The management and control of milk hygiene in the informal sector by environmental health services in South Africa

Thesis (M. Tech.) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2008Local government (LG) is under increasing pressure from the milk industry and consumers regarding their ability and willingness to carry out their mandate with regard to the quality control of milk, especially in the informal sector. The government and the milk industry currently have programmes underway to stimulate economic activities in the informal sector, targeting emerging cattle farmers for the production of milk as part of government’s Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (ASGISA). These initiatives further increase the number of informal milk producers and distributors, which holds a further challenge to regulatory authorities. At the same time, the quality of milk from the informal milk-producing sector poses a serious public health concern. Most of the milk produced and sold by the informal sector is raw (unpasteurised), which does not meet the minimum statutory requirements, and the milking practices applied by the informal sector also do not comply with best practice compliance standards. Local authorities (LAs) are statutorily responsible for registering milking parlours and controlling milk hygiene quality from production stage to purchase stage in order to ensure safe and wholesome dairy products to the consumer. Therefore, LG should play an increasingly important role in ensuring that safe and wholesome milk is produced and distributed to the consumers. All metropolitan municipalities (metros) and district municipalities (DMs) should be authorised by the Ministry of Health to enforce the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act 54 of 1972) through their authorised officials – mainly environmental health practitioners (EHPs). Secondly, LG should have specific programmes, systems and resources to register, monitor, evaluate and control milk production and distribution outlets for continued complianc

Pengaturan Fan Speed dan Suhu Air Conditioner melalui Ucapan dengan Layanan Google Assistant API

Perangkat elektronik air conditioner dengan pengendalian pengenalan ucapan untuk membantu penyandang tunadaksa yang tidak mampu mengendalikan remote secara fisik tetapi memiliki kemampuan verbal. Pengendalian dengan cara verbal memungkinkan penyandang tunadaksa untuk mengubah suhu dan mengatur fan speed air conditioner. Ucapan diterima modul Respeaker 2-mics Pi HAT dikonversi menjadi format wav kemudian diolah oleh Google Assistant API dengan algoritma Natural Language Processing yaitu mengategorikan kata menjadi jenisnya, subjek, predikat, objek, dan keterangannya untuk mempermudah pencarian pada kamus Google Assistant API. Kata tersebut dibandingkan dengan perintah ucapan pada commandtextdatabaseRaspberry Pi 3 yang mengaktifkan local command dan memodulasi sinyal space-coded signal pada GPIO, ditransmisikan melalui infrared transmitter untuk mengatur air conditioner. Infrareddatabase diperoleh melalui penerimaan cahaya infrared dan dikodekan menjadi pulse space oleh software LIRC menjadi fungsi pemanggilan, dipasangkan dengan perintah ucapan commandtextdatabase. Jarak cahaya infrared dari infrared transmitter dapat dikirimkan ke air conditioner hingga sejauh 600 cm dengan transistor NPN 2N2222A bernilai 257, nilai Resistor base sebesar 1500 Ohm, dan nilai Resistor collector sebesar 6,2 Ohm. Uji cobaspeech to text dengan kondisi intensitas background sound 35-40 dB, intensitas suara responden 50-70 dB, dan jarak responden ke microphone 40-50 cm. Sistem yang direalisasi mampu mengenali ucapan yang diberikan responden dengan keberhasilan di atas 50%. Ucapan “High” pada pengujian ucapan fan speed tidak dapat dideteksi oleh sistem, oleh karena itu perlu ditambahkan ucapan suhu agar ucapan dikenal. Sistem mampu menerima ucapan Google Translate dan hanya mendapatkan satu kali kegagalan deteksi ucapa

Continuous cough monitoring using ambient sound recording during convalescence from a COPD exacerbation

