Enhancing lean supply chain through traffic light quality management system

Lean is a continuous journey to grow and excel the company. Any company want to develop and cope with the world pace must adopt lean. However, in most of the organizations the management culture or people’s mentality is not so good to embrace change. They have predestined mind set where no change is normally allowed. Lean is a cooperative way of working that involves all departments and all personnel to work together in a team for the betterment of the entire company. Without providing fixed solution of any problem it suggests the best way that people willingly accept to do. Lean normally deals with highest quality, shorter lead time and lowest cost. In Bangladesh, most of the garment manufacturing companies are experiencing a massive quality problem. We describe a case where traffic light, a tool of lean quality system was adopted to a garment manufacturing company in Bangladesh. We also provide the charts to contrast the before and after scenario in detail, in order to illustrate the company benefits. After the traffic light system being implemented, the quality status was improved, production capacity was increased; significant days were saved that enhanced the lead time and thus strengthen the supply chain

Diversity of rodent-borne zoonotic pathogens at the human-animal-environment interface in Qatar.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Rodents are the most diversified terrestrial mammals in the world. These animals assist with maintaining a healthy ecosystem through the soil structure modification, aeration, and hydration, although 5-10% are regarded as pests and carry zoonotic pathogens. Besides consumption and damage of our food and property, they are responsible for the transmission of several diseases, including plague, typhus, and leishmaniasis. Commensal rodents are the primary source of these pathogens because of their close proximity to humans. Qatar is a small country in the Arabian Peninsula. Four rodent species have been recorded in this country, that includes three commensal (Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, and Rattus rattus) and one wild (Jaculus jaculus) species. The zoonotic importance of rodents is yet to be explored. Knowing the pathogens originating from rodents is essential for early preparedness, prevention, and control. Therefore, the current study was undertaken on commensal rodents, rodentborne zoonotic pathogens, and the factors that are associated with pathogen prevalence among rodents, such as rodent sex, age, and trapping location in Qatar. A cross-sectional study was conducted between August 2019 and February 2020, which trapped rodents from different facilities, such as livestock and agricultural farms, bachelor and family accommodations, and industrial and commercial areas of Qatar. After studying the morphological and morphometric characters, blood samples, ectoparasites and visceral samples were collected from the captured rodents. Parasitic, bacterial, and viral pathogens were identified and characterized using gross, necropsy, microscopic, culture, biochemical, immunologic, and molecular methods. Descriptive statistics and univariate analysis were conducted to detect rodents, rodent-borne pathogens abundance, and the related risk factors. The study trapped 148 rodents, most of which were adults (n = 138, 93.2%, 95% CI: 87.92–96.71), and from livestock farms (n = 79, 49%, 95% CI: 41.02–57.65). R. norvregicus was the most prevalent (n = 120, 81%, 95% CI: 73.83–87.05), followed by R. rattus (n=24, 16%, 95% CI:10.68–23.16) and M. musculus (n=4, 3%, 95% CI: 0.74– 6.78) with an average body weight of 18.8 ± 2.2 gm, 264.3 ± 87.5 gm, and 130 ± 71.3 gm, respectively. This is the first morphologic and morphometric study of commensal rodents in Qatar and the Arabian Peninsula that detected the Qatari rodents are relatively smaller than those of Turkey, Tunisia, and Iran. About 63.5% of the rodents were infected with at least one of the 9 species of parasites, viz. Xenopsylla astia, Ornithonyssus bacoti, Hymenolepis diminuta, Taenia taeniaeformis, Capillaria annulosa, Strongyloides spp., Giardia spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Trypanosoma lewisi, and Leishmania spp. Helminths were the most prevalent (46.0%), followed by ectoparasites (31.8%) and protozoa (29.1%). Going by individual species prevalence, X. astia ranked the highest (31.8%), where the lowest prevalent parasite was C. annulosa (0.7%). The prevalence of H. diminuta was positively correlated (OR=4.13; p = 0.00) with the prevalence of X. astia. The study also identified thirteen bacterial species, namely Acinetobacter baumannii, Aeromonas salmonicida, Citrobacter freundii, Citrobacter koseri, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Hafnia alvei, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Providencia stuartii, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella enterica, from the intestine samples. The majority of the bacteria were E. coli (54.63%, 95% CI: 44.76-64.24), followed by P. mirabilis (17.59%, 95% CI: 10.94-26.10), and K. pneumoniae (8.33%, 95% CI: 3.88-15.23). The study detected 31.58% (6/19, 95% CI: 12.58-56.55) of the flea pools, and one (1/1) mite pool was positive with Rickettsia spp. S. enterica showed the highest antimicrobial resistance (100% resistant to 8 antimicrobials). The top resistant antimicrobials were from cephalosporin, followed by penicillin and tetracycline groups. E. coli (26.92%, 95% CI:11.57-47.97) and K. pneumonia (50%, 95% CI: 6.76- 93.24) were ESBL (extended-spectrum beta-lactamases) producers. The studied rodents are indicators of the presence and dispersal of zoonotic pathogens in Qatar. Urgent action is needed to prevent future spillover of these pathogens at the human-animal-environment interface. It is essential to understand the biology, epidemiology, and transmission dynamics of these pathogens. Farm biosecurity and integrated pest management approach should be implemented in the farm premises. Implementing the One Health approach to combat rodent-borne zoonoses in order to reduce the risk of the future epidemic in Qatar is strongly recommended

