A new approach to aid urban water management decision making using trade-off sacrifice modelled by fuzzy logic.

An approach to aid decision making for urban water management is presented that is based on the concept of trade-off sacrifice level in pairwise comparisons between criteria, modelled using fuzzy logic. This approach is illustrated by a case study - selection of alternative water supplies for a Sydney household. Four key decision making criteria covering health, economic, environment and technical aspects are selected: annual probability of infection, life cycle energy use, life cycle cost and reliability. The decision making problem is to select between cases with different volume and application of recycled greywater and rainwater in light of the four criteria. Decision maker's preference is expressed by five levels of trade-off sacrifice between pairs of criteria. The decision makers can assign their preferences for sacrifice level by linguistic assessment and the output trade-off weight (TOW). Measures of decision makers' perceived trade-off level are modelled by a rule-based fuzzy logic control system. The final analysis shows the performance for each sacrifice class for each case, to aid overall decision making with stakeholders.     

Error-correcting code for optical-fibre transmission systems

A simple error-correcting code for optical-fibre transmission systems is proposed, and its correcting principle is explained. This code offers the same advantages as the CMI code, which is widely used in optical-fibre transmission systems. Moreover it has the ability to correct a single error in a block. Owing to this ability, the maximum repeater space can be increased.     

Content of carcinogenic nitroso compounds in food products

The data are provided on the content of carcinogenous N-nitroso compounds in foods manufactured in a region with a high gastric carcinoma incidence. It was found that foods under analysis have a high content of carcinogenous nitroso compounds. The foods were also found to contain N-nitrosopiperidine, a carcinogen inducing tumors of the gastrointestinal tract.     

Prophylactic effect of enteral feeding preparations during the chemotherapy of oncology patients

Altogether 124 patients were followed up for disseminated breast cancer (82) and hematosarcoma (42). The patients were divided into two groups: the main group was given 500 ml of 20% protein or low-lactose enteral feeding in addition to the hospital diet; the control group received only the hospital diet. Chemotherapy lasted 3 weeks. The patients on chemotherapy received enteral feeding every day throughout the entire treatment period. In the course of treatment, the patients were examined for blood characteristics, size of the tumor and affected lymph nodes, body weight, major metabolism, protein metabolism, vitamin metabolism, osmotic and peroxide resistance of red cells, and liver function. The research program covered more than 150 characteristics. The data obtained were processed by computer. It has been disclosed that inclusion of protein and low-lactose enteral feeding into the diet of cancer patients improves the alimentary status, decreases the leukopenia and thrombocytopenia incidence. It is advisable that specialized milk concentrates (enteral feeding) should be included into the diet of cancer patients as a necessary component of a complex of therapeutic measures used during chemotherapy.     

Oxidation resistance and relative stability of some inter-4f alloys

Ten samarium-structure alloys have been oxidation tested in air to estimate the thermal oxidation parameter, T _p, and hence the ratio T _p/T_Sm, where T _Sm is the temperature of decomposition of the appropriate structure and the ratio is a measure of the strength and type of bonding. The ratio decreases with (a) increasing distance apart in the 4f series of the components, and (b) increasing average Group number.     

DSC study on simultaneous interpenetrating polymer network formation of epoxy resin and unsaturated polyester

A kinetic study on simultaneous interpenetrating polymer network formation of epoxy resin based on diglycidyl ether of Bisphenol A (DGEBA) and unsaturated polyester (UP) was performed by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Isothermal DSC characterizations of neat resins and their mixture (in a weight ratio of 50/50) were performed at different temperatures. Dynamic DSC characterization of the systems were performed at three different heating rates. A lower total heat of reaction developed during simultaneous polymerization in dynamic DSC tests was found, compared to the total heats developed during pure resins network formation. This phenomenon can be interpreted as an effect of network interlock that could not be compensated for completely by an increase in curing temperature. The kinetics of the reactions was described by empirical models. The DGEBA, in a 50/50 UP/DGEBA blend, indicated a higher rate constant than the pure DGEBA. The obtained results suggests that the hydroxyl end group of UP in the blend provided a favorably catalytic environment for the DGEBA cure. The results are in good agreement with the literature data. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 2689–2698, 2002     

Role of electron traps in the radiation hardness of thermallynitrided silicon dioxide

A number of samples of thermally nitrided SiO₂ with varying concentrations of electron traps were studied in an attempt to correlate the radiation-induced oxide charge with the number of electron traps. Also studied were the detrapping characteristics of irradiated devices. Etch-back experiments were performed to locate the centroid of the trapped charge. The results show that electron trapping does play a role in the improved radiation hardness of nitrided SiO₂, but is not the sole cause of it     

Precision of micromilled x-ray masks and exposures

 Micromechanical milling has been shown to be a rapid and direct method for the fabrication of structures with the geometry and size suitable for use as x-ray mask absorbers. While the micromilling process can not duplicate the size and resolution of absorber patterns created by high energy electron beam or optical lithography methods, micromilling can repeatedly create absorber line widths down to 10 micrometers, or less, with a one-sigma tolerance of 0.5 micrometers. A method for easily characterizing milling tool run out has been adapted so tool change out can be more routine. The milling process leaves some absorber burrs and the absorber is apparently tapered at the machined wall which introduce process biases, both of which add to exposure degradation. Nevertheless, based on work to date, it appears both of these effects can be reduced to acceptable limits. Received: 25 August 1997/Accepted: 3 September 1997