A New Approach to Fuzzy Arithmetic

This work shows an application of a generalized approach for constructing dilation-erosion adjunctions on fuzzy sets. More precisely, operations on fuzzy quantities and fuzzy numbers are considered. By the generalized approach an analogy with the well known interval computations could be drawn and thus we can define outer and inner operations on fuzzy objects. These operations are found to be useful in the control of bioprocesses, ecology and other domains where data uncertainties exist.

The non-timber forest products sector in nepal : policy issues in plant conservation and utilization

The non-timber forest products (NTFPs) sector in Nepal is being promoted with the concept of sustainable management as articulated by the Convention on Biological Diversity. To promote and regulate this sector, Nepal adopted the Herbs and NTFP Development Policy in 2004. The goal of this thesis was to assess the effectiveness of this policy along with other forestry and natural resource policies in Nepal concerning the conservation and sustainable use of NTFPs. I conducted open-ended semi-structured interviews with 28 key informants in summer 2006 in Nepal where I also collected relevant documents and publications. I did qualitative analysis of data obtained from interviews and document review. The research found many important issues that need to be addressed to promote the NTFP sector as envisioned by the Government of Nepal. The findings of this research will help to further implement the policy and promote the NTFP sector through sustainable management practices.

(Table S1) Qualitative and semi-quantitative abundance of magnetic particles in Paleocene-Eocene sediments

On the mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain of the United States, Paleocene sands and silts are replaced during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) by the kaolinite-rich Marlboro Clay. The clay preserves abundant magnetite produced by magnetotactic bacteria and novel, presumptively eukaryotic, iron-biomineralizing microorganisms. Using ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy and electron microscopy, we map the magnetofossil distribution in the context of stratigraphy and carbon isotope data and identify three magnetic facies in the clay: one characterized by a mix of detrital particles and magnetofossils, a second with a higher magnetofossil-to-detrital ratio, and a third with only transient magnetofossils. The distribution of these facies suggests that suboxic conditions promoting magnetofossil production and preservation occurred throughout inner middle neritic sediments of the Salisbury Embayment but extended only transiently to outer neritic sediments and the flanks of the embayment. Such a distribution is consistent with the development of a system resembling a modern tropical river-dominated shelf.

Surface water subduction during a downwelling event in a semi-enclosed bay

The Ría de Vigo is a bay strongly influenced by upwelling-downwelling cycles along the adjacent coast of NW Iberia. Moored and ship-board observations during September 2006 showed that subduction, initially associated with an estuarine circulation, strengthened when a strong downwelling circulation, resulting from northward wind over the coastal ocean, was generated in the outer ría causing ambient waters to be advected outward in the lower layer. Incoming surface waters confined the estuarine circulation to the shallow interior and displaced isopleths downward through the water column at ∼10 m d−1. As the estuarine circulation retreated inward, strong flow convergence developed between middle and inner ria in the layer above 15 m, while divergence developed beneath. The convergence increased through the period of downwelling-favorable wind at a rate consistent with the observed isopleth displacement velocities. The coefficient of turbulent diffusion Kt, from a microstructure profiler, indicated that mixing was strong in the estuarine circulation and subsequently in the downwelling zone, where localized instabilities and temperature-salinity inversions were observed. During the downwelling, concentrations of phytoplankton, including potentially harmful species, increased, especially in the middle and inner ria, as a result of inward advection, subduction and the ability of the dinoflagellates to maintain their position in the water column by swimming. In the course of the 5 day event, the water mass of all but the innermost ría was flushed completely and replaced by waters originating in the coastally-trapped poleward flow along the Atlantic coastline.

