• Title/Summary/Keyword: Factorial design method

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Optimization and characterization of biodiesel produced from vegetable oil

  • Mustapha, Amina T.;Abdulkareem, Saka A.;Jimoh, Abdulfatai;Agbajelola, David O.;Okafor, Joseph O.
    • Advances in Energy Research
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    • v.1 no.2
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    • pp.147-163
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    • 2013
  • The world faces several issues of energy crisis and environmental deterioration due to over-dependence on single source of which is fossil fuel. Though, fuel is needed as ingredients for industrial development and growth of any country, however the fossil fuel which is a major source of energy for this purpose has always been terrifying thus the need for alternative and renewable energy sources. The search for alternative energy sources resulted into the acceptance of a biofuel as a reliable alternative energy source. This work presents the study of optimization of process of transesterification of vegetable oil to biodiesel using NaOH as catalyst. A $2^4$ factorial design method was employed to investigate the influence of ratio of oil to methanol, temperature, NaOH concentration, and transesterification time on the yield of biodiesel from vegetable oil. Low and high levels of the key factors considered were 4:1 and 6:1 mole ratio, 30 and $60^{\circ}C$ temperatures, 0.5 and 1.0 wt% catalyst concentration, and 30 and 60 min reaction time. Results obtained revealed that oil to methanol molar ratio of 6:1, tranesetrification temperature of $60^{\circ}C$, catalyst concentration of 1.0wt % and reaction time of 30 min are the best operating conditions for the optimum yield of biofuel from vegetable oil, with optimum yield of 95.8%. Results obtained on the characterizzation of the produced biodiesel indicate that the specific gravity, cloud point, flash point, sulphur content, viscosity, diesel index, centane number, acid value, free glycerine, total glycerine and total recovery are 0.8899, 4, 13, 0.0087%, 4.83, 25, 54.6. 0.228mgKOH/g, 0.018, 0.23% and 96% respectively. Results also indicate that the qualities of the biodiesel tested for are in conformity with the set standard. A model equation was developed based on the results obtained using a statistical tool. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of data shows that mole ratio of ground nut oil to methanol and transesterification time have the most pronounced effect on the biodiesel yield with contributions of 55.06% and 9.22% respectively. It can be inferred from the results various conducted that vegetable oil locally produced from groundnut oil can be utilized as a feedstock for biodiesel production.

The Effect of Supportive Nursing Care on Depression, Mood and Satisfaction in Military Patients with Low Back Pain (지지간호가 군 요통환자의 우울ㆍ기분ㆍ만족에 미치는 영향)