Purpose Cough is common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is associated with frequent exacerbations and increased mortality. Cough increases during acute exacerbations (AE-COPD), representing a possible metric of clinical deterioration. Conventional cough monitors accurately report cough counts over short time periods. We describe a novel monitoring system which we used to record cough continuously for up to 45 days during AE-COPD convalescence. Methods This is a longitudinal, observational study of cough monitoring in AE-COPD patients discharged from a single teaching-hospital. Ambient sound was recorded from two sites in the domestic environment and analysed using novel cough classifier software. For comparison, the validated hybrid HACC/LCM cough monitoring system was used on days 1, 5, 20 and 45. Patients were asked to record symptoms daily using diaries. Results Cough monitoring data were available for 16 subjects with a total of 568 monitored days. Daily cough count fell significantly from mean±SEM 272.7±54.5 on day 1 to 110.9±26.3 on day 9 (p<0.01) before plateauing. The absolute cough count detected by the continuous monitoring system was significantly lower than detected by the hybrid HACC/LCM system but normalised counts strongly correlated (r=0.88, p<0.01) demonstrating an ability to detect trends. Objective cough count and subjective cough scores modestly correlated (r=0.46). Conclusions Cough frequency declines significantly following AE-COPD and the reducing trend can be detected using continuous ambient sound recording and novel cough classifier software. Objective measurement of cough frequency has the potential to enhance our ability to monitor the clinical state in patients with COPD

Pengaruh Service Recovery terhadap Customer Satisfaction Penumpang Maskapai Penerbangan Internasional di Indonesia

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisa pengaruh aspek pemulihan layanan (atonement, tangible, empowerment, communication, explanation, feedback) terhadap kepuasan penumpang maskapai internasional di Indonesia. Data dikumpulkan melalui penyebaran kuesioner secara daring bagi penumpang maskapai internasional di Indonesia yang pernah mengalami kegagalan jasa penerbangan. Terdapat 70 data responden yang di olah lebih lanjut menggunakan analisis regresi linear berganda. Hasilnya diketahui bahwa hanya dimensi dimensi atonement, communication dan empowerment yang berpengaruh signifikan terhadap kepuasan penumpang atas pemulihan layanan yang diberikan

Assessment of minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting of the left internal thoracic artery by means of magnetic resonance imaging

ObjectivesWe sought to evaluate graft patency, flow, and flow reserve in patients with minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery of internal thoracic artery grafts by a combined magnetic resonance protocol with a phase-contrast technique and magnetic resonance angiography.MethodsAt 1.5 T (Magnetom Sonata, Siemens), 30 symptomatic patients with 30 left internal thoracic artery grafts were examined 6 years after minimally invasive surgical intervention. Navigator-gated magnetic resonance angiography and contrast-enhanced FLASH-3D magnetic resonance angiography (0.2 mmol gadopentate–diethylene triamine pentetic acid [Gd-DTPA]/kg body weight) was used to assess bypass patency. Phase-contrast flow measurements with retrospective gating were performed in the internal thoracic artery grafts at rest and after stress induction with dipyridamole (0.57 mg/kg body weight). Graft patency was evaluated by means of multidetector computed tomography (Sensation 16, Siemens).ResultsInternal thoracic artery grafts were occluded in 5 of 30 patients. In 6 patients the anastomosis to the left anterior descending artery was highly stenotic (>70%) at multidetector computed tomography. In patients with regular grafts (multidetector computed tomography), a significant improvement of graft flow (P < .001) and diastolic/systolic peak velocity ratio (P < .001) after stress induction was detected. Magnetic resonance angiography combined with flow reserve measurements could differentiate between occluded-stenotic and regular minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafts.ConclusionsMagnetic resonance imaging allows a combined assessment of bypass patency and flow with flow reserve in patients after the minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass operation. The protocol of this study might be applicable for the evaluation of graft status in symptomatic patients after revascularization

Domiciliary Cough Monitoring for the Prediction of COPD Exacerbations

Introduction: Acute exacerbations of COPD (AE-COPD) are a leading cause of health service utilisation and are associated with morbidity and mortality. Identifying the prodrome of AE-COPD by monitoring symptoms and physiological parameters (telemonitoring) has proven disappointing and false alerts limit clinical utility. We report objective monitoring of cough counts around AE-COPD and the performance of a novel alert system identifying meaningful change in cough frequency. Methods: This prospective longitudinal study of cough monitoring included chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients experienced in telemonitoring that had two or more AE-COPD in the past year. Participants underwent cough monitoring and completed a daily questionnaire for 90 days. The automated system identified deteriorating trends in cough and this was compared with alerts generated by an established telemonitoring questionnaire. Results: 28 patients [median age 66 (range 46–86), mean FEV-1% predicted 36% (SD 18%)] completed the study and had a total of 58 exacerbations (43 moderate and 15 severe). Alerts based on cough monitoring were generated mean 3.4 days before 45% of AE-COPD with one false alert every 100 days. In contrast, questionnaire-based alerts occurred in the prodrome of 88% of AE-COPD with one false alert every 10 days. Conclusion: An alert system based on cough frequency alone predicted 45% AE-COPD; the low false alert rate with cough monitoring suggests it is a practical and clinically relevant tool. In contrast, the utility of questionnaire-based symptom monitoring is limited by frequent false alerts

