations carried out by SEM magnified the typical paper morphology. EDXRF in combination with XRD and SEM-EDS allowed the determination of calcite, gypsum, kaolin, talc, magnesite, and dolomite, used as fillers in the production of the papers studied herein. The inks present in the handwritten and printed papers, investigated by SEM-EDS and μ-EDXRF, were synthetic, Fe based, and iron gall inks.

In this paper the development of image processing and analysis routines for acquiring information about the paper structure from images obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is described. A new method to measure the fibre width based on the processing of superficial SEM observation is herein proposed and successfully applied to some commercial paper-based materials. The quantification of fillers in the Z-direction of paper was based on paper cross-sectional SEM images. The results obtained by image processing demonstrated the excellent performance and suitability of the proposed method to quantify exactly information concerning fraction and size distribution of digital fillers. The fraction of digital fillers was correlated with the surface roughness of a given paper grade.

Recent developments in microscopy and image processing have made digital measurements on high-resolution images of fibrous materials possible. This helps to gain a better understanding of the structure and other properties of the material at micro level. In this paper SEM image segmentation based on mathematical morphology is proposed. In fact, paper models images (Whatman, Murillo, Watercolor, Newsprint paper) selected in the context of the Euro Mediterranean PaperTech Project have different distributions of fibers and fillers, caused by the presence of SiAl and CaCO3 particles. It is a microscopy challenge to make filler particles in the sheet distinguishable from the other components of the paper surface. This objectif is reached here by using switable strutural elements and mathematical morphology operators.

Consolidation treatment of porous materials was performed by in situ and frontal polymerization of acrylic monomers inside a porous stone. To study the penetration of the polymer inside the stone and its consolidating effects we used water as a contrast agent, detecting its penetration using unilateral NMR and magnetic resonance imaging. All data obtained on differently treated stones were compared with corresponding ones obtained analyzing both untreated stones and stones simply painted with a well-known polymeric protective agent. In situ polymerization of acrylic monomers inside porous stones has been demonstrated to be an extremely powerful consolidating method, whereas thermally initiated frontal polymerization seems less efficient. In both cases the optimal choice of monomers is still open and requires further study. Our data indicate that unilateral NMR represents an inexpensive and simple technique for the non-invasive observation of the water uptake and of the effect of consolidation procedures in porous materials.

The deterioration of synthetic polymers caused by biological process is usually evaluated by visual inspection and measuring physical effects. In contrast to this approach, we have applied vibrational spectroscopies to study the biodegradation of the synthetic resins. 29 synthetic resins used as paint binding media, including acrylic, alkyd and poly(vinyl acetate) polymers, were examined for potential susceptibility to fungal degradation using the standard method ASTM G21-96(2002). In addition, the degraded resins were analysed by Raman spectroscopy, FT-IR and FT-IR photoacoustic spectroscopy. Almost all the acrylic resins studied proved to be resistant to microbial attack, while all alkyd resins and some poly(vinyl acetates) turned out to be biodegradable. Within a few days of inoculation Aspergillus niger was the most copious fungus on the biodegraded resins. A comparison of the IR and Raman spectra of control and biodegraded resins did not show any differences, but photoacoustic spectroscopy revealed additional bands for the fungal-degraded resins, consistent with the presence of fungal-derived substances. The additional bands in the photoacoustic spectra were due to the presence of Aspergillus niger and melanin, a fungal pigment. Since IR photoacoustic spectroscopy can be also a suitable technique for the chemical characterisation of binding media, the same spectroscopic analysis can be employed to both characterise the material and obtain evidence for fungal colonization. Microbial growth on Sobral 1241ML (alkyd resin) after 28 d (growth rating 4) compared with the non-inoculated resin.