The impact of aggregating benefit and cost criteria in four MCDA methods

Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) problems (also known as multicriteria decision-making or MCDM) involve the ranking of a finite set of alternatives in terms of a finite number of decision criteria. Often times such criteria may be in conflict with each other. That is, an MCDA problem may involve both benefit and cost criteria at the same time. Although this is a frequent characteristic of many real-life MCDA problems, this subject has not received adequate attention in the literature. This paper examines the use of four key MCDA methods when two approaches for dealing with conflicting criteria are used. The two approaches are the benefit to cost ratio approach and the benefit minus cost approach. The MCDA methods used in this study are the weighted sum model, the weighted product model, and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) along with some of its variants, including the multiplicative AHP. Not surprisingly, these two approaches for aggregating conflicting criteria may result in a different indication of the best alternative or ranking of all alternatives when they are used on the same problem. As it is demonstrated here, it is also possible for the two approaches to even result in the opposite ranking of the alternatives. An extensive empirical analysis of this methodological problem revealed that the previous phenomena might occur frequently on simulated MCDA problems. The WSM, the AHP, and the revised AHP performed in an almost identical manner in these tests. The contradiction rates in these tests were rather significant and became more dramatic when the number of alternatives was high. Although it may not be possible to know which ranking is the "correct" one, this study also theoretically proved that the multiplicative AHP is immune to these ranking inconsistencies.     

Molecular simulation study on the colloidal suspension within dilute fibrous media: The effect of particle concentration on partitioning

We investigated the molecular simulations based on the Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo method, which was previously applied to the colloidal suspensions confined with a narrow pore. The long-range electrostatic interactions between the particle and the adjacent fiber and between pairs of particles are evaluated by adopting the earlier methods. For uncharged cases, the partition coefficient with non-dilute particle concentration decreases with increases in the ratio of particle radius to fiber radius. For charged systems with constant surface charges of both the particle and the fiber, the electrostatic interactions result in a different behavior according to the variations of particle concentration. Note that the particle concentration is associated with the effects of steric exclusion as well as particle-particle interaction. By developing an effective adjusting trial, the particle concentration in the bulk region has been kept as a constant during the simulation. The predicted density profiles of colloids around a fiber indicate that, whether the particles are uncharged or charged, the particle-particle interaction plays a significant role.     

Catalytic dechlorination of 2,4-dichlorophenol by Ni/Fe nanoparticles in the presence of humic acid: intermediate products and some experimental parameters

The catalytic dechlorination of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) by Ni/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles in the presence of humic acid (HA) was investigated in order to understand their applicability for in situ remediation of groundwater. 2,4-DCP was catalytically dechlorinated to form the final products – phenol (P) via two intermediates, o-chlorophenol (o-CP) and p-chlorophenol (p-CP). It was demonstrated that the carbon mass balances during the dechlorination were between 84% and 92%, and other carbons were adsorbed on the surface of Ni/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles. The experimental results suggest that HA competed for reaction sites on the Ni/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles with 2,4-DCP, and thus reduced the efficiency and rate of the dechlorination of 2,4-DCP. The catalytic degradation slowed down as the increase of HA in solution, and when HA's concentrations were 0, 10, 20 and 30?mg?L^?1, the maximum concentrations of o-CP were 0.025, 0.041, 0.039 and 0.034?mM in 10, 30, 30 and 30?min, respectively. High Ni content, low initial pH value, high Ni/Fe nanoparticles’ dosage and high temperature favoured the catalytic dechlorination of 2,4-DCP. The experimental results show that no other intermediates were generated besides Cl^?, o-CP, p-CP and P during the catalytic dechlorination of 2,4-DCP.     

