Separation and Characterisation of Starch‐rich Fractions from Wild‐type and Mutant Pea Seeds

Methods for milling and separation of flour from seeds of a normal (wild‐type) and two mutant (lam and r) types of pea (Pisum sativum L.) into starch‐rich and protein‐rich fractions are described. The methods entail using combinations of mills (100AFG, 50ZPS and 100UPZ) together with an air‐classification system based on a 50ATP air‐classifier, all run under a range of conditions to optimise the separation. The efficiency of separation was assessed as well as the economic advantages of the different systems. The best route for separation and fractionation was 2×100UPZ + 100AFG + 50ATP, while the most economic system that also gave good separation and fractionation was 2×100UPZ + 50ZPS + 50ATP, which had an energy consumption of 226 kWh/t. A novel method for determining the starch content within the high and low starch fractions is described. The method is based on a comparison between the gelatinisation enthalpy of starch in starch‐rich and in protein‐rich fractions with that for pure starch produced from the same flour, using differential scanning calorimetry. Qualitative assessments of the starch contents of the fractions were also made using microscopy and particle size distribution analysis. It is suggested that the starch‐rich fractions could be used as a relatively cheap raw material for non‐food applications.     

Size and Lone Pair Effects on the Multiferroic Properties of Bi0.75A0.25FeO3−δ (A = Sr,Pb, and Ba) Ceramics

The work presents a comparative study of the effects of divalent Ba, Sr, and Pb substituents on the multiferroic properties of BiFeO₃. The multiferroic properties of Bi_0.75A_0.25FeO₃ (A = Sr, Pb, Ba) solid solution have been explained taking into account the effects of size differences and electronic configuration differences between the host element (Bi) and the substituent. X‐ray diffraction studies revealed that Sr and Pb substitution at Bi‐site transforms the rhombohedral phase (R3c) to cubic phase (Pm3m), whereas the Ba‐substituted sample exhibited the presence of both rhombohedral and cubic phases (R3c + Pm3m). Electronic structure studies through XPS revealed that charge imbalance induced by divalent substitution was being compensated by the formation of oxygen vacancies, while the Fe ions exist in Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ states. Replacement of volatile Bi by Sr, Pb, and Ba reduces the concentration of oxygen vacancies (V_O²⁺) and helps to improve the dielectric properties. Strong magnetization enhancement was observed in the substituted compositions and was seen to be consistent with the suppression of cycloid spin structure due to structural transformation as well as possible changes in Fe–O local environment leading to local lattice distortion effects. Furthermore, the observed decrease in the values of magnetic coercivity at low temperature in all the substituted samples is explained in terms of reduced effective single ion anisotropy, originating in the magnetoelectric coupling and being a particularly stronger effect in the case of the lone pair dopant Pb, consistent with theoretical predictions. The lone pair substituent Pb leads to the largest dielectric constant, enhanced magnetization, and large effects on the low‐temperature hysteresis.     

Evaluating measurement and process capabilities by GR&R with four quality measures

This paper proposes a procedure for assessing a measurement system and manufacturing process capabilities using Gage Repeatability and Reproducibility (GR&R) designed experiments with four quality measures. In this procedure, a GR&R study is conducted to obtain replicate measurements on units by several different operators. The gage and part variance components are then estimated by conducting analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the GR&R measurement observations. Finally, the acceptance and rejection criteria of the precision-to-tolerance ratio (PTR), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), discrimination ratio (DR), and process capability index (C_p or C_pk), are employed to assess the measurement and process capabilities. Three previously studied case studies are provided for illustration; in all of which the procedure provided efficient capability assessments at minimal computational and statistical efforts. In conclusion, the procedure proposed in this research using GR&R designed experiments provides valuable procedure and helpful guidelines to quality and production managers in assessing the capabilities of a measurement system and manufacturing process, and deciding the needed actions for improving performance.     

Modeling and optimization of a solenoidal integrated inductor for RF ICs

A solenoidal structure for implementation of on‐chip inductors is presented. An electromagnetic simulator is used to simulate several different‐size inductors for up to 20 GHz. Additionally, artificial neural network models are developed for different inductor topologies to speed up inductors optimization process. Finally, it is demonstrated that the solenoidal inductor exhibits a better overall performance in comparison to the conventional multilayer spiral inductors demonstrating its potential for RF ICs. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2010.     

Overall Investigation of Poly (Phenylene Sulfide) from Synthesis and Process to Applications—A Review

Poly (phenylene sulfide) (PPS) is one kind of high‐performance polymer with high thermal stability that can be used widely in different industrial domains. However, according to an investigation of the literature, few reviews have comprehensively focused on the continuous development of PPS applications in the past decade. To meet this demand, this paper provides an overall investigation of PPS polymer and PPS‐based composites from synthesis and process to applications. Briefly, this paper introduces PPS materials according to the following topics. First, the molecular weight distribution and morphology of PPS, as well as their reinforced parts, are introduced. Afterward, the topic is focused on the synthesis, process, and blending of PPS. In the next part, this paper investigates the key points regarding PPS as a high‐performance polymer, focusing on the aspect of thermal behavior and mechanical properties. Finally, PPS composite applications are emphasized and overviewed from a wide range of aspects.     

Identifying the mean step change of UBM chart

The traditional control charts are developed based on the assumption that the successive observations are independent and identically distributed. In some processes, the independence assumption is violated when there is autocorrelation between observations. To solve this problem, two methods, classified as model-based and model-free, could be applied. When a control chart alarms an assignable cause, it is essential to detect the process change point in order to remove the root cause. In the presence of autocorrelated data, different methods for change-point identification have been applied only for model-based methods. Hence, this is considered as the research gap and an attempt is made to fill this gap by applying maximum likelihood function in unweighted batch mean control chart, one of the most applied model-free methods. In this article, an estimator is presented to determine the change point for the first-order autoregressive process, AR(1). When a real change occurs, the performance of proposed estimator is evaluated through simulation.