Influence of Production Process Parameters on Fish Oil Quality in a Pilot Plant

ABSTRACT: A pilot plant used for upgrading herring byproducts into fish oil was analyzed on its operational efficiency and product quality. The temperature of the heat exchanger and the speeds of the pump and the 3-phase decanter were varied according to a 2³ fractional factorial design. The initial amount of oxidation products present in the crude oil, its storage stability, and the yields from the different obtained products were determined. Multivariate data analysis of the advanced screening stage showed that T had neither influence on the quality nor on the yield in contrast to D and MP (P < 0.05). Process optimization results showed that the quality of the oil was influenced by an interaction effect between the speed of the MP and the D. Oils processed with the highest MP speed were the most stable during storage.     

Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction: A meta-analysis.

This study provides a meta-analysis of research on the associations between relationship conflict, task conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. Consistent with past theorizing, results revealed strong and negative correlations between relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. In contrast to what has been suggested in both academic research and introductory textbooks, however, results also revealed strong and negative (instead of the predicted positive) correlations between task conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction. As predicted, conflict had stronger negative relations with team performance in highly complex (decision making, project, mixed) than in less complex (production) tasks. Finally, task conflict was less negatively related to team performance when task conflict and relationship conflict were weakly, rather than strongly, correlated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two-channel constrained least squares problems: solutions using power methods and connections with canonical coordinates

The problem of two-channel constrained least squares (CLS) filtering under various sets of constraints is considered, and a general set of solutions is derived. For each set of constraints, the solution is determined by a coupled (asymmetric) generalized eigenvalue problem. This eigenvalue problem establishes a connection between two-channel CLS filtering and transform methods for resolving channel measurements into canonical or half-canonical coordinates. Based on this connection, a unified framework for reduced-rank Wiener filtering is presented. Then, various representations of reduced-rank Wiener filters in canonical and half-canonical coordinates are introduced. An alternating power method is proposed to recursively compute the canonical coordinate and half-canonical coordinate mappings. A deflation process is introduced to extract the mappings associated with the dominant coordinates. The correctness of the alternating power method is demonstrated on a synthesized data set, and conclusions are drawn.     

A time-domain test for some types of nonlinearity

The bispectrum and third-order moment can be viewed as equivalent tools for testing for the presence of nonlinearity in stationary time series. This is because the bispectrum is the Fourier transform of the third-order moment. An advantage of the bispectrum is that its estimator comprises terms that are asymptotically independent at distinct bifrequencies under the hypothesis of linearity. An advantage of the third-order moment is that its values in any subset of joint lags can be used in the test, whereas when using the bispectrum the entire (or truncated) third-order moment is required to construct the Fourier transform. We propose a test for nonlinearity based upon the estimated third-order moment. We use the phase scrambling bootstrap method to give a nonparametric estimate of the variance of our test statistic under the hypothesis. Using a simulation study, we demonstrate that the test obtains its target significance level, with large power, when compared to an existing standard parametric test that uses the bispectrum. Further we show how the proposed test can be used to identify the source of nonlinearity due to interactions at specific frequencies. We also investigate implications for heuristic diagnosis of nonstationarity.     

Flash-lamp annealing of semiconductor materials—Applications and process models

Flash-lamp annealing (FLA) on a millisecond time scale has been shown to be a promising tool in the preparation of high-quality semiconducting materials. The process imposes time varying through-thickness temperature profiles on the substrates being processed, and consequently thermal stresses. A combined thermal and optical model has been developed to predict the substrate temperature distribution and this model has been linked to a structural model to compute stresses and deflections. The paper shows how these models can be used to explore process conditions in flash lamp annealing, with particular regard to the annealing of ion implants in silicon and the crystallization of amorphous silicon layers on glass substrates.     

N-Type Field-Effect Transistors Using Multiple Mg-Doped ZnO Nanorods

Nanorod field-effect transistors (FETs) that use multiple Mg-doped ZnO nanorods and a SiO₂ gate insulator were fabricated and characterized. The use of multiple nanorods provides higher on-currents without significant degradation in threshold voltage shift and subthreshold slopes. It has been observed that the on-currents of the multiple ZnO nanorod FETs increase approximately linearly with the number of nanorods, with on-currents of ~1 muA per nanorod and little change in off-current (~4times10^-12). The subthreshold slopes and on-off ratios typically improve as the number of nanorods within the device channel is increased, reflecting good uniformity of properties from nanorod to nanorod. It is expected that Mg dopants contribute to high n-type semiconductor characteristics during ZnO nanorod growth. For comparison, nonintentionally doped ZnO nanorod FETs are fabricated, and show low conductivity to compare with Mg-doped ZnO nanorods. In addition, temperature-dependent current-voltage characteristics of single ZnO nanorod FETs indicate that the activation energy of the drain current is very low (0.05-0.16 eV) at gate voltages both above and below threshold     

Multishell Carrier Transport in Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Understanding carrier transport in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and their networks is important for harnessing CNTs for device applications. Here, we report multishell carrier transport in individual multiwalled CNTs, and films of randomly dispersed multiwalled CNTs, as a function of electric field and temperature. Electrical measurements and first-principles density functional theory calculations indicate transport across CNT shells. Intershell conduction occurs across an energy barrier range of 60-250 meV in individual CNTs, and ~ 60 meV in CNT networks. In both cases, the conductance behavior can be explained based upon field-enhanced carrier injection and defect-enhanced transport, as described by the Poole-Frenkel model.