Bipolar and bivariate models in multi-criteria decision analysis: descriptive and constructive approaches

Multi-criteria decision analysis studies decision problems in which the alternatives are evaluated on several dimensions or viewpoints. In the problems we consider in this paper, the scales used for assessing the alternatives with respect to a viewpoint are bipolar and univariate or unipolar and bivariate. In the former case, the scale is divided in two zones by a neutral point; a positive feeling is associated to the zone above the neutral point and a negative feeling to the zone below this point. On unipolar bivariate scales, an alternative can receive both a positive and a negative evaluation, reflecting contradictory feelings or stimuli. The paper discusses procedures and models that have been proposed to aggregate multi-criteria evaluations when the scale of each criterion is of one of the two types above. We present both a constructive and a descriptive view on this question; the descriptive approach is concerned with characterizations of models of preference, while the constructive approach aims at building preferences by questioning the decision maker. We show that these views are complementary.Multiple criteria, Decision analysis, Preference, Bipolarmodels, Choquet integral

Measles Aerosol Vaccine Project

AbstractAerosol delivery of measles vaccine to the respiratory mucosa, mimicking the natural route of transmission for measles virus, is the most promising non-injectable method of measles vaccination studied so far. A phase II/III study is underway in India to confirm that its efficacy is equivalent to that of existing routes of administration. Studies suggest aerosolized measles vaccine appears to be equally or more immunogenic than subcutaneous vaccine in children 9 months and older. Aerosol delivery devices are available or being developed, and could be used by lay people with limited training, and would avoid issues of injection safety. Measles vaccine is not licensed for respiratory administration. Administration of the current measles vaccine via the respiratory route is being comprehensively studied to achieve licensure for international use under the auspices of the WHO's Measles Aerosol Project. The most suitable aerosol administration device for use in low resource environments is being evaluated in such studies

Conducting polymer tattoo electrodes in clinical electro- and magneto-encephalography

Abstract Temporary tattoo electrodes are the most recent development in the field of cutaneous sensors. They have successfully demonstrated their performances in the monitoring of various electrophysiological signals on the skin. These epidermal electronic devices offer a conformal and imperceptible contact with the wearer while enabling good quality recordings over time. Evaluations of brain activity in clinical practice face multiple limitations, where such electrodes can provide realistic technological solutions and increase diagnostics efficiency. Here we present the performance of inkjet-printed conducting polymer tattoo electrodes in clinical electroencephalography and their compatibility with magnetoencephalography. The working mechanism of these dry sensors is investigated through the modeling of the skin/electrode impedance for better understanding of the biosignals transduction at this interface. Furthermore, a custom-made skin phantom platform demonstrates the feasibility of high-density recordings, which are essential in localizing neuropathological activities. These evaluations provide valuable input for the successful application of these ultrathin electronic tattoos sensors in multimodal brain monitoring and diagnosis

3. Moio della Civitella

Moio della Civitalle est un petit site fortifié 20 km à l’Est de Vélia, considéré d’abord comme un phrourion défendant le territoire de la ville grecque. L’étude architecturale de la fortification évoque des parallèles lucaniens. A en juger par les trouvailles archéologiques, le site fut occupé dans le dernier quart du IVe s. et au IIIe s. av. J.-C. La céramique appartient à la koine hellénistique mais semble plus proche de celle des établissements lucaniens (Roccagloriosa) que de Vélia.Moio della Civitella is a small fortified site 20 km East of Velia, first considered as a phrourion defending the chora of the Greek city. The architectural study of the fortification points toward Lucanian parallels. To judge from the archaeological finds, the settlement was inhabited in the last quarter of the 4th and during the 3rd century BC. Potteries belong to the hellenistic koine, but seem closer to the Lucanian settlements (Roccagloriosa) than to Velia itself

Spatiotemporal control of mitosis by the conserved spindle matrix protein Megator

A putative spindle matrix has been hypothesized to mediate chromosome motion, but its existence and functionality remain controversial. In this report, we show that Megator (Mtor), the Drosophila melanogaster counterpart of the human nuclear pore complex protein translocated promoter region (Tpr), and the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) protein Mad2 form a conserved complex that localizes to a nuclear derived spindle matrix in living cells. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments supports that Mtor is retained around spindle microtubules, where it shows distinct dynamic properties. Mtor/Tpr promotes the recruitment of Mad2 and Mps1 but not Mad1 to unattached kinetochores (KTs), mediating normal mitotic duration and SAC response. At anaphase, Mtor plays a role in spindle elongation, thereby affecting normal chromosome movement. We propose that Mtor/Tpr functions as a spatial regulator of the SAC, which ensures the efficient recruitment of Mad2 to unattached KTs at the onset of mitosis and proper spindle maturation, whereas enrichment of Mad2 in a spindle matrix helps confine the action of a diffusible “wait anaphase” signal to the vicinity of the spindle

