Short-lived Products Research Articles

Polymer Bionanocomposites Based on a P3BH/Polyurethane Matrix with Organomodified Montmorillonite-Mechanical and Thermal Properties, Biodegradability, and Cytotoxicity.

In the present work, hybrid nanobiocomposites based on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), P3HB, with the use of aromatic linear polyurethane as modifier and organic nanoclay, Cloisite 30B, as a nanofiller were produced. The aromatic linear polyurethane (PU) was synthesized in a reaction of diphenylmethane 4,4'-diisocyanate and polyethylene glycol with a molecular mass of 1000 g/mole. The obtained nanobiocomposites were characterized by the small-angle X-ray scattering technique, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, and differential scanning calorimetry, and moreover, their selected mechanical properties, biodegradability, and cytotoxicity were tested. The effect of the organomodified montmorillonite presence in the biocomposites on their properties was investigated and compared to those of the native P3HB and the P3HB-PU composition. The obtained hybrid nanobiocomposites have an exfoliated structure. The presence and content of Cloisite 30B influence the P3HB-PU composition's properties, and 2 wt.% Cloisite 30B leads to the best improvement in the aforementioned properties. The obtained results indicate that the thermal stability and mechanical properties of P3HB were improved, particularly in terms of increasing the degradation temperature, reducing hardness, and increasing impact strength, which were also confirmed by the morphological analysis of these bionanocomposites. However, the presence of organomodified montmorillonite in the obtained polymer biocomposites decreased their biodegradability slightly. The produced hybrid polymer nanobiocomposites have tailored mechanical and thermal properties and processing conditions for their expected application in the production of biodegradable, short-lived products for agriculture. Moreover, in vitro studies on human skin fibroblasts and keratinocytes showed their satisfactory biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity, which make them safe when in contact with the human body, for instance, in biomedical applications.

Biopolymer Compositions Based on Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and Linear Polyurethanes with Aromatic Rings-Preparation and Properties Evaluation.

Polymer biocompositions of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB) and linear polyurethanes (PU) with aromatic rings were produced by melt-blending at different P3HB/PU weight ratios (100/0, 95/5, 90/10, and 85/15). Polyurethanes have been prepared with 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and polyethylene glycols with molar masses of 400 g/mol (PU400), 1000g/mol (PU1000), and 1500 g/mol (PU1500). The compatibility and morphology of the obtained polymer blends were determined by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The effect of the polyurethane content in the biocompositions on their thermal stability and mechanical properties was investigated and compared with those of the native P3HB. It was shown that increasing the PU content in P3HB-PU compositions to 10 wt.% leads to an improvement in the mentioned properties. The obtained results demonstrated that the thermal stability and mechanical properties of P3HB were improved, particularly in terms of increasing the degradation temperature, reducing hardness, and increasing impact strength. The best thermal and mechanical properties were shown by the P3HB-PU polymer compositions containing 10 wt.% of polyurethane modifiers, especially PU1000, which was also confirmed by the morphology analysis of these biocompositions. The presence of polyurethanes in the resulting polymer biocomposites decreases their glass transition temperatures, i.e., makes the materials more flexible. The resulting polymer biocompositions have suitable mechanical properties and thermal properties within the processing conditions for the predicted application as biodegradable, short-lived products for agriculture.

Hybrid Genetic-ADAM Optimizer to Improve Disassembly Line Balancing Problem

Modern products are designed to meet the needs of customized and short-lived products, after a short period of time, these products become waste products, these waste products are accumulating at an exponential rate, resulting in environmental degradation as a result of pollution, in order to keep this environment clean, it is necessary to have disassembly lines for those waste products, so in this research a Hybrid Genetic ADAM optimizer Algorithm was proposed to facilitate the disassembly operations at work stations placed in the disassembly lines, the proposed algorithm used to solve multi-objective disassembly line balancing problem, and Pareto optimal solution was used to determine non inferior solutions from a population. The trend of results reveal 6.1 percent a reduction in disassembly workstations, reduction of at least 0.05 percent of the idle time, reducing to minimum run time 1.5 percent comparing proposed and other meta heuristics algorithms. Furthermore, the plans of disassembly data are created to be valuable regarding trace ability and disassembly improvement processes in the future.

