Algorithms for fuzzy multi expert multi criteria decision making (ME-MCDM)

Inherent complexity and uncertainty in a business environment necessitate the participation of many experts in multi criteria decision making. However, participation of many experts makes the conflict aggregation process difficult. To handle this difficulty, we propose two algorithms namely possibility measure and averaging conflict aggregation. In possibility measure, we integrate the possibility theory of fuzzy logic with a maximal containment method that is designed based on the decision problem. Possibility measure algorithm for ME-MCDM involves computationally expensive multiple information processing steps. Therefore to test and compare this algorithm, averaging conflict aggregation algorithm is proposed that requires fewer mathematical information processing steps. Based on the proposed algorithms, a decision support system (DSS) is developed. We present a case study of supplier evaluation to compare both of the proposed algorithms with the help of developed DSS.     

Characterization and photocatalytic activity of boron-doped TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> thin films prepared by liquid phase deposition technique

Boron doped TiO₂ thin films have been successfully deposited on glass substrate and silicon wafer at 30°C from an aqueous solution of ammonium hexa-fluoro titanate and boron trifluoride by liquid phase deposition technique. The boric acid was used as an F ⁻ scavenger. The resultant films were characterized by XRD, EDAX, UV and microstructures by SEM. The result shows the deposited film to be amorphous which becomes crystalline between 400 and 500°C. The EDAX and XRD data confirm the existence of boron atom in TiO₂ matrix and a small peak corresponding to rutile phase was also found. Boron doped TiO₂ thin films can be used as photocatalyst for the photodegradation of chlorobenzene which is a great environmental hazard. It was found that chlorobenzene undergoes degradation efficiently in presence of boron doped TiO₂ thin films by exposing its aqueous solution to visible light. The photocatalytic activity increases with increase in the concentration of boron.     

钢管混凝土柱中的新型钢截面

在现代工程建设中,钢管混凝土（CFT）柱已逐渐成为高层建筑、桥梁等结构系统中的核心构件。在钢管混凝土的承载能力分析中有效参数有：钢与混凝土之间的粘结、钢管局部屈曲强度、混凝土徐变和连接处柱的负荷状态。考虑到这些有效参数,提议一种新截面,可用于高层建筑及大跨度桥梁。所提议钢截面的主要特点是内部纵向对称加劲肋。对此种截面（圆形和八角形）和钢管混凝土柱的常用截面进行轴向和循环荷载作用下的对比分析。同时采用有限元建模进行多种不同的分析。结果表明：新型截面在轴向和循环荷载下的强度和延性均有所增强,因此建议在施工中可采用此种截面。     

Urban air quality in the Asian region

Over the past decade, member states of the Regional Co-operation Agreement (RCA), an intergovernmental agreement for the East Asia and Pacific region under the auspices of the IAEA with the assistance of international organizations and financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, have started to set in place policies and legislation for air pollution abatement. To support planning and evaluate the effectiveness of control programs, data are needed that characterizes urban air quality. The focus of this measurement program describe in this report is on size segregated particulate air pollution. Such airborne particulate matter can have a significant impact on human health and urban visibility. These data provide the input to receptor models that may permit the mitigation of these impacts by identification and quantitative apportionment of the particle sources. The aim of this report is to provide an overview of the measurements of concentrations and composition of particulate air pollution in two size fractions across the participating countries. For many of the large cities in this region, the measured particulate matter concentrations are greater than air quality standards or guidelines that have been adopted in developed countries.     

Automatic Detection and Classification of Human Knee Osteoarthritis Using Convolutional Neural Networks

Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) is a degenerative knee joint disease caused by ‘wear and tear’ of ligaments between the femur and tibial bones. Clinically, KOA is classified into four grades ranging from 1 to 4 based on the degradation of the ligament in between these two bones and causes suffering from impaired movement. Identifying this space between bones through the anterior view of a knee X-ray image is solely subjective and challenging. Automatic classification of this process helps in the selection of suitable treatment processes and customized knee implants. In this research, a new automatic classification of KOA images based on unsupervised local center of mass (LCM) segmentation method and deep Siamese Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is presented. First-order statistics and the GLCM matrix are used to extract KOA anatomical Features from segmented images. The network is trained on our clinical data with 75 iterations with automatic weight updates to improve its validation accuracy. The assessment performed on the LCM segmented KOA images shows that our network can efficiently detect knee osteoarthritis, achieving about 93.2% accuracy along with multi-class classification accuracy of 72.01% and quadratic weighted Kappa of 0.86.     

Exploitation of Carbon Nanotubes in High Performance Polyvinylidene Fluoride Matrix Composite: A Review

Among nanocarbon fillers, carbon nanotubes are considered to be an ideal reinforcement due to their miniscule size, and excellent electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. However, carbon nanotubes can be utilized in polymer nanocomposites only if they are homogenously dispersed into polymer matrices. The multiwalled carbon nanotube has been concentrated as a reinforcement for an important type of thermoplastic polyvinylidene fluoride. This review initially focuses on carbon nanotubes modification both by mechanical methods and chemical functionalization to improve their dispersion. Moreover, the processing methods for polyvinylidene fluoride/carbon nanotubes nanocomposite have been discussed. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes facilitate the electrical conductivity, thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties of polyvinylidene fluoride.     

High Power Highly Nonlinear Holey Fiber with Low Confinement Loss for Supercontinuum Light Sources

The high power holey fiber is an efficient supercontinuum light source by using picosecond pulse, which is a less expensive laser source compared with low power and expensive femtosecond laser sources. In this paper, a high power highly nonlinear holey fiber (HN-HF) with a low confinement loss is proposed for supercontinuum light sources. The finite difference method is used to calculate the different properties of the proposed HN-HF. High nonlinear coefficients are obtained at 1.06 μm, 1.31 μm, and 1.55 μm wavelengths with flattened chromatic dispersion and low confinement losses simultaneously. Moreover, numerical simulation results show that high power broad supercontinuum spectra with very short length of the proposed photonic crystal fiber are achieved.     

Effect of red and black ginseng on cholinergic markers,presynaptic markers,and neurotrophins in the brain of aged mice

Food Science and Biotechnology - This study investigated the effects of chronic administration of red ginseng extract (RGE) and black ginseng extract (BGE) on memory impairment in aged...