Search results for: scale of farms

Authors: Mekonen Hailu, Liu Liping

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Cage aquaculture is highly preferred due to higher production per unit volume of water, lower costs of investment, and simpler routine farm management procedures compared to pond systems. In the 1980s, cage culture was first used on a trial basis in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past 20 years, a small number of prosperous freshwater cage culture operations have started to emerge in Egypt, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Brackish and marine cage culture also offers a lot of potential, although this subsector hasn't seen any significant commercial growth to date. In 2019, 263 cage aquaculture installations on the African inland waters on 18 water bodies within eight countries with an estimated 20,114 cages were reported. The lakes Victoria, Kariba, Volta, and River Volta, which together account for 82.9% of all cage aquaculture installations regarded as sub-Saharan Africa's principal cage aquaculture regions (Fig 1). Except few small-scale trials with North African catfish (Clarias gariepinus), almost all farms in Sub-Saharan Africa and Egypt grow Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). More than 247,398 tonnes of fish are produced yearly from ten African countries through cage aquaculture. The expansion of cage culture in Africa provides job opportunities for both skilled and unskilled workers, nutritious food and foreign currency. The escaping non-native strains of tilapia in Lake Volta and the occurrence of a risky Tilapia lake virus (syncytial hepatitis), which has the potential to wipe out entire populations in both wild and farmed Nile tilapia on Lake Victoria, are threats coming with the expansion of cage aquaculture in Africa. In addition, the installations of 138 cage aquacultures were found in contrary to best cage culture practices. To sustain cage aquaculture development and maintain harmony with other water uses, developers must strictly abide by best practices. Hence, the exclusion of protected areas and small lakes (average depth 5 m or less) should be done, as well an Environmental Impact Assessment should be conducted before establishing the cage farms.

Keywords: Africa, cage aquaculture, production, threats

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Authors: Hakimullah Hakim, Chiharu Toyofuku, Mari Ota, Mayuko Suzuki, Miyuki Komura, Masashi Yamada, Md. Shahin Alam, Natthanan Sangsriratanakul, Dany Shoham, Kazuaki Takehara

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Disinfectants and their application are essential part of infection control strategies and enhancement of biosecurity at farms, worldwide. Alkaline agents are well known for their strong and long term antimicrobial capacities and most frequently are applied at farms for control and prevention of biological hazards. However, inadequate information regarding such materials’ capacities to inactivate pathogens and their improper applications fail farmers to achieve the mentioned goal. Thus, this requires attention to further evaluate their efficacies, under different conditions and in different ways. Here in this study we evaluated bactericidal efficacies of food additive grade of calcium hydroxide (FdCa(OH)2) powder derived from natural calcium carbonates obtained from limestone (Fine Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan), and bioceramic powder (BCX) derived from chicken feces at pH 13 (NMG environmental development Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan), for their efficacies to inactivate bacteria in feces. [Materials & Methods] Chicken feces were inoculated by 100 µl Escherichia coli and Salmonella Infantis in falcon tubes, individually, then FdCa(OH)2 or BCX powders were individually added to make final concentration of 0, 5, 10, 20 and 30% (w/w) in total weight of 0.5g, followed by properly mixing and incubating at room temperature for certain periods of time, in a dark place. Afterwards, 10 ml 1M Tris-HCl (pH 7.2) was added onto them to reduce their pH, in order to stop powders’ activities and to harvest the remained viable bacteria, whereas using normal medium or dW2 to recover bacteria increases the mixture pH, and as a result bacteria would be inactivated soon; therefore, the latter practice brings about incorrect and misleading results. Samples were then inoculated on DHL agar plates in order to calculate colony forming units (CFU)/ml of viable bacteria. [Results and Discussion] FdCa(OH)2 powder at 10% and 5% required 3 hr and 6 hr exposure times, respectively, while BCX powder at 20% concentrations required 6 hr exposure time to kill the mentioned bacteria in feces down to lower than detectable level (≤ 3.6 log10 CFU/ml). This study confirmed capacities of FdCa(OH)2 and BCX powders to inactivate bacteria in feces, and both materials are environment friendly materials, with no risk to human or animal’s health. This finding helps farmers to properly apply alkaline agents in appropriate concentrations and exposure times in their farms, in order to prevent and control infectious diseases outbreaks and to enhance biosecurity. Finally, this finding may help farmers to implement better strategies for infections control in their livestock farms.

Keywords: bacterial inactivation, bioceramic, biosecurity at livestock farms, chicken feces

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Authors: K. Bourouni, M. Chacha, T. Jaber, A. Tchantchane

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In Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) desalination evaporators, the scale deposit outside the tubes presents a barrier to heat transfers reducing the global heat transfer coefficient and causing a decrease in water production; hence a loss of efficiency and an increase in operating and maintenance costs. Scale removal (by acid cleaning) is the main maintenance operation and constitutes the major reason for periodic plant shutdowns. A better understanding of scale deposition mechanisms will lead to an accurate determination of the variation of scale thickness around the tubes and an improved accuracy of the overall heat transfer coefficient calculation. In this paper, a coupled heat transfer-calcium carbonate scale deposition model on a horizontal tube bundle is presented. The developed tool is used to determine precisely the heat transfer area leading to a significant cost reduction for a given water production capacity. Simulations are carried to investigate the influence of different parameters such as water salinity, temperature, etc. on the heat transfer.

