Artificial immune algorithm for IIR filter design

Over the recent years, several studies have been carried out by the researchers to describe a general, flexible and powerful design method based on modern heuristic optimisation algorithms for infinite impulse response (IIR) digital filters since these algorithms have the ability of finding global optimal solution in a nonlinear search space. One of the modern heuristic algorithms is the artificial immune algorithm which implements a learning technique inspired by human immune system. However, the immune system has not attracted the same kind of interest from researchers as other heuristic algorithms. In this work, an artificial immune algorithm is described and applied to the design of IIR filters, and its performance is compared to that of genetic and touring ant colony optimisation algorithms.     

Bioactive Components of Commercial and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Processed Wheat Germ Oil

Wheat germ oil (WGO) is a specialty product with a very high nutritional value. The chemical composition of both commercial and pilot scale supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂) processed WGO was examined. This study showed that methods used for oil extraction and refining did not have a significant effect on the fatty acid composition of the oil. SC-CO₂ extracted oil had a higher tocopherol content than that of commercially hexane extracted oil. The phospholipid content of the SC-CO₂ extracted oil was very low indicating that the SC-CO₂ extraction method could eliminate the degumming step from edible oil refining processes. Although the conventional chemical oil refining technique reduced the tocopherol content of the WGO, it was possible to concentrate tocopherols in WGO by using physical refining methods such as molecular distillation. Published with approval of the Director, Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station.     

Pilot-scale supercritical carbon dioxide extraction and fractionation of wheat germ oil

There is a need for the development of new processing techniques to facilitate vegetable oil extraction and refining while sustaining the nutritional components naturally present in edible oils and reducing the adverse impact of oil processing on the environment. In this study supercritical carbon dioxide (SC−CO₂) extraction and fractionation techniques were examined as alternative methods to obtain wheat germ oil (WGO) of high quality and purity. It was shown that the SC−CO₂ extraction technique is effective in extraction of WGO. There was no significant difference in the FA composition of SC−CO₂- and hexane-extracted WGO. Both hexane-and SC−CO₂-extracted WGO were rich in α-tocopherol. Moisture content of the SC−CO₂-extracted oil was higher than that of the hexane-extracted oil. Solvent/feed ratio had a significant effect on the SC−CO₂ extraction yields. This study demonstrated that supercritical fluid fractionation was a viable process to remove FFA efficiently from both hexane-and SC−CO₂-extracted WGO while retaining bioactive oil components in the final product.     

PVA/PAA-Based Antibacterial Wound Dressing Material with Aloe Vera

The incorporation of drugs into the dressings make these dressings antimicrobial and help in control of infection around the wound. The wound dressing materials based on PVA/PAA, ciprofloxacin HCl, and aloe vera have been designed and developed so that the wound undergoes proper healing and scar formation is minimal. These wound dressing materials are produced using the electrospinning method. The wound dressing materials are characterized using the FT-IR, DSC, DTA, TGA, and SEM techniques. The wound dressing materials are tested for microbial activity tests and drug release experiments. Controlled ciprofloxacin HCl release is observed.     

Signal‐noise support vector model of a microwave transistor

In this work, a support vector machines (SVM) model for the small‐signal and noise behaviors of a microwave transistor is presented and compared with its artificial neural network (ANN) model. Convex optimization and generalization properties of SVM are applied to the black‐box modeling of a microwave transistor. It has been shown that SVM has a high potential of accurate and efficient device modeling. This is verified by giving a worked example as compared with ANN which is another commonly used modeling technique. It can be concluded that hereafter SVM modeling is a strongly competitive approach against ANN modeling. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2007.     

Electrical and photocurrent characteristics of Au/PVA (Co-doped)/n-Si photoconductive diodes

In this work, we investigate the some main electrical and photocurrent properties of the Au/PVA(Co-doped)/n-Si diodes by using current–voltage (I–V) measurements at dark and various illumination intensity. Two types of diodes with and without polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (Co-doped) polymeric interfacial layer were fabricated and measured at room temperature. Results show that the polymeric interfacial layers and series resistance (R_s) strongly affect the main electrical parameters of these structures. Also, metal/polymer/semiconductor (MPS) diode with PVA (Co-doped) interfacial organic layer is very sensitive to the light such that the current in reverse bias region increase by 10³–10⁴ times with the increasing illumination intensity. The open circuit voltage V_oc and short-circuit current I_sc values of this MPS diode under 100 mW/cm² illumination intensity were found as 0.28 V and 19.3 μA, respectively.     

Physico-chemical and sensory properties of chips produced using different lupin (Lupinus albus L.) flour formulations and cooking methods

Development of novel snack foods is an important area of research, and different ingredients are being tested to develop and process new formulations. In this study, lupin chips prepared using different formulations (hulled lupin, whole lupin, wheat and corn flours) were cooked using baking and frying, and changes in the sensory and colour parameters, acrylamide contents, fat absorption, peroxide number and p-anisidine values of the final products were studied. Lupin flour significantly changed p-anisidine value of chips. Addition of lupin flour and cooking methods affected the colour, fat absorption and peroxide values. Significant differences in chemical properties of chips made from whole and hulled lupin flours were also observed. Acrylamide was not detected in all the formulations studied. The lupin chips have increased brightness (L*), no acrylamides, reduced peroxide and p-anisidine values and acceptable sensory quality; hence, this ingredient is recommendable for use in snack foods.     

Effects of fermentation time and storage on the water‐soluble vitamin contents of tarhana

Changes in water‐soluble vitamins were investigated in tarhana dough during fermentation and in tarhana stored under a variety of conditions for up to 6 months. The contents of riboflavin (P < 0.01), thiamin, niacin, vitamin B₆ and folic acid (P < 0.05) increased significantly during fermentation. The thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B₆ and folic acid contents of tarhana dough were 4.80, 1.85, 7.68, 15.30 and 2.25 mg kg^?1 respectively at the beginning of fermentation and increased to 10.15, 5.15, 24.04, 19.35 and 6.10 mg kg^?1 respectively at the end of fermentation. Thiamin, riboflavin and folic acid contents were significantly affected (P < 0.01) by storage type and period, but niacin and vitamin B₆ contents were not affected (P > 0.05). The water‐soluble vitamin contents of tarhana stored wet were higher than those of tarhana stored dry. Drying resulted in a 24% reduction in riboflavin content and an 86% reduction in folic acid content. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry