Optimized Automated Checkout Process for Major Food Retailers

There has been a push for automation in countless industries to save time and money, increase customer satisfaction, increase customer purchasing options, increase efficiency, and reduce waste. This design project will focus on optimizing the automated checkout process at major grocery retailers. The goal of the design is to reduce customer wait times at the checkout line, thus increasing customer satisfaction and save the retailer cashier expenses. The design was created using the DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) process tool. Customers were surveyed to define if there was a problem, and 52.5% of customers felt the wait times at checkout were too long. Time studies were conducted to gather data and measure the baseline for later design comparisons. The designs were analyzed using Arena, a system modeling software. Also, a cost analysis was also performed on the design ideas to find the most plausible, effective, and efficient design option. Throughout the design process, weekly meetings were held to review the design, define the roadblocks, and improve upon the design. In section 3.2a, any foreseeable roadblocks were defined, and the solutions were supplied to help management control the design once implemented. The design starts with customers entering the store. At the entrance, they are given the choice to open the store’s application on their phone and take part in the scan as you go feature. There will be a station to grab a bagging rack that can be clipped to the cart to offer the customer a bag-as-you-go option. There will also be a basket of cellphone clips next to the bagging racks. The cell phone clips will allow the customer to have a touch-free and hassle-free scan-as-you-go experience. The customer will scan their items as they shop and bag the items as they place them in their cart. At checkout, the kiosk will ask the customer to scan the customer QR code in their phone to connect the data of what they have scanned to the kiosk and floor scale. The kiosk will prompt the customer to weigh the scanned produce items on the kiosk scale and place them back into their cart. Then, the kiosk prompts the customer to push their cart onto the floor scale that is next to the kiosk, remove the bagging rack and cell phone clip, step away from the cart/scale, and press weigh. The customer can then pay as normal and exit the system. In Arena, the standard self-checkout system and the new design were simulated. The results showed that in one hour the self-checkout system could process an average of 36 customers through the system, while the new design could process an average of 57 customers per hour. This is 1.58 times faster. The main reason this new design is more efficient at moving customers though the automated checkout process is because the scale eliminates the need for the customer to scan their items at checkout, and the bagging rack eliminates the need for the customer to bag their items at checkout. This report will breakdown the design process from start to finish, including all visuals

Large Diameter Tube Flooding Experiments at Elevated Pressures

A series of air/water and steam/water flooding experiments were conducted to study the effects of pressure and inlet water flow rate on flooding conditions in a large diameter vertical tube. Flooding is defined as the phenomena that occurs when an annular film flow reversal takes place due to the momentum of a countercurrent flowing gas. These experiments were performed to compare air/water and steam/water flooding data under various conditions and develop an empirical correlation that can be used to describe flooding in a large diameter vertical tube. For these experiments a vertical stainless steel tube was used to obtain well-characterized data in a simple geometry. Tests were conducted by establishing an annular liquid film into the test section followed by injecting gas into the test section to induce flooding. Flooding is considered to occur once some amount of the annular film reverses flow direction. Tests were performed at four different pressures ranging from atmospheric to 45 psig, at three different water inlet flow rates and with various tests, ranging from 0% to nearly 100% flow reversal. The data used for this work is important due to it being the first of its kind in a well characterized large-diameter tube. The data suggest that there is little dependency on test section pressure and inlet water flow rate on flooding curves when plotted as non-dimensional Kutateladze parameters. The steam/water and air/water data trended very closely, and a correction factor was able to be used to translate the steam/water data to match with the air/water data. This data and corresponding empirical correlations developed can be used to modify and improve existing reactor safety codes

Power Grid Politics: Winter Storm Uri and Texas Governor Greg Abbott\u27s Image Repair Discourse

Winter storm Uri hit the state of Texas on February 14, 2021. Bringing record amounts of snow, ice, and prolonged sub-zero temperatures, the storm caused widespread power outages which led to hundreds of deaths, and created a complex rhetorical situation for Governor Greg Abbott. This article examines the image repair discourse engaged in by Abbott, and ultimately concludes that his use of blame-shifting, corrective action, and defeasibility strategies were ultimately effective, but to varying degrees based on each respective strategy. We argue herein that Abbott’s strategy of shifting the blame for the debacle to ERCOT was his most effective tactic, while his reliance on corrective action approaches (while necessary and expected by the audience) were only marginally persuasive. Abbott’s defeasibility strategy was undercut both by conflicting statements, and by the recent reality that Texas does, in fact, experience extreme weather events however rare. We also argue that severe weather events are likely to become more frequent in the future, and that Texas in particular will be uniquely impacted by these storms due to climate change. We conclude that the political fortunes of elected officials will increasingly depend on how they justify their response to these cataclysmic storms

Treatment with patiromer decreases aldosterone in patients with chronic kidney disease and hyperkalemia on renin-angiotensin system inhibitors

