This book addresses the shelf life of foods, a key factor in determining how food is distributed and consequently where and when different food products are available for consumption. Shelf life is determined by several factors, including microbiological, chemical, physical, and organoleptic deterioration. Often these factors are interrelated and interdependent. The editors of this volume focus specifically on the microbial factors related to shelf life of perishable foods and food commodities. This allows for more detailed coverage of foodborne bacterial pathogens and spoilage microorganisms of concern. The initial part of the book covers the why and how of shelf life determination as well as the specific microbial pathogens and spoilage microorganisms of concern for perishable foods. Contributors address topics such as the techniques utilized for determination of shelf life, the frequency of shelf life testing for different products, the interpretation of data to make shelf life determinations, and management of shelf life of food products from the perspective of the food producer, distributor, retailer, and regulator. Three key areas impacting shelf life are addressed in detail: sanitation, processing, and packaging. The sanitation chapter explains the necessary components of cleaning and sanitizing to assure a hygienic processing environment and why that is critical to shelf life control. Traditional processing procedures are reviewed and advanced processing technologies are explored. Materials used in food packaging and the utilization of traditional and activated food packaging by product type are covered in detail. The latter two chapters of the book delve into newer techniques of analysis and explore the microbiome of food products. Implications of microbial ecology and microbial quantification in food products are discussed in chapters on genomics and in the changing dogma of meat shelf life. The primary audience for this work includes food industry quality and food safety technicians, managers, directors, and executives responsible for shelf life. Academicians and governmental researchers involved in research and teaching about food safety and quality will also find the material relevant and useful.

This open access book discusses service design capabilities in innovation processes, and provides a framework that guides design students, practitioners and researchers towards a better understanding of operational aspects of service design processes. More specifically, it revisits service designers' capabilities in light of the new roles that have opened up in innovation processes on different scales. After years of being inadequately defined, the professional profile of service designers is now taking shape. Today private and public institutions recognize service designers as essential contributors to their innovation and development processes. What are the capabilities that characterize a service designer? These essential capabilities are what service designers should acquire in their education and can sell when looking for a job.

This book presents the findings of research projects from the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre 73. These proceedings are the result of years of research into sheet-bulk metal forming. The book discusses the challenges posed by simulating sheet-bulk metal forming. It takes into account the different phenomena characteristic to both sheet and bulk forming fields, and explores the demands this makes on modelling the processes. It then summarizes the research, and presents from a practitioner's point of view. This means the book is of interest to and helps both academics and industrial engineers within the field of sheet-bulk metal forming.

This book addresses the vital importance of reshoring US manufacturing capability to ensure economic and military security and then discusses the proven methods that the United States used to gain manufacturing supremacy in the first place. The vital takeaway is: If the job can be made sufficiently productive, the per-unit labor cost ceases to be relevant which means a business can pay high wages, realize high profits, and deliver low prices simultaneously. The contest is then not between high wages and cheap labor, but between efficiency and inefficiency and, when automation is involved, machine against machine. Readers will be able to put these principles to work very quickly to achieve tangible results. The relatively low Federal minimum wage has meanwhile become a major issue, but inflation skyrocketed in the second quarter of 2022 when higher wages, and higher demand for goods and services, were not matched with higher productivity. The book addresses the relationship between the money supply and the velocity of money to prices, wages, and productivity. A manufacturing resurgence in the United States will not only increase our standard of living enormously but generate taxable economic activity that will help pay down rather than increase the Federal debt. Higher productivity also delivers a greater supply of goods to accompany higher wages, and thus works against inflation. This can prevent looming recessions and disruptions.

This book addresses the vital importance of reshoring US manufacturing capability to ensure economic and military security and then discusses the proven methods that the United States used to gain manufacturing supremacy in the first place. The vital takeaway is: If the job can be made sufficiently productive, the per-unit labor cost ceases to be relevant which means a business can pay high wages, realize high profits, and deliver low prices simultaneously. The contest is then not between high wages and cheap labor, but between efficiency and inefficiency and, when automation is involved, machine against machine. Readers will be able to put these principles to work very quickly to achieve tangible results. The relatively low Federal minimum wage has meanwhile become a major issue, but inflation skyrocketed in the second quarter of 2022 when higher wages, and higher demand for goods and services, were not matched with higher productivity. The book addresses the relationship between the money supply and the velocity of money to prices, wages, and productivity. A manufacturing resurgence in the United States will not only increase our standard of living enormously but generate taxable economic activity that will help pay down rather than increase the Federal debt. Higher productivity also delivers a greater supply of goods to accompany higher wages, and thus works against inflation. This can prevent looming recessions and disruptions.

