Evaluating the Relative Power of Water Users in Inter-Basin Water Transfer Systems

One of the challenging issues in designing and operation of inter-basin water transfer systems is quantifying the relative power of water users. In this paper, a comprehensive set of criteria including regional gross income, water efficiency, presence of alternative water resources, self-sufficiency, existence of agricultural and industrial infrastructures, receiving political support of the government and parliament, and preference-based power is proposed to determine the power of water users in a quantitative way. Then, some well-known Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods, namely Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Analytical Network Process (ANP), Evidential Reasoning (ER), Method for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Situation (TOPSIS) and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE II), are utilized to evaluate the power of water users in inter-basin water allocation systems. In this paper, the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance are applied to compare the ranking outputs resulting from different MCDM methods. At last, the proposed approach is applied to a large-scale case study of water transfer from the Karoon River basin to the Rafsanjan plain in the central part of Iran.     

Key features in the development of unimorph stainless steel cantilever with screen-printed PZT dedicated to energy harvesting applications

The design and processing of vibrational energy harvester based on screen-printed piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (Pb(ZrxTi1-x)O3 (PZT)) are described here. Two different structures, a simple cantilever and a complex zig-zag geometry made of PZT layer sandwiched between gold electrodes and supported on a metallic stainless steel substrate have been successfully fabricated by screen printing thick film technique. Compared to bulk PZT ceramics, the main limiting features at different scales are porosity, interfaces, and bending issues. The microstructural analysis of the interfaces in the cantilever has highlighted the formation of an interface between the substrate and the bottom electrode which ensures cohesion of the structure but can limit its dynamic. Bending has shown to be dependent on the thickness of the active piezoelectric layer. Dielectric and electromechanical characterizations performed on multilayers, bulk ceramics, and free-standing screen-printed disks are compared and discussed on the basis of interface issues.     

A Fuzzy Variable Least Core Game for Inter-basin Water Resources Allocation Under Uncertainty

In this paper, a new solution concept, called Fuzzy Variable Least Core (FVLC), is developed for fuzzy cooperative games. The FVLC is able to incorporate fuzzy input variables and result in fuzzy benefit shares of players participating in a coalition. This solution concept is used for water and benefit allocation to water users in inter-basin water transfer systems considering the uncertainties associated with their benefit coefficients. In the proposed water allocation methodology, an Integrated Stochastic Dynamic Programming (ISDP) model is developed to obtain the water rights of players and economic water allocation policies. In the next step, the total net fuzzy benefit of the system is reallocated to water users in an equitable and rational way using a FVLC-based model. In this model, a new algorithm is proposed for converting a multilateral cooperative game with fuzzy variables to some fuzzy bilateral cooperative games, which are solved using the FLVC solution concept. The applicability and efficiency of the proposed methodology is examined by applying it to a large scale inter-basin water transfer project in Iran.     

Dietary polyphenols for atherosclerosis: A comprehensive review and future perspectives

Atherosclerosis is one of the most prevalent reasons for premature death in adults. Despite the several conventional drugs in the market; many patients are not completely treated. Here we comprehensively review current clinical evidence regarding the efficacy of dietary polyphenols in atherosclerosis and related complications. PubMed, Cochrane library and Scopus were searched from inception until August 2016 to obtain clinical trials in which polyphenols were evaluated in cardiovascular parameters related to atherosclerosis. From total of 13031 results, 49 clinical trials were finally included. Tyrosol derivatives from virgin olive oil, catechins and theaflavins from green and black tea, cocoa polyphenols, and red grape resveratrol, as well as anthocyanins were the most studied polyphenolic compounds which could regulate lipid profile, inflammation and oxidative stress, blood pressure, endothelial function, and cell adhesion molecules. The most important limitations of the included trials were small sample size, short follow up, and unqualified methodology. Future well-designed clinical trials are necessary to provide better level of evidence for clinical decision making.     

Incorporating Economic and Political Considerations in Inter-Basin Water Allocations: A Case Study

When an inter-basin water transfer is expected among basins with some level of unfriendliness or hostility, ignoring political considerations, which are generally not integrated in economic investigations, can impede an integrated and efficient management. In this paper, a new economic-political methodology is proposed for the optimal and efficient allocation of water resources among water users in inter-basin water transfer systems. The proposed framework quantifies both the economic payoffs using an “n-person real fuzzy cooperative game”, and the political formation prospect of any coalition, using a Modified Political Accounting System (MPAS). The proposed economic-political methodology is applied to a large scale inter-basin water allocation problem including water donor and receiving basins struggling with water scarcity. The results show how including political considerations in the study may provide a more satisfactory solution compared to the just cost-effective water allocations.     

A dynamic programming approach for finding shortest chains in a fuzzy network

Graph theory has numerous applications to problems in systems analysis, operations research, transportation, and economics. In many cases, however, some aspects of a graph-theoretic problem may be uncertain. For example, the vehicle travel time or vehicle capacity on a road network may not be known exactly. In such cases, it is natural to make use of fuzzy set theory to deal with the uncertainty. Here, we are concerned with finding shortest chains in a graph with fuzzy distance for every edge. We propose a dynamic programming approach to solve the fuzzy shortest chain problem using a suitable ranking method. By using MATLAB, two illustrative examples are worked out to demonstrate the proposed algorithm.     

Using Iranian Bentonite (Birjand Area) to Remove Cadmium from Aqueous Solutions

Bentonite from the Birjand area of Iran was characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The removal of cadmium from aqueous solution by this bentonite was investigated as a function of conditions such as contact time, metal concentrations, pH, stirring speed, temperature, particle size, and amount of bentonite. The adsorption isotherm was studied with different models: the Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich models had the highest correlation coefficients, 0.9922 and 0.9988, respectively. The corresponding Langmuir model indicates a maximum adsorption capacity of 13.50 mg/g. First-order, pseudo-second-order, and intra-particle diffusion equations were used to study the mechanism of adsorption; the experimental data fit well with pseudo-second-order kinetics. Thermodynamic parameters of adsorption were calculated at temperatures of 293, 303, 313, and 323 K, and indicated that the Cd adsorption was exothermic and spontaneous.     

Continuum Modeling of an Innovative Space-Based Radar Antenna Truss

Many proposed inflatable designs for space applications consist of truss-like or lattice structures due to their simplicity of construction coupled with large stiffness to density ratios. An analytical approach is presented here in order to derive the governing partial differential equations of motion which are decoupled for bending and rotational coordinates of vibrations and applies this formulation to the truss structure model of an innovative space-based radar antenna. Kinetic and potential energy expressions are written in terms of nodal velocities and strain components of bar members within a repeating truss element. Hamilton’s principle is then employed to find the equations of motion for the system. The equations for bending are presented in their decoupled form in order to derive an equivalent Timoshenko beam model for the truss. Finally, the physical characteristics of the continuum model are written in terms of the material and geometrical properties of the original truss, which provide a simple tool for comparing dynamic characteristics of lattices with different properties. The natural frequencies are found for each of the bending coordinates of vibration and are compared to those of a standard finite-element method (FEM) solution, for the purpose of validation. The partial differential equations predictions of the natural frequencies for the truss are very close to the FEM. Finally the errors in the frequency estimations are found in terms of the wavelength of the traveling waves.