Evaluation of PHilMech Cabinet Dryer for Drying Mango Slices

The performance of PHilMech cabinet dryer in drying mango slices was evaluated in terms of efficiency, product quality and cost. The dryer, originally designed with kerosene burner and rice hull furnace as heat source, was retrofitted with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) heating system. Its performance was likewise compared with existing dryers of Pangasinan Tropical Fruits Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PTFMPC) in Manaoag, Pangasinan, Philippines. Results showed that mango slices with initial moisture content from 65.4 to 72.4 percent were uniformly dried in 9.5 to 10 h to final moisture content of 9.6 to 9.7 percent using an average drying temperature of 53.2 to 54.2 oC using the PHilMech dryer. The LPG heating system had higher heating system efficiency than the rice hull furnace and kerosene burner. It is less costly to operate than kerosene burner but remains costly when compared to Rice hull furnace. Total drying cost increased from PhP 21.59 per kg of dried mango to PhP 25.29/kg when the rice hull furnace was replaced with LPG heating system. On the other hand, a reduction of PhP 4.52/kg of dried mango was achieved when the kerosene burner was replaced with LPG heater. Compared to other dryers of PTFMPC, the heating system efficiency of the PHilMech dryer was lower. The PTFMPC dryers have exhaust air recirculation of exhaust air which contributed to lower fuel consumption. The provision of exhaust air recirculation in the PHilMech dryer was therefore recommended to improve its heating efficiency. Sensory evaluation showed no significant difference between dried mango slices from PhilMech and PTFMPC dryers

Value Chain Improvement of Fresh Sweet Potato through the Utilization of Mechanical Harvester

The study determined the postproduction handling systems, losses and the needed intervention to improve the fresh sweet potato chain. Surveys were conducted among 350 sweet potato farmers in four major sweet potato producing provinces supplemented by the key informant interviews, focus group discussion and on-line search of secondary data. Actual loss assessments were undertaken adapting the tracing method and following two commercial marketing channels replicated 6 times for each marketing channel. The total average postharvest loss was 32.09 percent. Among the postproduction operations, quantity losses during harvesting were the highest at 15.96 and 17.94 percent for Bataan and Tarlac, respectively. Along the fresh sweet potato market chain, the farmer contributes the highest percentage share (41.63%) to the retail price on a per kilogram basis of fresh sweet potato. The farmer gets the highest share of income but also shoulders the highest cost of producing the commodity. Addressing the major constraints in postharvest operations undertaken by the farmers will improve their financial conditions and the fresh sweet potato chain in general. A potential technology intervention to address observed problems in harvesting operation, which contributes 53 percent to the overall postharvest losses, is the introduction of tractor-mounted conveyor-type digger to reduce losses and labor cost. Initial technical and financial performance indicated that the machine can reduce harvesting loss and increase farmer’s income by PhP23, 408 to PhP28, 936/ha. Reducing the harvesting loss can increase the quantity of fresh sweet potato available for sale by 2,076 to 2,316 kg/ha. Further, pilot testing of the technology should be done to evaluate its technical and financial viability as well as its social acceptability among sweet potato farmers. Information generated by this study can guide the policy makers to provide measures/policies for loss reduction and a more focused R&D to provide immediate and relevant solutions to more pressing constraints on postharvest operations of fresh sweet potato chain

Alternative biomass furnace wall material from biomass furnace ash

Biomass furnace ash (BFA) generated from drying of grains in mechanical dryers were blended with cement in varying ratio of 1:4, 1:5, 1:6, 1:7 and 1:8 by volume.  Each composition was cured in an ambient condition for 7, 14 and    28 days and determined their properties such as density, porosity, compressive strength and thermal shock resistance.  Cold crushing strength increased with increasing cement content and curing time.  Likewise, density increased with increasing cement content and curing time while porosity showed the other way.  All the sample compositions exceeded 30 cycles without any crack when subjected to thermal shock resistant cycles of heating and cooling using a firing temperature of 1000oC in an electric muffle furnace

