Common Items Research Articles

Prioritized utilisation and reprocessing of reusable equipment in anaesthesiology deparmtents : Recommendations on how to reduce CO2 emissions from anaesthetic equipment

Currently, few robust data are available to provide estimates of the environmental footprint and in particular the CO2 emissions of medical devices; however, existing life cycle assessments largely indicate that reusable materials have more favorable emissions and environmental footprints compared to disposable items. Thus, the challenge for every anesthesiology department is to identify items that can be used as reusable products for ecological and other reasons.Aprerequisite for the use of reusable items is hygienically correct reprocessing and packaging. Here, adistinction must be made between noncritical, semicritical and critical medical devices, depending on the type of use. In addition, adistinction must be made between categories A-C, depending on the complexity of the reprocessing.In this narrative review article common reusable items used in anesthesiology are categorized and astandardized decision algorithm for reprocessing routes is proposed. Special attention is also given to the packaging of medical devices, which can contribute to the ecological footprint to arelevant extent.This article further explains the framework under which reprocessing can take place and analyzes the current state of knowledge on the life cycle assessment of reprocessing reusable devices.This requires the special commitment of clinically active anesthesiologists to include ecological aspects in the decision to use disposable or reusable items. In the medium term, comprehensible ecological key numbers should be provided on every medical device to make the ecological costs of the articles understandable in addition to the monetary costs.

Isolated Insular Stroke: An Interesting Report of Two Cases.

Isolated Insular Stroke: An Interesting Report of Two Cases.

Delaying the Introduction of Complementary Food until 6 Months does not Affect Appetite or Mother's Report of Food Acceptance of Breast-Fed Infants from 6 to 12 Months in a Low Income, Honduran Population

Low income, primiparous mothers who had exclusively breast-fed for 4 mo were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) continued exclusive breast-feeding to 6 mo (EBF), 2) introduction of complementary foods at 4 mo, with ad libitum nursing 4–6 mo (SF), and 3) introduction of complementary foods at 4 mo, with maintenance of base-line nursing frequency 4–6 mo (SF-M). After the intervention phase (4–6 mo; n = 141), home visits were conducted for a subsample at 9 (n = 60) and 12 (n = 123) mo. At each visit, an observer recorded infant food intake at the midday meal and interviewed the mother regarding usual feeding patterns and the infant's acceptance of 20 common food items. All but two infants (1.5%) were breast-fed to 9 mo and all but eight (6%) to 12 mo. There were no significant differences among groups in breast-feeding frequency, amount or number of foods consumed at the midday meal, percentage of food offered that was consumed, usual daily number of meals and snacks, number of food groups consumed, or overall food acceptance score. Frequency of consumption of foods from eight different food groups (dairy, meats, eggs, grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, tubers) was not significantly different among groups except that, at 9 mo only, the SF group (but not the SF-M group) consumed more vegetables than did the EBF group. These results indicate that delaying the introduction of complementary foods until 6 mo does not adversely affect appetite or food acceptance among breast-fed infants.

Road Accident Prediction Model Using Machine Learning

Abstract: Last year, the number of traffic accidents declined to 3.66 lakh,the lowest level in the last 20 years. The strong rules buried in these common item sets frequently reveal the relationship between influencing variables of accidents, which may be exploited to break them and limit the incidence of accidents. The guidelines may also be used to investigate common accident sites, and appropriate security improvements can be implemented to prevent accidents and, as a result, enhance thecity's traffic safety. In general, association rule mining can generate many weak rules; thus, the study first devised a technique for calculating the minimum Support value of training parameters, then proposed a method for extracting strong rules automatically. The experiment results revealed that the strategies provided in the research are successful. As a result, an automatic modelling technique based on association rules was developed to help promote the successful use of association rule mining in intelligent transportation systems.

Implementation of HACCP in the production of Egyptian cheeses: A review

AbstractSignificant difficulties about the function of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) in manufacture of three genuine varieties of Egyptian cheese, namely Domiati, Karish, and Ras's cheeses, are covered in this review. Benefits of implementing HACCP include complementing other quality management systems, improving food safety, making better use of resources, boosting productivity and quality, providing better security and lowering inspection rates, responding to issues quickly and effectively, and fostering international trade cooperation. The setting is important for the manufacturing, security, and quality control of cheese. A common household item across the world that is fermented dairy‐based and high in protein, calcium, amino acids, vitamins, phosphorus, and fat is cheese. Egypt consumes more cheese than any other country in North Africa, which is helped by the wide selection of cheeses on offer, includes soft, brined, salted, semi‐soft, and hard cheeses. Three illustrated graphics explain the manufacturing flow of each cheese with reference to critical control points determination were created using text that was obtained from the references that were accessible. As lists of dangers, important control limits, monitoring, and corrective measures for cheese manufacturing, three exemplary tables were equally given. These provide readers with a more thorough summary of all results.

