Real world applications of a fuzzy decision model based on relationships between goals for finance services and sequencing for the assembly of cars

Real world applications of a decision model of relationships between goals based on fuzzy relations are presented. In contrast to other approaches the relationships between decision goals or criteria for each decision situation are represented and calculated explicitly. The application fields are decision making for financial services and optimization of production sequences in car manufacturing.     

Composite group vector space method for estimating melting and boiling point of pure organic compound

Composition Group Vector Space (CGVS) method for estimating melting and boiling point T _m , T _b of organic compound has been proposed, and the principle of this method has been elucidated. The models for estimating T _m , T _b have been established and the numerical values of relative parameters have been presented. The average percentage deviations of T _m , T _b estimation are 7.53 and 1.58, respectively, which show that the present method demonstrates significant improvement in applicability to predict the above properties, compared to conventional group methods.     

Societal Safety: Concept,Borders and Dilemmas

In most industrialized countries, the end of the Cold War marked a change in focus from preparedness for war to an increasing focus on civil society's own vulnerability and safety. To meet new threats and changing risks, there is also a need for new analytical concepts. Societal safety is a concept developed in Norway during the last decade. It could be defined as: ‘The society's ability to maintain critical social functions, to protect the life and health of the citizens and to meet the citizens' basic requirements in a variety of stress situations’. It aims to be a systematic approach for understanding, mitigating and responding to social problems such as extraordinary stresses and losses, interferences in complex and mutual dependent systems, or lack of trust in vital social institutions. Future threats to society are not limited to specific sectors or areas, but stem from complex interactions amongst economic, technological, social and cultural factors. Thus, the main challenges to improve societal safety will be the ability to coordinate, organize and assign clear roles to different actors at the international, national and local levels. Societal safety has interfaces with other safety‐related areas such as national security, sustainable development, human security and incident management (handling of isolated accidents, common illness and ordinary criminal acts). Societal safety is, however, a sensitive political issue containing dilemmas and value choices that are hardly possible to perceive or solve as pure scientific problems.     

Exponential Stability of Interval Dynamical Systems with Quadratic Nonlinearity

This article proposes an approach for investigating the exponential stability of a nonlinear interval dynamical system with the nonlinearity of a quadratic type on the basis of the Lyapunov’s direct method. It also constructs an inner estimate of the attraction domain to the origin for the system under consideration.     

Synthesis and aggregate formation of poly(styrenesulfonate)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(styrenesulfonate) triblock copolymers in aqueous solution induced by binding with aluminum ions

Summary  Well-defined water-soluble poly(styrenesulfonate)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)-b- poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS-b-PEG-b-PSS) triblock copolymers with narrow molecular weight distribution (1.29 < M_w/M_n < 1.36) were synthesized in aqueous solution at 70 ^oC via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The complex formed by the PSS-b-PEG-b-PSS triblock copolymer coordinated with aluminum ion was investigated with turbidimetry, dynamic light scattering (DSL), zeta-potential, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The aggregation formation was based on the neutralization of the SO₃^- groups in the PSS blocks with Al³⁺ ions. The appearance, size and stability of the PSS-b-PEG-b-PSS/Al³⁺ aggregates were controlled by varying the PSS block length and degree of neutralization (DN). At DN = 0.33, where the PSS-b-PEG-b-PSS copolymer was completely neutralized with Al³⁺, the aggregate size increased with increasing PSS block length. The transition from the shrinking coil of small size to the interchain aggregates of large size was found at DN of about 0.33.