Package Size Research Articles

Portion Size Norms of Discretionary Foods and Eating Settings: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The increase in serving sizes of energy-dense nutrient-poor discretionary foods over time, with attractively presented large servings and package sizes, has led to portion distortion and a new ‘normal’ for serving sizes. Little data exists on the variations of portion size norms of discretionary foods across settings. This study aimed to examine the differences in the range of normal portion sizes of commonly consumed foods between home and out-of-home settings (coffee shops, restaurants). Methods: A repeated cross-sectional design was used, with nine selected discretionary foods and beverages included in a validated online image-series questionnaire. Participants completed the questionnaire at two time points to report their normal portion sizes in home and out-of-home settings. Quantile regression models were used to examine differences in the range of normal portion sizes (17th to 83rd percentile, representing the majority of the study population) between settings. Results: A final sample of 295 participants was included in the analysis (51% females, mean age 40 ± 14 years). The ranges of normal portion sizes did not differ by settings for all test foods except for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) tested in both containers and glassware. SSB showed smaller normal portion sizes at home compared to fast food restaurants (in a bottle/can and in a glass/cup; p < 0.001). Conclusions: These findings suggest that the portion size norms of many discretionary foods are mostly consistent in home and out-of-home settings. As the typical serving sizes available to consumers in the out-of-home settings are large, it is essential to establish practical serving size guidelines directed at the food industry to increase the availability of smaller size options and empower consumers towards better portion control.

How big is too big? A qualitative study of discretionary food portion size norms among Australian consumers.

The high availability of energy-dense nutrient-poor discretionary foods in large serving and package sizes may have shifted portion size norms (described as a typical perception of how much people choose to eat from a given food at a single eating occasion) towards larger sizes. Few public health recommendations exist around appropriate discretionary food portion sizes. This qualitative study aimed to explore the underlying rationale of portion size norms of discretionary foods among Australian adults 18-65 years. Four focus group sessions were conducted. Collected data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Focus groups were held online via Zoom between September and October 2023. Thirty-four participants were recruited in the study (mean age 38 years, 19 females). The key themes raised from inductive analysis were personal factors, eating context factors, and food environment factors relevant to the portion size norms. A framework was established to illustrate the interaction across these themes during the conceptualisation of the norms. For serving size availability, consumers found that there were limited serving size choices when making portion size selections and lacked the knowledge and skills in portion control. These findings highlight the need to make positive changes to the current food environment and develop relevant public health guidelines around appropriate portion sizes to promote healthier portion size norms and enable better portion control.

Методы оптимизации процесса обучения и тонкой настройки больших языковых моделей

The main problematic issues in the development and specialization of LLM are: catastrophic forgetting, the risk of overfitting, hallucinations, incorrect interpretations, incorrect processing of exceptional situations as well as exceptionally high performance requirements for the computing tools used in this case. The purpose of the study is to select and develop methods for optimizing the training and fine-tuning process LLM, providing a significant reduction in the computing resources required for this. To achieve this goal, it is proposed to use the following methods of optimizing LLMs and their learning algorithms: LoRA and QLoRA, Batch size choice, Gradient Accumulation, Gradient Checkpoint, Mixed precision training, FlashAttention-2. To obtain a cumulative positive effect when using these methods together, it is necessary to perform a number of practical experiments. When setting up LLM learning hyperparameters, you should first determine which package size gives the best results, and then choose adequate methods to optimize the computing resources used. The application of the presented methods will increase the efficiency of using computing resources when training and fine-tuning large language models and will reduce the time and financial costs necessary for this.

Antibiotic use in Barcelona in 2023 in primary care and the potential reduction by adjusting box sizes to current guidelines.

Prior research has not examined the size of antibiotic packages prescribed. We assessed 2023 prescription rates in Barcelona and the most prescribed presentations in pharmacies, while evaluating potential reductions if all amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanate containers had 20 doses. Antibiotics prescribed by primary care doctors working for the Catalonian Health Institute in Barcelona in 2023 were analysed by calculating the defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants and day (DID). The observed prescribing rate was 8 DID, with penicillins accounting for 4.6 DID (57.2%). The most frequently prescribed antibiotics were amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanate, making up 4.4 DID. If all the 30-dose presentations of amoxicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanate had been 20-dose containers, the total number of DIDs would have been 3.3, resulting in a reduction of 1.1 DID (25.4% less). Antibiotic prescribing rate in Barcelona was low. Aligning the dosage of antibiotics with established guidelines could further reduce antibiotic consumption.

