Search results for: production improvement

Authors: V. Reyes, P. Ferreira

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In response to high levels of competitiveness, industrial systems have evolved to improve productivity. As a consequence, a rapid increase in volume production and simultaneously, a customization process require lower costs, more variety, and accurate quality of products. Reducing time-cycle production, enabling customizability, and ensure continuous quality improvement are key features in advance intelligent industry. In this scenario, customers and producers will be able to participate in the ongoing production life cycle through real-time interaction. To achieve this vision, transparency, predictability, and adaptability are key features that provide the industrial systems the capability to adapt to customer demands modifying the manufacturing process through an autonomous response and acting preventively to avoid errors. The industrial system incorporates a diversified number of components that in advanced industry are expected to be decentralized, end to end communicating, and with the capability to make own decisions through feedback. The evolving process towards advanced intelligent industry defines a set of stages to empower components of intelligence and enhancing efficiency to achieve the decision-making stage. The integrated system follows an industrial cyber-physical system (CPS) architecture whose real-time integration, based on a set of enabler technologies, links the physical and virtual world generating the digital twin (DT). This instance allows incorporating sensor data from real to virtual world and the required transparency for real-time monitoring and control, contributing to address important features of the advanced intelligent industry and simultaneously improve sustainability. Assuming the industrial CPS as the core technology toward the latest advanced intelligent industry stage, this paper reviews and highlights the correlation and contributions of the enabler technologies for the operationalization of each stage in the path toward advanced intelligent industry. From this research, a real-time integration architecture for a cyber-physical system with applications to collaborative robotics is proposed. The required functionalities and issues to endow the industrial system of adaptability are identified.

Keywords: cyber-physical systems, digital twin, sensor data, system integration, virtual model

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Authors: Babagana Mohammed, Abdulmuminu Mustapha Ali, Solomon Ibrahim, Buba Ahmad Umdagas

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This research investigated the possibility of replacing coarse and fine aggregates with waste road-asphalt (RWA), when sieved appropriately, in concrete production. Interlock pavement block is used widely in many parts of the world as modern day solution to outdoor flooring applications. The weight-percentage replacements of both coarse and fine aggregates with RWA at 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% and 90% respectively using a concrete mix ratio of 1:2:4 and water-to-cement ratio of 0.45 were carried out. The interlock block samples produced were then cured for 28days. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and the water absorption properties of the samples were then tested. Comparison of the results of the RWA-containing samples to those of the respective control samples shows significant benefits of using RWA in interlock block production. UCS results of RWA-containing samples compared well with those of the control samples and the RWA content also influenced the lowering of the water absorption of the samples. Overall, the research shows that it is possible to replace both coarse and fine aggregates with RWA materials when sieved appropriately, hence indicating that RWA could be recycled beneficially.

Keywords: aggregate, block-production, pavement, road-asphalt, use, waste

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Authors: Mina Zaky Sarofim Zaky

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Experiential marketing is a form of marketing that offers a unique integration of experiential and entertainment elements into a product or service. Experiential marketing is defined as an unforgettable experience that penetrates the customer's mind. Customer satisfaction is also defined as the emotional response to the experience provided with the purchased product or service. Experiential marketing activities can, therefore, affect the level of customer satisfaction and loyalty. In this context, the study aims to determine the relationship between experiential marketing, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in cosmetic products in Konya. The least squares method (PLS) was used to analyze the research data. Existing research has shown that experiential marketing is a significant predictor of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and that experiential marketing has a positive impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Keywords: internet, marketing, tourism, tourism management corporate responsibility, employee organizational performance, internal marketing, internal customer experiential marketing, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, social sciences

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Authors: Ruolan Zhou

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Trisomy of human chromosome 21 is the primary cause of Down Syndrome (DS), and this genetic disease has significantly burdened families and countries, causing great controversy. To address this problem, the research takes an approach in exploring the relationship between genetic abnormality and this disease's symptoms, adopting several techniques, including data analysis and enrichment analysis. It also explores open-source websites, such as NCBI, DAVID, SOURCE, STRING, as well as UCSC, to complement its result. This research has analyzed the variety of genes on human chromosome 21 with simple coding, and by using analysis, it has specified the protein-coding genes, their function, and their location. By using enrichment analysis, this paper has found the abundance of keratin production-related coding-proteins on human chromosome 21. By adopting past researches, this research has attempted to disclose the relationship between trisomy of human chromosome 21 and keratin production abnormality, which might be the reason for common diseases in patients with Down Syndrome. At last, by addressing the advantage and insufficiency of this research, the discussion has provided specific directions for future research.

Keywords: Down Syndrome, protein production, genome, enrichment analysis

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Authors: Sara Rankohi, Lloyd Waugh

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Construction sites are information saturated. Digitalization is hitting construction sites to meet the incredible demand of knowledge sharing and information documentations. From flying drones, 3D Lasers scanners, pocket mobile applications, to augmented reality glasses and smart helmet, visualization technologies help real-time information imposed straight onto construction professional’s field of vision. Although these technologies are very applicable and can have the direct impact on project cost and productivity, experience shows that only a minority of construction professionals quickly adapt themselves to benefit from them in practice. The majority of construction managers still tend to apply traditional construction management methods. This paper investigates a) current applications of visualization technologies in construction projects management, b) the direct effect of these technologies on productivity improvement and cost saving of a multi-residential building project via a case study on Mac Taggart Senior Care project located in Edmonton, Alberta. The research shows the imaged based technologies have a direct impact on improving project productivity and cost savings.

