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This article aims to analyze the relation between work and health in the professional practice of tour guides working in the tourist city of Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. It is based on literature research covering the professionalization process of this professional category and the relation between work, mental health and illness. Data collection was conducted through free observation of the work environment as well as by means of semi-structured interviews with tour guides. The study concluded that the constant feeling of insecurity to which these professionals are exposed may cause emotional and psychic distress that turns into psychopathology, which in turn is expressed in physical and mental fatigue, depressive states, frustration, dissatisfaction and sickness. Contribution/ Originality
This study is one of very few studies which have investigated working and health conditions of tourism workers who acquire work-related sickness. It is based on research “The mental health of tourism and hospitality workers: professionalism x illness”, which was concluded in 2016 and originated other projects.
Nine treatments to study the effect of jameed form (triangle, square and cylinder molds) on the chemical composition, rheological and microbial properties. The treatments were made as follow: (A) sheep buttermilk (control) with ball form, (B) goat skim milk with ball form, (C) goat skim milk with triangle form, (D) goat skim milk with square form, (E) goat skim milk with cylinder form, (F) cow skim milk with ball form, (G) cow skim milk with triangle form, (H) cow skim milk with square and (I) cow skim milk with cylinder form. Yield of cylindrical shape were slightly higher, while levels of ball, triangle and square forms were close to each other. The lowest acidity levels were detected in cylindrical form. Square and cylinder forms were recorded the lowest of TS, fat, total protein and ash values. Square and cylinder forms possessed the lowest TVBC, LAB and proteolytic bacteria. The triangle or square molds caused significant (p<0.05) increase in wettability, where square form scored the highest syneresis levels among different shapes. The spherical and cylindrical shapes had the minimum values of hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness whereas the triangle and square forms possessed the maximum levels. Contribution/ Originality
This study is one of the very few studies in jameed and the first almost in the study of work forms of jameed and study the effect of shape on the rheological properties and chemical and microbial composition and microscopic for this product, Subsequently, add a new to this product, which is largely consumed in jordan and Egypt recently to manufacture meal "Mansaf".
The continuous adoption of trade openness policies and floating exchange rates regime by developing countries exposed them to speculative pressures. It makes exchange rate shocks easily transferred to domestic consumer prices. That makes tremendous impacts on the domestic consumer price inflation. This paper thus examines the response of domestic consumer prices to exchange rate changes otherwise known as ‘Exchange rate pass-through’. The paper uses vector error correction (VECM) model to examine the relationship. A quarterly time series data for a period ranging from 1986Q1 to 2013Q4 for Nigeria was used. The study found a substantial but incomplete and slow pass-through of exchange rate changes to domestic prices. Contribution/ Originality
This study contributes in the existing literature by estimating the ERPT using Nigerian data as there are very few studies on ERPT for developing countries and particularly Nigeria. This study uses VECM model against the SVAR model used by other studies.
The survey analyzed rural youths participation in family farming in Benue State, Nigeria. Structured questionnaire/interview schedule were used in collecting data for the study. Frequency, percentage, mean score, standard deviation, factor analysis and binary logistic regression model were used for data analysis. Findings revealed that about 75.00% of the respondents were males, single (63.70%), had formal education (98.90%), having farming as a major occupation (92.40%). Major roles performed by the respondents in family farming include site selection (M = 2.70), harvesting of crops (M = 2.61), applying fertilizer to crops (M = 2.55), clearing of farm land (M = 2.54), soil tillage (M = 2.51), among others. These were further classified as land preparation, management and technical roles. The study recommends that rural youths should be encouraged to remain in agriculture by ensuring that they are provided with improved technologies for greater productivity. Basic amenities such as electricity, pipe borne water, good roads, etc should be made available in rural areas where they reside to prevent rural-urban youth migration and sustain agriculture. Contribution/ Originality
This study documents that rural youths are involved in family farming for household food security. They participate actively in family farming playing key roles in land preparation, management and technical areas of crop and livestock production. Efforts of these youths should be sustained for them to remain in family farming.