Keywords: multi-effect-evaporator, scale deposition, water desalination, heat transfer coefficient

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Authors: Chupicai Manuel

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The global efforts to end child labour have been increasingly challenged by adages of global capitalism, inequalities and poverty affecting the global south. In the face the of rising inequalities whose origin can be explained from historical and political economy analysis between the poor and the rich countries, child labour is also on the rise particularly on the global south. The socio-economic and political context of Zimbabwe has undergone serious transition from colonial times through the post-independence normally referred to as the transition period up to the present day. These transitions have aided companies and entities in the business and agriculture sector to exploit child labour while country provided conditions that enhance child labour due to vulnerability of children and anomic child welfare system that plagued the country. Children from marginalised communities dominated by plantations and farms are affected most. This paper explores the experiences and perceptions of children working in tea estates, plantations and farms, and the adults who formerly worked in these plantations during their childhood to share their experiences and perceptions on child labour in Zimbabwe. Childhood theories that view children as apprentices and a human rights perspectives were employed to interrogate the concept of childhood, child labour and poverty alleviation strategies. Phenomenological research design was adopted to describe the experiences of children working in plantations and interpret the meanings they have on their work and livelihoods. The paper drew form 30 children from two plantations through semi-structured interviews and 15 key informant interviews from civil society organisations, international labour organisation, adults who formerly worked in the plantations and the personnel of the plantations. The findings of the study revealed that children work on the farms as an alternative model for survival against economic challenges while the majority cited that poverty compel them to work and get their fees and food paid for. Civil society organisations were of the view that child rights are violated and the welfare system of the country is malfunctional. The perceptions of the majority of the children interviewed are that the system on the plantations is better and this confirmed the socio-constructivist theory that views children as apprentices. The study recommended child sensitive policies and welfare regime that protects children from exploitation together with policing and legal measures that secure child rights.

Keywords: child labour, child rights, phenomenology, poverty reduction

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Authors: Prasanjit Das, M .M. K. Khan, M. G. Rasul, Jie Wu, I. Youn

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Crystallisation scale occurs when dissolved minerals precipitate from an aqueous solution. To investigate the crystallisation scale growth of normal solubility salt, a lab-scale agitation tank with and without baffles were used as a benchmark using potassium nitrate as the test fluid. Potassium nitrate (KNO3) solution in this test leads to crystallisation scale on heat transfer surfaces. This experimental investigation has focused on the effect of surface crystallisation of potassium nitrate on the low-temperature heat exchange surfaces on the wall of the agitation tank. The impeller agitation rate affects the scaling rate at the low-temperature agitation wall and it shows a decreasing scaling rate with an increasing agitation rate. It was observed that there was a significant variation of heat transfer coefficients and scaling resistance coefficients with different agitation rate as well as with varying impeller size, tank with and without baffles and solution concentration.

Keywords: crystallisation, heat transfer coefficient, scale, resistance

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Authors: Chia-Chun Wu, Ying-Yao Cheng

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The purpose of this study was developing the 'short-form BASIC scale' psychotic tendencies subscale so as to provide a more efficient, economical and effective way to assess the mental health of recruits. 1749 students from Naval Recruit Training Center participated in this study. The multidimensional constructs of psychotic tendencies subscale include four dimensions: schizophrenic tendencies, manic tendencies, depression tendencies, and suicidal ideation. We cut down the 36-item psychotic tendencies subscale to 25 items by using multidimension Rasch techniques. They were applied to assess model-data fit and to provide the validity evidence of the short form BASIC scale of psychotic tendencies subscale. The person separation reliabilities of the measures from four dimensions were .70, .67, .74 and .57, respectively. In addition, there is a notable correlation between the length version and short version of schizophrenic tendencies (scaled .89), manic tendencies (.96), depression tendencies (.97) and suicidal ideation (.97). The results have indicated that the development of the study of short-form scale sufficient to replace the original scale. Therefore, it is suggested that short-form basic scale is used to assess the mental health with participants being more willing to answer questions to ensure the validation of assessments.

Keywords: BASIC scale, military, Rasch analysis, short-form scale

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Authors: Nishantha Giguruwa

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This research investigates the transformative potential of smart container farming, building upon the successful cultivation of Japanese mushrooms at Sakai Farms in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, under the strategic collaboration with the Daikei Group. Inspired by this success, the study focuses on establishing an advanced urban strawberry farming laboratory with the aim of understanding strawberry farming technologies, fostering collaboration, and strategizing marketing approaches for both local and global markets. Positioned within the business framework of Sakai Farms and the Daikei Group, the study underscores the sustainability and forward-looking solutions offered by smart container farming in agriculture. The global significance of strawberries is emphasized, acknowledging their economic and cultural importance. The detailed examination of strawberry farming intricacies informs the technological framework developed for smart containers, implemented at Sakai Farms. Integral to this research is the incorporation of controlled bee pollination, a groundbreaking addition to the smart container farming model. The study anticipates future trends, outlining avenues for continuing exploration, stakeholder collaborations, policy considerations, and expansion strategies. Notably, the author expresses a strategic intent to approach the global market, leveraging the foreign student/faculty base at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, where the author is affiliated. This unique approach aims to disseminate the research findings globally, contributing to the broader landscape of agricultural innovation. The integration of controlled bee pollination within this innovative framework not only enhances sustainability but also marks a significant stride in the evolution of urban agriculture, aligning with global agricultural trends.

Keywords: smart container farming, urban agriculture, strawberry farming technologies, controlled bee pollination, agricultural innovation

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Authors: S. Anastasiou, C. Nathanailides, S. Logothetis, G. Kanlis

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The Greek aquaculture industry is second most important economic sector for the growth of the Greek Economy. The purpose of the present work is to present some data for the management challenges that the Aquaculture industry in Greece is currently facing. Currently the Greek aquaculture industry is going through a series of mergers and restructure. The financial status of the different aquaculture companies, the working conditions and management practices may vary according to lending exposure, market mix, company size, and technological parameters of the different fish farm units and rearing systems. Frequently, the aquaculture personnel are exposed to harsh environmental conditions and to occupational risk. Furthermore, there is pressure on the personnel of fish farms to constantly improve their production efficiency and to enhance their work skills to the new methods and practices which are adopted by the aquaculture industry. There is some data to suggest the existence of gender inequality in the workforce of Greek fish farms. Women are paid less, frequently absent higher managerial positions and most of the male workmates consider the job to harsh for women. Nevertheless, high level of job satisfaction was observed in both men and women. This high level of job satisfaction of the aquaculture personnel can be attributed, at least partially, to the nature of the work which has a very distinct working environment but most of the staff has very positive experiences with the interaction with their workmates and the satisfaction of being in a business which always exceeds its production target. Indeed, there is some evidence to suggest that the Greek aquaculture industry is always exceeding its production targets, while it is rapidly adopting and improving new technology, constantly improving of human resources management practices, which include constant training of the staff, very good communication channels between management and the personnel and reducing the risk of occupational hazard to the aquaculture personnel. All these parameters of management may have a determining role for the volume and quality of the production and future of this sector in Greece.

Keywords: aquaculture, fish quality, management, production targets

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Authors: Victoria Bessonova, Robert Dorrell, Nina Dethlefs, Evdokia Tapoglou, Katharine York

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As the global pursuit of renewable energy intensifies, offshore wind farms have emerged as a promising solution to combat climate change. The global offshore wind installed capacity is projected to increase 56-fold by 2055. However, the impacts of climate change, particularly changes in wave climate, are not widely understood. Offshore wind installation and maintenance activities often require specific weather windows, characterized by calm seas and low wave heights, to ensure safe and efficient operations. However, climate change-induced alterations in wave characteristics can reduce the availability of suitable weather windows, leading to delays and disruptions in project timelines. it applied the operational limits of installation and maintenance vessels to past and future climate wave projections. This revealed changes in the annual and monthly accessibility of offshore wind farms at key global development locations. When accessibility is only defined by significant wave height, spatial patterns in the annual accessibility roughly follow changes in significant wave height, with increased availability where significant wave height is decreasing. This resulted in a 1-6% increase in Europe and North America and a similar decrease in South America, Australia and Asia. Monthly changes suggest unchanged or slightly decreased (1-2%) accessibility in summer months and increased (2-6%) in winter. Further assessment includes assessing the sensitivity of accessibility to operational limits defined by wave height combined with wave period and wave height combined with wind speed. Results of this assessment will be included in the presentation. These findings will help stakeholders inform climate change adaptations in installation and maintenance planning practices.

Keywords: climate change, offshore wind, offshore wind installation, operations and maintenance, wave climate, wind farm accessibility

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Authors: Alan Crowle, Philpp Thies

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As the floating offshore wind turbine industry continues to develop and grow, the capabilities of established port facilities need to be assessed as to their ability to support the expanding construction and installation requirements. This paper assesses current infrastructure requirements and projected changes to port facilities that may be required to support the floating offshore wind industry. Understanding the infrastructure needs of the floating offshore renewable industry will help to identify the port-related requirements. Floating Offshore Wind Turbines can be installed further out to sea and in deeper waters than traditional fixed offshore wind arrays, meaning that it can take advantage of stronger winds. Separate ports are required for substructure construction, fit-out of the turbines, moorings, subsea cables and maintenance. Large areas are required for the laydown of mooring equipment; inter-array cables, turbine blades and nacelles. The capabilities of established port facilities to support floating wind farms are assessed by evaluation of the size of substructures, the height of wind turbine with regards to the cranes for fitting of blades, distance to offshore site and offshore installation vessel characteristics. The paper will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using large land-based cranes, inshore floating crane vessels or offshore crane vessels at the fit-out port for the installation of the turbine. Water depths requirements for import of materials and export of the completed structures will be considered. There are additional costs associated with any emerging technology. However part of the popularity of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines stems from the cost savings against permanent structures like fixed wind turbines. Floating Offshore Wind Turbine developers can benefit from lighter, more cost-effective equipment which can be assembled in port and towed to the site rather than relying on large, expensive installation vessels to transport and erect fixed bottom turbines. The ability to assemble Floating Offshore Wind Turbines equipment onshore means minimizing highly weather-dependent operations like offshore heavy lifts and assembly, saving time and costs and reducing safety risks for offshore workers. Maintenance might take place in safer onshore conditions for barges and semi-submersibles. Offshore renewables, such as floating wind, can take advantage of this wealth of experience, while oil and gas operators can deploy this experience at the same time as entering the renewables space The floating offshore wind industry is in the early stages of development and port facilities are required for substructure fabrication, turbine manufacture, turbine construction and maintenance support. The paper discusses the potential floating wind substructures as this provides a snapshot of the requirements at the present time, and potential technological developments required for commercial development. Scaling effects of demonstration-scale projects will be addressed, however, the primary focus will be on commercial-scale (30+ units) device floating wind energy farms.

Keywords: floating wind, port, marine construction, offshore renewables

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Authors: Yawen Wang, Hongchang Chen, Shaomei Li, Chao Gao, Jiangpeng Zhang

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As the main challenge for target tracking is accounting for target scale change and real-time, we combine Mean-Shift and PCA-SIFT algorithm together to solve the problem. We introduce similarity comparison method to determine how the target scale changes, and taking different strategies according to different situation. For target scale getting larger will cause location error, we employ backward tracking to reduce the error. Mean-Shift algorithm has poor performance when tracking scale-changing target due to the fixed bandwidth of its kernel function. In order to overcome this problem, we introduce PCA-SIFT matching. Through key point matching between target and template, that adjusting the scale of tracking window adaptively can be achieved. Because this algorithm is sensitive to wrong match, we introduce RANSAC to reduce mismatch as far as possible. Furthermore target relocating will trigger when number of match is too small. In addition we take comprehensive consideration about target deformation and error accumulation to put forward a new template update method. Experiments on five image sequences and comparison with 6 kinds of other algorithm demonstrate favorable performance of the proposed tracking algorithm.

Keywords: target tracking, PCA-SIFT, mean-shift, scale-adaptive

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Authors: Men An Pan, Ho Hsiung Huang, Jui Chuan Lin, Tsui Hsun Wu, Hsing Yuan Yen

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Pingtung County, located in the southernmost region of Taiwan, has the largest number of pig farms in the country. In the past, livestock operators in Dongpian Village discharged their wastewater into the nearby water bodies, causing water pollution in the local rivers and polluting the air with the stench of the pig excrement. These resulted in many complaints from the local residents. In response to a long time fighting back of the community against the livestock farms due to the confrict, the County Government's Environmental Protection Bureau (PTEPB) examined potential wayouts in addition to heavy fines to the perpetrators. Through helping the livestock farms to upgrade their pollution prevention equipment, promoting the reuse of biogas residue and slurry from the pig excrement, and environmental education, the confrict was successfully resolved. The properly treated wastewater from the livestock farms has been freely provided to the neighboring farmlands via pipelines and tankers. Thus, extensive cultivation of bananas, papaya, red dragon fruit, Inca nut, and cocoa has resulted in 34% resource utilization of biogas residue as a fertilizer. This has encouraged farmers to reduce chemical fertilizers and use microbial materials like photosynthetic bacteria after banning herbicides while lowering the cost of wastewater treatment in livestock farms and alleviating environmental pollution simultaneously. That is, the livestock farms fully demonstrate the determination to fulfill their corporate social responsibility (CSR). Due to the success, Eight farms jointly established a social enterprise - "Dongpian Gemstone Village Co., Ltd." to promote organic farming through a "shared farm." The company appropriates 5% of its total revenue back to the community through caregiving services for the elderly and a fund for young local farmers. The community adopted the Satoyama Initiative in accordance with the Conference of the CBD COP10. Through the positive impact of environmental education, the community seeks to realize the coexistence between society and nature while maintaining and developing socio-economic activities (including agriculture) with respect for nature and building a harmonic relationship between humans and nature. By way of sustainable management of resources and ensuring biodiversity, the community is transforming into a socio-ecological production landscape. Apart from nature conservation and watercourse ecology, preserving local culture is also a key focus of the environmental education. To mitigate the impact of global warming and climate change, the community and the government have worked together to develop a disaster prevention and relief system, strive to establish a low-carbon emitting homeland, and become a model for resilient communities. By the power of environmental education, this community has turned its residents’ hearts and minds into concrete action, fulfilled social responsibility, and moved towards realizing the UN SDGs. Even though it is not the only community to integrate government agencies, research institutions, and NGOs for environmental education, it is a prime example of a low-carbon sustainable community that achieves more than 9 SDGs, including responsible consumption and production, climate change action, and diverse partnerships. The community is also leveraging environmental education to become a net-zero carbon community targeted by COP26.

Keywords: environmental education, biogas residue, biogas slurry, CSR, SDGs, climate change, net-zero carbon emissions

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Authors: Shirin Aghanajafizadeh

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Nest site selection of Crested Lark was investigated in Boroyeh wildlife sanctuary of Harat during spring 2014. Habitat variables such as number of plant species, soil texture, distance to the nearest water resources, farms and roads were compared in the species presence plots with absence ones. Our analysis showed that the average number of Zygophyllum atriplicoidesand, Artemisia sieberi were higher while fine-textured soil percent cover (with very little and gravel) was lower in species presence plots than control plots. We resulted that the most affecting factor in the species nest site selection is the number of Z .atriplicoides and soil texture. Z. atriplicoides and A. sieberi can provide cover for nests and chickens against predators and environmental harsh events such as sunshine and wind. The stability of built nest forces the birds to select sites with not fine-textured soil. Some of the nests were detected in Alfalfa farms that can be related to its cover producing capability.

