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At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Developing a medical device package.

Effective packaging is vital to achieve an effective medical device, and it is essential that designers of sterile medical device packaging are fully aware of all of the factors involved. These considerations include not only the requirements of the package in terms of appropriate method of sterilization, product-packaging interactions, and shelf-life, but also the environment in which the product will be used, the needs of the production facility, and what storage and distribution hazards the packaged product may encounter. In this article, the author provides a comprehensive packaging brief for designers, which clearly defines the needs of the manufacturer and the customer.

Equipment Design↗

Consumer preference optimization of scallopini made from boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

Scallopini is a general name derived from scallopine, an Italian preparation of veal, which describes thinly pounded cuts of meat which are either used as a cutlet or rolled around other foods and cooked. Concept development was accomplished through use of focus groups, consumer ranking studies, and mailed surveys. The objective of this study was to assess consumer acceptability of chicken scallopini at various thicknesses (4, 8 and 12 mm) and concentrations (0, 1, and 2%) of added sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP). A 3 x 3 factorial design with three replications was adopted for use in this study. To assess consumer acceptability of packaged products, 53 participants were presented with three packages of the raw scallopini packaged on white styrofoam trays and overwrapped with film. Because STPP produces no visual change in the product at the levels used, only product thickness was varied. The mean price suggested by panelists from the sensory evaluation was $1.28/lb. The average price per pound suggested for the raw, packaged product was $1.62. For the attributes of overall acceptability, tenderness, juiciness, flavor, size, and texture, the mean ratings were high, indicating an acceptable product in any of the nine treatments. Sensory attributes were affected by STPP concentration but not by scallopini thickness. As STPP concentration increased, hedonic ratings for tenderness, texture, juiciness, flavor, overall acceptability, and purchase likehood increased. Purchase likelihood was rated highest for scallopini containing 2% STPP. Purchase likelihood was verified through use of a simulated supermarket simulation test.

Adult↗

Isolating large nested deletions in bacterial and P1 artificial chromosomes by in vivo P1 packaging of products of Cre-catalysed recombination between the endogenous and a transposed loxP site.

A general approach for isolating large nested deletions in P1 artificial chromosomes (PACs) and bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) by retrofitting with a loxP site-containing Tn10 mini-transposon is described. Cre-mediated recombination between the loxP site existing in these clones and one introduced by transposition leads to deletions and inversions of the DNA between these sites. Large deletions are selectively recovered by transducing the retrofitted PAC or BAC clones with P1 phage. The requirement that both loxP sites in the cointegrate be packaged into a P1 head ensures that only large deletions are rescued. PCR analyses identified these deletions as products of legitimate recombination between loxP sites mediated by Cre protein. BACs produce deletions much more efficiently than PACs although the former cannot be induced to greater than unit copy in cells. Mammalian cell-responsive antibiotic resistance markers are introduced as part of the transposon into genomic clone deletions for subsequent functional analysis. Most importantly, the loxP site retrofitting and P1 transduction can be performed in the same bacterial host containing these clones directly isolated from PAC or BAC libraries. These procedures should facilitate physical and functional mapping of genes and regulatory elements in these large plasmids.

Bacteriophage P1↗

[Repetitive movements of the upper limbs: results of exposure evaluation and clinical investigation in the production and packaging of ice cream].

An evaluation was made of the degree of exposure to risk and the frequency of disorders attributable to biomechanical overload of the upper limb in workers employed on packaging in an ice cream factory. The risks were first evaluated against a checklist, then subsequently an assessment was made of the tasks found to feature the highest risks, using an ergonomic analysis method. The method identified several jobs, such as placing ice cream coupes and such like in boxes, as requiring a large number of actions per minute (> 30) and considerable muscular strength. The 59 female workers performing the packaging operations were given a risk-targeted physical examination. The clinical test detected an extremely high frequency of carpal tunnel syndrome, (7.1%) epicondylitis (5.2%) and scapulo-humeral periarthritis (3.5%) in the over 35 years age group, with respect to a control population not exposed to risk. The authors conclude that the repetitiveness of the actions, the use of gloves due to prolonged contact with frozen products and the effects of the low temperatures themselves, may have favoured the spread of the disorders that appeared in this population of workers. These findings must be further supported by more in-depth epidemiological studies.

Adult↗

Management of packaging waste in Poland--development agenda and accession to the EU.

In recent years the issue of the municipal waste in Poland has become increasingly topical, with a considerable rise in the waste generation, much of which can be attributed to a boom in product packaging (mainly plastic). The annual production of plastics packaging has been constantly increasing over the last 20 to 30 years, and now exceeds 3.7 million tons. Due to a lack of processing technologies and poorly developed selective segregation system, packaging waste is still treated as a part of the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream, most of which is landfilled. As a result of Poland's access to the European Union, previous legal regulations governing municipal waste management have been harmonized with those binding on the member countries. One of the main changes, the most revolutionary one, is to make entrepreneurs liable for environmental risks resulting from the introduction of packaging to the market, and for its recycling. In practice, all entrepreneurs are to ensure recovery, and recycling, of used packaging from products introduced to the market at the required level. In recent year, the required recycling levels were fulfilled for all types of materials but mainly by large institutions using grouped and transport packaging waste for that matter. Household packaging gathered in the selective segregation system at the municipalities was practically left alone. This paper is an attempt to describe the system and assess the first year of functioning of the new, revamped system of packaging waste management in Poland. Recommendations are made relating to those features that need to be included in packaging waste management systems in order to maximize their sustainability and harmonization with the EU legal system.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗

Identification of extractable substances from rubber nettings used to package meat products.