Indoor air pollution due to combusting biomass fuels is a serious problem in developing countries and the impact to a greater extent is less known from burning mosquito coils. As malaria is a major killer in developing countries, the use of mosquito repellants would continue to be used in millions of homes across the continent of Africa. Hence this pilot study was conducted to assess emission levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2); sulphur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) during the burning of six different products of mosquito coils that are sold in Sierra Leone. One hour emission value was recorded for each product during the burning period. Result revealed that one hour SO2 concentrations range from not detected to 47 ppb and that for CO range from 16 ppm to 19 ppm for the different products. Evidence of high peak values was observed for both SO2 and CO for the different products which is clearly a public health concern. This pilot study demonstrated that burning mosquito coils in less ventilated rooms where the primary focus is to eliminate mosquitoes is an environmental health risk in Sierra Leone. Contribution/ Originality
This study is the first that has provided informed information to relevant stakeholders in Sierra Leone on the dangers of combusting mosquito repellants in less ventilated areas by measuring the emission levels of gases deemed dangerous to public health.
A fuzzy transportation problem (FTP) includes cost, supply and demand of transportation problems. Its numbers are fuzzy numbers. Fuzzy transportation problem works to reduce transportation cost of some commodities through a capacitate network. Present research paper points out a technique with an alpha cut, optimal solution for solving transportation problem. We suggest a technique to find the fuzzy optimal solution on scales of transportation problem and propose a new hexagonal representation of fuzzy numbers. In general, the comparison of balanced fuzzy transportation problem (BFTP) and unbalanced fuzzy transportation problem (UFTP) shows that the optimal transportation cost of UFTP is less than BFTP. Contribution/ Originality
This study contributes in networking for transportation. This study uses new estimation methodology. This study originates optimal solution and comparison between BFTP and UFTP. This study investigated comparatively. This paper contributes the first logical analysis that is minimizes or maximizes objective solution is an optimal solution in hexagonal fuzzy numbers.
Potholes, debris, sunken manhole covers and others are common street safety hazards which drivers experience daily as they bump into them unexpectedly while driving. Pavement roughness is usually evaluated based on the International Roughness Index (IRI), which is considered the most prevalent metric. In this work, IRI values are collected by using a smartphone, with built-in vibration sensor, placed on the car’s dashboard while driving around the city. The classification process of IRI values is primarily performed using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for the detection of diverse predefined street safety hazards. The designed ANN is a backpropagation pattern classifier, that must be trained to yield either a detected “disorder” area of the road or “normal” area based on the IRI data collected. The process of preparing the training and testing datasets involves a number of pre-processing operations. The IRI values are pre-processed in order to extract the most effective features. Then the network is trained with the normalized feature set by using supervised learning method. The performance of the designed network is compared to a similar works in the literature. Results show that the designed network can successfully classify the street conditions by using IRI values with a success rate that outperforms the classification rates obtained by other works. Contribution/ Originality
This study examined the impact of female employment and fertility decisions on household consumption in a working life cycle of South-West Nigeria. Survey method was used to collect data and multistage sampling technique was used to select a sample of 600 households in South-West Nigeria. 514 questionnaires were analysed after removing the incomplete. Linear Structural Relations Models was use to analyse the data. The result showed that household consumption is caused by fertility decision, female employment, income and female education. Fertility decisions had a positive and statistically significant relationship with household consumption while female employment has a negative but significant relationship with household consumption. The study concluded that the presence of children in households increases consumption in a working life cycle. Contribution/ Originality
Effect of a Plant Extract in Several Traits of Plymouth Rock Barred Hens and Pullets Challenged with Salmonella Typhimurium in a Rural Village in Central Mexico
