Infusion pasteurization of whole milk and skim milk: Influence on viscosity and particle size

Infusion pasteurization was performed on both whole milk and skim milk and at different temperatures in the range 72°C-120°C. The skim milk was prepared at a commercial dairy and had been heated to approx. 60°C during the separation process. The whole milk was skimmed by centrifugation prior to the analyses. In the analyses, the infusion pasteurized samples were compared to a standard low pasteurization on the same batches of milk and samples of the raw milks. Particle sizes were analyzed using dynamic light scattering, and the viscosity of the samples were measured with a capillary viscometer. The viscosity measurements showed no significant changes in viscosity after infusion pasteurization of skim milk, nor did the particle sizes change. On the other hand, when whole milk was infusion pasteurized an increase in viscosity of the skim milk fraction was seen as treatment temperature increased, and an increase in the z-average diameter of particles and broadening of the size distributions was observed. These observations were quite surprising and might be the result of influence of several different processes during and after infusion pasteurization

A Simple Approximation of Productivity Scores of Fuzzy Production Plans

This paper suggests a simple approximation procedure for the assessment of productivity scores with respect to fuzzy production plans. The procedure has a clear economic interpretation and all the necessary calculations can be performed in a spreadsheet making it highly operational.rationing; inequality preservation; taxation; manipulation; proportional method

Infusion pasteurization of skim milk: Effects of different time-temperature combinations

Infusion pasteurization technology was used in different time-temperature combinations for heat treatment of skim milk and compared to untreated skim milk and a standard pasteurization treatment. Aerobic count of microorganisms and activity of alkaline phosphatase showed that all infusion-pasteurized samples had received proper pasteurization. There were no difference in the size of casein micelles, but differences were seen in activity of the enzyme xanthine oxidase. The results indicate possible differences in properties of infusion-pasteurized skim milk compared to standard pasteurized skim milk

Rational Inefficiencies

In this paper, we suggest that inefficiency may be an indirect, on-the-job compensation to agents in an organization. We show how to use actual production data to reveal the trade-offs between different inefficiencies (slacks). Moreover, we discuss how to use this to improve productivity analysis as well as decision making and incentive provisions in organizations.efficiency, preferences, incentives, bargaining, planning, Productivity Analysis,

Cost Allocation and Convex Data Envelopment

This paper considers allocation rules. First, we demonstrate that costs allocated by the Aumann-Shapley and the Friedman-Moulin cost allocation rules are easy to determine in practice using convex envelopment of registered cost data and parametric programming. Second, from the linear programming problems involved it becomes clear that the allocation rules, technically speaking, allocate the non-zero value of the dual variable for a convexity constraint on to the output vector. Hence, the allocation rules can also be used to allocate inefficiencies in non-parametric efficiency measurement models such as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The convexity constraint of the BCC model introduces a non-zero slack in the objective function of the multiplier problem and we show that the cost allocation rules discussed in this paper can be used as candidates to allocate this slack value on to the input (or output) variables and hence enable a full allocation of the inefficiency on to the input (or output) variables as in the CCR model.cost allocation; convex envelopment; data envelopment analysis; slack allocation

Super Efficiency Evaluations Based on Potential Slack

Super efficiency evaluations are introduced along the lines of the potential improvements approach in Bogetoft and Hougaard (1999). Both a reference selection and a related super efficiency index is defined. The new (potential slack) super efficiency index is compared to a Farrell-based super efficiency index (as in Andersen and Petersen 1993) with respect to convex envelopment technologies.super efficiency, potential slack, reference selection, efficiency index, DEA, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Transformations for multivariate statistics

This paper derives transformations for multivariate statistics that eliminate asymptotic skewness, extending the results of Niki and Konishi (1986, Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics 38, 371-383). Within the context of valid Edgeworth expansions for such statistics we first derive the set of equations that such a transformation must satisfy and second propose a local solution that is sufficient up to the desired order. Application of these results yields two useful corollaries. First, it is possible to eliminate the first correction term in an Edgeworth expansion, thereby accelerating convergence to the leading term normal approximation. Second, bootstrapping the transformed statistic can yield the same rate of convergence of the double, or prepivoted, bootstrap of Beran (1988, Journal of the American Statistical Association 83, 687-697), applied to the original statistic, implying a significant computational saving. The analytic results are illustrated by application to the family of exponential models, in which the transformation is seen to depend only upon the properties of the likelihood. The numerical properties are examined within a class of nonlinear regression models (logit, probit, Poisson, and exponential regressions), where the adequacy of the limiting normal and of the bootstrap (utilizing the k-step procedure of Andrews, 2002, Econometrica 70, 119-162) as distributional approximations is assessed