Concepts and fuzzy logic

Weights are used to measure relative importance of multiple attributes or objectives, which influence evaluation or decision results to a great degree. Thus, analyzing weight sensitivity is an important work for a multi-attribute evaluation or decision. A measuring method based on the inclined angle of two vectors is proposed in this paper in order to solve the weight sensitivity of a multi-attribute evaluation with isotonicity characteristic. This method uses the cosine of the inclined angle to measure the weight sensitivity based on preferences or preference combinations. Concepts of sensitivity space, degree, and angle are given, and the relevant measurement method is discussed and proved. Also, this method is used for the choice of the water environment protection projects in Heyuan City.     

Rethinking the experiment: necessary (R)evolution

The current assumptions of knowledge acquisition brought about the crisis in the reproducibility of experiments. A complementary perspective should account for the specific causality characteristic of life by integrating past, present, and future. A “second Cartesian revolution,” informed by and in awareness of anticipatory processes, should result in scientific methods that transcend the theology of determinism and reductionism. In our days, science, itself an expression of anticipatory activity, makes possible alternative understandings of reality and its dynamics. For this purpose, the study advances G-complexity for defining and comparing decidable and undecidable knowledge. AI and related computational expressions of knowledge could benefit from the awareness of what distinguishes the dynamics of life from any other expressions of change.     

Fat crystal-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions as controlled release systems

Fat crystal-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions were developed as a controlled release matrix for the delivery of salt. Glycerol monostearate (GMS), glycerol monooleate (GMO) and polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) were used as emulsifiers and hydrogenated canola oil (HCO) was added as a solid fat. Salt release towards an external aqueous phase was measured via conductivity as a function of temperature. Following 2 h of release at room temperature, the GMS emulsion had the highest encapsulation efficiency followed by the PGPR-HCO, PGPR-only and GMO–HCO emulsions, respectively. The GMS crystals formed Pickering shells around the water droplets that effectively prevented salt transport whereas in the GMO–HCO emulsion, the presence of partial interfacial HCO crystal coverage resulted in lower retention. All crystal-stabilized emulsions showed rapid release of their salt load upon melting of the surrounding solid fat, while little temperature effect was observed with the PGPR-based emulsions. However, these emulsions were sensitive to the presence of a salt concentration gradient whereas the fat crystal-stabilized emulsions showed little response. Overall, this study demonstrated that the spatial distribution of the stabilizing fat crystals (i.e., interfacial vs. continuous phase) as well as the emulsifier type were critical factors controlling salt release patterns.     

Adhesion potential of relining materials to polyamide and PMMA-based denture base materials: effect of surface conditioning methods

This study evaluated the bond strength of relining materials to different denture base materials polyamide and polymethylmethacrylate denture base materials after various surface conditioning methods. Denture base resin specimens (N?=?128; n?=?8 per group) (10?×?10?×?2.5?mm³) were fabricated out of injection-moulded thermoplastic polyamide resin (POL) (Deflex) and heat-polymerized polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA, Dura Dent) (HC). The specimens were randomly divided into 4 main groups according to different surface conditioning methods: (a) No conditioning, control (C), (b) grinding with green stone (G), (c) application of primer (V), (d) silica coating with Al₂O₃ particles coated with SiO₂ (Rocatec) (R). Half of the specimens in each group received auto-polymerized hard relining resin (GC, GC Reline Hard) and the other half PMMA based relining resin (SC, Dura Dent). After thermocycling (×5000), the bonded specimens were tested under tensile forces (0.5?mm/min). Data (MPa) were analyzed using Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests (alpha = 0.05). Bond strength of relining resins were significantly higher to PMMA than to POL, regardless of the conditioning method (p?<?0.05). While R positively affected the bond strength results (p?<?0.05) (4.99?±?1.65–3.27?±?1.31), application V or G did not show significant effect to POL-relining resin adhesion. After R conditioning, bond strength values were significantly higher in HC-GC group (7.48?±?2.32) than POL-GC group (3.27?±?1.31) (p?<?0.05). Adhesion of auto-polymerized relining materials to thermoplastic polyamide or polymethylmethacrylate denture resins could be improved after surface conditioning with silica-coating.     