Keywords: image-based technologies, project management, cost, productivity improvement

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Authors: Retno Supriyanti, Teguh Budiono, Yogi Ramadhani, Haris B. Widodo, Arwita Mulyawati

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Cervical cancer is the leading cause of mortality in cancer-related diseases. In this diagnosis doctors usually perform several tests to determine the presence of cervical cancer in a patient. However, these checks require support equipment to get the results in more detail. One is by using ultrasonography. However, for the developing countries most of the existing ultrasonography has a low resolution. The goal of this research is to obtain abnormalities on low-resolution ultrasound images especially for cervical cancer case. In this paper, we emphasize our work to use Image Enhancement for pre-processing image quality improvement. The result shows that pre-processing stage is promising to support further analysis.

Keywords: cervical cancer, mortality, low-resolution, image enhancement.

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Authors: Hiba Akrout, Khaoula Hidouri, Béchir Chaouachi, Romdhane Ben Slama

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A simple solar distiller has been constructed in order to desalt water via the solar distillation process. An experimental study has been conducted in June. The aim of this work is to study the effect of the distance between the cold condensing surface and the hot steam generation surface in order to optimize the geometric characteristics of a simple solar still. To do this, we have developed a mathematical model based on thermal and mass equations system. Subsequently, the equations system resolution has been made through a program developed on MATLAB software, which allowed us to evaluate the production of this system as a function of the distance separating the two surfaces. In addition, this model allowed us to determine the evolution of the humid air temperature inside the solar still as well as the humidity ratio profile all over the day. Simulations results show that the solar distiller production, as well as the humid air temperature, are proportional to the global solar radiation. It was also found that the air humidity ratio inside the solar still has a similar evolution of that of solar radiation. Moreover, the solar distiller average height augmentation, for constant water depth, induces the diminution of the production. However, increasing the water depth for a fixed average height of solar distiller reduces the production.

Keywords: distillation, solar energy, heat transfer, mass transfer, average height

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Authors: Yung-Chen Hsu, Juan Hernandez, W. T. Evert Ting, Dawit Gizachew

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Mycotoxin contamination of foods and feeds poses a high risk for human and animal health. Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a ubiquitous mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi. It exhibits nephrotoxicity, teratogenicity, mutagenicity, and immunotoxicity in both humans and animals. OTA has been detected in foods such as cereals, coffee, grapes, cocoa, wine, and spices. Consumption of food contaminated with OTA has been linked to kidney and liver diseases. Niger (Guizotia abyssinica) is an oil seed that is used for extracting cooking oil in countries like Ethiopia and India. The seed cake (a byproduct from oil extraction) is also used as dairy cattle feed in Ethiopia. It is also exported to North America and Europe to be used mainly as bird feed. To our knowledge, there have been no studies on the growth and production of OTA on niger seeds. In this study, the environment conditions that support OTA production including effects of water activity, temperature, and incubation time on growth and OTA production by A. fresenii and A. sulphureus were investigated.

Keywords: mycotoxin, ochratoxin A, aspergillus, niger seed

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Authors: Mehrnoosh Askarizadeh

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People, process and IT are the most important assets of any organization. Optimal utilization of these resources has been the question of research in business for many decades. The business world have responded by inventing various methodologies that can be used for addressing problems of quality improvement, efficiency of processes, continuous improvement, reduction of waste, automation, strategy alignments etc. Some of these methodologies can be commonly called as Business Process Quality Management methodologies (BPQM). In essence, the first references to the process management can be traced back to Frederick Taylor and scientific management. Time and motion study was addressed to improvement of manufacturing process efficiency. The ideas of scientific management were in use for quite a long period until more advanced quality management techniques were developed in Japan and USA. One of the first prominent methods had been Total Quality Management (TQM) which evolved during 1980’s. About the same time, Six Sigma (SS) originated at Motorola as a separate method. SS spread and evolved; and later joined with ideas of Lean manufacturing to form Lean Six Sigma. In 1990’s due to emerging IT technologies, beginning of globalization, and strengthening of competition, companies recognized the need for better process and quality management. Business Process Management (BPM) emerged as a novel methodology that has taken all this into account and helped to align IT technologies with business processes and quality management. In this article we will study various aspects of above mentioned methods and identified their relations.