The GuideLine Implementability Appraisal (GLIA): development of an instrument to identify obstacles to guideline implementation

BACKGROUND: Clinical practice guidelines are not uniformly successful in influencing clinicians' behaviour toward best practices. Implementability refers to a set of characteristics that predict ease of (and obstacles to) guideline implementation. Our objective is to develop and validate a tool for appraisal of implementability of clinical guidelines. METHODS: Indicators of implementability were identified from the literature and used to create items and dimensions of the GuideLine Implementability Appraisal (GLIA). GLIA consists of 31 items, arranged into 10 dimensions. Questions from 9 of the 10 dimensions are applied individually to each recommendation of the guideline. Decidability and Executability are critical dimensions. Other dimensions are Global, Presentation and Formatting, Measurable Outcomes, Apparent Validity, Flexibility, Effect on Process of Care, Novelty/Innovation, and Computability. We conducted a series of validation activities, including validation of the construct of implementability, expert review of content for clarity, relevance, and comprehensiveness, and assessment of construct validity of the instrument. Finally, GLIA was applied to a draft guideline under development by national professional societies. RESULTS: Evidence of content validity and preliminary support for construct validity were obtained. The GLIA proved to be useful in identifying barriers to implementation in the draft guideline and the guideline was revised accordingly. CONCLUSION: GLIA may be useful to guideline developers who can apply the results to remedy defects in their guidelines. Likewise, guideline implementers may use GLIA to select implementable recommendations and to devise implementation strategies that address identified barriers. By aiding the design and operationalization of highly implementable guidelines, our goal is that application of GLIA may help to improve health outcomes, but further evaluation will be required to support this potential benefit

Feasibility studies of time-like proton electromagnetic form factors at PANDA at FAIR

Simulation results for future measurements of electromagnetic proton form factors at \PANDA (FAIR) within the PandaRoot software framework are reported. The statistical precision with which the proton form factors can be determined is estimated. The signal channel $\bar p p \to e^+ e^-$ is studied on the basis of two different but consistent procedures. The suppression of the main background channel, $\textit{i.e.}$ $\bar p p \to \pi^+ \pi^-$, is studied. Furthermore, the background versus signal efficiency, statistical and systematical uncertainties on the extracted proton form factors are evaluated using two different procedures. The results are consistent with those of a previous simulation study using an older, simplified framework. However, a slightly better precision is achieved in the PandaRoot study in a large range of momentum transfer, assuming the nominal beam conditions and detector performance

First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto- noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far

Classification and monitoring of urbanized areas using computer vision techniques

In this paper we propose a computer vision system to classify permeable and impermeable areas of a bounded area for study including the Micro-basin of Segredo and adjacent micro-basins, located in the municipality of Campo Grande/MS, Brazil, in order to evaluate the increase in urban density between the years 2008 and 2016. The proposed system is based on the image segmentation method Simple Linear Iterative Clustering (SLIC) to partition an image into multiple segments and generate superpixels that differentiate the permeable and impermeable areas; and attribute extraction algorithms to describe the visual features such as color, gradient, texture, and shape. The performance of five supervised learning methods was evaluated for the task of permeable and impermeable areas recognition. The proposed approach achieved an accuracy of 94.6% using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm. In addition, the results showed an increase of 7.2% in the urban occupation rate of the study area between the analyzed years. The results indicate that the proposed approach can support specialists and managers in the monitoring of urban density and its environmental impact.Neste artigo propomos um sistema de visão computacional para classificar áreas permeáveis e impermeáveis de uma região delimitada para estudo compreendendo a Microbacia do Segredo e microbacias adjacentes, localizada no município de Campo Grande/MS, Brasil, a fim de avaliar o aumento do adensamento urbano entre os anos de 2008 e 2016. O sistema proposto baseia-se no método de segmentação de imagens Simple Linear Iterative Clustering (SLIC) para particionar uma imagem em múltiplos segmentos e gerar superpixels que diferenciem as áreas permeáveis e impermeáveis; e algoritmos de extração de atributos para descrever as características visuais, como cor, gradiente, textura e forma. O desempenho de cinco métodos de aprendizado supervisionados foi avaliado para a tarefa de reconhecimento de áreas permeáveis e impermeáveis. A abordagem proposta atingiu uma acurácia de 94,6% usando o algoritmo Support Vector Machine (SVM). Além disso, os resultados mostraram um aumento de 7,2% na taxa de ocupação urbana da área de estudo entre os anos analisados. Os resultados indicam que a abordagem proposta pode apoiar especialistas e gestores no monitoramento do adensamento urbano e o seu impacto ambiental