The effect of Chrysactinia mexicana Gray extract on poultry challenged with Salmonella typhimurium, was evaluated: 1) The aim of the survey was to understand the status quo of backyard poultry production in a rural area, 2). A field study with forty Plymouth Rock Barred Laying hens were used to test the effects of C. mexicana, and 3) 160 day old Plymouth Rock Barred pullets, were assigned to: T1 control; T2 control + S. typhimurium challenge; T3 control + S. typhimurium + C. mexicana; and T4 control + S. typhimurium + antibiotic. Crop, gizzard, proventriculus and duodenum colony forming units (CFU) were measured, and leukocyte and erythrocyte counts. In addition, weight gain and feed intake was measured. The liver, bursa, thymus and spleen were weighed. Results show that 75% of farmers in the community have hens. The main diseases in their fowl: respiratory 45%; diarrhea 35% and parasites 20%. 90% of farmers have no access to veterinary services. Results from the field study show differences (P<0.05) between the treated group with C. mexicana and the control group with no treatment. Feed intake, total weight gain and final body weight was higher (P<0.05) for control group among the other treatments. Treatment challenged plus antibiotic showed lower CFU counts than treatment with S. typhimurium and C. mexicana. Thymus, bursa and spleen weights were similar (P>0.05) for the C. mexicana and antibiotic treatments. Leukocyte and erythrocyte counts were lower (P<0.05) in control group. C. mexicana extract could be a tool to diminish bacteria in hens. Contribution/ Originality
This study is one of very few studies which have investigated the use of Larrea tridentata extract on poultry performance challenged with Salmonella typhimurium
Smoking is one of the causes of heart attack, lung cancer and cancers of mouth and larynx. The latter could be arises from exposure of those sensitive organs to a combination of both chemical carcinogenic and radiological exposure results from naturally occurring radionuclides in tobacco leaves. Coal is also used in smoking some types of tobacco products that could be carcinogenic due to presence of a high percentage of an organic matter with inorganic matter such as minerals and trace elements. Varieties of commonly available tobacco products as well as coal samples were examined for their radioactivity content using gamma ray spectroscopy and calculate associated radiological hazards. Results shows that the average concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K in tobacco samples vary from 2.6±0.2 to 8.9±0.7 (average 5.4), 1.9±0.1 to 9.5±0.8 (average 4.5), and 517.4±15.5 to 2401.2±72 (average 1360.4) Bqkg-1. Measured activity concentration for coal samples ranged from 10.8±1.1 to 64.4±2.1 (average 40.2), 3.5±0.1 to 28.3±0.3 (average 15.7), and 49.2±0.4 to 301.2±9.5 (average 215) Bqkg-1 for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K respectively. 137Cs activity concentrations in cigarettes and coal samples were ranged from 0.1±0.01 to 1.3±0.02 (average 0.5) and 2±0.01 to 5.8±0.8 (average 3.1) Bqkg-1 respectively. Radium equivalent, total annual effective dose and excess lifetime cancer risk were calculated. ELCR was higher than world's average of 1.45x10-3 for tobacco and coal samples. In Egypt no special and clear regulations for monitoring radioactivity content in imported coal and tobacco leafs or its products, which appear to be necessary. Contribution/ Originality
Biogas is a gas that is produced from the biodegradation of organic materials. It consists mainly of methane and carbon dioxide. The biogas from anaerobic digestion can be a solution to South Africa’s energy problems. It can be used for electricity generation, cooking and as transport fuel. There are over 200 biogas digesters scattered across South Africa and the use of biogas is not growing fast in the country irrespective of its benefits in reducing energy related problems such as pollution and energy shortage. This paper reviews biogas technology in South Africa and highlights the problems, challenges and solutions to the expansion of the technology. The research was conducted by surveying biogas digesters installed in the country and measuring the biogas potential from selected digesters. The problems and challenges to biogas technology expansion in the country include; lack of research work on biogas technology, low efficiency of biogas as compared to conventional fuels such as diesel and petrol, cheap electricity cost from coal fired thermal power stations, large amounts of hydrogen sulphides in biogas that can cause corrosion to biogas pipes and internal combustion engines. It was highlighted that biogas digesters to be installed in the country should be sized in accordance with the availability of substrate. In addition, the calorific value of the biogas should be improved so that it can be used to fuel internal combustion engines and generator sets. It was also revealed that community based education on biogas production and its usage need to be initiated so as to reduce biogas digester failures. This would improve biogas technology expansion in the country. Contribution/ Originality
The main goal of the proposed project is to demonstrate that considerable energy conservation can be done in residential building area in the KSA, considering the living conditions of house users. For this purpose, several houses will be tested using sizable Building Integrated PV (BIPV) system. In addition, the energy needs per year for each household will be covered in this study. Moreover, the proposed BIPV system will supply sufficient amount of electrical energy to allow free daily commute for homeowner (max. 60 km a day) with use of the electric car. The results indicate that the use of an insulation layer (BioPCM material) in building structure will decrease significantly the cooling capacity by 20%. The addition of solar hybrid air conditioner system improved the EER by 5.41% and the COP by 12.24 %. Finally, the installation plan for the PV panels in each residential household is in agreement with the official KSA government policy. Contribution/ Originality
This study is one of the few studies which have investigated the net zero energy building at Alkhobar area. The paper primary contribution is finding the proper energy saving system, hybrid plus PCM. Furthermore, this study documents all the work that has been done previously by same researcher (Nader, 2015;2016).