This book discusses environmental management and construction management approaches to the environmental problems that can emerge in construction projects. It sets a brand new standard for environmental management in mega construction projects in China and helps all construction project stakeholders establish a more compliant and efficient environmental management system. The authors systematically explore management systems and team management, offering managerial methods and tips based on international and Chinese practices. Outlining all the environmental challenges that can arise during construction, it is a valuable resource for company owners, construction contractors, and construction management consultants and companies. It also offers useful insights for engineers, project managers and project executives.

This book presents the proceedings of CIRATM-9. The papers present the latest scientific concepts and technological developments in textile and materials of worldwide researchers and practitioners. The conference promotes sharing ideas and emerging technologies and fosters research and development collaborations amongst academia, research institutions and relevant industries. CIRATM is the first international conference applied on textiles in Tunisia and all Maghreb. It is a regular conference organized every two year since 2004. It focuses on all textile and materials fields. It joints together all actors of textile field and share research with many international collaborators. This edition is organized with the collaboration of 4 Tunisian partners and 6 international associates and institutions* Laboratory of Textile Engineering (LGTex, Tunisia), * Monastir university (Tunisia) * Tunisian Association of Textile Researchers (ATCTex, Tunisia) * Le pole de competitivite Monastir-El Fejja (mfcpole, Tunisia) * Association of the universities for textiles (AUTEX, International) * Balkan Society of textile engineering (BASTE) * National research & development institute for textile and leather (INCDTP, Bucharest- Romania) * Yazid University (Iran) * Centre d'Essais Textile (Cetelor, Lorraine - France) * Center of Textile Science and Technology (2C2T - University of Minho, Portugal)

Management of supply chains has been evolving rapidly over the last few years due to the inception of Industry 4.0, where businesses adopt automation technologies and data exchanges leading to dynamic and interconnected supply chain systems. Emphasizing on analytical approaches such as predictive and prescriptive modeling, this book presents state-of-the-art original research work dealing with advanced analytical models for the design, planning, and operation of the supply chain to provide faster and smarter decisions in the era of digitization. In particular, the book integrates machine learning and operations research models for faster and smarter decisions, presents prescriptive analytics models for strategic, tactical, and operational decision making in the supply chain, and addresses recent challenges such as sustainability in the supply chain, supply chain visibility, and supply chain digitalization. Key concepts are illustrated using real-life case studies, making the book a valuable reference for researchers, technical professionals, and students.

The essence of this work is the control of electromechanical systems, such as manipulators, electric machines, and power converters. The common thread that links together the results presented here is the passivity property, which is at present in numerous electrical and mechanical systems, and which has great relevance in control engineering at this time. Amongst other topics, the authors cover: Euler-Lagrange Systems, Mechanical Systems, Generalised AC Motors, Induction Motor Control, Robots with AC Drives, and Perspectives and Open Problems. The authors have extensive experience of research and application in the field of control of electromechanical systems, which they have summarised here in this self-contained volume. While written in a strictly mathematical way, it is also elementary, and will be accessible to a wide-ranging audience, including both practitioners and researchers in this field, as well as students.

The analysis of the reliability and availability of power plants is frequently based on simple indexes that do not take into account the criticality of some failures used for availability analysis. This criticality should be evaluated based on concepts of reliability which consider the effect of a component failure on the performance of the entire plant. System reliability analysis tools provide a root-cause analysis leading to the improvement of the plant maintenance plan. Taking in view that the power plant performance can be evaluated not only based on thermodynamic related indexes, such as heat-rate, Thermal Power Plant Performance Analysis focuses on the presentation of reliability-based tools used to define performance of complex systems and introduces the basic concepts of reliability, maintainability and risk analysis aiming at their application as tools for power plant performance improvement, including: * selection of critical equipment and components, * definition of maintenance plans, mainly for auxiliary systems, and * execution of decision analysis based on risk concepts. The comprehensive presentation of each analysis allows future application of the methodology making Thermal Power Plant Performance Analysis a key resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students in mechanical and nuclear engineering.

