Food Science of Animal Products(ISSN:2958-4124,e-ISSN:2958-3780)is a peer-reviewed,open access international journal that publishes the latest research findings in the field of animal-origin foods,involving food mater...Food Science of Animal Products(ISSN:2958-4124,e-ISSN:2958-3780)is a peer-reviewed,open access international journal that publishes the latest research findings in the field of animal-origin foods,involving food materials such as meat,aquatic products,milk,eggs,animal offals and edible insects.The research scope includes the quality and processing characteristics of food raw materials,the relationships of nutritional components and bioactive substances with human health,product flavor and sensory characteristics,the control of harmful substances during processing or cooking,product preservation,storage and packaging;microorganisms and fermentation,illegal drug residues and food safety detection;authenticity identifi cation;cell-cultured meat,regulations and standards.展开更多
Food Science of Animal Products(ISSN:2958-4124,e-ISSN:2958-3780)is a peer-reviewed,open access international journal that publishes the latest research findings in the field of animal-origin foods,involving food mater...Food Science of Animal Products(ISSN:2958-4124,e-ISSN:2958-3780)is a peer-reviewed,open access international journal that publishes the latest research findings in the field of animal-origin foods,involving food materials such as meat,aquatic products,milk,eggs,animal offals and edible insects.展开更多
Aluminized explosives exhibit excellent performance because the oxidation of aluminum(Al)powders enhances the pressure and temperature of detonation products.However,the equation of state(EOS)of detonation products ha...Aluminized explosives exhibit excellent performance because the oxidation of aluminum(Al)powders enhances the pressure and temperature of detonation products.However,the equation of state(EOS)of detonation products has not been understood well.In the present study,we conducted long-time tests(approximately 1 ms)of a metal rod driven by detonation products of RDX,RDX/Li F,and RDX/Al.In addition,we used laser velocimetry(PDV)to measure the freesurface velocity of the rod.Thermochemical code DLCHEQ was successfully applied to the hydrodynamic program SSS to perform the roddriven test,and a novel method was established to study the EOS of detonation products from the perspective of composition.The reliability of DLCEHQ was validated by a small deviation(<10%)between the experimental rod free-surface velocity of RDX and the calculated results;the deviation was considerably less than that from the results obtained using the JWL EOS and ideal-gas EOS.The endothermic process and the reaction of Al powders(Al+H_(2)O+NO+CO_(2)→CO+H_(2)+N_(2)+Al_(2)O_(3))were analyzed by calculating the rod free-surface velocity of RDX/Li F and RDX/Al,respectively.The results of the present study demonstrated that the thermodynamic state of Al powders has notable influence on the EOS of aluminized detonation products,and the findings were compared with those of previous studies.First,the temperature equilibrium between Al powders and CHNO products is not always achieved,and the disequilibrium is more obvious when the reaction of Al powders is stronger.Second,the reaction rate of Al powders depends on pressure and Al content.Finally,the endothermic process of Al powders has a high contribution to the decrease in the work ability of RDX/Al instead of the gasconsumption mechanism of the Al reaction.More than half of the reaction heat of Al powders is used to heat itself,whereas the gas consumption during the reaction is negligible.展开更多
Aluminum(Al) particles are commonly added to energetic materials including propellants,explosives and pyrotechnics to increase the overall energy density of the composite,but aluminum agglomeration on the combustion s...Aluminum(Al) particles are commonly added to energetic materials including propellants,explosives and pyrotechnics to increase the overall energy density of the composite,but aluminum agglomeration on the combustion surface may lower the combustion efficiency of propellants,resulting in a loss in twophase flow.Therefore,it is necessary to understand the agglomeration mechanism of aluminum particles on the combustion surface.In this paper,a high-pressure sealed combustion chamber is constructed,and high-speed camera is used to capture the whole process of aluminum accumulation,aggregation and agglomeration on the combustion surface,and the secondary agglomeration process near the combustion surface.The microscopic morphology and chemical composition of the condensed combustion products(CCPs) are then studied by using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive(SEM-EDS) method.Results show that there are three main types of condensed combustion products:small smoke oxide particles oxidized by aluminum vapor,usually less than 1 μm;typical agglomerates formed by the combustion of aluminum agglomerates;carbonized agglomerates that are widely distributed,usually formed by irregular movements of aluminum agglomerates.The particle size of condensed combustion products is measured by laser particle size meter.As the pressure increases from 0.5 MPa to 1.0 MPa in nitrogen,the mass average particle size of aluminum agglomerates decreases by 49.7%.As the ambient gas is changed from 0.5 MPa nitrogen to 0.5 MPa air,the mass average particle size of aluminum agglomerates decreases by 67.3%.Results show that as the ambient pressure increases,the higher oxygen content can improve combustion efficiency and reduce the average agglomeration size of aluminum particles.展开更多