Aim of study finding the best configuration among a set of system components. Power fluctuations and load disturbances in hybrid systems cause power inequality and system stability problems. Using hybrid energy storage systems is an effective solution in order to overcome unbalancing between power generating and load demands. In this paper, a methodology to perform the optimal sizing for Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) in three hybrid systems is developed, and reliability index is considered as a constraint. The optimum system configuration can meet the customer’s required Equivalent Loss Factor (ELF=0) with the minimum cost, and comparison cost between them. In these configurations, power generators are photovoltaic (PV)/wind turbine and three combination of battery bank and hydrogen tank is used as an energy storage system. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm has been used to optimize the cost function, and has been simulated in MATLAB for justification purpose. Contribution/ Originality
The aim of this study was to verify the effects of environmental impact caused by dioxin on milk production and metabolic profile in the buffalo cows. The authors analyzed some representative blood parameters related to their different metabolisms, the amount of zinc in blood samples, and milk production parameters, on 160 buffalo cows raised in four farms located in areas with a different environmental impact. Urea, glucose, creatinine, AST (aspartate aminotransferase), ALT (alanine aminotransferase) and zinc contents were determined on serum samples. Milk samples from each buffalo were collected. Daily milk yield and milk composition were significantly different among farms. No difference in milk protein content was found. Urea content, was higher. Glucose concentrations were significantly lower than in farms located in an area contaminated by dioxin. Creatinine values were normal. AST and ALT values were slightly higher than normal. So far, there are not studies on the effect of dioxin on production and metabolic profile in buffalo cows. This study indicates that buffalo breeding herds exposed to dioxins would induce damage in the hepatic parenchyma cells as a result of animal welfare. Accordingly, the effects of environmental pollutants may expose the animals to several infections and diseases, which could affect not only the production traits, but also the qualitative features of their products devoted to human consumption. Contribution/ Originality
Considering the increasing economic relevance of the Buffalo and considering the insufficiency information in the literature on the influence of micro pollutants on the buffalo, this work has focused the attention on the influence the environmental impact on buffalo health and on their production. It is important to remember that the animal is closely linked to the area, monitoring animal’s means monitoring the breeding environment.