Keywords: e-process, quality, TQM, BPM, lean, six sigma, CPI, information technology, management

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Authors: Nana Segu Acquaah-Harrison, James Osei Mensah, Richard Aidoo, David Amponsah, Amy Buah, Gilbert Aboagye

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The study aimed at assessing the feasibility of commercial meat rabbit production in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. Structured and unstructured questionnaires were utilized in obtaining information from two hundred meat consumers and 15 meat rabbit farmers. Data were analyzed using Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR)/Profitability Index (PI) technique, percentages and chi-square contingency test. The study found that the current demand for rabbit meat is low (36%). The desirable nutritional attributes of rabbit meat and other socio economic factors of meat consumers make the potential demand for rabbit meat high (69%). It was estimated that GH¢5,292 (approximately $ 2672) was needed as a start-up capital for a 40-doe unit meat rabbit farm in Kumasi Metropolis. The cost of breeding animals, housing and equipment formed 12.47%, 53.97% and 24.87% respectively of the initial estimated capital. A Net Present Value of GH¢ 5,910.75 (approximately $ 2984) was obtained at the end of the fifth year, with an internal rate return and profitability index of 70% and 1.12 respectively. The major constraints identified in meat rabbit production were low price of rabbit meat, shortage of fodder, pest and diseases, high cost of capital, high cost of operating materials and veterinary care. Based on the analysis, it was concluded that meat rabbit production is feasible in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. The study recommends embarking on mass advertisement; farmer association and adapting to new technologies in the production process will help to enhance productivity.

Keywords: feasibility, commercial meat rabbit, production, Kumasi, Ghana

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Authors: Mamadou Dione, Eric Matzner-lober, Philippe Alexandre

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The Energy Transition Act defined by the French State has precise implications on Renewable Energies, in particular on its remuneration mechanism. Until then, a purchase obligation contract permitted the sale of wind-generated electricity at a fixed rate. Tomorrow, it will be necessary to sell this electricity on the Market (at variable rates) before obtaining additional compensation intended to reduce the risk. This sale on the market requires to announce in advance (about 48 hours before) the production that will be delivered on the network, so to be able to predict (in the short term) this production. The fundamental problem remains the variability of the Wind accentuated by the geographical situation. The objective of the project is to provide, every day, short-term forecasts (48-hour horizon) of wind production using weather data. The predictions of the GFS model and those of the ECMWF model are used as explanatory variables. The variable to be predicted is the production of a wind farm. We do two approaches: a direct approach that predicts wind generation directly from weather data, and an integrated approach that estimâtes wind from weather data and converts it into wind power by power curves. We used machine learning techniques to predict this production. The models tested are random forests, CART + Bagging, CART + Boosting, SVM (Support Vector Machine). The application is made on a wind farm of 22MW (11 wind turbines) of the Compagnie du Vent (that became Engie Green France). Our results are very conclusive compared to the literature.

Keywords: forecast aggregation, machine learning, spatio-temporal dynamics modeling, wind power forcast

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Authors: Ahn Yun-Ho, Hyery Kang, Koh Dong-Yeun, Huen Lee

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In this study, we demonstrate the production of natural gas hydrates from permeable marine sediments with simultaneous mechanisms for methane recovery and methane-air or methane-air/carbon dioxide replacement. The simultaneous melting happens until the chemical potentials become equal in both phases as natural gas hydrate depletion continues and self-regulated methane-air replacement occurs over an arbitrary point. We observed certain point between dissociation and replacement mechanisms in the natural gas hydrate reservoir, and we call this boundary as critical methane concentration. By the way, when carbon dioxide was added, the process of chemical exchange of methane by air/carbon dioxide was observed in the natural gas hydrate. The suggested process will operate well for most global natural gas hydrate reservoirs, regardless of the operating conditions or geometrical constraints.

Keywords: air injection, carbon dioxide sequestration, hydrate production, natural gas hydrate

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Authors: Jian Li

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Carotenoids area group of metabolites in mostly photosynthetic organisms such as plants and microalgae and have wide applications in cosmetics, food, feed, and health industries. Although phototrophic cultivation of microalgae has been developed to produce some carotenoids for decades, most carotenoids are currently synthesized chemically at industrial scales because of affordable production costs. Chemical carotenoids are regarded not as safe for human beings as natural carotenoids and are restricted only for animal feed markets, and the industries call for inexpensive sources of natural products. Microalgae grow much quicker in mixotrophy than in phototrophy, and thus mixotrophic cultivation processes have great potential to reduce the production cost of carotenoids from microalgae. However, much more expensive photobioreactor systems and more strictly controlled sterile processes are needed to avoid contamination by heterotrophic organisms during mixotrophic cultivation processes, which makes mixotrophy, in fact, much more expensive than phototrophic cultivation. Recently technical breakthroughs have been reported to overcome contamination problems in photobioreactor systems traditionally used for phototrophic cultivation, and a much lower process cost of mixotrophic cultivation than that of phototrophic cultivation might be achieved for carotenoid production. These reviews intend to summarize recent technical advancements in mixotrophic cultivation of microalgae, to evaluate the economic viability of carotenoid production from mixotrophically cultivated microalgae, and to prospect mixotrophy as a strategy to produce a variety of carotenoids for industrial applications.