Radon and Its Short-Lived Products in Indoor Air: Present Status and Perspectives

Initially, basic equations are given to express the activity concentrations and concentrations of potential α-energies of radon (222Rn) and thoron (220Tn) and their short-lived products in indoor air. The appearance of short-lived products as a radioactive aerosol is shown, and the fraction of the unattached products is particularly exposed, a key datum in radon dosimetry. This fundamental part is followed by giving the sources of radon and thoron indoors, and thus, their products, and displaying the dependence of their levels on the ground characteristics, building material and practice, and living–working habits of residents. Substantial hourly, daily, and seasonal changes in their activity concentrations are reviewed, as influenced by meteorological parameters (air temperature, pressure, humidity, and wind speed) and human activity (either by ventilation, air conditioning and air filtration, or by generating aerosol particles). The role of the aerosol particle concentration and their size distribution in the dynamics of radon products in indoor air has been elucidated, focusing on the fraction of unattached products. Intensifying combined monitoring of radon short-lived products and background aerosol would improve radon dosimetry approaches in field and laboratory experiments. A profound knowledge of the influence of meteorological parameters and human activities on the dynamics of the behaviour of radon and thoron accompanied by their products in the air is a prerequisite to managing sustainable indoor air quality and human health.

Short Communication: Biogenic carbon in fast-moving products: A deception or real contribution to circularity?

Packaging is lately identified as one of the biggest environmental problems and is at a focus of the scientific community and the industry aiming at minimizing environmental impacts. One of the most applied eco-design measures is to substitute traditional packaging materials with bio-based materials. One of the driving incentives for the packaging industry is the calculation of biogenic carbon (BC), even though there is no unified method for the calculation of credits from carbon sequestration.We developed a case study of paper-based packaging and tested the two variables important in the circular economy: (i) material, by modeling three different end-of-life scenarios; (ii) and time, by assessing the importance of this variable using bottom-up and top-down calculations.The results of the case study showed that credits from carbon sequestration could lead to undesirable linear pathways of the EoL, by giving the biggest credits for landfilling and, thus, contradicting the circularity principles. Moreover, the time variable is critical for the calculation of biogenic carbon. Credits for carbon sequestration for short-lived products can lead to an overestimation of the storing impact because the top-down calculus of national inventories, developed based on the UNFCCC method, cannot register carbon savings.This short communication indicates that we need to invest in additional research to identify the correct way to calculate the carbon credits when using bio-based materials and to improve the practice for calculations of the overall carbon footprint of the short-lived materials in the technosphere.

Volcanology and facies analysis of the youngest phreatomagmatic deposits on O'ahu, Hawai'i

The area known as the Lānaʻi Lookout has Oʻahu's youngest and best exposures of deposits from pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), generated by explosions involving magma-water interaction. This work presents the first detailed facies analysis of the deposits at the Lānaʻi Lookout, fundamental to understanding the explosion dynamics, post-fragmentation transport and depositional processes, and to unravel the eruptive history. The lithofacies identified include planar-bedded, low-angle, and megaripple, cross-bedded ash to lapilli, accretionary lapilli-rich falls and isolated ballistic blocks and bombs. These features are interpreted as generated by mostly dilute PDCs, co-PDC fall and sedimentation from eruptive clouds and ballistic-charged jets. Overall, at least four eruptive stages formed the pyroclastic succession: (i) frequent, brief explosions from Kahauloa and Koko craters, producing fallout deposits and ballistics; (ii) a dominant stage of sustained passing to short-lived production of PDCs from Kahauloa crater, followed by a short break in volcanic activity; (iii) return of explosive activity dominated by fallout deposits likely sourced at Kahauloa; (iv) intermittent PDCs from Kahauloa alternating with debris flows coming down Koko Crater flanks. This stage is followed by lava flow emplacement that marked the end of the explosive eruptions at the Koko Rift system. In summary, the lithofacies analysis and stratigraphic relations of this complex multi-vent system informs on the dynamics, eruptive style, and frequency of eruptions of the late-stage volcanism on Oʻahu.