This book presents a general and comprehensive framework for the assurance of quality in measurements. Written by a foremost expert in the field, the text reflects an on-going international effort to extend traditional quality assured measurement, rooted in fundamental physics and the SI, to include non-physical areas such as person-centred care and the social sciences more generally. Chapter by chapter, the book follows the measurement quality assurance loop, based on Deming's work. The author enhances this quality assurance cycle with insights from recent research, including work on the politics and philosophy of metrology, the new SI, quantitative and qualitative scales and entropy, decision risks and uncertainty when addressing human challenges, Man as a Measurement Instrument, and Psychometry and Person-centred care. Quality Assured Measurement: Unification across Social and Physical Sciences provides students and researchers in physics, chemistry, engineering, medicine and the social sciences with practical guidance on designing, implementing and applying a quality-assured measurement while engaging readers in the most novel and expansive areas of contemporary measurement research.

The research papers presented in these proceedings volumes cover the latest developments and findings in the fields of mine health, safety, energy, waste management,reclamation and rehabilitation, mine closure and environmental protection. Authors from over 20 countries with backgrounds in chemistry, engineering, technology and management, and hailing from the government, industry and academia, have contributed to this book. The contents of this book will be of interest to scientists, engineers, consultants and government personnel who are responsible for the development and implementation of innovative approaches, techniques and technologies in the minerals industries. It will also benefit academic researchers, as it addresses the latest advances in fundamental research.

Diamond has a unique combination of properties, such as the highest hardness and thermal conductivity among any known material, high electrical resistivity, a large optical band gap and a high transmission, good resistance to chemical erosion, low adhesion and friction, and extremely low thermal expansion coefficient. As such, diamond has been a desirable material in a wide range of applications in mechanical, chemical, optical, thermal and electrical engineering. In many of the cases, the surface of a diamond component or element must have a superior finish, often down to a surface roughness of nanometers. Nevertheless, due to its extreme hardness and chemical inertness, the polishing of diamond and its composites has been a sophisticated process.

"Polishing of Diamond Materials" will provide a state-of-the-art analysis, both theoretically and experimentally, of the most commonly used polishing techniques for mono/poly-crystalline diamond and chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond films, including mechanical, chemo-mechanical, thermo-chemical, high energy beam, dynamic friction and other polishing techniques. The in-depth discussions will be on the polishing mechanisms, possible modelling, material removal rate and the quality control of these techniques. A comparison of their advantages and drawbacks will be carried out to provide the reader with a useful guideline for the selection and implementation of these polishing techniques.

"Polishing of Diamond Materials" will be of interest to researchers and engineers in hard materials and precision manufacturing, industry diamond suppliers, diamond jewellery suppliers and postgraduate students in the area of precision manufacturing.

The Engineering Materials and Processes series focuses on all forms of materials and the processes used to synthesise and formulate them as they relate to the various engineering disciplines. The series deals with a diverse range of materials: ceramics; metals (ferrous and non-ferrous); semiconductors; composites, polymers, biomimetics "etc." Each monograph in the series is written by a specialist and demonstrates how enhancements in materials and the processes associated with them can improve performance in the field of engineering in which they are used.

This book is about the simulation and modeling of novel chaotic systems within the frame of fractal-fractional operators. The methods used, their convergence, stability, and error analysis are given, and this is the first book to offer mathematical modeling and simulations of chaotic problems with a wide range of fractal-fractional operators, to find solutions. Numerical Methods for Fractal-Fractional Differential Equations and Engineering: Simulations and Modeling provides details for stability, convergence, and analysis along with numerical methods and their solution procedures for fractal-fractional operators. The book offers applications to chaotic problems and simulations using multiple fractal-fractional operators and concentrates on models that display chaos. The book details how these systems can be predictable for a while and then can appear to become random. Practitioners, engineers, researchers, and senior undergraduate and graduate students from mathematics and engineering disciplines will find this book of interest._

