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Construction Methods (construction + methods)
Selected AbstractsRelevancy transformation operators: Construction methodsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS, Issue 2 2006M. Mas This article deals with the construction of relevancy transformation (RET) operators for fuzzy systems. The notion of pseudo-duality is introduced to obtain new RET operators, and t -norms, t -conorms, nullnorms, and uninorms are used in different ways for the same purpose. Finally, several other methods to construct new RET operators from old ones are pointed out. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 21: 155,171, 2006. [source] Precision of prediction in second-order calibration, with focus on bilinear regression methodsJOURNAL OF CHEMOMETRICS, Issue 1 2002Marie Linder Abstract We consider calibration of hyphenated instruments with particular focus on determination of the unknown concentrations of new specimens. A hyphenated instrument generates for each specimen a two-way array of data. These are assumed to depend on the concentrations through a bilinear regression model, where each constituent is characterized by a pair of profiles to be determined in the calibration. We discuss the problem of predicting the unknown concentrations in a new specimen, after calibration. We formulate three different predictor construction methods, a ,naive' method, a least squares method, and a refined version of the latter that takes account of the calibration uncertainty. We give formulae for the uncertainty of the predictors under white noise, when calibration can be seen as precise. We refine these formulae to allow for calibration uncertainty, in particular when calibration is carried out by the bilinear least squares (BLLS) method or the singular value decomposition (SVD) method proposed by Linder and Sundberg (Chemometrics Intell. Lab. Syst. 1998; 42: 159,178). By error propagation formulae and previous results on the precision of and we can obtain approximate standard errors for the predicted concentrations, according to each of the two estimation methods. The performance of the predictors and the precision formulae is illustrated on both real (fluorescence) and simulated data. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The price paid for the second-order advantage when using the generalized rank annihilation method (GRAM)JOURNAL OF CHEMOMETRICS, Issue 9 2001Nicolaas (Klaas) M. Faber Abstract In a ground-breaking paper, Linder and Sundberg developed a statistical framework for the calibration of bilinear data (Chemometrics Intell. Lab. Syst. 1998; 42: 159,178). Within this framework they formulated three different predictor construction methods (J. Chemometrics accepted), namely a so-called naive method, a least squares (LS) method and a refined version of the latter that takes account of the calibration uncertainty. They showed that the naive method is statistically less efficient than the others under the assumption of white noise. In the current work a close relationship is established between the generalized rank annihilation method (GRAM) and the naive method by comparing expressions for prediction variance. The main conclusion is that the relatively poor efficiency of GRAM is the price one pays for obtaining the second-order advantage with a single calibration sample. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Emergence and diversity of different HIV-1 subtypes in South Africa, 2000,2001JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY, Issue 11 2009G.B. Jacobs Abstract HIV-1 is a major health problem in South Africa with an average prevalence rate of 29.1% in pregnant women and between 4.9 and 6.1 million people infected. Using env gp120 V3 serotyping and genotyping techniques 410 patient samples were investigated. Most of the samples were obtained from different clinics in the greater Cape Town area of the Western Cape Province in South Africa. These included an academic hospital, state and private clinics, an informal settlement, sex worker cohorts, and the blood transfusion services. RNA was extracted from plasma samples followed by RT-PCR and sequencing of the env gp120 V3 region. Sequence fragments were assembled using Sequencher V4.7 and subsequently codon aligned. Distance calculation, tree construction methods, and bootstrap analysis were implemented using MEGA version 4.0. Viral load measurements indicated that HIV-1 RNA levels from 74 samples were below the assay detection limit. Three hundred thirty-six samples were used for env PCR and sequencing and 320 were assigned to subtypes. The majority of the sequences were subtyped as C (n,=,285, 89.0%). Other subtypes detected were subtype A (n,=,10, 3.1%); subtype B (n,=,22, 6.8%); one each of subtypes F1, G, U, and a CH recombinant. Whether this diversity will have major implications for HIV-1 evolution and vaccine development in this region remains undetermined. J. Med. Virol. 81:1852,1859, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Life cycle inventory and analysis of re-usable plastic containers and display-ready corrugated containers used for packaging fresh fruits and vegetablesPACKAGING TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Issue 5 2006S. Paul Singh Abstract Today's demanding distribution challenges require engineers to choose from various types of materials, design and construction methods, to develop containers that can deliver goods with minimal damage. The challenge is even greater when packing and shipping goods which are perishable and sensitive to both physical and climatic changes in environment. In recent years the type of packaging material used to design and construct containers has undergone more scrutiny than ever, due to environmental challenges. This study focuses on two types of containers that have been designed and are being