Trash Removal Research Articles

Preventive strategies for Zoonoses diseases: Rising concerned among the population

Zoonoses are any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. More than 200 types of zoonoses are recognized till date. Zoonoses comprise a large percentage of new and existing diseases in humans. Certain zoonoses, like rabies, can be completely avoided with vaccination and other preventative measures. A few diseases, like HIV, start off as zoonoses before evolving into strains that are exclusive to humans. Disease outbreaks that repeat frequently include salmonellosis and the Ebola virus. Others have the potential to start worldwide pandemics, as the new corona virus that causes COVID-19. It is estimated that over 60% of the western families own a pet as a result reverse zoonoses and zoonoses has become a major problem. Each pathogen has different preventive measures for zoonotic diseases. In this present review work, we have highlighted some of the preventive strategies of these infectious diseases. In the agricultural sector, safe and adequate rules for animal care contribute to a lower risk of food borne zoonotic disease outbreaks through the consumption of meat, eggs, dairy products, and even some plants. Surface water protections in the natural environment, trash removal guidelines, and standards for clean drinking water are very crucial. Campaigns to educate people about the importance of washing your hands after coming into touch with animals and other behavioral changes can help stop the spread of zoonotic diseases in the community. Limiting Transmission Risks, Boosting the Body’s Defences, Understanding Vaccination, promoting veterinary public health at collective scale, Anticipating risks through monitoring and assessment are some of the preventive measures for Zoonoses.

An improved single short detection method for smart vision-based water garbage cleaning robot

These days, plastic trash is exponentially overwhelming our waterways. The catastrophe has attracted global attention at this point. As a result, protecting the environment on the water's surface has received increasing focus. Currently, manpower can be used to clean up contaminated water bodies like ponds, rivers, and oceans. Using the current cleaning approach results in low efficiency and hazard. The detection, collection, sorting, and removal of plastic trash from such water surfaces has been the subject of relatively little robotic research, despite the dire circumstances. From private sources, there are very few individual efforts to be found. In order to attain great efficiency without human assistance or operation, a fully autonomous water surface cleaning robot is proposed in this study. The robot was created to adapt to any type of water body found in the real world. An efficient object identification machine learning technique can be suggested for the creation of autonomous cleaning robots. This study improved the Single Short Detection (SSD) method to recognise objects accurately. Because of the enhanced detection techniques, the robot is able to collect trash on its own. With a mean average precision (mAP) of 94.099 % and a detection speed of up to 64.67 frames per second, experimental findings show that the enhanced SSD has exceptional detection speed and accuracy.

Smart Waste Management System: A Novel Approach to Waste Collection in Twenty-First Century Smart City

It has been observed that domestic household bins are still being manually collected by the municipality. This old method of trash removal has flaws. It is labour-intensive. In this paper, we design and implement a novel innovative domestic waste management system. To achieve this aim, specific objectives had to be achieved. These were to design and implement a motor driver controller (MDC), obstacle detection system (ODS), email notification system, trash status monitoring, internet time-based trigger (ITT), and finally, integrating all the systems together. The project was divided into two phases: the design phase and the integration phase. The finished prototype was tested and demonstrated to function according to the design specifications. When the bin is empty, the system remains at the origin. Only when the bin is full that the system moves to the disposal point. When an obstacle is detected, it stops and sends a push notification via email to the user. Once the obstacle is removed, the system continues its path until it reaches its destination. The design objectives were achieved.

