Large Inventory Research Articles

Virtual Dressing Room System using Deep Neural Networks

Abstract: In earlier twenty first century, fashion trends has evolved into a way of life. Depending on skin tone, physical stature, gender, as well as social and geographic factors, the amount and style of clothes which we worn might vary significantly. For the huge chunk of population, the in-store buying experience ( buying in the shops ) is still what comes to mind when they think of shopping. The customers can try on clothing in real time, but this process takes too long when there will not be enough trial rooms in the dressing store. The goal here is to create an engaging, interactive, involving and incredibly realistic virtual system that allow the users or customers to select from a wide variety of clothing designs before simulating those outfits on the people or customers virtually. In this study, we have proposed a system that aids in the synchronization of daily attire of the people. The Virtual styling room using live video feed may alter how a person will shop for and tries on new clothing. Customers or people can try on a wide range of clothing items without a need to actually wear them by making use of the idea of “Virtual Reality”. The benefit of doing things in this way is that it would take less time and effort of the people or customers to physically try the garments on. The project we did also aids in market management, reducing the requirement for customers to try on each and every article of clothing in clothing store. Additionally, retailers can save time, money, and space by not keeping a large inventory on hand (in store). This project aims at transferring a target clothing image onto a reference person. Generative adversarial network involves three modules semantic generation, cloth wrapping and try on module

722 Select Survey of Human Cadaver Skin Allograft Utilization by 21 Senior Academic Burn Surgeons

Abstract Introduction As of 2022, cryopreserved human cadaver skin allograft remains the gold standard by which all other skin substitutes used for burn care are compared. The 2015 Taiwan Color Dust Explosion burn mass casualty engendered the transfer of emergency tranches of skin allograft from reserves in both the US and EU to Taiwan. HHS/ASPR/BARDA/CBRN led an after-action fact-finding mission to Taiwan and concluded that skin allograft would still play a central role as a safety net in US national burn care preparedness, even as BARDA invested in the development of other burn medical countermeasures that would be part of the preparedness strategy. However, before investments in a skin allograft based national strategy could be built, it was critical that the leaders of the Disaster Committee and Organization and Delivery of Burn Care (ODBC) Committee of the American Burn Association (ABA) commission a survey to verify current practice patterns of senior academic burn surgeons on the use of skin allograft. Methods The committee chairs curated a list of 21 leading academic burn surgeons in North America. These surgeons’ credentials included having been an ABA president, a member of the ABA Board of Trustees, or having chaired a standing committee of the ABA. All 21 surgeons were actively practicing burn care daily. The survey contained 18 questions and was intentionally kept brief (Survey to be provided as Appendix). Results Of the 21 surgeons selected, there was 100% participation and completion of the survey. Most were in practice >15 years (62%) and manage >200 patients surgically per year (71%). The predominant use of allograft is to temporize the wound bed when there are inadequate donor sites (48% “Almost Always”). It is “Often” (48%) used to temporize wound beds prior to autografting. However, most are looking for alternatives to allograft (43% “Sometimes”, 43% “Often”). With ongoing development of skin substitutes, most indicated their allograft use will likely decrease, with only 19% indicating “Probably Not”. Conclusions Human skin allograft continues to play a central role in surgical burn care management. For the foreseeable future, new technologies are not likely to displace allograft use but rather blend with its use. This brief, select survey is not powered but provides a snapshot of the current role of skin allograft. In the future, we may conduct a broader survey to obtain a validated and more granular view of the use of allograft in modern burn care. Applicability of Research to Practice Armed with this information, the US Federal Government acted to increase preparedness after a burn mass casualty. In February 2022, a Request for Proposals for a large vendor-managed inventory of human cryopreserved skin allograft was answered by two separate tissue banks. As of September 2022, $38M was awarded to two partners for procurement and expansion of a vendor managed inventory of cryopreserved human skin allograft to ensure preparedness for rapid response to a burn mass casualty incident.