Development of an Extremely Small Power Chip Size Package for Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductors and Its Evaluation and Analysis

Development of an Extremely Small Power Chip Size Package for Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductors and Its Evaluation and Analysis

Dimensionality reduction using neural networks for lattice-based cryptographic keys

Post Quantum Cryptography has received an increasing amount of active research. This has been made prominent by the ever-growing field of quantum computing which poses a formidable threat to the modern cybersecurity landscape. Recently, post quantum schemes have been standardized for adoption into existing security services and protocols. In comparison to contemporary cryptographic schemes, these approaches are lagging behind in terms of performance with regards to functional speed and package sizes. A study into the various applications of neural networks used in classical and post quantum cryptographic schemes has been explored to demonstrate their different possible applications within the various fields of cybersecurity. The main contribution of this work is to investigate the feasibility of dimensionality reduction using the autoencoder neural network on lattice-based keys generated by the Kyber key encapsulation mechanism scheme. Moreover, this work also presents a comparative analysis of the different implemented autoencoder models to showcase their relative performance.

Analisis Perbedaan Preferensi Konsumen dalam Mengkonsumsi Beras Kampung dan Beras Pasar di Wilayah Desa Andeng Kecamatan Sengah Temila

This research was conducted with the aim of observing and finding out the extent of consumers’ preferences for consuming village rice. This research was carried out using qualitative methods through data collection by conducting observations and interviews. The results of this research are that village rice has several attribute elements such as price, shape of rice, taste, aroma, color and packaging size. These product attributes are one way to develop products and services that have been used by business actors. This product attribute can help consumers to differentiate village rice products from market rice because both have different attributes so that with these product attributes business actors can see consumer preferences in consuming village rice. Consumer preferences in the Andeng village area, Sengah Temila sub-district, Landak district can be seen from how often consumers buy or consume village rice sold by business actors. In terms of consumer interests and tastes, many consumers prefer to buy village rice rather than buy rice in the market because the price of village rice is cheaper than the price of market rice

Deciphering Factors Contributing to Cost-Effective Medicine Using Machine Learning.

This study uses machine learning to identify critical factors influencing the cost-effectiveness of over-the-counter (OTC) medications. By developing a novel cost-effectiveness rating (CER) based on user ratings and prices, we analyzed data from Amazon. The findings indicate that Flexible Spending Account (FSA)/Health Savings Account (HSA) eligibility, symptom treatment range, safety warnings, special effects, active ingredients, and packaging size significantly impact cost-effectiveness across cold, allergy, digestion, and pain relief medications. Medications eligible for FSA or HSA funds, treating a broader range of symptoms, and having smaller packaging are perceived as more cost-effective. Cold medicines with safety warnings were cost-effective due to their lower average price and effective ingredients like phenylephrine and acetaminophen. Allergy medications with kid-friendly features showed higher cost-effectiveness, and ingredients like calcium, famotidine, and magnesium boosted the cost-effectiveness of digestion medicines. These insights help consumers make informed purchasing decisions and assist manufacturers and retailers in enhancing product competitiveness. Overall, this research supports better decision-making in the pharmaceutical industry by highlighting factors that drive cost-effective medication purchases.

THE EFFECT OF PROMOTION, LOCATION, AND PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES ON FRUIT SALAD PURCHASE DECISIONS

The success of a business in today's globalized market depends on effective marketing and product innovation. This study aims to analyze consumers' assessment of various factors such as promotion, location, brand, price, taste, and packaging size, and their impact on purchasing decisions for Saladpilih.id fruit salad. The research method involves a quantitative approach and data collection through online questionnaires. A total of 94 samples were obtained using nonprobability sampling with the Slovin formula. The findings indicate that promotion, location, brand, price, taste, and packaging size were positively assessed by consumers, with purchasing decision receiving the highest score of 4.19 and promotion the lowest at 3.87. The study also reveals that promotion, location, brand, price, taste, and packaging size all influence consumer decisions when purchasing Saladpilih.id fruit salad.

