A Conceptual Design and Numerical Analysis for a Small-Scale and Low-Cost Plastic Recycling Machine

A new conceptual design for a small-scale and low-cost plastic recycling machine is generated by combining melting part and compression process. Starting with one of the outstanding requirements is in terms of an affordable-priced machine that can perform two processes with high accuracy and capacity, some issues related to balancing among quality, capacity and cost of machine occurred during a discussion. After implementing various designing methods such as Quality Function Deployment, Reverse Engineering, Morphological Matrix and Pugh Method, an idea of final concept about using an electric oven and hydraulic system to melt down and compress plastic tile which has a dimension of 300x300x9 mm was created. The design of concept is divided into two parts which are mechanical and electrical systems. In a mechanical section, the technical drawing and simulation are made to see how machine performs under operation. Besides, we examined the forces that applied in the moulds to evaluate the strength of the system. In heating and electricity section, we chose electrical components, designed oven parameters and conducted the heating simulation on the mould. In addition, the heating and cooling time was calculated based on the principles of thermodynamics and heat transfer. Furthermore, the manufacturing plan is created to estimate the essential resources producing a certain number of heat-forming machines. In general, the machine needs to be prototyped for controlling its main function and finding practical issues. After that, some improvements could be made to enhance efficiency and increase capacity by designing an optimal mould to more heat absorb and reduce post process, calculate and design more efficient oven, create faster lock mechanism and other improvements for an automatizing machine

An Outbreak of Severe Infections with Community-Acquired MRSA Carrying the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin Following Vaccination

Background: Infections with community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are emerging worldwide. We investigated an outbreak of severe CA-MRSA infections in children following out-patient vaccination. Methods and Findings: We carried out a field investigation after adverse events following immunization (AEFI) were reported. We reviewed the clinical data from all cases. S. aureus recovered from skin infections and from nasal and throat swabs were analyzed by pulse-field gel electrophoresis, multi locus sequence typing, PCR and microarray. In May 2006, nine children presented with AEFI, ranging from fatal toxic shock syndrome, necrotizing soft tissue infection, purulent abscesses, to fever with rash. All had received a vaccination injection in different health centres in one District of Ho Chi Minh City. Eight children had been vaccinated by the same health care worker (HCW). Deficiencies in vaccine quality, storage practices, or preparation and delivery were not found. Infection control practices were insufficient. CA-MRSA was cultured in four children and from nasal and throat swabs from the HCW. Strains from children and HCW were indistinguishable. All carried the Panton-Valentine leukocidine (PVL), the staphylococcal enterotoxin B gene, the gene complex for staphylococcal-cassette-chromosome mec type V, and were sequence type 59. Strain HCM3A is epidemiologically unrelated to a strain of ST59 prevalent in the USA, althoughthey belong to the same lineage. Conclusions. We describe an outbreak of infections with CA-MRSA in children, transmitted by an asymptomatic colonized HCW during immunization injection. Consistent adherence to injection practice guidelines is needed to prevent CA-MRSA transmission in both in- and outpatient settings

Prospects for Food Fermentation in South-East Asia, Topics From the Tropical Fermentation and Biotechnology Network at the End of the AsiFood Erasmus+Project

Fermentation has been used for centuries to produce food in South-East Asia and some foods of this region are famous in the whole world. However, in the twenty first century, issues like food safety and quality must be addressed in a world changing from local business to globalization. In Western countries, the answer to these questions has been made through hygienisation, generalization of the use of starters, specialization of agriculture and use of long-distance transportation. This may have resulted in a loss in the taste and typicity of the products, in an extensive use of antibiotics and other chemicals and eventually, in a loss in the confidence of consumers to the products. The challenges awaiting fermentation in South-East Asia are thus to improve safety and quality in a sustainable system producing tasty and typical fermented products and valorising by-products. At the end of the “AsiFood Erasmus+ project” (www.asifood.org), the goal of this paper is to present and discuss these challenges as addressed by the Tropical Fermentation Network, a group of researchers from universities, research centers and companies in Asia and Europe. This paper presents current actions and prospects on hygienic, environmental, sensorial and nutritional qualities of traditional fermented food including screening of functional bacteria and starters, food safety strategies, research for new antimicrobial compounds, development of more sustainable fermentations and valorisation of by-products. A specificity of this network is also the multidisciplinary approach dealing with microbiology, food, chemical, sensorial, and genetic analyses, biotechnology, food supply chain, consumers and ethnology

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Customer Value in E-grocery : An investigation into Handla24 of ICA Bankeryd

