Development of the Hybrid Weight Assessment System for Multiple Quality Attributes

When designing a product or process, a design engineer is often faced with a number of quality attributes and hence prioritizing the quality attributes is an inevitable task. Development of an adequate weight assessment system for multiple attributes in the early stage of design is crucial, since the choice of paths to quality enhancement depends heavily upon the type of weight assessment system used. Although several weight assessment methods are available in the literature, there is room for improvement. Most weight assessment methods reported in the research community have been developed from the perspective of either customers or a design engineer. This article proposes a hybrid weight assessment system by combining the perspectives of both parties, the customer and a design engineer, in such a way that uncertainty of human perceptions can be modeled using the concepts of fuzzy sets and Monte Carlo simulation. A model is presented and a numerical example is discussed.     

Compaction behavior of fine-grained soils,lateritic soils and crushed rocks

This paper studies compaction characteristics and California Bearing Ratio, CBR values of fine-grained soils, lateritic soils and crushed rocks. All test data were collated from the Bureau of Rural Road 6, the Department of Rural Roads, Thailand. The Ohio's and the modified Ohio's curves can predict satisfactorily the compaction curves of the fine-grained soils, and lateritic soils and crushed rocks consistent with the grade B of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) requirement. The CBR value of a specific soil is directly related to the relative dry unit weight (the ratio of dry unit weight to maximum dry unit weight, γ_d/γ_d,max). The field compaction result of a fine-grained soil at the optimum water content, OWC, shows that initially the dry unit weight increases rapidly with the number of roller passes and the relationship between dry unit weight and number of roller passes is represented by the logarithm function. Finally, the dry unit weight reaches a constant value, which is close to the laboratory maximum dry unit weight. Even with a large number of roller passes (compaction energy), the dry unit weight cannot be enhanced further because the soil state approaches the zero air void state. In practice, the excess roller pass is thus not economic. Based on the analysis of the test data, the field compaction procedure for road embankment and pavement constructions, which includes the material selection and the construction control, is suggested. It is useful in terms of both engineering and economic viewpoints.     

Determination of Cd,Cu, and Zn in fish and mussel by AAS after ultrasound-assisted acid leaching extraction

An ultrasound-assisted solid–liquid extraction procedure by using diluted mixed acid solution was developed for determination of cadmium, copper and zinc in fish and mussel samples. The effects of several parameters such as nitric acid concentration, hydrochloric acid concentration, hydrogen peroxide concentration, leaching solution volume, and sonication time have been investigated. A 30-min sonication, 56 °C operating temperature and 6 mL of 1:1:1 HNO₃(4 M):HCl(4 M):H₂O₂(0.5 M) were used for 0.5 g of dried sample. Cadmium and copper were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, and zinc was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The results obtained from the proposed procedure were evaluated by comparison with the results obtained by microwave-assisted digestion. Ratio (%) of metal amount obtained from leaching technique to amount obtained from digestion technique for cadmium, copper and zinc ranged from 92% to 114% for fish and from 88% to 103% for mussel samples. The MDL were 0.02, 0.13 and 0.63 mg kg⁻¹ for cadmium, copper and zinc, respectively. The accuracy of the developed method was investigated by analyzing a dogfish muscle certified reference material (DORM-2). Recoveries were obtained in the order of 80.9 ± 0.3 and 87.2 ± 0.6%.     

As(V) removal using a magnetic layered double hydroxide composite

The Mg–Fe–Zr layered double hydroxide/Fe₃O₄ composite was synthesized by co-precipitation of layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursors in the presence of Fe₃O₄ particles and its arsenic adsorption behavior was investigated. The material characterization by XRD, TEM, surface area analysis, SEM-EDX, and VSM revealed that the composite was comprised of Fe₃O₄ particles covered by an LDH. The As(V) adsorption capacity of the composite (188 mg/g) was achieved at pH 3. The kinetics studies and adsorption isotherms suggested a two-stepped adsorption mechanism of the monolayer adsorption inside the interlayers of LDH.     