Keywords: habitat selection, Yazd Province, presence and absence plots, habitat variables

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Authors: Sukaesi Marianti

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This study aims to develop the Relational Mobility Scale for the Indonesian population and to investigate its psychometric properties. New items of the scale were created taking into account the Indonesian population which consists of two parallel forms (A and A’). This study uses 30 newly orchestrated items while keeping in mind the characteristics of the targeted population. The scale was administered to 433 public high school students in Malang, Indonesia. Construct validity of its factor structure was demonstrated using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The result exhibits that he model fits the data, and that the delayed alternate form method shows acceptable result. Results yielded that 21 items of the three-dimensional Relational Mobility Scale is suitable for measuring relational mobility in high school students of Indonesian population.

Keywords: confirmatory factor analysis, delayed alternate form, Indonesian population, relational mobility scale

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Authors: Mahmoud Hassan Onsa, Saadelnour Abdueljabbar Adam

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Wastes from slaughterhouses in most towns in Sudan are often poorly managed and sometimes discharged into adjoining streams due to poor implementation of standards, thus causing environmental and public health hazards and also there is a large amount of manure from dairy farms. This paper presents solution of organic waste from cow dairy farms and slaughterhouse the anaerobic digestion and biogas production. The paper presents the findings of experimental investigation of biogas production with and without pasteurization using cow manure, blood and rumen content were mixed at two proportions, 72.3% manure, 21.7%, rumen content and 6% blood for bio digester1with 62% dry matter at the beginning and without pasteurization and 72.3% manure, 21.7%, rumen content and 6% blood for bio-digester2 with 10% dry matter and pasteurization. The paper analyses the quantitative and qualitative composition of biogas: gas content, the concentration of methane. The highest biogas output 2.9 mL/g dry matter/day (from bio-digester2) together with a high quality biogas of 87.4% methane content which is useful for combustion and energy production and healthy bio-fertilizer but biodigester1 gave 1.68 mL/g dry matter/day with methane content 85% which is useful for combustion, energy production and can be considered as new technology of dryer bio-digesters.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, bio-digester, blood, cow manure, rumen content

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Authors: S. Anastasiou, C. Nathanailides

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There is considerable evidence to suggest that employees participation in the decision-making process of an organisation, has a positive effect on job satisfaction and work performance of the employees. The purpose of the present work was to examine the HRM practices, demographics and the level of job satisfaction of employees in Greek Aquaculture fish farms. A survey of employees (n=86) in 6 Greek Aquaculture Firms was carried out. The results indicate that HRM practices such as recruitment of the personnel and communication between the departments did not vary between different firms. The most frequent method of recruitment was through the professional network or the personal network of the managers. The preferred method of HRM communication was through the line managers and through group meeting. The level of job satisfaction increased with work experience participation and participation in the decision making process. A high percentage of the employees (81,3%±8.39) felt that they frequently participated in the decision making process. The Aquaculture employees exhibited high level of job satisfaction (88,1±6.95). The level of job satisfaction was related with participation in the decision making process (-0.633, P<0.05) but was not related with as age or gender. In terms of the working conditions, employees were mostly satisfied with their work itself, their colleagues and mostly dissatisfied with working hours, salary issues and low prospects of pay rises.

Keywords: aquaculture, human resources, job satisfaction

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Authors: Enea Danut Nicolae, Osman (Defta) Aurelia, Vidu Livia, Marginean Gheorghe, Defta Nicoleta, Moise Andrada

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Today, as a result of population growth, there is an increase in demand for animal products; milk and dairy products are an important part of this category. Maintaining production at maximum levels for as long as possible is one of the main objectives of dairy farmers. Over the course of lactation, a cow's milk production is not uniform. During the initial stage of lactation, the cow's milk production follows an upward slope, a plateau, and then a downward slope, which is a reflection of the lactation curve. The evolution of the lactation curve is influenced by numerous factors, which are genetic, exploitation, physiological, environmental and technological. The aim of this study was to observe the lactation curve of Holstein cows in Romania and determine the extent to which they conform to the expected pattern. In addition, there has been an analysis of the factors which have an influence on this curve and the extent of this influence. In order to be able to carry out the present study, data were collected from three farms located in three different geographical areas. To highlight the findings, the data collected was then statistically processed and graphically interpreted. All the farms have only Holstein cows, which are kept in free stalls.

