The governance of innovation diffusion – a socio-technical analysis of energy policy

This paper describes a dynamic price mechanism to coordinate electric power generation from micro Combined Heat and Power (micro-CHP) systems in a network of households. It is assumed that the households are prosumers, i.e. both producers and consumers of electricity. The control is done on household level in a completely distributed manner. Avoiding a centralized controller both eases computation complexity and preserves communication structure in the network. Local information is used to decide to turn on or off the micro-CHP, but through price signals between the prosumers the network as a whole operates in a cooperative way

Plant-Based Cheeses: A Systematic Review of Sensory Evaluation Studies and Strategies to Increase Consumer Acceptance

Animal protein provides unique sensory and textural properties to foods that are not easily replicated when replaced with plant-based alternatives. Food scientists and researchers are currently developing innovative approaches to improve their physical and sensory characteristics in plant-based analogs. In terms of plant-based cheese substitutes (PBCS), soy is the most commonly used plant-based protein but is associated with undesirable sensory attributes (i.e., beany and gritty). In order to determine if the approaches result in a significant improvement in sensory quality and liking, sensory evaluation is employed. The aim of this review is to summarize the original literature (n = 12) relating to 100% PBCS which utilizes sensory evaluation methods. Overall, a major theme identified in this review is the innovative strategies used to increase acceptance of PBCS, whether products are aimed at improving existing non-dairy-based cheese formulations or to more closely mimic a conventional dairy-based cheese product. Studies demonstrate processing and fermentation of soybeans and blending of non-dairy milks are potential ways to improve consumer liking of PBCS. A secondary focus is to discuss the current sensory methodology carried out in the reviewed literature. Future studies should consider using more specific measures of flavor and mouthfeel, integrate evaluation of consumer liking with instrumental textural methods, and use a larger more diverse group of consumers. The outcome of this review is to highlight the importance of integrating sensory science in order to help facilitate the improvement of the sensory and quality attributes of PBCS and streamline product development

Temperature Dependence of Facet Ridges in Crystal Surfaces

The equilibrium crystal shape of a body-centered solid-on-solid (BCSOS) model on a honeycomb lattice is studied numerically. We focus on the facet ridge endpoints (FRE). These points are equivalent to one dimensional KPZ-type growth in the exactly soluble square lattice BCSOS model. In our more general context the transfer matrix is not stochastic at the FRE points, and a more complex structure develops. We observe ridge lines sticking into the rough phase where thesurface orientation jumps inside the rounded part of the crystal. Moreover, the rough-to-faceted edges become first-order with a jump in surface orientation, between the FRE point and Pokrovsky-Talapov (PT) type critical endpoints. The latter display anisotropic scaling with exponent $z=3$ instead of familiar PT value $z=2$.Comment: 12 pages, 19 figure

Equilibrium shapes and faceting for ionic crystals of body-centered-cubic type

A mean field theory is developed for the calculation of the surface free energy of the staggered BCSOS, (or six vertex) model as function of the surface orientation and of temperature. The model approximately describes surfaces of crystals with nearest neighbor attractions and next nearest neighbor repulsions. The mean field free energy is calculated by expressing the model in terms of interacting directed walks on a lattice. The resulting equilibrium shape is very rich with facet boundaries and boundaries between reconstructed and unreconstructed regions which can be either sharp (first order) or smooth (continuous). In addition there are tricritical points where a smooth boundary changes into a sharp one and triple points where three sharp boundaries meet. Finally our numerical results strongly suggest the existence of conical points, at which tangent planes of a finite range of orientations all intersect each other. The thermal evolution of the equilibrium shape in this model shows strong similarity to that seen experimentally for ionic crystals.Comment: 14 Pages, Revtex and 10 PostScript figures include