Compact Model of a Topological Transistor

The precession of a ferromagnet leads to the injection of spin current and heat into an adjacent non-magnetic material. Besides, spin-orbit entanglement causes an additional charge current injection. Such a device has been recently proposed where a quantum-spin hall insulator (QSHI) in proximity to a ferromagnetic insulator (FI) and superconductor (SC) leads to the pumping of charge, spin, and heat. Here we build a circuit-compatible Verilog-A-based compact model for the QSHI-FI-SC device capable of generating two topologically robust modes enabling the device operation. Our model also captures the dependence on the ferromagnetic precision, drain voltage, and temperature with an excellent (> 99%) accuracy

Private Hospitals in Sylhet City, Bangladesh: An Issue of Service Marketing

Competitive environment among the industrial and service sector has also influenced the healthcare especially hospitals in private sector. There is a tremendous growth in private hospitals during the last three decades, due to inadequate healthcare facilities available at public hospitals to meet the near about 160 million people of Bangladesh. This factor had provided an opportunity for the private hospitals to fill this gap by providing better healthcare services to the patients that leads to patient’s satisfaction. This paper aimed to evaluate the service quality delivered by the private hospitals in Bangladesh based on patient’s perception

Cryogenic Neuromorphic Hardware

The revolution in artificial intelligence (AI) brings up an enormous storage and data processing requirement. Large power consumption and hardware overhead have become the main challenges for building next-generation AI hardware. To mitigate this, Neuromorphic computing has drawn immense attention due to its excellent capability for data processing with very low power consumption. While relentless research has been underway for years to minimize the power consumption in neuromorphic hardware, we are still a long way off from reaching the energy efficiency of the human brain. Furthermore, design complexity and process variation hinder the large-scale implementation of current neuromorphic platforms. Recently, the concept of implementing neuromorphic computing systems in cryogenic temperature has garnered intense interest thanks to their excellent speed and power metric. Several cryogenic devices can be engineered to work as neuromorphic primitives with ultra-low demand for power. Here we comprehensively review the cryogenic neuromorphic hardware. We classify the existing cryogenic neuromorphic hardware into several hierarchical categories and sketch a comparative analysis based on key performance metrics. Our analysis concisely describes the operation of the associated circuit topology and outlines the advantages and challenges encountered by the state-of-the-art technology platforms. Finally, we provide insights to circumvent these challenges for the future progression of research

Optimization of Time and Saving Water, Energy through Using Regulator with Hydrogen Peroxide in Exhaust Bleaching Process

On this investigation so as to optimize time, water and energy of exhaust bleaching procedure one test turned into accomplished by using modern bleaching regulator Imerol® Blue liquid (mixture of carboxylic acid salts and ethoxylated fatty alcohols) with caustic soda, H2O2 (50%), Bactosol AP (peroxide killer), Acetic acid whilst others become conducted the use of classical wetting agent Imerol (PCLF), sequestering agent (EDTA), stabilizer (NaSi03), caustic soda, H2O2 (35%). In this take a look at demonstrated that (a) Applied the bleaching regulator at 110°C decreased the bleaching time 15 min that accelerated productiveness in comparison to classical bleaching agent. (b) While Bleaching achieved with Imerol® Blue liquid absorbency of cotton knit material changed into stepped forward rather than classical bleaching process. (c) Modern bleaching method decreased weight loss percentage of cotton knit material as compared with classical method. (d) Whilst bleaching regulator Imerol® Blue liquid implemented on cotton knit cloth no rinsing became wished that’s leads the minimization of bleaching time and water with in comparison to classical bleaching. For the outcome effluent volumes decreased that gives benefit on the surroundings and ecology. (e) Bleach regulator Imerol® Blue liquid allows to consume caustic soda at neutral pH in knit cloth as evaluation with classical bleaching. For the result neutralization with acid turned into prevented in modern bleaching technique. (f) For the bleach regulator, wetting, sequestering trait of imerol® Blue liquid no longer simplest leads the minimization of energy, alkaline quantity, degradation of cellulose in method but also advanced degree of whiteness, uniformity and improved dye-potential

