Lycopene extraction from extruded products containing tomato skin

To determine the lycopene content of extruded products containing 10% tomato skin, the conditions for solvent extraction were optimised. After three extraction cycles at 50 °C each for 15 min at a solvent to meal ratio of 40:1, a maximum of 6.6 ppm lycopene was extracted. However, the extraction was considered incomplete, thus the product was digested by pancreatin prior to extraction. The extracted lycopene content was increased to 23.5 ppm using the optimum conditions of 20 min of digestion with 10 mg mL^?1 pancreatin. To validate the extraction efficiency at optimum conditions, a set of extruded products containing different lycopene concentrations was used. Digestion increased the extracted lycopene content by more than 2.5‐fold between the products. Furthermore, this inclusion significantly improved the correlation coefficient between the red colour and the extracted lycopene content. Therefore, including a digestion step prior to extraction by solvents was necessary to efficiently extract lycopene from extruded products.     

Mathematical programming approach to optimize material flow in an AGV-based flexible jobshop manufacturing system with performance analysis

An automated manufacturing system (AMS) is a complex network of processing, inspecting, and buffering nodes connected by system of transportation mechanisms. For an AMS, it is desirable to be capable to increase or decrease the output with the rise and fall of demand. Such specifications show the complexity of decision making in the field of AMSs and the need for concise and accurate modeling methods. Therefore, in this paper, a flexible jobshop automated manufacturing system is proposed to optimize the material flow. The flexibility is on the multi-shops of the same type and also multiple products that can be produced. An automated guided vehicle is applied for material handling. The objective is to optimize the material flow regarding the demand fluctuations and machine specifications. An illustrative example is presented to test the validity of the proposed mathematical model.     

Dynamic modeling of the quantitative risk allocation in construction projects

Allocation of construction risks between owners and their contractors has a significant impact on the total construction costs. This research presents an integrated fuzzy-system dynamics approach for quantitative risk allocation. All the factors affecting the risk allocation process are modeled using system dynamics approach. Fuzzy logic is integrated into system dynamics modeling structure to account for the existing uncertainties. The values of different factors that have an uncertain nature are determined by fuzzy numbers. The application of Zadeh's extension principle and interval arithmetic is proposed for the system dynamics to enable the system outcomes to be presented considering uncertainties in the input variables. Using the proposed integrated fuzzy-SD model, the project cost is simulated at different percentages of risk allocation. The optimum percentage of risk allocation is determined as a point in which the project cost is minimized. The performance of the proposed method is assessed by employing the method in a tunneling project.     

Form measurements — A bridge between production metrology and biomechanics

The importance of computer aided measurement techniques as a means of controlling industrial manufacturing and testing technical products with high accuracy increases ever more with the general goal of improving the quality of all kinds of products. This development started about twenty years ago and is still improving. Especially computer aided co-ordinate metrology is a very important and universal tool for solving complex measuring tasks for workpiece metrology. This measurement technique can also be applied to evaluate the shape of non technical structures, for example, human limbs or joints with high accuracy. The results of such measurements provide the basis for the improvement and optimization of future work in endo prosthesis.     

A density-based fuzzy clustering technique for non-destructive detection of defects in materials

In non-destructive testing and evaluation of materials, defects contain visible aggregations of similar levels of brightness with large scale of correlation between them. In most cases, these brightnesses have no notable contrast relative to non-defect counterparts. However, the density and the size of the defect are visually the most notable features. In this paper, we have utilized human conception for classifying defects by the fusion of fuzzy clustering method and fuzzy logic rules based on the density and the size of the defect. The probability of detection and the probability of error are compared with the Bayes classifier. The proposed approach shows that there is less dependency between the variation of density and size of a defect and variations of noise density and distribution. Experimental images from eddy current, ultrasonic and radiography techniques are investigated. It is shown that the new approach reduces the noise and drift, leading to a better detection of defects.     

Reliability of MSF processes based on operation history

Reliability of MSF processes are estimated using time-dependent fault tree analysis of major critical systems. Failure data are obtained from the operation records of Jeddah I since it is one of the oldest plants still in operation in a relatively harsh environment. Industrial failure data are also used to complement historic data. The analysis shows areas where design improvements can be made to enhance MSF processes availability.     

Oxalate content of some leafy vegetables and dry legumes consumed widely in Egypt

Oxalic acid and total oxalate contents were determined in four leafy vegetables and six dry legumes consumed widely in Egypt. The four vegetables, normally eaten raw, can be arranged according to their oxalate content, in descending order, as follows: green onion (leaves), green onion (bulbs), leek, radish (leaves), radish (roots) and roquette. Oxalic acid represented 76–86% of the total oxalates.Dry faba beans had the highest oxalic acid content, followed, in descending order, by fenugreek, lentils, peas, chickpeas and lupin. The ratio of oxalic acid to total oxalates differs according to the total oxalate content of the legume variety. Decortication, steeping, sprouting, stewing, boiling and baking reduced the oxalate content of seeds in different ways. Sprouting and steeping, followed by decortication, resulted in the most pronounced decrease in oxalates, especially in faba beans and lupin.     

A robust decision-making methodology for evaluation and selection of simulation software package

Today, simulation has a broad range of applications from solving service problems to analyzing manufacturing problems such as warehousing and logistic systems. Simulation has become a popular methodology and selecting an appropriate simulation software package is one of the decisions that any industrial engineer may face at work. As a result, numerous types of simulation software packages have been developed for modeling simulation problems. The increasing variety of simulation software packages in the software market makes the selection of an appropriate simulation software package a critical decision. Selecting an inappropriate software package will be followed by many negative consequences. This paper will present a robust decision-making methodology based on Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) for evaluating and selecting the appropriate simulation software package. The robust decision method aggregates the experts’ judgments for the criteria weights and the suitability of simulation software alternatives. The FAHP is used to prioritize and evaluate existing alternatives based on the proposed criteria for choosing the proper simulation software. The proposed methodology is applied to selecting the appropriate simulation software as an experiment and results are provided.     

A Silicon on Nothing LDMOS with Two Air Pillars in Gate Insulator for Power Applications

Silicon - This paper proposes a new silicon on nothing lateral double-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor with two air gaps in the gate insulator (SON-APG LDMOS). Utilizing air for the buried layer...     

A comparative study on citrate sol-gel and combustion synthesis methods of CoAl2O4 spinel

CoAl₂O₄ spinel was successfully synthesized by combustion synthesis method using glycine and urea by 1:1 molar ratio as fuels and sol-gel process using citric acid as a chelating agent. The as-synthesized powders were calcined at desired temperatures to obtain CoAl₂O₄ spinel as a single phase. X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric, and differential thermal analysis results revealed that the formation of CoAl₂O₄ spinel in combustion method needs 300°C higher temperatures than those of sol-gel. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analysis results revealed that “sol-gel spinel” had nanometric particle size which was smaller than those of “combustion spinel.” Temperature programed reduction with hydrogen and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results declared that there was a little residual cobalt oxide in combustion spinel while there is no oxide resided in “sol-gel spinel.” Consequently, the sol-gel method has more benefit in synthesizing spinel with sulfate precursors than combustion.