Modelling oil absorption during post-frying cooling - II: solution of the mathematical model, model testing and simulations

The mathematical models that describe the immersion-frying period and the post-frying cooling period of an infinite slab or an infinite cylinder were solved and tested. Results were successfully compared with those found in the literature or obtained experimentally, and were discussed in terms of the hypotheses and simplifications made. The models were used as the basis of a sensitivity analysis. Simulations showed that a decrease in slab thickness and core heat capacity resulted in faster crust development. On the other hand, an increase in oil temperature and boiling heat transfer coefficient between the oil and the surface of the food accelerated crust formation. The model for oil absorption during cooling was analysed using the tested post-frying cooling equation to determine the moment in which a positive pressure driving force, allowing oil suction within the pore, originated. It was found that as crust layer thickness, pore radius and ambient temperature decreased so did the time needed to start the absorption. On the other hand, as the effective convective heat transfer coefficient between the air and the surface of the slab increased the required cooling time decreased. In addition, it was found that the time needed to allow oil absorption during cooling was extremely sensitive to pore radius, indicating the importance of an accurate pore size determination in future studies.

False recognition of abstract versus common objects in older and younger adults: testing the semantic categorization account

Older adults often demonstrate higher levels of false recognition than do younger adults. However, in experiments using novel shapes without preexisting semantic representations, this age-related elevation in false recognition was found to be greatly attenuated. Two experiments tested a semantic categorization account of these findings, examining whether older adults show especially heightened false recognition if the stimuli have preexisting semantic representations, such that semantic category information attenuates or truncates the encoding or retrieval of item-specific perceptual information. In Experiment 1, ambiguous shapes were presented with or without disambiguating semantic labels. Older adults showed higher false recognition when labels were present but not when labels were never presented. In Experiment 2, older adults showed higher false recognition for concrete but not abstract objects. The semantic categorization account was supported.

A practical method for testing high-speed networking hardware architectures

This paper deals with the key issues encountered in testing during the development of high-speed networking hardware systems by documenting a practical method for "real-life like" testing. The proposed method is empowered by modern and commonly available Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology. Innovative application of standard FPGA blocks in combination with reconfigurability are used as a back-bone of the method. A detailed elaboration of the method is given so as to serve as a general reference. The method is fully characterised and compared to alternatives through a case study proving it to be the most efficient and effective one at a reasonable cost.

The application of implant technology for cybernetic systems

Objective: To assess the usefulness, compatibility, and long-term operability of a microelectrode array into the median nerve of the left arm of a healthy volunteer, including perception of feedback stimulation and operation of an instrumented prosthetic hand. Setting: The study was carried out from March 14 through June 18, 2002, in England and the United States. Results: The blindfolded subject received feedback information, obtained from force and slip sensors on the prosthetic hand, and subsequently used the implanted device to control the hand by applying an appropriate force to g rip an unseen object. Operability was also demonstrated remotely via the Internet, with the subject in New York, NY, and the prosthetic hand in Reading, England. Finally, the subject was able to control an electric wheelchair, via decoded signals from the implant device, to select the direction of travel by opening and closing his hand. The implantation did not result in infection or any perceivable loss of hand sensation or motion control. The implant was finally extracted because of mechanical fatigue of the percutaneous connection. Further testing after extraction has not indicated any measurable long-term defects in the subject. Conclusions: This implant may allow recipients to have abilities they would otherwise not possess. The response to stimulation improved considerably during the trial, suggesting that the subject learned to process the incoming information more effectively.

Design, implementation and testing of an intelligent knowledge-based system for the supervisory control of a hot rolling mill

This paper describes the design, implementation and testing of an intelligent knowledge-based supervisory control (IKBSC) system for a hot rolling mill process. A novel architecture is used to integrate an expert system with an existing supervisory control system and a new optimization methodology for scheduling the soaking pits in which the material is heated prior to rolling. The resulting IKBSC system was applied to an aluminium hot rolling mill process to improve the shape quality of low-gauge plate and to optimise the use of the soaking pits to reduce energy consumption. The results from the trials demonstrate the advantages to be gained from the IKBSC system that integrates knowledge contained within data, plant and human resources with existing model-based systems. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Testing temperature-induced proteomic changes in the plant-associated bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25.

Traits used by bacteria to enhance ecological performance in natural environments are not well understood. Recognizing that the saprophytic plant-colonizing bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 experiences temperatures in its natural environment significantly cooler than the 28°C routinely used in the laboratory, we identified proteins differentially expressed between 28°C and the more environmentally relevant temperature of 14°C. Of 2102 protein isoforms, 32 were temperature responsive and identified by mass spectrometry. Seven of these (OmpR, MucD, GuaD, OsmY and three of unknown function, Tee1, Tee2 and Tee3) were selected for genetic and ecological analyses. In each instance, changes in protein expression with temperature were mirrored by parallel transcriptional changes. The fitness contribution of the genes encoding each of the seven proteins was larger at 14°C than 28°C and included two cases of trade-offs (enhanced fitness at one temperature and reduced fitness at the other – mucD and tee2 deletions). The relationship between the fitness effects of genes in vitro and in vivo was variable, but two temperature-responsive genes – osmY and mucD – contribute substantially to the ability of P. fluorescens to colonize the plant environment.

Variability in surface atmospheric electric field measurements

An electrical current of the order one picoamp per metre squared flows vertically in the Earth's atmosphere, between the ionosphere at approximately 50km altitude and the surface. This current is generated by global thunderstorm activity and is modulated by galactic cosmic rays and atmospheric aerosol. In fair weather conditions, this current cause a vertical atmospheric electric field, commonly measured as a potential gradient. For circumstances other than fair weather conditions, the potential gradient varies, from small steady enhancements in fog to large fluctuations in thunderstorms. The atmospheric potential gradient is continuously monitored at the Reading University Atmospheric Observatory. An account of the variability of the potential gradient on a variety of time scales will be presented.

Testing Turing's five minutes, parallel-paired imitation game

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider Turing's two tests for machine intelligence: the parallel-paired, three-participants game presented in his 1950 paper, and the “jury-service” one-to-one measure described two years later in a radio broadcast. Both versions were instantiated in practical Turing tests during the 18th Loebner Prize for artificial intelligence hosted at the University of Reading, UK, in October 2008. This involved jury-service tests in the preliminary phase and parallel-paired in the final phase. Design/methodology/approach – Almost 100 test results from the final have been evaluated and this paper reports some intriguing nuances which arose as a result of the unique contest. Findings – In the 2008 competition, Turing's 30 per cent pass rate is not achieved by any machine in the parallel-paired tests but Turing's modified prediction: “at least in a hundred years time” is remembered. Originality/value – The paper presents actual responses from “modern Elizas” to human interrogators during contest dialogues that show considerable improvement in artificial conversational entities (ACE). Unlike their ancestor – Weizenbaum's natural language understanding system – ACE are now able to recall, share information and disclose personal interests.

Infant Attachment Security and the Timing of Puberty: Testing an Evolutionary Hypothesis

Life-history theories of the early programming of human reproductive strategy stipulate that early rearing experience, including that reflected in infant-parent attachment security, regulates psychological, behavioral, and reproductive development. We tested the hypothesis that infant attachment insecurity, compared with infant attachment security, at the age of 15 months predicts earlier pubertal maturation. Focusing on 373 White females enrolled in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we gathered data from annual physical exams from the ages of 9½ years to 15½ years and from self-reported age of menarche. Results revealed that individuals who had been insecure infants initiated and completed pubertal development earlier and had an earlier age of menarche compared with individuals who had been secure infants, even after accounting for age of menarche in the infants’ mothers. These results support a conditional-adaptational view of individual differences in attachment security and raise questions about the biological mechanisms responsible for the attachment effects we discerned.

Testing for spatial autocorrelation: the regressors that make the power disappear

We show that for any sample size, any size of the test, and any weights matrix outside a small class of exceptions, there exists a positive measure set of regression spaces such that the power of the Cli-Ord test vanishes as the autocorrelation increases in a spatial error model. This result extends to the tests that dene the Gaussian power envelope of all invariant tests for residual spatial autocorrelation. In most cases, the regression spaces such that the problem occurs depend on the size of the test, but there also exist regression spaces such that the power vanishes regardless of the size. A characterization of such particularly hostile regression spaces is provided.

Real-time expert system for fault location on high voltage underground distribution cables

To ensure minimum loss of system security and revenue it is essential that faults on underground cable systems be located and repaired rapidly. Currently in the UK, the impulse current method is used to prelocate faults, prior to using acoustic methods to pinpoint the fault location. The impulse current method is heavily dependent on the engineer's knowledge and experience in recognising/interpreting the transient waveforms produced by the fault. The development of a prototype real-time expert system aid for the prelocation of cable faults is described. Results from the prototype demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of the expert system as an aid for the diagnosis and location of faults on underground cable systems.

Relatedness testing in subdivided populations

Assigning probabilities to alleged relationships, given DNA profiles, requires, among other things, calculation of a likelihood ratio (LR). Such calculations usually assume independence of genes: this assumption is not appropriate when the tested individuals share recent ancestry due to population substructure. Adjusted LR formulae, incorporating the coancestry coefficient F(ST), are presented here for various two-person relationships, and the issue of mutations in parentage testing is also addressed.