Single transferable vote with Borda elimination: proportional representation, moderation, quasi-chaos and stability

Modifying single transferable vote (STV) by removing candidates according to their Borda scores creates a new vote counting system (STV-B) that is not quasi-chaotic, results in proportional representation, and promotes the election of moderate candidates. Dummett, M.A.E. [1997. Principles of Electoral Reform. Oxford University, New York] noted quasi-chaos in STV and proposed the “Quota/Borda system” (QBS) as a solution. STV-B and QBS retain proportional representation from STV, permit some influence on candidate selection to occur between voting blocks thereby promoting moderate results, and are much more stable than STV when subjected to small changes in voter preferences. Under STV-B, and not QBS, a minority that shares some preferences may elect a candidate even if the minority is not a solid coalition.

Prediction of children's flavour preferences. Effect of age and stability in reported preferences

The present study investigated whether children were able to communicate stable flavour preferences and whether mothers’ ability to correctly identify their child's flavour preferences is related to the stability of their child's flavour preferences. On 2 consecutive days, 75 girls and 77 boys (3–10 years, mean age = 7.1 ± 2.3 years) carried out a preference ranking task for five ice-cream flavours: mint, coffee, chocolate and two variants of vanilla. Without input from their child, mothers ranked four of these flavours according to their own understanding of their child's flavour preferences. Spearman rank order correlations suggest that older aged children (5–10 years) have more stable flavour preferences than younger aged children (3–5 years) (p < 0.05). Only 39% of mothers were able to correctly predict children's most preferred flavour, but significantly more parents (61%) were able to predict children's least preferred flavour (p < 0.05). Mothers’ ability to correctly predict their children's least preferred flavour seemed to be facilitated by children's ability to communicate their least preferred flavours in a consistent manner (p < 0.05). It is recommended to apply proper sensory methodologies with children rather than relying on mothers’ report when interested in children's likes. When interested in children's dislikes mothers’ report might be suitable.

Ordering and stability in conducting polypyrrole

X-ray diffraction (XRD) was employed to characterize electrochemically synthesized polypyrrole (PPy) films with 1,5-naphthalene disulfonate (1,5-NDS) counterions treated with simple acid and base. Results show that the as-synthesized film is amorphous with short-range ordering in the polymer backbone. This ordering is soon lost after thermal ageing at 150°C for 60 days and there is evidence of counterion degradation. Base treatment of the PPy/1,5-NDS films has similar effects leading to a complete loss of ordering in the polymer backbone and dedoping of the polymer. Acid treatment at high temperatures increases the ordering of the polymer backbone and results in the development of a secondary interdopant peak confirming that ion exchange has occurred. Conductivity of the PPy was also increased substantially. The enhanced ordering was maintained even after thermal ageing. Room-temperature acid treatment also results in improved ordering of the polymer as well as the counterion but the increase in conductivity is only marginal and most of the ordering is soon lost after thermal ageing. Increase in ordering of the polymer structure seems to lead to better conductivity, although not necessarily improved thermal stability.

Solubility and Stability of cytochrome c in hydrated ionic liquids : effect of oxo acid residues and kosmotropicity

Hydrated ionic liquids (ILs) were prepared by adding appropriate amounts of water to hydrophilic ILs. Some hydrated ILs show excellent solubilizing ability for proteins, keeping the basic properties of ILs. The solubility of cytochrome c (cyt c) depended on the structure of the component ions. When component anions have oxo acid residues, the resulting hydrated ILs solubilize cyt c quite well. In such hydrated ILs, the structure and activity of cyt c is influenced by the kosmotropicity of the component ions. We synthesized ILs from various ions having different kosmotropicity, including dihydrogen phosphate (dhp), dibutylphosphate, acetate, lactate, and methanesulfonate as anions. The activity of the dissolved cyt c depends on the permutations of kosmotropicity of the component ions. cyt c shows no structural change and retains its activity when dissolved in the hydrated choline dhp, which is an excellent combination of chaotropic cation and kosmotropic anion. Furthermore, cyt c dissolved in the hydrated choline dhp remained in a native state and was active after 18 months of storage at room temperature.

Oxidation and stability of food grade fish oil : role of antioxidants

Oxidation of lipids containing unsaturated fatty acids is a common and complicated phenomenon. Volatile compounds generated during the oxidation of fish oil contribute to the unfavourable flavours and odours of the oil and the food products containing them. Although the initial mechanism of the oxidation seems simple, the mechanism and product mix become much more complicated and unpredictable during its progress, depending upon factors including the nature of the substrate and its environment. Oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic, linoleic, and α-linolenic, predominantly from vegetable oils, and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from fish or microbial oil, produce several types of flavour volatiles that affect the sensory properties of these oils. Antioxidants are commonly used to retard the oxidation and improve the quality of food-grade oils. This chapter will discuss mechanisms of lipid oxidation and methods to control lipid oxidation, including the use of antioxidants.

Consistency and stability in aggregation operators : an application to missing data problems

In this work we analyze the key issue of the relationship that should hold between the operators in a family {An} of aggregation operators in order to understand they properly define a consistent whole. Here we extend some of the ideas about stability of a family of aggregation operators into a more general framework, formally defining the notions of i – L and j – R strict stability for families of aggregation operators. The notion of strict stability of order k is introduced as well. Finally, we also present an application of the strict stability conditions to deal with missing data problems in an information aggregation process. For this analysis, we have focused in the weighted mean family and the quasi-arithmetic weighted means families.

Dynamic load variation and stability analysis in distribution networks with distributed generators

In this paper, the modeling of the distribution network is done in a different way where the distributed generator and dynamic loads are considered. Based on this modeling, this paper presents an analysis to investigate the dynamic and static load variation effect on the distribution network. Graphical interface industry software is used to conduct all the aspects of model implementation and carry out the extensive simulation studies. Here also focuses on the worst case scenario and the different fault effect on the generator. Finally, this paper presents the voltage profile for different penetration with different network configurations.

An organic ionic plastic crystal electrolyte for rate capability and stability of ambient temperature lithium batteries

Reliable, safe and high performance solid electrolytes are a critical step in the advancement of high energy density secondary batteries. In the present work we demonstrate a novel solid electrolyte based on the organic ionic plastic crystal (OIPC) triisobutyl(methyl)phosphonium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (P1444FSI). With the addition of 4 mol% LiFSI, the OIPC shows a high conductivity of 0.26 mS cm-1 at 22 °C. The ion transport mechanisms have been rationalized by compiling thermal phase behaviour and crystal structure information obtained by variable temperature synchrotron X-ray diffraction. With a large electrochemical window (ca. 6 V) and importantly, the formation of a stable and highly conductive solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), we were able to cycle lithium cells (LiLiFePO4) at 30 °C and 20 °C at rates of up to 1 C with good capacity retention. At the 0.1 C rate, about 160 mA h g-1 discharge capacity was achieved at 20 °C, which is the highest for OIPC based cells to date. It is anticipated that these small phosphonium cation and [FSI] anion based OIPCs will show increasing significance in the field of solid electrolytes.