A lean proposal: development of value stream mapping for L'Oreal's artwork process

Purpose: This research develops value stream mapping (VSM) for L’Oreal’s artwork process, to eliminate waste, reduce lead-time and identify stages that can be automated, which makes the process less prone to human error and more responsive to fulfilling business-to-business customer requirements. Additionally, amendments frequently occur slowing down the artwork process. In this context VSM is applied to L’Oreal’s artwork process to reduce lead-time, human error and missed deadlines. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: This study uses data from L’Oreal’s artwork tracker from 2018-2019, which is manually tracked by the launch team. The service level agreement and task time data has been collected from 12 employees representing the launch, factory and marketing teams working on the artwork process. Qualitative feedback was also obtained from 9 employees to validate the VSM for L’Oreal’s artwork process. Findings: VSM identified stages that can be streamlined and automated in L’Oreal’s artwork process, which makes the process more efficient and responsive to changing scope of the artworks. 50 percent of the stages have been eliminated from the manual artwork process, resulting in a reduced lead-time of 10.5 days and a reduction of 28 percent time spent on the process. This allows the artwork process to be more agile to the requirements of business-to-business customers. Moreover, the proposed VSM shows a 73% increase in value added time for a renovation and a 75% increase in value added time for new product developments (NPD). Originality/ Value: VSM has been specifically designed, developed and analyzed for L’Oreal’s artwork process, in order to make the process more efficient and responsive to business-to-business customers requirements

Stage at diagnosis and cancer survival for Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory

Objective: To investigate whether Indigenous Australians with cancer have more advanced disease at diagnosis than other Australians, and whether late diagnosis explains lower Indigenous cancer survival rates. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting and participants: Indigenous and non-Indigenous people diagnosed with cancers of the colon and rectum, lung, breast or cervix and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the Northern Territory of Australia in 1991–2000. Main outcome measures: SEER summary stage of cancer at diagnosis (local, regional or distant spread), cause-specific cancer survival rates and relative risk of cancer death. Results: Diagnosis with advanced disease (regional or distant spread) was more common for Indigenous people (70%; 95% CI, 62%–78%) than for non-Indigenous people (51%; 95% CI, 53%–59%) with cancers of the colon and rectum, breast, cervix and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but for lung cancer the opposite was found (Indigenous, 56% [95% CI, 46%–65%] v non-Indigenous, 69% [95% CI, 64%–75%]). Stage-adjusted survival rates were lower for Indigenous people for each cancer site. With few exceptions, the relative risk of cancer death was higher for Indigenous people for each category of stage at diagnosis for each cancer site. Conclusions: Health services apparently could, and should, be performing better for Indigenous people with cancer in the Northern Territory, and probably elsewhere in Australia. This study has demonstrated that data from cancer registers, enhanced with data on stage at diagnosis, can be used to monitor health service performance for Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory; similar data is available in other States, and could be used to monitor health service performance for Indigenous people throughout Australia

Possible alternative for national supply of seed potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) from in vitro culture at the Agro-physio-genetic and Plants Biotechnology laboratory of IPR / IFRA of Katibougou, Mali

