To reduce foodborne illnesses, hazard and risk-based quality management systems are essential. Small and medium sized companies (SMEs) tend to have a poor understanding of such systems and limited adoption of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system (HACCP). The requirement for full HACCP implementation by 2006 will place an even greater burden on these businesses. The aim of this project is to assess the current levels of understanding of hazards and risks in SMEs in the manufacturing sector. A questionnaire survey was made of 850 SMEs, including microbusinesses. This determined the industry sector and processes carried out, whether the company operated hazard-based quality management and the knowledge of the technical manager regarding the associated hazards and risks. Follow-up visits to the manufacturing plant observed the processes and the operatives to determine their level of understanding. A benchmarking audit was carried out and each company was rated. The results show that the majority of respondents stated that they operated hazard analysis-based quality management. The ability of the respondents to correctly define a hazard or risk or identify different types of hazard was, however, poor. There was no correlation between business type and audit score. The microbusinesses did, however, perform significantly less well than the larger SMEs.
The aim of this work is to develop a single‐step process to produce hydroxyapatite/polycaprolactone (HAp/PCL) composite filaments for 3D printing of bone scaffolds by fused deposition modeling (FDM). The HAp/PCL composite filaments are produced by hot‐melt extrusion, with direct in situ blending. For practical purposes, the effect of PCL particle size on filament homogeneity and printability is assessed between PCL in powder and pellet form. The effect of HAp content on processing parameters and filament properties is also evaluated. Filament extrudability, homogeneity, and shape consistency improve with increasing HAp content up to a threshold of 40 wt%. Furthermore, an optimal range of the composite melt viscosity for the extrusion process is defined. The produced filaments are successfully 3D printed by FDM and the resulting prototypes show improved compressive modulus and degradation rate with increasing HAp content. A cytocompatibility assay is conducted, which suggests an optimal HAp content to be less than 40 wt% in terms of cell viability, adhesion, and proliferation. The developed method offers several advantages, as it completely avoids the use of toxic solvents and enables the incorporation of very high HAp concentrations, further improving the chances of implementation of FDM for bone tissue regeneration medicine.
By carefully selecting flyer plate thickness and the geometry of a target capsule for bacterial broths and emulsions, we have successfully subjected the contents of the capsule to simultaneous shock and dynamic compression when subjected to a flyer-plate impact experiment. The capsules were designed to be recovered intact so that post experimental analysis could be done on the contents. ANSYS® AUTODYN hydrocode simulations were carried out to interrogate the deformation of the cover plate and the wave propagation in the fluid. Accordingly, we have shown that microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis and Zygosaccharomyces bailii are not affected by this type of loading regime. However, by introducing a cavity behind the broth we were able to observe limited kill in the yeast sample. Further, on using this latter technique with emulsions it was shown that greater emulsification of an oil-based emulsion occurred due to the cavitation that was introduced.
The microorganisms Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis and Zygosaccharomyces bailii and an oil-based emulsion, have been subjected to shock compression using the flyer-plate technique to initial pressures of 0.8 GPa (in the suspension). In each experiment, a stainless steel capsule was used to contain the broths and allow for recovery without contamination. Where cavitation was mostly suppressed by virtue of simultaneous shock and dynamic compression, no kill was observed. By introducing an air gap behind the suspension, limited kill was measured in the yeast. Results also suggest that stable emulsification occurs in coarse oil-based emulsions that are subjected to shock.
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