Strategies for mitigating N2O and N2 emissions from an intensive sugarcane cropping system

In sugarcane cropping systems, high rates of N fertiliser are typically applied as sub-surface bands creating localised zones of high mineral N concentrations. This in combination with high levels of crop residue (trash) retention and a warm and humid climate creates conditions that are known to promote soil denitrification, resulting in high emissions of the potent greenhouse gas N2O. These losses illustrate inefficient use of N fertilisers but total denitrification losses in the form of N2 and N2O remain largely unknown. We used the 15N gas flux method to investigate the effect of cane trash removal and the use of the nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on N2 and N2O emissions on a commercial sugarcane farm at Bundaberg, Australia. High gaseous N losses were observed under the standard grower practice where cane trash retention and N fertiliser application (145 kg N ha−1 as urea) resulted in N2 and N2O emissions (36.1 kg N ha−1) from the subsurface N fertiliser band, with more than 50% of these losses emitted as N2O. Cane trash removal reduced N2 emission by 34% and N2O emission by 51%, but had no effect on the N2O/(N2 + N2O) ratio. The use of DMPP lowered N2 and N2O emission by 35% and 98%, respectively, reducing the percentage of these losses (N2 + N2O) emitted as N2O to only 4%. We conclude that the use of DMPP is an effective strategy to reduce N losses, minimise N2O emissions, while keeping the benefits of cane trash retention in sugarcane cropping systems.

Arduino and Ultrasonic Sensor Based Smart Dustbin for Efficient Waste Management

Designing an effective and hygienic waste management system utilising an Arduino-based Smart Dustbin is the goal of this project. The trash can is divided into two sections: a permanent section that houses all the electrical parts and a detachable cover with a moveable flap. Two ultrasonic sensors, a servo motor, a breadboard, a buzzer, and an LED light are all parts of the system. When an item is detected by the first ultrasonic sensor, the servo motor is activated, lifting the flap for contactless trash removal. When the threshold is surpassed, the second sensor, which checks the garbage level, turns on the LED light to indicate that the bin is not yet ready for use. The motor is dormant and a buzzer alerts the user to empty the bin if they try to dispose of garbage during this period. By limiting the spread of bacteria and odours and ensuring that the trashcan is constantly accessible, the system provides an effective and environmentally responsible solution. It is simple to copy and apply in different settings to enhance waste management procedures. It is simple to empty the trash since the lid can be removed without harming the electrical components.

Investigation of fiber maturity and crystallinity information in Upland seed cottons by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Cotton fiber maturity has been determined by cross-sectional image analysis (IA), advanced fiber information system (AFIS), and Cottonscope methods on cotton lint. These methods have reported the results as average maturity and maturity distribution in a sample, through measuring the fibers in the ways of either individual fiber cross-section or longitude of several sub-samples. Previous studies have shown good agreement in maturity for well-prepared samples among these methods, although AFIS is observed to be less sensitive. As a different approach, attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy was proposed to measure fiber maturity ( MIR) at bundle fiber level. Extending fiber maturity measurement into seed cotton, the FT-IR method might be an option considering such factors as essential cotton seed and visible trash removal, measuring system availability and speed, and also sub-sampling representation in a naturally variable sample. A comparison of fiber MIR average in seed cottons with AFIS maturity ratio ( MAFIS) in ginned cotton fibers exhibited a general trend of increasing MAFIS with MIR. On the basis of MIR value, 3- MIR (low-, mid-, and high-) fiber classification analysis implied the distinctions within seed cottons having close MIR average, and among the same cultivar grown at different conditions. Additionally, cultivars with a similar maturity distribution varied in fiber crystallinity ( CIIR) distribution, and vice versa.

Trash management and Trichoderma harzianum influencing photosynthesis, soil carbon sequestration, and growth and yield of sugarcane ratoon in subtropical India

