Search

In the egg industry, it is necessary to estimate the egg volume accurately when estimating egg quality or freshness in a non-destructive method. Egg volume and weight could obtain egg density and could be used to determine egg freshness. Therefore, the egg geometric must be obtained first to establish a volume equation with a geometric shape. This research proposes an innovative idea to derive the mathematical model and volume equation of egg shape, calculate its volume, and verify the accuracy of the mathematical equation proposed using the volume displacement method. Using the proposed equation, the minimum error between the calculated egg volume) and actual egg volume is 0.01%. The maximum volume error does not exceed 2%. The egg shape equation can accurately draw the outer contour curve of the egg by the half-length of the maximum long axis and maximum breadth of the short axis, and the distance from the center point of the egg to the maximum breadth (xm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ice growth speed is determined by atomic mobility and thermodynamic driving force. • A lower surface energy of ice crystal leads to a slower ice propagation. • Surface interaction rearranges ice crystal or graphene flakes during freezing. • Due to the rearrangement, ice grows faster in parallel to the graphene surface. The influence of thermodynamic and structural conditions on water-ice phase change process was investigated with consideration of graphene-water surface interactions for fundamental understanding and effective control of freezing propagation. The phase change propagation as well as structural and energetic properties during the phase change were examined by analyzing atomic data from molecular dynamics simulations. The freezing propagation speed is affected by the competition between atomic mobility and thermodynamic driving force for phase change, which causes an optimal temperature for fast ice growth to appear at 252 K. In addition, the water-ice interfacial energy, which depends on the orientation of the water-contacting ice surface, changes interfacial structural stability and thus freezing propagation, i.e., a higher interfacial energy leads to a faster ice propagation. Therefore, we suggest that the water-ice phase change propagation can be controlled by adjusting the orientation of ice crystal. The surface interactions, or graphene-water interactions in this research, affect the energetics near the water-surface interface. The energetic change rearranges the ice crystal or surface structures to reach the most stable ice-surface configuration or minimum energy state, in which the basal plane of the ice crystal is parallel with the graphene surface. As ice propagation is the slowest perpendicular to the basal plane, ice can grow faster parallel to graphene surface. The findings from this study provides insights to ice propagation control mechanisms for versatile freeze casting and its broader applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Graphene in-plane phonon transport is largely suppressed by Si dopant scattering. • Graphene/SiO 2 interfacial transport is enhanced by Si doping (or lower resistance). • Weakened bonding by Si and their atomic mass increase the interfacial transport. • Effects of dopant's mass and interaction mismatch on phonon transport were found. • Doping effects on phonon kinetics were quantified using molecular dynamics. The effects of silicon (Si) doping on the in-plane and cross-plane thermal transport of suspended and silicon dioxide (SiO 2) supported graphene were investigated via molecular dynamics simulations. Due to the large mismatch in atomic mass and interaction with neighboring carbon atoms, Si can act as an effective phonon scatterer, thus suppressing the thermal transport. In this study, we evaluated the contributions of mass and interaction mismatches of Si dopants to the reduction in the in-plane thermal conductivity and the cross-plane thermal resistance through systematic control of the dopant's properties. 2% Si doping reduces the in-plane transport of suspended graphene by ~94% due to the increased scattering, while the SiO 2 -supported graphene is less affected. The phonon scattering by Si linearly increases with the Si content, and the interaction mismatch has a greater influence on the phonon kinetics during in-plane transport than the mass mismatch. In contrast, the cross-plane transport is enhanced by Si doping, decreasing the interfacial thermal resistance by ~30%, because of the stronger interfacial interactions by weaker in-plane bonding and the smaller atomic mass mismatch with the substrate material. The enhanced understanding of doping effects on thermal transport from this research is expected to provide insights for effective thermal transport control in various graphene structures. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dielectric properties of food materials is used to describe the interaction of foods with electromagnetic energy for food technology and engineering. To quantify the relationship between dielectric properties and influencing factors, regression analysis is used in our study. Many linear or polynomial regression equations are proposed. However, the basic assumption of the regression analysis is that data with a normal distribution and constant variance are not checked. This study uses sixteen datasets from the literature to derive the equations for dielectric properties. The dependent variables are the dielectric constant and the loss factor. The independent variables are the frequency, temperature, and moisture content. The dependent variables and frequency terms are transformed for regression analysis. The effect of other qualitative factors, such as treatment method and the position of subjects on dielectric properties, are determined using categorical testing. Then, the regression equations can be used to determine which influencing factors are important and which are not. The method can be used for other datasets of dielectric properties to classify influencing factors, including quantitative and qualitative variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement of the leaf temperature of forests or agricultural plants is an important technique for the monitoring of the physiological state of crops. The infrared thermometer is a convenient device due to its fast response and nondestructive measurement technique. Nowadays, a novel infrared thermocouple, developed with the same measurement principle of the infrared thermometer but using a different detector, has been commercialized for non-contact temperature measurement. The performances of two-kinds of infrared thermocouples were evaluated in this study. The standard temperature was maintained by a temperature calibrator and a special black cavity device. The results indicated that both types of infrared thermocouples had good precision. The error distribution ranged from -1.8 °C to 18 °C as the reading values served as the true values. Within the range from 13 °C to 37 °C, the adequate calibration equations were the high-order polynomial equations. Within the narrower range from 20 °C to 35 °C, the adequate equation was a linear equation for one sensor and a two-order polynomial equation for the other sensor. The accuracy of the two kinds of infrared thermocouple was improved by nearly 0.4 °C with the calibration equations. These devices could serve as mobile monitoring tools for in situ and real time routine estimation of leaf temperatures.