The enhancement of the potential for reducing food insecurity and poverty through potato cultivation in Mali is largely limited by difficult access to quality seed. In trying to find ways to reduce these shortcomings outlined above that work has been done. The objective of this work was to assess the economic profitability of the local potato seed sourcing scheme from in vitro propagation and to analyze the competitiveness of the sourcing scheme from imported elite seed. The technical and economic feasibility of the local potato seed supply scheme was assessed at five levels. The first concerns the production of vitro-plants in the laboratory, the second the production of mini zero generation tubers (G0). Regarding the other three levels of evaluation, they were carried out in collaboration with the seed cooperatives by successive multiplication from mini-tubers to obtain seeds of one “G1”, two “G2” and three “G3” generations". The profitability of the procurement scheme from the elite imported and multiplied once seed was evaluated in order to analyze its competitiveness in relation to the local circuit. The valuation indicates positive profit margins. However, it should be noted that the economic efficiency coefficients of vitro-propagation (0.77) and tunnel multiplication (0.75) are less than 1. The production cost of one kilogram of G3 is equal to at 463.39 F CFA. A profit margin of 456.61 F CFA / kg emerges between this unit production cost and the selling price of imported seeds, which amounts on average to 920 F CFA / kg. The production of plants is technically feasible and profitable with a cost price of one kg of G3 in the order of 500 to 600 F CFA against 900 to 1000 F CFA / kg for imported seed. La valorisation du potentiel de réduction de l’insécurité alimentaire et de la pauvreté à travers la culture de la pomme de terre au Mali est limitée en grande partie par l’accès difficile à la semence de qualité. En essayant de trouver des moyens pour réduire ces insuffisances soulignées ci-dessus que ce travail a été effectué. Le présent travail avait pour objectif d’évaluer la rentabilité économique du schéma d’approvisionnement locale en semences de pomme de terre à partir de la vitro propagation et d’analyser la compétitivité du schéma d’approvisionnement à partir de la semence élite importées. La faisabilité technico-économique du schéma d’approvisionnement local en semences de pomme de terre était évaluée à cinq niveaux. Le premier concerne la production de vitro-plants au laboratoire, le deuxième la production de mini tubercules de génération zéro (G0). Pour ce qui concerne les trois autres niveaux d’évaluation, ils ont été réalisés en collaboration avec les coopératives semencières par multiplications successives à partir de mini-tubercules pour obtenir des semences de génération une «G1», deux «G2» et trois «G3». La rentabilité, du schéma d’approvisionnement à partir de la semence élite importée et multipliée une fois, a été évaluée en vue d’analyser sa compétitivité en rapport avec le circuit local. L’évaluation indique des marges bénéficiaires positives. Cependant, il faut remarquer que les coefficients d’efficacité économiques de la vitro-propagation (0,77) et de la multiplication sous tunnels (0,75) sont inférieurs à 1. Le coût de production d’un kilogramme de G3 est égal à 463,39 F CFA. Une marge bénéficiaire de 456,61 F CFA / kg se dégage entre ce coût de production unitaire et le prix de vente des semences importées qui s’élève en moyenne à 920 F CFA / kg. La production de plants est techniquement faisable et rentable avec un coût de revient d’un kg de G3 de l’ordre de 500 à 600 F CFA contre 900 à 1 000 F CFA / kg pour la semence importée

Assessing Neuronal and Astrocyte Derived Exosomes From Individuals With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury for Markers of Neurodegeneration and Cytotoxic Activity.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) disproportionately affects military service members and is very difficult to diagnose. To-date, there is currently no blood-based, diagnostic biomarker for mTBI cases with persistent post concussive symptoms. To examine the potential of neuronally-derived (NDE) and astrocytic-derived (ADE) exosome cargo proteins as biomarkers of chronic mTBI in younger adults, we examined plasma exosomes from a prospective longitudinal study of combat-related risk and resilience, marine resiliency study II (MRSII). After return from a combat-deployment participants were interviewed to assess TBI exposure while on deployment. Plasma exosomes from military service members with mTBI (mean age, 21.7 years, n = 19, avg. days since injury 151), and age-matched, controls (deployed service members who did not endorse a deployment-related TBI or a pre-deployment history of TBI; mean age, 21.95 years, n = 20) were precipitated and enriched against a neuronal adhesion protein, L1-CAM, and an astrocyte marker, glutamine aspartate transporter (GLAST) using magnetic beads to immunocapture the proteins and subsequently selected by fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS). Extracted protein cargo from NDE and ADE preparations were quantified for protein levels implicated in TBI neuropathology by standard ELISAs and on the ultra-sensitive single molecule assay (Simoa) platform. Plasma NDE and ADE levels of Aβ42 were significantly higher while plasma NDE and ADE levels of the postsynaptic protein, neurogranin (NRGN) were significantly lower in participants endorsing mTBI exposure compared to controls with no TBI history. Plasma NDE and ADE levels of Aβ40, total tau, and neurofilament light (NFL), P-T181-tau, P-S396-tau were either undetectable or not significantly different between the two groups. In an effort to understand the pathogenetic potential of NDE and ADE cargo proteins, neuron-like cultures were treated with NDE and ADE preparations from TBI and non-TBI groups. Lastly, we determined that plasma NDE but not ADE cargo proteins from mTBI samples were found to be toxic to neuron-like recipient cells in vitro. These data support the presence of markers of neurodegeneration in NDEs of mTBI and suggest that these NDEs can be used as tools to identify pathogenic mechanisms of TBI