Soil organic carbon management is a key component for crop growth and provides sustainability in the cropping system. In subtropical India, soil organic carbon in agricultural soils continuously decreases, and most soils have very low organic carbon content. Trash management in the sugarcane ratoon crop improves soil quality parameters and supports crop growth favourably. Further inoculation of Trichoderma has also shown a synergistic response with trash application on nutrient availability in the ratoon crop. Improving soil quality also influences physiological activity, net photosynthesis, and crop yield. The present investigation aimed to determine the effect of trash management and Trichoderma application on changes in soil chemical and biological properties besides net photosynthetic rate, dry matter accumulation, and nutrient uptake by sugarcane ratoon crop to assess the sustainability of the system. Thus a field experiment was conducted with four treatments viz., (i) sugarcane trash mulching without Trichoderma harzianum, (ii) trash removal without Trichoderma, (iii) trash mulching + Trichoderma and (iv) trash incorporation + Trichoderma in a randomized block design (RBD) and five replications. Trash incorporation and inoculation of Trichoderma influenced net photosynthetic rate (NPR) positively. The lowest NPR (19.14 µmol/m2/s) was recorded under trash removal without Trichoderma. An increment of 16.15 % in total dry matter accumulation was recorded under trash incorporation + Trichoderma compared to trash removal without Trichoderma. Trash incorporation and Trichoderma accumulated the highest N in leaf, cane, and roots. Thus NPK uptake could be improved by the application of trash and Trichoderma application. The mean available K content in soil was significantly improved by 12.48 % compared to the initial level. An improvement of 33.6 kg K/ha was recorded after the harvest of the ratoon crop. The highest soil organic carbon (15.28 Mg/ha) was recorded with mulching of sugarcane trash under Trichoderma inoculation. The highest bacterial population was recorded under trash incorporation with Trichoderma. Soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) could be improved by 1.82 times under trash mulching + Trichoderma as compared to the initial status. Trash incorporation and Trichoderma application recorded the highest mean cane weight (1053 g) in ratoon crop. Trash incorporation+ Trichoderma registered an increase of 16.19 % increase in sugarcane yield as compared to trash removal without Trichoderma. However, sugar yield in a similar treatment was improved by 27.8 %. Thus trash application along with Trichoderma harzianum holds great promise in sustaining soil health and sugarcane and sugar yields in subtropical India.

Design of Trash Removal System in Water Bodies Using Oil Skimmer

Abstract: Due to increase in populations, scenario of sanitation according to waste management treatment is degrading or deceasing tremendously. The river and ocean carry an enormous amount of garbage which creates unhygienic environment which highly affects the surroundings. The floating oils, dust and mass wastages on the river water surface will cause a serious problem to the environment which merely affects the future. Those detached wastes will not be submerged easily in water. So, these kinds of unsuspended objects will cut off the oxygen regulation in aquaculture medium so the oxygen deficiency occurs in the water surface which directly affects the marine life of animals and polluted the water. The idea that we proposed in this paper can be executed for both running and stagnant water in river. The major advantage of this paper is that the people of control station need not have to go to every nook and corner to clean wastes, instead can monitor from one point itself. After the oil skimmer machine laid on the surface of the water, the skimmer belt starts to revolve through motor set up and they suck all micro level wastes and dust particles like plastics, pins, etc in the water bodies. Oil skimmers are also used to remove oils that float on the surface of a liquid. Oil skimmers are essential one to remove oil from a liquid. In few scenarios, although, they may be used to pre – treat a fluid. In these cases, they eliminate as much of the oil as possible before expensive and time-consuming measures are implemented. The belt then proceeds through peculiar wiper blades, that eliminates the oil from both sides of the liquids Keywords: Trash removal, Marine life, Oil skimmer, Water Pollution, oxygen deficiency etc

Different amounts of sugarcane trash left on the soil: Effects on microbial and enzymatic indicators in a short‐term experiment

AbstractWhen using mechanical harvesting, the sugarcane trash can be partially recovered for use as feedstock for bioenergy. However, the amount of trash that can be removed without prejudicing the sustainability of the sugarcane production system has still been little studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short‐term impact of removing part of the sugarcane trash using enzymatic and microbiological soil quality indicators. We tested three rates of trash removal: 0% (T0), 50% (T50) and 100% (T100). The microbial biomass C (Cmic) and N (Nmic), β‐glucosidase activity (GA) and the ratios Cmic as a per cent of Ctot and Nmic as a per cent of Ntot were highest for T100. The urease activity decreased with an increase in trash removal. The specific activity of β‐glucosidase did not differ between the treatments, while the specific activity of urease showed the same pattern as the absolute activity. The metabolic quotients (qCO2) were higher for T50 and T100 with no significant difference between them. The principal component analysis showed that the first component, which explained 77.66% of the total variance, was significantly correlated with Nmic, basal respiration and GA and discriminated the three treatments. The results showed that the removal of part of the trash adversely affected some of the soil quality attributes. This suggests the need for monitoring over a period of years in sugarcane areas where part of the trash is removed for industrial purposes, in order to better understand the cumulative impact on soil quality and to ensure the sustainability of bioenergy production.

