Fuzzy versus quantitative association rules: a fair data-driven comparison.

As opposed to quantitative association rule mining, fuzzy association rule mining is said to prevent the overestimation of boundary cases, as can be shown by small examples. Rule mining, however, becomes interesting in large databases, where the problem of boundary cases is less apparent and can be further suppressed by using sensible partitioning methods. A data-driven approach is used to investigate if there is a significant difference between quantitative and fuzzy association rules in large databases. The influence of the choice of a particular triangular norm in this respect is also examined.     

The role of interparticle forces in colloidal aggregates: local investigations and modelling of restructuring during filtration.

Industrial solid-liquid separation processes, such as pressure filtration or membrane processes, involve the application of pressure to suspensions. In response, some water is extracted, the suspension volume is reduced, and the dispersed aggregates start to form a network. In recent works, we aimed to make a prediction for the response of aggregates to stress which occurs during a filtration. We chose model systems made of aggregated silica nanoparticles. Some of these systems offer a strong resistance to applied stresses, and retain their permeability; others yield and collapse. We used small angle neutron scattering by which we can locally quantify the particle distribution withi the network to determine the processes by which particles reorganise during collapse: we found that reordering processes at the scale of 1 to 10 particle diameters control the course of collapse and the loss of permeability. Finally we constructed a numerical model for describing the processes by which colloidal aggregates are compressed. This model predicts that the response of such networks to pressure follows some scaling laws, which depend only on the elastic vs. dissipative nature of interparticle bonds.     

Crossflow microfiltration of gum arabic solutions: Comparison of the classical system with the co-current permeate flow system

Gum arabic is a natural gum exuded mainly by the trees Acacia senegal , currently used in the food industries for its emulsifying, thickening and stabilizing properties. Its present processing includes various operations providing a quite turbid product. Crossflow microfiltration could be interesting for the clarification and the cold-pasteurization of the gum arabic solutions. Several experiments were therefore made with the crossflow microfiltration unit at ENSIA, using two different systems: the classical one (without permeate circulation), and the co-current permeate flow system (CCPF) allowing the exploration of the low transmembrane pressures range. With gum arabic solutions of 0.17g solids g⁻¹ solution and 70°C, the best results after 60 min of filtration (105.7 L h⁻¹ m⁻², 4.4% of solids retention and 83.4% of clarification) were obtained with the CCPF system at low transmembrane pressure and high crossflow velocity (0.3 bar and 7.5ms⁻¹).     

Temperature-induced phase change in a fat. A study by electron spin resonance

Electron Spin Resonance, Differential Scanning Calorimetry and rheological techniques have been used to study the physical changes induced by temperature in lard and in the solid and liquid fractions obtained by fractionation of lard at 15 C. The mobilization process of a C18 fatty acid nitroxide derivative dispersed in the molten fat has been observed in the temperature range −50 to +70 C. The mobilization of the probe seemed to be concomitant with the melting of the low melting point glycerides. Above this temperature, all the probes were in the liquid phase and their mobility reflected the viscosity of their liquid environment, or the viscosity of the bulk fat when crystal was no longer present. Probe mobility was temperature dependent, and it was identical for the three fats at the same temperature, despite their different triglyceride compositions.     

Index of critical points in rational l-approximation

This article is concerned with the l²-approximation of a given transfer function f by a rational one whose order is prescribed. We show that the sum of the indices of the critical points of the criterion is generically equal to 1, and in particular does not depend on f.     

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Hot-Pressed Silicon Carbide-Aluminum Nitride Compositions

A flexural strength of up to 1 GPa was achieved in SiC-AIN materials and is attributed to a dense, equiaxial grain structure of the 2H(δ) SiC-AIN solid solution, with a relatively uniform grain size of ∼ 1 μm. The strength was found to decrease with increasing grain size. While the β→α phase transformation and the formation of various metastable polytypes make microstructural control difficult in SiC materials, excellent control is facilitated in SiC-AIN materials as a result of the stable 2H solid solution. Several mechanisms of grain refinement during the β→ 2H transition were observed, most notably the direct formation of several 2H grains from a single β grain. In addition, grain growth is limited by the diffusion-controlled nature of the transition. These mechanisms could be utilized to achieve even higher strength values, with potentially higher reliability of the materials in structural applications.     

Water flux,DSC, and cytotoxicity characterization of membranes of cellulose acetate produced from sugar cane bagasse,using PEG 600

Summary In this article, cellulose acetate produced through the homogeneous acetylation of sugar cane bagasse cellulose was used to produce membranes, using poly(ethyleneglycol) 600 (PEG 600) as an admixture. The membranes were characterized using water flux measurements (Payne’s cup), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and neutral red uptake (cytotoxicity). The results showed that PEG 600 acts as a crystallinity inductor and/or pore former in the cellulose acetate matrix. The induction of crystallinity is important for this system since it had not been reported on the literature yet. The results also demonstrated that the studied membranes present a nontoxic behavior.     

Sol–Gel Processing and Microwave Characteristics of Ba(Mg⅓Ta⅔)O3 Dielectrics

The sol–gel method has been developed for the preparation of pure Ba(Mg_1/3Ta_2/3)O₃ ceramics. This involves the reaction of the heterometallic alkoxide Ta₂Mg(OEt)₁₂ with hydrated barium hydroxide Ba(OH)₂·8H₂O. Complete crystallization of the sol–gel-derived powder is achieved at 600°C, leading to a cubic perovskite type phase. After sintering at 1400°C (2–5 h), a trigonal cell arises from Mg–Ta ordering (the degree of order is greater than 0.9), and about 98.5% of the theoretical density is obtained. Preliminary microwave dielectric measurements show that the dielectric constant and the unloaded Q _u of the ceramics are 24.2 and 6750, respectively, at 7.7 GHz.     

Reasoning about fuzzy temporal information from the web: towards retrieval of historical events

When searching for information about historical events, queries are naturally formulated using temporal constraints. However, the structured temporal information needed to support such constraints is usually not available to information retrieval systems. Furthermore, the temporal boundaries of most historical events are inherently ill-defined, calling for suitable extensions of classical temporal reasoning frameworks. In this paper, we propose a framework based on a fuzzification of Allen’s Interval Algebra to cope with these issues. By using simple heuristic techniques to extract temporal information from web documents, we initially focus more on recall than on precision, relying on the subsequent application of a fuzzy temporal reasoner to improve the reliability of the extracted information, and to deal with conflicts that arise because of the vagueness of events. Experimental results indicate that a consistent and reliable knowledge base of fuzzy temporal relations can thus be obtained, which effectively allows us to target temporally constrained retrieval tasks.