The Environmental and Economic Impacts for Producing the Port Jackson from Novatein®

Preserving meat quality is paramount during meat processing. Contamination is reduced by preventing contact between faecal matter and the carcass. Rectal plugs are used for this purpose during slaughtering, and the animal’s intestines can be removed and entered directly into the rendering process. Polypropylene plugs contaminate rendered products, while Novatein® plugs (the Port Jackson) will break down during the rendering process. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to determine and compare the environmental impacts of plugs made from either polypropylene or Novatein®. Two scenarios were considered, in which the production of the plugs could be contracted out, or manufactured in-house. On an environmental basis, the difference was negligible. Resin production accounted for 73% of the total non-renewable primary energy (NRPE) use and global warming potential (GWP), with the balance shared between plug production, use, and disposal. Injection moulding and packaging each contributed 31% to GWP, as well as 25.8% and 40% of the NRPE use respectively during plug production and disposal, dominating impacts during plug production. In contrast, operations with the lowest impacts were conditioning and transport, collectively contributing to less than 4% of the entire LCA impacts. The life cycle impacts were particularly sensitive to packaging, the allocation method used for farming impacts on bloodmeal production, and the ratio of the electricity grid mix. By eliminating cardboard boxes reduced GWP and NRPE use by 6.1% and 6.9%. Allocating impacts from farming to bloodmeal production could increase the GWP by up to 193%, and NRPE by 14%. Allocation is not under the control of the manufacturer, and is a limitation of the assumptions made in this study. By using coal-based electricity, the GWP can increase by 66%, and NRPE by 20%. Impacts from electricity use could change noticeably if the plugs were manufactured overseas. The net present value (NPV) of capturing 10% of the market, and selling the plugs at $0.15 NZD, at a 35$143,629 when contracting out plug production. Under all costing assumptions, contracting out provided a higher NPV than manufacturing in-house. This is primarily due to the large capital costs when producing in-house. The critical factor that will cause manufacturing in-house to be more financially viable is the capital cost. The difference between the NPV of the two scenarios is $240,442, and the estimated total cost of buying, shipping, and installing the injection moulder is$355,153. If this can be reduced to $114,711, the two scenarios become equal. Because manufacturing in-house has a higher ongoing cash inflow per year, this scenario will also benefit more from scaling up volume above the 10 When comparing the Port Jackson with the polypropylene plug, the Novatein® plug has a higher GWP (0.0166 kg CO₂eq per plug) than the PP plug (0.0126 kg CO₂eq per plug), however, it requires less NRPE (0.302 MJ per plug and 0.430 MJ per plug respectively), and if contracted out, can be sold competitively at a matching market value of$0.15 or $0.16 per plug. The price may be lowered even further to$0.12, and still have a positive NPV. These factors are slightly in favour of producing Novatein plugs, but the Port Jackson’s advantage over PP is the fact that it not only breaks down during rendering, but it is also non-toxic, so simply becomes part of part of meat and bone meal

Time dependent properties of thermoplastic protein produced from bloodmeal with sodium sulphite as an anti-crosslinking agent

The aim of this research was to investigate how the time dependent mechanical behaviour of bloodmeal-based thermoplastic was affected by varying sodium sulphite content at two injection moulding temperatures (120°C at exit or 140°C at exit). Thermoplastic protein was prepared by extrusion with 2, 3 or 4g sodium sulphite (SS), 3g sodium dodecyl sulphate, 10 g urea, 20 g triethylene glycol and 40 g water per 100 g bloodmeal, then injection moulded into test specimens. Pull to break, creep and stress relaxation tests were performed on conditioned samples and glass transition temperature (Tg) was determined by dynamic mechanical analysis. Ultimate tensile strength was 7.9, 7.6 and 5.6 MPa for samples moulded at 120°C and 7.6, 6.3 and 5.7 MPa when moulded at 140°C with 2, 3 and 4 g SS respectively. Experimental creep data was modelled with a 4 element model, consisting of a spring and dashpot in parallel, in series with an additional spring and dashpot. Plotting creep compliance versus time showed increasing chain mobility as SS content increased. Relaxation was modelled with the Struik equation for short-time experiments. Relaxation times were 530, 360 and 250 s with 2, 3 and 4 g SS respectively when moulded at the lower temperature. At 140°C, relaxation times were 440, 430 and 190 s for these SS contents. Tg was in the range 57-65°C (1 Hz peak in tanδ) for all samples, but was lowest for samples with 4 g SS. These results show that both increased sodium sulphite and the higher moulding temperature increased chain mobility in the processed plastic

In vitro evaluation of root canals obturated with four different techniques. Part 2 : Apical leakage

No abstract available.www.sada.co.zaam201

In vitro evaluation of root canals obturated with four different techniques. Part 3 : Obturation of lateral canals

According to Schilder,1,2,3 the main objective of endodontic treatment procedures should be the cleaning and filling of the root canal in its entire extent, including all lateral canals and apical ramifications.http://www.sada.co.zaam2013mn201

Early detection of developmental delays in vulnerable children by community care workers using an mHealth tool

Developmental delays are increasing worldwide, as a result of exposure to environmental risk factors. Early detection services are often inaccessible in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). An mHealth developmental screening programme with community care workers (CCWs) was investigated. CCWs administered a smartphone application to vulnerable families during home-based services. One-hundred and thirty-eight children were screened and those who failed were rescreened. CCWs completed a questionnaire regarding their perceptions of community-based mHealth-assisted screening. The overall referral rate was 69%. Older children (19–38 months old) had a significantly higher (p < .05; Chi-Square) referral rate (84%; n = 62) compared to those aged 0–18 months (52%; n = 33). CCWs perceived mHealth screening as valuable in terms of utility, outcomes and contribution to developmental knowledge for community members and CCWs. Community-based services are a promising platform to implement mHealth-assisted early developmental screening programmes. CCWs and mHealth-assisted developmental screening can facilitate better access to early detection and developmental surveillance for vulnerable populations.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gecd202019-12-04hj2019Speech-Language Pathology and Audiolog

In vitro evaluation of root canals obturated with four different techniques. Part 1 : Radiographic evaluation

No abstract available.http://www.sada.co.zaam201

Multisite Phosphorylation Modulates the T Cell Receptor ζ-Chain Potency but not the Switchlike Response

AbstractMultisite phosphorylation is ubiquitous in cellular signaling and is thought to provide signaling proteins with additional regulatory mechanisms. Indeed, mathematical models have revealed a large number of mechanisms by which multisite phosphorylation can produce switchlike responses. The T cell antigen receptor (TCR) is a multisubunit receptor on the surface of T cells that is a prototypical multisite substrate as it contains 20 sites that are distributed on 10 conserved immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs). The TCR ζ-chain is a homodimer subunit that contains six ITAMs (12 sites) and exhibits a number of properties that are predicted to be sufficient for a switchlike response. We have used cellular reconstitution to systematically study multisite phosphorylation of the TCR ζ-chain. We find that multisite phosphorylation proceeds by a nonsequential random mechanism, and find no evidence that multiple ITAMs modulate a switchlike response but do find that they alter receptor potency and maximum phosphorylation. Modulation of receptor potency can be explained by a reduction in molecular entropy of the disordered ζ-chain upon phosphorylation. We further find that the tyrosine kinase ZAP-70 increases receptor potency but does not modulate the switchlike response. In contrast to other multisite proteins, where phosphorylations act in strong concert to modulate protein function, we suggest that the multiple ITAMs on the TCR function mainly to amplify subsequent signaling

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700