Trash‐Free Great Lakes Grant Program—Trash Removal in Great Lakes Communities (EPA)

Federal Grants & ContractsVolume 44, Issue 3 p. 5-5 Grant Alerts Trash-Free Great Lakes Grant Program—Trash Removal in Great Lakes Communities (EPA) First published: 31 December 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/fgc.30838Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume44, Issue32 January 2020Pages 5-5 RelatedInformation

Ancient trash mounds unravel urban collapse a century before the end of Byzantine hegemony in the southern Levant

The historic event of the Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA) was recently identified in dozens of natural and geological climate proxies of the northern hemisphere. Although this climatic downturn was proposed as a major cause for pandemic and extensive societal upheavals in the sixth-seventh centuries CE, archaeological evidence for the magnitude of societal response to this event is sparse. This study uses ancient trash mounds as a type of proxy for identifying societal crisis in the urban domain, and employs multidisciplinary investigations to establish the terminal date of organized trash collection and high-level municipal functioning on a city-wide scale. Survey, excavation, sediment analysis, and geographic information system assessment of mound volume were conducted on a series of mounds surrounding the Byzantine urban settlement of Elusa in the Negev Desert. These reveal the massive collection and dumping of domestic and construction waste over time on the city edges. Carbon dating of charred seeds and charcoal fragments combined with ceramic analysis establish the end date of orchestrated trash removal near the mid-sixth century, coinciding closely with the beginning of the LALIA event and outbreak of the Justinian Plague in the year 541. This evidence for societal decline during the sixth century ties with other arguments for urban dysfunction across the Byzantine Levant at this time. We demonstrate the utility of trash mounds as sensitive proxies of social response and unravel the time-space dynamics of urban collapse, suggesting diminished resilience to rapid climate change in the frontier Negev region of the empire.

Mathematical Logic Establishment for Automated Trash Controlling in Carding Machine

In this paper, it is intended to establish a mathematical logic for the purpose of removal of trash in an automatic way and removal of trash will refer to the cleaning process of carding machine. But the selection of degree of cleaning has to be optimum considering other process factors like fiber loss, fiber rupturing, neps generation etc. Higher degree of cleaning causes higher degree of fiber loss. And in spinning mill, fiber loss means money loss as raw cotton purchasing cost consumes 50% to 60% of total manufacturing cost of yarn in terms of Bangladesh. Alongside, fiber loss is affected the cleaning system because the system is designed for fiber cleaning, not for fiber loss. So, it is necessary to measure the performance of the system. For this purpose, we have chosen two terms, ‘Cleaning Efficiency (C.E.)’ to measure the degree of cleaning & ‘Effective Cleaning (E.C.)’ to measure the performance of the system. In this paper, it is intended to describe a relationship between these two terms, graphical expression of the individuals, a way to calculate the force applied by mechanical means and the force required to clean. The ultimate result of this project is to find the relationship between the surface speed of taker-in and the trash weight of output material.

Bio-intensive Modulation of Sugarcane Ratoon Rhizosphere for Enhanced Soil Health and Sugarcane Productivity Under Tropical Indian Condition