Cerebrospinal fluid and blood biomarkers for neurodegenerative dementias: An update of the Consensus of the Task Force on Biological Markers in Psychiatry of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry

Contains fulltext : 191138.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access

On The Accuracy and Completeness of The Record Matching Process

Abstract. Record matching or linking is one of the phases of the data quality improvement process, in which, records from different sources, are cleansed and integrated in a centralized data store to be used for various purposes. Both, earlier and recent studies in data quality and record linkage focus on various statistical models, which make strong assumptions on the probabilities of attribute errors. In this study, we evaluate different models for record linkage, which are built based on data only. We use a program that generates data with known error distributions and we train classification models, which we use to estimate the accuracy and the completeness of the record linking process. The results indicate that the automated learning techniques are adequate for this process and that both their accuracy and their completeness are comparable to the accuracy and the completeness of other, mostly manual, processes

Effects of solubilizing surfactants and loading of antiviral, antimicrobial, and antifungal drugs on their release rates from ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer

This study investigates the effects of surfactants and drug loading on the drug release rate from ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer. The release rate of nystatin from EVA was studied with addition of non-ionic surfactants Tween 60 and Cremophor RH 40. In addition, the effect of increasing drug load on the release rates of nystatin, chlorhexidine diacetate and acyclovir is also presented

Formulation and Characterization of Double Emulsions W/O/W Stabilized by Two Natural Polymers with Two Manufacturing Processes (Comparative Study)

\ua9 2024 by the authors.Four distinct types of multiple emulsions were synthesized using xanthan gum and pectin through two distinct manufacturing processes. The assessment encompassed the examination of morphology, stability, and rheological properties for the resulting water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsions. Formulations were meticulously crafted with emulsifiers that were compatible with varying compositions. Remarkably stable multiple emulsions were achieved with a 0.5 wt% xanthan concentration, demonstrating resilience for nearly two months across diverse storage temperatures. In contrast, multiple emulsions formulated with a higher pectin concentration (2.75 wt%) exhibited instability within a mere three days. All multiple emulsions displayed shear-thinning behavior, characterized by a decline in apparent viscosity with escalating shear rates. Comparatively, multiple emulsions incorporating xanthan gum showcased elevated viscosity at low shear rates in contrast to those formulated with pectin. These results underscore the pivotal role of the stepwise process over the direct approach and emphasize the direct correlation between biopolymer concentration and emulsion stability. This present investigation demonstrated the potential use of pectin and xanthan gum as stabilizers of multiple emulsions with potential application in the pharmaceutical industry for the formulation of topical dosage forms

Effect of temperature anisotropy on various modes and instabilities for a magnetized non-relativistic bi-Maxwellian plasma

Using kinetic theory for homogeneous collisionless magnetized plasmas, we present an extended review of the plasma waves and instabilities and discuss the anisotropic response of generalized relativistic dielectric tensor and Onsager symmetry properties for arbitrary distribution functions. In general, we observe that for such plasmas only those electromagnetic modes whose magnetic field perturbations are perpendicular to the ambient magneticeld, i.e.,B1 \perp B0, are effected by the anisotropy. However, in oblique propagation all modes do show such anisotropic effects. Considering the non-relativistic bi-Maxwellian distribution and studying the relevant components of the general dielectric tensor under appropriate conditions, we derive the dispersion relations for various modes and instabilities. We show that only the electromagnetic R- and L- waves, those derived from them and the O-mode are affected by thermal anisotropies, since they satisfy the required condition B1\perpB0. By contrast, the perpendicularly propagating X-mode and the modes derived from it (the pure transverse X-mode and Bernstein mode) show no such effect. In general, we note that the thermal anisotropy modifies the parallel propagating modes via the parallel acoustic effect, while it modifies the perpendicular propagating modes via the Larmor-radius effect. In oblique propagation for kinetic Alfven waves, the thermal anisotropy affects the kinetic regime more than it affects the inertial regime. The generalized fast mode exhibits two distinct acoustic effects, one in the direction parallel to the ambient magnetic field and the other in the direction perpendicular to it. In the fast-mode instability, the magneto-sonic wave causes suppression of the firehose instability. We discuss all these propagation characteristics and present graphic illustrations