Shelf Life of Minimally Processed Honeydew, Kiwifruit, Papaya, Pineapple and Cantaloupe

This study was to determine the shelf life of minimally processed honeydew melon, kiwifruit, papaya, pineapple, and cantaloupe stored at 4°C. Sensory assessments were carried out at 3-day intervals by highly trained panels until the end of shelf life. Microbiological counts were made immediately after dicing fruit and at the end of shelf life. Results indicated that both the length of shelf life and type of spoilage were related to fruit species. Minimally processed fruit had longer shelf life at 4°than at temperatures recommended for whole fruit when these were greater than 4°C. Spoilage of 4°C-stored kiwifruit, papaya and pineapple pieces was not a consequence of microbial growth.     

Crack Healing in UO2

Isothermal annealing of thermally shocked UO₂ bars (O/M= 2.00 ±0.01) at 1600°, 1800°, and 2000°C caused crack healing, which was determined from recovery of room-temperature fracture strength. The activation energy for crack healing was ∼0.5 of that for volume diffusion, and healing occurred at the same rate as grain growth. This result has important implications with respect to crack healing in oxide fuels during in-reactor restructuring.     

A virtual plant modeller (VPMOD) for batch-chemical processes

This paper presents a virtual plant modeller (VPMOD), which formally characterizes and integrates chemical product designs, batch-chemical equipment (plants), the real-time scheduling of chemical batches, and the control of chemical transport through the plant. These models provide a framework for agile batch-chemical manufacturing that has the ability to reroute and control chemical product flow automatically in a flexible plant subject to unexpected events, such as changes in demand patterns and equipment failure. A formal logic model is generated to control the actual system events, which are non-deterministic. A simulation environment in VPMOD is used to validate schedules and control logic based on plant models supplied by industry. The formal models have been implemented in an object-oriented language.     

Optimal linear filtering and lagging filtering of coloured noise†

The Kalman filtering problem is reformulated for coloured noise. This allows solution of the corresponding lugging filtering problem. Different methods of solution are found by using statistical orthogonality and maximum likelihood, and the two methods are compared. All rosults nro givon in continuous-time.     

Optimum Linear Control in the Presence of Coloured Measurement Noise†

This paper combines theories of optimum filtering and of optimum control of completely observable systems with random inputs in order to synthesize optimum control when the state is not completely observable. It is assumed that all measurements of state are contaminated by coloured noise. The final optimization is presented in continuous-timo and a simple example is given to illustrate the method.     

Adaptive forecasting techniques

The class of exponential smoothing models which vary the values of their parameters to adapt to changing conditions in a time series are referred to as adaptive forecasting techniques. In this article criteria for evaluating forecasting models are presented and the features of a simple exponential smoothing model that are exploited by the adaptive techniques are discussed. Several adaptive forecasting schemes are described and classified, and examples of the performance of these techniques are presented.     

Electrostatic emulsification of domestic and personal care products

A technique is described for producing high quality emulsions in a controllable and reproducible way. The dispersed liquid phase is atomized electrostatically, thus enabling particle size to be well below 10μm for wax solutions while at the same time maintaining a very narrow particle size distribution. The energy saving over conventional emulsification methods is considerable, amounting to up to 85% for one typical domestic care product.
Emulsification is achieved in a one-step process in a machine which essentially has no moving parts and requires no auxiliary air supply. In addition to the ability to create high quality emulsions, electrostatic atomization of the dispersed phase itself introduces a new and useful parameter, electrical conductivity, enabling greater flexibility in terms of ensuring emulsion stability. Even in conventional emulsifier systems, electrically charging the dispersed phase may have important implications which have not to date been fully appreciated.
Emulsification de produits de soins de la peau et de produits de ménage par une méthode électrostatique