Intensive cropping and exhaustive nature sugarcane crop in tropical India have led to depletion of inherent soil fertility resulting in serious threat to sustainable sugarcane production. Improving soil organic matter and soil fertility are important factors for sustainable sugarcane production. Microbial consortia comprising of Trichoderma viride, Humicola spp, Paecilomyces lilacinus, Gluconacetobater diazotropicus, Azospiriillum brasilense, and Bacillus subtilis have great potential to recycle crop residue and restore soil fertility which eventually promote sugarcane growth. Field experiments with in situ trash management in plant crop and bio-intensive modulation of sugarcane ratoon rhizosphere in ratoon crops were conducted during 2014, 2015 and 2016 at ICAR—Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. The results revealed that green manuring with sunnhemp, in situ trash management and application of 280:62.5:120 kg NPK ha−1 in plant crop sustained the soil health by way of reducing soil bulk density (1.26 kg dm−3), lower soil penetration resistance in the ratoon rhizosphere (1.79, 1.82 and 1.75 MPa) and higher soil organic carbon (0.52%) which in turn increased ratoon cane yield 12.24% (99.02 t ha−1) and sugar yield by 8.64% (12.83 t ha−1) over the control. Further, bio-intensive modulation of ratoon rhizosphere by off barring, trash shredding plus soil incorporation with microbial consortia and application of 350:62.5:120 kg NPK ha−1 in ratoon crop recorded significantly higher cane yield (100.95 t ha−1) and sugar yield (13.19 t ha−1) over the control. The improvement in cane yield and sugar yield to the tune of 16.35 and 14.10% due to bio-intensive modulation of ratoon rhizosphere over control have clearly established that productivity of sugarcane ratoon can be significantly improved with balanced use of fertilizers, green manuring, crop residue recycling and microbial consortia application. Similarly, bio-intensive modulation of sugarcane ratoon rhizosphere (S3) with lowest soil bulk density (1.26 kg dm−3) and soil penetration resistance values (1.69, 1.81, and 1.75 MPa) was found effective in minimising the soil compaction and improving nutrient availability (NPK) with build-up of soil microbial population than control (Trash removal). Based on the results of 3-year field experiments, it is concluded that sunnhemp green manuring and in situ sugarcane trash management coupled with application of 280:62.5:120 kg NPK ha−1 in plant crop followed by bio-intensive modulation of ratoon rhizosphere including off barring, trash shredding and soil incorporation with microbial consortia and application of 350:62.5:120 kg NPK ha−1 in ratoon crop can be recommended for sustaining soil health and sugarcane productivity under wide-row sugarcane planting systems of tropical Indian condition.

Effect of Greening Vacant Land on Mental Health of Community-Dwelling Adults

Neighborhood physical conditions have been associated with mental illness and may partially explain persistent socioeconomic disparities in the prevalence of poor mental health. To evaluate whether interventions to green vacant urban land can improve self-reported mental health. This citywide cluster randomized trial examined 442 community-dwelling sampled adults living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, within 110 vacant lot clusters randomly assigned to 3 study groups. Participants were followed up for 18 months preintervention and postintervention. This trial was conducted from October 1, 2011, to November 30, 2014. Data were analyzed from July 1, 2015, to April 16, 2017. The greening intervention involved removing trash, grading the land, planting new grass and a small number of trees, installing a low wooden perimeter fence, and performing regular monthly maintenance. The trash cleanup intervention involved removal of trash, limited grass mowing where possible, and regular monthly maintenance. The control group received no intervention. Self-reported mental health measured by the Kessler-6 Psychological Distress Scale and the components of this scale. A total of 110 clusters containing 541 vacant lots were enrolled in the trial and randomly allocated to the following 1 of 3 study groups: the greening intervention (37 clusters [33.6%]), the trash cleanup intervention (36 clusters [32.7%]), or no intervention (37 clusters [33.6%]). Of the 442 participants, the mean (SD) age was 44.6 (15.1) years, 264 (59.7%) were female, and 194 (43.9%) had a family income less than $25 000. A total of 342 participants (77.4%) had follow-up data and were included in the analysis. Of these, 117 (34.2%) received the greening intervention, 107 (31.3%) the trash cleanup intervention, and 118 (34.5%) no intervention. Intention-to-treat analysis of the greening intervention compared with no intervention demonstrated a significant decrease in participants who were feeling depressed (-41.5%; 95% CI, -63.6% to -5.9%; P = .03) and worthless (-50.9%; 95% CI, -74.7% to -4.7%; P = .04), as well as a nonsignificant reduction in overall self-reported poor mental health (-62.8%; 95% CI, -86.2% to 0.4%; P = .051). For participants living in neighborhoods below the poverty line, the greening intervention demonstrated a significant decrease in feeling depressed (-68.7%; 95% CI, -86.5% to -27.5%; P = .007). Intention-to-treat analysis of those living near the trash cleanup intervention compared with no intervention showed no significant changes in self-reported poor mental health. Among community-dwelling adults, self-reported feelings of depression and worthlessness were significantly decreased, and self-reported poor mental health was nonsignificantly reduced for those living near greened vacant land. The treatment of blighted physical environments, particularly in resource-limited urban settings, can be an important treatment for mental health problems alongside other patient-level treatments. isrctn.org Identifier: ISRCTN92582209.

