The concept of the circular economy (CE) is receiving encouraging attention among scholars and practitioners, as a convenient solution to move away from the linear economy concept without neglecting ...the goals of sustainable development. The main goals of the CE are the closing of resource loops and the keeping of resources in the system for as long as possible at the highest utility level. However, as a result of the lack of internationally accepted definitions of the CE and several unsolved barriers, an excessive and inconsistent number of different CE applications exist. Most fields are mainly focusing on making a linear system circular instead of applying the CE principles in a holistic way. This paper presents a strategy to close the mentioned inconsistency gap, by contrasting currently discussed CE barriers and goals and thereof deriving two areas with a need for action (1. identifying the needed collection, sorting, and recovery infrastructure, and 2. developing circular product design guidelines). The strategy itself consists of connecting these two areas through an improved information exchange between the end-of-life (EOL) and beginning-of-life (BOL) of products. The result is CE design guidelines which are in accordance with the available or needed collection, sorting, and recovery infrastructure. The proposed strategy presents an innovative solution to apply CE principles in a holistic manner, based on EOL-driven product design.
The concept of Circular Economy (CE) is gaining increasing attention as an indispensable renewal of linear economy without neglecting sustainable development goals. Closing resource loops and keeping ...resources in the system at the highest level of use for as long as possible are cited as the main goals of CE. However, due to missing information exchange, the lack of consistency between the existing end-of-life (EOL) infrastructure and the respective product designs hinders a successful circularity of resources. This research presents a method to collect, process, and apply EOL process data to provide the beginning-of-life (BOL) with important EOL-knowledge through a CE-adapted product design assessment. EOL-data is collected using a Circular Value Stream Mapping (C-VSM), EOL-information is processed using a digital state flow representation, and EOL-knowledge is applied by providing a decision-support tool for product designers in the context of a PET bottle case study in Luxembourg. The goal is to anticipate a circular flow of resources by reflectively aligning product design with the relevant EOL infrastructure. In contrast to the linear economy, the developed method makes it possible to consider not only the requirements of users but also the actual end users, the EOL process chains, when designing products.
Variations in quantity, quality and time availability of input materials pose a major risk to circular supply chains (CSC) and require new models for creating and evaluating adaptive and resilient ...CSC in the circular economy (CE). This can be achieved through consistent modelling of the overarching relationship between resource input- and output streams, without neglecting the associated risks.
The model proposed below consists of five components based on five resilience requirements for supply-chains (SCs). It provides a data-based recommended course of action for managers with a low entry-barrier. It consists of a CSC visualization, safety stock calculation, risk monitoring for each SC node, reporting logic, and a measurement catalogue. The inspiration for this model came from an innovative case study (“Zirkelmesser”) in the metal processing industry, where secondary products and materials are used to produce new products. Here, the problem of maintaining the resource supply arose and led to resilience issues. The mentioned case study serves as an application example for the model application and contributes to making emerging circular supply chains predictable and more controllable, thus increasing their resilience.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency with which 6 different fetal cardiac views taken during a fetal ultrasound examination at 18 to 22 weeks' gestation can be obtained ...satisfactorily for cardiac anomaly screening using either a 2-dimensional (2D) static or 3-dimensional (3D) fast acquisition technique.
A prospective study of 100 low-risk women undergoing an anatomic survey was performed. Standard static 2D and 3D fast acquisition volumes were obtained on all patients. The 2D and 3D images were assigned, in a random order, to be independently graded by 3 reviewers. The degree of inter-reviewer agreement was assessed through the use of the Cohen kappa statistic. The factors contributing to satisfactory imaging were evaluated by random effects logistic regression.
A significant proportion of both 2D and 3D images were judged unsatisfactory for screening purposes. However, 2D images were significantly more likely, for all cardiac views, to be judged satisfactory (P < .05). The odds ratios for the 2D technique's being more likely than the 3D technique to provide images satisfactory for screening were 2.6 for the 4-chamber view, 2.4 for the right ventricular outflow tract, 4 for the left ventricular outflow tract, 3.2 for the 3-vessel view, 8.6 for the aortic arch, and 2.2 for the ductal arch.
In this prospective study, static 2D imaging was significantly more likely than fast acquisition 2D imaging to yield cardiac views of high enough quality to satisfactorily screen for anomalies.
Objective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency with which 6 different fetal cardiac views taken during a fetal ultrasound examination at 18 to 22 weeks' gestation can be obtained ...satisfactorily for cardiac anomaly screening using either a 2‐dimensional (2D) static or 3‐dimensional (3D) fast acquisition technique. Methods. A prospective study of 100 low‐risk women undergoing an anatomic survey was performed. Standard static 2D and 3D fast acquisition volumes were obtained on all patients. The 2D and 3D images were assigned, in a random order, to be independently graded by 3 reviewers. The degree of inter‐reviewer agreement was assessed through the use of the Cohen κ statistic. The factors contributing to satisfactory imaging were evaluated by random effects logistic regression. Results. A significant proportion of both 2D and 3D images were judged unsatisfactory for screening purposes. However, 2D images were significantly more likely, for all cardiac views, to be judged satisfactory (P < .05). The odds ratios for the 2D technique's being more likely than the 3D technique to provide images satisfactory for screening were 2.6 for the 4‐chamber view, 2.4 for the right ventricular outflow tract, 4 for the left ventricular outflow tract, 3.2 for the 3‐vessel view, 8.6 for the aortic arch, and 2.2 for the ductal arch. Conclusions. In this prospective study, static 2D imaging was significantly more likely than fast acquisition 2D imaging to yield cardiac views of high enough quality to satisfactorily screen for anomalies.
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