This paper highlighted a new method to evaluate worker performance in small medium-scale food production system. By using Kansei engineering, worker performance can be analysed using verbal parameter of profile of mood states and non-verbal parameter of heart rate in a given workplace environment. Fusing various parameters of worker performance requires a robust modelling tool. An artificial neural network (ANN) model is proposed to evaluate worker performance based on categories of normal, capacity constrained and over capacity workers. The training and inspection data were recapitulated from four types of food production systems as tempe, bakpia, fish chips and cracker. The ANN was trained using back-propagation supervised learning method and inspection data. The trained ANN models produced satisfied correlation between measured and predicted value and minimum inspection error. The research result is applicable not only for building Kansei engineering-based sensor, but also for decision support for production planning and control in food production system.

This paper highlighted a daily worker evaluation model for small medium-scale food production system. The model consist of worker capacity assessment and worker performance evaluation sub-models. The model measures the relationship between Total Mood Disturbance (TMD), heart rate of worker and workplace parameters using Kansei Engineering approach.However, the rapid measurement of TMD is difficult and full of bias since using the paper-based questionnaire of Profile of Mood States (POMS). Therefore, a rapid measurement method was developed using Artificial Neural Network to support the application of daily evaluation model. The inputs of the model were heart rate, workplace temperature, relative humidity, light intensity and noise level, which were measured before and after working. The output was TMD score.The training and inspection data for ANN was collected from workers of food production system as Tempe, Bakpia, Fish Chips and Crackers industries in Yogyakarta Special Region.ANN model were tested successfully predicted TMD score using back-propagation supervised learning method. The trained ANN model generated satisfied root mean square error value. ANN model is possible to substitute conventional data acquisition of POMS. The daily evaluation model is applicable to assist industrial management for providing the appropriate worker assignment for shift schedulling and environmental set point for the workplace comfortability.

Essential resource elements in crop production are light, water, carbon dioxide and fertilizer. Optimum design for air-conditioning and lightings in plant factory system is required to realize the economical operation of plant factory because most energy consuming elements of plant factory system are air-conditioning and lightings. In this sense application of solid state lighting sources such as LED in plant factory system have been promoted to expect some reduction of running cost in lighting. Research work of solid state laser application in plant factory has just started recently at Osaka Prefecture University Plant Factory Research Center. The latest development of laser application research in plant factory will be reported in this article.

This paper highlighted a new method to assess worker capacity in Indonesian small-medium food industry (SMFI). The sustainability of SMFI should be maintained based on the worker capacity. The status of worker capacity could be categorized as normal, capacity constrained worker and bottleneck. By using Kansei Engineering, worker capacity can be assessed using verbal parameter of mood and non-verbal parameter of heart rate in a given workplace environment.

Rooftop greening panel is a moss plant (Sphagnum sp.) grown, overlaid in a panel and installed in a narrow open space on a rooftop building. As the final step prior to the full-scale agro-industry, scaling-up the moss panel is required and must be designed in consideration to the quality evaluation. The research objectives are: 1) to design a scale-up for moss (Sphagnum sp.) rooftop greening panel by means of Taguchi method; 2) to evaluate the quality for scaling-up the moss panel in rooftop building; 3) to identify the design factors involved in scale-up process of moss panel. The result then showed the photosynthesis rate, CO2 absorption and L*a*b color with the quality robustness in rooftop building.

Production technologies using closed-type plant production systems have been studied to assess their suitability for stable and uniform expression of biopharmaceutical materials in transgenic plants. We have developed a production system for a veterinary vaccine candidate against swine edema disease, using transgenic plants. In this paper, we report the combined effects of plant cultivation density and light intensity on the production levels of a vaccine candidate, the double repeated B subunit of Shiga toxin 2e (2×Stx2eB), in transgenic lettuce cultivated in a closed-type plant factory. Leaf dry-matter yield and total soluble protein (TSP) yield increased at higher plant cultivation densities, but in contrast, the 2×Stx2eB concentration in the plants tended to decrease with an increase in plant cultivation density, so that the 2×Stx2eB yield per unit area at lower plant cultivation density (44.4 plants m−2) was similar to or even higher than that obtained at the highest plant density (222.2 plants m−2). In addition, at the cultivation density (44.4 plants m−2), a photosynthesis photon flux density (PPFD) 200 (200±50 μmol m−2 s−1) was optimal in terms of maximizing the 2×Stx2eB yield and minimizing the electrical consumption of lighting. These results show that an optimal combination of plant cultivation density and light intensity is important in improving the productivity of recombinant protein expression systems in transgenic lettuce leaves when grown in a plant factory.