Surface water subduction during a downwelling event in a semi-enclosed bay

The Ría de Vigo is a bay strongly influenced by upwelling-downwelling cycles along the adjacent coast of NW Iberia. Moored and ship-board observations during September 2006 showed that subduction, initially associated with an estuarine circulation, strengthened when a strong downwelling circulation, resulting from northward wind over the coastal ocean, was generated in the outer ría causing ambient waters to be advected outward in the lower layer. Incoming surface waters confined the estuarine circulation to the shallow interior and displaced isopleths downward through the water column at ∼10 m d−1. As the estuarine circulation retreated inward, strong flow convergence developed between middle and inner ria in the layer above 15 m, while divergence developed beneath. The convergence increased through the period of downwelling-favorable wind at a rate consistent with the observed isopleth displacement velocities. The coefficient of turbulent diffusion Kt, from a microstructure profiler, indicated that mixing was strong in the estuarine circulation and subsequently in the downwelling zone, where localized instabilities and temperature-salinity inversions were observed. During the downwelling, concentrations of phytoplankton, including potentially harmful species, increased, especially in the middle and inner ria, as a result of inward advection, subduction and the ability of the dinoflagellates to maintain their position in the water column by swimming. In the course of the 5 day event, the water mass of all but the innermost ría was flushed completely and replaced by waters originating in the coastally-trapped poleward flow along the Atlantic coastline.

Produção de fibras de alumina biomórfica a partir do sisal

Sisal is a renewable agricultural resource adapted to the hostile climatic and soil conditions particularly encountered in the semi-arid areas of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Consequently, sisal has played a strategic role in the economy of the region, as one of few options of income available in the semi-arid. Find new options and adding value to products manufactured from sisal are goals that contribute not only to the scientific and technological development of the Northeastern region, but also to the increase of the family income for people that live in the semi-arid areas where sisal is grown. Lignocellulosic fibers are extracted from sisal and commonly used to produce both handcrafted and industrial goods including ropes, mats and carpets. Alternatively, addedvalue products can be made using sisal to produce alumina fibers (Al2O3) by biotemplating, which consists in the reproduction of the natural fiber-like structure of the starting material. The objective of this study was to evaluate the conditions necessary to convert sisal into alumina fibers by biotemplating. Alumina fibers were obtaining after pretreating sisal fibers and infiltrating them with a Al2Cl6 saturated solution, alumina sol from aluminum isopropoxide or aluminum gas. Heat-treating temperatures varied from 1200 ºC to 1650 °C. The resulting fibers were then characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscopy. Fibers obtained by liquid infiltration revealed conversion only of the surface of the fiber into α-Al2O3, which yielded limited resistance to handling. Gas infiltration resulted in stronger fibers with better reproduction of the inner structure of the original fiber. All converted fibers consisted of 100% α-Al2O3 suggesting a wide range of technological applications especially those that require thermal isolation

Introduction of African Swine Fever into the European Union through Illegal Importation of Pork and Pork Products

Transboundary animal diseases can have very severe socio-economic impacts when introduced into new regions. The history of disease incursions into the European Union suggests that initial outbreaks were often initiated by illegal importation of meat and derived products. The European Union would benefit from decision-support tools to evaluate the risk of disease introduction caused by illegal imports in order to inform its surveillance strategy. However, due to the difficulty in quantifying illegal movements of animal products, very few studies of this type have been conducted. Using African swine fever as an example, this work presents a novel risk assessment framework for disease introduction into the European Union through illegal importation of meat and products. It uses a semi-quantitative approach based on factors that likely influence the likelihood of release of contaminated smuggled meat and products, and subsequent exposure of the susceptible population. The results suggest that the European Union is at non-negligible risk of African swine fever.

Determinazione gascromatografica di composti organici volatili e semi-volatili (VOCs e SVOCs) in poliolefine ed effetti delle condizioni di lavorazione

A relevant problem of polyolefins processing is the presence of volatile and semi-volatile compounds (VOCs and SVOCs) such as linear chains alkanes found out in final products. These VOCs can be detected by customers from the unpleasant smelt and can be an environmental issue, at the same time they can cause negative side effects during process. Since no previously standardized analytical techniques for polymeric matrix are available in bibliography, we have implemented different VOCs extraction methods and gaschromatographic analysis for quali-quantitative studies of such compounds. In literature different procedures can be found including microwave extraction (MAE) and thermo desorption (TDS) used with different purposes. TDS coupled with GC-MS are necessary for the identification of different compounds in the polymer matrix. Although the quantitative determination is complex, the results obtained from TDS/GC-MS show that by-products are mainly linear chains oligomers with even number of carbon in a C8-C22 range (for HDPE). In order to quantify these linear alkanes by-products, a more accurate GC-FID determination with internal standard has been run on MAE extracts. Regardless the type of extruder used, it is difficult to distinguish the effect of the various processes, which in any case entails having a lower-boiling substance content, lower than the corresponding virgin polymer. The two HDPEs studied can be distinguished on the basis of the quantity of analytes found, therefore the production process is mainly responsible for the amount of VOCs and SVOCs observed. The extruder technology used by Sacmi SC allows to obtain a significant reduction in VOCs compared to the conventional screw system. Thus, the result is significantly important as a lower quantity of volatile substances certainly leads to a lower migration of such materials, especially when used for food packaging.

