Evaluation of Lepidium sativum seed and guar gum to improve dough rheology and quality parameters in composite rice–wheat bread

The effects of hydrocolloids in rice–wheat flour were studied. Hydrocolloids at 0%, 0.3%, 0.6% and 1% w/w (flour basis) and guar (G), Lepidium sativum seed (L) and guar-L. sativum seed (GL) gum were tested as additives to the rice/flour in various combinations. The quality parameters for the experiment were assessed with farinography, extensography, amylography and texture profile analysis. The evaluation of dough rheology showed that water absorption, dough development time, dough stability and viscosity all increased with the addition of hydrocolloids alone or in a combination. It was demonstrated that G₁L₁ promoted the highest effect. The mixing tolerance index and gelatinization temperature decreased with an increased hydrocolloid concentration. Extensibility value for the dough that incorporated guar and L. sativum seed gum increased with increasing hydrocolloid concentration from 0.3% to 0.6% and then decreased at 1%. The water activity of all bread didn't have significant differences with increasing hydrocolloids concentration but this parameter 24 decreased during storage. Firmness decreased with increasing hydrocolloid concentration and increased with increasing storage time. The sensory evaluation by a consumer panel gave the higher score for overall acceptability to G_0.3L_0.3 and G_0.3L_0.6 samples. The results also showed that G₁L₁, G₁L_0.6 and G_0.6L₁ samples had high specific volume and porosity.     

Accurate analysis of spectral regrowth of nonlinear power amplifier driven by cyclostationary modulated signals

In this paper we present an exact analytical expression to calculate the spectral regrowth at the output of a nonlinear power amplifier (PA) using the higher order cumulants and Poisson summation formula. This PA is driven by the filtered digitally modulated signals. To improve the accuracy of the calculations, the cyclosationarity of the input signal is considered. Moreover, closed-form expressions for the 1-dB compression and saturation points are extracted as a function of the PA model parameters, higher order statistics of the input signal, and the transfer function of the pulse shaping filter. In addition, an analytical expression for the adjacent channel power (ACP) and a closed-form expression of the ACP ratio are derived. This is followed by investigation of the effect of the PA nonlinearity on the performance of receiver. Simulation studies are carried out to verify the accuracy of the derived expressions. Excellent agreement between the analytical and simulation results is achieved.     

The effects of post annealing on the mechanical properties, microstructure and texture evolutions of pure copper deformed by twist extrusion process

X-ray diffraction peak broadening analysis showed that performing a proper heat treatment between the twist extrusion passes of commercially pure copper decreased the coherent domain size and increased the microstrain. Moreover, SEM micrographs illustrated that annealed material contained new formed grains that could not grow due to lack of sufficient time. Under such circumstances, the ultimate strength was elevated about 45 MPa. The deformed material showed texture of simple shear deformation, changing by applying the post annealing.     

Effects of SiC nanoparticles with and without Ni on the hydrogen storage properties of MgH2

In this work, MgH₂–SiC–Ni was prepared by magneto-mechanical milling in hydrogen atmosphere. Scanning electron microscope mapping images showed a homogeneous dispersion of both Ni and SiC among MgH₂ particles. Based on the differential scanning calorimetry traces, the temperature of desorption is reduced by doping MgH₂ with SiC and Ni. Hydrogen absorption/desorption behaviour of the samples was investigated by Sievert's method at 300 °C, and the results showed that both capacity and kinetics were improved by adding SiC and Ni. The hydrogen desorption kinetic investigation indicated that for pure MgH₂, the rate-determining step is surface controlled and recombination, while for the MgH₂–SiC–Ni sample it is controlled as described by the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami 3D model (JMA 3D).     

Characterization and formation mechanism of nanocrystalline W–Al alloy prepared by mechanical alloying

Tungsten and aluminum elemental powders with composition W–20 wt.% Al were mechanical alloyed in high energy planetary ball mill. Structural and morphological changes of powder particles after different milling times were studied by X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscopy and microhardness measurements. Mechanical alloying of this system led to the formation of W–Al alloy as a result of formation of W/Al layered microstructure having faceted interface between layers. This alloy indicated high microhardness value of about 570 Hv.     

Osmotic and activity coefficients in the solutions of 1- and 2-naphthol in methanol and ethanol at 298.15 K

The osmotic coefficient of the solution, activity of the solvent and activity coefficient of the solute in solutions of 1- and 2-naphthol in methanol and ethanol have been measured by the isopiestic method. The experimental osmotic coefficient data were correlated using the Non-Random Two Liquid model (NRTL), the Non-Random Factor model (NRF), the two suffix Margules equation and a polynomial in terms of the molality of the solute. The models give reliable results for the correlation of the osmotic coefficient data. The activity coefficients of 1- and 2-naphthol were evaluated according to the considered methods using the parameters obtained by the correlation of osmotic coefficients.     

Tight bounds for the identical parallel machine scheduling problem

We address the problem of minimizing makespan on identical parallel machines. We propose new lower bounding strategies and heuristics for this fundamental scheduling problem. The lower bounds are based on the so‐called lifting procedure. In addition, two optimization‐based heuristics are proposed. These heuristics require iteratively solving a subset‐sum problem. We present the results of computational experiments that provide strong evidence that the new proposed lower and upper bounds consistently outperform the best bounds from the literature.     

Optimizing dock configuration and staffing in decentralized receiving

In manufacturing facilities, shipping and receiving traditionally have been concentrated in one or two areas of the building. The widespread introduction of just-in-time shipping policies in US manufacturing companies during the past 15 years, as well as the common use of decentralized receiving in the Japanese automobile industry, has motivated the consideration (and occasionally the adoption) of dock configurations to support decentralized receiving (also known as perimeter receiving). By providing multiple access points along the perimeter of the building, decentralized receiving generally reduces the time and cost associated with moving purchased parts to the locations within the facility where they are used, but also results in increased cost of construction, maintenance, and operation for docks and associated truck access/egress, as well as additional interior floorspace requirements. We develop an optimization-based procedure to determine which of several possible dock areas to construct, how many doors or gates each should have, how many unloading and internal material handling staff should be assigned to each group, and which inbound materials each group should handle. We consider the amortized cost of constructing and equipping the docks, the amortized cost of material handling equipment to support the unloaders and material handlers, the cost of operating the material handling equipment, and labor costs for both unloading and internal material handling.     

High-fidelity bilateral teleoperation systems and the effect of multimodal haptics.

In master-slave teleoperation applications that deal with a delicate and sensitive environment, it is important to provide haptic feedback of slave/environment interactions to the user's hand as it improves task performance and teleoperation transparency (fidelity), which is the extent of telepresence of the remote environment available to the user through the master-slave system. For haptic teleoperation, in addition to a haptics-capable master interface, often one or more force sensors are also used, which warrant new bilateral control architectures while increasing the cost and the complexity of the teleoperation system. In this paper, we investigate the added benefits of using force sensors that measure hand/master and slave/environment interactions and of utilizing local feedback loops on the teleoperation transparency. We compare the two-channel and the four-channel bilateral control systems in terms of stability and transparency, and study the stability and performance robustness of the four-channel method against nonidealities that arise during bilateral control implementation, which include master-slave communication latency and changes in the environment dynamics. The next issue addressed in the paper deals with the case where the master interface is not haptics capable, but the slave is equipped with a force sensor. In the context of robotics-assisted soft-tissue surgical applications, we explore through human factors experiments whether slave/environment force measurements can be of any help with regard to improving task performance. The last problem we study is whether slave/environment force information, with and without haptic capability in the master interface, can help improve outcomes under degraded visual conditions.