Comparative efficacy of two pyrethroid-piperonyl butoxide nets (Olyset Plus and PermaNet 3.0) against pyrethroid resistant malaria vectors: a non-inferiority assessment

Background Pyrethroid-PBO nets were conditionally recommended for control of malaria transmitted by mosquitoes with oxidase-based pyrethroid-resistance based on epidemiological evidence of additional protective effect with Olyset Plus compared to a pyrethroid-only net (Olyset Net). Entomological studies can be used to assess the comparative performance of other brands of pyrethroid-PBO ITNs to Olyset Plus. Methods An experimental hut trial was performed in Cové, Benin to compare PermaNet 3.0 (deltamethrin plus PBO on roof panel only) to Olyset Plus (permethrin plus PBO on all panels) against wild pyrethroid-resistant Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) following World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Both nets were tested unwashed and after 20 standardized washes compared to Olyset Net. Laboratory bioassays were also performed to help explain findings in the experimental huts. Results With unwashed nets, mosquito mortality was higher in huts with PermaNet 3.0 compared to Olyset Plus (41% vs. 28%, P < 0.001). After 20 washes, mortality declined significantly with PermaNet 3.0 (41% unwashed vs. 17% after washing P < 0.001), but not with Olyset Plus (28% unwashed vs. 24% after washing P = 0.433); Olyset Plus induced significantly higher mortality than PermaNet 3.0 and Olyset Net after 20 washes. PermaNet 3.0 showed a higher wash retention of PBO compared to Olyset Plus. A non-inferiority analysis performed with data from unwashed and washed nets together using a margin recommended by the WHO, showed that PermaNet 3.0 was non-inferior to Olyset Plus in terms of mosquito mortality (25% with Olyset Plus vs. 27% with PermaNet 3.0, OR = 1.528, 95%CI = 1.02–2.29) but not in reducing mosquito feeding (25% with Olyset Plus vs. 30% with PermaNet 3.0, OR = 1.192, 95%CI = 0.77–1.84). Both pyrethroid-PBO nets were superior to Olyset Net. Conclusion Olyset Plus outperformed PermaNet 3.0 in terms of its ability to cause greater margins of improved mosquito mortality compared to a standard pyrethroid net, after multiple standardized washes. However, using a margin of non-inferiority defined by the WHO, PermaNet 3.0 was non-inferior to Olyset Plus in inducing mosquito mortality. Considering the low levels of mortality observed and increasing pyrethroid-resistance in West Africa, it is unclear whether either of these nets would demonstrate the same epidemiological impact observed in community trials in East Africa.

Prefabricated Futures: Adaptable and productive construction methods for New Zealand dwellings

<p>The traditional construction method of the New Zealand home has remained largely unchanged over the last century. These housing solutions that have supported our nation no longer suffice and the ‘young home owner’ is becoming a distant dream. New Zealand needs homes, and fast. Specialised trades create fragmentation in construction. This results in inefficient processes that divide the stages of constructing a home. What lacks in these instances is accessibility to design. Architects tend to focus on one-off, bespoke builds, whilst transportable home companies create generic, minimum spec designs. It can be argued that current prefabricated solutions are not complete, requiring sub-trades and work onsite that causes delays and construction related setbacks. Investigation into a key historic precedent has driven this research. This demonstrates that attempts have been made to change the housing model in New Zealand with some success. The precedent aligns with past notions in considering core parts of the home as products. This can create efficiencies in construction. The current demand for housing provides the perfect opportunity to reboot the method in which we build. This thesis questions how offsite panel assemblies can create a complete prefabricated housing product and improve construction efficiencies. This will still offer architectural choice. BIM (Building Information Modelling) and parameter driven design are used as a vehicle to demonstrate how more efficient, more collaborative and more controlled design approaches can be developed in order to create a complete construction package. Design-led research involving constant scale model testing and development led to my prefabricated wall panel design. Named the LapLock panel, I have developed a complete wall, floor and roof panel product system. Designed to be fully fabricated from structure to claddings and services in factory. This produces ruthless efficiencies onsite. The work utilises BIM in the form of Revit and takes advantage of parameter driven families to allow for fast manipulation and output of drawings for panels. A constant conversation between analogue and digital tools (in the form of physical scale models and Revit) strengthened the understandings of the limitations throughout the research. This thesis offers a new way of considering how New Zealand builds homes. By introducing adaptable and efficient panels that are complete on arrival to site, the Laplock solution provides accessible architectural choice to clients. This future-proofs the construction of the New Zealand home.</p>

Prefabricated Futures: Adaptable and productive construction methods for New Zealand dwellings

<p>The traditional construction method of the New Zealand home has remained largely unchanged over the last century. These housing solutions that have supported our nation no longer suffice and the ‘young home owner’ is becoming a distant dream. New Zealand needs homes, and fast. Specialised trades create fragmentation in construction. This results in inefficient processes that divide the stages of constructing a home. What lacks in these instances is accessibility to design. Architects tend to focus on one-off, bespoke builds, whilst transportable home companies create generic, minimum spec designs. It can be argued that current prefabricated solutions are not complete, requiring sub-trades and work onsite that causes delays and construction related setbacks. Investigation into a key historic precedent has driven this research. This demonstrates that attempts have been made to change the housing model in New Zealand with some success. The precedent aligns with past notions in considering core parts of the home as products. This can create efficiencies in construction. The current demand for housing provides the perfect opportunity to reboot the method in which we build. This thesis questions how offsite panel assemblies can create a complete prefabricated housing product and improve construction efficiencies. This will still offer architectural choice. BIM (Building Information Modelling) and parameter driven design are used as a vehicle to demonstrate how more efficient, more collaborative and more controlled design approaches can be developed in order to create a complete construction package. Design-led research involving constant scale model testing and development led to my prefabricated wall panel design. Named the LapLock panel, I have developed a complete wall, floor and roof panel product system. Designed to be fully fabricated from structure to claddings and services in factory. This produces ruthless efficiencies onsite. The work utilises BIM in the form of Revit and takes advantage of parameter driven families to allow for fast manipulation and output of drawings for panels. A constant conversation between analogue and digital tools (in the form of physical scale models and Revit) strengthened the understandings of the limitations throughout the research. This thesis offers a new way of considering how New Zealand builds homes. By introducing adaptable and efficient panels that are complete on arrival to site, the Laplock solution provides accessible architectural choice to clients. This future-proofs the construction of the New Zealand home.</p>

Experimental Performance of Flexural Behavior of Self Compacting ferrocement Flat and V Shaped Folded Roof Panels

The research paper present the experimental work carried out to investigate the behavior of different shaped ferrocement roof panels. The total twelve ferrocement self-compacting flat and V shaped folded roof panels with different number of wire meshes were casted and tested under two point loading. The number of wire meshes varied from 1 and 2 layers. Effect of these varying number of wire mesh layers on flexural strengths and deflection of Flat and V shaped folded roof panels are studied. And it is proved that the load carrying capacity of V shaped folded roof panel is found more with reduced deflection. Keywords: Flat panel, folded panel, mortar; wire mesh, self-compacting ferrocement.

Defect reduction of roof panel part in the export delivery process using the DMAIC method: a case study

Product quality has now become one of the main factors that every company must have to compete globally. One way is to reduce the number of defective products in the production process. This method is a continuous improvement effort made by PT Toyota Motor Manu­fac­turing Indonesia and companies engaged in the automotive sector that produces cars. One of the processes is packing roof panels whose output will be sent to importing countries where the number of re­quests per month is relatively high but still has a high defect rate. Based on production data and defect data for the January-February 2019 period, roof panel packaging production has a 1% -3% defect rate. This company must reduce the defect rate to achieve the com­pany target of zero defects. This study aims to improve the quality of the packaging process by minimizing the number of defective products. This study uses the Six Sigma method with DMAIC phases. This method has several phases, namely, Define, Measure, Analysis, Improvement, and Control. Corrective action to reduce product defects based on 5W + 1H is to formulate a repair plan at the upgrade phase, namely by making SOPs spraying anti-rust and supervising operators who produce roof panel packaging. The improvement results reduced the DPMO value from 33,500 units to 2,050 units and increased the sigma level from 3.33 to 4.37. The DMAIC phase effectively controls and improves product quality levels in the automotive industry.

Design Strategy for Fixed Sunroof System

Fixed Sunroof System (FSS), which consists of a large size heat-strengthened roof panel glass, locating components, encapsulation, etc., is replacing traditional metal roof panel on vehicle to achieve weight reduction as well as providing a broad vision above passengers. As a result of the roof panel glass surface area and curvature, FSS could not be self-fixed on vehicle bodyside outer by means of its locating components currently and a tooling fixture is needed when the fixed sunroof be assembled to vehicle. Meanwhile, varied status of the interferences between FSS and vehicle outer or inner sheet metal may introduce additional loading forces while assembling. That could involve perceived quality issues on its appearance. At the same time, safety performance of FSS also leads a critical role on replacing traditional metal roof panel. This paper is aimed to present a comprehensive design strategy for FSS to achieve self-fixed to vehicle sheet metal as well as robust and sufficient assembly process. For the part of self-location, the concepts are divided to two major directions: location pins’ layout and pins’ structure. A reasonable layout and a new-developed structure of the location clip are essential to make sure the operators could see the clips clearly when assembly, which also conducive to avoid over-positioning. In addition, the fixed sunroof cannot be a naked glass because of appearance reason and seal function requirement. The relationship between loading force and encapsulation’s structure, material and interference volume distributed on the FSS should be established with the purpose of optimizing assembly process and improving interference performance. This study also develops into detail by experimental and finite element analysis method to figure out the contribution on loading force from encapsulation’s structure, material and interference volume. Moreover, the strength of the FSS can be taken depends on is manufacture process and the shape of the glass. The key elements in manufacture process and the feasibility of further optimization can be identified by means of theoretical in the formation of glass stress. The effect of the fixed sunroof on entire vehicle can be estimated by FE analysis. This paper combines the traditional process with these new-optimized elements, which creates a new manufacture process to achieve a heat-strengthened roof panel glass with lager surface and high rigidity taking the reference of the production process in windshield and backlite. A detection method on glass strength and stiffness can also be figured out during the study in this new manufacture process.