A Hierarchical Nanoparticle‐in‐Micropore Architecture for Enhanced Mechanosensitivity and Stretchability in Mechanochromic Electronic Skins

Biological tissues are multiresponsive and functional, and similar properties might be possible in synthetic systems by merging responsive polymers with hierarchical soft architectures. For example, mechanochromic polymers have applications in force‐responsive colorimetric sensors and soft robotics, but their integration into sensitive, multifunctional devices remains challenging. Herein, a hierarchical nanoparticle‐in‐micropore (NP‐MP) architecture in porous mechanochromic polymers, which enhances the mechanosensitivity and stretchability of mechanochromic electronic skins (e‐skins), is reported. The hierarchical NP‐MP structure results in stress‐concentration‐induced mechanochemical activation of mechanophores, significantly improving the mechanochromic sensitivity to both tensile strain and normal force (critical tensile strain: 50% and normal force: 1 N). Furthermore, the porous mechanochromic composites exhibit a reversible mechanochromism under a strain of 250%. This architecture enables a dual‐mode mechanochromic e‐skin for detecting static/dynamic forces via mechanochromism and triboelectricity. The hierarchical NP‐MP architecture provides a general platform to develop mechanochromic composites with high sensitivity and stretchability.     

Regulation of tissue factor gene expression in epithelial cells. Induction by serum and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate

Cell-specific expression of tissue factor (TF) in vivo is consistent with its primary role in hemostasis. In addition, TF expression is induced in cultured cells by a variety of agents, including serum and growth factors, which define the TF gene as a "primary response" gene. In this study we examined the signaling pathways and cis-acting regulatory elements required for induction of TF gene expression in HeLa cells in response to serum and the tumor promoter, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). TF activity and mRNA were induced greater than sixfold in quiescent HeLa cells by serum and PMA. TF mRNA induction by both agonists required intracellular Ca2+ mobilization, whereas inhibition of protein kinase C abolished induction of the TF gene by PMA but had no effect on induction by serum. Functional studies demonstrated that a region of the human TF promoter between -96 and +121 bp contained regulatory elements required for serum and PMA induction. These data indicate that different signaling pathways regulate TF gene expression in response to serum and PMA, although the same cis-acting DNA elements may mediate induction.     

Privacy-preserving continuous authentication using behavioral biometrics

Continuous authentication modalities collect and utilize users’ sensitive data to authenticate them continuously. Such data contain information about user activities, behaviors, and other demographic information, which causes privacy concerns. In this paper, we propose two privacy-preserving protocols that enable continuous authentication while preventing the disclosure of user-sensitive information to an authentication server. We utilize homomorphic cryptographic primitives that protect the privacy of biometric features with an oblivious transfer protocol that enables privacy-preserving information retrieval. We performed the biometric evaluation of the proposed protocols on two datasets, a swipe gesture dataset and a keystroke dynamics dataset. The biometric evaluation shows that the protocols have very good performance. The execution time of the protocols is measured by considering continuous authentication using: only swipe gestures, keystroke dynamics, and hybrid modalities. The execution time proves the protocols are very efficient, even on high-security levels.

     

Disinfection of Seawater: Application of UV and Ozone

Ozone and ultraviolet technologies are proposed as potential disinfecting agents for seawater. Ozone doses were applied in the range 0.38 to 4.89 mg O₃ L^?1. They permit to observe a complete disinfection as well as UV doses superior to 320 J L^?1. Impacts of both processes on organic matter were also studied. UV absorbances were reduced in both cases but in higher proportion using ozone (up to 50% removal). Total organic carbon was slightly reduced by UV radiation, and ozonation achieves up to 10% mineralization. Ozone reaction proceeds with biochemical oxygen demand increase. Seawater ozonation, in addition, leads to the formation of residual oxidants that show an inhibitory effect on autochthonous microorganisms.     