Distribution of gold derived from hydrothermal fluids on the modern seafloor and its impact on the gold budget of seawater

The modern seafloor hydrothermal system plays a significant role in the cycling of energy and mass between the internal and external layers of the oceanic crust and upper mantle. It continues to supply hydrothermal fluids containing three to five orders of magnitude more gold into the ocean than the amount typically present in deep seawater. It has a considerable impact on the distribution and budget of gold with respect to the large geological inventory of the ocean along with other input sources such as river water. The large amount of various types of data compiled for this study reveals that only about 0.3% of the annual hydrothermal flux of gold (2618.3 kg/a) injected into the overlying seawater column as a dissolved phase is eventually trapped in sulfide deposits near vent sites on the seafloor, while about 0.8% is trapped in metalliferous sediments that fall out from the distal nonbuoyant plume. The remaining ~98.9% of gold is delivered into the depths of the global open ocean. The global budget of gold in seawater (about 1.4 × 107 kg), the annual flux of hydrothermal fluids at the seafloor (about 2.6 × 103 kg/a), the amount delivered by river water (about 7.2 × 104 kg/a), and significant estuarine removal (15%) allows us to estimate the residence time of gold in the modern ocean to be about 220 years. This value is 70% shorter than that (~1000 years) reported previously. In the future, the use of appropriate artificial means to achieve more efficient precipitation of gold from the hydrothermal system at the seafloor could increase the level of enrichment of gold to obtain gold-rich hydrothermal deposits, yielding greater economic benefits.

Probabilistic condition assessment of reinforced concrete sanitary sewer pipelines using LiDAR inspection data

Frequent inspections of reinforced concrete sanitary sewer pipelines (RCSSPs) are crucial for performing a proper life cycle management strategy; however, due to the large inventory of SSPs, only limited inspection data is typically available. In this work, a data-driven method for condition assessment of RCSSPs is developed in a probabilistic framework, wherein the pipe wall erosion is evaluated using LiDAR inspection data. Results indicate that the deteriorated inner concrete wall geometry of RCSSPs is best characterized by the half-normal probability density function (PDF). The final product of the proposed condition assessment algorithm is a probabilistic estimate of remaining service life using the inspection LiDAR point cloud data (PCD). The effect of different reliability methods are compared with the proposed methodology. The results are validated using available closed-circuit television (CCTV) images, previous research that employs the same inspection data, and Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) method. The proposed algorithm provides an automated framework that can be utilized with any PCD associated with non-destructive inspections.

Seismic risk prioritisation schemes for reinforced concrete bridge portfolios

A significant portion of the existing bridge inventory in Italy is decades old, requiring continuous maintenance and safety assessment approaches. Recent collapses of existing reinforced concrete bridges have piqued public interest, placing pressure on management agencies to define methodologies with which to prioritise asset maintenance and to effectively utilise their limited resources. When looking for decision variables to perform this prioritisation, seismic risk assessment metrics, such as average annual losses (AAL), are an appealing choice. However, obtaining this metric for a large bridge inventory is technically challenging and requires large amounts of information that are seldom available, promoting the development of practical approaches that can predict the relative priority of assets within a portfolio, based on processing simple indicators with acceptable accuracy. In this research, a case study of 617 bridges from the Italian road network was assessed considering state-of-the-art approaches to calculate total losses. The results were explored with data science techniques, identifying the main features that drive the relative importance of bridges in terms of AAL and using them as guidance to calibrate a simplified methodology, based on the recent Italian Guidelines for Bridge Safety Assessment. The proposed AAL-based modifications demonstrate a notable improvement in the definition of bridge assessment priorities, as well as providing further resolution in the classification for more efficient decision making.

A New CSRML Structure-Based Fingerprint Method for Profiling and Categorizing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS).