Keywords: lactation curve, Holstein, milk production, influencing factors

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Authors: Matthew T. McCarthy, Sarah Janse, Natalie M. Pizzimenti, Anthony K. Savino, Brian Crosser, Sean C. Rose

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Concussion is diagnosed clinically using a comprehensive history and exam, supported by ancillary testing. Frequently, symptom checklists are used as part of the evaluation of concussion. Existing symptom scales are based on a subjective Likert scale, without relation of symptoms to clinical or functional impairment. This is a retrospective review of 133 patients under age 30 seen in an outpatient neurology practice within 30 days of a probable or definite concussion. Each patient completed 2 symptom checklists at the initial visit – the SCAT-3 symptom evaluation (22 symptoms, 0-6 scale) and a scale based on the degree of clinical impairment for each symptom (22 symptoms, 0-3 scale related to functional impact of the symptom). Final clearance date was determined by the treating physician. 60.9% of patients were male with mean age 15.7 years (SD 2.3). Mean time from concussion to first visit was 6.9 days (SD 6.2), and 101 patients had definite concussions (75.9%), while 32 were diagnosed as probable (24.1%). 94 patients had a known clearance date (70.7%) with mean clearance time of 20.6 days (SD 18.6) and median clearance time of 19 days (95% CI 16-21). Mean total symptom score was 27.2 (SD 22.9) on the SCAT-3 and 14.7 (SD 11.9) for the functional impairment scale. Pearson’s correlation between the two scales was 0.98 (p < 0.001). After adjusting for patient and injury characteristics, an equivalent increase in score on each scale was associated with longer time to clearance (SCAT-3 hazard ratio 0.885, 95%CI 0.835-0.938, p < 0.001; functional impairment scale hazard ratio 0.851, 95%CI 0.802-0.902, p < 0.001). A concussion symptom scale based on degree of functional impairment correlates strongly with the SCAT-3 scale and demonstrates a similar association with time to clearance. By assessing the degree of impact on clinical functioning, this symptom scale reflects a more intuitive approach to rating symptoms and can be used in the management of concussion.

Keywords: checklist, concussion, neurology, scale, sports, symptoms

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Authors: Carolyn Scott, Rachel Nugent

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The agricultural industry in Ireland and worldwide is one of the most dangerous occupations with respect to occupational health and safety accidents and fatalities. Many accident causation models have been developed in safety research to understand the underlying and contributory factors that lead to the occurrence of an accident. Due to the uniqueness of the agricultural sector, current accident causation theories cannot be applied. This paper presents an accident causation model named the Irish Farm Accident Causation Model (IFACM) which has been specifically tailored to the needs of Irish farms. The IFACM is a theoretical and practical model of accident causation that arranges the causal factors into a graphic representation of originating, shaping, and contributory factors that lead to accidents when unsafe acts and conditions are created that are not rectified by control measures. Causes of farm accidents were assimilated by means of a thorough literature review and were collated to form a graphical representation of the underlying causes of a farm accident. The IFACM was validated retrospectively through case study analysis and peer review. Participants in the case study (n=10) identified causes that led to a farm accident in which they were involved. A root cause analysis was conducted to understand the contributory factors surrounding the farm accident, traced back to the ‘root cause’. Experts relevant to farm safety accident causation in the agricultural industry have peer reviewed the IFACM. The accident causation process is complex. Accident prevention requires a comprehensive understanding of this complex process because to prevent the occurrence of accidents, the causes of accidents must be known. There is little research on the key causes and contributory factors of unsafe behaviours and accidents on Irish farms. The focus of this research is to gain a deep understanding of the causality of accidents on Irish farms. The results suggest that the IFACM framework is helpful for the analysis of the causes of accidents within the agricultural industry in Ireland. The research also suggests that there may be international applicability if further research is carried out. Furthermore, significant learning can be obtained from considering the underlying causes of accidents.

Keywords: farm safety, farm accidents, accident causation, root cause analysis

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Authors: Ijaz Ul Haq, Fiorenzo Franceschini

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The distributed manufacturing methodology brings a new concept of decentralized manufacturing operations close to the proximity of end users. A preliminary scale, to measure distributed capacity and evaluate positioning of firms, is developed in this research. In the first part of the paper, a literature review has been performed which highlights the explorative nature of the studies conducted to present definitions and classifications due to novelty of this topic. From literature, five dimensions of distributed manufacturing development stages have been identified: localization, manufacturing technologies, customization and personalization, digitalization and democratization of design. Based on these determinants a conceptual scale is proposed to measure the status of distributed manufacturing of a generic firm. A multiple case study is then conducted in two steps to test the conceptual scale and to identify the corresponding level of distributed potential in each case study firm.

Keywords: distributed manufacturing, distributed capacity, localized production, ordinal scale

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Authors: Yiannis Koumpouros, Effie Papageorgiou, Alexandra Karavasili, Foteini Koureta

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The objective of the present study was to develop a scale called PYTHEIA. The PYTHEIA is a self-reported measure for the assessment of rehabilitation and assistive robotics and other assistive technology devices. The development of PYTHEIA faced the absence of a valid instrument that can be used to evaluate the assistive robotic devices both as a whole, as well as any of their individual components or functionalities implemented. According to the results presented, PYTHEIA is a valid and reliable scale able to be applied to different target groups for the subjective evaluation of various assistive technology devices.

