Drying characteristics and sorption isotherms of silverside fish (Atherina)

The aim of this work was to report drying characteristics and sorption isotherms of silverside fish. The sorption isotherm was determined at four temperature levels 40, 50, 60 and 70 °C and at water activities, ranging from 0.058 to 0.89, using the static gravimetric method. Five sorption models were fitted with the desorption data generated from the gravimetric method. It was found that the Peleg model suitably represents the sorption experimental data in the mentioned investigated ranges of temperature and water activities. Sorption isosteric heat was determined from sorption data using the Clausius–Clapeyron equation. The relationship between the net isosteric heat of sorption and the moisture content was best expressed by the Tsami’s equation. The drying characteristic curve and the drying rate expression of silverside fish have been established from experimental convective drying kinetics.     

Spontaneous Outcropping of Self‐Assembled Insulating Nanodots in Solution‐Derived Metallic Ferromagnetic La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 Films

A new mechanism is proposed for the generation of self‐assembled nanodots at the surface of a film based on spontaneous outcropping of the secondary phase of a nanocomposite epitaxial film. Epitaxial self‐assembled Sr–La oxide insulating nanodots are formed through this mechanism at the surface of an epitaxial metallic ferromagnetic La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (LSMO) film grown on SrTiO₃ from chemical solutions. TEM analysis reveals that, underneath the La–Sr oxide (LSO) nanodots, the film switches from the compressive out‐of‐plane stress component to a tensile one. It is shown that the size and concentration of the nanodots can be tuned by means of growth kinetics and through modification of the La excess in the precursor chemical solution. The driving force for the nanodot formation can be attributed to a cooperative effect involving the minimization of the elastic strain energy and a thermodynamic instability of the LSMO phase against the formation of a Ruddelsden–Popper phase Sr₃Mn₄O₇ embedded in the film, and LSO surface nanodots. The mechanism can be described as a generalization of the classical Stranski–Krastanov growth mode involving phase separation. LSO islands induce an isotropic strain to the LSMO film underneath the island which decreases the magnetoelastic contribution to the magnetic anisotropy.     

Supplier selection and order lot sizing modeling: A review

With globalization and the emergence of the extended enterprise of interdependent organizations, there has been a steady increase in the outsourcing of parts and services. This has led firms to give more importance to the purchasing function and its associated decisions. One of those decisions which impacts all firms’ areas is the supplier selection. Since the 1950s, several works have addressed this decision by treating different aspects and instances. In this paper, we extend previous survey papers by presenting a literature review that covers the entire purchasing process, considers both parts and services outsourcing activities, and covers internet-based procurement environments such as electronic marketplaces auctions. In view of its complexity, we will focus especially on the final selection stage that consists of determining the best mixture of vendors and allocating orders among them so as to satisfy different purchasing requirements. In addition, we will concentrate mainly on works that employ operations research and computational models. Thereby, we will analyze and expose the main decision's features, and propose different classifications of the published models.     

Combined Convective and Microwave Drying of Agglomerated Sand: Internal Transfer Modeling with the Gas Pressure Effect

In order to improve the industrial drying (hot air and microwave) of inserts made of agglomerated sand, a comprehensive internal heat and water transfer model has been proposed. In this model, the internal gas phase pressure effect was made perfectly explicit, especially the phenomena of liquid and vapour transfer by filtration and of liquid expulsion at the surface. This model was validated on the basis of the experimental mean water content and core temperature curves for drying trials at different microwave powers. Then, it was used for comparing the drying time and the internal pressure level calculated for four particular processes: a standard process with high temperature air applied all over the time, a strong process with high power microwaves applied all over, and two processes which alternate the two heating modes. It was demonstrated that the combined and alternative processes provide a real possibility for faster drying with less internal pressure and thus with less cracking risk. The microwaves should be applied only in the first hour of the process and with decreasing power. The decrease of the drying time was around 30% with regard to the hot air standard process.     

Segmentation of cancellous bone from high-resolution computed tomography images: influence on trabecular bone measurements

The quantification of cancellous bone network from computed tomography (CT) images requires a segmentation step which is crucial and difficult because of the partial volume effect in CT images. In this paper, we present and evaluate a new approach for segmenting cancellous bone network from high-resolution CT (HRCT) slices. The idea is first to detect a skeleton from the crest lines of the structure and then to thicken it to extract the whole bone structure by satisfying local neighborhood constraints. The segmentation requires the adjustment of relative and not absolute parameters like most methods. We quantified the influence of these parameters on architectural measurements. Results were first validated by using a physical phantom and then examined on a series of 12 HRCT images of human lumbar vertebra of different ages. We demonstrated that the choice of segmentation parameters yielded important variability on architectural measurements (up to 20%), but less variability than a more commonly used approach. This stresses the importance of settle on the segmentation parameters for once, which is possible with the proposed method.     

Student–instructor communication: The role of email

We report on the use of email lists as a supplement to teaching. We argue that email lists can provide a valuable students–instructor communication channel and describe the process of setting up and managing such lists. A case study of email messages exchanged in an introductory operations research course is also included. The case illustrates how a ‘strategic’ use of email leads to a richer learning experience, by providing an extra medium for communication, and offers a valuable feedback database that can, among other things, be used to improve future editions of a course.