The term PFAS encompasses diverse per- and polyfluorinated alkyl (and increasingly aromatic) chemicals spanning industrial processes, commercial uses, environmental occurrence, and potential concerns. With increased chemical curation, currently exceeding 14,000 structures in the PFASSTRUCTV5 inventory on EPA's CompTox Chemicals Dashboard, has come increased motivation to profile, categorize, and analyze the PFAS structure space using modern cheminformatics approaches. Making use of the publicly available ToxPrint chemotypes and ChemoTyper application, we have developed a new PFAS-specific fingerprint set consisting of 129 TxP_PFAS chemotypes coded in CSRML, a chemical-based XML-query language. These are split into two groups, the first containing 56 mostly bond-type ToxPrints modified to incorporate attachment to either a CF group or F atom to enforce proximity to the fluorinated portion of the chemical. This focus resulted in a dramatic reduction in TxP_PFAS chemotype counts relative to the corresponding ToxPrint counts (averaging 54%). The remaining TxP_PFAS chemotypes consist of various lengths and types of fluorinated chains, rings, and bonding patterns covering indications of branching, alternate halogenation, and fluorotelomers. Both groups of chemotypes are well represented across the PFASSTRUCT inventory. Using the ChemoTyper application, we show how the TxP_PFAS chemotypes can be visualized, filtered, and used to profile the PFASSTRUCT inventory, as well as to construct chemically intuitive, structure-based PFAS categories. Lastly, we used a selection of expert-based PFAS categories from the OECD Global PFAS list to evaluate a small set of analogous structure-based TxP_PFAS categories. TxP_PFAS chemotypes were able to recapitulate the expert-based PFAS category concepts based on clearly defined structure rules that can be computationally implemented and reproducibly applied to process large PFAS inventories without need to consult an expert. The TxP_PFAS chemotypes have the potential to support computational modeling, harmonize PFAS structure-based categories, facilitate communication, and allow for more efficient and chemically informed exploration of PFAS chemicals moving forward.

Real-Time Mapping With Global Positioning Systems Devices in a Mixed Methods Toolkit for Studying Social and Environmental Change

To explore the process through which people develop knowledge about socioecological change, this article describes a mixed-methods toolkit containing a technique for making maps in real time while moving through landscapes. The quantitative component of the toolkit is grounded in ethnobiologists’ embeddedness in place-based communities and harnesses the power of global positioning systems (GPS). As GPS-wielding ethnobiologists engage in participatory mapping by moving through landscapes with their research collaborators, we can use handheld devices and simultaneously communicate with satellites in outer space to produce maps in real time. Within the existing, large inventory of ethnobiological methods, using handheld GPS devices can be combined with other types of data-collecting techniques to enhance studies of interactions in more-than-human landscapes. Moreover, mapmaking implements movement trace, a tactic for interpreting space-time cultures and documenting grounded experiences with socioecological change. By bringing together interests in the disciplines of ethnobiology and qualitative geographic information systems (GIS), this article describes methods that make it possible to explain the space-time culture that guides people to move through their homelands and to communicate about their experiences even as they work toward integrating and directing the changing circumstances of their lives.

Interplay between transcriptional regulators and VapBC toxin-antitoxin loci during thermal stress response in extremely thermoacidophilic archaea.

Thermoacidophilic archaea lack sigma factors and the large inventory of heat shock proteins (HSPs) widespread in bacterial genomes, suggesting other strategies for handling thermal stress are involved. Heat shock transcriptomes for the thermoacidophilic archaeon Saccharolobus (f. Sulfolobus) solfataricus 98/2 revealed genes that were highly responsive to thermal stress, including transcriptional regulators YtrASs (Ssol_2420) and FadRSs (Ssol_0314), as well as type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) loci VapBC6 (Ssol_2337, Ssol_2338) and VapBC22 (Ssol_0819, Ssol_0818). The role, if any, of type II TA loci during stress response in microorganisms, such as Escherichia coli, is controversial. But, when genes encoding YtrASs , FadRSs , VapC22, VapB6, and VapC6 were systematically mutated in Sa. solfataricus 98/2, significant up-regulation of the other genes within this set was observed, implicating an interconnected regulatory network during thermal stress response. VapBC6 and VapBC22 have close homologues in other Sulfolobales, as well as in other archaea (e.g. Pyrococcus furiosus and Archaeoglobus fulgidus), and their corresponding genes were also heat shock responsive. The interplay between VapBC TA loci and heat shock regulators in Sa solfataricus 98/2 not only indicates a cellular mechanism for heat shock response that differs from bacteria but one that could have common features within the thermophilic archaea.