Keywords: rehabilitation, assistive technology, assistive robots, rehabilitation robots, scale, psychometric test, assessment, validation, user satisfaction

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Authors: Sohail Zafar, Sardar Javaid Iqbal Khan

Abstract:

We use a parametric approach within a translog cost function framework to estimate the economies of scale in National Bank of Pakistan from 1997 to 2013. The results indicate significant economies of scale throughout the sample at aggregates and disaggregates taking in account size subject to stipulation ownership. The factor markets often produce scale inefficiencies in the banking of developing countries like Pakistan such inefficiencies are common due to distortion in factor markets leading to the use of inappropriate factor proportions. The findings suggest that National Bank of Pakistan diversify their asset portfolios that it has cost advantage, therefore, expansion in size should be encouraged under current technology because it appears to be cost effective. In addition, our findings support the implementation of universal banking model in Pakistan.

Keywords: scale economies, cost function, disaggregates, aggregates

Procedia PDF Downloads 299

Authors: Vishal Kumar Singh

Abstract:

Bioprocess development is a time-constrained activity aimed at harnessing the full potential of culture performance in an ambience that is not natural to cells. Even with the use of chemically defined media and feeds, a significant amount of time is devoted in identifying the apt operating parameters. In addition, the scale-up of these processes is often accompanied by loss of antibody titer and product quality, which further delays the commercialization of the drug product. In such a scenario, the investigation of this disparity of culture performance is done by further experimentation at a smaller scale that is representative of at-scale production bioreactors. These scale-down model developments are also time-intensive. In this study, a computation fluid dynamics-based multi-objective scaling approach has been illustrated to speed up the process transfer. For the implementation of this approach, a transient multiphase water-air system has been studied in Ansys CFX to visualize the air bubble distribution and volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa) profiles, followed by the design of experiment based parametric optimization approach to define the operational space. The proposed approach is completely in silico and requires minimum experimentation, thereby rendering a high throughput to the overall process development.

Keywords: bioprocess development, scale up, scale down, computation fluid dynamics, multi-objective, Ansys CFX, design of experiment

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Vanessa Castro, Liria H. Okuda, Daniela P. Chiebao, Adriana H. C. N. Romaldini, Harumi Hojo, Marina Grandi, Joao Paulo A. Silva, Alessandra F. C. Nassar

Abstract:

The Biological Institute of Sao Paulo, in partnership with a private company, develops an Animal Health Family Farming Program (Prosaf) to enable communication among smallholder farmers and scientists, on-farm consulting and lectures, solving health questions that will benefit agricultural productivity. In Vale do Paraiba region, a dairy region of Sao Paulo State, southern Brazil, many of these types of farms are found with several milk quality problems. Most of these farms are profit-based business; however, with non-technified cattle rearing systems and uncertain veterinary assistance. Feedback from Prosaf showed that the biggest complaints from farmers were low milk production, sick animals and, mainly, loss of selling price due to a high somatic cell count (SCC) and a total bacterial count (TBC). The aims of this study were to improve milk quality, animal hygiene and herd health status by adjustments into general management practices and introducing techniques of sanitary control and milk monitoring in five dairy farms from Sao Jose do Barreiro municipality, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, to increase their profits. A total of 119 milk samples from 56 animals positive for California Mastitis Test (CMT) were collected. The positive CMT indicates subclinical mastitis, therefore laboratorial exams were performed in the milk (microbiological, biochemical and antibiogram test) detect the presence of Staphylococcus aureus (41.8%), Bacillus sp. (11.8%), Streptococcus sp. (2.1%), nonfermenting, motile and oxidase-negative Gram-negative Bacilli (2.1%) and Enterobacter (2.1%). Antibiograms revealed high resistance to gentamicin and streptomycin, probably due to indiscriminate use of antibiotics without veterinarian prescription. We suggested the improvement of hygiene management in the complete milking and cooling tanks system. Using the results of the laboratory tests, animals were properly treated, and the effects observed were better CMT outcomes, lower SCCs, and TBCs leading to an increase in milk pricing. This study will have a positive impact on the family farmers from Sao Paulo State dairy region by improving their market milk competitiveness.

Keywords: milk, family farming, food quality, antibiogram, profitability

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Shashank Tiwari, S. P. Mahapatra

Abstract:

The aim of this technique is to reduce the steps of process scales up, save time & cost of the industries. This technique will minimise the steps of process scale up. The new steps are, Novel Lab Scale, Novel Lab Scale Trials, Novel Trial Batches, Novel Exhibit Batches, Novel Validation Batches. In these steps, it is not divided to validation batches in three parts but the data of trials batches, Exhibit Batches and Validation batches are use and compile for production and used for validation. It also increases the batch size of the trial, exhibit batches. The new size of trials batches is not less than fifty Thousand, the exhibit batches increase up to two lack and the validation batches up to five lack. After preparing the batches all their data & drugs use for stability & maintain the validation record and compile data for the technology transfer in production department for preparing the marketed size batches.

Keywords: batches, technique, preparation, scale up, validation

Procedia PDF Downloads 324

Authors: L. Krpalkova, N. O' Mahony, A. Carvalho, S. Campbell, S. Harapanahalli, J. Walsh

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of environmental stressors on the performance of lactating dairy cows and discuss some future trends. There exists a relationship between the meteorological data and milk yield prediction accuracy in pasture-based dairy systems. New precision technologies are available and are being developed to improve the sustainability of the dairy industry. Some of these technologies focus on welfare of individual animals on dairy farms. These technologies allow the automatic identification of animal behaviour and health events, greatly increasing overall herd health and yield while reducing animal health inspection demands and long-term animal healthcare costs. The data set consisted of records from 489 dairy cows at two dairy farms and temperature measured from the nearest meteorological weather station in 2018. The effects of temperature on milk production and behaviour of animals were analyzed. The statistical results indicate different effects of temperature on milk yield and behaviour. The “comfort zone” for animals is in the range 10 °C to 20 °C. Dairy cows out of this zone had to decrease or increase their metabolic heat production, and it affected their milk production and behaviour.

