Fuzzy multi attribute group decision making method to achieve consensus under the consideration of degrees of confidence of experts’ opinions

The aim of this paper is to introduce a fuzzy multi attribute group decision making technique considering the degrees of confidence of experts’ opinions. In the process of decision making, each expert provides his/her evaluation over the alternatives depending on a finite set of attributes and constructs an individual fuzzy decision matrix. The proposed technique establishes an iterative process to aggregate the fuzzy information, given by individual expert, into group consensus opinion by using the fuzzy similarity measure. Then, based on group consensus opinion, the proposed approach utilizes the fuzzy similarity measure to find out the most desirable alternative through approximate reasoning. The proposed decision making technique is more flexible due to the fact that it considers the degrees of confidence of experts’ opinions. Finally an example has been shown to highlight the proposed methodology.     

Microtextural analysis of coke from single and binary blend and its impact on coke quality

Coke microtexture and microstructure is a function of feed coal composition and carbonisation process. If the process remains constant, the composition plays a vital role in developing the microtexture and microstructure which also reflects the coke quality. Knowledge of the influence of coal composition and characteristics on coke quality is a must for formulating a coal blend for coke making. To better understand how the coal transforms into coke requires the ability to correlate the microtextural and microstructural features to coal properties. Petrography is an important tool for comparing the feed coal and corresponding coke. In the present study, cokes manufactured from single coals and two-component blends under similar coking conditions were studied under the microscope to provide valuable information to coke makers. Not only the rank and quantification of macerals but also the association of macerals and minerals play an important role. Also the size and type of inertinite affect the coke quality. Micro-cracking, crack lengths and fissures identify the zone of weakness, whereas microtexture of cell walls suggests the strength-controlling parameters of coke. Pictorial concept followed in the present study is given below:     

Fabrication of BioFET linear array for detection of protein interactions

An extended-gate MOSFETs (metal–oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors) based biosensing linear array has been fabricated for label-free protein interaction detection. The device was realized using a combination of very low leakage current MOSFET transistors and an external gate where the chemical reaction would take place. Peptide aptamers that recognize cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK), a protein cancer marker, were used as a biological test system. The test results showed a high sensitive in the detection of CDK.     

A production inventory model with fuzzy random demand and with flexibility and reliability considerations

The classical inventory control models assume that items are produced by perfectly reliable production process with a fixed set-up cost. While the reliability of the production process cannot be increased without a price, its set-up cost can be reduced with investment in flexibility improvement. In this paper, a production inventory model with flexibility and reliability (of production process) consideration is developed in an imprecise and uncertain mixed environment. The aim of this paper is to introduce demand as a fuzzy random variable in an imperfect production process. Here, the set-up cost and the reliability of the production process along with the production period are the decision variables. Due to fuzzy-randomness of the demand, expected average profit of the model is a fuzzy quantity and its graded mean integration value (GMIV) is optimized using unconstraint signomial geometric programming to determine optimal decision for the decision maker (DM). A numerical example has been considered to illustrate the model.     

A new approach to fuzzy distance measure and similarity measure between two generalized fuzzy numbers

In this paper a fuzzy distance measure between two generalized fuzzy numbers is developed. The metric properties of this distance measure are also studied. The new distance measure is compared with the other fuzzy distance measures proposed by Voxman [W. Voxman, Some remarks on distances between fuzzy numbers, Fuzzy Sets and Systems 100 (1998) 353–365] and Chakraborty and Chakraborty [C. Chakraborty, D. Chakraborty, A theoretical development on fuzzy distance measure for fuzzy numbers, Mathematical and Computer Modelling 43 (2006) 254–261] and turned out to be more reasonable. A new similarity measure is also developed with the help of the fuzzy distance measure. Examples are given to compare this similarity measure with the other similarity measure previously proposed. A decision making scheme is proposed using this similarity measure and this scheme is found to be more acceptable than the existing methods due to the fact that it considers the degrees of confidence of the experts’ opinion.     

The molecular basis of fracture in crosslinked glassy polymers

Crosslinked polystyrene (XPS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (XPMMA) were prepared by photopolymerization of the respective monomers in the presence of reversible crosslinkers, acrylic acid anhydride (AAA), and methacrylic acid anhydride (MAA). Fracture studies on the crosslinked samples were carried out using a Dental Burr Grinding Instrument (DBGI). The fracture energy in all cases showed a maximum around 1.5–5.0 mol % crosslinker. The samples were decrosslinked by hydrolysis using dilute aqueous ammonium hydroxide solutions to determine the number of chain scissions as a result of grinding. The number of chain scissions increased asymptotically with crosslink density in the range of a 0.0–10.0 mol % crosslinker. The number of bonds activated per scission, obtained from the calculated total chain scission energy (after subtracting the chain pullout energy) and the experimental number of chain scissions, remained fairly constant for AAA-PS and AAA-PMMA at 312 ± 150 bonds and 202 ±50 bonds, respectively, in the region below the fracture energy maximum. In an attempt to explain the fracture energy increases, increasing physical entanglements with crosslinking is considered. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polm Sci 65:1001–1011, 1997     

Fusion Strategies for Minimizing Sensing-Level Uncertainty in Manipulator Control

Humanoid robotic applications require robot to act and behave like human being. Following soft computing like approach human being can think, decide and control himself in unstructured dynamic surroundings, where a great degree of uncertainty exists in the information obtained through sensory organs. In the robotics domain also, one of the key issues in extracting useful knowledge from sensory data is that of coping with information as well as sensory uncertainty at various levels. In this paper a generalized fusion based hybrid classifier (ANN-FDD-FFA) has been developed and applied for validating on generated synthetic data from observation model as well as from real hardware robot. The fusion goal, selected here, is primarily to minimize uncertainties in robotic manipulation tasks that are based on internal (joint sensors) as well as external (vision camera) sensory information. The effectiveness of present methodology has been extensively studied with a specially configured experimental robot having five degrees of freedom and a simulated model of a vision guided manipulator. In the present investigation main uncertainty handling approach includes weighted parameter selection (of geometric fusion) by a trained neural network that is not available in standard manipulator robotic controller designs. These approaches in hybrid configuration has significantly reduce the uncertainty at different levels for faster and more accurate manipulator control as demonstrated here through rigorous simulations and experimentations.     

Mangiferin nanoparticles fortified dairy beverage as a low glycemic food product: its quality attributes and antioxidant properties

Mangiferin-encapsulated β-lactoglobulin–chitosan (mangiferin/βLG-CS) nanoparticles were fortified in milk to obtain a low glycemic index (GI) food product with high antioxidant capacity. The present study evaluated the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of mangiferin in milk fortified with nanoparticles. Fortification reduced the GI of milk by 34.5%. A mathematical model was developed to evaluate the lactose digestion, in terms of reducing sugar formed in milk by determining the digestion rate (k), and a significant reduction in k was observed. The bioaccessibility of mangiferin was enhanced by fortification. Fortified milk showed good antioxidant, lipid peroxidation inhibition and protein oxidation inhibition properties. Mangiferin nanoparticles fortified dairy beverage as an ideal food product with high antioxidant capacity and can inhibit lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation. It may be used as a low GI food product.