Short-lived product returns forecasting when customers are unwilling to return the product: A grey-graphical evaluation and review technique

Consumer electronics, such as mobile phones, laptops, and tablets, encounter the challenge of short product life cycles due to the rapid advancement of technology, marketing models, and rapidly changing consumer tastes. This study attempts to provide a forecasting model for a short-lived product for closed-loop supply chain planning. Importantly, we model the setting where the customers prefer to store the product instead of returning it for various reasons such as security and secondary use. We proposed a generic method that can be implemented for any technology-driven product's returns and remanufacturing process. We used the Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique to calculate the probability and quantity of product returns, the quantity of modules, parts, materials, and disposal. Then, we employed the Grey-Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique to calculate the expected time interval for core returns and the expected interval for the availability of module/parts/material for reconditioning/ remanufacturing of the product. An illustrative case study demonstrates the results of the forecasting model. Further, we analyzed the effect of customers' unwillingness to return the product on the reverse network. Our analysis asserts that the customer storing an end-of-use product has a greater impact on the probability of overall product return. Our analysis found that when customers tend to return the product instead of storing it for secondary use, the equivalence probability of returns can increase up to 91 %. In addition, we also address the effect of product return on the “ecological rucksack” of mobile phones. This can help policymakers design hassle-free return experiences and attractive customer incentives.

Development of a hydrated electron dosimeter for radiotherapy applications: A proof of concept.

Hydrated electrons, which are short-lived products of radiolysis in water, increase the optical absorption of water, providing a pathway toward near-tissue-equivalent clinical radiation dosimeters. This has been demonstrated in high-dose-per-pulse radiochemistry research, but, owing to the weak absorption signal, its application in existing low-dose-per-pulse radiotherapy provided by clinical linear accelerators (linacs) has yet to beinvestigated. The aims of this study were to measure the optical absorption associated with hydrated electrons produced by clinical linacs and to assess the suitability of the technique for radiotherapy (⩽ 1 cGy per pulse)applications. 40 mW of 660-nm laser light was sent five passes through deionized water contained in a 10 2 cm3 glass-walled cavity by using four broadband dielectric mirrors, two on each side of the cavity. The light was collected with a biased silicon photodetector. The water cavity was then irradiated by a Varian TrueBeam linac with both photon (10 MV FFF, 6 MV FFF, 6 MV) and electron beams (6 MeV) while monitoring the transmitted laser power for absorption transients. Radiochromic EBT3 film measurements were also performed forcomparison. Examination of the absorbance profiles showed clear absorption changes in the water when radiation pulses were delivered. Both the amplitude and the decay time of the signal appeared consistent with the absorbed dose and the characteristics of the hydrated electrons. By using literature value for the hydrated electron radiation chemical yield (3.0±0.3), we inferred doses of 2.1±0.2 mGy (10 MV FFF), 1.3±0.1 mGy (6 MV FFF), 0.45±0.06 mGy (6 MV) for photons, and 0.47±0.05 mGy (6 MeV) for electrons, which differed from EBT3 film measurements by 0.6%, 0.8%, 10%, and 15.7%, respectively. The half-life of the hydrated electrons in the solution was ∼ 24 s. By measuring 660-nm laser light transmitted through a cm-scale, multi-pass water cavity, we observed absorption transients consistent with hydrated electrons generated by clinical linac radiation. The agreement between our inferred dose and EBT3 film measurements suggests this proof-of-concept system represents a viable pathway toward tissue-equivalent dosimeters for clinical radiotherapyapplications.