Enteric Redmouth (ERM) disease is a serious systemic infection due to a gram-negative bacterium (Yersinia Ruckeri) which causes significant economic losses in salmonid aquaculture all over the world. This disease is called “Red-mouth” for the reddening of the mouth. Other clinical manifestations of this disease are: exophthalmia, ascites and haemorrhage with ulceration of palate, gill and operculum resulting in anorexia. Although this disease has been reported in other fish species, rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are particularly susceptible to ERM. Rainbow trout is one of the most popular fish species in nature and in many countries it is also recognized as cultivated/farmed fish species, due to its fast growth and excellent nutritional quality. The target of this research being undertaken is to analyze the chemical-nutritional characteristics and evaluation of the oxidative processes in samples of rainbow trout fish affected by ERM compared to the healthy group. The results of analysis show significant differences concerning the contents of some qualitative and chemical-nutritional parameters in fish-meat samples belonging to animals that have recovered from the “red-mouth” disease and healthy ones. Despite this, the unhealthy rainbow trouts are good source of nutrition, similar than healthy trouts. Contribution/ Originality
This study is one of the very few studies evaluating nutritional characteristics of rainbow trout samples affected by the "Red-Mouth Disease" compared to healthy trout samples
This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of reducing GnRH dose on the formation of ovulation and conception, and sizes of the ovarian structures following an Ovsynch program in lactating cows. The cows were allocated randomly to two treatment groups (full dose; FD, n=20 and half dose; HD, n=20). Cows in the FD group were treated with 10.5 µg buserelin acetate on day 0, with 0.150 mg D- cloprostenol 7 d later and with 10.5 µg buserelin acetate 2 d later. Estrous cycles in HD group were synchronized using the same scheme as FD-treated cows, but the dose of buserelin acetate was reduced to 5.25 µg at both GnRH administration times. Ovarian structures were monitored by ultrasound with a 6-8 MHz linear trans-rectal probe on days 0, 7, 9, 10, and 11. Cows were inseminated at the 16-20 h after second GnRH administration. No significant differences were observed in the dominant or ovulatory follicle diameters in FD and HD groups. Ovulation incidence from second GnRH injection by the 24 hour after fixed-time AI did not differ between FD (85 %) and HD (90 %) groups. Also, the conception percentages did not differ statistically between the HD (50%) and FD (40 %) groups. Contribution/ Originality
This study is one of very few studies which have investigated the effect of reducing doses of buserelin acetate on the follicular development, ovulation and conception rates in the Ovsynch program of dairy cows.
This study was carried out from February to December 2014 by interviewing 75 farmers who operate snakehead seed production in An Giang, Dong Thap and Hau Giang provinces, Vietnam. The results showed that the total area for production was 629.01±756.77 m2, whereas the volume for nursing was 582.10±119.81 m3 for pond system and 1,019.56±736.66 m3 for combining pond – hapa system). Each hatchery used 44.26±22.63 pairs of broodstock/breeding cycle and produced whole year. The quantity of seed per cycle of pond system was a half of that figure of other system while seed productivity per m3 was much lower. Snakehead seed was mainly sold to seed traders in the Delta (82.3%). With average production cost of 47.81±16.23 thousand Vietnam dong (VND)/m3, each farm in pond system could reach the total net profit of 49.83±18.74 thousand VND/m3, equivalent to 328 million VND/year. These corresponding numbers of pond – hapa system were 106.98±86.25; 196.12±87.45 thousand VND/m3, equal to 1.75 billion VND/year. Factors of climate change affecting snakehead seed production involved rainfall change, droughts, water and air temperature increase, salinity intrusion which caused diseases easier (36%), affected seed production in general (31%), bad water quality (10%), .... To reduce the impacts of climate change to production, the farmer in snakehead seed production often changed selling market, suspended production of seeds, used better brookstocks by choosing them more carefully and a number of other measures. Contribution/ Originality
This study is one of very few studies, which have investigated the impact of climate change on snakehead seed production. The paper's primary contribution is finding that which and how climate phenomenon has effected on seed production as well as suggesting some adaptive methods for them.
Located at the boundaries of Europe and Asia, Turkey is home to an extraordinary variety of domestic animal species and breeds that include bees, camels, cats, cattle, dogs, domestic fowl, donkeys, ducks, goats, geese, horses, mules, pigs, rabbits, sheep, silkworms, water buffalo and several species of domestic birds (partridge, pheasant, pigeon and ostrich). In addition to the clearly distinct Angora and Van cat breeds a short-haired nondescript cat breed is found throughout Turkey. As well as private household ownership, Angora cats have been raised at Ankara Zoo which has belonged to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock since 1939. The Van cat is raised at the Van Cat Research Centre at Yuzuncu Yil University in Van Province which also has a small clinic for the cats. There is a risk of extinction for the Angora and Van breeds but none for the short-haired nondescript type. This paper reviews social aspects, the genetic resources and conservation status of the native cat breeds of Turkey. Contribution/ Originality
The domestic cat is important in the social and cultural environments of Turkey and has been kept as a companion/pet animal for many hundreds of years. Two local cat breeds are valuable additions to the biodiversity of domestic animals. This paper provides the first overview of the cat in Turkey.
