Practices towards prevention of food borne diseases among females in rural area of Trichy, India

Background: Food borne diseases are of great importance since it leads to multiple health problems resulting in illness, malnutrition, mortality and economic loss. These diseases share a significant proportion in the occurrence of communicable diseases. Objectives was to study the knowledge about food borne diseases and food safety among women residing in rural area.Methods: This was a cross sectional study involving 150 adult females who were residing in rural field practice areas of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Practices of safe food handling were assessed using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Informed consent was obtained, and confidentiality was maintained. Appropriate descriptive statistical analysis was done.Results: Out of 150 females, 147 (98%) were aware of the importance of washing hands before cooking. Sixty four (42.7%) females had a habit of washing the vegetables with water twice before cooking. 102(68%) females consumed stored food after reheating, 48(32%)females consumed without heating. Though 70% were aware of food adulteration, none of the participants have lodged compliant against adulteration.Conclusions: Through our study we found that most of the females practiced proper hand washing before cooking and proper storage of the leftover food. The proportion of females who followed adequate cleaning of non-vegetarian food items and vegetables were found to be inadequate.

Sustainability assessment of geopolymer concrete synthesized by slag and corncob ash

Globally, sustainable construction materials are promoted in the construction and building sector due to the high utilization of Portland cement as a conventional binder and its associated energy and environmental impacts. Consequently, geopolymer concrete emerges as a substitute for conventional concrete. This study designed two grades of geopolymer concrete (GPC) strengths (C 30 and 40 MPa) with ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and corncob ash (CCA) as alternative binders. The binders, varied at 0–100 wt% of GGBFS by CCA, were activated with sodium hydroxide (SH) and sodium silicate (SS) solutions. After 28 days of curing, the compressive strength of the concrete cubes was determined. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of the concrete constituents were assessed. At the same time, their sustainability and economic indexes were estimated via the Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE) within the cradleto- site confinement. The findings showed that GGBFS-CCA-based geopolymer concrete exhibited lesser environmental impact and higher sustainable and economic efficiency than Portland cement concrete. Thus, these outcomes can be advantageous in achieving a cleaner built milieu and sustainable construction

Sustainability assessment of geopolymer concrete synthesized by slag and corncob ash

Globally, sustainable construction materials are promoted in the construction and building sector due to the high utilization of Portland cement as a conventional binder and its associated energy and environmental impacts. Consequently, geopolymer concrete emerges as a substitute for conventional concrete. This study designed two grades of geopolymer concrete (GPC) strengths (C 30 and 40 MPa) with ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and corncob ash (CCA) as alternative binders. The binders, varied at 0–100 wt% of GGBFS by CCA, were activated with sodium hydroxide (SH) and sodium silicate (SS) solutions. After 28 days of curing, the compressive strength of the concrete cubes was determined. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of the concrete constituents were assessed. At the same time, their sustainability and economic indexes were estimated via the Inventory of Carbon and Energy (ICE) within the cradle-to-site confinement. The findings showed that GGBFS-CCA-based geopolymer concrete exhibited lesser environmental impact and higher sustainable and economic efficiency than Portland cement concrete. Thus, these outcomes can be advantageous in achieving a cleaner built milieu and sustainable construction

Experimental Study on Self Compacting Fibrous Concrete Comprising Magnesium Sulphate Solution Treated Recycled Aggregates

It appears that the awareness and intentions to use recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) in concrete are expanding over the globe. The production of self-compacting concrete (SCC) using RCA is an emerging field in the construction sector. However, the highly porous and absorptive nature of adhered mortar on RCA’s surface leads to reduced concrete strength, which can be removed with the application of various techniques, such as acid treatment. This study investigated the effect of the partial replacement of silica fume by cement and natural aggregate (NA) by RCA with and without steel fibre. The used RCA was treated with magnesium sulphate solution. It was immersed in solutions with different concentrations of 10%, 15% and 20% and for different periods of 5, 10 and 15 days. Sixteen mixes were prepared, which were divided into six groups with or without 1% of steel fibre content. The fresh properties, compressive strength, split tensile strength and impact resistance were examined. The results revealed that the strengths of the mixes with 20% RCA were marginally better than those of the control mixes. The compressive strength and split tensile strength were reduced by 34% and 35% at 60% RCA content, respectively, as compared to the control mixes

Studies on Sustainable Supply Chain Barriers of Suppliers to the Thermal Power Heavy Industry

368-372The paper proposes a method to identify and rank the small and medium scale industries which are a supplier to the thermal power heavy industry, following the sustainable supply chain. A large and growing number of manufacturers are realizing substantial and financial benefits from sustainable business practices. Sustainable manufacturing also enhances employee, community and product safety. Awareness about these benefits is not much wider in the Indian Subcontinent, particularly amongst the small and medium scale industries (MSMEs). Literature papers used to identify Barriers of Sustainable Supply chain. It is fundamental to understand the drivers, barriers, and benefits influencing sustainable manufacturing initiatives. All barriers do not have the same degree of influence on the sustainable supply chain. It is, therefore, necessary to rate these barriers. These barriers can be weighed and can be ranked by using one of the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tools that are the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Based on the ranking, important barriers are shortlisted from the present list. A survey is floated to small and medium scale industries related to thermal power where the respondent companies will be asked to rate their level of agreement on the drivers, barriers, and benefits of sustainable manufacturing initiatives. In this study three broad area of sustainable supply chain, barriers are involved those are Economic, social and Environmental barriers. This three broad area of SSCM is called Triple bottom line concept of Sustainable supply chains. Here those are analyzed and ranked

Flexural Performance and Microstructural Studies of Trough-Shaped Geopolymer Ferrocement Panels