A machine learning-based framework for forecasting sales of new products with short life cycles using deep neural networks

Demand forecasting is becoming increasingly important as firms launch new products with short life cycles more frequently. This paper provides a framework based on state-of-the-art techniques that enables firms to use quantitative methods to forecast sales of newly launched, short-lived products that are similar to previous products when there is limited availability of historical sales data for the new product. In addition to exploiting historical data using time-series clustering, we perform data augmentation to generate sufficient sales data and consider two quantitative cluster assignment methods. We apply one traditional statistical (ARIMAX) and three machine learning methods based on deep neural networks (DNNs) – long short-term memory, gated recurrent units, and convolutional neural networks. Using two large data sets, we investigate the forecasting methods’ comparative performance and, for the larger data set, show that clustering generally results in substantially lower forecast errors. Our key empirical finding is that simple ARIMAX considerably outperforms the more advanced DNNs, with mean absolute errors up to 21%–24% lower. However, when adding Gaussian white noise in our robustness analysis, we find that ARIMAX’s performance deteriorates dramatically, whereas the considered DNNs display robust performance. Our results provide insights for practitioners on when to use advanced deep learning methods and when to use traditional methods.

OPTIMISASI DISTRIBUSI PADA LOGISTIK RANTAI DINGIN: TINJAUAN PUSTAKA

Products such as pharmaceuticals, frozen foods, and short-lived products that are sensitive to temperature, humidity, and food lighting. Important factor in maintaining cold chain products is strict care at every major distribution point in the cold chain so that proper distribution will provide good chain quality. Therefore, it is very important to understand current research trends and future directions for distributed cold chain logistics using a structured approach known as systematic literature review (SLR). The results of the articles collected were 30 articles where the most publications occurred in 2021 that is 11 articles. From the 30 articles published in 21 different scientific journals. This study also succeeded in looking at how to optimize modelling on cold chain distributions such as vehicle routing problems and location routing problems. In addition, the model developed also does not have a single objective but also has multiple objectives, such as minimizing costs, time and minimizing carbon emissions, so that the modelling of the logistics distribution cold chain develops its focus is not only on economic benefits but also environmental focus.

Utilization of By-Products from Livestock: Study on the Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Biodegradable Containers Made with Pork Skin Gelatin Polymer.

This study aimed to develop a biodegradable container made of pork gelatin. Gelatin was extracted from pork skin by hot water at 80 °C, and containers were prepared by adding eggshell powder (20%) as a pore agent, and walnut powder (0.08 wt%; PEW1, 0.14 wt%; PEW2) to improve hardness. The blends were molded for each experiment and dried at 30 °C for 24 h, at 40 °C for 16 h, and at 121 °C for 16 h. The containers were analyzed with respect to morphological (SEM; scanning electron microscope), mechanical (tensile strain and stress), and thermal (DSA; differential scanning calorimetry and TGA; thermogravimetric analysis) properties, as well as biodegradability. SEM investigation showed a smoother surface for PEW1 than for PEW2. The tensile stress of PEW2 (37.86 MPa) was significantly higher than that of PEW1 (28.40 MPa), and the melting enthalpies were 137.60 J/g (PEW1) and 309.60 J/g (PEW2). TGA showed similar properties, but PEW2 contained more lignin; therefore, its decomposition temperature was higher. The PEW1 and PEW2 containers were completely biodegraded after approximately 7 and 11 weeks, respectively. Walnut shell powder increased the hardness, but slowed the biodegradation process. The applications of this biodegradable container are short-lived products such as food packaging.

Hybrid Genetic-ADAM Optimizer to Improve Disassembly Line Balancing Problem

Modern products are designed to meet the needs of customized and short-lived products, after a short period of time, these products become waste products, these waste products are accumulating at an exponential rate, resulting in environmental degradation as a result of pollution, in order to keep this environment clean, it is necessary to have disassembly lines for those waste products, so in this research a Hybrid Genetic ADAM optimizer Algorithm was proposed to facilitate the disassembly operations at work stations placed in the disassembly lines, the proposed algorithm used to solve multi-objective disassembly line balancing problem, and Pareto optimal solution was used to determine non inferior solutions from a population. The trend of results reveal 6.1 percent a reduction in disassembly workstations, reduction of at least 0.05 percent of the idle time, reducing to minimum run time 1.5 percent comparing proposed and other meta heuristics algorithms. Furthermore, the plans of disassembly data are created to be valuable regarding trace ability and disassembly improvement processes in the future.