Glycoprotein 330, a member of the low density lipoprotein receptor family, binds lipoprotein lipase in vitro

Glycoprotein 330 (gp330), a cell-surface protein that is localized in clathrin-coated pits, is structurally related to both the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and the LDLR-related protein/alpha 2-macroglobulin receptor (LRP). We recently demonstrated that gp330 and LRP may be functionally related as well; both bind the 39-kDa polypeptide referred to as receptor-associated protein (Kounnas, M. Z., Argraves, W. S., and Strickland, D. K. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 21162-21166). In this report, we tested several other LRP ligands for their ability to interact with human and rat gp330 in vitro. Gp330 did not exhibit detectable binding to the LRP ligands, alpha 2-macroglobulin protease complex or Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A. However, we found that gp330 (purified from human or rat) bound the lipolytic enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL) with high affinity (Kd = 6.1 and 2.7 nM, respectively). The binding was saturable, divalent cation dependent, and inhibited by heparin or receptor-associated protein. Because LRP has also been shown to bind LPL, the present findings further extend the functional similarities between gp330 and LRP. By analogy to the postulated role of the LRP-LPL interaction in facilitating hepatic clearance of LPL-associated lipoproteins from the blood (Beisiegel, U., Weber, W., and Bengtsson-Olivercrona, G. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 88, 8342-8346; Chappell, D. A., Fry, G. L., Waknitz, M. A., Iverius, P. H., Williams, S. E., and Strickland, D. K. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 25764-25767), we speculate that the gp330-LPL interaction described herein may contribute to the uptake of LPL-associated lipoproteins in tissues expressing gp330. Consistent with this possibility, we found that LPL promoted in vitro binding of 125I-lipoproteins to gp330.     

Regional hyperthermic perfusion with cisplatin following surgery for malignant melanoma of the extremities

BACKGROUND: The study was undertaken to review our experience in the treatment of extremity melanoma with hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion (HILP), using cisplatin as the chemotherapeutic agent. We also evaluated the best timing for regional lymph node dissection in relation to the perfusion. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty patients with advanced malignant melanoma of the limbs were treated with HILP used mainly as an adjuvant treatment. There were 56 lower- and 4 upper-limb HILPs. Cisplatin was used at a dose of 20 mg/L of limb volume. Temperature at the tumor site was 39 degrees C to 40 degrees C. Postoperative complications, disease-free period, and time to recurrence were recorded. RESULTS: There were no deaths related to the procedure. Forty-seven percent of the patients developed local complications; most complications were minor and resolved within 60 days. The local complication rate was higher when HILP was performed shortly after or simultaneously with regional lymph node dissection. None of the patients had systemic complications. Mean survival time from treatment was 87.2 months. Currently, 35 patients (58%) are alive and free of disease 52.7 +/- 22.5 months after HILP. Twelve patients (20%) are alive with recurrent disease, of which 5 recurred locally. The average time (+/- standard error of the mean) to recurrence was 24.5 +/- 13.8 months after perfusion. CONCLUSIONS: HILP with cisplatin is a relatively safe procedure, which seems to increase locoregional control of advanced malignant melanoma of the extremity. Separating the timing of lymph node dissection from HILP by 6 to 8 weeks reduces the complication rate.     

Genetic and antigenic analysis of human rotavirus prevalent in Al-Taif, Saudi Arabia

The subgroup, serotype and electropherotype diversity of human rotavirus strains was investigated in Al-Taif, Saudi Arabia. Out of 349 faecal samples collected from diarrhoeic children, 150 (43 percent) tested rotavirus positive by a group-A specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The majority (87 percent) of the infected children were below 2 years of age. Subgrouping and serotyping of rotaviruses with specific monoclonal antibodies showed that of the 150 rotavirus positive specimens, 17 percent belonged to subgroup I, 59 per cent belonged to subgroup II, and 24 percent were neither subgroup I nor subgroup II. The specimens were typed, as serotype 1 (43 percent), serotype 2 (5 percent), serotype 3 (11 percent), serotype 4 (10 percent) or mixed serotypes (3 percent). The remaining 41 (27 percent) specimens were untypeable. None of the serotypes showed association with a particular age group. An electrophoretic analysis of viral RNA revealed 11 distinct patterns (six long and five short). The majority, 78 percent were long patterns and 22 percent were short patterns. Analysis of the specimens for which subgroups, serotypes and electropherotypes were available indicated that a given RNA pattern does not correspond to a particular subgroup or serotype.