Keywords: microalgae, carotenoid, mixotrophy, biotechnology

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Authors: Maria Antonieta Erna Castillo Holly

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During the last decade, data analysis, strategic decision making, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in Latin American agriculture have been a challenge. In some countries, the availability, quality, and reliability of historical data, in addition to the current data recording methodology in the field, makes it difficult to use information systems, complete data analysis, and their support for making the right strategic decisions. This is something essential in Agriculture 4.0. where the increase in the global demand for fresh agricultural products of tropical origin, during all the seasons of the year requires a change in the production model and greater agility in the responses to the consumer market demands of quality, quantity, traceability, and sustainability –that means extensive data-. Having quality information available and updated in real-time on what, how much, how, when, where, at what cost, and the compliance with production quality standards represents the greatest challenge for sustainable and profitable agriculture in the region. The objective of this work is to present a methodological proposal for the collection of georeferenced data from the protected agriculture sector, specifically in production units (UP) with tall structures (Greenhouses), initially for Venezuela, taking the state of Mérida as the geographical framework, and horticultural products as target crops. The document presents some background information and explains the methodology and tools used in the 3 phases of the work: diagnosis, data collection, and analysis. As a result, an evaluation of the process is carried out, relevant data and dashboards are displayed, and the first satellite maps integrated with layers of information in a geographic information system are presented. Finally, some improvement proposals and tentatively recommended applications are added to the process, understanding that their objective is to provide better qualified and traceable georeferenced data for subsequent analysis of the information and more agile and accurate strategic decision making. One of the main points of this study is the lack of quality data treatment in the Latin America area and especially in the Caribbean basin, being one of the most important points how to manage the lack of complete official data. The methodology has been tested with horticultural products, but it can be extended to other tropical crops.

Keywords: greenhouses, protected agriculture, data analysis, geographic information systems, Venezuela

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Authors: M. N. Ervina Efzan, H. J. Kong, C. K. Kok

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The present work deals with a study on the influences of hybrid modifier on LM 6 added through ladle metallurgy. In this study, LM 6 served as the reference alloy while Na2CO3 and Ti powders were used as the hybrid modifier. The effects of hybrid modifier on the micro structural enhancement of LM 6 were investigated using optical microscope (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The results showed fragmented Si-rich needles and strength enhanced petal/ globular-like structures without obvious formation of soft primary α-Al and β-Fe-rich inter metallic compound (IMC) after the hybrid modification. Hardness test was conducted to examine the mechanical improvement of hybrid modified LM 6. 10% of hardness improvement was recorded in the hybrid modified LM 6 through ladle metallurgy.

Keywords: Al-Si, hybrid modifier, ladle metallurgy, hardness

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Authors: Laurence G. Almoguera, Vitaliana U. Malamug, Armando N. Espino, Marvin M. Cinense

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The mangrove pens were modified to produce mud crab (Scylla serrata) and milkfish (Chanos chanos) in a polyculture system. The modification of mangrove pens was done by adding excavations inside the pen. The water quality parameters (dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, and temperature) were monitored, the recovery and the production rate in each pen were evaluated. The experiment was conducted for a rearing period of 143 days in nine mangrove pens, each having an area of 32 m² with an average net enclosure height of 3 m from the soil surface. The three different pens constructed (existing design - with canal only, with 43% excavation by area, and 54% excavation by area) were designated as T₁, T₂, and T₃, respectively. All experimental units were stocked with 31 pieces of crablets (with 33.3 g average weight) and additional 130 pieces of milkfish fingerlings (with 0.11 g average weight) to the modified mangrove pens. The water quality parameters recorded in the pens were favorable for the growth and recovery of the mud crab and milkfish, except for dissolved oxygen (DO). It was found to be the reason for the total mortality of the stocked milkfish. For mud crab, the highest mean recovery was recorded in T₂ (34.41%), followed by T₃ (26.91%) and the lowest in T1 (21.50%). The production rate followed the same trend as the recovery, where T₂ (74.49 g/m²) obtained the highest, followed by T₃ (55 g/m2) and the lowest was in T₁ (34.87 g/m²). The statistical analysis revealed that the variations of the mud crab recovery were not significant, while in terms of production rate, modified mangrove pens were found to be more effective than the existing design. Due to the total mortality of the cultured milkfish, the current set-up of modified mangrove pens was found to be not suitable for the polyculture system of milkfish and mud crab production.

Keywords: aquasilviculture, milkfish, modified mangrove pen, mud crab, polyculture, production rate

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Authors: Ogunwole Cecilia Oluwakemi, Timothy Ayomitunde Aderemi

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Provision of sufficient food and elimination of abject poverty have usually been the conventional benefits of agriculture in any society. Meanwhile, despite the fact that Nigeria is an agrarian society, food insecurity and poverty have become the issues of concern among both scholars and policymakers in the recent times. Against this backdrop, this study examined the nexus among agriculture, food security, and poverty reduction in Nigeria from 1990 to 2019 within the framework of the Cointegration and Granger Causality approach. Data was collected from the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin and the World Development Indicators, respectively. The following are the major results that emanated from the study. A long run equilibrium relationship exists among agricultural value added, food production index, and GDP per capita in Nigeria. Similarly, there is a unidirectional causality which flows from food production index to poverty reduction in Nigeria. In the same vein, one way causality flows from poverty reduction to agricultural value added in Nigeria. Consequently, this study makes the following recommendation for the policymakers in Nigeria, and other African countries by extension, that agricultural value added and food production are the important variables that cannot be undermined when poverty reduction occupies the central focus of the policymakers. Therefore, any time these policymakers want to reduce poverty, policies that drive agricultural value added and food production should be embarked upon. Therefore, this study will contribute to the literature by establishing the type of linkage that exists between agriculture, food security, and poverty reduction in Nigeria.