Hybrid Genetic-ADAM Optimizer to Improve Disassembly Line Balancing Problem

Modern products are designed to meet the needs of customized and short-lived products, after a short period of time, these products become waste products, these waste products are accumulating at an exponential rate, resulting in environmental degradation as a result of pollution, in order to keep this environment clean, it is necessary to have disassembly lines for those waste products, so in this research a Hybrid Genetic ADAM optimizer Algorithm was proposed to facilitate the disassembly operations at work stations placed in the disassembly lines, the proposed algorithm used to solve multi-objective disassembly line balancing problem, and Pareto optimal solution was used to determine non inferior solutions from a population. The trend of results reveal 6.1 percent a reduction in disassembly workstations, reduction of at least 0.05 percent of the idle time, reducing to minimum run time 1.5 percent comparing proposed and other meta heuristics algorithms. Furthermore, the plans of disassembly data are created to be valuable regarding trace ability and disassembly improvement processes in the future.

Rheological, thermal and mechanical characterization of PBAT/PCL/Stearates blends

The slow degradation and the high environmental impact caused by inappropriate disposal of polymer products are the main factors prompting scientists to either substitute conventional polymers by biodegradable ones or to enhance biodegradation of short-lived polymer products, particularly those used in packaging. Polymer blends of conventional and biodegradable polymers is one of the alternative solutions found to improve mechanical properties and accelerate polymer degradation after disposal. This work investigates the effect of incorporating different metallic stearates (Zn and Mg) on the rheological, thermal and mechanical characteristics of 75PBAT/25PCL blends processed in an internal laboratory mixer. The results of torque rheometry suggest degradation during processing potentialized with the stearates incorporation, while that of DSC indicated that the crystallinity of the blends increased with the incorporation of additives. TG data showed a reduction in the thermal stability of the systems containing stearates. Incorporation of stearates resulted in strongly thermally degraded systems. Adding up to 0.25% of magnesium stearate to the blend 75PBAT/25PCL leads to a material that combines maintenance or improvement of properties combined with higher decomposition.

Creating a Circular Design Workspace: Lessons Learned from Setting up a “Bio-Makerspace”

In today’s industrial short-lived products, long-lasting materials are often implemented (e.g., oil-based plastics for throwaway packaging). Circular economy teaches the importance of keeping these materials in use, as well as designing end-of-lives that regenerate natural systems. Designers can help drive to a circular transition, but are they ready for this challenge? Educating young designers on circularity seems a fundamental first step, including knowing and meaningfully using circular, bio-based and biodegradable materials. This substantiates the decision to expand the UGent Campus Kortrijk Design workspace to include specific technologies for circular, bio-based and biodegradable materials as a means of experiential learning during the prototyping phase. This paper reports on setting up a “bio-makerspace” as well as the use, adaption and redesign by 45 students. Qualitative data on work dynamics, used tools, materials, barriers and enablers were captured and analyzed to potentially facilitate the implementation of similar “bio-makerspaces” in different institutions. The next steps include the expansion and intensification of the use of the lab, in conjunction with the education of students to meaningfully match these materials to sustainable applications beyond the prototyping phase.

Aftersales Service Factors Determining the 'Would Recommend' Score in Mobile Phone Industry

Customers' recommendations are strongly associated with sales growth and profitability. Satisfied loyal customers tend to recommend, but it doesn't happen always. Furthermore, a customer is exposed to aftersales services throughout the product lifecycle, which significantly impacts customer satisfaction and loyalty. This situation is more complex for the mobile phone industry, where innovative and short-lived products are launched every year. Providing aftersales services for these innovative products worldwide is challenging while maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. But, within a short mobile product lifecycle, customers' recommendations are crucial for growth. However, the aftersales service elements influencing customer recommendations are not well studied. This study aims to identify the elements of aftersales services that affect customers' recommendations. Three hundred and two mobile phone users of different brands, identified through the snowball sampling technique, were surveyed through a structured questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses of these data found five aftersales services: service center's support/repair, warranty, online support, upgrades, and delivery are statistically significant in influencing customers' recommendations for mobile phone brands.