Ten meat nettings were sampled from four different suppliers in the Netherlands. These meat nettings consisted both of natural rubber and of vegetable fibres. Nitrosamines were extractable up to 2 mg x kg(-1) netting, the nitrosamine being N-nitrosodibenzylamine. The nitrosatable substances found were precursors of N-nitrosodimethylamine and N-nitrosodibenzylamine and were extracted up to 0.4 mg x kg(-1) nettings. Considering the ratio of meat netting and foodstuff, the extractable amount of nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances does not raise concern for public health. The meat nettings were also screened for other potential migrants. Extractable amounts of several alkanes, alkenes, acids, antioxidants, plasticizers and sterols were found. Several of these extracted substances are not allowed in the Netherlands, although some are authorized in other countries. Several substances, however, have not been evaluated for use in food-contact materials and therefore the possible risk to public health is unknown.

Animals↗

Assessing dose equivalent from intensive short-term U product inhalation.

Intensive exposure of a product packaging operator to U product dust resulted in the uncontrolled inhalation of natural U. In-vivo counting yielded an estimate of about 40 mg of natural U initially deposited in the lung. An effective committed dose equivalent in the range of 67 mSv and 137 mSv was calculated to correspond to this lung contamination, using a single exponential lung clearance and the modified ICRP models, respectively. The effective committed dose equivalent of a person 47 y old involved in this incident can hardly be used to quantify the risk, and therefore committed and annual dose equivalent systems were discussed in light of risk assessment.

Adult↗

Rapid, simultaneous determination of headspace oxygen and moisture in pharmaceutical packages using muGC.

The rapid, accurate determination of headspace oxygen and moisture in various pharmaceutical packages is important for both product packaging development and the implementation of new packaging technologies. Current headspace oxygen measurement techniques suffer from serious drawbacks in terms of potential sampling contamination, lengthy analysis times, and large required analysis volumes. In addition, relatively few techniques currently exist for the convenient determination of headspace moisture in packaging systems. Efforts herein focused on the development and application of a new method for the rapid and simultaneous determination of headspace oxygen and moisture in pharmaceutical packages using micro-gas chromatography (muGC). Studies showed that both headspace oxygen and moisture could be simultaneously quantified in <90 s on sample volumes of 50-100 microL by employing muGC with dual chromatographic analysis modules. Sampling issues common to manual syringe-based injections were also alleviated in the current studies by use of the built-in diaphragm pump sampling interface of the portable muGC system. The performance of the analytical approach was evaluated and shown to exhibit excellent linearity, accuracy, and precision for both analytes. High sensitivity for headspace oxygen was demonstrated, allowing for levels of oxygen as low as 0.03% to be accurately quantified. The subject method was applied to measure the headspace oxygen and moisture in pharmaceutical blister packaging and glass vials.

Chromatography, Gas↗

The new food label, type of fat, and consumer choice. A pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine how frequently lay consumers evaluate both the front label of a product package and other nutritional information on the back label of the package; whether the nutritional descriptors on the front label that concern fat affect consumer choice; to what degree information on the back label redirects this choice; and how well consumers understand the percent daily value on the new food label. DESIGN: Preliminary cross-sectional survey. SETTING: General community and university setting. PARTICIPANTS: Volunteer sample of 200 men and women. METHODS/RESULTS: Participants were first asked to choose between two fabricated cookie packages, one with a "low fat" and the other with a "no saturated fat" front label. Eighty-four percent of participants made their product choice without turning the package to view the back label. Thirty-six percent chose the product with the low fat front label, while 64% chose the product with the no saturated fat front label. In contrast, when respondents were subsequently presented with two cake products that contained no front-label descriptors (which resulted in 100% of subjects turning the package to view the back label), 53% chose the product with a label indicating 6 g of total fat (none saturated), while 47% chose the product with a label indicating 4 g of total fat (all saturated). Thirty-two of the 94 respondents who chose the no saturated fat cookie (only viewing the front label and giving fat content as the reason for their choice) chose a cake product in which the fat was all saturated, based on back-label nutrition information. Finally, 56% of participants could not accurately use the new percent daily value component to calculate saturated fat content. CONCLUSIONS: The data from this pilot study suggest that consumers make product choices based on only viewing the front-label information; health claims on the front label that are related to fat do affect product choice; a choice made based on the information on the front label is potentially altered once the back label is viewed; and approximately one half of our population could not clearly understand the percent daily value. We conclude that current consumer choice may be overly influenced by industry-directed claims placed on the front of a product package.

Consumer Behavior↗

Effect of vacuum packaging on growth of Clostridium botulinum and Staphylococcus aureus in cured meats.

Incrimination of vacuum-packaged smoked fish in outbreaks of botulism has raised questions about the safety of this process in comparison with other methods of packaging foods. It has been suggested, for example, that Clostridium botulinum may grow better in a vacuum-packaged product than in one that is packaged without vacuum. To evaluate this possibility, sliced bologna was inoculated with spores of C. botulinum type A, packaged in transparent plastic film with and without vacuum, and stored at temperatures within the growth range of the organism. There was no detectable difference in the rate of toxin development in the two types of packages. In contrast, vacuum packaging markedly inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus on sliced ham. The results indicate that vacuum packaging has little if any effect on the ability of C. botulinum to grow in cured meats, but it may reduce the likelihood of staphylococcal food poisoning.

Clostridium botulinum↗