Sampling Technique and Minimization of Inspection Errors in Leather Sorting

         Leather processing is one of the oldest industries. It involves processing of animals skins and hides for use in various products. The objectives of this study were to adopt a Sampling Plan Technique by comparison of various Sampling Plans in order to identify the best to be used in inspection process. This is to overcome human fatigue, to minimize the inspection time and to draw the Operating Characteristic Curve. A lot of 18000 pieces of wet blue goat skins for export was inspected for quality assurance to the standard quality level. These were set to be 10% & 5% for acceptable and rejects level by the supplier and customer respectively. Then various Acceptance Sampling Plans were compared then the probability of acceptance for lot quality level was evaluated using Operating Characteristic Curve. The results Showed that for quality assurance the best plan was when the lot size (N) was equal to  18000, the sample size (n) was equal to 350 and number of defects (c) was equal to 10. It is recommended that Acceptance Sampling Plan technique can be adopted by all Sudanese tanneries and related fields.           &nbsp

Application of Process Quality Control in Leather Industry

Quality Control is the regulatory process measuring actual quality performance, comparing it with standards, and rectifying the difference. The objective of this study was to design control charts for raw and export goat skins to ensure that non-defective items are used, and to ensure that defective items are not passed to customers. Ten random samples of raw goat skins of different sizes (32 – 125pieces) were taken and inspected, and then a control chart was drawn. For outgoing wet blue goat skin, ten samples of the same size each of (125pieces) were taken and inspected then a control chart was drawn. The results were as follow; the process involved in delivery of raw skins was out of control, because the proportion defective (0.2080) in one of the samples was located above the upper action limit. The process of outgoing skin showed stability on control chart because all samples were within control limits

Comparative Effect of Different Combinations of Animal Manures and Humic acid on selected soil biochemical properties

The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of animal manures combinations and humic acid on some soil biochemical properties. The laboratory incubation experiment was conducted using a completely randomized design with three replicates. The animal manures included chicken manure (ChM) and cow manure (CoM). The treatments of humic acid (HA), chicken manure (ChM) and cow manure (CoM) were applied on clay soil at a rate of 10 t. ha-1. The treatments used were: Control (T1), HA (T2), HA + ChM (T3) and HA + CoM (T4). The soil samples were incubated for 15, 30, 45 and 60 days at 28 ˚C and was analyzed for soil pH, the electrical conductivity (EC), total nitrogen, available phosphorus, potassium content, soil organic carbon percentages (SOC) and soil respiration (CO2). In general, the results showed a significant difference between all treatments and the control. Also, the applications of treatments have lowered the soil pH and significant increase in EC was observed as days of incubation. While, the N, P, K, SOC and soil respiration (CO2) were significant increased and reached its peak at 45 days of incubation and decreased thereafter with time. The results showed that applications of organic matter had significant effect on soil biochemical properties and treatment 4 T4 (HA+ CoM) showed a significant superiority compare with other treatments

Evaluation of Effectiveness between Two Different Facilities for Drinking Water Having Different Water Sources for Removal of Free-Living Amoeba in Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt

Background: Conventional drinking water treatment plants (CDWTPs) and Ground water (GWTP) are the main 2 types of drinking water treatment using freshwater as a source for drinking water in Egypt. Objective: The Egyptian standards for drinking water denied the presence of any type of living protozoa in drinking water produced for human use. Martials and methods: 48 water bodies were selected from Benha and Kaha districts in Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt. Mean turbidity, pH, conductivity, temperature, ammonia, nitrite, iron, manganese, magnesium and residual chlorine were recorded in each water body from two sites. Centrifuged samples were cultured on non-nutrient agar plates with Escherichia coli. Positive sample isolates were subjected to DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction using genus and speciesspecific primers targeting the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and Mp2CL5 gene. Results: The prevalence of Naegleria species, N. fowleri and Acanthamoeba in the study area were 54.1% and 0% (N. fowleri and Acanthamoeba) of all sample examined. The removal of free-living amoebae from drinking water, it was shown that conventional DWTP (Benha) could get rid of 91% of FLAs present in the raw untreated water, while ground DWTP removed only 55.6% of these organisms. Conclusions: The conventional drinking water treatment system for surface water was better than that of only chlorine disinfection for ground water in removing free-living amoeba (FLAs). In general, the persistence of FLAs in drinking tap water unfortunately exerts public health hazards