Decay patterns of invasive plants and plastic trash in urban streams

Urban streams are impacted by invasion of exotic riparian plants and the accumulation of plastic trash, which alter in-stream litter subsidies, and cause changes that cascade up the aquatic food web. The impacts of these factors on urban streams is poorly understood. We compared decay rates and invertebrate colonizers of 5 litter pack types in 4 urban streams in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Native Red alder (Alnus rubra) and Sitka willow (Salix sitchensis), invasive English ivy (Hedera sp.), Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) and plastic trash (i.e. Styrofoam (polystyrene (PS)), plastic bag (high-density polyethylene (HDPE)), and Mylar (polyethylene terephthalate (PET). We tested 4 hypotheses: 1) exotic ivy and blackberry leaves would decay more slowly than native leaves; 2) exotic ivy and blackberry leaves would attract fewer and less diverse stream invertebrates than native leaves; 3) plastic trash would decay more slowly than leaves; and, 4) plastic trash would attract fewer and less diverse stream invertebrates than leaves. We found no difference between the leaf litter decay rates, however plastic trash decayed more slowly than leaves. Trash decay rates were faster than reported in marine environments, suggesting that plastic trash removal should be a management priority. Stream invertebrates colonized all pack types equally. We observed significant differences in litter decay rates and invertebrate assemblage alpha and Shannon–Wiener diversities across the 4 streams - likely related to differences in stream-specific environmental attributes including flashiness, stream discharge, and biological decay. We conclude that site-specific decay forces supersede litter quality in Pacific Coast urban streams.

Seasonal Distribution and Container Preference Ratio of the Dengue Fever Vector (Aedes aegypti, Diptera: Culicidae) in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Aedes aegypti (L.) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse) are known vectors of dengue, chikungunya, and other pathogens; however, their ecology and role in virus transmission has not been well studied in Pakistan. Here, we report on an intensive survey of potential breeding sites of Ae. aegypti in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province, Pakistan. The study continued for 11 mo and was divided into three seasons: January to June (pre-monsoon), July to September (monsoon), and October-November (post-monsoon). Larval mosquitoes were collected from all wet containers present in and around the houses. Altogether 5,570,418, 2,930,508, and 1,507,111 water-filled containers were examined during each season, of which 2,703, 8,843, and 3,439 were found positive for Ae. aegypti larvae or pupae, yielding Breteau indices of 0.46, 2.92, and 1.99%, respectively. Among 14 container types examined, the breeding preference ratio during all seasons was highest for roof-top water tanks and room evaporative coolers, followed by discarded tires and urban trash. The study concluded that increased urbanization, insufficient water supply and inefficient removal of urban trash resulted in increased numbers of nonbiodegradable containers around human dwellings, thereby creating ideal breeding habitats for Ae. aegypti. Measures such as integrated vector management, minimization of the breeding potential of Ae. aegypti by water management, proper disposal of discarded tires and urban trash, and health education were recommended for control of Ae. aegypti.

