COLOR VISION SYSTEM FOR RIPENESS INSPECTION OF OIL PALM ELAEIS GUINEENSIS

In checking harvesting discipline and quality control for oil palm fruits, color has presumably been an important guide to whether the oil content has reached a maximum where the fruit bunch is ready for cutting. However, establishing a single and harmonious standard base on color is a very contentious issue in the oil palm industry because of the subjective nature of the human vision of color. This was further complicated due to the lack of information on fruit color upon which to base a definite ripeness criterion. We demonstrated in this paper that this problem can be solved using machine vision technology. Methods used were to treat color in HSI (Hue, Saturation and Intensity) color space and applied multivariate discriminant analysis. These have proven to be highly effective for color evaluation and image processing. The vision system was trained to classify oil palms into four quality grades according to PORIM (Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia) inspection standards. These are the unripe, the underripe, the optimally ripe and the overripe classes. Depending upon the quality feature evaluated, misclassification by the vision system varied from 5 to 12% but averaged at about 8%. Machine vision disagreement ranged from 2 to 19%.     

Selective extraction and detection of noble metal based on ionic liquid immobilized silica gel surface using ICP-OES

In this study, an efficiently employed ionic liquid combined with commercially available silica gel (SG–ClPrNTf₂) was developed for selective detection of gold(III) by use of inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The selectivity of SG–ClPrNTf₂ was evaluated towards seven metal ions, including Y(III), Mn(II), Zr(IV), Pb(II), Mg(II), Pd(II) and Au(III). Based on pH study and distribution coefficient values, the SG–ClPrNTf₂ phase was found to be the most selective towards Au(III) at pH 2 as compared to other metal ions. The adsorption isotherm of Au(III) on the SG–ClPrNTf₂ phase followed the Langmuir model with adsorption capacity of 59.48 mg g^?1, which was highly in agreement with experimental data of adsorption isotherm study. The kinetics study indicated that Au(III) adsorption kinetics data were well fit with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model on the basis of correlation coefficient fitting (0.996) and adsorption capacity agreement (62.26 mg g^?1). Furthermore, SG–ClPrNTf₂ phase was effectively performed for the determination of Au(III) in real water samples with satisfactory results.     

Destructive and non-destructive evaluation of concrete for optimum sand to aggregate volume ratio

Aggregates are the biggest contributor to concrete volume and are a crucial parameter in dictating its mechanical properties. As such, a detailed experimental investigation was carried out to evaluate the effect of sand-to-aggregate volume ratio (s/a) on the mechanical properties of concrete utilizing both destructive and non-destructive testing (employing UPV (ultrasonic pulse velocity) measurements). For investigation, standard cylindrical concrete samples were made with different s/a (0.36, 0.40, 0.44, 0.48, 0.52, and 0.56), cement content (340 and 450 kg/m³), water-to-cement ratio (0.45 and 0.50), and maximum aggregate size (12 and 19 mm). The effect of these design parameters on the 7, 14, and 28 d compressive strength, tensile strength, elastic modulus, and UPV of concrete were assessed. The careful analysis demonstrates that aggregate proportions and size need to be optimized for formulating mix designs; optimum ratios of s/a were found to be 0.40 and 0.44 for the maximum aggregate size of 12 and 19 mm, respectively, irrespective of the W/C (water-to-cement) and cement content.     

STORAGE TEMPERATURE EFFECTS ON THE PROTEOLYTIC ACTIVITY OF RADIATION-SURVIVING BACTERIA IN OYSTERS

ABSTRACT— The activity of 2 radiation-surviving and strongly proteolytic strains of Pseudomonas and Achromobacter were compared to the activity of 2 lesser active strains of Neisseria and Bacillus in fresh oysters during iced (32°F) and refrigerated (40°F) storage for 15 days. Radiation doses used for the oysters were 100 and 800 krad. The activity of the former bacteria was higher than that of the latter 2 at both temperatures and radiation doses. Neither the nonirradiated nor the irradiated uninoculated oysters displayed significant increases in proteolytic activity when they were ice-stored for 15 days, but storage at 40°F for the same period resulted in significant activity increases in the nonirradiated. This emphasizes irradiation and storage temperature as related factors. A slight decrease in pH at 15 days in both nonirradiated and 100 krad-irradiated oysters corresponded to the increase in bacterial numbers.     

Effects of Microwave Heating and Gamma Irradiation on Phytate and Phospholipid Contents of Soybean (Glycine max. L.)

