COLOR VISION SYSTEM FOR RIPENESS INSPECTION OF OIL PALM ELAEIS GUINEENSIS

In checking harvesting discipline and quality control for oil palm fruits, color has presumably been an important guide to whether the oil content has reached a maximum where the fruit bunch is ready for cutting. However, establishing a single and harmonious standard base on color is a very contentious issue in the oil palm industry because of the subjective nature of the human vision of color. This was further complicated due to the lack of information on fruit color upon which to base a definite ripeness criterion. We demonstrated in this paper that this problem can be solved using machine vision technology. Methods used were to treat color in HSI (Hue, Saturation and Intensity) color space and applied multivariate discriminant analysis. These have proven to be highly effective for color evaluation and image processing. The vision system was trained to classify oil palms into four quality grades according to PORIM (Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia) inspection standards. These are the unripe, the underripe, the optimally ripe and the overripe classes. Depending upon the quality feature evaluated, misclassification by the vision system varied from 5 to 12% but averaged at about 8%. Machine vision disagreement ranged from 2 to 19%.     

Effects of Gamma Irradiation on Proteins and Fatty Acids of Soybean

Two hundred grams of soybean seeds (moisture contents of 7.4, 15.3, 22.5, and 30.5%) were irradiated at dose levels of 0, 1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 KGy using Cobalt-60 source. Radiation dose of 100 KGy caused a decrease in the percentage of nitrogen solubility from 80.3 to 67.2, 80.3 to 57.8, and 68.1 to 48.8 when deionized H₂O, 0.6M NaCl, and 0.2M Cacl₂ were used as solvents, respectively. Inhibition of 71% of lipoxygenase activities, 25.4% trypsin inhibitor activities, and 16.7% chymotrypsin inhibitor activities were found when the soybean seeds were irradiated at 100 KGy.     

The computation of optimal singular control

An algorithm for the solution of optimal control problems with singular subarcs is presented. The modified quasilinearization is extended to the solution of those problems where the initial conditions are updated successively. A major advantage of the quasilinearization method is its rapidity of convergence despite its simplicity in programming. It is not necessary to introduce penalty functions for the treatment of boundary conditions. An illustrative example is presented.     

Optimum synthesis conditions of nanometric Fe50Ni50 alloy formed by chemical reduction in aqueous solution

In the present article, various nanometric Fe₅₀Ni₅₀ alloys were synthesized by chemical reduction of the corresponding metal ions, with hydrazine in an aqueous solution. Process variables of reaction temperature, pH of the hydrazine solution and concentration of metal ions were varied in order to determine the optimum synthesis conditions regarding quality, productivity and cost. It is found that pH of hydrazine solution, at low concentration of metal ions, is the most crucial variable affecting the reaction rate, average crystallite and particle sizes of the synthesized nanometric Fe₅₀Ni₅₀ alloy, followed by the total concentration of metal ions. Thus, increase of pH of hydrazine solution acts as an efficient stabilizer in reducing the particle size. On the contrary, at high concentration of metal ions, the structural characteristics of the nanometric Fe₅₀Ni₅₀ alloy are almost insensitive to reaction temperature and pH of hydrazine solution, but the reduction rate is remarkably sensitive to reaction temperature. Based on these results, it is decided that a reaction temperature of 80 °C, pH of the hydrazine solution of 12·5 and concentration of metal ions of 0·6 M represent the optimum synthesis conditions. The role of pH of hydrazine solution in reducing the alloy’s average particle size as well as efficient stabilizer confirms tremendous effect of synthesis conditions on the alloy structure and therefore, the importance of this study for industrial production of nanometric Fe₅₀Ni₅₀ alloy.     

Digital iterative learning control of compensated linear multivariable plants

It is shown that digital iterative learning controllers can be designed for irregular linear multivariable plants by introducing appropriate digital compensators. This demonstration is effected by proving a fundamental theorem which establishes precise sufficient conditions under which iterative learning control is achieved by such digital controllers and compensators in the case of first-order irregular plants. These general results are illustrated by the presentation of numerical results for the digital iterative learning control of a third-order partially irregular plant with two inputs and two outputs. The extension of the results to higher-order irregular plants is discussed.     

Uncoupling tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-10 at tumor immune microenvironment of breast cancer through miR-17-5p/MALAT-1/H19 circuit

Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) immunotherapy has recently shown promising approach. However, some TNBC patients presented with resistance. One of the reasons was attributed to the excessive release of cytokines at the tumor microenvironment (TME) such as Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and Interleukin-10 (IL-10). Fine regulation of these cytokines’ levels via non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) might alleviate the immune quiescent nature of TME at TNBC tumors. However, the extrapolation of ncRNAs as therapeutic tools is highly challenging. Therefore, disentanglement the nature for the isolation of natural compounds that could modulate the ncRNAs and their respective targets is an applicable translational therapeutic approach. Hence, this study aimed to targeting the chief immune suppressive cytokines at the TME (TNF-α and IL-10) via ncRNAs and to examine the effects of Rosemary aerial parts extract on the expression levels of these ncRNAs in TNBC. Results revealed miR-17-5p as a dual regulator of TNF-α and IL-10. Moreover, an intricate interaction has been shown between miR-17-5p and the oncogenic lncRNAs: MALAT1 and H19. Knocking down of MALAT1 and/or H19 caused an induction in miR-17-5p and reduction in TNF-α and IL-10 expression levels. miR-17-5p was found to be down-regulated, while TNF-α, IL-10, MALAT1 and H19 were up-regulated in BC patients. Forced expression of miR-17-5p in MDA-MB-231 cells reduced TNF-α, IL-10, MALAT1 and H19 expression levels, as well as several BC hallmarks. In a translational approach, ursolic acid (UA) isolated from rosemary induced the expression of miR-17-5p, MALAT1 and decreased H19 expression levels. In conclusion, this study suggests miR-17-5p as a tumor suppressor and an immune-activator miRNA in BC through tuning up the immunological targets TNF-α, IL-10 at the TME and the oncological mediators MALAT1 and H19 lncRNAs.     

Digital design of variable structure control systems

Reachability conditions are developed for discrete single-input-single-output variable structure control systems described by linear mathematical models in general state-space form to reach a switching function from anywhere in state space. Stability conditions of a sliding mode are investigated. A modified algorithm is proposed to simplify the design procedure. Practical application to a thermal process has been achieved by using the modified algorithm to show the potential for development and practical results are compared with those using the classical PID controller design.     

Practical Estimation of Seepage Losses Along Earthen Canals in Egypt

Seepage from open channels is one of the major problems involved in the design of irrigation networks. However the advantage of conserving water is necessary as water is becoming a scarce commodity. As the suspended solid materials in water became less than 100 ppm after the construction of the High Aswan Dam (HAD) in Egypt, unfortunately few previous practical formulas for estimating seepage losses along earthen Egyptian canals are applicable and new design equations are needed. Through the present paper, extensive field data measurements have been carried out on carrier irrigation canals for seepage analysis. Regression equations were developed for relating seepage losses to the flow and geometrical canal parameters. These deduced equations are based on the inflow-outflow procedure and the boundary materials, and are valid for earthen canals having discharges ranging between 2 and 20 m³/sec.