  • 김정아
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.324-340
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    • 1990
  • Support has always been considered an important nursing concept. However, there is no agreement among nurse researchers as to a conceptual definition of supportive nursing or meaningful supportive behaviors. Clarification of the concept, support in nursing, is necessary to promote communication among nurses on nursing behaviors that are effective in providing support and on understanding the relevant properties and charcteristics of the concept, supportive nursing care. The objectives of the study were : 1. to analyse the concept, support in nursing, in order to provide a definition of supportive nursing care, and 2. to operationalize the definition of supportive nursing care and use it as an experimental nursing intervention for patients with low back pain. The first part of the study used the concept analysis approach developed by Walker and Avant(1983) to define the concept of supportive nursing care. The properties of supportive nursing care, defined by this analysis, included perception of supportive need, reciprocal interaction(Transaction), listening, providing empathy and information related to health, and confirmation of the patient's verbal and non - verbal response. The second part, the experimental part of the study, was done using King's(1970) Interpersonal Theory for Nursing. The concept, supportive nursing care, as defined in the concept analysis was operationalized and used as the experimental intervention. The experiment tested the effectiveness of the independent variable, supportive nursing care on the dependent variables, depression, mood and patient satisfaction, in the patients with low back pain in army hospitals. The instruments used to measure the dependent variables were Zung's(1965) Self- Rating Depression Scale, Ryman and Colleagues'(1974) Mood Questionnaire and LaMonica and Colleagues'(1986) Patient Satisfaction Scale. The experimental design used for this study was a Solomon 4 group experimental design. This design has the strength of allowing for observation of the main effects of supportive nursing care and pretesting, and for observation of the interaction effects of pretesting and supportive nursing care. The design includes one experimental group and three control groups. The Subjects of this study were 150 young male patients with low back pain on Neuro - Surgical Wards in three general army hospitals. There were 35 in the experimental group, 39 in the pre - posttest control group, 36 in the treatment - posttest control group and 40 in the posttest only control group. Supportive nursing care, as operationalized by the researcher according to the concept analysis, was given to the patients in the experimental group and the treatment -posttest control group, individually for 30 minute sessions, every other day for 5 days. Data collection was done using a questionnaire. The data were collected in a pretest one week before the supportive nursing care sessions, a posttest immediately after the sessions and follow- up test one week later. Hypotheses testing was done using 2×2 factorial analysis of variance and Meta analysis(Stouffer's Z method). The results of this study are summarized as follows : 1. Hypothesis Ⅰ, “There will be a difference on depression level between the patients with low back pain who receive supportive nursing care and those who do not receive supportive nursing care”, was supported (F=8.49, p<.05). 2. Hypothesis Ⅱ, “There will be a difference on mood level between the patients with low back pain who receive supportive nursing care and those who to not receive supportive nursing care”, was supported (Z meta=2.17, p<.05). 3. Hypothesis Ⅲ, “There will be a difference on satisfaction level between the patients with low back pain who receive supportive nursing care and those who do not receive supportive nursing care”, was supported (F=13.67, p<.05). 4. ANOVA, done to examine the interaction effect of history and maturation, showed no significant difference on the dependent variables between the observations of the pretest scores of the experimental group, the pretest scores of the pre- posttest control group and the posttest score of the posttest only control group. 5. To test for continuing effect of supportive nursing care, paired t-test was done to compare the scores for the dependent variables at the posttest and at the one week later follow-up test. No significant difference on the scores for the dependent variables was found between the posttest scores and the follow-up test scores for the two groups that received supportive nursing care, the experimental group and the treatment-posttest control group. In conclusion, it was found that in the case of young soldiers with low back pain in army hospitals, their depression level was decreased, their mood state was changed positively and their satisfaction level was increased by receiving supportive nursing care. Further, the effectiveness of the supportive nursing care lasted for at least one week in this study. The significance of this study to nursing is in the analysis of the concept of supportive nursing care and the demonstration of the effectiveness of supportive nursing care as an intervention within the limits of the study.

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Isolation and Physicochemical Properties of Rice Starch from Rice Flour using Protease (단백질분해효소에 의한 쌀가루로부터 쌀전분의 분리 및 물리화학적 특성)

  • Kim, ReeJae;Oh, Jiwon;Kim, Hyun-Seok
    • Food Engineering Progress
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    • v.23 no.3
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    • pp.193-199
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    • 2019
  • This study aimed to investigate the impact of protease treatments on the yield of rice starch (RST) from frozen rice flours, and to compare the physicochemical properties of RST by alkaline steeping (control) and enzymatic isolation (E-RST) methods. Although the yield of E-RST, prepared according to conditions designed by the modified 23 complete factorial design, was lower than the control, the opposite trends were observed in its purity. E-RST (RST1, isolated for 8 h at 15℃ with 0.5% protease; RST2, isolated for 24 h at 15℃ with 1.5% protease; RST3, isolated for 24 h at 15℃ with 0.5% protease) with the yields above 50% were selected. Amylose contents did not significantly differ for the control and RST2. Relative to the control, solubilities were higher for all E-RST, but swelling power did not significantly differ for E-RST except for RST1. Although all E-RST revealed higher gelatinization temperatures than the control, the reversed trends were found in the gelatinization enthalpy. The pasting viscosities of all E-RST were lower than those of the control. Consequently, the enzymatic isolation method using protease would be a more time-saving and eco-friendly way of preparing RST than the alkaline steeping method, even though its characteristics are different.

Influence of Men's Clothing and Hairstyle on the Evaluation of Professionalism and Preference (남성 의복과 헤어스타일이 전문성 및 선호도 평가에 미치는 영향)