Elevated serum aldosterone can be vasculotoxic and facilitate cardiorenal damage. Renin-angiotensin system inhibitors reduce serum aldosterone levels and/or block its effects but can cause hyperkalemia. Patiromer, a nonabsorbed potassium binder, decreases serum potassium in patients with chronic kidney disease on renin-angiotensin system inhibitors. Here we examined the effect of patiromer treatment on serum aldosterone, blood pressure, and albuminuria in patients with chronic kidney disease on renin-angiotensin system inhibitors with hyperkalemia (serum potassium 5.1–6.5 mEq/l). We analyzed data from the phase 3 OPAL-HK study (4-week initial treatment phase of 243 patients; 8-week randomized withdrawal phase of 107 patients). In the treatment phase, the (mean ± standard error) serum potassium was decreased concordantly with the serum aldosterone (−1.99 ± 0.51 ng/dl), systolic/diastolic blood pressure (−5.64 ± 1.04 mm Hg/−3.84 ± 0.69 mm Hg), and albumin-to-creatinine ratio (−203.7 ± 54.7 mg/g), all in a statistically significant manner. The change in the plasma renin activity (−0.44 ± 0.63 μg/l/hr) was not significant. In the withdrawal phase, mean aldosterone levels were sustained with patiromer (+0.23 ± 1.07 ng/dl) and significantly increased with placebo (+2.78 ± 1.25 ng/dl). Patients on patiromer had significant reductions in mean systolic/diastolic blood pressure (−6.70 ± 1.59/−2.15 ± 1.06 mm Hg), whereas those on placebo did not (−1.21 ± 1.89 mm Hg/+1.72 ± 1.26 mm Hg). Significant changes in plasma renin activity were found only in the placebo group (–3.90 ± 1.41 μg/l/hr). Thus, patiromer reduced serum potassium and aldosterone levels independent of plasma renin activity in patients with chronic kidney disease and hyperkalemia on renin-angiotensin system inhibitors

BrainWAVE: A flexible method for noninvasive stimulation of brain rhythms across species

Rhythmic neural activity, which coordinates brain regions and neurons to achieve multiple brain functions, is impaired in many diseases. Despite the therapeutic potential of driving brain rhythms, methods to noninvasively target deep brain regions are limited. Accordingly, we recently introduced a noninvasive stimulation approach using flickering lights and sounds ( flicker ). Flicker drives rhythmic activity in deep and superficial brain regions. Gamma flicker spurs immune function, clears pathogens, and rescues memory performance in mice with amyloid pathology. Here, we present substantial improvements to this approach that is flexible, user-friendly, and generalizable across multiple experimental settings and species. We present novel open-source methods for flicker stimulation across rodents and humans. We demonstrate rapid, cross-species induction of rhythmic activity without behavioral confounds in multiple settings from electrophysiology to neuroimaging. This flicker approach provides an exceptional opportunity to discover the therapeutic effects of brain rhythms across scales and species

Effect of patiromer on reducing serum potassium and preventing recurrent hyperkalaemia in patients with heart failure and chronic kidney disease on RAAS inhibitors

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115921/1/ejhf402_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115921/2/ejhf402.pd

Long‐term effects of patiromer for hyperkalaemia treatment in patients with mild heart failure and diabetic nephropathy on angiotensin‐converting enzymes/angiotensin receptor blockers: results from AMETHYST‐DN

AimsChronic kidney disease (CKD) in heart failure (HF) increases the risk of hyperkalaemia (HK), limiting angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE‐I) or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) use. Patiromer is a sodium‐free, non‐absorbed potassium binder approved for HK treatment. We retrospectively evaluated patiromer’s long‐term safety and efficacy in HF patients from AMETHYST‐DN.Methods and resultsPatients with Type 2 diabetes, CKD, and HK [baseline serum potassium >5.0–5.5 mmol/L (mild) or >5.5–88%) and moderate (≥73%) HK had normokalaemia at each visit from Weeks 12 to 52. Three HF patients were withdrawn because of high (n = 1) or low (n = 2) serum potassium. The most common patiromer‐related adverse event was hypomagnesaemia (8.6%).ConclusionsIn patients with a clinical diagnosis of HF, diabetes, CKD, and HK on ACE‐I/ARB, patiromer was well tolerated and effective for HK treatment over 52 weeks.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145406/1/ehf212292.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145406/2/ehf212292_am.pd

A Programmatic and Scalable Approach to making Data Management Machine-Actionable

The data management plan (DMP), while seen by many as an ancillary document during a grant application, is a rich source of contextual information that is key to ensuring researchers, funders, and institutions follow the best possible and most appropriate research data management (RDM) practices. Unfortunately, the current practice is to transmit this information to the funder as a PDF or Word file through their web portals. As optimizing internal workflows and information sharing is a priority across the research space, retooling DMPs as machine-readable and machine-actionable will enable leveraging of key information to build RDM strategies collectively. Similarly, there is a growing need to streamline workflows, reuse information and reduce the burden on researchers

Targeting Methylglyoxal in Diabetic Kidney Disease Using the Mitochondria-Targeted Compound MitoGamide.

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) remains the number one cause of end-stage renal disease in the western world. In experimental diabetes, mitochondrial dysfunction in the kidney precedes the development of DKD. Reactive 1,2-dicarbonyl compounds, such as methylglyoxal, are generated from sugars both endogenously during diabetes and exogenously during food processing. Methylglyoxal is thought to impair the mitochondrial function and may contribute to the pathogenesis of DKD. Here, we sought to target methylglyoxal within the mitochondria using MitoGamide, a mitochondria-targeted dicarbonyl scavenger, in an experimental model of diabetes. Male 6-week-old heterozygous Akita mice (C57BL/6-Ins2-Akita/J) or wildtype littermates were randomized to receive MitoGamide (10 mg/kg/day) or a vehicle by oral gavage for 16 weeks. MitoGamide did not alter the blood glucose control or body composition. Akita mice exhibited hallmarks of DKD including albuminuria, hyperfiltration, glomerulosclerosis, and renal fibrosis, however, after 16 weeks of treatment, MitoGamide did not substantially improve the renal phenotype. Complex-I-linked mitochondrial respiration was increased in the kidney of Akita mice which was unaffected by MitoGamide. Exploratory studies using transcriptomics identified that MitoGamide induced changes to olfactory signaling, immune system, respiratory electron transport, and post-translational protein modification pathways. These findings indicate that targeting methylglyoxal within the mitochondria using MitoGamide is not a valid therapeutic approach for DKD and that other mitochondrial targets or processes upstream should be the focus of therapy