Data-stream driven Fuzzy-granular approaches for system maintenance

Intelligent systems are currently inherent to the society, supporting a synergistic human-machine collaboration. Beyond economical and climate factors, energy consumption is strongly affected by the performance of computing systems. The quality of software functioning may invalidate any improvement attempt. In addition, data-driven machine learning algorithms are the basis for human-centered applications, being their interpretability one of the most important features of computational systems. Software maintenance is a critical discipline to support automatic and life-long system operation. As most software registers its inner events by means of logs, log analysis is an approach to keep system operation. Logs are characterized as Big data assembled in large-flow streams, being unstructured, heterogeneous, imprecise, and uncertain. This thesis addresses fuzzy and neuro-granular methods to provide maintenance solutions applied to anomaly detection (AD) and log parsing (LP), dealing with data uncertainty, identifying ideal time periods for detailed software analyses. LP provides deeper semantics interpretation of the anomalous occurrences. The solutions evolve over time and are general-purpose, being highly applicable, scalable, and maintainable. Granular classification models, namely, Fuzzy set-Based evolving Model (FBeM), evolving Granular Neural Network (eGNN), and evolving Gaussian Fuzzy Classifier (eGFC), are compared considering the AD problem. The evolving Log Parsing (eLP) method is proposed to approach the automatic parsing applied to system logs. All the methods perform recursive mechanisms to create, update, merge, and delete information granules according with the data behavior. For the first time in the evolving intelligent systems literature, the proposed method, eLP, is able to process streams of words and sentences. Essentially, regarding to AD accuracy, FBeM achieved (85.64+-3.69)%; eGNN reached (96.17+-0.78)%; eGFC obtained (92.48+-1.21)%; and eLP reached (96.05+-1.04)%. Besides being competitive, eLP particularly generates a log grammar, and presents a higher level of model interpretability.

Hearing Preservation And Cochlear Implants According To Inner Ear Approach: Multicentric Evaluation.

Electroacoustic stimulation is an excellent option for people with residual hearing in the low frequencies, who obtain insufficient benefit with hearing aids. To be effective, the subject's residual hearing should be preserved during cochlear implant surgery. To evaluate the hearing preservation in patients that underwent implant placement and to compare the results in accordance with the approach to the inner ear. 19 subjects underwent a soft surgical technique, and the electrode MED-EL FLEX™ EAS, designed to be atraumatic, was used. We evaluated pre- and postoperative tonal audiometric tests with an average of 18.4 months after implantation, to measure the rate of hearing preservation. 17 patients had total or partial preservation of residual hearing; 5 had total hearing preservation and two individuals had no preservation of hearing. The insertion of the electrode occurred through a cochleostomy in 3 patients, and in 2 of these there was no hearing preservation; the other 16 patients experienced electrode insertion through a round window approach. All patients benefited from the cochlear implant, even those who are only using electrical stimulation. The hearing preservation occurred in 89.4% of cases. There was no significant difference between the forms of inner ear approach.

Gut Bacteria Products Prevent Aki Induced By Ischemia-reperfusion.