A novel 3D-imaging and characterisation technique for special nuclear materials in radioactive waste

A novel technique for non-destructive assay (NDA) of radioactive waste called ARCTERIX (Advanced Radwaste Characterisation based on Tomographically Enhanced Radiation Imaging without X-rays) is presented. The concept is based on a 3D-tomographic imaging technique for special nuclear materials – neutron-gamma emission tomography (NGET). ARCTERIX takes the NGET principle from its original application area of nuclear security systems into the realm of radioactive waste assay with its special characteristics and challenges. By adding localisation and imaging of SNM inside shielded waste containers to the array of existing techniques used for radioactive waste characterisation, ARCTERIX complements the state of the art in passive and active NDA interrogation methods. It is aimed primarily at the class of mixed, long-lived radioactive waste that is commonly called “legacy” or “historic” waste which has special safety, security and safeguards concerns due to its mixed composition, commonly poor documentation, and the frequent presence of SNM. The ARCTERIX concept provides rapid imaging and characterisation of nuclear materials in radioactive waste with a high degree of automation and high throughput capabilities, making it possible to quickly scan large radioactive waste inventories for the presence of special nuclear materials with minimal manual intervention. The first ARCTERIX prototype system has demonstrated a high technological readiness for the implementation of the technique in a commercial stand-alone system for rapid assessment of radioactive waste drums or in a system operating in conjunction with established techniques.

Probabilistic risk assessment model for released tritium into the environment for CFETR

The China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) is the next facility in the Chinese roadmap to realize sustainable-clean fusion energy. Because of the large tritium inventory of the CFETR, safety analyses are necessary. During the current design phase of the CFETR, performing the risk analysis of tritium released into the environment could reveal the design weaknesses and indicate improvements aimed at trtium risk (TR) reduction but also form a part of the licensing process for future CFETR construction and operation. Several CFETR safety analyses using deterministic approaches have been conducted, but relatively few studies based on probabilistic approaches are currently available. In this paper, a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) model for tritium release into the environment for CFETR was proposed, in which the frequency and the radioactivity of the released tritium in accident sequences are considered. The event tree/fault tree (ET/FT) method was applied to investigate primary factors contributing to the tritium release into the environment and to estimate the frequency of accident sequences. We presented a model for preliminary and rapid assessment of the radioactivity of released tritium in accident sequences and developed a calculation code. The application process and validity of the model were demonstrated through the assessment of TR of the CFETR for selected postulated initiating events.

In-plane shear strengthening of reinforced concrete diaphragms using fiber reinforced polymer composites

Reinforced concrete (RC) diaphragms play a fundamental role in seismic resistance of RC buildings. In addition to transferring the gravity loads to the beams and columns, diaphragms need to be sufficiently rigid with high shear capacity to resist and distribute the earthquake loads to the lateral force resisting system. Despite the large building inventory with under designed diaphragms to resist the shear loads from earthquakes, the number of studies investigating possible approaches to increase the in-plane shear capacity of diaphragms is limited. External equally distributed narrow strips of fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) providing additional shear strength for RC diaphragms is proposed in this study. Five full scale RC diaphragms with overall dimensions of 4.5 m long by 1.5 m wide by 0.1 m thick were built and tested under cyclic shear loading. One out of the five specimens was tested as a reference with no strengthening, while the remaining four were strengthened with external glass or carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP or CFRP) composites. The test results showed that the FRP strengthening system effectively enhances the in-plane shear capacity of the RC diaphragms. Compared to the reference specimen, the FRP layout used for testing increased the shear capacity by up to 40%. This paper presents the test specimens, strengthening systems, and in-plane shear response of tested diaphragms in terms of failure modes, strength, and deformation. The experimental results were also compared to theoretical values determined according to the evaluation criteria in the International Code Council (ICC)-Evaluation Services (ES), Acceptance Criteria (AC) 125.