Healthcare Capacity, Health Expenditure, and Civil Society as Predictors of COVID-19 Case Fatalities: A Global Analysis

Background: The rapid growth in cases of COVID-19 has challenged national healthcare capacity, testing systems at an advanced ICU, and public health infrastructure level. This global study evaluates the association between multi-factorial healthcare capacity and case fatality of COVID-19 patients by adjusting for demographic, health expenditure, population density, and prior burden of non-communicable disease. It also explores the impact of government relationships with civil society as a predictor of infection and mortality rates. Methods: Data were extracted from the Johns Hopkins University database, World Bank records and the National Civic Space Ratings 2020 database. This study used data from 86 countries which had at least 1,000 confirmed cases on 30th April 2020. Negative binomial regression model was used to assess the association between case fatality (a ratio of total number of confirmed deaths to total number of confirmed cases) and healthcare capacity index adjusting for other covariates. Findings: Regression analysis shows that greater healthcare capacity was related to lesser case-fatality [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 0.5811; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.4727–0.7184; p < 0.001] with every additional unit increase in the healthcare capacity index associated with a 42% decrease in the case fatality. Health expenditure and civil society variables did not reach statistical significance but were positively associated with case fatalities. Interpretation: Based on preliminary data, this research suggests that building effective multidimensional healthcare capacity is the most promising means to mitigate future case fatalities. The data also suggests that government's ability to implement public health measures to a degree determines mortality outcomes

Eco-design framework for reducing fabric waste and consumption during fast fashion production

Fast fashion business model is well-known for being responsible for accelerated waste generation both at post-consumption and manufacturing phases. The average marker efficiency of industrial fabric cutting process for garment manufacturing is 85%, which means average 15% of fabrics is directly scrapped during this stage. This makes all the efforts and inputs given from fibre to fabric production go fully in vain and the environmental impact and climate change contribution by this 15% of scrapped fabrics unjustifiable. Zero-Waste Pattern Cutting (ZWPC) is a recent trend in increasing fabric utilisation but is only practiced in atelier environment for making one or two garments. Our previous work demonstrated the integration of ZWPC in mass production of knitwear resulting over 95% of fabric utilisation. In this work, we demonstrated an eco-design framework for integrating ZWPC in to design and pattern cutting of woven garments in mass production scenario. As ZWPC approach demands significant changes in pattern geometry to increase fabric utilisation, it is necessary to first check through wearer trial how a garment drapes and appears on human body before finalising the design for mass production. The whole process is heuristic and based on ‘error and trial’ method. The physical prototyping and fit checking processes are very time and material consuming, hence not sustainable in this case. Therefore, virtual prototyping and fit analysis approach has been adopted to test the fit of eco-designed garment

Improving the Fastness Properties of Cotton Fabric through the Implementation of Different Mordanting Agents Dyed with Natural Dye Extracted from Marigold

Extraction of natural dyes for the coloration of Textile substrate is one the most important research area to the researchers. It is tried to extract the natural dyes from marigold flower through using the different kinds of mordanting agents. In this research, a particular source is used for dyes extraction. Before the extraction Patel of the marigold flower was extracted and dried on sunlight, subsequently dried in room temperature due to preserve the natural colorant. The natural dyes were extracted by boiling the above substrates in water without any chemicals. As mordant, Potash Alum [K2Al2(SO4)3.24H2O], Ferrous Sulphate(FeSO4),Copper Sulphate (CuSO4),Nickel (II) Sulphate (NiSO4),Potassium Dichromate (K2Cr2O7),Stannous Chloride(SnCl2) were used. The mordanting procedures were followed same for all the experiments. The treatment runtime was 60 minute at 100oC. After mordanting each sample fabric was kept for 24 hours for conditioning and then the dyeing was done. But as there is no particular dyeing method for natural dyeing so it is followed some trial and some convenient methods were made after trial for several times. Mordanted samples were wet out in cold water before dyeing. During dyeing some salt or soda was added to observe the effects through the Runtime 60 minutes at 60oC. After dyeing samples were cold rinsed and soaping was done and dried with hot air dryer. Finally the color fastness like Color fastness to wash, Color fastness to perspiration/saliva, Color fastness to water, Color fastness to rubbing and Color fastness to light were checked and found satisfactory result