Comparison of SNCG and NEFH Promoter-Driven Expression of Human SIRT1 Expression in a Mouse Model of Glaucoma.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) demonstrates promise in delivering therapeutic genes to retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Delivery of neuroprotective genes is constrained by packaging size and/or cell selectivity. This study compares the ability of the RGC-selective gamma-synuclein (SNCG) promoter and the smaller RGC-selective neurofilament heavy chain (NEFH) promoter, as well as portions of the RGC-selective atonal bHLH transcription factor 7 (ATOH7) enhancer, to drive gene expression in RGCs. AAV2 constructs with green fluorescent protein (GFP) or human sirtuin 1 (hSIRT1) driven by cytomegalovirus (CMV) enhancer and NEFH promoter (AAV2-eCMV-NEFH) or distal active sequences of the ATOH7 enhancer (DiATOH7) with the SNCG promoter (AAV2-DiATOH7-SNCG) were intravitreally injected into C57BL/6J mice. RGCs were immunolabeled with Brn3a antibodies and counted. AAV constructs with the utmost transduction efficiency were used to test the therapeutic efficacy of the hSIRT1 gene in 12-week-old C57BL/6J mice subjected to microbead (MB)-induced intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation. Visual function was measured using optokinetic responses (OKRs). The eGFP transduction efficiency of AAV2-eCMV-NEFH was similar to that of AAV2-eCMV-SNCG and AAV2-DiATOH7-SNCG. When combined with the SNCG promoter, a larger ATOH7 enhancer was less efficient than the shorter DiATOH7 enhancer. Similarly, the hSIRT1 efficiency of AAV2-eCMV-NEFH was similar to that of AAV2-eCMV-SNCG. The latter two vectors were equally efficient in increasing RGC survival and improving visual function in the mouse model of MB-induced IOP elevation. SNCG and NEFH promoters represent two equally efficient and comparable RGC selective promoter sequences; however, the NEFH promoter offers a smaller packaging size. Smaller enhancer-promoter combinations can be used to deliver larger genes in human cells and for treatment in optic neuropathies including glaucoma.

Modeling package size-conscious automated dispensing cabinet replenishment to improve efficiency.

In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. Optimization of automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) has traditionally focused on modifying the inventory within these devices and ignored the replenishment process itself. Rounding replenishment quantities to the nearest package size, termed package size-conscious replenishment (PSCR), was investigated as a way to optimize labor needs for ADC replenishment. A simulation of PSCR for a subset of medications stocked in ADCs at the University of North Carolina Medical Center was conducted. The simulation utilized real-world vend data and rounding factors to model the impact of PSCR on key ADC metrics. The final simulation utilized 2 months of ADC transactions across 410 medications in 149 ADCs. Four replenishment methodologies were simulated: standard replenishment and 3 PSCR strategies, including rounding down, rounding any direction, and rounding up. All 3 PSCR methodologies had significantly lower stockout frequencies than standard replenishment at 0.722% (P = 0.026) for rounding down, 0.698% (P = 0.024) for rounding any direction, and 0.680% (P = 0.024) for rounding up vs 0.773% for standard replenishment. PSCR methods were associated with significant time savings for both technician and pharmacist activities (P < 0.001 for all 3 strategies), with a savings of up to 0.27 technician and 0.52 pharmacist full-time equivalents estimated for the rounding-up methodology. Maximum carrying cost was higher for all 3 PSCR methodologies. PSCR was modeled to significantly decrease both pharmacist and technician time needed to replenish ADCs while also decreasing stockout frequency. Modest increases in maximum carrying cost were also shown. The simulation created for this evaluation could also be utilized to model other components of the ADC replenishment process.

Young adult retail purchases of cannabis, product category preferences and sales trends in California 2018-21: Differences compared with older adults.

The aim of this study is to identify cannabis products according to their appeal among young adults and measure product sales trends. This was a retrospective comparative study using point-of-sale data from licensed recreational cannabis retailers that include buyer age with birth year entered by retailers, set in California, USA. Cannabis purchases by young adults (aged 21-24, GenZ) were compared with older adults (age 25+) over 4years (2018-21). Sales for six cannabis product categories were analyzed using a commercial data set with imputations and a raw data set. Age-appeal metrics were dollar and unit sales to young adults, and dollar and unit share ratios (young adults/older adults), where a share ratio of 100 denotes age-appeal comparability. A product category was considered more young-adult appealing than others if its mean on a metric was at least one standard deviation above the grand mean across all product categories. Flower (cannabis plant material) and vapor pen appealed to young adults based on absolute dollar sales, dominating young-adult spending compared with other cannabis products (37.24 and 31.83%, respectively). Vapor pen and concentrate appealed to young adults based on dollar share ratios of 152, meaning these products comprised a 52% greater share of young-adult cannabis spending relative to older-adult spending (31.83/20.97% and 10.47/6.88%, respectively). Less appealing to young adults were pre-roll, edible/beverage and absorbable products (tincture/sublingual, capsule and topical). Flower showed the largest dollar sales growth (B = +$3.50million/month), next to vapor pen (B = +$1.55million/month). Vapor pen tied for highest growth in the percent of product dollars from the largest package size (B = +0.85%/month) and showed the steepest price decline (B = -0.53 price per gram/month). In California, USA, from 2018 to 2021, relative to older adults, young adults spent a greater share of their cannabis dollars on vapor pen and concentrate (products with high potency of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol).