OBJECTIVE To identify compound combinations as candidate multi-component drugs for the type 2 diabetes from natural product information.METHODS Chemical composition information of herbs in natural medicine was acquire...OBJECTIVE To identify compound combinations as candidate multi-component drugs for the type 2 diabetes from natural product information.METHODS Chemical composition information of herbs in natural medicine was acquired by integrating conventional databases;Traditional Chinese Medicine Information Database(TCM-ID)and Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Database(TCMID).Therapeutic effect of each herb on the type 2 diabetes was examined by analyzing annotated function information with a text-mining method.The Apriori algorithm,which is a classical method for extracting associations between object in large-scale databases,was employed to infer association rules between compound combinations and therapeutic effect on the target disease.The chemical composition and therapeutic information of each herb was used as a transaction,which consists of the chemical compound combination as an antecedent item set and the therapeutic effect as a consequent item.The association rules with high support and confidence value were suggested as candidate multi-component drugs for the type 2 diabetes.RESULTS Totally 40 941 association rules were inferred with support lower bound 0.05% and maximum rule length 4.With respect to support and confidence,the top-ranked compound combination was puerarin and daidzin(support=0.15%,confidence=100%).In addition,the top 16 compound combinations were composed of 11 individual chemical compounds;puerarin,daidzin,abscisic acid,batatisine,dopamine,cholesterol,daidzein,gamma-aminobutyric acid,stigmasterol,campesteryl ferulate,and campesterol.To validate therapeutic effect of the proposed compound combinations,literature evidences of each individual compound were investigated.Among the 11 individual compounds,six compounds were reported to be effective for the treatment of the diabetes mellitus.CONCLUSION By analyzing natural product in formation with association rule mining,16 compound combinations are suggested as candidate multi-component drugs for the type 2 diabetes.These compound combinations are recommended for further investigation in the context of drug development.展开更多
In the conceptual design stage of complex products, CBR（Case-Based Reasoning） tool is useful to offer a feasible set of schemes. Then the most adaptive scheme can be generated through a procedure of comparison and e...In the conceptual design stage of complex products, CBR（Case-Based Reasoning） tool is useful to offer a feasible set of schemes. Then the most adaptive scheme can be generated through a procedure of comparison and evaluation. The procedure is essentially a multiple criteria decision-making problem. The traditional multiple criteria programming is not flexible enough in executing the system evaluation algorithm due to both the limited experimental data and the lack of human experiences. To make the CBR tool to be more efficient, a new method for the best choice among the feasible schemes based on the Fuzzy AHP using Fuzzy numbers （FFAHP） is proposed. Since the final results become a problem of ranking the mean of fuzzy numbers by the optimism of decision-maker using the FFAHP, its execution is much more intuitive and effective than with the traditional method.展开更多
The appraisement of "the green level" for a green p ro duct is a problem that has to deal with multi-aspect and multi-stratification. According to the property of the items that affect "the green level&...The appraisement of "the green level" for a green p ro duct is a problem that has to deal with multi-aspect and multi-stratification. According to the property of the items that affect "the green level" of the pro duct, they can be divided into aspects, elements and factors. These make appreci able grades. The multi-level fuzzy judgement can solve the appraisement problem that considers the influences of design, manufacture, use and recovery in all- life cycle or multi-life cycle of product. In the judging process it is not onl y deal with the action of all factors, but also continue to have all messages in grade judgement. The power coefficients stand out as the main items. An example is given to show the judgement process.展开更多
In May 2018,the primetime news casted a shocking report saying that radon concentration on a certain model of bed mattress found to be as high as 2200 Bq/m3.After a humble,the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission(NS...In May 2018,the primetime news casted a shocking report saying that radon concentration on a certain model of bed mattress found to be as high as 2200 Bq/m3.After a humble,the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission(NSSC)of Korea confirmed that significant amount of thoron gas is emanated from several mattress models marketed by a company claiming beneficial health effects of negative ions.Laboratory analysis showed that some internal fabric sheets of those mattresses contain high concentration of Th-232.It was revealed that the manufacture treated the material with so-called‘negative ion powder’procured from the market and NSSC found that its radioactive content is the monazite powder.Although measurements with reliable instruments resulted in somewhat lower values,the tentative but conservative estimates of doses to the users are still remarkable,ranging from a few to 14 mSv a year.Most of the affected models have been marketed from 2010 but earlier models,with lower thorium content,were supplied from 2006.As many as 88,000 mattresses have been produced.The manufacturer with help of the government,recalled all the affected models and separated the radioactive internals.A large amount of waste is waiting for the government decision on disposal method.Similar problems were identified in other consumer products including latex mattresses and pillows imported,hot pads,and several models of sanitary or health-aid goods.These episodes called for revisiting NORM control strategy in Korea.展开更多
The RR soybean was quantitatively detected by ABI Prism 7300 sequence detector with PCR primers and fluorescence probes were designed according to the sequences of endogenous Lectin gene and exogenous CP4-EPSPS gene, ...The RR soybean was quantitatively detected by ABI Prism 7300 sequence detector with PCR primers and fluorescence probes were designed according to the sequences of endogenous Lectin gene and exogenous CP4-EPSPS gene, and the PCR systems were based on SYBR Green I and TaqMan. The standard curve of ACt between CP4-EPSPS gene and Lectin gene of the RR soybean in standard materials was generated and a linear regression equation was obtained. Quantification methods were optimized through two different real-time PCR chemistries, i.e. SYBR Green I and TaqMan, and the RR soybean contents were quantified in five standard samples and seven highly processed products by the two assays. Both methods are proved to be specific, highly sensitive and reliable for both identification and quantification of soybean DNA. The results indicate that the two optimized PCR system can be used for the practical quantitative detection of RR soybean in highly processed products.展开更多
The micro-nuclei and abnormal nuclei rates of peacock fish are tested,genetic toxic effects of rare-earth waste and its products(cement,plastic) on peacock in water are investigated.Results show that the leachate of r...The micro-nuclei and abnormal nuclei rates of peacock fish are tested,genetic toxic effects of rare-earth waste and its products(cement,plastic) on peacock in water are investigated.Results show that the leachate of rare-earth waste can lead to micronuclei and abnormal nuclei rates of peacock fish an obvious increase(P<0.01). Products made of the waste cause the micronuclei rate to be increased because of its low radio active action,but the change in abnormal nuclei rate can't reach a remarkable level.It shows that rare-earth waste has a certain effect of causing mutation on aquatic organism.Harmfulness of products made from this waste is decreased largely,and resources can be effectively saved.展开更多
With the worsening of environment, many countries pay more attention to the environmental protection. Green （organic） trade barrier gradually attracts more attention to the non-tariff barrier in the international tr...With the worsening of environment, many countries pay more attention to the environmental protection. Green （organic） trade barrier gradually attracts more attention to the non-tariff barrier in the international trade. However, according to the economic levels of different countries, great differences exist in environment standards of these countries which resulted in the appearance of green trade barriers as trade protection. This study classified the connotations and characteristics of green trade barrier, gave the descriptions on the development and type of green trade barrier, and analysed the influences on China＇s export and put forward some countermeasures which aimed at stimulating the development of our foreign trade.展开更多
This paper considers an optimal sequential inspection schedule for a second-hand product after that the free nonrenewable warranty is expired. The length of warranty is prespecified and during the warranty period, the...This paper considers an optimal sequential inspection schedule for a second-hand product after that the free nonrenewable warranty is expired. The length of warranty is prespecified and during the warranty period, the product is minimally repaired by the dealer when it fails. Following the expiration of the non-renewing warranty, the product is inspected and upgraded sequentially a fixed number of times at the expenses of the customer.At each inspection, the failure rate of the product is reduced proportionally so that the product is upgraded. The product is assumed to deteriorate as it ages and the replacement of the product occurs when a fixed number of inspections are rendered. In addition,the intervals between two successive inspections are assumed to decrease monotonically. The main objective of this paper is to determine the optimal improvement level to upgrade the product at each inspection so that the expected maintenance cost during the life cycle of the product is minimized from the perspective of the customer. Under the given cost structures, we derive an explicit formula to obtain the expected maintenance cost incurred during the life cycle of the product and discuss the method to find the optimal level of the improvement analytically in case the failure times follow the Weibull distribution. Numerical results are analyzed to observe the impact of relevant parameters on the optimal solution.展开更多
文摘Food Science of Animal Products(ISSN:2958-4124,e-ISSN:2958-3780)is a peer-reviewed,open access international journal that publishes the latest research findings in the field of animal-origin foods,involving food materials such as meat,aquatic products,milk,eggs,animal offals and edible insects.The research scope includes the quality and processing characteristics of food raw materials,the relationships of nutritional components and bioactive substances with human health,product flavor and sensory characteristics,the control of harmful substances during processing or cooking,product preservation,storage and packaging;microorganisms and fermentation,illegal drug residues and food safety detection;authenticity identifi cation;cell-cultured meat,regulations and standards.
文摘Food Science of Animal Products(ISSN:2958-4124,e-ISSN:2958-3780)is a peer-reviewed,open access international journal that publishes the latest research findings in the field of animal-origin foods,involving food materials such as meat,aquatic products,milk,eggs,animal offals and edible insects.
基金financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.11902276)the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province(Grant No.2022NSFSC1802)+2 种基金the National Key Laboratory for Shock Wave and Detonation Physics of China(Grant No.JCKYS2019212007)the Original Scientific Research Instrument and Equipment Development Project of Southwest Jiaotong University(Grant No.XJ2021KJZK055)Sichuan Science and Technology Development Project(Grant No.2021ZYD0027)。
文摘Aluminized explosives exhibit excellent performance because the oxidation of aluminum(Al)powders enhances the pressure and temperature of detonation products.However,the equation of state(EOS)of detonation products has not been understood well.In the present study,we conducted long-time tests(approximately 1 ms)of a metal rod driven by detonation products of RDX,RDX/Li F,and RDX/Al.In addition,we used laser velocimetry(PDV)to measure the freesurface velocity of the rod.Thermochemical code DLCHEQ was successfully applied to the hydrodynamic program SSS to perform the roddriven test,and a novel method was established to study the EOS of detonation products from the perspective of composition.The reliability of DLCEHQ was validated by a small deviation(<10%)between the experimental rod free-surface velocity of RDX and the calculated results;the deviation was considerably less than that from the results obtained using the JWL EOS and ideal-gas EOS.The endothermic process and the reaction of Al powders(Al+H_(2)O+NO+CO_(2)→CO+H_(2)+N_(2)+Al_(2)O_(3))were analyzed by calculating the rod free-surface velocity of RDX/Li F and RDX/Al,respectively.The results of the present study demonstrated that the thermodynamic state of Al powders has notable influence on the EOS of aluminized detonation products,and the findings were compared with those of previous studies.First,the temperature equilibrium between Al powders and CHNO products is not always achieved,and the disequilibrium is more obvious when the reaction of Al powders is stronger.Second,the reaction rate of Al powders depends on pressure and Al content.Finally,the endothermic process of Al powders has a high contribution to the decrease in the work ability of RDX/Al instead of the gasconsumption mechanism of the Al reaction.More than half of the reaction heat of Al powders is used to heat itself,whereas the gas consumption during the reaction is negligible.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.52006099)the Fundamental Research Funds of the Central Universities (Grant No.30920021102,No.309181B8812)the Six Talent Peaks Project of Jiangsu Province of China (Grant No.2016-HKHT-017)。
文摘Aluminum(Al) particles are commonly added to energetic materials including propellants,explosives and pyrotechnics to increase the overall energy density of the composite,but aluminum agglomeration on the combustion surface may lower the combustion efficiency of propellants,resulting in a loss in twophase flow.Therefore,it is necessary to understand the agglomeration mechanism of aluminum particles on the combustion surface.In this paper,a high-pressure sealed combustion chamber is constructed,and high-speed camera is used to capture the whole process of aluminum accumulation,aggregation and agglomeration on the combustion surface,and the secondary agglomeration process near the combustion surface.The microscopic morphology and chemical composition of the condensed combustion products(CCPs) are then studied by using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive(SEM-EDS) method.Results show that there are three main types of condensed combustion products:small smoke oxide particles oxidized by aluminum vapor,usually less than 1 μm;typical agglomerates formed by the combustion of aluminum agglomerates;carbonized agglomerates that are widely distributed,usually formed by irregular movements of aluminum agglomerates.The particle size of condensed combustion products is measured by laser particle size meter.As the pressure increases from 0.5 MPa to 1.0 MPa in nitrogen,the mass average particle size of aluminum agglomerates decreases by 49.7%.As the ambient gas is changed from 0.5 MPa nitrogen to 0.5 MPa air,the mass average particle size of aluminum agglomerates decreases by 67.3%.Results show that as the ambient pressure increases,the higher oxygen content can improve combustion efficiency and reduce the average agglomeration size of aluminum particles.