Glycemic control and anti-osteopathic effect of propolis in diabetic rats

The aim of the study was to explore the possibility that propolis can control diabetes mellitus and prevent diabetic osteopathy in rats. The study compared 60 streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats, with ten nondiabetic rats used as a negative control. The experimental design comprised seven groups (n = 10 rats per group): (1) nondiabetic, used as a negative control; (2) nontreated, used as a positive control; (3) treated with insulin alone; (4) treated with a single dose of propolis alone; (5) treated with a double dose of propolis; (6) treated with insulin and a single dose of propolis; and (7) treated with insulin and a double dose of propolis. After 6 weeks of treatment, the rats were sacrificed. Ratios of femur ash to femur weight and of femur weight to body weight (FW/BW) were calculated and calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and magnesium (Mg) concentrations in femur ash were estimated and analyzed. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), plasma insulin and glucagon, serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), plasma parathyroid hormone (PTH), and calcitonin levels were also estimated and analyzed. There was significant reduction in FBG in all diabetic treated rats. Similarly, higher plasma insulin levels were observed in diabetic rats treated with propolis and insulin than in nontreated diabetic rats, although plasma insulin was not comparatively higher in diabetic rats treated with insulin alone. Serum TBARS was significantly lower in the propolis treated rats than the diabetic nontreated rats. No differences in PTH and calcitonin levels were observed among treatment groups. The FW/BW ratio was significantly higher in diabetic treated groups than in control groups. Furthermore, diabetic rats treated with propolis and insulin had significantly higher Ca, P, and Mg concentrations in femoral ash than nontreated diabetic rats and diabetic rats treated with insulin alone. In conclusion, propolis has a remarkable effect on glucose homeostasis and bone mineralization

Modelling and simulation of electric drive vehicle based on space vector modulation technique and field oriented control strategy

Recently, the electric vehicle has emerged as a powerful platform for mitigating energy crisis and reducing environmental pollution in the transportation sector. The major drawbacks of electrically powered automobile that limits its competitiveness with the internal combustion engine counterpart are the vehicle driving range and battery energy capacity. Hence, limited energy storage warrants the need for an effective and efficient energy utilisation in the overall system. This paper uses Field Oriented Control algorithm and Space Vector Modulation technique to enhance and to optimise energy saving at the same time improve the vehicle induction motor efficiency. A simple electric vehicle drive with vehicle dynamic and tractive loads for motor driving load were modelled and simulated using Matlab/Simulink. Simulation results show that modelled vehicle speed satisfied the acceleration index for the electric vehicle

Active Fractions of Methanol Crude Obtained from Acacia seyal gum: Antioxidant Capacity using FTIR Analysis

The present study is on Acacia seyal gum (ASG), which is an exudate from Talha tree. It provides a rich source of polyphenolics compounds that are used traditionally in folk medicine. The study aims to determine the antioxidant capacity (AC) and functional groups of ASG and Prebio-T-commercial (PTC) samples. The methanol crude extracts of both ASG and PTC have fractioned into chloroform (CHF), hexane (HF), acetone (AF) and methanol (MF) using solvent-solvent portion. Both ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC) assays for each fraction examined. Crude methanol extracts (CME) and its active compositions also analysed carefully using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) technique. The findings presented a wide variety of functional groups provided by the FTIR spectra (eights bands approximately. Regarding cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC), the methanol crude extracts values are 888.6±4.57 mg TE/100g extract, for PTC as compared to 474.3± 2.23 mg TE/100g of extract for ASG. However, both methanol and acetone fractions revealed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) high FRAP values ranged between 599.8±7.5 and 741.8±5.8 mg TE/100g fraction; for PTC and ASG, respectively. While CUPRAC showed insignificant (p ≥ 0.05) same values 356.1±2.62 mg TE/100g of fraction; for MF of both PTC and ASG respectively. Therefore, in this study, methanolic fractions (MFs) are found to be more effective than acetone fractions (AFs), except for CHF and HF. Finally, the antioxidant activity of the active fraction has provided some evidence regarding its functional groups which may have used in traditional medicine