Keywords: behavior, milk yield, temperature, precision technologies

Procedia PDF Downloads 82

Authors: Li-Hsueh Chen

Abstract:

Efficient operation is more and more important for managers of hotels. Unlike the manufacturing industry, hotels cannot store their products. In addition, many hotels provide room service, and food and beverage service simultaneously. When efficiencies of hotels are evaluated, the internal structure should be considered. Hence, based on the operational characteristics of hotels, this study proposes a DEA model to simultaneously assess the efficiencies among the room production division, food and beverage production division, room service division and food and beverage service division. However, not only the enhancement of efficiency but also the adjustment of scale can improve the performance. In terms of the adjustment of scale, scale elasticity or returns to scale can help to managers to make decisions concerning expansion or contraction. In order to construct a reasonable approach to measure the efficiencies and scale elasticities of hotels, this study builds an alternative variable-returns-to-scale-based two-stage network DEA model with the combination of parallel and series structures to explore the scale elasticities of the whole system, room production division, food and beverage production division, room service division and food and beverage service division based on the data of international tourist hotel industry in Taiwan. The results may provide valuable information on operational performance and scale for managers and decision makers.

Keywords: efficiency, scale elasticity, network data envelopment analysis, international tourist hotel

Procedia PDF Downloads 202

Authors: Xiaohua Zhu, Lingling Ma, Yongguang Zhao

Abstract:

Leaf Area Index (LAI) is a key structural characteristic of crops and plays a significant role in precision agricultural management and farmland ecosystem modeling. However, LAI retrieved from different resolution data contain a scaling bias due to the spatial heterogeneity and model non-linearity, that is, there is scale effect during multi-scale LAI estimate. In this article, a typical farmland in semi-arid regions of Chinese Inner Mongolia is taken as the study area, based on the combination of PROSPECT model and SAIL model, a multiple dimensional Look-Up-Table (LUT) is generated for multiple crops LAI estimation from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) hyperspectral data. Based on Taylor expansion method and computational geometry model, a scale transfer model considering both difference between inter- and intra-class is constructed for scale effect analysis of LAI inversion over inhomogeneous surface. The results indicate that, (1) the LUT method based on classification and parameter sensitive analysis is useful for LAI retrieval of corn, potato, sunflower and melon on the typical farmland, with correlation coefficient R2 of 0.82 and root mean square error RMSE of 0.43m2/m-2. (2) The scale effect of LAI is becoming obvious with the decrease of image resolution, and maximum scale bias is more than 45%. (3) The scale effect of inter-classes is higher than that of intra-class, which can be corrected efficiently by the scale transfer model established based Taylor expansion and Computational geometry. After corrected, the maximum scale bias can be reduced to 1.2%.

Keywords: leaf area index (LAI), scale effect, UAV-based hyperspectral data, look-up-table (LUT), remote sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 420

Authors: Pitsanu Poonpetpun, Witthaya Mekhum, Warangkana Kongsil

Abstract:

This research was an attempt to study work motivation of employees in Siam Thai Co., Ltd. The study took place in Rayong with 59 employees as participants. The research tool was questionnaires which consisted of sets of questions about company’s policy, management, executives and good relationship within the firm. The questionnaires style was rating scale with 5 score bands. The questionnaires were analyzed by percentage, frequency, mean and standard deviation. From the study, the result showed that policy and management were in moderate scale, executive and managers were in moderate scale and relationship within the firm were in high scale.

Keywords: motivation, job, performance, employees

Procedia PDF Downloads 235

Authors: Fatima Al-Humaid

Abstract:

This research work was done to investigate the cause of paralysis in Najdi lambs born in certain farms where the drinking water and diet contained high concentrations of sulphur. The drinking water in these farms was obtained from deep bore wells drilled in the farm. The lambs developed paralysis of the hind limbs at the age of 4-6 weeks and their condition deteriorated continuously until they finally died. The appetite and suckling ability remained good throughout the course of the disease but when the lambs were completely unable to move and reach for the udder, feed and water they died. Postmortem examination of the brain of paralyzed lambs showed that it was liquefied. When the brain was examined histologically, a liquefactive necrosis was seen in the form of cavities in the nervous tissue. Similar histologic picture was seen in the spinal cord of the affected lambs. Analysis for the mineral content of the fodder showed that the concentration of sulphur was 21.6 3.4 g/kg DM which is considered very high for the nutrition of sheep. Analysis for the concentration of copper and selenium in the feed showed that the concentrations of both were normal. This excluded diseases such as swayback which is caused by copper deficiency and white muscle disease, which caused by selenium deficiency. Both of these two last diseases are characterized by paralysis of lambs.

Keywords: brain histology, sulphur poisoning, Najdi sheep, veterinary medicine

Procedia PDF Downloads 576