Comparative analysis of MCDM methods for the assessment of mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome

Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods are commonly used in many fields of research, e.g., engineering and manufacturing systems, water resources studies , medicine, and etc. However, there is no effective approach of selecting a MCDM method to problem, which is solved. The formal requirements of each MCDM method are not sufficient because most methods would seem to be appropriate for most problems. Therefore, the main purpose of the paper is a comparison of accuracy selected MCDM methods. Proposed approach is presented on the example of mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome. Additionally, the paper presents characteristic objects method (COMET) as a potential decision making method for use in medical problems, which accuracy is compared with TOPSIS and AHP. In the experimental study, the average and standard deviation of the root mean square error of evaluations are examined for groups of randomly selected patients, each described by age, blood pressure, and heart rate. Then, the correctness of choosing the patient in the best and worst condition is also examined among randomly selected pairs. As a result of the experimental study, rankings obtained by the COMET method are distinctly more accurate than those obtained by TOPSIS or AHP techniques. The COMET method, in the opposite of others method, is completely free of the rank reversal phenomenon, which is identified as a main source of problems with evaluations accuracy.     

Various Charge-Ordered States in the Extended Hubbard Model with On-Site Attraction in the Zero-Bandwidth Limit

The extended Hubbard model in the zero-bandwidth limit with intersite density–density interactions (nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor) is analyzed in the site-dependent mean-field approximation. In this paper, we investigate a case of on-site attraction U<0 for arbitrary values of intersite interactions as well as chemical potential (or electron density). We present ground state and finite temperature phase diagrams obtained in the four-sublattice assumption (e.g., 1D chain, 2D square, or 3D body-centered cubic lattices). Our results for U<0 show that in the system various phases emerge: three different types of charge-ordered phases (checkerboard, laminar/stripe, and four-subllatice-type) and non-ordered phases.     

An analytic solution to the coupled pressure–temperature equations for modeling of photoacoustic trace gas sensors

Trace gas sensors have a wide range of applications including air quality monitoring, industrial process control, and medical diagnosis via breath biomarkers. Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy and resonant optothermoacoustic detection are two techniques with several promising advantages. Both methods use a quartz tuning fork and modulated laser source to detect trace gases. To date, these complementary methods have been modeled independently and have not accounted for the damping of the tuning fork in a principled manner. In this paper, we discuss a coupled system of equations derived by Morse and Ingard for the pressure, temperature, and velocity of a fluid, which accounts for both thermal effects and viscous damping, and which can be used to model both types of trace gas sensors simultaneously. As a first step toward the development of a more realistic model of these trace gas sensors, we derive an analytic solution to a pressure–temperature subsystem of the Morse–Ingard equations in the special case of cylindrical symmetry. We solve for the pressure and temperature in an infinitely long cylindrical fluid domain with a source function given by a constant-width Gaussian beam that is aligned with the axis of the cylinder. In addition, we surround this cylinder with an infinitely long annular solid domain, and we couple the pressure and temperature in the fluid domain to the temperature in the solid. We show that the temperature in the solid near the fluid–solid interface can be at least an order of magnitude larger than that computed using a simpler model in which the temperature in the fluid is governed by the heat equation rather than by the Morse–Ingard equations. In addition, we verify that the temperature solution of the coupled system exhibits a thermal boundary layer. These results strongly suggest that for computational modeling of resonant optothermoacoustic detection sensors, the temperature in the fluid should be computed by solving the Morse–Ingard equations rather than the heat equation.     

Comparison of the Argon Triple-Point Temperature in Small Cells of Different Construction

The argon triple point (\(T_{90} = 83.8058\,\hbox {K}\)) is a fixed point of the International Temperature Scale of Preston-Thomas (Metrologia 27:3, 1990). Cells for realization of the fixed point have been manufactured by several European metrology institutes (Pavese in Metrologia 14:93, 1978; Pavese et al. in Temperature, part 1, American Institute of Physics, College Park, 2003; Hermier et al. in Temperature, part 1, American Institute of Physics, College Park, 2003; Pavese and Beciet in Modern gas-based temperature and pressure measurement, Springer, New York, 2013). The Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research has in its disposal a few argon cells of various constructions used for calibration of capsule-type standard platinum resistance thermometers (CSPRT) that were produced within 40 years. These cells differ in terms of mechanical design and thermal properties, as well as source of gas filling the cell. This paper presents data on differences between temperature values obtained during the realization of the triple point of argon in these cells. For determination of the temperature, a heat-pulse method was applied (Pavese and Beciet in Modern gas-based temperature and pressure measurement, Springer, New York, 2013). The comparisons were performed using three CSPRTs. The temperatures difference was determined in relation to a reference function \(W(T)=R(T_{90})/R(271.16\hbox {K})\) in order to avoid an impact of CSPRT resistance drift between measurements in the argon cells. Melting curves and uncertainty budgets of the measurements are given in the paper. A construction of measuring apparatus is also presented in this paper.     

Protein‐Corona‐by‐Design in 2D: A Reliable Platform to Decode Bio–Nano Interactions for the Next‐Generation Quality‐by‐Design Nanomedicines

Hard corona (HC) protein, i.e., the environmental proteins of the biological medium that are bound to a nanosurface, is known to affect the biological fate of a nanomedicine. Due to the size, curvature, and specific surface area (SSA) 3‐factor interactions inherited in the traditional 3D nanoparticle, HC‐dependent bio–nano interactions are often poorly probed and interpreted. Here, the first HC‐by‐design case study in 2D is demonstrated that sequentially and linearly changes the HC quantity using functionalized graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets. The HC quantity and HC quality are analyzed using NanoDrop and label‐free liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC‐MS) followed by principal component analysis (PCA). Cellular responses (uptake and cytotoxicity in J774 cell model) are compared using imaging cytometry and the modified lactate dehydrogenase assays, respectively. Cellular uptake linearly and solely correlates with HC quantity (R² = 0.99634). The nanotoxicity, analyzed by retrospective design of experiment (DoE), is found to be dependent on the nanomaterial uptake (primary), HC composition (secondary), and nanomaterial exposure dose (tertiary). This unique 2D design eliminates the size–curvature–SSA multifactor interactions and can serve as a reliable screening platform to uncover HC‐dependent bio–nano interactions to enable the next‐generation quality‐by‐design (QbD) nanomedicines for better clinical translation.     

Applicability of Geostatistical Tools and Fractal Theory for the Estimation of the Effect of a River on Water Relations in Adjacent Area

The paper presents a new method of estimation of the effect of a river on the ground waters of the adjacent area, different than the one used so far and based on the application of geostatistical methods and the fractal theories. An analysis was performed of a 14‐year series of daily observations of ordinates of water level in the river Oder and ordinates of ground water levels in five piezometers situated at various distances from the riverbed, within the range from 120 to 1000 m. The first stage of the analysis was devoted to evaluation of the applicability of classical statistical measures. It was found that only selected ones display a relation with the distance. Those included maximum value, ranges, coefficients of variation, and variances. The remaining ones proved to be non‐applicable. The next stage was the analysis of correlations between the parameters of semivariograms of ground water levels in the piezometers and the parameters of semivariograms of water levels in river Oder. It was demonstrated that the values of each parameter were related with the distance of a given piezometer from the riverbed. This means that they are useful for the estimation of the effect of the river Oder on the adjacent areas, as are the fractal dimensions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comments on “A Three-Dimensional Geometrical Scattering Model for Cellular Communication Environment”

Wireless Personal Communications - Primarily, this comment first focuses on a critical review of a geometric channel model and incorrect formulas presented by M.&nbsp;Riaz,...