A cross sectional study on knowledge, attitude and practice of dengue fever among high school students in Villupuram municipality of Villupuram

Background: School-based education is an important way of transfer of knowledge and practices of dengue from classrooms to homes which helps to maintain clean environment for source reduction of dengue. Thus, this study was conducted with the main purpose of examining the knowledge, attitude and practices of dengue fever among school children in Villupuram. Methods: The study area was at high school students of Villupuram municipality from November 2017 to December 2017. The sample size is calculated from Dimbulagedara et al study where the prevalence was 47.2%. Considering Confidence level of 95%, relative precision of 7% the sample size derived was 216. Multistage sampling was used. The required information obtained by means of validated questionnaire. Results: Majority were of 14 years. More than 75% had a good knowledge on breeding source of infection, 50% were not aware that trashes were a breeding source with a significant p value of <0.05 between age and knowledge. The major source of knowledge was the school. More than half of them were of attitudes that they are not at risk of dengue. 59.7% of the respondents felt they were scared if they were to be infected. Removal of water stagnation (80.1%) was the commonly practiced preventive measures. Conclusions: School students had adequate basic knowledge regarding dengue. There were some misconceptions regarding to dengue. Personal protection and trash removal was least practiced which can be made successful by behaviour change, communication.

An improvement design of groove-wound clothing on the licker-in—Part II. Application on the card machine

Due to spiral winding, there is an inclination angle between the teeth and the direction of the tangential velocity of the licker-in, which makes the teeth obliquely work with the fibers instead of vertically. In the previous work in Part I, we discussed the impacts of this using theoretical mechanical analysis and a digital model in ANSYS Explicit Dynamics. Based on the analysis, this paper makes a new type of card clothing for the licker-in and manufactures the rack by adding a process in the processing for traditional AT5610 × 05611 racks. The comparison of the two slivers worked by the traditional and new design licker-in card clothing show that the new design clothing has an increase of 24.41% on nep removal, which is consistent with the theoretical analysis. According to the paired samples test, the trash removal ratio and the short fiber content in the sliver, this new design shows no deterioration. For further discussion, we collect the noils and calculate the producing rate of the sliver, licker-in droppings and card strips with special collecting equipment. This new design shows a significant increase in the fiber yield percentage (8.45%) and a dramatic decrease for licker-in droppings (33.6%). Yarns from the new rack have better performance on breaking elongation (a decrease of 5.6%) and evenness. Therefore, this design has higher utilization for fibers and good commercial benefit.

Leaf and Panicle Separator for Sweet Sorghum

High-biomass sweet sorghum is considered a promising energy crop suitable for the production of energy, first- and second-generation biofuels and biobased chemicals. Processing in a typical sugar cane mill or dedicated sorghum mill is challenged by the presence of trash (leaves and panicles). The separation of leaves and panicles could generate additional value streams, and the reduction of trash is considered beneficial for juice extraction and juice quality. A two-stage trash removal system for the separation of leaves, and panicles was designed and tested. The pneumatic leaf separation stage allowed the removal of up to 56% of leaves in a single pass and the second stage, a novel rotating-disk separator, demonstrated the feasibility of the panicle separation. The basic design parameters were optimized for both systems, and the impact of trash removal tested on Ceres® Inc. “Durasweet” sorghum in 2015 and 2016. Trash removal from the feedstock allowed practically identical recovery (97.3–99.9%) of soluble solids, while up to 19.1% less feedstock with significantly less fiber (82.6% of original feedstock) was processed.

Research on the flow characteristics of opening unit in the rotor spinning unit

The opening unit is an important device in a rotor spinning unit to comb fibres and remove trash. In this paper, numerical simulation is carried out to study the flow structure in the rotor spinning channel and the trash removal process in the trash removal unit. Firstly the effect of the opening unit on the airflow field in the rotor channel is investigated by singlephase simulation. The result shows that the effective area for fibre conveyance enlarges as the absolute value of negative pressure at the outlet increases, while it decreases as the opening roller speed increases. However, the effect of the negative pressure and the opening roller speed on the length of the vortex in the axial direction is quite small. Secondly the trash separation process in the trash removal unit is simulated using the Discrete Phase Model (DPM). Suitable rotational speeds of particles of different diameters are acquired. These results could provide a valuable reference for parameter selection in the trash-removal process.