Extraction of heavy metal ions from leachate of cement-based stabilized waste using purpurin functionalized resin

A new chelating resin was synthesized by functionalization of a polymer support, Amberlite XAD-2 with purpurin through an azo linkage (NN). The products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The optimum conditions for the extraction of Cd(II), Cr(III) and Pb(II) in two matrices; leachate from cement-based material and de-ionized water, were studied by batch and column methods. The determination of the metal ions was carried out by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The optimum pH for the extraction of all metal ions in both matrices were at 4.0. Their sorption equilibrium was reached within 1h. The sorbed Cd(II) and Pb(II) were eluted by 1% HNO3 within 10 min with the desorption recovery of >90%. The elution of Cr(III) by 3% H2O2 in 0.1 M NaOH was achieved within 30 min with the desorption recovery of >80%. The sorption capacity of Cd(II), Cr(III) and Pb(II) onto the resin was 75.0, 68.2, 82.7 micromol g(-1) resin in DI water and 54.1, 46.5 and 55.7 micromol g(-1) resin in leachate, respectively. The extraction efficiency in the column method can be improved using the recirculation system. This new method gave a good accuracy in batch system with the recovery of 86.5 and 89.9% for Cd(II) and Pb(II) and R.S.D. less than 2.3% (n=14).     

Hybrid Deep Learning Based on a Heterogeneous Network Profile for Functional Annotations of Plasmodium falciparum Genes

Functional annotation of unknown function genes reveals unidentified functions that can enhance our understanding of complex genome communications. A common approach for inferring gene function involves the ortholog-based method. However, genetic data alone are often not enough to provide information for function annotation. Thus, integrating other sources of data can potentially increase the possibility of retrieving annotations. Network-based methods are efficient techniques for exploring interactions among genes and can be used for functional inference. In this study, we present an analysis framework for inferring the functions of Plasmodium falciparum genes based on connection profiles in a heterogeneous network between human and Plasmodium falciparum proteins. These profiles were fed into a hybrid deep learning algorithm to predict the orthologs of unknown function genes. The results show high performance of the model’s predictions, with an AUC of 0.89. One hundred and twenty-one predicted pairs with high prediction scores were selected for inferring the functions using statistical enrichment analysis. Using this method, PF3D7_1248700 and PF3D7_0401800 were found to be involved with muscle contraction and striated muscle tissue development, while PF3D7_1303800 and PF3D7_1201000 were found to be related to protein dephosphorylation. In conclusion, combining a heterogeneous network and a hybrid deep learning technique can allow us to identify unknown gene functions of malaria parasites. This approach is generalized and can be applied to other diseases that enhance the field of biomedical science.     

Strength Development in Cement Admixed Bangkok Clay: Laboratory and Field Investigations

The in-situ deep mixing technique has been established as an effective means to effect columnar inclusions into soft Bangkok clay to enhance bearing capacity and reduce settlement. In this paper, an attempt is made to identify the critical factors governing the strength development in cement admixed Bangkok clay in both the laboratory and the field. It is found that clay-water/cement ratio, w_c/C is the prime parameter controlling the laboratory strength development when the liquidity index varies between 1 and 2. Based on this parameter and Abrams' law, the strength prediction equation for various curing times and combinations of clay water content and cement content is proposed and verified. This will help minimize the number of trials necessary to arrive at the quantity of cement to be admixed. Besides the w_c/C, the strength of deep mixing column is controlled by the execution and curing conditions. For low strength improvement (laboratory 28-day strength less than 1,500 kPa), the field strength of the deep mixing columns, q_uf, made up from both dry and wet mixing methods is higher than 0.6 times the laboratory strength, q_ul. The q_uf/q_ul ratios for the wet mixing columns are generally higher than those for the dry mixing columns. This higher strength ratio is due to the dissipation of the excess water in the column (consolidation) caused by the field stress. The water to cement ratio, W/C, of 1.0 is recommended for the wet mixing method of the soft Bangkok clay. A fast installation rate was shown to provide high quality for low strength columns. Suggestions are made for improving the deep mixing of soft Bangkok clay, which are very useful both from economic and engineering viewpoints.