Keywords: agriculture, value added, food production, GDP per capita, Nigeria

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Authors: Charles Iledun Oyewole

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The daunting challenge that the ‘man with the hoe’ is going to face in the coming decades will be complex and interwoven. With global population already above 7 billion people, it has been estimated that food (crop) production must more than double by 2050 to meet up with the world’s food requirements. Nigeria population is also expected to reach over 240 million people by 2050, at the current annual population growth of 2.61 per cent. The country’s farming population is estimated at over 65 per cent, but the country still depends on food importation to complement production. The small scale farmer, who depends on simple hand tools: hoes and cutlasses, remains the centre of agricultural production, accounting for 90 per cent of the total agricultural output and 80 per cent of the market flow. While the hoe may have been a tool for sustainable development at a time in human history, this role has been smothered by population growth, which has brought too many mouths to be fed (over 170 million), as well as many industries to fuel with raw materials. It may then be argued that the hoe is unfortunately not a tool for the coming challenges and that agricultural mechanization should be the focus. However, agriculture as an enterprise is a ‘complete wheel’ which does not work when broken, particularly, in respect to mechanization. Generally, mechanization will prompt increase production, where land is readily available; increase production, will require post-harvest handling mechanisms, crop processing and subsequent storage. An important aspect of this is readily available and favourable markets for such produce; fuel by good agricultural policies. A break in this wheel will lead to the process of mechanization crashing back to subsistence production, and probably reversal to the hoe. The focus of any agricultural policy should be to chart a course for sustainable mechanization that is environmentally friendly, that may ameliorate Nigeria’s food and raw material gaps. This is the focal point of this article.

Keywords: Crop production, Farmer, Hoes, Mechanization, Policy framework, Population, Growth, Rural areas

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Authors: Penina Orenstein

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In today’s world, particularly with COVID-19 a constant worldwide threat, organizations need greater visibility over their supply chains more than ever before, in order to find areas for improvement and greater efficiency, reduce the chances of disruption and stay competitive. The concept of supply chain mapping is one where every process and route is mapped in detail between each vendor and supplier. The simplest method of mapping involves sourcing publicly available data including news and financial information concerning relationships between suppliers. An additional layer of information would be disclosed by large, direct suppliers about their production and logistics sites. While this method has the advantage of not requiring any input from suppliers, it also doesn’t allow for much transparency beyond the first supplier tier and may generate irrelevant data—noise—that must be filtered out to find the actionable data. The primary goal of this research is to build data maps of supply chains by focusing on a layered approach. Using these maps, the secondary goal is to address the question as to whether the supply chain is re-engineered to make improvements, for example, to lower the carbon footprint. Using a drill-down approach, the end result is a comprehensive map detailing the linkages between tier-one, tier-two, and tier-three suppliers super-imposed on a geographical map. The driving force behind this idea is to be able to trace individual parts to the exact site where they’re manufactured. In this way, companies can ensure sustainability practices from the production of raw materials through the finished goods. The approach allows companies to identify and anticipate vulnerabilities in their supply chain. It unlocks predictive analytics capabilities and enables them to act proactively. The research is particularly compelling because it unites network science theory with empirical data and presents the results in a visual, intuitive manner.

Keywords: data mining, supply chain, empirical research, data mapping

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Authors: Dilip Nath

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A study has been conducted on the available aquatic invertebrates in the river Dhansiri at Dimapur site. The study confirmed that the river body composed of aquatic macroinvertebrate community under two phyla viz., Arthropods and Molluscs. Total 10 species have been identified from there as the source of alternative protein food for the common people. Not only the protein source, they are also the component of aquatic food chain and indicators of aquatic ecosystem. Proper management and strategies to promote the edible invertebrates can be considered as the alternative protein and alternative income source for the common people for sustainable livelihood improvement.

Keywords: Dhansiri, Dimapur, invertebrates, livelihood improvement, protein

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Authors: Natalya G. Filimonova, Mariya G. Ozerova, Irina N. Ermakova

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The long-term strategy of the economic development of Russia up to 2030 is based on the concept of sustainable growth. The determining factor of such development is complex changes in the economic system which may be achieved by making progressive changes in its structure. The structural changes determine the character and the direction of economic development, as well as they include all elements of this system without exception, and their regulated character ensures the most rapid aim achievement. This article has discussed the industrial structure of the agriculture in Russia. With the use of the system of indexes, the article has determined the directions, intensity, and speed of structural shifts. The influence of structural changes on agricultural production development has been found out. It is noticed that the changes in the industrial structure are synchronized with the changes in the organisation and economic structure. Efficiency assessment of structural changes allowed to trace the efficiency of structural changes and elaborate the main directions for agricultural policy improvement.

