Apple slice grading is useful in post-harvest operations for sorting, grading, packaging, labeling, processing, storage, transportation, and meeting market demand and consumer preferences. Proper grading of apple slices can help ensure the quality, safety, and marketability of the final products, contributing to the post-harvest operations of the overall success of the apple industry. The article aims to create a convolutional neural network (CNN) model to classify images of apple slices after immersing them in atmospheric plasma at two different pressures (1 and 5 atm) and two different immersion times (3 and again 6 min) once and in filtered water based on the hardness of the slices using the k-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), Tree, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithms. The results showed an inverse relationship between the storage period and the hardness of the apple slices, with the average hardness values gradually decreasing from 4.33 (day 1) to 3.37 (day 5). Treatment with atmospheric plasma at a pressure of 5 atm and an immersion time of 3 min gave the best results for maintaining the hardness of the slices during the storage period, recording values of 4.85 (first day) and 3.68 (fifth day), outperforming other treatments. The average improvement rate was 23.09% over five consecutive days. Regarding the CNN algorithms, the ANN algorithm achieved the highest classification accuracy of 97%, while the Tree algorithm achieved the lowest accuracy of 88.7%. The KNN and SVM algorithms achieved classification accuracies of 94.7% and 95.1%, respectively. The study demonstrated the possibility of using a CNN to classify apple slices based on the degree of hardness. Furthermore, the application of atmospheric plasma at 5 atmospheres with a 3-min immersion improves the firmness of the apple slices by inhibiting degradative enzymes while preserving the cellular structure and tissue quality.
This study investigates the role of Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) systems in improving human resources management (HRM) processes. The rapid environmental changes led to increased demand on the ERP systems, which have changed the manual effort to technology-based processes, providing solutions focusing on the integration of all departments to achieve goals for the entire organization. HRM processes are mainly made up of two classes: strategic and operational HRM. An ERP system works to integrate both of them, making HRM processes more efficient, effective and feasible to provide support to the organization as a whole (inside and outside). In this article, a modest framework is proposed to describe HRM process integrity in relation to
... Show MorePre-breakdown phenomenon was investigated within the two, non-mixed dielectric liquids; transformation oil and cresol. Finite element technique was used to follow the initiation and growth of plasma channels (streamer discharge) within pin-plane configuration. That was done for different spacing between the pin-electrode and the liquid-liquid interface. Streamer growth model assumed that, the streamer initiation occurs at the region of the highest value of electric field. Our study shows that the streamer initiates at the tip of the pin and growths toward the other electrode. The study shows, too, that the streamer path controlled by the difference of permittivity of the two liquids and spacing distance of the liquid-liquid interface fro
... Show MoreNon-thermal (low-temperature) plasma may act as an alternative approach to control superficial wound and skin infections when the effectiveness of chemical agents is weak due to natural pathogen or biofilm resistance. In this paper an atmospheric pressure plasma needle jet device which generates a cold plasma jet is used to measure the effectiveness of plasma treatment against different pathogenic bacteria and to test the individual susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria to non-thermal argon plasma. It is found that, Gram-negative bacteria were more susceptible to plasma treatment than Gram-positive bacteria. For the Gram-negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, there were no survivors among the initial 1x108C.F.U (Co
... Show MoreAtmospheric residue fluid catalytic cracking was selected as a probe reaction to test the catalytic performance of modified NaY zeolites and prepared NaY zeolites. Modified NaY zeolites have been synthesized by simple ion exchange methods. Three samples of modified zeolite Y have been obtained by replacing the sodium ions in the original sample with lanthanum and the weight percent added are 0.28, 0.53, and 1.02 respectively. The effects of addition of lanthanum to zeolite Y in different weight percent on the cracking catalysts were investigated using an experimental laboratory plant scale of fluidized bed reactor.
The experiments have been performed with weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) range of 6 to 24 h
... Show MoreThe consumption of fresh fruits has increased nowadays due to the lifestyle of the consumers. Maintaining the quality and nutritional value of cut fruits during storage is difficult compared to whole fruits. Deterioration of internal and external quality usually occurs in freshly harvested fruits. It is necessary to use different techniques to maintain the quality and increase the shelf life of the freshly cut product. This research studied the effect of treating apple slices with cold plasma once and with filtered water again on quality characteristics (hardness, moisture content, sugar content, carbohydrate content, and color) after being stored for five days. The best treatment was determined using two different pressures of the plasma j
... Show MoreIn this paper, precision agriculture system is introduced based on Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). Soil moisture considered one of environment factors that effect on crop. The period of irrigation must be monitored. Neural network capable of learning the behavior of the agricultural soil in absence of mathematical model. This paper introduced modified type of neural network that is known as Spiking Neural Network (SNN). In this work, the precision agriculture system is modeled, contains two SNNs which have been identified off-line based on logged data, one of these SNNs represents the monitor that located at sink where the period of irrigation is calculated and the other represents the soil. In addition, to reduce p
... Show MorePrecision is one of the main elements that control the quality of a geodetic network, which defines as the measure of the network efficiency in propagation of random errors. This research aims to solve ZOD and FOD problems for a geodetic network using Rosenbrock Method to optimize the geodetic networks by using MATLAB programming language, to find the optimal design of geodetic network with high precision. ZOD problem was applied to a case study network consists of 19 points and 58 designed distances with a priori deviation equal to 5mm, to determine the best points in the network to consider as control points. The results showed that P55 and P73 having the minimum ellipse of error and considered as control points. FOD problem was applie
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