Towards a Generic Set of Packaging Material Key Figures

Many companies consider the reduction of packaging material as a relevant development direction, either required by cost savings, supply chain efficiency, sustainability or substantiated by regulations (directive 94/62/EC). This aligns with an eco-efficient redundancy perspective on packaging. Research shows that material efficiency requirements in packaging design briefs are often only justified by aims towards cost reduction; commercial viability is regularly prioritized over sustainability aims. Insights collected from current material quantification analyses like product-packaging life cycle assessment (LCA) and costing (LCC) are not directly applicable during generative development processes. Packaging material key figures can be useful for that, as the middle ground between design guidelines and rules-of-thumb but research in this area is limited. Key figures are established in other sectors like electrical appliances’ energy use, automobile fuel economy, or housing energy efficiency. Based on existing studies about eating patterns of Dutch consumers the research determined typical fast moving consumer goods consumption patterns that are grouped according to product type and use scenario, which lead to daily product consumption patterns. Key figures of used amount of packaging material per product type are determined by looking at packaging solutions present in the market. These figures are linked to the consumer patterns. The outcome is compared with annual packaging waste figures as validation. The research shows for example that packaging material use for food products is currently over 6 times higher than material use for non-food products, and that beverages and products required for dinner require the highest amount of packaging. The research contribution is a collection of packaging material key figures, grouped per product type and use scenario. The range of key figures (minimal and maximum material amounts) is useful as starting point for efficient material use in packaging design

Research, Ethics and Risk in the Authoritarian Field

research ethics; authoritarian countries; research methodology; research in the authoritarian field; risk and field research; ethics and field research; authoritarianism; advice for field research; research transparency; research methods; mental impact of field research; planning for field research; dangers of field researc

Shifting value stream patterns along the product lifecycle with digital twins

The concept of digital twins promises high potentials for product design, manufacturing, user experience and recycling. Thus, digital twins have received increasing interest in academia and industry. However, the actual benefits of digital twins remain in many cases unclear. This article aims to summarize selected recent developments in this field and demonstrate use cases from different phases of the product lifecycle. For that purpose, examples from the design, manufacturing, use and recycling phase are presented. In a subsequent discussion, ideas for new value stream patterns using digital twins are envisioned and research questions are derive

Efficacy and safety of on-demand use of 2 treatments designed for different etiologies of female sexual interest/arousal disorder:3 Randomized Clinical Trials

Background In women, low sexual desire and/or sexual arousal can lead to sexual dissatisfaction and emotional distress, collectively defined as female sexual interest/arousal disorder (FSIAD). Few pharmaceutical treatment options are currently available. Aim To investigate the efficacy and safety of 2 novel on-demand pharmacologic treatments that have been designed to treat 2 FSIAD subgroups (women with low sensitivity for sexual cues and women with dysfunctional over-activation of sexual inhibition) using a personalized medicine approach using an allocation formula based on genetic, hormonal, and psychological variables developed to predict drug efficacy in the subgroups. Methods 497 women (21–70 years old) with FSIAD were randomized to 1 of 12 8-week treatment regimens in 3 double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, dose-finding studies conducted at 16 research sites in the United States. Efficacy and safety of the following on-demand treatments was tested: placebo, testosterone (T; 0.5 mg), sildenafil (S; 50 mg), buspirone (B; 10 mg) and combination therapies (T 0.25 mg + S 25 mg, T 0.25 mg + S 50 mg, T 0.5 mg + S 25 mg, T 0.5 mg + S 50 mg, and T 0.25 mg + B 5 mg, T 0.25 mg + B 10 mg, T 0.5 mg + B 5 mg, T 0.5 mg + B 10 mg). Outcomes The primary efficacy measure was the change in satisfying sexual events (SSEs) from the 4-week baseline to the 4-week average of the 8-week active treatment period after medication intake. For the primary end points, the combination treatments were compared with placebo and the respective monotherapies on this measure. Results In women with low sensitivity for sexual cues, 0.5 mg T + 50 mg S increased the number of SSEs from baseline compared with placebo (difference in change [Δ] = 1.70, 95% CI = 0.57–2.84, P =.004) and monotherapies (S: Δ = 1.95, 95% CI = 0.44–3.45, P =.012; T: Δ = 1.69, 95% CI = 0.58–2.80, P =.003). In women with overactive inhibition, 0.5 mg T + 10 mg B increased the number of SSEs from baseline compared with placebo (Δ = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.17–1.82, P =.019) and monotherapies (B: Δ = 1.52, 95% CI = 0.57–2.46, P =.002; T: Δ = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.17–1.78, P =.018). Secondary end points followed this pattern of results. The most common drug-related side effects were flushing (T + S treatment, 3%; T + B treatment, 2%), headache (placebo treatment, 2%; T + S treatment, 9%), dizziness (T + B treatment, 3%), and nausea (T + S treatment, 3%; T + B treatment, 2%). Clinical Implications T + S and T + B are promising treatments for women with FSIAD. Strengths and Limitations The data were collected in 3 well-designed randomized clinical trials that tested multiple doses in a substantial number of women. The influence of T + S and T + B on distress and the potentially sustained improvements after medication cessation were not investigated. Conclusions T + S and T + B are well tolerated and safe and significantly increase the number of SSEs in different FSIAD subgroups. Tuiten A, van Rooij K, Bloemers J, et al. Efficacy and Safety of On-Demand Use of 2 Treatments Designed for Different Etiologies of Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder: 3 Randomized Clinical Trials. J Sex Med 2018;15:201–216

Effectiveness of screening preschool children for amblyopia: a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Amblyopia and amblyogenic factors like strabismus and refractive errors are the most common vision disorders in children. Although different studies suggest that preschool vision screening is associated with a reduced prevalence rate of amblyopia, the value of these programmes is the subject of a continuing scientific and health policy discussion. Therefore, this systematic review focuses on the question of whether screening for amblyopia in children up to the age of six years leads to better vision outcomes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ten bibliographic databases were searched for randomised controlled trials, non-randomised controlled trials and cohort studies with no limitations to a specific year of publication and language. The searches were supplemented by handsearching the bibliographies of included studies and reviews to identify articles not captured through our main search strategy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Five studies met the inclusion criteria. Of these, three studies suggested that screening is associated with an absolute reduction in the prevalence of amblyopia between 0.9% and 1.6% (relative reduction: between 45% and 62%). However, the studies showed weaknesses, limiting the validity and reliability of their findings. The main limitation was that studies with significant results considered only a proportion of the originally recruited children in their analysis. On the other hand, retrospective sample size calculation indicated that the power based on the cohort size was not sufficient to detect small changes between the groups. Outcome parameters such as quality of life or adverse effects of screening have not been adequately investigated in the literature currently available.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Population based preschool vision screening programmes cannot be sufficiently assessed by the literature currently available. However, it is most likely that the present systematic review contains the most detailed description of the main limitations in current available literature evaluating these programmes. Therefore, future research work should be guided by the findings of this publication.</p