Archives-June... 

Deployment of maintenance and quality management systems comprehensively (TPM and TQM) have an important role in improving the productivity of manufacturing industries. Results of studies confirmed that implementation of TPM and TQM systems in many industries have not been successful. This research evaluated TPM and TQM deployment readiness in the Iranian prominent automaker, Pars Khodro, by appointing three different enablers. Research findings indicate that General and TPM enablers in Pars khodro are desirable, while TQM enablers should be boost.

The concept of system lifecycle models came into existence that emphasized on the need to follow some structured approach towards building new or improved system. Many models were suggested like waterfall, prototype, rapid application development, V-shaped, top & Bottom model etc. In this paper, we approach towards the traditional as well as recent software development life cycle models.

Cryogenic homogenized cotton samples were tested for mercury traces with very low concentrations we used analysis technique namely Cold Vapor/ Isotope Dilution ICP-MS. Target element is listed in Öko-Tex Standards and it should be absent or less than 0.02 mg/kg in the tested cotton samples for baby, direct skin contact and decoration products. Due to the presence of Hg in a very low concentration we need to measure it with high accuracy and low uncertainty sources testing method. In this work a previously homogenized Egyptian cotton samples were tested for total content of mercury. These samples included cotton varieties represent extra long staple (Giza 70 and 88) and long staple (Giza 89). The measurements were made using isotope dilution cold vapor inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry (ID-CV-ICP-MS) with Carius tube digestion. The results showed that the tested homogenized cotton samples have very low concentrations that cannot be detected by many other mercury analysis techniques. Uncertainty budgets also estimated in this work for all samples.

This study was aimed at assessing the concentrations of heavy metals and other elements in surface dust at Agbogbloshie, where crude methods are used for e-waste processing. Dust samples were collected from fourteen locations within Agbogbloshie including the dismantling site and burning site of the scrap market. The X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) was used to evaluate the concentrations of the heavy metals and other elements in the samples. Heavy metals such as Zn, Cu and Pb gave concentrations in the range of (422.54 – 181752.94mg/kg), (101.83 – 9144.50mg/kg) and (117.03 – 14448.46mg/kg). All these concentrations and that of most elements exceeded the New Dutch List Action Values (for which intervention is required) over thousand times. The road surface, dismantling site, burning site and the Domod office recorded very high concentrations of heavy metals. The Ayalolo cluster of schools also gave alarming concentrations of heavy metals. Assessment of human heath risk of these heavy metals indicated that, exposure to dust through dermal contact posed the highest health risk to children under 6 years. Hg was the only element which indicated a higher risk through the inhalation of vapour. The hazard indices (HI) computed indicated that the values from all the sites were above the safe level of one. The dismantling site gave the highest HI value of 882.57 for Pb from all the sites. Further research work on health risk assessment should be conducted for those directly involved in the recycling activities.

The paper examines the role of management tools in developing markets to respond to the increased competition. The research design was exploratory in nature whiles the data employed were mainly secondary. Statistical test using frequency tables were used to find out the roles these tools play in developing markets. Findings indicate that managers with average score of 84.2% believe that management tools allows firms to identify what goods and services consumers demand, so that the firm produces exactly what is demanded. Throughout the study, the author focuses on the use of management tools and their roles in developing markets.

A Simple, accurate and precise titrimetric method was developed for the estimation of Esomeprazole magnesium trihydrate in bulk and tablet dosage form by using complexometric titration. In this method, EDTA solution (0.01M) was employed as a titrant, Eriochrome black T as an indicator and methanol as a solvent to solubilize the poorly water soluble drug. The validation of the proposed method was carried out for linearity and range, accuracy, precision, ruggedness and recovery. The method was found linear with correlation coefficients of 0.9996. Concerning accuracy and precision the RSD% values were satisfactory found less than 2. There is no interference from the excepients present in the formulation as confirmed by standard addition method with recovery % 100.4 and RSD% 2.1. The developed method was compared with reported UV spectroscopic method and there is no statistically significant difference.

