Competitiveness in the era of globalization is tougher than ever before. Most of small medium-sized enterprises, especially in the manufacturing sector, are easily vulnerable due to lack of opportunities and resources to harness the economics of scale as well as business activities in research and development. To drive business competitiveness, the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must make use of resource efficiency in production processes and optimize the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). The method of single minute exchange of dies (SMED) appears to be an effective approach, which does not require financial investments but only utilizes the current human resource, to improve and maximize the OEE. The paper describes the step-by-step approach to apply SMED and shows its results in the increase of 18% OEE in a semi-auto cutting machine.

In this study, mould resistance of the bamboo species Thy-rostachys siamensis treated with chitosan was tested underlaboratory and praxis condition. In the laboratory experiment, bamboo specimens were treated with various solutions of bothlow molecular weight chitosan (LMW) and medium molecularweight chitosan (MMW) at concentrations of 1, 2 and 3% andChitosan-copper complexes (CC) at concentrations of 2, 4 and 6%. Mould growth on the specimens was evaluated 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks after they were exposed to the inoculation with a conidia mixture of six moulds isolated from bamboos. In field test, bamboo samples were treated with the effective formulations from the laboratory experiment. Evaluation of mould growth on the samples was done 1, 2, 4 and 8 weeks after exposure at the storage site of Bamboo company, Binh Duong. The results showed that treatments with chitosan (MMW) at the concentration of more than or equal to 3% and Chitosan-copper complexes at the concentration of more than or equal to 4% completely inhibited mould growth on the bamboo T. siamensis.

This study was to investigate the feasibility of using cocoa pod husks (CPH) and bamboo in manufacturing hybrid particle board. Three-layer experimental particle boards from mixture of bamboo and CPH participles were manufactured using different surface to core layer ratios (30, 40 and 50%) and various UF ratios for surface layer (6, 8 and 10%) and for core layer (4, 6 and 8%). Modulus of rupture (MOR), internal bond strength (IB) and thickness swelling (TS) properties of the boards were evaluated based on Standard TCVN7756:2007 Test Methods for general purpose used in dry conditions. The results showed that boards in all ratios of surface to core layer investigated could be manufactured using up till 8% UF resin for surface layer and up till 6% UF resin for core layer without falling below the minimum Standard VN7754:2007. The optimal condition was the surface to core layer ratio of 30% used with 9.51% UF resin for surface layer and 7.45% UF resin for core layer obtaining the lowest thickness swelling (TS) 11.13%. The highest values of MOR and IB were 15.25 MPa and 0.45 MPa, respectively. This study demonstrates that cocoa pod husks and bamboo waste can be an alternative raw material source for particleboard production.

This study was conducted to determine the diversity of pathogenic Vibrio species, the antimicrobial resistance profile and the presence of virulence genes linked to food-borne pathogens of Vibrio spp. isolated from shrimp samples in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A total of 40 raw shrimp batches were collected from retails markets (supermarket and street). All 133 test strains were isolated from 40 shrimp samples. V. parahaemolyticus was the most common species (87.5%), followed by V. navarrensis (60%), V. alginolyticus (52.5%), V. cholerae non-O1 (37.5%), V. vulnificus (22.5%), and V. fluvialis (10%). Vibrio spp. isolates were susceptible to 12 antimicrobial agents. The prevalence of ampicillin resistance was highest (82.7%), followed by cotrimoxazole (18.8%) and 3rd generation cephalosporins (16.5% cefotaxime and 8.3% ceftazidime). Extended spectrum β lactamase (ESBL) activity was detected in 28.1% V. parahaemolyticus isolates. None of tdh or trh virulence genes were detected. The results of this study indicated the presentation of Vibrio species in shrimp samples purchased in Ho Chi Minh City. Therefore, our results could be of great potential for the identification of Vibrio infection in shrimp samples taken from different regions to improve food quality and safety.  

The objective of the experiment was to evaluate effects of dietary supplementation of β-mannanase (Hemicell®) on productive performance, egg quality, and fecal moisture content in laying hens from 20 to 35 weeks of age. A total of 375 Isa Brown hens (1615.6±76.4 g/bird) were randomly assigned to 5 treatments in a completely randomized design. The 5 dietary treatments included (1) basal diet with a level of 2800 kcal ME and no β-mannanase supplementation (HE, Control), (2) HE + 32 units of β-mannanase/gof feed, (3) HE + 64 units of β-mannanase/g of feed, (4) basal diet with a level of 2700 kcal ME (LE) + 32 units of β-mannanase/gof feed, and (5) LE + 64 units of β-mannanase/g of feed. Each treatment was replicated with 25 cages of 3 hens each. All diets were in meal form and contained no antibiotics. The addition of β-mannanase to HE diets did not affect the egg production of birds as compared with the control (P > 0.05). The birds fed LE diets with β-mannanase had the same egg production as those fed the control and β-mannanase-supplemented HE diets (P > 0.05). Differences in egg weight, egg quality, survival rate, and fecal moisture content were not significant among the treatments (P > 0.05). Briefly, addition of β-mannanase (32 units/g of feed) to LE diets would be beneficial for layers during the early laying period as it resulted in the same performance and egg quality as the HE diet without β-mannanase supplementation.