This book systematically describes the status quo and future development of cold spray additive manufacturing technology. It starts with a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of cold spray additive manufacturing, including its history, working principle, equipment, processing parameters and powder feedstock. It then discusses the fundamentals of and the latest developments in the gas flow character, particle acceleration, particle deposition and bond mechanism from the perspectives of both experiments and modelling to provide readers with insights into the cold spray additive manufacturing process. Further, it explores microstructure and properties, which are major concerns in the context of cold sprayed deposits. The book also highlights the strengthening strategies for cold sprayed deposits, from pre- and in-process to post-treatment. Lastly, it examines the current and potential applications of cold spray additive manufacturing.

Efficient assembly line design is a problem of considerable industrial importance. Unfortunately, like many other design processes, it can be time-consuming and repetitive. In addition to this, assembly line design is often complex owing to the number of multiple components involved: line efficiency, cost, reliability and space for example. The main objective is to integrate the design with operations issues, thereby minimising its costs.

Since it is impossible to replace a designera (TM)s intelligence, experience and creativity, it is important to provide him with a set of assistance tools in order to meet the conflicting objectives involved. Assembly Line Design presents three techniques based on the Grouping Genetic Algorithm (a powerful and broadly applicable optimisation and stochastic search technique) which can be used to aid efficient assembly line design:

a [ a ~equal piles for assembly linesa (TM), a new algorithm introduced to deal with assembly line balancing (balancing stationsa (TM) loads);

a [ a new method based on a multiple objective grouping genetic algorithm (MO-GGA) aiming to deal with resource planning (selection of equipment to carry out assembly tasks);

a ~a [ balance for operationa (TM) (BFO), introduced to deal with the changes during the operation phase of assembly lines.

Assembly Line Design will be of interest to technical personnel working in design, planning and production departments in industry as well as managers in industry who want to learn more about concurrent engineering. This book will also be of value to researchers and postgraduate students in mechanical, manufacturing or micro-engineering.

From the Foreword by Marshall Fisher, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania: As generation of academics and practitioners follows generation, it is worthwhile to compile long views of the research and practice in the past to shed light on research and practice going forward. This collection of peer-reviewed articles is intended to provide such a long view. This book contains a collection of chapters written by leading scholars/practitioners who have continued their efforts in developing and/or implementing innovative OR/MS tools for solving real world problems. In this book, the contributors share their perspectives about the past, present and future of OR/MS theoretical development, solution tools, modeling approaches, and applications. Specifically, this book collects chapters that offer insights about the following topics: * Survey articles taking a long view over the past two or more decades to arrive at the present state of the art while outlining ideas for future research. Surveys focus on use of a particular OR/MS approach, e.g., mathematical programming (LP, MILP, etc.) and solution methods for particular family of application, e.g., distribution system design, distribution planning system, health care. * Autobiographical or biographical accounts of how particular inventions (e.g., Structured Modeling) were made. These could include personal experiences in early development of OR/MS and an overview of what has happened since. * Development of OR/MS mathematical tools (e.g., stochastic programming, optimization theory). * Development of OR/MS in a particular industry sector such as global supply chain management. * Modeling systems for OR/MS and their development over time as well as speculation on future development (e.g., LINDO, LINGO, and What'sBest!) * New applications of OR/MS models (e.g., happiness) The target audience of this book is young researchers, graduate/advanced undergraduate students from OR/MS and related fields like computer science, engineering, and management as well as practitioners who want to understand how OR/MS modeling came about over the past few decades and what research topics or modeling approaches they could pursue in research or application.

This book provides discussion and the exchange of information on principles, strategies, models, techniques, and applications related with the challenges and trends that competitive organizations are facing. It shows the challenges and trends in the market and the implications for their operation in organizations, providing a more effective knowledge about the field of organizational management and industry.