Keywords: Russian agricultural sectors, sectoral structure, organizational and economic structure, structural changes

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Authors: E. Kuley, M. Durmuş, E. Balikci, G. Ozyurt, Y. Uçar, F. Kuley, F. Ozogul, Y. Ozogul

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Ammonia and biogenic amine production of fish spoilage bacteria in sardine infusion decarboxylase broth and antimicrobial effect of olive by products (olive leaf extract:OL, olive cake: OC and black water:BW) was monitored using HPLC method. Fish spoilage bacteria produced all biogenic amine tested, mainly histamine and serotonin. Ammonia was accumulated more than 13.60 mg/L. Histamine production was in range 37.50 mg/L by Ser. liquefaciens and 86.71 mg/L by Ent. cloacae. The highest putrescine and cadaverine production was observed by Ent. cloacae (17.80 vs. 17.69 mg/L). The presence of OL, OC and BW in the broth significantly affected biogenic amine accumulation by bacteria. The antibacterial effect of olive by products depended on bacterial strains. OL and OC resulted in significant inhibition effect on HIS accumulation by bacteria apart from Ser. liquefaciens and Prot. mirabilis. The study result revealed that usefulness of OL and OC to prevent the accumulation of this amine which may affect human health.

Keywords: Antimicrobials, biogenic amine, fish spoilage bacteria, olive-by products

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Authors: Md. Abid Khan

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Arc Flash safety assessment is a critical component for continuous improvement of any company’s safe electrical arc flash standard (SEAFS). The standard requires periodic internal or external audits to verify compliance and assess implementation. Assessments will identify strengths and opportunities for improvement, and serve as the basis for corrective actions. An arc flash safety assessment is comprised of a review of any existing safe electrical arc flash standard documentation (e.g., such as work procedures or other supporting documents), onsite interviews, and observations (e.g., facility inspections and work task observations). Substation-based arc flash assessment is very popular as it is more specific for each substation. The enhanced department-based arc flash safety assessment will shift focus to more effective hazard control measures and emphasis will be placed on highlighting inherently unsafe equipment to support resolution actions by facility management, rather than relying on lessor effective control methods in the hierarchy of controls currently deployed at a number of facilities.

Keywords: assessment, remote racking device (RRD), key performance indicator (KPI), personal protective equipment (PPE), operation & maintenance (O&M), safety management system (SMS), safe electrical arc flash standard (SEAFS)

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Authors: Bassam Band, Simon Freeman, Rohan Munir, Hisham Band

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Objective: To determine efficacy of facial physiotherapy provided for patients with facial nerve palsy. Design: Retrospective study Subjects: 54 patients diagnosed with Facial nerve palsy were included in the study after they met the selection criteria including unilateral facial paralysis and start of therapy twelve months after the onset of facial nerve palsy. Interventions: Patients received the treatment offered at a facial physiotherapy clinic consisting of: Trophic electrical stimulation, surface electromyography with biofeedback, neuromuscular re-education and myofascial release. Main measures: The Sunnybrook facial grading scale was used to evaluate the severity of facial paralysis. Results: This study demonstrated the positive impact of physiotherapy for patient with facial nerve palsy with improvement of 24.2% on the Sunnybrook facial grading score from a mean baseline of 34.2% to 58.2%. The greatest improvement looking at different causes was seen in patient who had reconstructive surgery post Acoustic Neuroma at 31.3%. Conclusion: The therapy shows significant improvement for patients with facial nerve palsy even when started 12 months post onset of paralysis across different causes. This highlights the benefit of this non-invasive technique in managing facial nerve paralysis and possibly preventing the need for surgery.

Keywords: facial nerve palsy, treatment, physiotherapy, bells palsy, acoustic neuroma, ramsey-hunt syndrome

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Authors: Kaleb Shiferaw, Berhanu Geberemedhin

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Ethiopian farmers have a long tradition of beekeeping and the country has huge potential for honey production. However traditional mode of production still dominates the sub sector which negatively affect the total production and productivity. A number of studies have been conducted to better understand the working honey production, however, none of them systematically investigate the extent of technical efficiency of the sub-sector. This paper uses Stochastic Frontier production model to quantifying the extent of technical efficiency and identify exogenous determinant of inefficiency. The result showed that consistent with other studies traditional practice dominate small scale honey production in Ethiopia. The finding also revealed that use of purchased inputs such as bee forage and other supplement is very limited among honey producers indicating that natural bee forage is the primary source of bee forage. The immediate consequence of all these is low production and productivity. The number of hives the household owns, whether the household used improved apiculture technologies, availability of natural forest which is the primary sources of nectar for bees and amount of land owned by the households were found to have a significant influence on the amount of honey produced by beekeeper. Our result further showed that the mean technical efficiency of honey producers is 0.79 implying that, on average honey producer produce 80 percent of the maximum output. The implication is that 20 percent of the potential output is lost due to technical inefficiency. Number of hives owned by a honey produces, distance to district town-a proxy to market access, household wealth, and whether the household head has a leadership role in the PA affect the technical efficiency of honey producers. The finding suggest that policies that aim to expand the use of improved hives is expected to increase the honey production at household level. The result also suggest that investment on rural infrastructure would be instrumental in improving technical efficiency of honey producer.