The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the efficacy of Marine Sulfated Polysaccharide enhanced by a blend oforganic acids (AseaD) as an alternative to colistin in the diet of broilers. A total of two hundred and sixteen one-day-old male chicks (Ross 308, initial body weight: 42.25 ± 0.42 g/bird) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments each represented with 12 replicate cages of 9 birds. The dietary treatments included (1) basal diet with antibiotic (Control, basal diet + 20 ppm colistin) and (2) basal diet without antibiotic + 0.3% AseaD (AseaD). Birds in the control were fed a basal diet containing colistin from 1 to 28 days of age only. There were no differences in ADG and ADFI between the 2 treatments at any phases or for the overall period (P > 0.05). Similarly, no differences in FCR were found during d 1-28 or the overall period (P > 0.05). Nevertheless, the FCR of broilers fed AseaD (1.893) was lower than that of broilers fed the control diet (1.991) from 29 to 42 days of age (P = 0.016). No differences in the survival rate of birds were found between the 2 treatments (P > 0.05). These results confirm the potency of AseaD in broiler diets as a potential alternative to colistin used at a concentration of 20 ppm, with significant benefits and interest during the finishing period when colistin is withdrawn from a diet.

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Actinobacillus pleuropneumonia (App), Haemophilus parasuis (Hps), Pasteurella multocida (Pm) and Bordetella bronchiseptica (Bb) were performed in pure colonies isolated  from 114 lung specimens  with lesions collected from the Vissan slaughterhouse  in Ho Chi Minh City from July 2018 to May 2019. The aim of the experiment was to identify the four respiratory pathogenic bacteria in pigs at slaughterhouse by using PCR technique. The criteria for evaluating the results  included the proportion of positive samples with multiplex PCR and percentage of samples co-infected with 2, 3, and 4 bacteria. Among a total of 114 injured lung samples, 21% of the samples was positive to at least one of the four bacteria, 3 samples (2.63%) were positive for App, 2 samples (1.75%) were positive for Hps, 7 samples (6.14%) were for Pm, and 12 lungs (10.53%) were positive for Bb. One sample (0.88%) was found co-infected with Pm and Hps.

Land assessment is a specific requirement for the land use. Land assessment results provide the information on land types and natural conditions (land map units) so that we can evaluate the suitability of the land area for agricultural and non-agricultural use. In agriculture, appropriate crops for the land area are usually designed based on the land assessment data. Ecological planning is a process of assessment, evaluation, and decision in order to help authorities design the ideal, appropriate land area and land arrangement for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes. Tan Phuoc district in Tien Giang province is a low and alluvial agricultural area of Dong Thap Muoi. In this area, the income of local people depends majorly on agricultural activities. Pineapple (Ananas cosmosus) with its high economic value is widely cultivated in Tan Phuoc and has an important impact on the income of local people. Nevertheless, most of the land area currently used for pineapple production in Tan Phuoc was the land area previously used for cultivation of other crops. Due to this poor land resource planning, the yield of pineapple was low, and the land and environment were polluted. An adequate land assessment for Tan Phuoc is therefore highly needed so that an ecological planning for pineapple would be properly to improve the yield of pineapple, conserve the environment and support the sustainable development in Tan Phuoc.

This work was conducted to evaluate the effect of drying methods on the nutritional values and physicochemical properties of unpeeled banana flour. Proximate, amylose content, phenolic compound, resistant starch, total dietary fibre, functional properties, pasting properties, and thermal properties of dried banana flour samples were evaluated. Three different drying methods of whole banana with the intact peel were studied including 1) hot-air unpeeled flour (HAU) (dried at 60oC for2 h in hot-air chamber), 2) microwave-vacuum unpeeled flour (MVU) (36,000 W under vacuum -600 mmHg for 15 min in a pilot microwave-vacuum dryer), and 3) infrared unpeeled flour (IRU) (600 W for 15min in infrared channel dryer). The HAU and MVU showed the highest yield. Drying methods did not affect the compositions of the flour but significantly affected the total dietary fibre, resistant starch, amylose content and phenolic compound of the flour. Among samples, HAU contained the highest nutritional values with outstanding functional properties and pasting properties. The unpeeled banana flour can be utilized in various food products such as noodle, bakeries, snack or used as functional ingredients for nutritional purposes.  

Galangal (Alpinia officinarum) essential oil potentially exerts several health benefits such as antiproliferative, pain relief and fever reduction activities. The essential oil in this study was extracted using the microwave (MW) assisted treatment as an alternative method to conventional extraction. The samples were treated with MW at different power levels (600, 700, and 800 W) for 3 min before subjecting to a hydro distillation extraction. The effect of sample:water ratio (1:1 and 1:0.5) was also investigated. The MW treatment at 600 W and sample:water ratio of 1:1 resulted in the highest amount of essential oil (0.33%). The MW pretreatment had a positive effect on reducing the extraction time (from 3 h to 2.5 h) observed at all MW power levels. The effect of essential oil loading capacity (10, 20 and 30%) on the encapsulation yield was evaluated. The in vitro antioxidative activity of the obtained powder was then measured. The highest encapsulation efficiency (86.5%) was obtained from the 20% loading capacity, suggesting for a suitable amount of essential oil should be loaded for the encapsulation. The in vitro antioxidant activity of the encapsulated essential oil powders was determined. The IC50 of the powder was 2077 μ g/mL using DPPH assay.