This research presents performance evaluation of moss rooftop greening prototype in a confined space using an experimental chamber. The chamber was utilized to simulate performance of prototype in reducing temperature inside a building. Two simulated environments were set as low and high-temperature treatment. Moss plant (Sphagnum sp.) was used. Performance was evaluated by using Lab color, photosynthesis and CO2 absorption rate. The results concluded that prototype could reduce temperature inside confined space from 1.5 to 2.9 °C. L and b parameters were applicable to detect the color patterns. The high-temperature had no effect on while low-temperature treatment decreased photosynthetic and CO2 absorption rate. These results concluded that the prototype could be applied as a rooftop greening material in tropical environment of Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

This study investigated the conditions for cryopreservation of the moss protonema (Racomitrium japonicum).An aseptic culture of R. japonicum was established from a single spore obtained from surface-sterilized sporangia.The cultured protonema showed extremely high tolerance to freezing.Even when directly transferred to -80 °C without cryoprotectants, the cells remained viable one year later, and began growing shortly after direct transfer to fresh Knop medium maintained at room temperature.The growth and coloration of newly generated protonemata was affected by medium composition before and during long-term preservation.The suggested optimal medium for cryopreservation is Knop medium supplemented with sucrose (10 g L -1 ) and trace elements (B, Mn, Zn, I, Mo, Cu and Co), with or without benzyladenine.

The circadian clock orchestrates the rhythms of many physiological events, synchronizing them with ambient rhythms, such as the diurnal light-dark cycle and temperature changes. Precise and ecological control of the circadian rhythm provides a key technology for enhancing plant growth in artificial environments. A phase response curve, which describes the phase shift on pulse perturbation, is needed to predict or design the circadian rhythm. In this study, we investigated the phase response of the circadian clock in roots to perturbation by temperature pulse under continuous conditions. Under such conditions, roots included all phases at the same time with forming a striped pattern. We observed this pattern under different temperatures. We also observed that imposing only two pulses on the stripe pattern introduced a synchronization state. These results contribute to development of the control of the plant circadian clock by pulse perturbation.

This paper highlighted a new method for worker capacity assessment in Indonesian small-medium food industry. The sustainable and productivity of Indonesian food industry should be maintained based on the workers capacity. The status of worker capacity could be categorized as normal, capacity constrained worker and bottleneck. By using Kansei Engineering, worker capacity can be assessed using verbal response of profile of mood states, non-verbal response of heart rate in a given workplace environmental parameters. Fusing various Kansei Engineering parameters of worker capacity requires a robust modeling tool. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is required to assess worker capacity. The model was demonstrated via a case study of Tempe Industry. The trained ANN model generated satisfied accuracy and minimum error. The research results concluded the possibility to assess worker capacity in Indonesian small-medium food industry by combining Kansei Engineering and ANN.

Abstract Intelligent machine vision has been widely used in plant factory for many purposes. There are two aims in this study i.e. the first is improving the performance of intelligent machine vision for precision irrigation system using optimized feature selection technique and the second is developing intelligent machine vision for precision artificial lighting system using Light Emitting Diode (LED). The proposed feature selection technique used in the first aim is Neural-Discrete Hungry Roach Infestation Optimization (N-DHRIO) algorithm. The intelligent machine vision for precision irrigation system and the precision LED lighting system have successfully been developed, and it shows effective to control moisture content and light intensity of the plant precisely. In large scale plant factory, those systems can optimize plant growth and reduce the water consumption and energy costs.

The amount of growth and the vaccine productivity of vaccine-producing lettuce with different cultivation periods were examined in order to determine the optimal harvesting time of transgenic lettuce cultivated in a closed plant factory. Lettuce was planted in a hydroponic system and harvested at 20, 30, 40, and 50 d, and the concentrations of the total soluble protein (TSP) and the double repeated B subunit of Shiga toxin 2e (2×Stx2eB) were measured. The dry-matter weight of leaves per plant increased in a linear fashion until 50 d. Although the TSP concentration decreased continually from day 20 to 50 and 2×Stx2eB concentration decreased from day 40 to 50, the yield per plant of both TSP and 2×Stx2eB increased exponentially until day 50. According to the calculation based on these results, the optimal harvesting time to maximize the annual production of 2×Stx2eB was revealed to be 30 d. Since the optimal 30-d harvesting time is the same to the general harvesting time for commercial lettuce production in a closed plant factory, the capability to utilize the existing closed plant factory lettuce production system could be a big advantage for vaccine-producing lettuce in terms of the cost performance.

In this study, we developed the devise named “Kondotron-lettuce” that is possible to measure luciferase bioluminescence and delayed fluorescence intensity of plants which are in the state that nearer to plant factory than the conventional circadian rhythm measurement. The main refinements are two points: One is that the devise became able to measure bioluminescence from plants which are cultured under hydroponic culturing for a long term. The another is that the devise became able to measure the delayed fluorescence. This devise is useful for measuring of luciferase bioluminescence and delayed fluorescence intensity under the controlled light and hydroponic culturing conditions in the long term.

We have developed the system of automatic seedling selection using an early molecular diagnosis of circadian rhythms. To measure the rhythms of gene expression by bioluminescence with in non-destructive and in real time, we used a measurement system for bioluminescence, called Kondotron. Moreover, to improve the efficiency of seedling selection, a manipulator for automatic seedling selection using the decision for the circadian rhythms in bioluminescence was introduced. Using this manipulator, it became possible to select automatically seedlings in the early stage based on the result of bioluminescent measurement. This system can measure 40 samples simultaneously more than one week in real time. Moreover, it is possible to measure seedlings continuously because new seedlings are supplied to measurement sample holders when they are picked out from the measurement holder. Therefore, it is possible to research in the flexible and wide experiment of gene expression since it can analysis the circadian rhythms under various purposes (automatic selection based on statistical processing, selection by threshold, and so on) and environment (light conditions) by this system.