Triggering and recovery of earthquake accelerated landslides in Central Italy revealed by satellite radar observations

Earthquake triggered landslides often pose a great threat to human life and property. Emerging research has been devoted to documenting coseismic landslides failed during or shortly after earthquakes, however, the long-term seismic effect that causes unstable landslides only to accelerate, moderately or acutely, without immediate failures is largely neglected. Here we show the activation and recovery of these earthquake accelerated landslides (EALs) in Central Italy, based on satellite radar observations. Unlike previous studies based on single or discrete landslides, we established a large inventory of 819 EALs and statistically quantified their spatial clustering features against a set of conditioning factors, thus finding that EALs did not rely on strong seismic shaking or hanging wall effects to occur and larger landslides were more likely to accelerate after earthquakes than smaller ones. We also discovered their accelerating-to-recovering sliding dynamics, and how they differed from the collapsed 759 coseismic landslides. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the earthquake-triggering landslide mechanism and are of great significance for long-term landslide risk assessment in seismically active areas.

Maintenance prioritisation framework for Taiwan’s pedestrian bridges

This paper presents a maintenance prioritisation framework for Taiwan’s 1268 pedestrian bridges. It aims to standardise their inspection and maintenance, as Taiwan’s current bridge management specifications and manuals only apply to its highway and railway bridge infrastructure. It is designed to assess the structural safety and serviceability of six pedestrian bridge types by visual inspection. To assign weight factors to the structural safety and serviceability components of the identified bridge types, two rounds of Delphi method interviews with bridge experts were conducted. The framework is centred on a weighted average condition assessment method that integrates expert-determined weight factors with visual inspection results to calculate a condition index (PBCI). Pedestrian bridges are ranked and classified based on their PBCIs to set appropriate inspection frequency and scope, and to inform maintenance resource allocation. The application of the framework to five pedestrian bridges in Taoyuan City demonstrated its practicality and value for bridge authorities tasked with managing large inventories of pedestrian bridges.

PO18: An Efficient and Reproducible Autoradiography Technique for HDR-Gynecological Applicators Commissioning