  • Kang, Seung-Hee;Lee, Myoung-Hee
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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    • v.33 no.6
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    • pp.990-1001
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    • 2009
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of perceiver's gender, clothing, and hairstyle on the visual evaluation of men's professionalism and preference. A quasi-experimental method by questionnaire was used. The experimental design was a $2\times8\times2$ (perceiver's gender $\times$ clothing $\times$ hairstyle) factorial design by 3 independent variables. The stimuli were 16 photographs of a man in his twenties. The upper clothing of the man included tailored collar jackets in beige and dark blue colors, and jumpers and sweaters in beige, dark blue, and red colors. The lower clothing of the men included jean pants. Two types of the hairstyles included short hair and medium length hair. The subjects were 208 men and 223 women in Seoul, Korea. Wearing a beige sweater with jean pants was evaluated high in intellectual image, a red jumper was perceived low in intellectual image, and a beige tailored collar jacket was evaluated low in potent image. Men's short hairstyle was evaluated to be more professional than the medium length hair. Male perceivers liked short hair more than medium length hair, but female perceivers evaluated both hairstyles similarly. In the case of women, the preferences of tailored collared jacket and soutien collared jumper were similar, but jumper was preferred to jacket in the case of men. Male perceivers showed more positive feedback towards jean pants with soutien collared jumper than jeans with tailored collared jacket, which indicated that men showed more conservative attitude towards the outfit than women. The man who was wearing a jumper with short hair was evaluated positively and the man who was wearing a jacket with medium length hair was evaluated negatively when the attires were coordinated with jean pants. In conclusion, medium length hairstyle with a beige jacket and short hairstyle with a red sweater were evaluated as professional image; and the results indicated that clothing and hairstyle interact with each other and influence the evaluation of professionalism.

Strain Improvement and Bioprocess Optimization for Enhanced Production of Haluronic Acid(HA) in Bioreactor Cultures of Streptococcus zooepidemicus (히알루론산 생산성 향상을 위한 Streptococcus zooepidemicus 균주 개량 및 발효조 배양공정 최적화)

  • Kim, Soo Yeon;Chun, Gie-Taek
    • Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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    • v.48 no.3
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    • pp.344-357
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    • 2020
  • Strain improvement and bioprocess development were undertaken to enhance hyaluronic acid(HA) production by Streptococcus zooepidemicus cells. Using a high-yielding mutant strain, statistical medium optimization was carried out in shake flask cultures, resulting in 52% increase in HA production (5.38 g/l) at the optimal medium composition relative to the parallel control cultures. For sufficient supply of dissolved oxygen (DO), which turned out to be crucial for enhanced production of HA, agitation system and speed were intensively investigated in 5 L bioreactor cultures. Increase in oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kLa) through increment of agitation speed (rpm) and 35% expansion of diameter of the newly-designed impellers showed significantly positive effects on HA production. By installing an expanded Rushton-turbine impeller for efficient break-down of sparged air, and an extended marine impeller above the Rushton-turbine impeller for efficient mixing of the air-born viscous fermentation broth, maximum amount of HA (9.79 g/l) was obtained at 450 rpm, 1.8 times higher level than that of the corresponding flask culture. Subsequently, the possibility of bioprocess scale-up to a 50 L bioreactor was investigated. Despite almost identical maximum HA production (9.11 vs 9.25 g/l), the average HA volumetric productivity (rp) of the 50 L culture turned out only 74% compared to the corresponding 5 L culture during the exponential phase, possibly caused by shear damages imposed on the producing cells at the high stirring in the 50 L culture. The scale-up process could be successfully achieved if a scale-up criterion of constant oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kLa) is applied to the 50 L pilot-scale bioreactor system.

Optimization of sterilization conditions for the production of retorted steamed egg using response surface methodology (반응표면분석을 이용한 레토르트 계란찜의 살균조건 최적화)

  • Cheigh, Chan-Ick;Mun, Ji-Hye;Chung, Myong-Soo
    • Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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    • v.50 no.3
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    • pp.331-338
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    • 2018
  • The purpose of this study was to determine the optimum sterilization conditions for the production of retorted steamed egg using response surface methodology. Sterilization processes for eighteen conditions using varying sterilization temperature ($X_1$), time ($X_2$), and method ($X_3$) as the independent variables were carried out through a $3^2{\times}2$ experimental factorial design. Quality evaluations after sterilization included measurements of $F_0$ value ($Y_1$), peak stress ($Y_2$), pH ($Y_3$), color value ($Y_{4-6}$), and organoleptic test [preference for appearance ($Y_7$), overall acceptability ($Y_8$), and preference for texture ($Y_9$) and egg taste ($Y_{10}$)]. Dependent variables ($Y_{1-10}$) of eighteen conditions were more affected by temperature and time than by the sterilization method. Eight factors were selected among the dependent variables as significant factors related to the quality of the steamed egg. Finally, by establishing an optimum range of each dependent variable and contour analysis, the optimum sterilization conditions for the production of steamed egg were determined to be $120^{\circ}C$ for 25 min using a 2-step sterilization process.

