Correlation of Glacial sediments Using Heavy-Minerals Assemblages

An optical study of the heavy minerals of the till in two lithostratigraphic units in Polk, Red Lake, and Norman Counties in northwestern Minnesota was undertaken. The purpose was to determine whether the assemblages are different enough to differentiate the two tills and whet her the assemblages are laterally consistent enough to be used as a basis for correlation. An earlier study (Hobbs, 1973) showed that these tills outcropping in the Red Lake Falls area could be distinguished on the basis of heavy-mineral analysis. Both units contain hornblende, pyroxene, garnet, magnetite, and epidote, but in different proportions. The upper unit, the Huot Formation, has significantly more epidote and amphibole and less garnet and pyroxene than the Red Lake Falls Formation. It was found that these differences are laterally too variable to be used as a direct basis for correlation

Expanding the Restaurant Value Chain through Digital Delivery: a Significant Disruptor in the U.S. Restaurant Industry

The food industry has experienced enormous growth in the use of food delivery in recent years. More specifically, digitally enabled food delivery has emerged as the most disruptive force in the foodservice industry today. Increased consumer demand for convenience and variety in conjunction with the rapid pace of technological advancements are believed to be the driving factors for the emergence of this phenomenon (Carsten et al., 2016). Foot traffic at traditional dine-in establishments has dwindled as customers opt for online delivery instead, resulting in an altering of the restaurant value chain (Huang, Kohli and Lal, 2019). In particular, the emergence of third-party delivery aggregators (TPDA), such as Grubhub and Uber Eats, present traditional, brick and mortar foodservice operators with a multitude of both opportunities and challenges. Opportunities range from lower financial and logistical barriers for marketplace entrance, to accessing new and more extensive geographical markets, as well as the opportunity for increased sales volumes (Maras, 2019). However, it has been reported that large commission and services fees (5 to 40% on each delivery order) paid to the TPDAs by restaurants are consuming already narrow profit margins (Fisher, 2019). Other reported challenges include operational issues and a lack of consistency of food and service quality (Maras, 2019). On the consumer side, the added convenience of dining at home can come at a premium expense through delivery charges and higher-priced menu items. Therefore, the decision to offer food delivery service

Improved Removal of Blood Contamination From ThinPrep Cervical Cytology Camples for Raman Spectroscopic Analysis

There is an unmet need for methods to help in the early detection of cervical precancer. Optical spectroscopy-based techniques, such as Raman spectroscopy, have shown great potential for diagnosis of different cancers, including cervical cancer. However, relatively few studies have been carried out on liquid-based cytology (LBC) pap test specimens and confounding factors, such as blood contamination, have been identified. Previous work reported a method to remove blood contamination before Raman spectroscopy by pretreatment of the slides with hydrogen peroxide. The aim of the present study was to extend this work to excessively bloody samples to see if these could be rendered suitable for Raman spectroscopy. LBC ThinPrep specimens were treated by adding hydrogen peroxide directly to the vial before slide preparation. Good quality Raman spectra were recorded from negative and high grade (HG) cytology samples with no blood contamination and with heavy blood contamination. Good classification between negative and HG cytology could be achieved for samples with no blood contamination (sensitivity 92%, specificity 93%) and heavy blood contamination (sensitivity 89%, specificity 88%) with poorer classification when samples were combined (sensitivity 82%, specificity 87%). This study demonstrates for the first time the improved potential of Raman spectroscopy for analysis of ThinPrep specimens regardless of blood contamination

A survey about postoperative delirium in older patients among nurses and anaesthetists:Implications for future practice and policy

Background Postoperative delirium is a major complication associated with anaesthesia and surgery, more commonly seen in older people. Aims The aims of this study were to explore the knowledge and understanding of anaesthetists and nurses involved in anaesthesia through their responses to two case scenarios of postoperative delirium experienced by older people. Methods A 30-item online survey was sent to 500 potential respondents. Results Two hundred and twenty-six practitioners from Australia, New Zealand and Scotland responded. Most had no workplace protocols for anaesthesia planning in older people. There was substantial variability in practice in relation to postoperative delirium screening, detection, prevention and management. Conclusions Improvements in education and awareness, together with a more coherent approach, for example, as recommended in the European Society of Anaesthesiology Guidelines, could help to reduce the impact of postoperative delirium in older people. This should be combined with ongoing research into perioperative optimisation of detection, prevention and management of postoperative delirium

A Study of Hormonal Effects in Cervical Smear Samples Using Raman Spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool that has the potential to be used as a screening method for cervical cancer. It is a label-free, low-cost method providing a biochemical fingerprint of a given sample. The objective of this study was to address patient-to-patient variability contributed by hormonal effects due to the menstrual cycle, the use of hormone-based contraceptives (HC) and the onset of menopause, and to determine if these changes would affect the ability to successfully identify dyskaryotic cells. Raman spectra were recorded from unstained ThinPrep cervical samples (45 cytology negative and 15 high-grade dyskaryosis (high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, HSIL) samples using a HORIBA Jobin Yvon XploRA system. HPV DNA testing was also performed. Clinical data collected included date of the last menstrual period, the use of HC and/or menopausal status. Spectral changes were observed depending on the day of the menstrual cycle and on the use of HC. Despite this, HSIL could be discriminated from normal cells regardless of the day on which the sample was taken or the use of HC

Raman Spectroscopic Detection of High-Grade Cervical Cytology: Using Morphologically Normal Appearing Cells

This study aims to detect high grade squamous intraepithelial cells (HSIL) by investigating HSIL associated biochemical changes in morphologically normal appearing intermediate and superficial cells using Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectra (n = 755) were measured from intermediate and superficial cells from negative cytology ThinPrep specimens (n = 18) and from morphologically normal appearing intermediate and superficial cells from HSIL cytology ThinPrep specimens (n = 17). The Raman data was subjected to multivariate algorithms including the standard principal component analysis (PCA)-linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) together with random subsets cross-validation for discriminating negative cytology from HSIL. The PCA-LDA method yielded sensitivities of 74.9%, 72.8%, and 75.6% and specificities of 89.9%, 81.9%, and 84.5%, for HSIL diagnosis based on the dataset obtained from intermediate, superficial and mixed intermediate/superficial cells, respectively. The PLS-DA method provided improved sensitivities of 95.5%, 95.2% and 96.1% and specificities of 92.7%, 94.7% and 93.5% compared to the PCA-LDA method. The results demonstrate that the biochemical signatures of morphologically normal appearing cells can be used to discriminate between negative and HSIL cytology. In addition, it was found that mixed intermediate and superficial cells could be used for HSIL diagnosis as the biochemical differences between negative and HSIL cytology were greater than the biochemical differences between intermediate and superficial cell types