5 research outputs found
TRACTORS FOR CANEFIELDS IN SUDAN
No full textTillage operations for sugarcane production in Sudan are basically as they were in the late
seventies of last century despite of changes in tillage concepts and machinery management
practices. Tractor power for adopted operations ranged from 108 to 325 kW (145 - 435hp) for
heavy draught and from 60 to 78 kW (80 -105 hp) for low draught. A matched tractorimplement
system taking into consideration factual field data and principles for good machinery
management practice was conceived to reduce power for heavy tillage to 93 kW and to 60 kW
for light operation. This is expected to reduce capital investment on tractors to 19.2% of that for
the present flee
UTILIZATION OF BEARI NG LIFE IN KENANA SU GAR FACTORY
No full textBasic principles for bearing life calculation were briefly reviewed and applied to bearings in
easily accessible pumping units in three sections for sugar process operations in Kenana Sugar
Factory. Calculated lives were found to be 2.8 and 4.7 seasons, de
pending on the specifications
of the bearings and the applied loads. Cost of bearings for the studied units was 2,187 SDG
(US$ 893). Bearings in factory sections were generally replaced at the end of each cropping season (3840
hours) regardless of their p
hysical conditions. In sections for sugar process operations, this
represented only 24
to
36% utilization of the calculated lives. In monetary terms this means
that 64
to
76% of the value of the replaced bearings was thrown away at the end of each
croppin
g season.
Bearing life calculation, planned and preventive maintenance programs and
availability of
maintenance tools are factors that could be used to enhance utilization of
bearings in Kenana Sugar Factory
Predicting Green Water Footprint of Sugarcane Crop Using Multi-Source Data-Based and Hybrid Machine Learning Algorithms in White Nile State, Sudan
No full textWater scarcity and climate change present substantial obstacles for Sudan, resulting in extensive migration. This study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of machine learning models in forecasting the green water footprint (GWFP) of sugarcane in the context of climate change. By analyzing various input variables such as climatic conditions, agricultural data, and remote sensing metrics, the research investigates their effects on the sugarcane cultivation period from 2001 to 2020. A total of seven models, including random forest (RF), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and support vector regressor (SVR), in addition to hybrid combinations like RF-XGB, RF-SVR, XGB-SVR, and RF-XGB-SVR, were applied across five scenarios (Sc) which includes different combinations of variables used in the study. The most significant mean bias error (MBE) was recorded in RF with Sc3 (remote sensing parameters), at 5.14 m3 ton−1, followed closely by RF-SVR at 5.05 m3 ton−1, while the minimum MBE was 0.03 m3 ton−1 in RF-SVR with Sc1 (all parameters). SVR exhibited the highest R2 values throughout all scenarios. Notably, the R2 values for dual hybrid models surpassed those of triple hybrid models. The highest Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) value of 0.98 was noted in Sc2 (climatic parameters) and XGB-SVR, whereas the lowest NSE of 0.09 was linked to SVR in Sc3. The root mean square error (RMSE) varied across different ML models and scenarios, with Sc3 displaying the weakest performance regarding remote sensing parameters (EVI, NDVI, SAVI, and NDWI). Effective precipitation exerted the most considerable influence on GWFP, contributing 81.67%, followed by relative humidity (RH) at 7.5% and Tmax at 5.24%. The study concludes that individual models were as proficient as, or occasionally surpassed, double and triple hybrid models in predicting GWFP for sugarcane. Moreover, remote sensing indices demonstrated minimal positive influence on GWFP prediction, with Sc3 producing the lowest statistical outcomes across all models. Consequently, the study advocates for the use of hybrid models to mitigate the error term in the prediction of sugarcane GWFP
Efficacy of Massage on Pain Intensity in Post-Cesarean Women: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
No full textBackground: Cesarean section is a common surgical procedure that may be considered a safe alternative to natural birth and helps to resolve numerous obstetric conditions. Still, the Cesarean section is painful; relieving pain after a Cesarean section is crucial, therefore analgesia is necessary for the postoperative period. However, analgesia is not free of complications and contraindications, so massage may be a cost-effective method for decreasing pain post-Cesarean. Our study aims to determine the massage role in pain intensity after Cesarean sections.
Methods: We searched five electronic databases for relevant studies. Data were extracted from the included studies after screening procedures. We calculated the pooled mean difference (MD) and standardized mean difference (SMD) for our continuous outcomes, using random or fixed-effect meta-analysis according to heterogenicity status. Interventional studies were assessed for methodological quality using the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool, while observational studies were assessed using the National Institutes of Health’s tools.
Results: Our study included 10 RCTs and five observational studies conducted with over 1,595 post-Cesarean women. The pooled MDs for pain intensity considering baseline values either immediately or post 60-90 minutes were favoring the massage group over the control group as follows:(stand. MD = -2.64, 95% CI [-3.80, -1.48], p > .00001; MD = -2.64, 95% CI [-3.80, -1.48], p > .00001, respectively). While pooled MDs regarding post-intervention only either immediately or post 60-90 minutes were:(stand. MD = -2.04, 95% CI [-3.26, -0.82], p = .001; stand. MD = -2.62, 95% CI [-3.52, -1.72], p > .00001, respectively).
Conclusion: Our study found that using massage was superior to the control groups in decreasing pain intensity either when the pain was assessed immediately after or 60-90 minutes post-massage application
The Effects of Massage on Self-regulatory Difficulties, Tactile and Oral Abnormalities, and Parenting Stress in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
No full textBackground: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that about 1 in every 44 children between the ages of 4 and 8 years old had been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Complementary interventions such as massage are crucial for the improvement of the health outcomes of ASD patients, such as abnormal sensory response; Autism Behavior Checklist; parenting stress, self-regulatory difficulties, social, language, and communication abilities; tactile or oral abnormalities; Vineland daily living skills; Vineland socialization; Childhood Autism Rating Scale; Preschool Language Scale 5th Edition (PLS-5) auditory communica-tion; and PLS-5 expressive communication.
Purpose: We aim to systematically investigate the effects of different types of massage on self-regulatory difficulties, tactile and oral abnormalities, and parenting stress in children with ASD.
Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science were scoured from their inception through November 15, 2022. Research comparing massage efficacy in children with ASD to other methods or a control group was included. For randomized controlled trials (RCTs), we utilized the Cochrane risk of bias tool; and for cohort studies, we used the tool developed by the National Institutes of Health. Meta-analysis was carried out with Review Manager 5.4. For our continuous data, we calculated the mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI).
Results: We included 10 studies with a total number of 485 children with autism. Our analysis showed a significant decrease in the massage group regarding self-regulatory difficulties (MD = −9.15; 95% CI (−13.69 to −4.60), p < 0.0001). Also, the massage group showed a significant decrease in tactile or oral abnormalities compared with the control group (MD = −4.83; 95% CI (−7.86 to −1.80), p = 0.002). Moreover, parenting stress significantly decreased in the massage group compared to the control group (MD = −4.31; 95% CI (−7.02 to −1.61), p = 0.002).
Conclusion: Qigong and traditional Thai massage improved self-regulatory difficulties and decreased tactile or oral abnormalities in children with autism. Moreover, they decreased parenting stress. However, we need more RCTs with larger sample sizes with high quality to assess the different types of massage effects on autistic children and produce more valid results. So, Qigong and traditional Thai massage could be used as a complement to educational and training interventions in children with autism