Research on the Display of Female Elements by Chinese Online Game Female Players on the Social Media Platform Xiaohongshu

With the progress of science and technology, games have become a common entertainment item. Traditionally, the vast majority of games have been designed for men. However, in recent years, women are no longer a marginal group among the game audience. They are active in different game communities, especially Xiaohongshu platform. Compared with other game communities, the posts of female users on Xiaohongshu show different characteristics and tendencies. This research first uses the participant observation method to select the posts of three games and the search results of the keyword “online games”. Through analysis, it is concluded that the content of Xiaohongshu game community is mostly casual games, and users are used to combining their personal life with games when creating and sharing contents. However, this also exposed some disadvantages including one-sided content and imperfect system and search mechanism, which requires Xiaohongshu to develop more complete measures and create more activities to enrich the content of the platform. This research is aimed at making the design of game manufacturers and the development of game communities more meet the needs of female consumers by studying the content shared by female players in Xiaohongshu game community, emphasizing the status of women in the game field, and fill the gap of feminism about games.

Comparison of disengagement levels and the impact of disengagement on item parameters between PISA 2015 and PISA 2018 in the United States

BackgroundExaminees may not make enough effort when responding to test items if the assessment has no consequence for them. These disengaged responses can be problematic in low-stakes, large-scale assessments because they can bias item parameter estimates. However, the amount of bias, and whether this bias is similar across administrations, is unknown. This study compares the degree of disengagement (i.e., fast and non-effortful responses) and the impact of disengagement on item parameter estimates in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) across the 2015 and 2018 administrations.MethodWe detected disengaged responses at the item level based on response times and response behaviors. We used data from the United States and analyzed 51 computer-based mathematics items administered in both PISA 2015 and PISA 2018. We compared the percentage of disengaged responses and the average scores of the disengaged responses for the 51 common items. We filtered disengaged responses at the response- and examinee-levels and compared item difficulty (P+ and b) and item discrimination (a) before and after filtering.ResultsOur findings suggested that there were only slight differences in the amount of disengagement in the U.S. results for PISA 2015 and PISA 2018. In both years, the amount of disengagement was less than 5.2%, and the average scores of disengaged responses were lower than the average scores of engaged responses. We did not find any serious impact of disengagement on item parameter estimates when we applied response-level filtering; however, we found some bias, particularly on item difficulty, when we applied examinee-level filtering.ConclusionsThis study highlights differences in the amount of disengagement in PISA 2015 and PISA 2018 as well as the implications of the decisions made for handling disengaged responses on item difficulty and discrimination. The results of this study provide important information for reporting trends across years.

Textual Orientation to Cculture-Sansitive Proverbs Meanings in Selected Ahmed Yerima’s Yoruba Culture-Based Plays

Proverbs have attracted a lot of attention in linguistic scholarship. Specifically, scholars have addressed the thematic and figurative features of proverbs in the espousal of ethnic experiences of different communities from sociolinguistic, stylistic, semantic and pragmatic perspectives. Observation has shown that Pragmatic efforts have however ignored emphasis on the impact of textual parts, especially, common grounds in character’s interactions through shared situational knowledge (SSK) and shared cultural knowledge (SCK) of interlocutors in proverbial interpretations. With the application of Kecskes (2014) socio-cognitive principle of common grounds, this study examines purposively selected Yoruba proverbs in Ahmed Yerima's Yoruba-culture based plays Mojagbe and Ajagunmale with a view to determining their meanings relative to Yerima's pragmatic intentions. The study reveals that proverbs which mainly have linguistic roots in metaphor are interpretively aided by common ground items of shared situational knowledge (SSK) and shared cultural knowledge (SCK) in characters' utterances to pragmatically serve to warn/caution, emphasize, lament, accuse, and explain in the plays. This linguistic contribution to existing literature on Ahmed Yerima’s plays is significant for aiding the understanding of form-function nexus in context-sensitive proverbial interpretation in fictional discourse in linguistic scholarship in Nigeria.

