Twinbag : A new kind of grocery bag

Denna rapport syftar till att vidareutveckla produkten Dubbelkassens vilken utvecklades under kursen HM1025 som gavs under hösten 2010 på Kungliga Tekniska högskolan. Tidigare gjordes flera begränsningar som i detta arbete utreds för att skapa en helhetsbild om hur produktframtagningen av Dubbelkassen bör gå till. Dubbelkassen som produkt medför ett ergonomiskt bättre bärsätt. Skillnaden mellan en vanlig bärkasse och Dubbelkassen är att handtagen på Dubbelkassen är förlängda vilket innebär att kassen bärs på axlarna. På kassens handtag finns även en mellandel fastsatt vilket gör att handtagen hålls uppe på axlarna.Denna rapport kommer behandla ekonomiska aspekter som berör Dubbelkassen. En SWOT-analys och Philip Kotlers 4P leder i slutändan fram till en marknadsföringsplan. Dessutom identifieras Dubbelkassens intressenter samt hur de påverkar/påverkas av projektet. Slutligen genomförs ett materialval baserat på olika plasters hållbarhet. Vidare granskas och analyseras dagslägets tillverkningsteknik för att undersöka vilket steg i tekniken som bör modifieras för tillverkning av Dubbelkassen. Dubbelkassen vänder sig till en högst konservativ marknad. Bärkassens utformning är inte ifrågasatt på marknaden och kunden inser inte behovet av förändring. Vidare uppstår meningsskiljaktigheter om huruvida produkten är priskänslig eller ej.Tillverkningstekniken så som den ser ut i dagsläget kan inte producera Dubbelkassen. Av denna anledning utvecklades Plattkassen som uppfyller tillverkningsteknikens krav. En ny stanskniv för tillverkning utvecklades även. Materialvalet skedde naturligt då en utav plasterna, LDPE, var bättre ur hållbarhetssynpunkt. Plattkassen är en version av Dubbelkassen men den är designmässigt försämrad jämfört med Dubbelkassen. Detta medför att Dubbelkassens design bör förändras för att den skall gå att producera. Ett fortsatt samarbete med Trioplastkoncernen och Axfood är därför nödvändig innan lansering.The development of the Twinbag started during the spring of 2011 as a project in the course HM1025 Ergonomics. The report done in that course had certain limitations that are going to be completed in this report. The advantage of the Twinbag is that it leads to better, more ergonomic carrying. The difference between a normal shopping bag and the Twinbag is that the handles of the bag are elongated which means that the bag is carried on the shoulders. There is also a middle part between the handles to avoid the handles from sliding down.This report covers the economic aspects of the Twinbag. A SWOT-analysis and Kotler’s 4P leads to a marketing analysis. The different stakeholders of the Twinbag are also identified and analyzed. Secondly an appropriate material is chosen. Also the manufacturing process is identified and analyzed to examine which step that needs to be modified to produce the Twinbag. The Twinbag is a product for a highly conservative market. The design of a shopping bag is not questioned and the consumer does not feel an urge for a change. Furthermore, there are disagreements about whether the product is price sensitive or not.The manufacturing as it is today cannot produce the Twinbag. Because of this a new prototype was developed called the Flatbag. The Flatbag can be manufactured in the same way as shopping bags are manufactured today. A new punching knife was also developed.The Flatbag’s design is inferior to the Twinbag. A continued cooperation with Trioplastkoncernen and Axfood is therefore necessary before the Twinbag can be produced

Median Cytokine Cumulative Rank-Score by setting.

<p>*Comparison among settings using Kruskal-Wallis test.</p><p>Median Cytokine Cumulative Rank-Score by setting.</p

Median Height-for-Age, Weight-for-Age and Weight-for-Height of the Subjects, overall and disaggregated by daycare center.

<p>*Comparison among settings (last three rows) using the ANOVA test.</p><p>Values not sharing the same superscript were statistically different by the Bonferroni post-hoc test</p><p>Median Height-for-Age, Weight-for-Age and Weight-for-Height of the Subjects, overall and disaggregated by daycare center.</p

Spearman Correlation Coefficient Hemi-Matrix for Inter-Relationships of Biomarkers.

<p>Legend: The Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients Hemi-Matrix for mutual, cross inter-relationships of the 12 measured biomarkers is illustrated within the 78 cells of pertinent reference. The dark-shaded cells represent the 12 auto-correlations. The remaining 66 cells illustrate the probability level for the corresponding Spearman r value. The 22 medium-shaded cells have statistically-significant associations, whereas the 44 clear cells have non-significant associations. Footnotes: The units of expression for concentrations are provided in the superior captions on the x-axis. The numbers of individuals with analyzed values are provided in the left-hand column y-axis.</p

Selected Associations between Variables with the Superimposition of the Goodness-of-Fit Curve Form.

<p>Legend: Six examples of binary associations between inflammatory biomarker variables with application of the Goodness-of-Fit regressions are selected from among the 22 statistically-significant pairings in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0129158#pone.0129158.t003" target="_blank">Table 3</a>. They are chosen to illustrate the range of variation in curve form and strengths of correlation (r).</p

Characteristics of the Subjects.

<p>Legend: Characteristics expressed for the overall sample and disaggregated by setting and sex. This includes the respective numbers as well as the median age for each grouping. The data for girls and for the overall sample are included in the clear areas and those for boys and overall sample in the shaded areas.</p

Associations among Inflammatory Biomarkers in the Circulating, Plasmatic, Salivary and Intraluminal Anatomical Compartments in Apparently Healthy Preschool Children from the Western Highlands of Guatemala

<div><p>Background</p><p>Undernutrition and inflammation are related in many ways; for instance, non-hygienic environments are associated with both poor growth and immunostimulation in children.</p><p>Objective</p><p>To describe any existing interaction among different inflammation biomarkers measured in the distinct anatomical compartments of whole blood, feces, plasma and saliva.</p><p>Methods</p><p>In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, samples of whole blood, feces, plasma and saliva were collected on the 8^th and last week of observation among 87 attendees (42 girls and 45 boys) of 3 daycare centers offering a common 40-day rotating menu in Guatemala’s Western Highlands. Analyses included white blood cell count (WBC), fecal calprotectin, and plasmatic and salivary cytokines including IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TNF-α. Associations were assessed using Spearman rank-order and goodness-of-fit correlations, as indicated, followed by backwards-elimination multiple regression analyses to determine predictor variables for IL-10 in both anatomical compartments.</p><p>Results</p><p>Of a total of 66 cross-tabulations in the Spearman hemi-matrix, 22 (33%) were significantly associated. All 10 paired associations among the salivary cytokines had a significant r value, whereas 7 of 10 possible associations among plasma cytokines were significant. Associations across anatomical compartments, however, were rarely significant. IL-10 in both biological fluids were higher than corresponding reference values. When a multiple regression model was run in order to determine independent predictors for IL-10 in each anatomical compartment separately, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α emerged as predictors in plasma (r² = 0.514) and IL-1B, IL-8 and TNF-α remained as independent predictors in saliva (r² = 0.762). Significant cross-interactions were seen with WBC, but not with fecal calprotectin.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Interactions ranged from robust within the same anatomical compartment to limited to nil across distinct anatomical compartments. The prominence of the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, in both plasma and saliva is consistent with its counter-regulatory role facing a broad front of elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines in the same compartment.</p></div