<h3>Purpose</h3> High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy commissioning of Elekta's gynecological (Gyn) applicator sets include a large inventory of CT/MR compatible plastic, applicator tubes of varying shapes and sizes. This often present a challenge to the efficiency of source autoradiography - an essential test to determine and verify final dwell position of the HDR source and its positioning/stepping accuracy. We present a technique of acquiring radiograph-autoradiograph combinations of HDR-Gyn applicators that allows testing of several applicators simultaneously, in a rigid and reproducible set-up. <h3>Materials Methods</h3> Elekta provides x-ray catheter (marker) sets as a required accessory to verify source positioning inside Gyn applicators. Once the markers are calibrated & Final Marker Position (FMP) characterized, using Elekta's Source Position Check Ruler & CT-scans, the technique of radiograph-autoradiograph superposition is recommended for determination of final dwell position (FDP) & verification of source positioning accuracy. To ensure a rigid & reproducible set-up, template trays to hold multiple applicator tubes & Gafochromic EBT3 film for recording multiple radiographs in unison were built using Styrofoam. Channels were carved in styrofoam creating tight narrow groves fitting applicators in place. Applicators were taped with tips laid flat & flush with the film secured to styrofoam base independently. Primary advantage of using styrofoam is that it offers no backscatter to radiography as well as gamma photons from the Ir-192 source. Additionally, it is readily available and easy to work with. Each tray held 4-6 applicators with markers allowing a simultaneous radiograph acquisition, &∼ 5 cm lateral spacing enabled independent images. Truebeam^TM Linear accelerator was used for radiography. Multiple pre-prepared template trays with applicators were exposed at a source-to-film-distance of 100 cm with 400 monitor units using 2.5 MV imaging beam. This technique provided best visualization of the plastic applicator & marker on a gafochromic EBT3 film. Once the multiple-applicator-radiograph is acquired, templates were transported to adjacent HDR suite, set on a rigid couch, markers carefully removed & transfer tube connected for acquisition of autoradiograph coincident with recently acquired radiograph, using Flexitron afterloader. For Ir-192 source's autoradiograph, a 10-15 seconds dwell time is adequate to darken film with marker visualization reasonably intact for analysis. Pre-prepared templates and availability of personnel allowed simultaneous use of linear accelerator & afterloader, for radiograph & autoradiograph acquisition, adding further efficiency. Source positioning & stepping accuracy was verified by coincidence of center of darkening at the exposed dwell-position & center of visualized markers, on a viewbox illuminator. <h3>Results</h3> Using techniques and workflow developed, 60 CT/MR compatible HDR-Gyn plastic applicators were commissioned. Autoradiography-radiography superposition with x-ray markers enabled verification of Elekta specified distances between the outer tip of the IU/ovoid tubes, inner tip & the final dwell position, & HDR source positioning & stepping accuracy within 1 mm. Figure 1-A shows Styrofoam templates with multiple channels for affixing applicators over EBT3 Gafochromic film for radiography, 1-B is HDR room setup for autoradiography and 1-C shows images of multiple different applicator tubes depicting the radiograph-autoradiograph overlay with marker visualization and HDR source positioning. <h3>Conclusion</h3> We present an efficient autoradiography technique for commissioning of a large inventory HDR-Gyn plastic applicators using a linear accelerator & HDR afterloader.

The Linguistic Challenge for Standards

Standards serve a valuable function that enable efficiencies, technological advancement, and commerce. To date, there is little examination of the problems with standards, their implementations, and methodologies that could be introduced to improve utility and utilization. This is contrasted against the large inventory of standards that exist, and proliferation of standards. More available literature exists on standards wars that focus on attempts at market dominance, persistence of ‘legacy’ standards in light of newer and ‘better’ solutions, cases for and against multiple standards, and even legal cases regarding anti-competitive behavior leveraging dominance in particular standards. This, however, focuses more on the politics as opposed to presenting a more fundamental examination of the cause for the existing friction. Through applied linguistics, it becomes more apparent that differences in language, using Communities of Practice as a guide, can provide a dimension to standards development and implementation. Friction in standards arises when standards are viewed as broad and universally applicable versus being the expression of a specific Community of Practice, and therefore should be specifically and formally scoped using linguistic methods.

Critical issues in existing RC deck stiffened arch bridges under seismic actions

Existing Reinforced Concrete arch bridges represent still today an important part of transportation network. The peculiarities of such bridges make particularly complex the assessment of their behaviour under both static and dynamic actions and, therefore, their safety. This work concentrates on a specific arch bridge typology known as the “Maillart –Type Arch Bridges” or “Deck-Stiffened Arch Bridges”, characterized by a very stiff deck beam and a slender and wide vault. As well as for the RC structures designed during 50s of the last century, where some important details for concrete elements were not considered, RC Deck-Stiffened Arch Bridges could be subjected to similar structural deficiencies. Moreover, the current loading conditions provide actions that were not considered in the original design or have changed over the time, such as the seismic actions or the moving loads due to the vehicular traffic.For the evaluation of the main critical issues related to the current performance of the “Maillart–Type Arch Bridges”, this study, starting from a “simulated design” according to the design rules and the mandatory codes in force at the construction time, defines a large building inventory of simulated bridges (3000 samples) characterized by different values of the most significant geometrical parameters. Firstly, each bridge of the inventory is modelled and studied by means of a linear Response Spectrum Analysis (RSA) implemented in the software SAP2000. The large number of structural analyses allowed to investigate the seismic behaviour of such a bridge typology, assess and localize the most frequent failure modes. The results of the RSA allowed developing preliminary fragility functions at the Ultimate Limit State, based on shear or flexural failure of single elements of the bridges. Lastly, Non-Linear Time History Analyses (NLTHA) were carried out on two representative case studies extracted from the simulated inventory and the results were examined in terms of fragility curves obtained according to the Cloud methodology for four Damage States. Despite the different approaches (RSA on large scale and NLTHA on two prototypes), a comparison of the fragility curves for equivalent Damage States was also proposed and a good agreement was found. These fragility curves are a first step for the assessment of the seismic vulnerability of “Maillart–Type Arch Bridges” and can be useful for planning seismic risk mitigation interventions for such a bridge typology.

‘Face’-related expressions in the Minnan Dialect of Chinese

In this study, we investigate the use of ‘face’-related expressions in the Minnan Dialect of Chinese. Minnan is often referred to as a ‘conservative’ dialect because of its large inventory of archaic and local expressions, including a rich variety of ‘face’-related expressions. To date, little research has been dedicated to this ‘face’-related inventory in Minnan, supposedly because it is often assumed that ‘face’ is a homogeneous notion in Chinese. In this paper, we critically revisit this assumption. In our study, we first collected and categorised Minnan dialectal ‘face’-related expressions and their use with the aid of data drawn from audio-recorded conversations, online videos, dictionaries, literary works and interviews. The results pointed to significant differences between Minnan ‘face’-expressions and their Mandarin counterparts. We then distributed a test to two groups of speakers: speakers of Mandarin who were not fluent in Minnan and a group of Minnan speakers. The aim of this test was to find out whether both groups can interpret Minnan ‘face’-related expressions in a written form. We hypothesised that Minnan ‘face’-related expressions in a written form can easily be interpreted by Mandarin speakers because Mandarin and Minnan use roughly the same writing system. However, this hypothesis was falsified because a significant number of Minnan ‘face’-related expressions triggered various types of interpretational difficulties for Mandarin-speakers for various reasons. This outcome indicates that Minnan ‘face’-related expressions should be studied as a repertoire, which is different from but related to Mandarin.

Evaluating the utility of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) and its exclusions in the biocompatibility assessment of extractable chemical substances from medical devices

The Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) is a pragmatic approach used to establish safe thresholds below which there can be no appreciable risk to human health. Here, a large inventory of ∼45,000 substances (referred to as the LRI dataset) was profiled through the Kroes TTC decision module within Toxtree v3.1 to assign substances into their respective TTC categories. Four thousand and two substances were found to be not applicable for the TTC approach. However, closer examination of these substances uncovered several implementation issues: substances represented in their salt forms were automatically assigned as not appropriate for TTC when many of these contained essential metals as counter ions which would render them TTC applicable. High Potency Carcinogens and dioxin-like substances were not fully captured based on the rules currently implemented in the software. Phosphorus containing substances were considered exclusions when many of them would be appropriate for TTC. Refinements were proposed to address the limitations in the current software implementation. A second component of the study explored a set of substances representative of those released from medical devices and compared them to the LRI dataset as well as other toxicity datasets to investigate their structural similarity. A third component of the study sought to extend the exclusion rules to address application to substances released from medical devices that lack toxicity data. The refined rules were then applied to this dataset and the TTC assignments were compared. This case study demonstrated the importance of evaluating the software implementation of an established TTC workflow, identified certain limitations and explored potential refinements when applying these concepts to medical devices.