Integration of Real-Time Semantic Building Map Updating with Adaptive Monte Carlo Localization (AMCL) for Robust Indoor Mobile Robot Localization

A robot can accurately localize itself and navigate in an indoor environment based on information about the operating environment, often called a world or a map. While typical maps describe structural layouts of buildings, the accuracy of localization is significantly affected by non-structural building elements and common items, such as doors, appliances, and furniture. This study enhances the robustness and accuracy of indoor robot localization by dynamically updating the semantic building map with non-structural elements detected by sensors. We propose modified Adaptive Monte Carlo Localization (AMCL), integrating object recognition and map updating into the traditional probabilistic localization. With the proposed approach, a robot can automatically correct errors caused by non-structural elements by updating a semantic building map reflecting the current state of the environment. Evaluations in kidnapped robot and traditional localization scenarios indicate that more accurate and robust pose estimation can be achieved with the map updating capability.

Anthropogenic marine litter: An approach to environmental quality for India's southeastern Arabian Sea coast

Anthropogenic marine litter (AML), mainly plastic, is a global concern that is persistent and widespread. To prevent and mitigate this threat, we need to understand the magnitude and source of AML. There is limited knowledge about AML pollution on the Indian Coast. In this context, the present study examined the distribution, abundance, typology, and beach quality based on AML along 22 beaches on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Sea. A total of 4911 AML items were classified into 9 categories, weighing 16.79 kg, and retrieved from a total area of 8000 m2. The mean abundance and weight of AML in the current study were 0.45 ± 0.34 items/m2 and 1.53 ± 0.92 g/m2, respectively. Thottapally showed the most abundant AML among the studied beaches with 0.96 items/m2, followed by Azheekkal with 0.73 items/m2. Plastic, being the most common item, accounts for 77.6 % of all items and has a mean density of 0.35 items/m2 comprising hard plastic (22 %), thermocol (13 %), food wrappers (7 %), cigarette butts (7 %), plastic rope (6 %), and plastic cutlery (6 %). Hazardous anthropogenic litter (HAL) was maximum at Thottapally (17.71 %; 85 out of 480 items collected). Based on the cleanliness of beaches, they are graded “moderately clean” (63 %) by the General Index (GI), “clean” (54 %), and “moderately clean” (40 %) as calculated by the Clean Coast Index (CCI). Hazardous Anthropogenic Beach Litter Index (HABLI) classifies 72 % of beaches as “moderately safe”, while the Environmental Status Index (ESI) rates 68 % of beaches as “mediocre”. Besides, model simulations demonstrated the pathways of AML propagation, which correlate to the littoral and coastal current flow patterns over the region. Land-based activities were the crucial factors influencing AML distribution. The study highlighted the need for effective regional litter management strategies, policy instruments for the litter impact pathways, economic, regulatory, and behavioural management tools, which were also discussed.

Composition of Common Junk Food Items and Their Contribution to the Dietary Requirement of Children and Adolescents

To estimate the carbohydrate, energy, fat, protein, and sodium content of commonly consumed junk food items and to compare these to the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) of children. A list of eight common junk food categories was made, and the median nutritional content of carbohydrate, energy, fat, protein and sodium was determined from the commonly consumed brands in these categories. It was compared to the RDA and EAR for two different age groups viz., age 4-6 year, and male adolescents aged 13-15 years. The junk food groups with the highest carbo-hydrate were packaged potato chips and cakes, the group with the highest fat content was packaged potato chips, and the groups with the highest salt content were burgers and packaged potato chips. The %EAR of one packet of some items was 80-90% of daily fat requirement, and more than 60% of daily sodium requirement. Junk foods contribute substantially to the daily intake of carbohydrates, free sugars, total fats, saturated fats, and sodium of children.

Maintaining Score Scales Over Time: A Comparison of Five Scoring Methods

ABSTRACT This study evaluates various scoring methods including number-correct scoring, IRT theta scoring, and hybrid scoring in terms of scale-score stability over time. A simulation study was conducted to examine the relative performance of five scoring methods in terms of preserving the first two moments of scale scores for a population in a chain of linking with multiple test forms. Simulation factors included 1) the number of forms linked back to the initial form, 2) the pattern in mean shift, and 3) the proportion of common items. Results showed that scoring methods that operate with number-correct scores generally outperform those that are based on IRT proficiency estimators () in terms of reproducing the mean and standard deviation of scale scores. Scoring methods performed differently as a function of patterns in a group proficiency change.

