Evaluation of the effect of processing on sunflower protein quality

The protein quality of sunflower meal, sampled at different processing steps, was studied. The protein quality was evaluated in terms of the ‘available lysine’ by the modified Carpenter method, and the biological value (BV) was determined by the Tetrahymena pyriformis test. The samples obtained from two oil expressors showed little change during processing, as assessed by two analytical methods. Sunflower meal heated at 110°C for various periods showed a decrease in available lysine from 3·4% to 0·9%.     

The effect of electrolytes on direct dyes for cotton

Electrolytes generally promote dyebath exhaustion when direct dyes are used for cellulosic fibers, but the extent with which they do so usually varies from one electrolyte to another. Two direct dyes with varying numbers of sulfonic acid groups were investigated. Cotton cellulose was dyed with these dyes using different electrolytes and a phosphate buffer system. The relationship between strength loss with increase in number of sulfonic acid groups was an obvious observation. Wash fastness results had indicated that the most important consideration is the molecular weight and the overall molecular architecture of the dye.     

SUCCEEDING IN OUTSOURCING Cultivate the Outsourcing Relationship

In most discussions of outsourcing the IS function, the debate over cost savings versus loss of control is often the focus. Equally important, however, is how companies can forge a productive working relationship with vendors to obtain the maximum benefits once the outsourcing option has been selected.     

Generating Design Suggestions under Tight Constraints with Gradient‐based Probabilistic Programming

We present a system for generating suggestions from highly‐constrained, continuous design spaces. We formulate suggestion as sampling from a probability distribution; constraints are represented as factors that concentrate probability mass around sub‐manifolds of the design space. These sampling problems are intractable using typical random walk MCMC techniques, so we adopt Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC), a gradient‐based MCMC method. We implement HMC in a high‐performance probabilistic programming language, and we evaluate its ability to efficiently generate suggestions for two different, highly‐constrained example applications: vector art coloring and designing stable stacking structures.     

Biological Treatment of Industrial Wastewater by a Membrane Bioreactor

Wastewater originating from chemical industries may contain compounds that could adversely affect the treatment processes, mainly the biological process, by either toxic or inhibition effects. The objectives of this study were to evaluate practical possibilities to upgrade existing wastewater treatment facilities by operating aerobic treatment based on membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology. Three different industries were included in this study: a paper mill that operates raw solid separators followed by anaerobic treatment; a food production plant that operates oil and grease separators, chemical flocculation, and dissolved air flotation; and port fuel facilities that include gravity oil separators. In all the above cases the biological treatment was exposed to different problems, which included: (a) the possible presence of deflocculating materials such as starch and biocides, in the case of the paper mill; (b) residual hydrophobic compounds that may affect diffusion through biosolids surfaces in the food plant; and (c) organic matter characterized by low biodegradability (hydrocarbons), in the case of the fuel port facilities. The experimental work in this study indicated that biological treatment of industrial wastewater containing contaminants characterized by hydrophobicity and/or by low biodegradability could be successfully performed by MBR configuration, obtaining effluent of high quality. However, these particular types of industrial wastewater would require the adaptation of the MBR operation conditions, by lowering cell residence time and mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) in the bioreactor and by increasing the amounts of excess biosolids accordingly.     

An ultrasonic collision detection system

Robots in manufacturing are increasingly being called on to do complex tasks that require intelligence beyond merely following a preprogrammed path. In robotic assembling of mechanisms, welding, machine tending and other tasks, sensing enables robots to adapt to their environments. In this research, an ultrasonic collision detection system for an industrial robot was designed, constructed and tested. Two ultrasonic transducers and ranging modules were mounted on the robot wrist to detect and prevent collisions with objects placed in the end effector's path. Experiments were conducted to determine objectto-robot distance as a function of robot speed after the robot had stopped. Two robot motions and two loads were studied. Statistical methods of stopping distance vs. robot speed are presented and will be useful in planning robot tool paths. This ultrasonic collision detection system can be used on stationary and mobile robots, automatic-guided vehicles, and other manufacturing applications.     

Landlords and Tenants in Informal ‘Colonia’ Settlements in Texas

Owner-occupied self-help and self-managed housing has been the norm in colonias—low-income informal settlements along the US–Mexico border—so scholarly treatment of renting in these settlements has been limited. This article adds to the scant literature on this topic and is the first to document the nature of renting in multi-unit rental complexes in colonias. The article explores the characteristics of landlords and their motivations for pursuing landlordism by drawing upon key informant interviews with owners of rental property. The results of 47 surveys conducted with households in multi-unit complexes throughout 18 colonias in Starr County, as well as the results from intensive, conversational case study interviews with selected households, are used to illustrate the precarious and informal nature of renting in colonias and provide a limited portrayal of the housing preferences and needs of renters. The article ends with an evaluation of the policy implications of these findings.     

Walking dynamics are symmetric (enough)

Many biological phenomena such as locomotion, circadian cycles and breathing are rhythmic in nature and can be modelled as rhythmic dynamical systems. Dynamical systems modelling often involves neglecting certain characteristics of a physical system as a modelling convenience. For example, human locomotion is frequently treated as symmetric about the sagittal plane. In this work, we test this assumption by examining human walking dynamics around the steady state (limit-cycle). Here, we adapt statistical cross-validation in order to examine whether there are statistically significant asymmetries and, even if so, test the consequences of assuming bilateral symmetry anyway. Indeed, we identify significant asymmetries in the dynamics of human walking, but nevertheless show that ignoring these asymmetries results in a more consistent and predictive model. In general, neglecting evident characteristics of a system can be more than a modelling convenience—it can produce a better model.