Abstract 25 ECTmatch: Optimizing Small-Scale Cord Blood Banking Through HLA Analysis

IntroductionCord blood (CB) banks have had to rely on large inventories of CB units to try to serve the largest possible proportion of the population, all the while prioritizing collection of non-Caucasian ethnic groups. However, due to the high linkage disequilibrium of HLA genes and the high frequency of several HLA alleles in the population, CB banks contain hundreds of CB units that could be matched to the same patients, making the inventory somewhat redundant from a clinical standpoint.ObjectiveExCellThera developed ECTmatch, an algorithm dedicated to optimizing the selection of CB units based on in-depth HLA analysis in order to maximize the efficiency of the bank to suitably match the largest proportion of subjects within a small pool of donors.MethodsThe performance of ECTmatch was evaluated in a simulation aiming to select 100 CB units from the Héma-Québec CB bank that satisfied an arbitrary minimal cell content criteria of 120 × 107 TNC and 6 × 106 CD34+ cells (n = 2,987). Selection was performed to optimize matching for the Quebec population, with a minimal HLA-match of 5/8 for HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1.ResultsECTmatch provides a suitably matched donor for 71.5% of the Quebec population, compared with only 45.0% (±2.4%) with random selection. Because patients who require a CB transplant tend to have rarer HLAs, the performance of ECTmatch was evaluated for this specific subset of patients (n = 62). Again, ECTmatch outperformed random selection, by providing a donor for 54.8% of patients, compared with only 29.9% with random selection. Finally, while ECTmatch was developed to optimize CB selection specifically for the Quebec population, it still outperformed random selection for subjects from the other Canadian provinces or the USA.DiscussionBy selecting CB units based on HLA profiles, ECTmatch allows the creation of a highly useful inventory with a very low number of CB units. This approach to small-scale CB banking can be adapted to different population subsets and could be used to select a subset of CB units for pre-release for immediate clinical availability or for the creation of a pre-expanded CB inventory with maximal population coverage.

Abstract 30 Should Cord Blood Unit Distribution Patterns Impact Collection Strategies?

IntroductionThe National Cord Blood Program has a large inventory of clinical cord blood units (CBUs) available for transplant (more than 60,000). As a small proportion is distributed each year, new collections should theoretically replenish the inventory, but it is unclear which characteristics should be prioritized for banking.ObjectiveOur goal was to characterize distributed CBUs (in terms of cellularity, race/ethnicity, and match), compare them with the inventory, and devise a collection strategy.MethodsShipments from January 2015 to March 2022 were reviewed (n = 1,046). Race/ethnicity information on CBUs was obtained at the time of collection and was available for 55,934 stored CBUs and 1,020 distributed CBUs. It was also obtained for 394 recipients. HLA match was determined as HLA-A and B antigens and DRB1 allele match (/6), and allelic match as HLA-A, B, C, DRB1 allele match (/8). Total nucleated cells (TNC) and CD34 cells were counted at banking of the CBU, and cell doses (per kg of recipient’s weight) were calculated at shipment.ResultsThe proportion of White Non-Hispanic (WNH) CBUs distributed (38%) was lower than what is present in the inventory (46%), but match levels were higher among these units (Figure 1A and 1B), with 55% of WNH CBUs being 5/8 or higher, vs 40% for minorities’ CBUs. Race match between CBU and recipient led to higher matched transplants, but 41% of race mismatched CBUs still reached 6/8 or higher allele match. The median TNC was 102 × 107 for stored CBUs and 167 × 107 for distributed CBUs (Figure 1C). Better matched units have been selected with lower cell contents (Figure 1D).Figure 1.Distribution characteristics.DiscussionCBUs broaden transplant options across ethnic groups, and much focus has been placed on collecting minorities’ CBUs. However, our analysis showed that WNH CBUs are still the largest distributed population, with higher allele match to the recipient (predicting better transplant outcomes), so these CBUs should not be excluded from collection strategies. From the data presented here, the goal for new collections should be to obtain CBUs with higher TNC and CD34 (spreading across all races and ethnicities). These would replenish the pool of high cellularity CBUs that are more often selected for transplant.