Anticipation and the artificial: aesthetics, ethics, and synthetic life

If complexity is a necessary but not sufficient premise for the existence and expression of the living, anticipation is the distinguishing characteristic of what is alive. Anticipation is at work even at levels of existence where we cannot refer to intelligence. The prospect of artificially generating aesthetic artifacts and ethical constructs of relevance to a world in which the natural and the artificial are coexistent cannot be subsumed as yet another product of scientific and technological advancement. Beyond the artificial, the synthetic conjures the understanding of aesthetics and ethics no longer from the perspective of the How? type of question, but rather the Why? Given the current infatuation with synthetic biology (i.e., making life from non-life), there is a practical consequence to such considerations. Synthetic life, as any other form of life, implies the possibility of evolution. Anticipation, which is the underlying factor of evolution, is thus expected. At the level of human existence, anticipation is expressed, for instance (but not exclusively), in aesthetic forms and ethical values. This translates, in turn, into an argument for the role aesthetics and ethics play in the process. Consequently, to qualify as life, the synthesis of the physical and the living will have to efficiently handle ambiguity. Current computational facilities, regardless of their nature or performance, operate exclusively in the semiotic domain of the well defined non-ambiguous.     

An investigation of atomic force microscopy,surface topography and adhesion of luting cements to zirconia: effect of silica coating,zirconia primer and laser

This study evaluated the effect various surface conditioning methods on the surface topography and adhesion of luting cements to zirconia. Zirconia blocks (N?=?25) were randomly assigned to five groups according to the surface conditioning methods: (a) No conditioning, control (CON), (b) tribochemical silica coating (TSC), (c) MDP-based zirconia primer (ZRP), (d) coating with nano aluminum nitride (ALN) (e) etching with Er: YAG laser (LAS). The conditioned zirconia blocks were further divided into five subgroups to receive the luting cements: (a) MDP-based resin cement (Panavia F2.0) (PAN), (b) 4-META-based cement (Super Bond) (SUB), (c) UDMA-based (GCem) (GCE), (d) bis-GMA based (Bifix QM) (BIF) and (e) polycarboxylate cement (Poly-F) (POL). Cements were applied in polyethylene moulds (diameter: 3?mm; height: 2?mm). The bonded specimens were first thermocycled for 5500 cycles (5–55?°C) and then adhesive interface was loaded under shear (0.5?mm/min). The data (MPa) were analyzed using 2-way ANOVA, Tukey’s and Bonneferroni tests (alpha?=?0.05). Regardless of the cement type, TSC resulted in significantly higher bond strength (p???0.05) (13.3?±?4.35–25.3?±?6.3) compared to other conditioning methods (2.96?±?1.5–5.4?±?5.47). Regardless of the surface conditioning method, no significant difference was found between MDP, 4-META and UDMA based cements (p?>?0.05) being significantly higher than those of bis-GMA and polycarboxylate cements (p???0.05). Failure types were frequently adhesive in all groups. Tribochemical silica coating provided superior bond results compared to other conditioning methods tested on zirconia especially in conjunction with UDMA- and 4-META-based resin cements.     

Anticipation – the underlying science of sport. Report on research in progress

Professional sport practitioners intuitively acknowledge anticipation. Sports researchers sometimes discuss it. Still, there is little data-based evidence to characterize the role anticipation plays in human performance. Even less documented is the distinction between reaction and anticipation. This text presents the real-time quantification environment developed as an AnticipationScope?. Based on a very large data harvest from this experimental set-up, hypotheses regarding the role of anticipation in sport are advanced. The conclusion is that while preparation and reaction play an important role in sports performance, in the final analysis anticipation distinguishes the professional from other sport practitioners. Work in progress is presented with the aim of engaging the community of researchers in the design of alternative methods for quantifying anticipation and for processing the data. Generalization from sport to human performance is one of the intended outcomes of this research.     

Task-contingent conscientiousness as a unit of personality at work.

The present study examined the viability of incorporating task-contingent units into the study of personality at work, using conscientiousness as an illustrative example. We used experience-sampling data from 123 managers to show that (a) momentary conscientiousness at work is contingent on the difficulty and urgency demands of the tasks people are engaged in, (b) there are significant and stable differences between people in the extent to which their conscientiousness behaviors are contingent on task demands, and (c) individual differences in task-contingent conscientiousness are related to, though distinct from, individual differences in trait conscientiousness. We also provide evidence in relation to (a) need for cognition as a possible antecedent of task-contingent conscientiousness and (b) adaptive performance on a cognitive task as a possible consequence of it. We discuss the theoretical implications of our findings for the cognitive nature of personality and the way in which conscientiousness is expressed at work. Practical implications in relation to the predictive function of personality and applications that focus on behavioral change are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)