Design and Optimisation of Shea Butter Mixer

A shea butter mixer was designed, fabricated and tested.  The machine mixed milled shea paste with water and extract shea butter oil from the paste. Its major component parts included mixing blade, mixing tank, gear system, diesel engine and burner.  The machine capacity was 56 kg per hour. The results of testing of the machine revealed that the yield of oil ranged between 26.52 % and 39.43 %. The highest oil yield of 39.43 % was obtained from interaction between container diameter of 50 cm, blade type 5 numbers and speed of 110 rpm, while the least oil yield of 26.52 % was obtained from interaction between container diameter of 33.2 cm, blade type of 3 numbers and speed of 110 rpm. The blade type, container diameter and speed of mixing were found to have significant effects on yield of the shea butter. The development of this mixer would have a positive economic impact on the local processors. The mixer would improve oil extraction and increase the product throughput for the local investors Keywords: shea butter, mixer, blade, yiel

Design and Fabrication of Shea Nut Steam Roaster

Sheanut (Butyrospernum paradoxum) is an oil rich tropical tree crop, which is indigenous to the West African savannah zone. In Nigeria, most of the shea nut roasters are made of light mild steel materials with openings. The source of heat for the roasting is open fire. This takes time and the mild steel can easily get rusted and contaminate the product. In addition, open fire roasting has the disadvantage of producing burnt crushed kernels which in turn lead to black shea oil formation, loss of vital and essential nutrients.  A shea nut roaster which makes use of steam as source of heat energy was designed and fabricated to be used in roasting shea nut prior to extracting oil from them. It was developed to address the aforementioned problems. The equipment consists of heating unit, roasting unit, power transmission unit and the supporting frame. A gear motor of 0.25kW was selected to supply power to the shaft whose end was welded to the stirrer. The roasting unit consists of three compartments: roasting chamber, steam chamber and insulator chamber. The heating unit has two pipes: water inlet pipe and steam delivery pipe. Also, charcoal burner was attached to the heating unit to help boil the water for steam to form; this steam will then be transported by the steam delivery pipe to the steam chamber which in turn heats up the outer surface of the roasting chamber and thus the crushed nuts inside are roasted through the heat being supplied. The machine was fabricated with about 90% local materials. Test results of the roaster using shea nuts indicate successful heating/roasting, the nuts were not scorched or burnt, rather they were looking dry but fresh, this indicates that the design of the machine suits its purpose for roasting shea nuts prior to oil expelling . Also, roasting capacity of 45kg/hr was achieved. The successful development of this machine will reduce drudgery and time taken associated with the traditional method of roasting shea nuts and therefore will increase productivity and utilization. Keywords: Heating, steam; shea nut; roaster; desig

Penerapan Metode Median Clustering Untuk Clusterisasi Peternakan di Provinsi Maluku

Livestock in Maluku Province is one of the sectors that is the main priority in the context of increasing people's welfare. The potential for livestock in Maluku Province is increasing every year. However, there needs to be integrated processing and identification of potential commodities in each region. One method that is a reliable statistical method is to use the median clustering method. Median clustering is a method of grouping based on the median value. The median clustering algorithm selects K cluster centers with the aim of minimizing the sum of the measurement distances between each point cluster and the closest cluster center. The data used in this study came from the Maluku Province Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) in 2022. The results of this research were that there were 3 clusters formed in livestock clusterization in regencies and cities in Maluku Province. Clus ter 1 consists of Southwest Maluku Regency. Cluster 2 consists of the Regencies of Central Maluku, Buru and West Seram. Furthermore, Cluster 3 consists of the Tanimbar Islands, Southeast Maluku, Aru Islands, Eastern Seram, South Buru, Ambon and Tual City

ESTIMASI PARAMETER REGRESI KUANTIL DENGAN FUNGSI SPLINE TRUNCATED PADA KASUS DEMAM BERDARAH DENGUE DI KOTA SURABAYA

Metode regresi kuantil merupakan perluasan model regresi pada kuantil bersyarat dimana distribusi kuantil bersyarat dari variabel respon dinyatakan sebagai fungsi dari kovariat yang diamati. Spline merupakan potongan polinomial yang kontinu, sehingga dapat menggambarkan karakteristik lokal pada data. Penelitian ini memodelkan Regresi Kuantil dengan Fungsi Spline Truncated pada kasus DBD di Kota Surabaya. Estimasi regeresi kuantil dengan fungsi spline truncated diperoleh koefisien determinasi ( ) sebesar 72% pada kuantil 0,95 dengan menggunakan tiga titik knot. Lebih lanjut diperoleh hasil bahwa faktor utama penyebab penyebaran DBD di Kota Surabaya adalah faktor persentase rumah/bangunan bebas jentik nyamuk Aedes Aegypti, faktor rasio tenaga medis (dokter umum), faktor rasio sarana kesehatan Puskesmas dan faktor persentase rumah tangga yang memiliki tempat sampah sehat.