used to pack and ship fresh fruits and vegetables. The study compares the re-usable plastic containers to single-use display-ready paper corrugated trays. Results show that, based on the scope of this study and comparing 10 different produce items, such as apples, carrots, grapes, oranges, onions, tomatoes, strawberries, etc., the re-usable plastic containers require 39% less total energy, produce 95% less total solid waste and generate 29% less total greenhouse gas emissions. This study focused on the North American market. Major European nations have been using a large number of re-usable plastic containers for these types of fresh produce for the past three decades. This study was initiated by the Franklin Associates, an independent consulting firm for allowing an in-depth review of all data and results from a two year study titled: Life Cycle Inventory of Reusable Plastic Containers and Display-Ready Corrugated Containers Used for Fresh Produce Applications. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Genetic Diversity of Parasitic Dinoflagellates in the Genus Amoebophrya and Its Relationship to Parasite Biology and BiogeographyTHE JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2008SUNJU KIM ABSTRACT. We determined 18S rRNA gene sequences of Amoebophrya strains infecting the thecate dinoflagellates Alexandrium affine and Gonyaulax polygramma from Korean coastal waters and compared those data with previously reported sequences of Amoebophrya from cultures, infected cells concentrated from field samples, and environmental 18S rRNA gene sequences obtained from a variety of marine environments. Further, we used these data to examine genetic diversity in Amoebophrya strains relative to geographic origin, host phylogeny, site of infection, and host specificity. In our analyses of known dinoflagellate taxa, the 13 available Amoebophrya sequences clustered together within the dinoflagellates as three groups forming a monophyletic group with high bootstrap support (maximum likelihood, ML: 100%) or a posterior probability (PP) of 1. When the Amoebophrya sequences were analyzed along with environmental sequences associated with Marine Alveolate Group II, nine subgroups formed a monophyletic group with high bootstrap support (ML: 100%) and PP of 1. Sequences known to be from Amoebophrya spp. infecting dinoflagellate hosts were distributed in seven of those subgroups. Despite differences in host species and geographic origin (Korea, United States, and Europe), Amoebophrya strains (Group II) from Gymnodinium instriatum, A. affine, Ceratium tripos (AY208892), Prorocentrum micans, and Ceratium lineatum grouped together by all of our tree construction methods, even after adding the environmental sequences. By contrast, strains within Groups I and III divided into several lineages following inclusion of environmental sequences. While Amoebophrya strains within Group II mostly developed within the host cytoplasm, strains in Groups I and III formed infections inside the host nucleus, a trait that appeared across several of the subgroups. Host specificity varied from moderately to extremely species-specific within groups, including Group II. Taken together, our results imply that genetic diversity in Amoebophrya strains does not always reflect parasite biology or biogeography. [source] Q- und R-Matten aus Kunststoff für Bewehrungsaufgaben in der GeotechnikBAUTECHNIK, Issue 9 2004Georg Heerten Dr.-Ing. Wachsende Güterströme und Warenverkehre im Zentrum eines wachsenden Europas und zunehmender Warenaustausch als Folge der Globalisierung der Weltwirtschaft stellen erhebliche Anforderungen an den Erhalt und Ausbau leistungsfähiger Infrastruktursysteme (Straße, Schiene, Wasserstraße). Nachhaltigkeitskonzepte bei der Bautätigkeit und Finanzierungsprobleme der öffentlichen Auftraggeber sind aktuelle Randbedingungen, denen mit Geokunststoff-Bauweisen optimal Rechnung getragen werden kann. Es können neben den technischen auch die ökonomischen und ökologischen Vorteile , Baukosten sparen, Baustoffressourcen schonen , parallel genutzt werden. Eine Stützwand als "Bewehrte-Erde-Konstruktion" kann ganz erheblich kostengünstiger als eine Stahlbeton-Stützmauer hergestellt werden. Die Ertüchtigung von wenig tragfähigen Böden mit flächig angeordneten Bewehrungslagen und/oder pfahlartigen geokunststoffummantelten Bodensäulen vermeidet umfangreichen Bodenaustausch, spart Kosten, verhindert umfangreichen Transport von Bodenmassen mit LKWs. Hierdurch werden knappe Baustoffressourcen wie Sand und Kies geschont sowie eine z. T. erhebliche Entlastung örtlicher Verkehrswege bewirkt. Q and R mats made of synthetics for reinforcement functions in the field of geotechnics. An increasing flow of goods in a growing central Europe, resulting from the globalisation of the world economy, makes high demands on the maintenance and development of an efficient infrastructure (road, railway, waterway). Sustainability concepts for the construction activities and funding problems of the contracting authorities are current boundary conditions which can be accommodated optimally with geosynthetic construction methods. At the same time, besides the technical advantages, the economical and ecological advantages can be used too , saving of construction costs and taking care of building materials resources. A retaining wall as "Reinforced-Earth-Structure" can be constructed at much lower cost than a retaining wall made of reinforced concrete. The improvement of subsoils with low bearing capacity, by using reinforcing layers in the area and/or soil columns similar to piles wrapped with geosynthetics, avoids a considerable exchange of soil, saves costs and avoids substantial soil transports by trucks. Thus, care is taken on rare building materials resources like sand and gravel and the traffic routes are partly released to a high extent. [source] | |||||||||||||