3D hydrogel/ bioactive glass scaffolds in bone tissue engineering: Status and future opportunities

From Elsevier via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2023-06-06, issued 2023-07-05Article version: AMPublication status: AcceptedRepairing significant bone defects remains a critical challenge, raising the clinical demand to design novel bone biomaterials that incorporate osteogenic and angiogenic properties to support the regeneration of vascularized bone. Bioactive glass scaffolds can stimulate angiogenesis and osteogenesis. In addition, natural or synthetic polymers exhibit structural similarity with extracellular matrix (ECM) components and have superior biocompatibility and biodegradability. Thus, there is a need to prepare composite scaffolds of hydrogels for vascularized bone, which incorporates bioactive glass to improve the mechanical properties and bioactivity of natural polymers. In addition, those composites' 3-dimensional (3D) form offers regenerative benefits such as direct doping of the scaffold with ions. This review presents a comprehensive discussion of composite scaffolds incorporated with BaG, focusing on their effects on osteo-inductivity and angiogenic properties. Moreover, the adaptation of the ion-doped hydrogel composite scaffold into a 3D scaffold for the generation of vascularized bone tissue is exposed. Finally, we highlight the future challenges of manufacturing such biomaterials

Screening of some sorghum genotypes for resistance to sorghum midge, Stenodiplosis (= Contarinia) sorghicola Coqillet (diptera: Cecidomyiidae) under gedarif rainfed conditions

Preliminary experiments were conducted at Northern area, Gedarif State during seasons of 2002-03, 2006-07.Where as advanced trials during 2008/2009 to 2012/2013 at northern and Southern areas. The objective was to evaluate selected sorghum genotypes for sorghum midge resistance. A total of 3000 accessions were obtained from Gene Bank Resources. Resistant genotype, DJ 6514 (Resistant Check already released in 2007) was obtained from International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Result showed that the midge damage rating was significantly different among genotypes. The midge damage rating scores ranged between, 1.3- 8.6; 1.1- 9.2; 1.4- 9.0; 1.1 – 9.4; and 1.2- 9.2 for all seasons (2008/09; 2009/10; 2010/11; 2011/12 and 2012/13). However, the lowest midge damage rating was recorded by DJ 6514 (Resistant check), followed by P₁ 570162 (Hag Abbakar); GBM 30 (Early Feterita); Wad Baco; and Safra (1.4; 1.5; 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7), respectively. Genotypes, P₁ 570162 (Hag Abbakar); GBM 30 (Early Feterita); Wad Baco; Safra and Harerai showed lowest % yield loss and performed similar to the resistant check (14.2; 14.5; 14.5; 17.0 and 17.3%), respectively. The combined analysis showed that a significant difference was observed between genotypes. The genotypes were significantly different in panicle types, compact and semi-compact headed genotypes showed lower % glumes coverage (1.3- 4.5%), while semi-compact headed genotypes ranged between 5.5 – 7.8%. Genotypes, Wad Baco; P₁ 570162 (Hag Abbakar); GBM 30 (Early Feterita); Safra; Wad Ahmed; Harerai and Wad Akar showed the shortest glumes coverage (1.3; 1.3; 1.5; 1.5; 1.6; 1.7 and 1.8 %). Compact headed genotypes recorded lowest midge density (6.5 adults/ 5 heads), while the semi-compact headed genotypes were recorded 15.7 adults/ 5 heads compared with others types of heads