Effect of Dietary Concentrate:forage Ratios and Undegraded Dietary Protein on Nitrogen Balance and Urinary Excretion of Purine Derivatives in Dorper×thin-tailed Han Crossbred Lambs

  • Ma, Tao;Deng, Kai-Dong;Tu, Yan;Jiang, Cheng-Gang;Zhang, Nai-Feng;Li, Yan-Ling;Si, Bing-Wen;Lou, Can;Diao, Qi-Yu
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.161-168
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    • 2014
  • This study aimed to investigate dietary concentrate:forage ratios (C:F) and undegraded dietary protein (UDP) on nitrogen balance and urinary excretion of purine derivatives (PD) in lambs. Four Dorper${\times}$thin-tailed Han crossbred castrated lambs with $62.3{\pm}1.9$ kg body weight at 10 months of age were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in a $2{\times}2$ factorial arrangement of two levels of C:F (40:60 and 60:40) and two levels of UDP (35% and 50% of CP), according to a complete $4{\times}4$ Latin-square design. Each experimental period lasted for 19 d. After a 7-d adaptation period, lambs were moved into individual metabolism crates for 12 d including 7 d of adaption and 5 d of metabolism trial. During the metabolism trial, total urine was collected for 24 h and spot urine samples were also collected at different times. Urinary PD was measured using a colorimetric method and creatinine was measured using an automated analyzer. Intake of dry matter (DM) (p<0.01) and organic matter (OM) (p<0.01) increased as the level of UDP decreased. Fecal N was not affected by dietary treatment (p>0.05) while urinary N increased as the level of UDP decreased (p<0.05), but decreased as dietary C:F increased (p<0.05). Nitrogen retention increased as dietary C:F increased (p<0.05). As dietary C:F increased, urinary excretion of PD increased (p<0.05), but was not affected by dietary UDP (p>0.05) or interaction between dietary treatments (p>0.05). Daily excretion of creatinine was not affected by dietary treatments (p<0.05), with an average value of $0.334{\times}0.005$ mmol/kg $BW^{0.75}$. A linear correlation was found between total PD excretion and PDC index ($R^2$ = 0.93). Concentrations of creatinine and PDC index in spot urine were unaffected by sampling time (p>0.05) and a good correlation was found between the PDC index (average value of three times) of spot urine and daily excretion of PD ($R^2$ = 0.88). These results suggest that for animals fed ad libitum, the PDC index in spot urine is effective to predict daily excretion of PD. In order to improve the accuracy of the spot sampling technique, an appropriate lag phase between the time of feeding and sampling should be determined so that the sampling time can coincide with the peak concentration of PD in the urine.

The Effect of Price Promotional Information about Brand on Consumer's Quality Perception: Conditioning on Pretrial Brand (품패개격촉소신식대소비자질량인지적영향(品牌价格促销信息对消费者质量认知的影响))