Design of risk sharing and coordination mechanism in supply chain under demand and supply uncertainty

Perishable and short-life products can be seen everywhere in life. Due to the particularity of these products, they are more complicated in supply chain management. This paper studies whether the two-part tariff and ZRS contract can achieve the purpose of reducing risks and coordinating supply chain. We assume that market demand and supplier yield are uncertain, and we use game theory and probability distribution for research. The research results show that when the information is asymmetric, the manufacturer always ignore the demand forecast information provided by the retailer under the wholesale price contract. When the demand is uncertain, regardless of whether the information is symmetric or asymmetric, the two-part tariff contract and the ZRS contract can coordinate the supply chain and achieve maximum profit. When the retailer’s degree of risk aversion is high, the ZRS contract is better than the two-part tariff, which can reduce the risk of retailers and achieve the purpose of coordinating the supply chain. When the supply is uncertain, the manufacturer can provide the supplier with a risk-sharing contract, including the return price and the sharing ratio that meet certain constraints. Such a contract can effectively reduce the supplier’s risk and realize supply chain coordination.

A deep learning-based worker assistance system for error prevention: Case study in a real-world manual assembly

Modern assembly systems adapt to the requirements of customised and short-lived products. As assembly tasks become increasingly complex and change rapidly, the cognitive load on employees increases. This leads to the use of assistance systems for manual assembly to detect and avoid human errors and thus ensure consistent product quality. Most of these systems promise to improve the production environment but have hardly been studied quantitatively so far. Recent advances in deep learning-based computer vision have also not yet been fully exploited. This study aims to provide architectural, and implementational details of a state-of-the-art assembly assistance system based on an object detection model. The proposed architecture is intended to be representative of modern assistance systems. The error prevention potential is determined in a case study in which test subjects manually assemble a complex explosion-proof tubular lamp. The results show 51 % fewer assembly errors compared to a control group without assistance. Three of the four considered types of error classes have been reduced by at least 42 %. In particular, errors by omission are most likely to be prevented by the system. The reduction in the error rate is observed over the entire period of 30 consecutive product assemblies, comparing assisted and unassisted assembly. Furthermore, the recorded assembly data are found to be valuable regarding traceability and production improvement processes.

Hygienic assessment of personnel working conditions in underground uranium mining

The aim of the study is to assess the main radiation-hazardous factors that determine the effective dose of personnel during underground uranium mining at the Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Association, and to summarize the data of the radiation control of the enterprise for 2016-2020. The main factors that create personnel dose loads are: the volume activity of short-lived daughter products of radon decay in the air, the dose rate of external gamma radiation, and the volume activity of long-lived alpha-emitting radionuclides of the uranium-radium series in industrial dust. Information on the structure and values of individual effective doses of workers is presented. Recommendations for improving the radiation monitoring system are given.

Development of a New Sr-O Parameterization to Describe the Influence of SrO on Iron-Phosphate Glass Structural Properties Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Iron-phosphate glasses, due to their properties, have many potential applications. One of the most promising seems to be nuclear waste immobilization. Radioactive 90Sr isotope is the main short-lived product of fission and, due to its high solubility, it can enter groundwater and pose a threat to the environment. On the other hand, Sr is an important element in hard tissue metabolic processes, and phosphate glasses containing Sr are considered bioactive. This study investigated the effect of SrO addition on a glass structure of nominal 30Fe2O3-70P2O5 chemical composition using classical molecular dynamics simulations. To describe the interaction between Sr-O ion pairs, new interatomic potential parameters of the Buckingham-type were developed and tested for crystalline compounds. The short-range structure of the simulated glasses is presented and is in agreement with previous experimental and theoretical studies. The simulations showed that an increase in SrO content in the glass led to phosphate network depolymerization. Analysis demonstrated that the non-network oxygen did not take part in the phosphate network depolymerization. Furthermore, strontium aggregation in the glass structure was observed to lead to the non-homogeneity of the glass network. It was demonstrated that Sr ions prefer to locate near to Fe(II), which may induce crystallization of strontium phosphates with divalent iron.