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are fermentation end products produced by the intestinal microbiota and have anti-inflammatory and histone deacetylase-inhibiting properties. Recently, a dual relationship between the intestine and kidneys has been unraveled. Therefore, we evaluated the role of SCFA in an AKI model in which the inflammatory process has a detrimental role. We observed that therapy with the three main SCFAs (acetate, propionate, and butyrate) improved renal dysfunction caused by injury. This protection was associated with low levels of local and systemic inflammation, oxidative cellular stress, cell infiltration/activation, and apoptosis. However, it was also associated with an increase in autophagy. Moreover, SCFAs inhibited histone deacetylase activity and modulated the expression levels of enzymes involved in chromatin modification. In vitro analyses showed that SCFAs modulated the inflammatory process, decreasing the maturation of dendritic cells and inhibiting the capacity of these cells to induce CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell proliferation. Furthermore, SCFAs ameliorated the effects of hypoxia in kidney epithelial cells by improving mitochondrial biogenesis. Notably, mice treated with acetate-producing bacteria also had better outcomes after AKI. Thus, we demonstrate that SCFAs improve organ function and viability after an injury through modulation of the inflammatory process, most likely via epigenetic modification.

Application Of A Semi-empirical Model For The Evaluation Of Transmission Properties Of Barite Mortar.

The aim of this study was to estimate barite mortar attenuation curves using X-ray spectra weighted by a workload distribution. A semi-empirical model was used for the evaluation of transmission properties of this material. Since ambient dose equivalent, H(⁎)(10), is the radiation quantity adopted by IAEA for dose assessment, the variation of the H(⁎)(10) as a function of barite mortar thickness was calculated using primary experimental spectra. A CdTe detector was used for the measurement of these spectra. The resulting spectra were adopted for estimating the optimized thickness of protective barrier needed for shielding an area in an X-ray imaging facility.

Evaluation Of Characteristic-to-total Spectrum Ratio: Comparison Between Experimental And A Semi-empirical Model.

Primary X-ray spectra were measured in the range of 80-150kV in order to validate a computer program based on a semiempirical model. The ratio between the characteristic and total air Kerma was considered to compare computed results and experimental data. Results show that the experimental spectra have higher first HVL and mean energy than the calculated ones. The ratios between the characteristic and total air Kerma for calculated spectra are in good agreement with experimental results for all filtrations used.

Semi-determinate Growth Habit Adjusts The Vegetative-to-reproductive Balance And Increases Productivity And Water-use Efficiency In Tomato (solanum Lycopersicum).

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) shows three growth habits: determinate, indeterminate and semi-determinate. These are controlled mainly by allelic variation in the SELF-PRUNING (SP) gene family, which also includes the florigen gene SINGLE FLOWER TRUSS (SFT). Determinate cultivars have synchronized flower and fruit production, which allows mechanical harvesting in the tomato processing industry, whereas indeterminate ones have more vegetative growth with continuous flower and fruit formation, being thus preferred for fresh market tomato production. The semi-determinate growth habit is poorly understood, although there are indications that it combines advantages of determinate and indeterminate growth. Here, we used near-isogenic lines (NILs) in the cultivar Micro-Tom (MT) with different growth habit to characterize semi-determinate growth and to determine its impact on developmental and productivity traits. We show that semi-determinate genotypes are equivalent to determinate ones with extended vegetative growth, which in turn impacts shoot height, number of leaves and either stem diameter or internode length. Semi-determinate plants also tend to increase the highly relevant agronomic parameter Brix×ripe yield (BRY). Water-use efficiency (WUE), evaluated either directly as dry mass produced per amount of water transpired or indirectly through C isotope discrimination, was higher in semi-determinate genotypes. We also provide evidence that the increases in BRY in semi-determinate genotypes are a consequence of an improved balance between vegetative and reproductive growth, a mechanism analogous to the conversion of the overly vegetative tall cereal varieties into well-balanced semi-dwarf ones used in the Green Revolution.

Resistência mecânica de hidrogéis termo-sensíveis constituídos de Alginato-Ca2+ / PNIPAAm, tipo Semi-IPN

Thermosensitive hydrogels were synthesized using alginate-Ca2+ in association with a thermosensitive polymer, such as PNIPAAm. The mechanical properties of the hydrogels were determined measuring the maximum tension of deformation. With the increase of the temperature by 25 to 40 ºC above the LCST the chains of PNIPAAm collapsed, dragging the alginate net and diminishing the size of the pores. The decrease in the size of the pores of the hydrogel was followed by an increase in the mechanicals resistance of the material.