Energy use and CO2 emissions of eggplant production in the Philippines

The energy use and CO2 emissions of eggplant production in the Philippines were analyzed from data collected from 202 eggplant farmers randomly selected from the two major producing provinces of Pangasinan and Quezon, Philippines. Accordingly, the input and output energy of eggplant production were 77,342.09 MJ/ha and 233,905.50 MJ/ha, respectively. Diesel fuel and chemical fertilizer contributed the largest share of energy used in eggplant production. Most of the input energy was utilized in preharvest operations among which the application of fertilizer and water irrigation consumed the largest energy. The energy ratio and energy productivity were 3.02 and 0.51 kg/MJ, respectively. Direct and indirect forms of energy constituted 60.93% and 39.07%, respectively, of the total energy consumption while the share of non-renewable and renewable forms of energy was 80.42% and 19.58%, respectively. The total GHGs of eggplant production was 5,843.35 kg CO2eq/ha. Overall the production system considered that diesel, plastic bags and chemical fertilizers were the largest contributors to GHGs emission in eggplant production with 41.55%, 39.01% and 17.15% contribution, respectively. The total amount of carbon generated by applying agricultural inputs was 1,593.64 kgC/ha while the carbon produced from the yield of eggplant was 17,840.25 kgC/ha. The carbon ratio (sustainability index) in the production of eggplant was 11.18. Generally, the production of eggplant in the Philippines is a carbon neutral process because it does not emit carbon to the environment beyond the carbon output generated. Eggplant can be used for carbon sequestration because it exceeded by 11 times the input carbon emitted in the production process. The use of renewable sources of inputs such as organic fertilizers, biological pest control, biological mulching materials and bioplastics as packaging materials among others, can lead to lower GHG emission, more sustainable and environment-friendly eggplant production system

El papel del Estado de Hidalgo en las políticas públicas para los Hidalguenses en el exterior

In 1990, the migration of the inhabitants of the Hidalgo state to the United States was intensified, becoming an emergent social phenomenon. In response to this, in 1999, the authorities of the state of Hidalgo made some intervention efforts. The aim of this document is to describe the antecedents of the public policies developed by the Hidalgo government in the care of its migrants in the United States, through a methodology of historical and qualitative analysis that investigate three governmental periods of management and various initiatives developed by the state.A partir de 1990 la migración hacia los Estados Unidos de los hidalguenses se intensificó, posicionándose entonces como un fenómeno social emergente. En respuesta al mismo, las autoridades del estado de Hidalgo, en el año 1999, hicieron esfuerzos de intervención. El objetivo de este documento es describir los antecedentes de las políticas públicas desarrolladas por el gobierno de Hidalgo en atención a sus migrantes en Estados Unidos, esto a través de una metodología de análisis histórico y cualitativo para investigar tres períodos gubernamentales de gestión y las diversas iniciativas desarrolladas por el gobierno estatal

Factores de riesgo asociados a dehiscencia de episiorrafia en el hospital vista alegre Enero – Diciembre 2013

Demostrar que existen factores de riesgo asociados con la dehiscencia de episiorrafia en el hospital Vista Alegre. Material y Métodos: La población de estudio estuvo constituida por 135 pacientes que terminaron su gestación vía vaginal con episiorrafia según criterios de inclusión y exclusión establecidos, distribuidos en dos grupos: 9 pacientes con dehiscencia de episiorrafia y 126 pacientes sin dehiscencia de episiorrafia. Resultados: La frecuencia de dehiscencia de episiorrafia fue de 6,7%. El promedio de pacientes con infeccion y anemia fue significativamente mayor en el grupo de pacientes con dehiscencia (p0,05). Conclusiones: El promedio de pacientes que presentaron infeccion y anemia son factores de riesgo asociados con la dehiscencia de episiorrafia en el Hospital Vista Alegre.Demonstrate that there are risk factors associated with the dehiscence to episiorrhapyin the Hospital Vista Alegre. Material and Methods: The study population consisted of 135 patients who completed gestation vaginally with episiorrhaphy according to inclusion and exclusion criteria established divided into two groups: 9 patients with dehiscence of episiotomy and 126 patients without episiotomy dehiscence. Results: The frequency of episiotomy dehiscence was 6.7%. The average number of patients with infection and anemia was significantly higher in the group of patients with dehiscence (p <0.01). Regarding the type of episiotomy and no parity significant association (p> 0.05) were observed. Conclusions: The average of patients with infection and anemia are risk factors associated with episiorrhaphy dehiscence in Vista Alegre Hospital.Tesi