基金The project supported by the Bio-Synergy Research Project(NRF-2012M3A9C4048758)of the Ministry of Science,ICT and Future Planning through the National Research Foundation
文摘OBJECTIVE To identify compound combinations as candidate multi-component drugs for the type 2 diabetes from natural product information.METHODS Chemical composition information of herbs in natural medicine was acquired by integrating conventional databases;Traditional Chinese Medicine Information Database(TCM-ID)and Traditional Chinese Medicine Integrated Database(TCMID).Therapeutic effect of each herb on the type 2 diabetes was examined by analyzing annotated function information with a text-mining method.The Apriori algorithm,which is a classical method for extracting associations between object in large-scale databases,was employed to infer association rules between compound combinations and therapeutic effect on the target disease.The chemical composition and therapeutic information of each herb was used as a transaction,which consists of the chemical compound combination as an antecedent item set and the therapeutic effect as a consequent item.The association rules with high support and confidence value were suggested as candidate multi-component drugs for the type 2 diabetes.RESULTS Totally 40 941 association rules were inferred with support lower bound 0.05% and maximum rule length 4.With respect to support and confidence,the top-ranked compound combination was puerarin and daidzin(support=0.15%,confidence=100%).In addition,the top 16 compound combinations were composed of 11 individual chemical compounds;puerarin,daidzin,abscisic acid,batatisine,dopamine,cholesterol,daidzein,gamma-aminobutyric acid,stigmasterol,campesteryl ferulate,and campesterol.To validate therapeutic effect of the proposed compound combinations,literature evidences of each individual compound were investigated.Among the 11 individual compounds,six compounds were reported to be effective for the treatment of the diabetes mellitus.CONCLUSION By analyzing natural product in formation with association rule mining,16 compound combinations are suggested as candidate multi-component drugs for the type 2 diabetes.These compound combinations are recommended for further investigation in the context of drug development.
基金This project was partly supported bythe Key Programof the National Natural Science Foundation of China (79990580) .
文摘In the conceptual design stage of complex products, CBR（Case-Based Reasoning） tool is useful to offer a feasible set of schemes. Then the most adaptive scheme can be generated through a procedure of comparison and evaluation. The procedure is essentially a multiple criteria decision-making problem. The traditional multiple criteria programming is not flexible enough in executing the system evaluation algorithm due to both the limited experimental data and the lack of human experiences. To make the CBR tool to be more efficient, a new method for the best choice among the feasible schemes based on the Fuzzy AHP using Fuzzy numbers （FFAHP） is proposed. Since the final results become a problem of ranking the mean of fuzzy numbers by the optimism of decision-maker using the FFAHP, its execution is much more intuitive and effective than with the traditional method.
文摘The appraisement of "the green level" for a green p ro duct is a problem that has to deal with multi-aspect and multi-stratification. According to the property of the items that affect "the green level" of the pro duct, they can be divided into aspects, elements and factors. These make appreci able grades. The multi-level fuzzy judgement can solve the appraisement problem that considers the influences of design, manufacture, use and recovery in all- life cycle or multi-life cycle of product. In the judging process it is not onl y deal with the action of all factors, but also continue to have all messages in grade judgement. The power coefficients stand out as the main items. An example is given to show the judgement process.