The endogenous circadian rhythms close to a 24-h period are observed by nearly all living organisms including bacteria, plants, animals, and humans. Plants use the circadian clocks to coordinate gene expression, metabolism, physiology and growth. The phase of circadian rhythm can be changed (advanced or delayed) by some stimuli. We used a dark pulse in continuous light pulse (LL) in the stimuli. During cultivation of plants, the use of dark pulses in LL is more suitable than that of light pulse in DD, because the light energy for photosynthesis is sufficient in LL with short dark pulses. By application of a 2-h dark pulse at subjective dusk, a small phase advance was induced (about 2-h phase advance). In contrast, by the application of a 2-h dark pulse at subjective dawn, a phase was induced (about 4-h phase delay).With knowledge of behavior of rhythms for dark pulse, we can control circadian clock and promote productivity. We described the phase response curve (PRC) of 2-h dark pulse by a sinusoidal curve with second harmonic component. By application of the PRC, we evaluated the relationship of plant growth and the rhythm of the circadian clock control with dark pulses.

Urban heat island (UHIP) is one of the environmental problems in the urban and is a feature commonly observed in many cities. The implementation of roof top greening is one of effective options to increase the amount of well-watered vegetation. Sunagoke moss have attracted attention as cover plants recently because they have desiccation-tolerance and are easy to manage. In this study, we obtained knowledge of transpiration properties in Sunagoke moss to optimal control the irrigation system of moss roof.

Worker capacity is influenced by various factors of standard time, physical, mood and environment. The Capacity Constrained Worker (CCW) can be described as a worker capacity is close or equal with incoming material so that the fluctuation of incoming material flows possible to shift the CCW into a bottleneck condition of process. Recognizing CCW and bottleneck is essential to maintain the planned product flow in each work station. The objective of the research is to identify and control CCW and bottleneck. The case study of this research is in half-fermented ‘Tempe’ industry. CCW and bottleneck were identified using 4 parameters of standard time, profile of mood status, heart rate and environmental condition. The research results indicated that the CCW was identified on worker of peeling station while bottleneck was identified on the worker of threshing station. The arrival rate of each station inside the Bioproduction system was balanced using the lowest service rate. A buffer time is derived by deviation between service rate of worker in CCW and bottleneck and balanced arrival rate using Drum-Buffer-Rope algorithm. Buffer time was added before threshing and peeling station.

A plant circadian system is composed of a large number of self-sustained cellular oscillators that synchronize with each other to produce a strong output rhythm. We show that the application of pulse perturbations, i.e., short-term injections of darkness under constant light, provides a novel technique for controlling the synchronized behaviour of the plant rhythm in Arabidopsis thaliana. By destroying synchrony, the circadian singularity was experimentally induced for the first time in vivo. The present technique is based upon the theory of phase oscillators, which does not require prior knowledge of the detailed dynamics of the plant system but only knowledge of its phase and amplitude responses to the pulse perturbation. Our approach can be applied to diverse problems of controlling biological rhythms in living systems.

Plant circadian clock controls many physiological events by synchronization with environmental changes. The clock can be controlled artificially by imposing various light conditions in a closed system for plant cultivation in plant factory. The plant circadian rhythm is formed by enormous self-sustained cellular circadian oscillators, so that the synchronization of circadian oscillators is of great importance to the formation of individual circadian rhythms. Therefore, the study of synchronization phenomena is important for precise control of the circadian rhythm. In this study, we have investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of circadian oscillators in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). Bioluminescence of transgenic lettuce carrying a CCA1::LUC construct as a reporter of a circadian gene expression was measured in the leaf and root. We observed phase wave propagation in the leaf with a phase delay in the region of the primary vein, with the primary vein region showing lower amplitude than the other regions. Wave propagation occurred from the edge of the leaf inward. In addition, a striped wave traveled from the base to the tip along the roots, which were grown under continuous dark or light conditions. The features observed in the lettuce plants could be explained by phase oscillator models established in the study of Arabidopsis thaliana. The results of this study show the possibility of applying circadian clock control in a model plant for plant production.

Plant circadian systems are composed of a large number of self-sustained cellular circadian oscillators. Although the light-dark signal in the natural environment is known to be the most powerful Zeitgeber for the entrainment of cellular oscillators, its effect is too strong to control the plant rhythm into various forms of synchrony. Here, we show that the application of pulse perturbations, i.e., short-term injections of darkness under constant light, provides a novel technique for controlling the synchronized behavior of plant rhythm in Arabidopsis thaliana. By destroying the synchronized cellular activities, circadian singularity was experimentally induced. The present technique is based upon the theory of phase oscillators, which does not require prior knowledge of the detailed dynamics of the plant system but only knowledge of its phase and amplitude responses to the pulse perturbation. Our approach can be applied to diverse problems of controlling biological rhythms in living systems.