Keywords: small-scale honey producer, Ethiopia, technical efficiency in apiculture, stochastic frontier analysis

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Authors: Amir Ali, Laura Yael Mendoza

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The application of nanomaterials is becoming the most effective strategy of elicitation to produce a desirable level of plant biomass with complex medicinal compounds. This study was designed to check the influence of phytosynthesized iron nanoparticles (FeNPs) on physical growth characteristics, antioxidant status, and production of steviol glycosides of in vitro grown Stevia rebaudiana. Effect of different concentrations of iron nanoparticles replacement of iron sulfate in MS medium (stock solution) on invitro stevia plant growth following positive control (MS basal medium), negative control (iron sulfate devoid medium), iron sulfate devoid MS medium and supplemented with FeNPs at different concentrations (5.6 mg/L, 11.2 mg/L, 16.8 mg/L, 22.4 mg/L) was evaluated. The iron deficiency leads to a drastic reduction in plant growth. In contrast, applying FeNPs leads to improvement in plant height, leave diameter, improved leave morphology, etc., in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, the stress caused by FeNPs at 16.8 mg/L in cultures produced higher levels of total phenolic content (3.7 ± 0.042 mg/g dry weight: DW) and total flavonoid content (1.9 ± 0.022 mg/g DW and antioxidant activity (78 ± 4.6%). In addition, plants grown in the presence of FeNPs at 22.4 mg/L resulted in higher enzymatic antioxidant activities (SOD = 3.5 ± 0.042 U/mg; POD = 2.6 ± 0.026 U/mg; CAT = 2.8 ± 0.034 U/mg and APx = 3.6 ± 0.043 U/ mg), respectively. Furthermore, exposure to a higher dose of FeNPs (22.4 mg/L) exhibited the maximum amount of stevioside (stevioside: 4.6 ± 0.058 mg/g (DW) and rebaudioside A: 4.9 ± 0.068 mg/g DW) as compared to other doses. The current investigation confirms the effectiveness of FeNPs in growth media. It offers a suitable prospect for commercially desirable production of S. rebaudiana biomass with higher sweet glycosides profiles in vitro.

Keywords: cell culture, stevia, iron nanoparticles, antioxidants

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Authors: Oluwatoyin Joseph Gbadeyan, Sarp Adali, Bright Glen, Bruce Sithole

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Sodium lauryl surfactant concentration optimization, for nanoparticle production, provided the platform for advanced research studies. Different concentrations (0.05 %, 0.1 %, and 0.2 %) of sodium lauryl surfactant was added to snail shells powder during milling processes for producing CaCO3 at smaller particle size. Epoxy nanocomposites prepared at filler content 2 wt.% synthesized with different volumes of sodium lauryl surfactant were fabricated using a conventional resin casting method. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, stiffness, and hardness of prepared nanocomposites was investigated to determine the effect of sodium lauryl surfactant concentration on nanocomposite properties. It was observed that the loading of the synthesized nano-calcium carbonate improved the mechanical properties of neat epoxy at lower concentrations of sodium lauryl surfactant 0.05 %. Meaningfully, loading of achatina fulica snail shell nanoparticles manufactures, with small concentrations of sodium lauryl surfactant 0.05 %, increased the neat epoxy tensile strength by 26%, stiffness by 55%, and hardness by 38%. Homogeneous dispersion facilitated, by the addition of sodium lauryl surfactant during milling processes, improved mechanical properties. Research evidence suggests that nano-CaCO3, synthesized from achatina fulica snail shell, possesses suitable reinforcement properties that can be used for nanocomposite fabrication. The evidence showed that adding small concentrations of sodium lauryl surfactant 0.05 %, improved dispersion of nanoparticles in polymetrix material that provided mechanical properties improvement.

Keywords: sodium lauryl surfactant, mechanical properties , achatina fulica snail shel, calcium carbonate nanopowder

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Authors: Yenny Paola Morales Cortés, Fabián Rico Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Serrato Bermúdez, Carlos Arturo Martínez Riascos

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Numerous benefits of galactooligosaccharides (GOS) as prebiotics have motivated the study of enzymatic processes for their production. These processes have special complexities due to several factors that make difficult high productivity, such as enzyme type, reaction medium pH, substrate concentrations and presence of inhibitors, among others. In the present work the production of galactooligosaccharides (with different degrees of polymerization: two, three and four) from lactose was studied. The study considers the formulation of a mathematical model that predicts the production of GOS from lactose using the enzyme β-galactosidase. The effect of pH in the reaction was studied. For that, phosphate buffer was used and with this was evaluated three pH values (6.0.6.5 and 7.0). Thus it was observed that at pH 6.0 the enzymatic activity insignificant. On the other hand, at pH 7.0 the enzymatic activity was approximately 27 times greater than at 6.5. The last result differs from previously reported results. Therefore, pH 7.0 was chosen as working pH. Additionally, the enzyme concentration was analyzed, which allowed observing that the effect of the concentration depends on the pH and the concentration was set for the following studies in 0.272 mM. Afterwards, experiments were performed varying the lactose concentration to evaluate its effects on the process and to generate the data for the adjustment of the mathematical model parameters. The mathematical model considers the reactions of lactose hydrolysis and transgalactosylation for the production of disaccharides and trisaccharides, with their inverse reactions. The production of tetrasaccharides was negligible and, because of that, it was not included in the model. The reaction was monitored by HPLC and for the quantitative analysis of the experimental data the Matlab programming language was used, including solvers for differential equations systems integration (ode15s) and nonlinear problems optimization (fminunc). The results confirm that the transgalactosylation and hydrolysis reactions are reversible, additionally inhibition by glucose and galactose is observed on the production of GOS. In relation to the production process of galactooligosaccharides, the results show that it is necessary to have high initial concentrations of lactose considering that favors the transgalactosylation reaction, while low concentrations favor hydrolysis reactions.