Background Electronic commerce (EC) has become popular due to the increasing demand of efficiency in shopping. The reason for this trend is the changes in technology and socio-demography. E-grocery, therefore, appears to be a fresh and attractive business concept that creates customer value for companies trading in supermarket industry. Handla24 of ICA Bankeryd is known as one of the foremost ICA retailers that generates e-grocery in Sweden. Starting in 2009, the service supplier went from zero customer to its current position of approximately 1400 regular customers. However, perceived value and further expectations from their customers have not been thoroughly understood yet. This issue is hindering Handla24 of ICA Bankeryd in expanding their customer group. Also, their ability to give appropriate service levels is potentially restricting further customer growth. With these issues rectified, Hanla24 of ICA Bankeryd could become a stronger player in the market. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to examine how customer values are created in e-grocery. We identify factors that deliver value to the existing customers and target a potential customer group in Jönköping city for Handla24 of ICA Bankeryd. We also provide recommendations on  how Handla24 of ICA Bankeryd can attract this group. Method This thesis employs a combination of quantitative method and qualitative method. Data are collected through two face-to-face interviews with Handla24 of ICA Bankeryd. Customers in Jönköping are divided into two clusters: the existing customers and potential customers with two separate survey questionnaires for each of the clusters. Conclusion We conclude that e-grocery does create customer value. In the example of Handla24 - ICA Bankeryd, we identify four main factors that deliver value to their existing customers, namely delivery price, product range, convenience shopping and customer services. In order to target the potential customers for Handla24, we also recognize the characteristics that create the demand for e-grocery. The targeted customers are capable of shopping online due to the habit of surfing the Internet. In addtion, they do not like either queuing at the store or carrying groceries home. This group is a female majority. It also includes families having children or having greater than or equal to 3 members. This customer group does not find 99 kr delivery fee of Handla24 - ICA Bankeryd reasonable, but they still have an interest in trying and recommending e-grocery of Handla24 to other people

An Analysis of Vocal Features for Parkinson&rsquo;s Disease Classification Using Evolutionary Algorithms

Parkinson&rsquo;s Disease (PD) is a brain disorder that causes uncontrollable movements. According to estimation, roughly ten million individuals worldwide have had or are developing PD. This disorder can have severe consequences that affect the patient&rsquo;s daily life. Therefore, several previous works have worked on PD detection. Automatic Parkinson&rsquo;s Disease detection in voice recordings can be an innovation compared to other costly methods of ruling out examinations since the nature of this disease is unpredictable and non-curable. Analyzing the collected vocal records will detect essential patterns, and timely recommendations on appropriate treatments will be extremely helpful. This research proposed a machine learning-based approach for classifying healthy people from people with the disease utilizing Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) for feature selection, along with Light Gradient Boosted Machine (LGBM) to optimize the model performance. The proposed method shows highly competitive results and has the ability to be developed further and implemented in a real-world setting

A Conceptual Design and Numerical Analysis for a Small-Scale and Low-Cost Plastic Recycling Machine

A new conceptual design for a small-scale and low-cost plastic recycling machine is generated by combining melting part and compression process. Starting with one of the outstanding requirements is in terms of an affordable-priced machine that can perform two processes with high accuracy and capacity, some issues related to balancing among quality, capacity and cost of machine occurred during a discussion. After implementing various designing methods such as Quality Function Deployment, Reverse Engineering, Morphological Matrix and Pugh Method, an idea of final concept about using an electric oven and hydraulic system to melt down and compress plastic tile which has a dimension of 300x300x9 mm was created. The design of concept is divided into two parts which are mechanical and electrical systems. In a mechanical section, the technical drawing and simulation are made to see how machine performs under operation. Besides, we examined the forces that applied in the moulds to evaluate the strength of the system. In heating and electricity section, we chose electrical components, designed oven parameters and conducted the heating simulation on the mould. In addition, the heating and cooling time was calculated based on the principles of thermodynamics and heat transfer. Furthermore, the manufacturing plan is created to estimate the essential resources producing a certain number of heat-forming machines. In general, the machine needs to be prototyped for controlling its main function and finding practical issues. After that, some improvements could be made to enhance efficiency and increase capacity by designing an optimal mould to more heat absorb and reduce post process, calculate and design more efficient oven, create faster lock mechanism and other improvements for an automatizing machine

Combinatory in silico investigation for potential inhibitors from Curcuma sahuynhensis Škorničk. & N.S. Lý volatile phytoconstituents against influenza A hemagglutinin, SARS-CoV-2 main protease, and Omicron-variant spike protein

Curcuma sahuynhensis Škorničk. & N.S. Lý has been discovered recently whose antiviral potential is unknown, thus deserved for discovery-phase screening. A combination of experimental characterization, quantum calculation, molecular docking simulation, physicochemical analysis, and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) was designed for the theoretical argument on the potentiality of oil-based components (1−27) against H5 hemagglutinin in influenza A virus (PDB-5E32), wild-variant SARS-CoV-2 main protease (PDB-6LU7), and SARS-CoV-2 Omicron spike protein (PDB-7T9J). Theoretical arguments based on various computational platforms specify the most promising bio-inhibitors, i.e. 23 (bio-compatibility: ground energy −966.73 a.u., dipole moment 3.708 Debye; bio-inhibitability: DS̅\bar{{\rm{DS}}} −12.5 kcal mol−1; drug-likeness: mass 304.7 amu, log P 1.31; polar-interactability: polarizability 32.8 Å3) and 26 (bio-compatibility: ground energy −1393.66109 a.u., dipole moment 5.087 Debye; bio-inhibitability: DS̅\bar{{\rm{DS}}} −11.9 kcal mol−1; drug-likeness: mass 437.5 amu, log P 4.28; polar-interactability: polarizability 45.7 Å3). The pkCSM-ADMET model confirms their favorable pharmacokinetics and pharmacology. The total essence is unsuitable for use as an antiviral source in its pure form since the most bioactive candidates are accountable for the small content. Particularly, 23 (7β-hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone) and 26 (ethyl cholate) are recommended for further experimental efforts of isolation and bioassaying trials