A Review on Coupled Inductor-Based High Step-Up DC-DC Converters for Renewable Energy Sources

Renewable energy sources are increasingly being embraced due to their environmental advantages, characterized by clean energy production, including solar energy, fuel cells, and wind turbines. High step-up DC-DC converters are commonly employed in conjunction with these sources to elevate their unregulated output voltage to a high and regulated level. This is especially true for converters based on coupled inductors, which are able to achieve high voltage with a low duty cycle. This paper provides a comprehensive review on the coupled inductor-based high step-up DC-DC converters. This review involves five widely used topologies, namely stacked converters, cascaded converters, multi-winding converters, interleaved converters, and integrated converters. It is evident that the researchers proposing these converters aim to enhance the overall efficiency of the renewable energy system by achieving a high voltage gain with a low duty cycle, thereby reducing conduction losses, mitigating stress on switches, alleviating voltage spikes across the main switches, and recycling the leakage energy. However, it is noteworthy that some of the proposed circuit designs are complex and involve a high number of components resulting in increase in cost and size of packaging. Additionally, some proposed circuits could not effectively achieve the aforementioned objectives. This paper serves as a valuable resource for researchers, offering an overview of the latest developments in the high step-up converters based on coupled inductor, which may help them to identify potential research gaps.

Consumption and Consumer Preferences of Fresh and Frozen Potatoes in Semarang City, West Java, Indonesia

Farmers, producers, and other parties involved in the agricultural production chain of vegetable commodities place a high value on knowing consumer preferences when making decisions on developing and manufacturing agricultural food products. This study aims to investigate consumer behavior and identify information on consumer preferences for both fresh and processed (frozen) potatoes. The study was conducted in Semarang City, West Java, Indonesia using a survey method. Purposive sampling method was employed to recruit 100 respondents, aged above 21 years, residents of Semarang City, and had consumed at least fresh and/or frozen potatoes in the last month. A questionnaire using Google Forms was employed to gather data online. It was distributed via social media platforms. The data collected was analyzed by descriptive and conjoint analysis. The results showed that the most frequent consumption was once a week with regular types of fresh potatoes being consumed; the respondents' spending on potato consumption was ≤ IDR 25,000/ month, and they consumed ≤2 kg of potatoes per week. Potato consumer preferences showed that the fresh potato attributes most liked by consumers are large tuber size, smooth skin, and ≤5 lateral buds, with the number of lateral bud attributes being the most prioritized. The most preferred attributes for frozen potatoes are a straight form, priced at IDR 39,000 to 58,000, batter-coated flavor, 801-1000 gr size packaging, and branded, with the shape attribute being the most prioritized. These findings suggest that farm producers can develop innovative potato varieties with fewer lateral buds and shapes for frozen potatoes.

Pengaruh Harga dan Ukuran Kemasan Terhadap Minat Beli Konsumen Pada Produk Es Teh Solo Jumbo

The competition in the beverage business is getting tighter along with the increasing activity of the population. One of the successful beverage products on the market is EsTeh Solo Jumbo. This iced tea is usually sold at an affordable price, which is around Rp3,000 to Rp4,000 per glass. In addition to its affordable price, Es Teh Solo also has a fairly large packaging size, so it is expected to be able to attract consumer interest. This study examines the effect of price and packaging size on consumer interest in Es Teh Solo beverage products. The research population consists of 40 people, all genders, who have purchased Es Teh Solo products. The data was obtained by distributing questionnaires to 40 Muslim students in Banten. Based on the research, consumer interest in Es Teh Solo has a positive and significant impact on price and packaging size.

CODE: Code once, deploy everywhere serverless functions in federated FaaS

Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) frameworks empower developers to swiftly define and provision their infrastructure with a single click. However, the domain-specific languages (DSLs) utilized for coding the infrastructure often lean towards provider specificity rather than being application-centric. This results in increased developer effort, as they are compelled to duplicate data when deploying serverless functions across diverse regions and providers within federated FaaS environments. To mitigate this challenge, we introduce CODE, a framework engineered to streamline the deployment of functions in federated FaaS settings. CODE facilitates automatic deployment directly from the storage of any provider, eliminating the need for additional development effort to upload or copy deployment packages between disparate providers. Aligned with the guiding principle of “code once, deploy everywhere”, CODE adopts a three-level hierarchy: function → providers → cloud regions. This architectural approach dramatically reduces the lines of code (LoC) in IaC scripts by up to 9.23× when contrasted with prevailing IaC frameworks such as Terraform and Serverless Framework. Additionally, CODE’s unified storage interface slashes LoC by up to 81.8%, both within CODE itself and when coding functions that use storage from providers such as AWS and GCP. In our comprehensive evaluation, we assessed the correlation between deployment package size and deployment time for various functions within a real-world serverless workflow across four regions of AWS and GCP. Our findings indicate that AWS deployment packages are significantly larger, often in the tens of megabytes, compared to GCP. Despite the larger size, AWS deploys these packages up to 6× faster than GCP.

Temporal variability in the relationship between line height absorption and chlorophyll concentration: a case study from the Northern Gulf of Alaska

The Line Height Absorption (LHA) method uses absorption of light to estimate chlorophyll-a. While most users consider regional variability and apply corrections, the effect of temporal variability is typically not explored. The Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA) was selected for this study because there was no published regional value and its large swings in temporal productivity would make it a good candidate to evaluate the effect of temporal variability on the relationship. The mean NGA value of 0.0114 obtained here should be treated with caution, as variation in the slope of the relationship (aLH*), and thus chlorophyll-a estimates, in the NGA region varied by ∼25% between spring (aLH* = 0.0109) and summer (aLH* = 0.0137). Results suggest that this change is driven by a shift in pigment packaging and cell size associated with changes in mixed layer depth and stratification. Consideration of how temporal variability may affect the accuracy of the LHA method in other regions is thus recommended.

Magnetic field density concentrated permanent magnet structure for electromagnetic MEMS scanning mirror

The study investigates the inadequacy of driving torque in large-diameter Micro-electro Mechanical Systems Electromagnetic Scanning Mirrors (MEMS-ESM) and introduces fresh insights into the power efficiency of traditional MEMS-ESM devices. A novel permanent magnet structure (PMS) and driving principle are devised, drawing upon the phenomenon of concentrated magnetic field density and a custom-designed PMS inner profile. In comparison to L-shaped and I-shaped PMSs, the proposed PMS delivers up to 3.48 times and 3.76 times greater driving torque within the same form factor. Moreover, the optimized proposed PMS has been experimentally proven to reduce power consumption by 53.3% and 81.4% and reduce total driving current by 31.3% and 55.0%, making it the sole solution that conforms to the safe current range. Additionally, the research analyzes the impact of variations in the optical scanning angle on the optimal PMS design. It is noteworthy that the proposed PMS enables the substitution of L-type and I-type PMSs with smaller package sizes, all while preserving torque, thus promoting the miniaturization of MEMS-SM.

Quantity surcharge, competition and package size: evidence from India

Quantity surcharge, competition and package size: evidence from India

Survey of Data Package and Sample Size of Comparative Clinical Studies for Biosimilar Developments from PMDA Assessments.

The Japanese biosimilar guideline requires that the sponsors conduct clinical studies such as comparative pharmacokinetic (PK), pharmacodynamic (PD), or efficacy studies. In each biosimilar development, the sponsors consider the clinical data package, and thus clinical data packages vary among biosimilar developments. The aim of this study was to elucidate the clinical data packages for the biosimilars approved in Japan. The details of clinical data packages and sample size for the regulatory approvals of biosimilars in Japan was reported. We surveyed the clinical data packages and sample size based on the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) website review reports between 2009 and 2023. Twenty-four biosimilars have been approved based on the comparative PK and efficacy studies, 10 biosimilars have been approved based on the comparative PK/PD study, and one biosimilar has been approved based on the comparative efficacy study. Regarding the sample size, comparative PK studies were conducted in healthy volunteers or patients for up to 300 cases, although the majority enrolled only 1-100 cases (68.1%, 32/47). Comparative PD studies enrolling 1-30, 31-60, and 61-90 cases totaled 4, 7, and 4 cases, respectively. Finally, comparative efficacy studies enrolling 1-300, 301-600, and 601-900 totaled 6, 10, and 11 cases, respectively. In particular, the oncology and rheumatology areas were the first and second disease areas recruiting 601-900 patients. Large numbers of patients were enrolled to conduct a comparative efficacy study. Efficient biosimilar development should be considered on the basis of the accumulation of scientific understanding of comparable features of biosimilars and their development.