The effect of microwave heating and gamma irradiation treatments on phosphorus compounds of soybean seeds were studied. Inorganic phosphorus was significantly (P < 0.05) increased while, phytate and phospholipids were significantly decreased when soybean seeds were microwave-heated for 9 min or more. Furthermore, gamma-irradiation treatments of 20 KGy or more significantly increased inorganic phosphorus and decreased phytate and phospholipids of the beans. Two dimensional thin-layer chromatography was employed to study the phospholipid pattern. Gamma-irradiation at doses from 40 to 100 KGy produced lysophosphatidylcholine and phosphatidic acid. The data of this study showed that, the increase of inorganic phosphorus was mainly due to the decomposition of phytic acids and phosphates of inositol.     

铁对粉末冶金法制备铝基复合材料微观组织和力学性能及磁学性能的影响(英文)

研究铁对粉末冶金法制备铝基复合材料微观组织、力学性能及磁学性能的影响。利用机械混合制备含0,5%,10%和15%Fe(质量分数)的铝基复合材料。Al-Fe混合粉末经压制后在真空炉中600°C烧结1 h。XRD结果表明:在含有5%和10%Fe的试样中只有Fe和Al的衍射峰,而含有15%Fe的试样中则存在Al和Al13Fe4的衍射峰。实验结果表明:随着Fe含量的增加,材料的致密度和导热性变差。复合材料中的Fe可以提高其强度和硬度。材料的强化机制包括基体的晶粒细化,Fe颗粒的均匀分布以及Al13Fe4金属间化合物的形成。含有5%Fe试样的磁化强度为0.3816×10-3A·m2/g,对于含有10%Fe的试样,其磁化强度增加至0.6597×10-3A·m2/g,而对于含有15%Fe试样,其磁化强度降低至0.0702×10-3A·m2/g。这是由于在高铁试样中形成了反磁性的Al13Fe4金属间化合物导致磁化强度降低。     

Frequency dependence of the complex impedances and dielectric behaviour of some Mg-Zn ferrites

Complex impedances of some magnesium-zinc ferrites, MgxZn1-xFe2O4 (x=0.4, 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7), in the frequency range of 1 mHz-10 MHz were measured at 300 K. The complex-plane impedance spectrum from each sample indicates that the capacitive and the resistive properties of the materials are mainly attributed to the processes that associated with the bulk (grain) and the grain boundary. A low-frequency dispersion (LFD) and a negative capacitance regions are also observed at low frequencies. A small series resistance of about the same value for all samples is also observed. The bulk and the grain boundary components are analysed by assuming a two-layer leaky capacitor. The simulated complex impedances using the Cole-Cole expression are in agreement with the measured values. The dielectric properties of the materials are attributed to the interfacial polarization and LFD at low frequencies and the orientational polarization at high frequencies. These properties result in the dielectric loss which composed of a Debye-like loss peak at high frequency end and a strong LFD below 1 Hz. Both regions exhibit universality with regard to the power-law relation between the dielectric loss (ε″r or χ″) and frequency as given by ε″r∝ωn-1, where n=0.14 and n=0.02, respectively. The exponent is marginally negative, n=−0.03, in the region of negative capacitance below 3–4 mHz. The variations of the above properties and the characteristic parameters for different compositions of the Mg-Zn ferrites are discussed. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

POSTHARVEST RETARDATION OF SENESCENCE IN SHADO BENNI (ERYNGIUM FOETIDUM, L.) PLANTS

Leaves of shado benni plants (Eryngium foetidum, L.) are used extensively as a seasoning and herbal medicine. However, the very short shelf-life of 3–4 days of harvested plants is a major drawback to wider use. Plants were harvested with roots intact, dipped in gibberellic acid (GA₃) and stored in perforated and nonperforated LDPE bags up to 22 days at 20–22C and 28–30C. Samples were examined for changes in appearance, color, fresh weight and flavor (loss of pungency and off-flavor development). GA₃ effectively retarded plant senescence up to 22 days at both temperatures when stored in nonperforated LDPE bags. Despite the external maintenance of marketable quality, flavor life was 17 days since development of off-flavors and reduction in pungency occurred after this period. Thus, the combination of polyethylene packaging, GA₃ dip treatment and reduced temperature storage extended the shelf-life of shado benni plants in a fresh, turgid and decay-free condition for in excess of two weeks.     

The effect of concentration of chymosin on the yield and sensory properties of camel cheese and on its microbiological quality

The transformation of camel milk into soft cheese by using chymosin and yoghurt starter culture (Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus) was investigated. The cheese yield and sensory properties were related to the concentration of chymosin. A yield of 16.74 g/100 mL of milk was obtained with a chymosin concentration of 1.7 mL/L of milk. The cheeses obtained with concentrations ranging between 1.0 mL and 2.9 mL of chymosin/L of milk scored highly regarding their sensory properties and had an acceptable microbiological quality. This study demonstrated that cheesemaking from camel milk can be made successfully providing that the appropriate chymosin concentration is used; and that 1.7 mL of chymosin/L of milk was optimal.