Pure Significance Tests of the Unit Root Hypothesis Against Nonlinear Alternatives

Abstract. This paper describes artificial neural network based pure significance tests for the unit root hypothesis against nonlinear alternatives. The theoretical properties of the tests are discussed and a Monte Carlo investigation of their small sample properties is undertaken.     

Ethylene Oxide Resistance of Microorganisms Important in Spoilage of Acid and High-Acid Foods

SUMMARY: Resistance values were determined for spores of Bacillus coagulans (var. thermoacidurans), conidiospores of Aspergillus niger , vegetative cells of Lactobacillus brevis, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Hansenula anomala and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (var. tetrasporus) exposed to a mixture of ethylene oxide (12%)and dichlorodifluoromethane (88%). Exposures were made of organisms deposited on glass and paper discs at 33% relative humidity, 30°C and a pressure to give 700 mg per liter of ethylene oxide. Spores of B. coagulans were also exposed at 40°, 50° and 60°C. The resistance parameter D was determined to characterize the resistance of each organism displaying logarithmic death. Values of z were determined for spores of B. coagulans. The most resistant organism was B. coagulans. The spores of this organism were approximately 1.8 to 8 times more resistant than the vegetative cells of L. mesenteroides or L. brevis. Vegetative cells of H. anomala, S. cerevisiae and conidiospores of A. niger displayed nonlogarithmic death. A. niger was the most resistant of the three.     

Data fusion for visual tracking with particles

The effectiveness of probabilistic tracking of objects in image sequences has been revolutionized by the development of particle filtering. Whereas Kalman filters are restricted to Gaussian distributions, particle filters can propagate more general distributions, albeit only approximately. This is of particular benefit in visual tracking because of the inherent ambiguity of the visual world that stems from its richness and complexity. One important advantage of the particle filtering framework is that it allows the information from different measurement sources to be fused in a principled manner. Although this fact has been acknowledged before, it has not been fully exploited within a visual tracking context. Here we introduce generic importance sampling mechanisms for data fusion and discuss them for fusing color with either stereo sound, for teleconferencing, or with motion, for surveillance with a still camera. We show how each of the three cues can be modeled by an appropriate data likelihood function, and how the intermittent cues (sound or motion) are best handled by generating proposal distributions from their likelihood functions. Finally, the effective fusion of the cues by particle filtering is demonstrated on real teleconference and surveillance data.     

An optimal migration algorithm for dynamic load balancing

The problem of redistributing the work load on parallel computers is considered. An optimal redistribution algorithm, which minimises the Euclidean norm of the migrating load, is derived. The relationship between this algorithm and some existing algorithms is discussed and the convergence of the new algorithm is studied. Finally, numerical results on randomly generated graphs as well as on graphs related to real meshes are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new algorithm. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Storage and transport of pasteurized milk

This paper reviews briefly the various systems for the storage and transport of pasteurized milk. Each link in the chain to doorstep delivery is described and there is some discussion of systems of distribution of cartoned milk for non-doorstep trade. The principal themes of the paper are the relationship between the doorstep delivery system and volume sales, and the interdependence of this system and the returnable glass container. The author argues that future progress should be limited to a refinement of the present system, and fundamental change must be avoided.     

The status of fluoride in bovine milk

Raw, whole and skim milks containing fluoride up to 100 ppm fluoride were pasteurised by the HTST and low temperature holding (LTH), and UHT and 'in bottle' sterilization methods. The heat treated milks were stable on standing at room temperature while centrifugation at 4000 g , 12 000 g and 30 000 g showed that a fluoride containing precipitate was not formed.
Dialysis in conjunction with a fluoride ion-selective electrode showed that most of the fluoride was in an easily removable ionic complex. However a proportion of the fluoride, depending upon the heat treatment process used, was not removed by dialysis. A similar effect was observed with heat treated 0.25% casein suspension and with calcium phosphate free (CPF) milk. Examination of the non-dialysable fraction from milk, by addition of fresh fluoride and also by gel chromotography showed that the fluoride was held in a tightly bound but reversible ionic complex.
All of the fluoride could be recovered in an ionic form as shown using the ion-selective electrode on the milk after precipitation of the milk protein with 0.3 M citric acid.     

A NEW APPROACH TO CAPILLARY EXTRUSION RHEOMETRY

Abstract . A capillary extrusion rheometer has been developed which circumvents many of the problems of traditional hypodermic principle rheometers. The capillary is enclosed in a hollow plunger driven at a series of fixed rates into a barrel containing the test sample. Drawbacks observed with traditional viscometers have been obviated, for example, entrapment of air between the sample and the plunger leading to gas compression effects, gross motion of the fluid in the barrel leading to fluid structure breakdown and difficulties in determining plunger/barrel friction contributions. With strict temperature control, it has been shown that absolute values for fluid flow properties could be determined on small samples quickly and easily with an accuracy of ±0.5%.