Keywords: β-galactosidase, galactooligosaccharides, inhibition, lactose, Matlab, modeling

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Authors: Md. Nuru Miah, A. F. M. Akhter Uddin

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Medicinal plants are grown naturally in a tropical environment in Bangladesh and used as drug and therapeutic agents in the health care system. According to Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), there are 722 species of medicinal plants in the country. Of them, 255 plants are utilized by the manufacturers of Ayurvedic and Unani medicines. Medicinal plants like Aloevera, Ashwagonda, shotomul,Tulsi, Vuikumra, Misridana are extensively cultivated in some selected areas as well; where Aloevera scored the highest position in production. In the early 1980, Ayurvedic and Unani companies procured 80 percent of medicinal plants from natural forests, and the rest 20 percent was imported. Now the scenario has changed; 80 percent is imported, and the rest 20 percent is collected from local products(Source: Astudy on sectorbased need assessment of Business promotion council-Herbal products and medicinal plants, page-4). Uttara Development Program Society, a leading Non- Government development organization in Bangladesh, has been implementing a value chain development project under promoting Agricultural commercialization and Enterprises of Pally Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Natore Sadar Upazila from April 2017 to sustainably develop the technological interventions for products and market development. The ultimate goal of the project is to increase income, generate employment and develop this sector as a sustainable business enterprise. Altogether 10,000 farmers (Nursery owners, growers, input supplier, processors, whole sellers, and retailers) are engaged in different activities of the project. The entrepreneurs engaged in medicinal plant cultivation did not know and follow environmental and good agricultural practices. They used to adopt traditional methodology in production and processing. Locally the farmers didn’t have any positive initiative to expand their business as well as developvalue added products. A lot of diversified products could be possible to develop and marketed with the introduction of post-harvest processing technology and market linkage with the local and global buyer. Training is imparted to the nursery owners and herbal growers on production technologies, sowing method, use of organic fertilizers/compost/pesticides, harvesting procedures, and storage facilities. Different types of herbal tea like Rosella, Moringa, Tulshi, and Basak are being produced and packed locally with a good scope of its marketing in different cities of the country. The project has been able to achieve a significant impact in the development of production technologies, but still, there is room for further improvement in processing, packaging, and marketing level. The core intervention of the current project to develop some entrepreneurs for branding, packaging, promotion, and marketing while considering environment friendly practices. The present strategies will strengthen the knowledge and skills of the entrepreneurs for the production and marketing of their products, maintaining worldwide accepted compliance system for easy access to the global market.

Keywords: aloe vera, herbs and shrubs, market, interventions

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Authors: Fama Jallow, Melody Neaves, Professor Mcgregor

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The quest for sustainable energy sources has driven significant interest in hydrogen production as a clean and efficient fuel. Alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) has emerged as a prominent method for generating hydrogen, necessitating the development of advanced electrode designs with improved performance characteristics. Additive manufacturing (AM) by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) method presents an opportunity to tailor electrode microstructures and properties, enhancing their performance. This research proposes investigating the AM of electrodes with different lattice structures to optimize hydrogen production. The primary objective is to employ advanced modeling techniques to identify and select two optimal lattice structures for electrode fabrication. LPBF will be used to fabricate electrodes with precise control over lattice geometry, pore size, and distribution. The performance evaluation will encompass energy consumption and porosity analysis. AWE will assess energy efficiency, aiming to identify lattice structures with enhanced hydrogen production rates and reduced power requirements. Computed tomography (CT) scanning will analyze porosity to determine material integrity and mass transport characteristics. The research aims to bridge the gap between AM and hydrogen production by investigating lattice structures potential in electrode design. By systematically exploring lattice structures and their impact on performance, this study aims to provide valuable insights into the design and fabrication of highly efficient and cost-effective electrodes for AWE. The outcomes hold promise for advancing hydrogen production through AM. The research will have a significant impact on the development of sustainable energy sources. The findings from this study will help to improve the efficiency of AWE, making it a more viable option for hydrogen production. This could lead to a reduction in our reliance on fossil fuels, which would have a positive impact on the environment. The research is also likely to have a commercial impact. The findings could be used to develop new electrode designs that are more efficient and cost-effective. This could lead to the development of new hydrogen production technologies, which could have a significant impact on the energy market.

Keywords: hydrogen production, electrode, lattice structure, Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 68