Determination and exchange of supply information for co-operation in complex production networks

Today's manufacturing industry is characterised by strong interdependencies between companies operating in globally distributed production networks. The operation of such value-added chains has been enabled by recent developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) and computer networking. To gain competitive advantages and efficiency improvements such as reduced inventory and higher delivery reliability, companies are introducing information exchange systems that communicate demand to suppliers and production progress information to customers in the network. This article proposes a system that supports co-operation in complex production networks by enabling companies to determine and exchange supply information with their customers. The requirements for such a system are analysed and it is embedded in a framework of supply chain management business processes. The system facilitates the determination and exchange of meaningful, reliable and up-to-date order status information from the supplier to the customer. Based on comparing the progress of an internal production order with a pre-defined milestone model for each product, the status of the customer order is determined and—in case of lateness—communicated to the customer together with an early warning. To demonstrate the developed supply information concepts and processes, the business process is implemented as a pilot system and evaluated by the user companies participating in the 5th Framework IST project Co-OPERATE.     

Radiological Source Detection and Localisation Using Bayesian Techniques

The problem considered in this paper is detection and estimation of multiple radiation sources using a time series of radiation counts from a collection of sensors. A Bayesian framework is adopted. Source detection is approached as a model selection problem in which competing models are compared using partial Bayes factors. Given the number of sources, the posterior mean is the minimum mean square error estimator of the source parameters. Exact calculation of the partial Bayes factors and the posterior mean is not possible due to the presence of intractable integrals. Importance sampling using progressive correction is proposed as a computationally efficient method for approximating these integrals. Previously proposed algorithms have been restricted to one or two sources. A simulation analysis shows that the proposed methods can detect and accurately estimate the parameters of four sources with reasonable computational expense.     

Supercritical CO2 extraction of Helichrysum italicum: Influence of CO2 density and moisture content of plant material

Kinetics and selectivity of supercritical carbon dioxide (SC CO₂) extraction of Helichrysum italicum flowers were analyzed at pressures in the range of 10-20 MPa and temperatures of 40 °C and 60 °C (density of SC CO₂ from 290 to 841 kg/m³) and also at 10 MPa and 40 °C using flowers with different moisture contents (10.5% and 28.4%). Increased moisture content of H. italicum flowers resulted in enchased solubility of solute enabling decrease of SC CO₂ consumption necessary for achieving desired extraction yield. The most abundant compounds in the supercritical extracts are sesquiterpenes and waxes while monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes are the main constituents of essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation. The optimal set of working parameters with respect to extraction yield, SC CO₂ consumption and chemical composition of extract were defined related to moisture content of raw material and SC CO₂ density.     

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of bovine milk adulteration in caprine and ovine milks using native-PAGE

Native-PAGE (polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) was used for the simultaneous qualitative and quantitative analysis of bovine milk adulteration in caprine and ovine milk using whole milk samples as well as their whey protein fraction. Quantification was based on measuring band intensity of bovine β-lactoglobulins in all milk mixtures and bovine α-lactalbumin in caprine/bovine milk blends. Linear relationships were established between the band intensity of bovine β-lactoglobulins and α-lactalbumin vs. volume percentage of added bovine milk in all milk analysed, with the correlation coefficient from 0.9950 to 0.9998. These correlations enabling the quantification of bovine milk percentage within the wide range from 3% or 5% to 90% in caprine/bovine and ovine/bovine milk blends, respectively. The differences between the actual percentages of bovine milk present in the adulterated milk samples and those calculated using the regression lines were less than or equal to 5% for all samples. This method offers a rapid determination combined with unequivocal identification of the bovine whey proteins in almost every caprine/bovine or ovine/bovine milk mixtures.     

Fourier-plane Characteristics of a Liquid-crystal Light Valve

Abstract

A lack of symmetry in the intensities of the plus and minus diffraction orders in the output Fourier plane of a liquid-crystal light valve has been observed. Measurement results and an intuitive discussion of this effect are presented.