The objective of this study is extraction and characterization of oil from tropical almond seed, trans-esterification and characterization of tropical almond seed oil biodiesel. All experiments were replicated and average results were evaluated. The moisture content of the seed was 2.04 %; the oil was extracted using solvent method and the percentage of oil yield was 50.33 %. The physicochemical properties of the oil obtained during the experiment were; density (0.90 g/cm3), specific gravity (0.89), kinematic viscosity at 40 oC (14.1 mPa.s), cloud point (16.0 oC), pour point (11.5 oC), smoke point (173.0 oC), flash point (208.0 oC), fire point (271.0 oC), saponification value (199.19 mgKOH/g), acid value (3.37mgKOH/g), FFA (1.68 mgKOH/g), Peroxide value (5.0 meq/kg), and Iodine value (98.0 gI2/100g). The oil was trans-esterified to biodiesel using oil to alcohol ratio of 4:1 and KOH as catalyst. The percentage of biodiesel yield was 75.0 % averagely. The physicochemical properties of the biodiesel obtained during the experiment were; density (0.96g/cm3), specific gravity (0.90), kinematic viscosity at 40 oC (5.20 mPa.s), kinematic viscosity at 100 oC (4.30 mPa.s) cloud point (7.0 oC), pour point (6.0 oC), smoke point (161.0 oC), flash point (186.0 oC), fire point (216.0 oC), saponification value (182.4 mgKOH/g), acid value (0.84 mgKOH/g), FFA (0.42 mgKOH/g), Peroxide value (8.0 meq/kg), and Iodine value (109.0 gI2/100g, the calculated cetane number was 51.70. The result obtained for the physicochemical properties of the biodiesel were compared with the ASTM standard and it was concluded that tropical almond seed oil is a good feedstock for biodiesel production since the result is within ASTM specification standard. Contribution/ Originality
This study is one of very few studies which have investigated new sources or avenue of novel underutilized sources. Biodiesel production from tropical almond seed oil will be a reasonable alternative to petroleum diesel since the available petroleum based fuels are exhaustive. Biodiesel will be of great advantage as this will reduce the adverse effect caused by the petroleum diesel, which include global warming, air pollution and emission of sulphuric compound. This study will also ensure there is good utilization of tropical almond seed.
Chicken production in West Gojjam zone was characterized by using indigenous chicken with low input-output level. Despite its diverse socio economic role for smallholder farmers, production and productivity of village chicken was very low. As the result, chicken producers were not benefited from the sector. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of characterizing chicken rearing practice, flock dynamics and determining the off-take rate of village chicken production system. It was conducted in West Gojjam Zone of Ethiopia. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select representative respondents. A total of 500 farmers were interviewed. In the study area, the average numbers of local and exotic chickens kept by smallholder producers were 8.44+0.42 and 0.49+0.10chicken, respectively with the overall mean 8.93+0.42chicken. The flock structure was highly dominated by young chicks (3.82+0.28) and hen (2.47+0.09). The average chicken migrated into the flock per household per annum was 10.32+ 0.80 birds, whereas the outflow from the flock was 16.62+0.85birds. The number of chicken was higher at the middle of the year than the beginning and end of the year. On average, 2.9+0.12 layer chickens were kept per household. From which, in average 307.2+ 20.2 eggs were produced from local and improved breed in a year. Marketing in the district and PA were important marketing places for egg and live birds with the off-take rate of 34.94%. To improve chicken production in the study area, adaptive improved chicken breed should be introduced. Strategic vaccination, semi scavenging practices should be introduced and promoted in order to reduce chicken mortality. Capacity building through training and intensive follow up should also be made in order to enhance the level of awareness of smallholders on improved small scale poultry keeping practices. Contribution/ Originality
This research contributes a lot in filling village chicken production knowledge gap in West Gojjam Zone. It reveals that how village chickens are reared, the nature of flock dynamics, chicken mortality rate and its cause, how to calculate off-take rate in chicken production, egg production and its purpose. Finally, it also gives insight the marketing place of live chicken and egg.
Abstract