Conservation v. generation: The significance of Demand-Side Management (DSM), its tools and techniques

A balance between electricity supply and demand is needed at all times to ensure a stable and reliable market. This can be done in two ways, either by Supply-side Management by adding supply when demand is high or by Demand-Side Management (DSM) by curtailing the system demand when supply availability is less. Satish Saini explores the benefits of DSM as a solution to supply shortage and alternative to new plant build.     

The use of transmission spectrophotometry for the evaluation of haem pigments in situ in muscle slices

Summary Haem pigments in thin slices of meat can be differentiated by transmission spectrophotometry. The spectral characteristics of the various forms of haem pigment in this situation have compared well with those exhibited in aqueous solution.[/p]The optimum thickness of slice for the observation of haem pigment is 2.0 mm using a Pye Unicam SP 800 recording spectrophotometer. Detachable cells have been constructed that permit the reconstitution of tissues into slices of this thickness when examining meat products too fragile to section conventionally. In this way, sections representative of areas of superficial discoloration can be assembled for spectrophotometric evaluation of contributing haem pigments.[/p]In many cases, selective changes can be applied to a particular form of haem protein for its evaluation by differential spectrophotometry. Reference systems have also been developed for direct examination of the haem pigments, including those formed during curing. Only small samples of tissue are required, so that localized areas of a meat product(s) can be studied without difficulty.

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Gebrauch von Durchlässigkeitsspektrophotometrie für die Wertung von Hämpigmenten in situ in Muskelschnitten

Zusammenfassung Hämpigmente in dünnen Fleischscheiben können durch Durchlässigkeitsspektrophotometrie unterschieden werden, wobei deren spektrale Verteilungscharakteristik der verschiedenen Hämpigmente sich mit denen in wässriger Lösung gut vergleichen lassen.[/p]Die optimale Scheibendicke zur Ablesung von Hämpigmenten ist 2,0 mm bei Benutzung eines Pye Unicam SP 800 registrierenden und integrierenden Spektralphotometers. Es wurden ablösbare Zellen hergestellt, die die Wiederherstellung der Gewebe in Schnitte dieser Dicke bei der Untersuchung von Fleischprodukten, die zu zart zum Schneiden sind, erlauben. Auf diese Weise können repräsentative Schnitte von oberflächlichen Verfärbungsflächen für die spektrophotometrische Wertung der verantwortlichen Hämpigmente gewonnen werden. In vielen Fällen können selektive Änderungen auf eine besondere Form von Hämpigmenten, für deren Wertung durch Differentialspektrophotometrie, angewandt werden. Bezugssysteme für direkte Untersuchung der Hämpigmente, einschließlich deren, die während des Pökelns entstehen, wurden zusätzlich entwickelt. Da nur kleíne Gewebemuster erforderlich sind, können lokalisierte Fleischproduktflächen mühelos studiert werden.

     

Adsorption of carbonyles on zeolites - evaluation of infrared spectra using principal component analysis

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a useful tool to find the number and the individual spectra of the different species in a set of IR spectra of an adsorption system. On the narrow-pore zeolites PCA detects the presence of physisorbed carbonyl in addition to gaseous carbonyl and decomposition products. it shows two different species of chemisorbed Ni (CO)₄ on Y zeolites.     

Cost analysis of a two-unit standby system under the influence of earthquakes

This paper deals with two models. In model 1, which is cold standby, when an earthquake comes the operation of the unit is stopped. In model 2, which is warm standby, a medium intensity earthquake will cause a short circuit failure mode. The repair is available immediately upon calling. In model 1, the failure rate is taken to be constant whereas the repair time distribution is arbitrary. In model 2, the failure and repair time distributions are considered to be arbitrarily distributed. Applying the regenerative theory in Markov renewal processes, various reliability characteristics of interest have been explicitly obtained.     

Solar energy conversion through phase transformations

Sodium thiosulphate pentahydrate and sodium sulphate decahydrate show appreciable potential differences and currents when the solid phase is in contact with its molten phase. the studies offer a new method for converting solar energy into electrical power.     

Climate and built environment studies in universities — an Australian experience

Climate and built environment studies in Australian Universities, especially in the University of Queensland, are reviewed. By using examples of work in the tropical regions of Northern Australia and the Pacific Islands, current programmes which concern building and planning for communities with different cultural backgrounds are explained. A case is made for university studies which emphasise the integration of the natural and social sciences.     

Peak load forecasting using Bayesian regularization,Resilient and adaptive backpropagation learning based artificial neural networks

Up to 7 days ahead electrical peak load forecasting has been done using feed forward neural network based on Steepest descent, Bayesian regularization, Resilient and adaptive backpropagation learning methods, by incorporating the effect of eleven weather parameters and past peak load information. To avoid trapping of network into a state of local minima, the optimization of user-defined parameters viz., learning rate and error goal has been performed. The sliding window concept has been incorporated for selection of training data set. It was then reduced as per relevant selection according to the day type and season for which the forecast is made. To reduce the dimensionality of input matrix, the Principal Component Analysis method of factor extraction or correlation analysis technique has been used and their performance has been compared. The resultant data set was used for training of three-layered neural network. In order to increase the learning speed, the weights and biases were initialized according to Nguyen and Widrow method. To avoid over fitting, early stopping of training was done at the minimum validation error.     

Total Antioxidant Capacity and Change in Phytochemicals of Four Major Varieties of Cardamom Oils During Decortication

The oil content and chemical composition of the volatiles from whole capsule, decorticated seed and husk of four varieties of cardamom viz. Malabar, Mysore, Vazhukka, and Guatemala were studied. The differences in the aroma of cardamom from different sources were attributed to the ratio of esters and 1,8-cineole in the oil. The main constituents of the oils were found to be terpinylacetate and 1,8-cineol. The study revealed that the oil obtained from a whole capsule of the Malabar variety was superior in quality compared to the oil from other varieties. The in vitro total antioxidant capacity of the oils from whole capsules by two different methods was also carried out, and it was found that the Malabar variety has the highest antioxidant activity compared to other varieties.