  • Lee, Min-Hoon;Lim, Hang-Seop
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.17-27
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    • 2009
  • Price promotion typically reduces the price for a given quantity or increases the quantity available at the same price, thereby enhancing value and creating an economic incentive to purchase. It often is used to encourage product or service trial among nonusers of products or services. Thus, it is important to understand the effects of price promotions on quality perception made by consumer who do not have prior experience with the promoted brand. However, if consumers associate a price promotion itself with inferior brand quality, the promotion may not achieve the sales increase the economic incentives otherwise might have produced. More specifically, low qualitative perception through price promotion will undercut the economic and psychological incentives and reduce the likelihood of purchase. Thus, it is important for marketers to understand how price promotional informations about a brand have impact on consumer's unfavorable quality perception of the brand. Previous literatures on the effects of price promotions on quality perception reveal inconsistent explanations. Some focused on the unfavorable effect of price promotion on consumer's perception. But others showed that price promotions didn't raise unfavorable perception on the brand. Prior researches found these inconsistent results related to the timing of the price promotion's exposure and quality evaluation relative to trial. And, whether the consumer has been experienced with the product promotions in the past or not may moderate the effects. A few studies considered differences among product categories as fundamental factors. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of price promotional informations on consumer's unfavorable quality perception under the different conditions. The author controlled the timing of the promotional exposure and varied past promotional patterns and information presenting patterns. Unlike previous researches, the author examined the effects of price promotions setting limit to pretrial situation by controlling potentially moderating effects of prior personal experience with the brand. This manipulations enable to resolve possible controversies in relation to this issue. And this manipulation is meaningful for the work sector. Price promotion is not only used to target existing consumers but also to encourage product or service trial among nonusers of products or services. Thus, it is important for marketers to understand how price promotional informations about a brand have impact on consumer's unfavorable quality perception of the brand. If consumers associate a price promotion itself with inferior quality about unused brand, the promotion may not achieve the sales increase the economic incentives otherwise might have produced. In addition, if the price promotion ends, the consumer that have purchased that certain brand will likely to display sharply decreased repurchasing behavior. Through a literature review, hypothesis 1 was set as follows to investigate the adjustive effect of past price promotion on quality perception made by consumers; The influence that price promotion of unused brand have on quality perception made by consumers will be adjusted by past price promotion activity of the brand. In other words, a price promotion of an unused brand that have not done a price promotion in the past will have a unfavorable effect on quality perception made by consumer. Hypothesis 2-1 was set as follows : When an unused brand undertakes price promotion for the first time, the information presenting pattern of price promotion will have an effect on the consumer's attribution for the cause of the price promotion. Hypothesis 2-2 was set as follows : The more consumer dispositionally attribute the cause of price promotion, the more unfavorable the quality perception made by consumer will be. Through test 1, the subjects were given a brief explanation of the product and the brand before they were provided with a $2{\times}2$ factorial design that has 4 patterns of price promotion (presence or absence of past price promotion * presence or absence of current price promotion) and the explanation describing the price promotion pattern of each cell. Then the perceived quality of imaginary brand WAVEX was evaluated in the scale of 7. The reason tennis racket was chosen is because the selected product group must have had almost no past price promotions to eliminate the influence of average frequency of promotion on the value of price promotional information as Raghubir and Corfman (1999) pointed out. Test 2 was also carried out on students of the same management faculty of test 1 with tennis racket as the product group. As with test 1, subjects with average familiarity for the product group and low familiarity for the brand was selected. Each subjects were assigned to one of the two cells representing two different information presenting patterns of price promotion of WAVEX (case where the reason behind price promotion was provided/case where the reason behind price promotion was not provided). Subjects looked at each promotional information before evaluating the perceived quality of the brand WAVEX in the scale of 7. The effect of price promotion for unfamiliar pretrial brand on consumer's perceived quality was proved to be moderated with the presence or absence of past price promotion. The consistency with past promotional behavior is important variable that makes unfavorable effect on brand evaluations get worse. If the price promotion for the brand has never been carried out before, price promotion activity may have more unfavorable effects on consumer's quality perception. Second, when the price promotion of unfamiliar pretrial brand was executed for the first time, presenting method of informations has impact on consumer's attribution for the cause of firm's promotion. And the unfavorable effect of quality perception is higher when the consumer does dispositional attribution comparing with situational attribution. Unlike the previous studies where the main focus was the absence or presence of favorable or unfavorable motivation from situational/dispositional attribution, the focus of this study was exaus ing the fact that a situational attribution can be inferred even if the consumer employs a dispositional attribution on the price promotional behavior, if the company provides a persuasive reason. Such approach, in academic perspectih sis a large significance in that it explained the anchoring and adjng ch approcedures by applying it to a non-mathematical problem unlike the previous studies where it wis ionaly explained by applying it to a mathematical problem. In other wordn, there is a highrspedency tmatispositionally attribute other's behaviors according to the fuedach aal attribution errors and when this is applied to the situation of price promotions, we can infer that consumers are likely tmatispositionally attribute the company's price promotion behaviors. Ha ever, even ueder these circumstances, the company can adjng the consumer's anchoring tmareduce the po wibiliute thdispositional attribution. Furthermore, unlike majority of previous researches on short/long-term effects of price promotion that only considered the effect of price promotions on consumer's purchasing behaviors, this research measured the effect on perceived quality, one of man elements that affects the purchasing behavior of consumers. These results carry useful implications for the work sector. A guideline of effectively providing promotional informations for a new brand can be suggested through the outcomes of this research. If the brand is to avoid false implications such as inferior quality while implementing a price promotion strategy, it must provide a clear and acceptable reasons behind the promotion. Especially it is more important for the company with no past price promotion to provide a clear reason. An inconsistent behavior can be the cause of consumer's distrust and anxiety. This is also one of the most important factor of risk of endless price wars. Price promotions without prior notice can buy doubt from consumers not market share.

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