In spite of the technologies developed during the last decade, the level of food loss is still high and is reported in many countries. According to the United Nations, more than 30 per cent of the mortality rate world-wide is caused by alimentary diseases. The desire of most countries to make food safer for consumption requires better food preservation and production techniques. In this regard,...

Profitably managing inventories is always a big challenge for retailers in the current context of transparent and competitive business. A general retailer needs to handle both deteriorating non-deteriorating products simultaneously run Deterioration sometimes impacts retailer’s profits badly—a situation which can be alleviated by implementing proper preservation technology. In addition, improve...

This article proposes a novel fuzzy technology to support the investment decisions. While choosing among competitive investment projects, this technology provides the selection of projects with minimal crediting risks, makes ranking of chosen projects and then allows to optimally allocate investment amounts between several of them. The technology combines two fuzzy-statistical methods and solut...

Hurdle technology is used in industrialized as well as in developing countries for the gentle but effective preservation of foods. Previously hurdle technology, i.e., a combination of preservation methods, was used empirically without much knowledge of the governing principles. Since about 20 years the intelligent application of hurdle technology became more prevalent, because the principles of...

Food losses in the developing world are thought to be 50% of the fruits and vegetables grown and 25% of harvested food grain (Burden, 1989). Food preservation can reduce wastage of a harvest surplus, allow storage for food shortages, and in some cases facilitate export to high-value markets. Drying is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. Drying makes produce lighter, smaller, and les...

Economic growth is determined by the supply and demand of investment capital; technology determines the demand for capital, while human nature determines the supply. The supply curve has two distinct parts, giving the world economy two distinct modes. In the familiar slow growth mode, rates of return are limited by human discount rates. In the fast growth mode, investment is limited by the worl...

Since 1997, Gresham has been managing assets for families, family offices and endowments whose goals include both the growth of their capital over market cycles and the preservation of that capital during severe market events. In our earlier white paper, titled Challenging the Conventional Wisdom of Portfolio Construction,1 we described our Risk Conscious® investment approach and the benefits a...

Real options theory has provided a useful framework for technology investment decision making. Researchers in this area have emphasized the importance of considering the option-like characteristics of IT investment projects. However, unlike financial options, investment in IT projects is typically irreversible: such investment cannot be recovered for other purposes without very costly rework. T...

S. Rzadkosz, J. Zych, A. Garbacz-Klempka, J. Kozana, M. Piękoś, J. Kolczyk, Ł. Jamrozowicz, AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Foundry Engineering, Krakow, Poland M. Kranc, Foundry Research Institute, Krakow, Poland T. Stolarczyk, Copper Museum in Legnica, Poland This paper presents research results in the field of casting technology of copper and copper alloys using the inves...