Street-vended foods are convenient and cheap meals, but their contamination can lead to foodborne illness. This study aimed to evaluate food safety knowledge of street food vendors in Ulundi and AbaQulusi local municipalities of Zululand District, South Africa and compliance of their street food vending environment to sanitary requirements. A cross sectional survey design was utilised to gather data from 400 street food vendors using interviews. A piloted checklist was used to collect data on the sanitary characteristics from 200 randomly selected street food vending facilities. Most of the street food vendors were black (99%), females (73%), and above 35 years (55%). Only the minority of street food vendors had attended a high school (47%) and the vast majority (77%) of them had not attended any food safety training course. The majority (64.7%) of respondents knew that food should not be handled when they have diarrhoea, even if their hands were washed regularly, neither when they have flu, colds, cough, or catarrh. The minority (43%) of street food vendors knew that the use of separate cutting boards for meat and salad, and washing them between uses are the safest ways to avoid cross-contamination. The majority (79.4%) of street food vendors were aware that microorganisms could cause foodborne diseases that may lead to death. The vast majority (76%) of street food vendors had low food safety knowledge and only 14% of the street food vending sites had high compliance with sanitary conditions. In conclusion, most street food vendors possessed inadequate food safety knowledge in key food safety parameters and most of the street food vending facilities were noncompliant. Furthermore, most of them operate under poor sanitary conditions. Street food vendors should be provided with compliant waste disposal and standard kitchen facilities with water resources to ensure hygienic preparation and serving of food. / Life and Consumer Sciences / M. Cons. Sci.

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The significance of human capital development (HCD) from an organizational perspective is adequately reflected in the extant literature; however, its inherent connection with total quality management (TQM) philosophy is yet to be investigated. Hence, this study intends to explore the role of HCD in implementing TQM philosophy and to develop a comprehensive HCD framework in this respect. The labor-intensive Bangladesh ready-made garment sector is used as the research site since the phenomenon under inquiry is not readily evident in the chosen setting. The interpretivist worldview is espoused in this exploratory research to accomplish the research aim. Correspondingly, an inductive approach followed by a qualitative multiple case study methodology is adopted. Five (5) RMG establishments are purposively selected as case organizations. Thirty (30) in-depth interviews (6 from each case organization) are conducted, using the semi-structured interview technique to generate rich and thick primary data. Reflexive thematic analysis is manually performed to analyze the interview transcripts. Findings imply that HCD engenders three major effects: reduced costs of operations, improved product quality, and on-time shipment. Thereby HCD ensures greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, which is the essence of TQM philosophy. Empirical evidence specifically suggests that HCD can contribute to TQM implementation by empowering employees to reliably participate in problem solving and decision-making, innovatively perform tasks, and effectively accomplish appropriate changes in work processes and procedures. This study contributes to the knowledge by evidencing the fact that an HCD framework integrating both learning and healthcare interventions has an explicitly positive nexus with TQM philosophy. / Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK

The impact on the built environment due to the forecasted climate change was presented by the authorities more than one decade ago, but the actions from the building industry to adapt buildings for a changed climate are still lacking. The purpose of this study is to identify a suitable cooling technique for a modern residential building in a future warmer climate in order to maintain thermal comfort but also energy efficiency. This thesis analyses and presents passive techniques and the behavior of active cooling with a slab cooling system under a future climate scenario so as to accomplish a sustainable system which will be functionable and viable in the future. To verify the different solutions the building performance simulation software IDA ICE has been used and a case study building with a simulated location in the city of Stockholm has been investigated. Results show promising outcomes as thermal comfort is achieved and energy efficiency is maintained depending on diversely selected energy sources. / Påverkan på den byggda miljön från klimatförändringar har upplysts av myndigheter under minst de senaste tio åren, men agerande från byggbranschen för att klimatanpassa är fortfarande låg. Syftet med denna studie är att identifiera en lämplig kylteknik för ett bostadshus i ett framtida varmare klimat för att bibehålla termisk komfort och samtidigt energieffektivitet. Denna examensrapport analyserar och presenterar prestanda hos dels olika passiva system, dels ett kombinerat värme- och kylsystem i bjälklag i ett framtida klimatscenario för att uppnå ett hållbart system som kommer att vara funktionellt och livskraftigt i framtiden. För att verifiera de olika kyllösningarna har simuleringsprogrammet för byggnadsprestanda IDA ICE använts och en fallstudiebyggnad med en simulerad placering i Stockholm har undersökts. Resultaten visar lovande resultat eftersom termisk komfort uppnås och energiprestanda kan bibehållas beroende på valda energikällor.

Beim Fördern von Transportbeton mittels Betonpumpen kann es zum unvorhergesehenen Blockieren der Förderleitung kommen. Die Ursachen dafür sind oftmals nicht offensichtlich und können mit rheologischen Eigenschaften des Frischbetons bzw. mit seinem Entmischungsverhalten, der Pumpleitungsgeometrie oder der Pumptechnik zusammenhängen. Die hohe Anzahl an Einflussfaktoren erschwert das Vorhersagen von Blockierungen in einem Fördersystem und ein frühzeitiges Ergreifen von Gegenmaßnahmen. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden Erkenntnisse aus großmaßstäblichen Pumpversuchen vorgestellt. Diese Versuche wurden im Rahmen des AiF-Forschungsvorhabens „Sichere Betonförderung – Pumpbarkeit und Pumpstabilität“ (AiF-Nr. 20947 BG) durchgeführt, um eine wissenschaftliche Grundlage für die Beschreibung des Blockierungsverhaltens unterschiedlicher Betone zu schaffen und der Baubranche bereitzustellen.

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In many countries, the authorities face extreme difficulties in monitoring and ensuring that food sold on the street is safe, that is, fit for human consumption. This is particularly the case in urban areas, where people buy food on the street because it is readily available and relatively inexpensive. The objective of this study was to determine the food safety knowledge and microbial hazard awareness of street food consumers, and to assess the bacteriological quality of selected ready-to-eat foods sold by street vendors in the Johannesburg municipality. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted and a total of 402 respondents who buy and consume street-vended foods were randomly selected at various street food vending locations. A total of 315 various street-vended samples were purchased from randomly selected street food vendors at different vending locations in Johannesburg metropolis, in order to investigate the bacteriological quality of street-vended foods. Results of the bacteriological analysis revealed that total aerobic counts ranged from 0.3*102 - 0.4*105 cfu/g in cereals and grain-based foods; 0.4*102 - 0.5*105 cfu/g in meat-, dairy- and fish-based foods and 0.7*102 - 0.9*104 cfu/g in fruit- and vegetable-based foods. None of the food samples tested positive for Salmonella spp and Staphylococcus aureus. Results of the survey showed that the majority of respondents were black males younger than 35 years. Individuals of different gender, race, level of education and monthly income groups significantly (p<0.05) differed in their responses regarding the frequency of purchasing and confidence in the safety of street-vended food. Better taste followed closely by affordability and accessibility were the most cited reasons for purchasing street-vended food / Life and Consumer Sciences / M. Sc. (Life Sciences)