Agriculture is the backbone of Kenya and employs the highest proportion of the population, accounts for approximately a quarter of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and close to two-thirds of total exports, hence its importance in poverty alleviation. Despite the importance of the sector, about four-fifths of the country’s land area is arid and semi-arid (ASAL), making rain fed agriculture largely unviable. As such, livestock and dryland farming are elevated to the highest among livelihood options for resident communities who are largely nomadic pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. While weather patterns are largely responsible for low crop yields and therefore food insecurity, there are other factors that come into play to escalate want in these areas including socio-cultural dynamics and institutional bottlenecks. This paper looks at the challenges of dryland farming in semi-arid areas of Kenya and henceforth points at possible research gaps that need to be bridged to alleviate food insecurity and enhance national development and the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goal 1 of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

The study evaluates the effects of land rights on agricultural investment in Imo, State. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents from the list of farmers obtained from the Extension agent in-charge of Okigwe Agricultural Zone. The mean age of the respondents is 49.5. The respondents are married with over 60% educated, have large family size, and small farm size of 0.5-1ha. The existing tenure systems are purchase, inheritance, pledge, communal and rent. The respondents (87.5%) have use rights only. Land right affect enhance household food security, bolster family economy, increase optimal land use by farmers, eliminates fear of eviction, encourages investments, allow the development of an off farm economy and improve family stability. We concluded that secure land right is a veritable tool for poverty reduction, food security and agricultural investment. The benefits include bolstering family economy, enhancing household security and increasing optimal land use by farmers. It was therefore recommended that policies should be made by government for improving tenure security. Land should be made available to enhance agricultural production and programmes to increase the standard of living and the purchase of land should be introduced by the government.

Human activities such as development of urban area and reducing vegetation cause dramatic changes in surface runoff generation. In the present study effects of Land use and Land cover (LU/LC) changes on surface runoff in Siahroud watershed in north of Iran has been assessed. LU/LC was derived from an Aster imagery (acquired in 2002) and a Landsat 8 imagery (acquired in 2013) for two different periods using object-oriented classification. For this purpose preprocessing and Image enhancement on remotely sensed data were applied. The images were segmented to objects and then objects assigned into 5 classes based on spectral features and physical characteristics such as texture and size of the segmented objects. Accuracy assessment of Classifications was computed by calculation of total accuracy for each classification, user, producer`s accuracy for individual classes and also KAPPA index. In order to determine the average Curve Number for each year, LULC maps were combined with Soil Hydrologic Groups map of study area in ArcGIS. The surface runoff was calculated for 7 events in each year using SCS-CN method. Finally direct runoff has been calculated from the same rainfall for both years. Results showed that urban area has increased during the last 11 year resulting in 5to 40 percent increase in surface runoff.

Several synthetic chemicals used as preservative of food crops have been banned in some countries because of their toxicological effects (adverse reactions). This study aims the use of plant extracts as natural preservatives of a sorghum beer "tchakpalo". The drink has been produced following the traditional technology improved by the addition of the Mentha spicata L. essential oil. This essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation with a Clevenger type apparatus and analyzed by gas chromatography and by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The antifungal activity of this oil was evaluated by the method of diffusion in agar against the strains responsible of the alteration (Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus and Penicillium digitatum) isolated from "tchakpalo". The extraction yield of essential oil was 0.27% after 135 minutes. The major compounds identified in this essential oil were: carvone (66.57%), limonene (16.33%) and 1.8-cineole (7.22%). Antifungal activity evaluation showed fungicidal effect of this essential oil on A. flavus at a concentration of 0.27 mg/ml and has shown fungistatic effect on the other two fungi at the concentrations tested. The addition of this essential oil at 0.05 % in the beverage produced has made it stable during two (02) months. It would therefore be advisable to continue the studies on a longer "shelf life" in order to confirm the conservative effect of this essential oil.