This book includes chapters related to the analysis of cultural differences as a tool to enrich tacit knowledge and make processes more efficient, the factors that influence job satisfaction and the value of social capital as a competitive strategy to achieve productivity and competitiveness of organizations, in addition to research of the utmost importance to discover the facets of the diamond with respect to the symbolic capital of the organizations where Generation Z will work and how it will discover the best time to establish an innovation ecosystem that will influence its work trajectory. Industry 4.0 requires a major paradigm shift, since human capital is a source of competitive advantage. Being competitive enables to a company, a region, a society or a country the power to advance in different areas, contributing to the benefit of a social group, therefore, and organizations need to make efforts that lead to adding value and generate a competitive advantage. Industrial applications based on artificial intelligence can change our lives in just one generation. The chapters in this book show progress and challenges related to real-world applications, as well as the need to strengthen human capital to achieve systemic and comprehensive competitiveness required in the XXI century.

This book contains a collection of peer-reviewed papers from the 2020 Conference on Multidisciplinary Engineering and Technology (COMET 2020) held online on December 15-16, 2020. It contains twenty-five papers covering energy harvester, thermodynamics, vibration, dynamic of mechanics, manufacturing process, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), CFD analysis, electronics, and microcontroller.

Offshore Risk Assessment was the first book to deal with quantified risk assessment (QRA) as applied specifically to offshore installations and operations. Risk assessment techniques have been used for more than three decades in the offshore oil and gas industry, and their use is set to expand increasingly as the industry moves into new areas and faces new challenges in older regions. This updated and expanded third edition has been informed by a major R&D program on offshore risk assessment in Norway and summarizes research from 2006 to the present day. Rooted with a thorough discussion of risk metrics and risk analysis methodology, subsequent chapters are devoted to analytical approaches to escalation, escape, evacuation and rescue analysis of safety and emergency systems. Separate chapters analyze the main hazards of offshore structures: fire, explosion, collision, and falling objects as well as structural and marine hazards. Risk mitigation and control are discussed, as well as an illustration of how the results from quantitative risk assessment studies should be presented. The third second edition has a stronger focus on the use of risk assessment techniques in the operation of offshore installations. Also decommissioning of installations is covered. Not only does Offshore Risk Assessment describe the state of the art of QRA, it also identifies weaknesses and areas that need further development. This new edition also illustrates applications or quantitative risk analysis methodology to offshore petroleum applications. A comprehensive reference for academics and students of marine/offshore risk assessment and management, the book should also be owned by professionals in the industry, contractors, suppliers, consultants and regulatory authorities.

The book contains solutions to fundamental problems which arise due to the logic of development of specific branches of science, which are related to pipeline safety, but mainly are subordinate to the needs of pipeline transportation. The book deploys important but not yet solved aspects of reliability and safety assurance of pipeline systems, which are vital aspects not only for the oil and gas industry and, in general, fuel and energy industries , but also to virtually all contemporary industries and technologies. The volume will be useful to specialists and experts in the field of diagnostics/ inspection, monitoring, reliability and safety of critical infrastructures. First and foremost, it will be useful to the decision making persons -operators of different types of pipelines, pipeline diagnostics/inspection vendors, and designers of in-line -inspection (ILI) tools, industrial and ecological safety specialists, as well as to researchers and graduate students.

This book guides readers through the systematic analysis of Arc Spraying: one of the most widespread and important thermal spraying methods. Along the way, readers from industry and research laboratories become familiar with the features of the process and physical-chemical regulations of particles in flight, coating formation, internal coating properties, and their output parameters. The book is ideal for engineers, technicians, and scientists engaged in welding and thermal spraying and stands as an excellent reference for students interested in advanced coatings technology.

The last twenty years have seen major advances in the electronics industry. Perhaps the most significant aspect of these advances has been the significant role that electronic equipment plays in almost all product markets. Even though electronic equipment is used in a broad base of applications, many future applications have yet to be conceived. This versatility of electron ics has been brought about primarily by the significant advances that have been made in integrated circuit technology. The electronic product user is rarely aware of the integrated circuits within the equipment. However, the user is often very aware of the size, weight, mod ularity, maintainability, aesthetics, and human interface features of the product. In fact, these are aspects of the products that often are instrumental in deter mining its success or failure in the marketplace. Optimizing these and other product features is the primary role of Electronic Equipment Packaging Technology. As the electronics industry continues to pro vide products that operate faster than their predecessors in a smaller space with a reduced cost per function, the role of electronic packaging technology will assume an even greater role in the development of cost-effective products."