Ganoderma species, including new taxa associated with root rot of the iconic Jacaranda mimosifolia in Pretoria, South Africa

Jacaranda mimosifolia trees have been progressively dying due to Ganoderma root and butt rot disease in Pretoria (the “City of Jacarandas”) for many years. Ganoderma austroafricanum was described from these trees previously but this was based on a single collection. This study treats a substantially expanded collection of isolates of Ganoderma made from all dying trees where basidiomes were present in a Pretoria suburb. DNA sequences were obtained from the ITS and LSU region for the isolates and compared against sequences on GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses were used to compare sequences with those for other Ganoderma species. Based on sequence comparisons and morphological characters, two new Ganoderma species were discovered and these are described here as G. enigmaticum and G. destructans spp. nov. Interestingly, the previously described G. austroafricanum was not found, G. enigmaticum was found on only one Ceratonia siliqua tree and G. destructans was found on all other trees sampled. The latter species appears to be the primary cause of root rot of J. mimosifolia in the area sampled.The Department of Science and Technology (DST) – National Research Foundation (NRF) Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB).http://www.imafungus.orgam201

Evidence of low levels of genetic diversity for the Phytophthora austrocedrae population in Patagonia, Argentina

Phytophthora austrocedrae is a recently discovered pathogen that causes severe mortality of Austrocedrus chilensis in Patagonia. The high level of susceptibility of the host tree, together with the distribution pattern of the pathogen, have led to the hypothesis that P. austrocedrae was introduced into Argentina. The aim of this study was to assess the population structure of P. austrocedrae isolates from Argentina in order to gain an understanding of the origin and spread of the pathogen. Genetic diversity was determined based on amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). In total, 48 isolates of P. austrocedrae were obtained from infected A. chilensis trees, representing the geographical range of the host. Four primer combinations were used for the AFLP analysis. Of the 332 scored bands, 12% were polymorphic. Gene diversity (h) ranged from 0 01 to 0 03; the Shannon index (I) ranged from 0 01 to 0 04. A high degree of genetic similarity was observed among the isolates (pairwise S values = 0 958–1; 0 993 0 009, mean SD). A frequency histogram showed that most of the isolate pairs were identical. Principal coordinate analysis using three-dimensional plots did not group any of the isolates based on their geographical origin. The low genetic diversity (within and between sites) and absence of population structure linked to geographic origin, together with the aggressiveness of the pathogen and the disease progression pattern, suggest that P. austrocedrae might have been introduced into Argentina.The Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) and the NRF/DST Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology (CTHB), South Africa.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-30592015-02-27hb201

Tuning MEMS cantilever devices using photoresponsive polymers

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) energy harvesting devices have had limited commercial success partly due to the frequency mismatch between the device and the vibration source. Tuning the cantilever device is one possible solution but developing a tunable MEMS device is difficult. This paper demonstrates a novel method of tuning a MEMS cantilever device post-fabrication by using light-responsive azobenzene liquid crystal polymers (LCP). Light exposure causes the photoresponsive polymers to change their elastic modulus, thus affecting the resonant frequency of the device. The photoresponsive polymer was integrated with three different MEMS cantilever substrates including LCP, parylene, and silicon. The three cantilever beams all demonstrated changes in resonant frequency when exposed to UV light of 10.4%, 8.13%, and 4.86%, respectively. The change in resonant frequency is dependent on the stiffness of the substrate, the thickness of the azo-LCP, the intensity and duration of the light exposure, and the wavelength of the light. The results in this paper validate that light responsive polymers can be used to reduce the frequency of MEMS cantilevers post-fabrication, which could lead to developing devices that can be precisely tuned for specific applications