52 research outputs found
A web-based collaborative decision making system for construction project teams using fuzzy logic
In the construction industry, the adoption of concurrent engineering principles
requires the development of effective enabling IT tools. Such tools need to address
specific areas of need in the implementation of concurrent engineering in
construction. Collaborative decision-making is an important area in this regard. A
review of existing works has shown that none of the existing approaches to
collaborative decision-making adequately addresses the needs of distributed
construction project teams. The review also reveals that fuzzy logic offers great
potential for application to collaborative decision-making.
This thesis describes a Web-based collaborative decision-making system for
construction project teams using fuzzy logic. Fuzzy logic is applied to tackle
uncertainties and imprecision during the decision-making process. The prototype
system is designed as Web-based to cope with the difficulty in the case where project
team members are geographically distributed and physical meetings are
inconvenient/or expensive. The prototype was developed into a Web-based software
using Java and allows a virtual meeting to be held within a construction project team
via a client-server system. The prototype system also supports objectivity in group
decision-making and the approach encapsulated in the prototype system can be used
for generic decision-making scenarios.
The system implementation revealed that collaborative decision-making within a
virtual construction project team can be significantly enhanced by the use of a fuzzybased
approach. A generic scenario and a construction scenario were used to evaluate
the system and the evaluation confirmed that the system does proffer many benefits in
facilitating collaborative decision-making in construction.
It is concluded that the prototype decision-making system represents a unique and
innovative approach to collaborative decision-making in construction project teams. It
not only contributes to the implementation of concurrent engineering in construction,
but also it represents a substantial advance over existing approaches
Correlation between Molecular Structure and Interfacial Properties of Edge or Basal Plane Modified Graphene Oxide
Although graphene oxide (GO) has
been reported to be able to be
edge functionalized or basal-plane functionalized separately, no research
has been done on comparing both the molecular structure and interfacial
properties of them. In this study, an alkyl amine was grafted to the
epoxy group on the basal planes of GO (b-GO) and carboxyl group at
the edges of GO (e-GO) separately by using different synthetic approach.
With the combination of various molecular structure and morphology
characterization methodologies, we proved that the reaction site for
e-GO was only with the carboxyl group at the edge of GO and that for
b-GO was epoxy group on the basal plane of GO, indicating that GO
could be controllably functionalized (fGOs), and the structure of
fGOs could be tuned. Study of the interfacial behavior of fGOs at
liquid–liquid interface showed that the interfacial tension
reducing capability of e-GO was broader than that of b-GO, and for
alkyl oil phase, b-GO was slightly better than e-GO, and both were
better than traditional nonionic surfactant. Study of the interfacial
behavior of fGOs at liquid–solid interface demonstrated that,
after absorption, b-GO arranged vertically on the metal surface, forming
dense, compact, and strong film, while e-GO aligned horizontally to
form loosely assembled film, resulting in higher interfacial shear
strength than that of b-GO. Our results indicate the possibilities
for tuning the interfacial properties of GO at both liquid–liquid
and liquid–solid interfaces, which may be promising in the
potential applications in controlled drug delivery, surface protection,
absorption and separation, lubrication, nanocomposite, and catalyst
fields
Isolation of a new carboline alkaloid from <i>Trigonostemon lii</i>
<div><p>A new carboline alkaloid, 1-(7-methoxy-quinolinyl-4′-yl)-3,4-dihydro-β-carboline (<b>1</b>), was isolated from the leaves and twigs of <i>Trigonostemon lii</i> Y.T. Chang, together with three known ones, trigonostemonines C and D (<b>2</b> and <b>3</b>), and trigonoliimine A (<b>4</b>). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses, including 2D-NMR techniques.</p></div
Discovery of urine biomarkers for bladder cancer via global metabolomics
<p>Bladder cancer (BC) is latent in its early stage and lethal in its late stage. Therefore, early diagnosis and intervention are essential for successful BC treatment. Considering the limitations of current diagnostic tools, noninvasive biomarkers that are both highly sensitive and specific are needed to improve the overall survival and quality of life of patients. With the advent of systems biology, “-omics” technologies have been developed over the past few decades. As a promising member, global metabolomics has increasingly been found to have clear potential for biomarker discovery. However, urinary metabolomics studies related to BC have lagged behind those of other urinary cancers, and major findings have not been systematically reported. The objective of this review is to comprehensively list the currently identified potential urinary metabolite biomarkers for BC.</p
Additional file 3: Table S1. of Antigenic cartography of H1N1 influenza viruses using sequence-based antigenic distance calculation
Antigenic distances for historical/vaccine strains. (CSV 749 bytes
Additional file 2: Figure S1. of Antigenic cartography of H1N1 influenza viruses using sequence-based antigenic distance calculation
Histogram of antigenic distance for all strains used in the study. (PDF 172Ă‚Â kb
Argon Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry in Conjunction with Makeup Solvents: A Method for Analysis of Labile Compounds
Helium direct analysis in real time (He-DART) mass spectrometry
(MS) analysis of labile compounds usually tends to be challenging
because of the occurrence of prominent fragmentation, which obscures
the assigning of an ion to an independent species or merely a fragment
in a mixture. In the present work, argon DART (Ar-DART) MS in conjunction
with makeup solvents has been demonstrated to analyze a variety of
labile compounds including nucleosides, alkaloids, glucose, and other
small molecules. The results presented here confirm that Ar-DART can
generate significantly less energetic ions than conventional He-DART
and is able to produce the intact molecular ions with little or no
fragmentation in both positive and negative ion modes. Adding a makeup
solvent (absolute ethyl alcohol, methanol, fluorobenzene, or acetone)
to the argon gas stream at the exit of the DART ion source can result
in 1–2 orders of magnitude increase in detection signals. The
sensitivity attainable by Ar-DART was found to be comparable to that
by He-DART. The investigation of influence of solvents improves our
understanding of the fundamental desorption and ionization processes
in DART. The practical application of this rapid and high throughput
method is demonstrated by the successful analysis of a natural product
(Crude Kusnezoff Monkshood) extract, demonstrating the great potential
in mixture research
Headspace Microextraction of Sulfonamides from Honey by Hollow Fibers Coupled with Ultrasonic Nebulization
A new method for the rapid simultaneous
determination of five sulfonamides
in honey was developed using ultrasonic nebulization-assisted extraction
coupled with hollow fiber liquid–liquid–liquid microextraction
prior to liquid chromatography. In the present method, the sample
solution was nebulized by ultrasonication. Sulfonamides in the aerosol
particles were extracted by 1-octanol impregnated in the pores of
a hollow fiber and further into the acceptor phase (acid solution,
pH 2.0) contained in the lumen of the hollow fiber. Several experimental
parameters that affect the extraction efficiency were optimized. The
present method provides good recoveries (88.9–114.2%) and acceptable
precision (<10.7%), indicating the effective extraction. The detection
limits were 4.6–6.8 μg/kg, lower than the maximum residue
limits of sulfonamides in honeys. Compared to the traditional extraction
methods, the present method requires less organic solvent and operation
time, demonstrating excellent cleanup ability and good enrichment
efficiency
Sudoku-like Lab-on-Paper Cyto-Device with Dual Enhancement of Electrochemiluminescence Intermediates Strategy
This paper describes
the design and construction of a sudoku-like
lab-on-paper platform, in which dual enhancement of reaction intermediates
strategy was incorporated for multiplexed competitive electrochemiluminescence
(ECL) cyto-assay. Benefiting from the sudoku-like structure, integrated
multifunctions were obtained on such an elaborately devised platform,
including specific reagents storage, multiple samples immobilization,
residual automatic washing, and signal collection. By utilizing semicarbazide
(SE) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as dual enhancers, more ECL
intermediates could be obtained in the graphene quantum dots (GQDs)
and peroxydisulfate system, resulting in the production of more excited-state
GQDs to emit light. Moreover, the double-stranded DNA nanowire with
multiple branched arms (MBdsDNA) was chosen as an efficient nanocarrier
to load more GQDs and AgNPs. Via immobilizing AgNPs on the end of
the plentiful branched arms, Ag–MBdsDNA were obtained and trapped
on the sensing interface through the valid competitive interactions
between target cells and Ag–MBdsDNA. Afterward, abundant GQDs
were attached to the three-dimensional (3D) DNA skeleton of the captured
Ag–MBdsDNA via π–π stacking. Due to their
good self-catalytic activity of labeled AgNPs, more silver was deposited
on the Ag–MBdsDNA@GQDs, giving rise to further amplification
of expected signal. With four types of cancer cells as models, MCF-7,
CCRF-CEM, HeLa, and K562 cells were assayed in the ranges of 1.0 Ă—
10<sup>2</sup>–1.0 × 10<sup>7</sup>, 1.5 × 10<sup>2</sup>–2.0 × 10<sup>7</sup>, 2.0 × 10<sup>2</sup>–5.0 × 10<sup>6</sup>, and 1.2 × 10<sup>2</sup>–2.0
× 10<sup>6</sup> cells mL<sup>–1</sup> with the detection
limits of 38, 53, 67, and 42 cells mL<sup>–1</sup>, respectively.
Notably, this strategy supplies a simple and versatile platform for
sensitive determination of multiple targeted cells, which would play
a crucial role in point-of-care diagnostic fields
Stackable Lab-on-Paper Device with All-in-One Au Electrode for High-Efficiency Photoelectrochemical Cyto-Sensing
Highly conductive,
robust, and multifunctional integrated paper-supported
electrodes are requisite to fulfill the promise of paper-based analytical
application. Herein, an all-in-one Au electrode comprising of detection
zone, waterproof electronic bridge, and signal output contactor was
engineered via combining the double-sided growth method with the secondary
wax-printing. Benefiting from the strongly omnidirectional conductivity
and desirably mechanical robustness of the as-prepared electrode,
a stackable lab-on-paper cyto-device integrated with high-efficiency
photoelectrochemical strategy was developed for the MCF-7 cells assay.
Specifically, the detection zone of the electrode, serving as the
signal generator, was functionalized with a low-toxic cosensitized
structure composed of corn-like ZnO nanorods, graphene quantum dots
(GQDs), and Ag<sub>2</sub>Se QDs. With the proximity control of DNA
hairpin-based aptamer probe (DHAP), a strong photocurrent could be
promoted by the activated cosensitization effect and collected on
the signal output contactor via the electron transport of waterproof
electronic bridge. Upon the MCF-7 cells recognition, the DHAP switched
from closed to open state with the formation of DNA-cell bioconjugates
and the spatial separation of Ag<sub>2</sub>Se QDs linked on the terminal
of DHAP from the electrode surface. The photocurrent was noticeably
decreased due to the double inhibition of steric hindrance effect
and vanished cosensitization effect. Based on the target-triggered
photocurrent attenuation, the sensitive detection of target cells
was achieved. This work not only provided a unique method for paper-based
electrode preparation but also offered a powerful platform for the
highly sensitive photoelectrochemical bioanalysis
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