Effects of Age, Water Stress, and 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid on Leaflet Movement in Albizzia julibrissin

The movement patterns of Albizzia julibrissin leaflets transferred from light to darkness differ for leaflets of different age: the older the leaflet, the slower and less completely it closes. Water stress, which enhances ethylene synthesis in other plants, and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), precursor of ethylene, both mimic the effect of aging by reducing the rate and extent of dark-induced closure. Brief far-red compared to red irradiation before darkness does not appear to alter the closure of young leaflets, but far-red preirradiation retards the closure of middle-aged and old leaflets floating on water, and middle-aged leaflets treated with ACC. A change in some membrane property and/or cell wall lignification are suggested as possible explanations for the alteration of leaflet movement.     

Microbiological Evaluation of Pacific Shrimp Processing

Microbiological evaluation of Pacific shrimp (Pandalus jordani) processing was made from samples obtained at five key processing points. The microbial count of raw shrimp ranged from 1.3 x 10(6) to 3.0 x 10(6). The initial microbial flora, in order of predominance, was Acinetobacter-Moraxella, Flavobacterium, Pseudomonas, gram-positive cocci, and Bacillus species. No yeasts were isolated. Differences in processing practices influenced both microbial count and the shrimp flora. The microbial load, however, always increased after peeling and sorting operations and decreased after cooking, washing, and brining steps. Significantly, the gram-positive cocci were recovered with increasing frequency after each processing step, reaching 76% of the total load in a final product. Most of them, however, were coagulase-negative.     

A line-balancing strategy for designing flexible assembly systems

We present a rough-cut analysis tool that quickly determines a few potential cost-effective designs at the initial design stage of flexible assembly systems (FASs) prior to a detailed analysis such as simulation. It uses quantitative methods for selecting and configuring the components of an FAS suitable for medium to high volumes of several similar products. The system is organized as a series of assembly stations linked with an automated material-handling system moving parts in a unidirectional flow. Each station consists of a single machine or of identical parallel machines. The methods exploit the ability of flexible hardware to switch almost instantaneously from product to product. Our approach is particularly suitable where the product mix is expected to be stable, since we combine the hardware-configuration phase with the task-allocation phase. For the required volume of products, we use integer programming to select the number of stations and the number of machines at each station and to allocate tasks to stations. We use queueing network analysis, which takes into account the mean and variance of processing times among different products to determine the necessary capacity of the material-handling system. We iterate between the two analyses to find the combined solution with the lowest costs. Work-in-process costs are also included in the analysis. Computational results are presented.