文摘In May 2018,the primetime news casted a shocking report saying that radon concentration on a certain model of bed mattress found to be as high as 2200 Bq/m3.After a humble,the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission(NSSC)of Korea confirmed that significant amount of thoron gas is emanated from several mattress models marketed by a company claiming beneficial health effects of negative ions.Laboratory analysis showed that some internal fabric sheets of those mattresses contain high concentration of Th-232.It was revealed that the manufacture treated the material with so-called‘negative ion powder’procured from the market and NSSC found that its radioactive content is the monazite powder.Although measurements with reliable instruments resulted in somewhat lower values,the tentative but conservative estimates of doses to the users are still remarkable,ranging from a few to 14 mSv a year.Most of the affected models have been marketed from 2010 but earlier models,with lower thorium content,were supplied from 2006.As many as 88,000 mattresses have been produced.The manufacturer with help of the government,recalled all the affected models and separated the radioactive internals.A large amount of waste is waiting for the government decision on disposal method.Similar problems were identified in other consumer products including latex mattresses and pillows imported,hot pads,and several models of sanitary or health-aid goods.These episodes called for revisiting NORM control strategy in Korea.
基金Supported by the Innovative Team Funds of Northeast Agricultural University (CXT004-3-2)Foundation of Heilongjiang Educational Committee(11511030)
文摘The RR soybean was quantitatively detected by ABI Prism 7300 sequence detector with PCR primers and fluorescence probes were designed according to the sequences of endogenous Lectin gene and exogenous CP4-EPSPS gene, and the PCR systems were based on SYBR Green I and TaqMan. The standard curve of ACt between CP4-EPSPS gene and Lectin gene of the RR soybean in standard materials was generated and a linear regression equation was obtained. Quantification methods were optimized through two different real-time PCR chemistries, i.e. SYBR Green I and TaqMan, and the RR soybean contents were quantified in five standard samples and seven highly processed products by the two assays. Both methods are proved to be specific, highly sensitive and reliable for both identification and quantification of soybean DNA. The results indicate that the two optimized PCR system can be used for the practical quantitative detection of RR soybean in highly processed products.
文摘The micro-nuclei and abnormal nuclei rates of peacock fish are tested,genetic toxic effects of rare-earth waste and its products(cement,plastic) on peacock in water are investigated.Results show that the leachate of rare-earth waste can lead to micronuclei and abnormal nuclei rates of peacock fish an obvious increase(P<0.01). Products made of the waste cause the micronuclei rate to be increased because of its low radio active action,but the change in abnormal nuclei rate can't reach a remarkable level.It shows that rare-earth waste has a certain effect of causing mutation on aquatic organism.Harmfulness of products made from this waste is decreased largely,and resources can be effectively saved.
基金Heilongjiang Province Humanity Social Science F (10552015)
文摘With the worsening of environment, many countries pay more attention to the environmental protection. Green （organic） trade barrier gradually attracts more attention to the non-tariff barrier in the international trade. However, according to the economic levels of different countries, great differences exist in environment standards of these countries which resulted in the appearance of green trade barriers as trade protection. This study classified the connotations and characteristics of green trade barrier, gave the descriptions on the development and type of green trade barrier, and analysed the influences on China＇s export and put forward some countermeasures which aimed at stimulating the development of our foreign trade.
基金supported by the Research Base Construction Fund Support Program funded by Chonbuk National University in 2013the Mid-career Research Program(2016R1A2B4010080)through NRF Grant funded by MEST
文摘This paper considers an optimal sequential inspection schedule for a second-hand product after that the free nonrenewable warranty is expired. The length of warranty is prespecified and during the warranty period, the product is minimally repaired by the dealer when it fails. Following the expiration of the non-renewing warranty, the product is inspected and upgraded sequentially a fixed number of times at the expenses of the customer.At each inspection, the failure rate of the product is reduced proportionally so that the product is upgraded. The product is assumed to deteriorate as it ages and the replacement of the product occurs when a fixed number of inspections are rendered. In addition,the intervals between two successive inspections are assumed to decrease monotonically. The main objective of this paper is to determine the optimal improvement level to upgrade the product at each inspection so that the expected maintenance cost during the life cycle of the product is minimized from the perspective of the customer. Under the given cost structures, we derive an explicit formula to obtain the expected maintenance cost incurred during the life cycle of the product and discuss the method to find the optimal level of the improvement analytically in case the failure times follow the Weibull distribution. Numerical results are analyzed to observe the impact of relevant parameters on the optimal solution.
