A Branch-and-Bound Procedure to Solve a Bicriterion Scheduling Problem

Most scheduling research is done with one criterion; however, the real-world situations demand consideration of multicriterion problems because there are generally many costs associated with scheduling decisions. This paper considers the problem of minimizing a linear combination of flow times and max-mum tardiness of a given number of jobs on a single machine and presents a branch-and-bound technique to arrive at an optimal solution. The computational results are also reported.     

Representative Instances and ?-Acyclic Relational Schemes

In this paper, we study under what conditions will a pairwise inconsistent relational database ≪R,r≫ have a universal/representative instance L. If R is ?-acyclic and r satisfies all existence constraints, then it is possible to construct a universal instance L, using unmarked nulls, whose total projections onto R yield exactly the relations in r. We show that L would actually be a representative instance under a set of functional dependencies if R satisfies the additional mild condition: for any functional dependency X ? A where A is a single attribute, whenever XA is contained in two relation schemes R and R' of R, it follows that R ?R' is a relation scheme of R, having X as one of its keys.     

Use of waste materials--Bottom Ash and De-Oiled Soya, as potential adsorbents for the removal of Amaranth from aqueous solutions

Bottom Ash, a power plan t waste material and De-Oiled Soya, an agriculture waste product were successfully utilized in removing trisodium 2-hydroxy-1-(4-sulphonato-1-naphthylazo)naphthalene-3,6-disulphonate--a water-soluble hazardous azo dye (Amaranth). The paper incorporates thermodynamic and kinetic studies for the adsorption of the dye on these two waste materials as adsorbents. Characterization of each adsorbent was carried out by I.R. and D.T.A. curves. Batch adsorption studies were made by measuring effects of pH, adsorbate concentration, sieve size, adsorbent dosage, contact time, temperature etc. Specific rate constants for the processes were calculated by kinetic measurements and a first order adsorption kinetics was observed in each case. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were applied to calculate thermodynamic parameters. The adsorption on Bottom Ash takes place via film diffusion process at lower concentrations and via particle diffusion process at higher concentrations, while in the case of De-Oiled Soya process only particle diffusion takes place in the entire concentration range.     

End effects in a MHD channel with diverging electrode walls

End effects phenomena in a Faraday type generator with diverging electrode walls for two types of velocity profiles—one with a source velocity and the other with a fully developed velocity—are discussed. The electric potential is determined numerically using the successive overrelaxation method in polar coordinates. It is found that the viscous forces increase the end losses and create current concentrations on the electrodes even at far distances from the entrance.     

Flexure of a thin elastic ring due to a dynamic concentrated load

The problem of a thin elastic ring subjected to a time dependent concentrated load in its plane is considered and simplified expressions are derived for the deflection and bending moment under the point of application of the load. The analysis is based on an infinite series of modes of free vibrations of a circular ring. It is shown that for the calculation of deflection and bending moment, closed form expressions can be obtained when one replaces the series by integrals. These expressions reduce to the corresponding expressions of a straight beam when the radius of the ring becomes infinite. Finally the results are given for a case when the load varies in the manner of a half-sine pulse.     

Radio frequency cooking of ground, comminuted and muscle meat products

The effect of radio frequency (RF) cooking, on the quality (colour, water holding capacity, texture), heating rate, and temperature history of three types of meat products (ground, comminuted and muscle), was investigated after heating to centre temperature of 72?°C in a 1.5 kW RF heater operating at 27.12 MHz. The results were compared with that obtained from heating in a water bath. RF cooking of processed meat products resulted in a decreased cooking time (5.83, 13.5, and 13.25 min for ground beef, comminuted meat, and muscle, respectively compared to 151, 130, and 109 min in water bath), lower juice losses, acceptable colour, water holding capacity and texture. The results indicate that when using RF, ground beef has the highest power efficiency (60.17%) followed by comminuted meat (44.41%), and muscle (43.38%). However, the texture of ground beef was too chewy and elastic. The muscle's colour was inferior. The comminuted and muscle meat products exhibited average energy efficiency with improved texture. The comminuted meat displayed a large cross-sectional temperature differential, possible due to uneven salt distribution. The well mixed comminuted and ground meat products appeared to be most promising for RF cooking.     

Extrusion studies of mixtures containing certain meat offals: Part 2-textural properties

Thermoplastically extruded products prepared from soy grits alone, and from those containing 20% or 35% of bovine or porcine offal, at various temperatures of extrusion, were subjected to instrumental texture profile analysis (hardness, elasticity, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness) and shear force measurements. The offal sources were untreated, or alkali-extracted, protein from bovine and porcine lung and bovine tripe (rumen and reticulum) and protein in extracted by sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) from bovine tripe. For products prepared from soy grits alone, hardness, gumminess, chewiness and shear force showed maxima at 170°C, whereas elasticity and cohesiveness increased progressively in the temperature range studied (140-190°C). Products containing SDS-extracted tripe protein required more force to shear, and were more hard, gummy and chewy, than products containing untreated offal, and values for all parameters were greater in the latter than in products containing alkali-extracted offal protein. The effect of extrusion temperature on the textural parameters of the products was less than that due to the mode of offal preparation used (untreated, alkali- or SDS-extracted) or the level of incorporation. Offal source was relatively unimportant. Products containing alkali-extracted offal protein had poor internal structure and were brittle; those containing SDS-extracted protein were tough. The different textural properties of the extracted products might determine their relative suitability for use either alone, as analogues or as extenders.     

Spectroscopic investigation of Cr(III)- and Cr(VI)-treated nanoscale zerovalent iron

The reaction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) with zerovalent iron (Fe0) during soil and groundwater remediation is an important environmental process. This study used several techniques including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy to investigate nanometer scale Fe0 particles (nano Fe0) treated with Cr(III) and Cr(VI). X-ray diffraction and XPS analyses of oxidized nano Fe0 showed the crystalline Fe(III) phase is composed of lepidocrocite (gamma-FeOOH). Results of XPS Cr 2p data and Cr K-edge X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy (XANES) provided evidence that Cr(VI) was entirely reduced to Cr(III) by nano Fe0 with no residual Cr(VI) after reaction. In addition, XPS and XANES results of Cr(III) precipitated as Cr(OH)3 in the presence of corroding nano Fe0 were nearly identical to the Cr(VI)-nano Fe0 reaction product. Detailed analysis of XPS O 1s line spectra revealed that both Cr(III)- and Cr(VI)-treated nano Fe0 yielded a predominantly hydroxylated Cr(OH)3 and/ or a mixed phase CrxFe(1 - x)(OH)3 product. The structure of the Cr(III)- and Cr(VI)-treated nano Fe0 determined using extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS) revealed octahedral Cr(III) with Cr-O interatomic distances between 1.97 and 1.98 A for both Cr(III) and Cr(VI) treatments and a pronounced Cr-Cr second interatomic shell at 3.01 A. Our results suggest that the reaction product of Cr(VI)-treated nano Fe0 is either a poorly ordered Cr(OH)3 precipitate or possibly a mixed phase CrxFe(1 - x)(OH)3 product, both of which are highly insoluble under environmental conditions.