Step-by-Step Case ID Identification Based on Activity Connection for Cross-Organizational Process Mining

Cross-organizational process mining aims to discover an entire process model across multiple organizations where their identifier (ID) systems are not managed uniformly, and each organization has an independent ID system. Cross-organizational process mining has been gaining popularity as information systems increase in complexity. However, previous methods have limitations in that they do not work well for event logs that contain only common items, or cyclic orchestrations, which indicates that the model contains loops. In this paper, we propose an accurate cross-organizational process mining technique based on a step-by-step case ID identification mechanism that uses only common items in event logs and can handle cyclic orchestrations. Step-by-step case ID identification repeats the following steps: 1) identification of case IDs based on activity connection of adjacent event pairs, and 2) extraction of additional activity connections by leveraging the newly identified case IDs. We alternately identify the most probable case ID pairs and remove events belonging to these identified case IDs from the event log, which contributes to extracting additional activity connections and narrowing down the candidates of case ID pairs. Evaluation using real-world event logs showed that the proposed method generates the process model with more than 98.4% precision and more than 94.2% recall for two datasets, outperforming previous methods.

A sustainable blend of Tencel/jute fibers as an alternative to cotton/polyester for clothing

The increasing concern about the environment has enhanced the utilization of sustainable products in every field of life, from common household items to fabrics. Although cotton is a plant-based fiber, its cultivation requires large amounts of water and pesticides. Therefore, the future of product development demands environmental friendliness. To overcome the problems of cotton related to the environment, a novel sustainable fabric was developed by using Tencel and jute fiber for the apparel industry to reduce the usage of cotton. In this current study, six blended yarns of two counts (10 & 20 Ne) of Tencel and jute (90:10, 80:20, and 70:30) were developed by ring spinning to weave fabric in two weave designs (Plain & Twill). These developed fabrics were assessed for mechanical, comfort, and hand properties. The results revealed that the blended fabric with a high content of Tencel is good in terms of mechanical, comfort, and hand properties, except for stiffness, pilling resistance, resilience, and drapeability. Additionally, fabric woven with a fine yarn count is also good in the above-stated properties, except for stiffness, resilience, and wrinkle recovery. However, fabrics woven with a twill weave design have good comfort and hand properties, except for smoothness and drapability. On the other hand, fabric with a plain weave design is good in terms of mechanical properties, except for tear strength. The comparison of TJ blended fabric with PC blended fabric shows that the tensile strength, air permeability and OMMC of JT blended fabric is 8.31%, 96%, and 29.46% higher than PC blended fabric but tear strength is 99% less. Furthermore, statistical analysis was performed to check the effect of the input variables on the response factors, and it was found that the effect of yarn count on all output responses is statistically the most significant.

Thiophene anchored two new sets of carbohydrazide for the chemosensing and biological investigation

The presence of hazardous metal ions or anions in industrial and domestic water may adversely affect the living systems there. Hence their detection is reducing the risk to human and environmental systems. In this study, we investigate the spectroscopical variations of different analytes and the biological performance of two derivatives of carbohydrazide scaffolds. So, we developed two chemosensors 3TCH and BTTCH to detect Cu2+ and F− in an aqueous medium by using photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The BTTCH has also sensitively detected the AcO−. Spectral maxima deviations and colour changes in the concentration in concern can serve as indicators of the interaction that was produced. The limit of detection (LOD) was calculated for all the complexes, which all are in lower limits of quantification and the complex 3TCH + F− showed a much lower value of 8.23 × 10−8 M. The binding constants are calculated using the Benesi-Hildebrand equation, 3TCH + F− showed the highest value (K = 9.39 × 10−7M−1) of the association constant, indicating the highest affinity. Additionally, it was investigated whether the chemosensors could be used with common household items like mouthwash and vinegar.

Toxicological effects of cigarette butts for marine organisms

Cigarette butts (CBs), one of the most common litter items found on beaches, represent a still unexplored environmental hazard. This study aimed at a multidisciplinary characterization of their toxicological risks on marine organisms integrating chemical analyses of released compounds with a wide panel of biological responses, such as ecotoxicological bioassays on species of different trophic positions, molecular responses in an ex vivo model (Precision-Cut Tissue Slices, PCTS of mussels digestive glands), bioavailability and cellular biomarkers in mussels exposed to CBs in laboratory experiments. Trace metals, aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nicotine and cotinine were released in artificial seawater after 24 h which determined a significant inhibition of bacterial bioluminescence, oyster embryo development and growth in different algal species. Modulation of peroxisomal proliferation and antioxidant gene expression was observed in mussels PCTS, while the in vivo exposure determined accumulation of chemicals and significant alterations of immune system, antioxidant and neurotoxic responses, peroxisomal proliferation and genotoxic damage. Using a quantitative Weight of Evidence model, the risks of CBs to the marine environment were summarized, highlighting the importance of integrating chemical analyses, batteries of ecotoxicological bioassays, molecular and cellular biomarkers to assess the impact of these hazardous materials on marine environment.

The 3Rs(Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) of Waste Management – An effective and Sustainable Approach for Managing Municipal Solid Waste in Developing Countries

As the population of the world increases, more and more places are becoming urbanized; production and consumption rates are on a speedy rise. The inevitable consequence of high consumption rate around the world is the high volume of solid waste generated, thus, there is urgent need to properly manage generated wastes. The developing countries are at high risk of environmental degradation because of the way their solid waste is been handled due to lack of waste management infrastructures, policy framework and orientation.This research is based on a comprehensive review of relevant scholarly written literatures for an in-depth understanding of the concept of waste, it sources, composition, treatment, disposal, and general management of MSW (municipal solid waste) in places around the world. In a more specific way by answering the WH(What and how) question on common and everyday items used and easily dispose of by individual. With the approach and framework brought forward by this study, it aims to meet economic and environmental obligations of the ecosystem.

A quick test to objectify smell and taste dysfunction at home: a proof of concept for the validation of the chemosensory perception test.

Recent studies have shown the efficacy of a home test for the self-evaluation of olfactory and gustatory functions in quarantined coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients. However, testing was often limited to COVID-19 participants, and the accuracy of home test kits was rarely compared to standardized testing. This study aims at providing proof of concept for the validation of the new Chemosensory Perception Test (CPT) developed to remotely assess orthonasal olfactory, retronasal olfactory, and gustatory functions in various populations using common North American household items. In the 2 experiments, a total of 121 participants irrespective of having olfactory and/or gustatory complaints from various causes (COVID-19, sinunasal, post-viral, idiopathic) were tested first, with one or many of the following tests: (i) a brief chemosensory questionnaire, (ii) an olfactory test-Sniffin' Sticks Test (SST) or University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT), and/or (iii) a gustatory test-Brief Waterless Empirical Taste Test (B-WETT). We then applied the CPT which yielded 3 different subscores, namely orthonasal, retronasal, and gustatory CPT scores. The orthonasal CPT score was significantly correlated with SST (ρ = 0.837, P < 0.001) and UPSIT (ρ = 0.364, P < 0.001) scores, and exhibited an excellent accuracy to identify olfactory dysfunction (OD) as compared to SST (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.923 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.822-1.000], P < 0.001). The retronasal CPT score but not the gustatory CPT score allowed to distinguish between participants with or without subjective gustatory complaint (AUC: 0.818 [95% CI, 0.726-0.909], P < 0.001). The CPT has the ability to identify OD and to quantify subjective gustatory complaints.

Tensile And Formability Studies on AISI310 Austenitic Stainless Steel

Stainless steel is an alloy of iron, chromium, and, occasionally, nickel and other metals that resists corrosion. Metal is made into thin, flat pieces through an industrial process called sheet metal. One of the fundamental shapes used in metalworking, it can be cut and bent into many other shapes. Metal sheet is used to create a vast array of common items. The aim of the current work is to examine the 310 austenitic stainless steel’s formability at room temperature with different strain rates (i.e 0.1&amp;0.01mm/s). The study’s outcomes were achieved through the utilization of the Nakazima test during stretch forming. Before performing formability test, The mechanical properties of a high-strength stainless steel AISI 310 were examined by conducting tensile tests at room temperature with 0.1,0.01mm/s strain rates. The failure modes, stress-strain curves of all the test specimens were obtained and analyzed. In the current experiment, the stretch forming of different shaped metal was tested in servo electric hot forming machine with different strain rates i.e, (0.1,0.01) at room temperature and plotted forming limit diagrams based on the results. Then simulations of the experiments were performed in LS-dyna software and compared with the practical experiment results.

Time to kick the butt of the most common litter item in the world: Ban cigarette filters

Cigarette filters offer no public health benefits, are single-use plastics (cellulose acetate) and are routinely littered. Filters account for a significant proportion of plastic litter worldwide, requiring considerable public funds to remove, and are a source of microplastics. Used cigarette filters can leech toxic chemicals and pose an ecological risk to both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Bottom-up measures, such as focusing on consumer behaviour, are ineffective and we need to impose top-down solutions (i.e., bans) if we are to reduce the prevalence of this number one litter item. Banning filters offers numerous ecological, socioeconomic, and public health benefits.