Geopolymer mortar is the best solution as an alternative to cement mortar in civil engineering. This paper deals with the effect of geopolymer mortar on the strength and microstructural properties under ambient curing conditions. In this research, geopolymer mortars were prepared with fly ash and steel slag (in the ratio 1:2.0, 1:2.5 and 1:3.0) as precursors with NaOH and Na2SiO3 as activator solution solutions (in the ratios of 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0) with concentrations of NaOH as 8 M, 10 M, 12 M and 14 M to study the compressive strength behaviour. From the experimental results, it was observed that the geopolymer mortar mix with the ratio of fly ash and steel slag 1:2.5, 12 M NaOH solution and the ratio of NaOH and Na2SiO3 0.5 exhibits the maximum compressive strength results in the range of 55 MPa to 60 MPa. From the optimized results, ferrocement panels of size 1000 mm × 1000 mm × 50 mm were developed to study the flexural behaviour. The experimental results of the flexural strength were compared with the analytical results developed through ABAQUS software. It was observed that the Trough-shaped geopolymer ferrocement panel exhibits 56% higher value in its ultimate strength than the analytical work. In addition to the strength properties, microstructural analysis was carried out in the form of SEM, EDAX and XRD from the tested samples

Practices towards prevention of food borne diseases among females in rural area of Trichy, India

Background: Food borne diseases are of great importance since it leads to multiple health problems resulting in illness, malnutrition, mortality and economic loss. These diseases share a significant proportion in the occurrence of communicable diseases. Objectives was to study the knowledge about food borne diseases and food safety among women residing in rural area.Methods: This was a cross sectional study involving 150 adult females who were residing in rural field practice areas of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Practices of safe food handling were assessed using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Informed consent was obtained, and confidentiality was maintained. Appropriate descriptive statistical analysis was done.Results: Out of 150 females, 147 (98%) were aware of the importance of washing hands before cooking. Sixty four (42.7%) females had a habit of washing the vegetables with water twice before cooking. 102(68%) females consumed stored food after reheating, 48(32%)females consumed without heating. Though 70% were aware of food adulteration, none of the participants have lodged compliant against adulteration.Conclusions: Through our study we found that most of the females practiced proper hand washing before cooking and proper storage of the leftover food. The proportion of females who followed adequate cleaning of non-vegetarian food items and vegetables were found to be inadequate.

Experimental Study on Self Compacting Fibrous Concrete Comprising Magnesium Sulphate Solution Treated Recycled Aggregates

It appears that the awareness and intentions to use recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) in concrete are expanding over the globe. The production of self-compacting concrete (SCC) using RCA is an emerging field in the construction sector. However, the highly porous and absorptive nature of adhered mortar on RCA’s surface leads to reduced concrete strength, which can be removed with the application of various techniques, such as acid treatment. This study investigated the effect of the partial replacement of silica fume by cement and natural aggregate (NA) by RCA with and without steel fibre. The used RCA was treated with magnesium sulphate solution. It was immersed in solutions with different concentrations of 10%, 15% and 20% and for different periods of 5, 10 and 15 days. Sixteen mixes were prepared, which were divided into six groups with or without 1% of steel fibre content. The fresh properties, compressive strength, split tensile strength and impact resistance were examined. The results revealed that the strengths of the mixes with 20% RCA were marginally better than those of the control mixes. The compressive strength and split tensile strength were reduced by 34% and 35% at 60% RCA content, respectively, as compared to the control mixes

Mechanical, Physico-Chemical and Morphological Characterization of Energy Optimised Furnace (EOF) Steel Slag as Coarse Aggregate in Concrete

This research tests energy optimised furnace (EOF) steel slag as substitution for natural coarse aggregate in concrete. Steel slag’s usefulness as a substitute for natural coarse aggregate in concrete is the primary goal of this research. According to IS:2386-1963, the characterization of EOF steel slag, as coarse, is done by examining the shape and size of a particle, mechanical properties, physical properties, soundness, and alkali-aggregate reactivity. Tests for detection of staining material in steel slag and hardness of inter-facial transition zone in hardened cement paste were also carried out. The chemical analysis of the steel slag reveals the stability of oxides present in the steel slag. Microstructural characterization by SEM (scanning electron microscope) analysis of steel slag aggregate was also employed to support the characterization and XRD analysis, and it was found that the EOF steel slag is crystalline. The digital image processing technique (DIP) is adopted to study the shape indices, circularity, sphericity, shape factor, and roundness of natural and EOF steel slag aggregate. According to the characterization and strength investigation, steel slag aggregate outperforms natural coarse aggregate

Experimental Investigation on the Potential Use of Magnetic Water as a Water Reducing Agent in High Strength Concrete

High-strength concrete is designed for a self-weight reduction structure and exhibits higher resistance to compressive loads. This paper proposes a novel technique to enhance concrete’s properties using Magnetic Field Treated Water (MFTW), describing the results of experimental studies to apprehend the fresh, hardened and microstructural behavior of concrete prepared with Magnetic Water (MW) using a permanent magnet with a field intensity of 0.9 Tesla. The novel scheme focuses on utilizing MW as a water-reducing agent instead of SP to improve the workability of fresh concrete with a 0.38 w/c ratio for achieving M40 grade concrete. Results show a 12% improvement in compressive strength and an 8.9% improvement in split tensile strength compared to normal water (NW) with 1% SP. At 30% cement volume reduction, Magnetic Water Concrete (MWC) performs better than Normal Water Concrete (NWC). Microstructure examination shows that a smaller Calcium Hydrate (CH) crystal is formed with MW and its mineral composition is observed through Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX)