A magic box that ripens bananas in 3 days.

Farming just like any venture comes with challenges which may mar your project if not properly addressed. This is very evident in harvesting to processing of agricultural products,many farmers record a lot of losses due to the perishable nature of their production. The handling,storage and preservation of most farm products is where major losses are incurred,thus farmers that dont have access to technology or methodology to preserve or store their products are exposed to risk and to cut their losses they sell at give away prices. Bananas are one of such products that must been handled with care if any profit is to be made because they start to ripen as soon as its cut from the plant and farmers use various methods to hasten the process. The farmers sometimes use chemicals to speed up the process thus exposing the consumers to health risks,while some other farmers put the bananas in bags and tie them up above a fire place,the disadvantage is that there is uneven ripening as all the bananas dont ripen at the same rate,the tendency of the bananas to rot and waste is very high with this technique. Majority of small scale farmers just spread them on a grassland and cover with leaves,this method exposes the bananas to pathogens which not only destroy the crop but also the risk of poisoning in man.This method of ripening also carries with it high rate of losses as the crops can be pilfered and also eaten by wild animals,thus creating another pathway of infection in man. The losses associated with post harvesting management of bananas has been solved with an innovative idea from of Stephen Simotwo, a final year Agricultural Engineering student at Kaiboi Technical Training Institute in Nandi County. The Banana Ripening Box uses a simple technology that modifies conditions for ripening of the fruit in a safe and fast way. The magic box is simple ,easy to use and cost effective as it does not use electricity, the box works on the science of organic ripening. The magic box works on the knowledge of ripening crops naturally,Stephen Simotwo found out that ripening can be stimulated with ethylene gas and he sourced for natural stores of ethylene gas.He discovered that passion fruit has a high concentration of ethylene gas,so he mixed unripe bananas and ripe passion fruit to ripen the bananas and it was a success. This is how the magic box is a wooden box(size will depend on capacity) divided into compartments internally and lined with transparent polythene bags; 1) put the unripe bananas in the box,with the ripe passion fruit in the ratio of 300 bananas to one kilo of passion fruits and close the box tightly(air tight)for 24 hours. 2)open the box for 5 minutes to allow carbon dioxide exit,the bananas begin to ripen now. 3) close the box again for 12 hours to continue the ripening. 4)open again for 5 minutes for escape of carbon dioxide. 5)Close box again and open finally at 72 hours,the bananas will have ripened completely. When passion fruit is not available,tomatoes,pineapple,pawpaw and avocado pears can also be used. Order for box

Woman's Deadly Infection Linked to Horse Riding.

An elderly woman in Seattle died from an infection that she appears to have contracted from a horse she rode, according to a new report. The report is published in the Aug. 5 issue of the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 71-year-old woman had visited her daughter, who operates a horse boarding and riding center in King County, Washington. In the week of Feb. 21, 2016, one of the horses developed nasal and eye discharge, suggesting the animal had an infection. The daughter treated the horse with antibiotics, and the animal recovered. The daughter developed a mild sore throat and cough, that same week and her mother also showed symptoms of an upper respiratory infection. Both the mother and daughter had been in close contact with the horse, with the mother petting and riding the horse on at least two days, Feb. 25 and 29. A few weeks later, on March 2, the mother experienced vomiting and diarrhea, and was later found unconscious. She was taken to the hospital, but died on March 3. Officials collected a nasal swab from the previously sick horse, along with a swab of the daughter's throat and samples of the mother's blood. All three samples tested positive for the same strain of bacteria, called Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (or S. zooepidemicus for short.) This type of bacteria is known to infect animals, including horses, pigs and cats. It's rare that people get sick from S. zooepidemicus, but When infections in people do occur, they can cause a variety of symptoms, including chills, weakness, difficulty breathing, fever, kidney inflammation and arthritis. People can become infected with S. zooepidemicus by consuming unpasteurized dairy products, but the daughter said that she and her mother hadn't consumed any unpasteurized dairy products, nor did they have contact with other animals, except one healthy cat. The findings from this investigation linked a fatal S. zooepidemicus infection to close contact with an ill horse.The mother may have been at increased risk for infection because of her age. It also remains unclear if the woman's respiratory symptoms preceded or followed her infection with S. zooepidemicus. (It's possible that the respiratory symptoms were from a separate infection, which in turn could have made the woman more vulnerable to S. zooepidemicus, the report said.) Doctors always advocate that people thoroughly wash their hands after contact with horses or other animals.#hygiene #hand washing # #soap and #water. culled from Live Science.

A veterinarian on field trip!!!

Veterinarians and field trips, this was one of such days and guess how it all started, a calf came calling in the parking lot The field trip in pics,

Celebrating veterinary excellence.

The center of excellence,Lagos State Government recently appointed a veterinarian as the permanent secretary primary health care board,in the person of Dr. Olalekan Allison. 

The former director of veterinary services Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture has indeed broken a record as he is the first veterinarian to be appointed as permanent secretary.

 Celebrating veterinary excellence,join me!!! More

3D Printing and Music and heart project.

Polish DJ Piotr Bejnar is using 3D printed bracelets to capture fans heartbeats, and then using them as bass beats for his live set. The inspiration, explains Bejnar, came from working at a small venue. “There was this show with so little space on the stage that I had to play surrounded by the dancing crowd, ” says Bejnar. “I felt how their pulse affected the music I was playing, and then I thought to go even further. To create music together with the audience. Live.” Bejnar believes there is a musical instrument within all of us — the heart. He explored how to create music from this natural drum, and came up with the idea of using it as a bass beat for his live set by accelerating and slowing the rhythm. His experiment involved friends whose heartbeats he could add his own sounds to in order to create music. He said: “I only needed a technology which allowed me to play with the audience’s heartbeats during the concert in a club.” From this idea, Bejnar’s friend was able to create 3D printed bracelets which could measure people’s heartbeats and send the information wirelessly to the DJ’s console.continue

Animal Avengers Use 3D Printing to Save Victoria the Goose.

The Animal Avengers continue in their mission to preserve wildlife; Victoria the goose has a 3D printed beak so she can eat and drink again.In 2015, Victoria the goose was discovered on the São Paulo coast missing a large part of her beak. Unable to eat or drink, she was rushed to the nonprofit organisation, Friend of the Sea. Friends of the Sea, which cares for hundreds of marine animals every year, contacted a group called the Animal Avengers. The team comprises of four vets, a dental surgeon, and a 3D designer, who work on creating prosthesis for injured animals. ALL 3DP covered their exploits previously with Freddy the tortoise and Hanna the Labrador puppy. Victoria is the first goose in the world to receive a brand new 3D printed beak, and she is now expected to be able to lead a normal life.Continue

Drones and medical care.

A company called Vayu,has designed a drone to help bring medical care to remote places was successfully used to deliver clinical blood and stool samples from rural villages in Madagascar to a central laboratory for testing. There were numerous flights conducted to prove the viability of using the technology on a regular basis over hilly terrain. The Vayu drone takes off vertically, but flies horizontally, having combined characteristics of a quadcopter and a fixed wing airplane. It requires no runway and is designed to be fully autonomous once its destination is entered, landing on parking lots, roofs, and any other flat surface. It is capable of hauling 4.5 lbs (2 Kg) for approximately 40 miles (60 Km) and there’s already work underway to extend the range closer to 60 miles (100 Km). It was used to send samples to the clinic,but it can equally bring blood, drugs, and other light medical supplies on the return trip. continue