Stem Cell Therapy for Ischaemic Stroke: Translation from Preclinical Studies to Clinical Treatment

No pharmacological intervention has been shown convincingly to improve neurological outcome in stroke patients after the brain tissue is infarcted. While conventional therapeutic strategies focus on preventing brain damage, stem cell treatment has the potential to repair the injured brain tissue. Stem cells not only produce a source of trophic molecules to minimize brain damage caused by ischaemia/reperfusion and promote recovery, but also potentially turn to new cells to replace those lost in ischaemic core. Although preclinical studies have shown promise, stem cell therapy for stroke treatment in human is still at an early stage and it is difficult to draw conclusions from current clinical trials about the efficacy of the different treatments used in humans. This article reviews the potential of various types of stem cells, from embryonic to adult to induced pluripotent stem cells, in stroke therapy, highlights new evidence from the ongoing clinical trials and discusses some of the problems associated with translating stem cell technology to a clinical therapy for stroke

PEMODELAN REGRESI NONPARAMETRIK SPLINE TRUNCATED PADA FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI PERTUMBUHAN EKONOMI DI PROVINSI MALUKU

Economic growth is a benchmark for the success of a region's development, especially in the economic field. The purpose of economic development in an area is basically to improve the welfare and prosperity of the community. Economic growth in Maluku Province experienced a positive increase. However, there is still a disparity between districts/cities in Maluku Province, which has an impact on increasing unemployment and an increasingly poor population. This is inseparable from the influencing factors so that it can be precisely done by modeling these factors using the truncated nonparametric spline regression method. the advantages of this method occur because in nonparametric spline truncated regression has knot points, which are joint fusion points that indicate changes in data behavior patterns. Besides, this method can be used to model data patterns that change at certain sub-intervals. The best model is very dependent on determining the optimal knot point by using the minimum Generalized Cross-Validation (GCV) value. The results obtained in this study were the highest percentage of economic growth in Maluku Province, Ambon City with a percentage of 6.17%, and the lowest economic growth was in the East Seram District (SBT) with a percentage of 5.03%. Furthermore, the best model is obtained with a model with three knots and a GCV value of 11.61, a value of 2 of 0.94 and an MSE value of 0.005. This means that statistically, the variables used in this study affect economic growth by 94%. While the rest is influenced by other variables outside the research

Severe gastric impaction in an 8-Year-old Nigerian local dog

An 8-year old male, neutered Nigerian indigenous dog was presented to the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Sokoto because of chronic intermittent vomiting, off feed and progressive wasting. Physical examination of the abdomen revealed hard mass in the abdominal cavity. Survey abdominal radiography (lateral view) revealed impacted material along with electrical wire in the stomach. Standard gastrotomy was successfully performed to evacuate the gastric foreign body.Keywords: Dog, Foreign Body, Gastrotomy, Pica, Radiograph

Estimating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of establishing additional endovascular Thrombectomy stroke Centres in England::a discrete event simulation

Background We have previously modelled that the optimal number of comprehensive stroke centres (CSC) providing endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) in England would be 30 (net 6 new centres). We now estimate the relative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of increasing the number of centres from 24 to 30. Methods We constructed a discrete event simulation (DES) to estimate the effectiveness and lifetime cost-effectiveness (from a payer perspective) using 1 year’s incidence of stroke in England. 2000 iterations of the simulation were performed comparing baseline 24 centres to 30. Results Of 80,800 patients admitted to hospital with acute stroke/year, 21,740 would be affected by the service reconfiguration. The median time to treatment for eligible early presenters (< 270 min since onset) would reduce from 195 (IQR 155–249) to 165 (IQR 105–224) minutes. Our model predicts reconfiguration would mean an additional 33 independent patients (modified Rankin scale [mRS] 0–1) and 30 fewer dependent/dead patients (mRS 3–6) per year. The net addition of 6 centres generates 190 QALYs (95%CI − 6 to 399) and results in net savings to the healthcare system of £1,864,000/year (95% CI -1,204,000 to £5,017,000). The estimated budget impact was a saving of £980,000 in year 1 and £7.07 million in years 2 to 5. Conclusion Changes in acute stroke service configuration will produce clinical and cost benefits when the time taken for patients to receive treatment is reduced. Benefits are highly likely to be cost saving over 5 years before any capital investment above £8 million is required

A Delphi study and ranking exercise to support commissioning services:Future delivery of Thrombectomy services in England

Background: Intra-arterial thrombectomy is the gold standard treatment for large artery occlusive stroke. However, the evidence of its benefits is almost entirely based on trials delivered by experienced neurointerventionists working in established teams in neuroscience centres. Those responsible for the design and prospective reconfiguration of services need access to a comprehensive and complementary array of information on which to base their decisions. This will help to ensure the demonstrated effects from trials may be realised in practice and account for regional/local variations in resources and skill-sets. One approach to elucidate the implementation preferences and considerations of key experts is a Delphi survey. In order to support commissioning decisions, we aimed to using an electronic Delphi survey to establish consensus on the options for future organisation of thrombectomy services among physicians with clinical experience in managing large artery occlusive stroke. Methods: A Delphi survey was developed with 12 options for future organisation of thrombectomy services in England. A purposive sampling strategy established an expert panel of stroke physicians from the British Association of Stroke Physicians (BASP) Clinical Standards and/or Executive Membership that deliver 24/7 intravenous thrombolysis. Options with aggregate scores falling within the lowest quartile were removed from the subsequent Delphi round. Options reaching consensus following the two Delphi rounds were then ranked in a final exercise by both the wider BASP membership and the British Society of Neuroradiologists (BSNR). Results: Eleven stroke physicians from BASP completed the initial two Delphi rounds. Three options achieved consensus, with subsequently wider BASP (97%, n=43) and BSNR members (86%, n=21) assigning the highest approval rankings in the final exercise for transferring large artery occlusive stroke patients to nearest neuroscience centre for thrombectomy based on local CT/CT Angiography. Conclusions: The initial Delphi rounds ensured optimal reduction of options by an expert panel of stroke physicians, while subsequent ranking exercises allowed remaining options to be ranked by a wider group of experts within stroke to reach consensus. The preferred implementation option for thrombectomy is conveying suspected stroke patients for CT/CT Angiography and secondary transfer of large artery occlusive stroke patients to the nearest neuroscience centre