Mexican Public University’s Role in Promoting and Encouraging a Culture of Transparency and Accountability

In this article, we study the role that the Mexican Public University may play in promoting and encouraging a culture of transparency and accountability. This role is premised upon a new paradigm regarding how power should be exercised and controlled. We hold that the latter –the mechanisms for power control- are a necessary, immediate and natural consequence of allowing certain people to hold power positions on our behalf. We also hold that transparency and accountability should not depend exclusively on the State apparatus. These tasks should be jointly carried out by the State and its citizens in a collaborative enterprise. In this line, we claim that the Public University is the most adequate place in which this new conception of power may arise and flourish via the generation of the appropriate incentives for transparency and accountability. In our view, these activities should be seen as a) a University-value; b) an ordinary way of doing things within the University; and c) as a practice of the University towards making Government accountable and transparent

Ortogonal Approach for Haptic Rendering Algorithm based in Conformal Geometric Algebra

This work presents a novel method for haptic rendering contact force and surface properties for virtual objects using the Conformal Geometric Algebra orthogonal decomposition approach. The mathematical representation of geometric primitives along with collision algorithms based on its mathematical properties is presented. The orthogonal decomposition of contact and interaction forces is achieved using the same framework and dynamic properties in both subspaces are rendered simultaneously. Comparing with vector calculus, the Conformal Geometric Algebra (CGA) approach provides an easier and more intuitive way to deal with haptic rendering problems due to its inner properties and a simpler representation of geometric objects and linear transformation. The results of the evaluation of the method using a 3 DOF haptic device are presented

Algoritmo basado en el método QR para analizar la sensibilidad de autovalores y autovectores reales de matrices reales bien condicionadas

En las investigaciones de las propiedades de los autovalores y autovectores se tiene el problema de analizar la sensibilidad de autovalores y autovectores de una matriz cuadrada real considerando una matriz perturbadora de norma pequeña. Una manera de analizar sus sensibilidades es mediante la determinación de cotas de las distancias de los autovalores y subespacios invariantes generados por autovectores de la matriz original y la matriz perturbada. Estas cotas nos dan información acerca de la sensibilidad de todos los autovalores y cuál de los autovectores son más sensibles. El problema radica en el método analítico (exacto) utilizado para obtención de las cotas, es un trabajo laborioso y restringido para matrices de ordenes menores o iguales a cuatro. El objetivo de esta investigación es desarrollar un algoritmo basado en el método QR para analizar la sensibilidad de los autovalores y autovectores reales de matrices reales bien condicionadas. Para cumplir este objetivo en primer lugar se analizó el problema identificando la entrada, la salida y los procesos matemáticos que permiten resolverlo. Se diseñó un algoritmo basado en el método QR siguiendo el método denominado divide y vencerás. Luego, se codificó y ejecutó el algoritmo propuesto usando el programa Scilab; finalmente, se verificó el algoritmo haciendo pruebas a matrices especificadas cuyos resultados obtenidos se mostraron en tablas, donde se compararon las cotas obtenidas mediante el algoritmo propuesto y los obtenidos por el método analítico, donde se observaron valores muy aproximados hasta más de 10 cifras decimales exactas.Tesi