The Development of Automatic Pineapple Washing and Drying Machine

Indonesia is a country that produce a large variety and quantity of fruit. One of the prominent fruits is pineapple. Small and medium-sized industries that process pineapples into derivative products have sprung up in various regions. However, most of the processing is still conducted manually. One thing that still needs to be improved is the washing and drying process. Therefore, this research developed an automatic washing and drying machine. The developed machine uses a one-tube system so it could reduce the transfer process from one stage to the next. Testing on the developed machines has been carried out. The test results show that this machine is capable to process as much as 6.5 kg of pineapple in one batch. Another test to determine the most effective duration of washing and drying process was also carried out. The test results show that the effective washing time is 180 seconds, and the drying process is 90 seconds. Apart from the level of cleanliness and dryness of pineapple, this test also observes the damage of pineapple as a result of the washing and drying process. Simulations to measure the total time to operate the machine have been carried out. The data shows that it takes 303 seconds, starting from inserting pineapple to the tube, washing, draining, and finally removing pineapples from the tube. By using both data of average total processing time and optimum weight, the capacity of developed machine could be calculated. The capacity of this machine is around 77 kg per hour or 8.008 kg per month. With this capacity, this machine can be used by SME with a large production capacity.

Biodiversity in the Cueva del Viento Lava Tube System (Tenerife, Canary Islands)

Cueva del Viento and Cueva de Felipe Reventón are lava tubes located in Tenerife, Canary Islands, and are considered the volcanic caves with the greatest cave-dwelling diversity in the world. Geological aspects of the island relevant to the formation of these caves are discussed, and their most outstanding internal geomorphological structures are described. An analysis of the environmental parameters relevant to animal communities is made, and an updated list of the cave-adapted species and their way of life into the caves is provided. Some paleontological data and comments on the conservation status of these tubes are included.

Transportation of a commercial premixed intravenous insulin product through a pneumatic tube system

Purpose Delivery of insulin products via pneumatic tubes is often avoided in health systems, as agitation may cause insulin proteins to destabilize, resulting in loss of function through denaturation, aggregation, or other processes. The actual loss of potency due to delivery via pneumatic tubes has not been reported for new, ready-to-use insulin products. Methods Samples were drawn from 7 commercial intravenous (IV) bags containing a 100 units/100 mL premixed solution of regular insulin in sodium chloride injection (Myxredlin, Baxter). The bags were then exposed to 7 unique long-distance pneumatic tube routes. The post-transportation bags were visually inspected for evidence of foaming. Samples were drawn from the post-transportation bags and insulin concentrations were analyzed via an enzyme immunoassay and compared to pretransportation concentrations. Results All seven post-transportation insulin samples were within 10% of their respective pretransportation sample. No foaming was observed in any of the Myxredlin bags after transportation through the pneumatic tube system. Conclusion Transporting 100 unit/100 mL Myxredlin i.v. bags through a pneumatic tube system does not result in a clinically significant loss of potency. Therefore, delivery of this drug product via a pneumatic tube system to patient care areas can be considered in daily practice.