Investors’ preference order of fuzzy numbers

AbstractNowadays greater and greater realistic financial problems are modeled by using the stochastic programming in the fuzzy environment. Hence, ranking a set of fuzzy numbers that is consistent with the investors’ preference becomes important for modelling a realistic problem. In this paper, we will provide a new ranking procedure that is consistent with the preference of the conservative investors. Our ranking procedure satisfies the axioms of three order relations for the separable fuzzy numbers or the triangle fuzzy numbers. We found that our ranking procedure has a better capability of discriminating the order of two fuzzy numbers. For the LR-type fuzzy numbers, our ranking procedure reduces the computational time substantially

Beneficial Effect of Consecutive Screening Mammography Examinations on Mortality from Breast Cancer: A Prospective Study

BackgroundPreviously, the risk of death from breast cancer was analyzed for women participating versus those not participating in the last screening examination before breast cancer diagnosis. Consecutive attendance patterns may further refine estimates.PurposeTo estimate the effect of participation in successive mammographic screening examinations on breast cancer mortality.Materials and MethodsParticipation data for Swedish women eligible for screening mammography in nine counties from 1992 to 2016 were linked with data from registries and regional cancer centers for breast cancer diagnosis, cause, and date of death (Uppsala University ethics committee registration number: 2017/147). Incidence-based breast cancer mortality was calculated by whether the women had participated in the most recent screening examination prior to diagnosis only (intermittent participants), the penultimate screening examination only (lapsed participants), both examinations (serial participants), or neither examination (serial nonparticipants). Rates were analyzed with Poisson regression. We also analyzed incidence of breast cancers proving fatal within 10 years.ResultsData were available for a total average population of 549 091 women (average age, 58.9 years ± 6.7 [standard deviation]). The numbers of participants in the four groups were as follows: serial participants, 392 135; intermittent participants, 41 746; lapsed participants, 30 945; and serial nonparticipants, 84 265. Serial participants had a 49% lower risk of breast cancer mortality (relative risk [RR], 0.51; 95% CI: 0.48, 0.55; P P ConclusionWomen participating in the last two breast cancer screening examinations prior to breast cancer diagnosis had the largest reduction in breast cancer death. Missing either one of the last two examinations conferred a significantly higher risk.Published under a CC BY 4.0 license.</p

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Optimal green building design based on energy saving by genetic algorithms

為了順應「永續發展」的世界趨勢，綠色設計已在建築產業上成為了一個重要的設計理念。在台灣的綠建築評估系統中，四大指標中日常節能指標為必需考量之指標之一，而日常節能設計又以建築外殼和空調系統為最主要因素。過去，建築師通常以經驗設計建築外殼形式和建材種類，缺乏具有系統性之評估方法，且在空調系統方面為了滿足室內人員舒適度經常過量設計空調容量，往往造成不必要的能源浪費。因此，本研究將藉由遺傳演算法的優選能力，求解符合外殼節能指標和最小空調耗能之建築設計成本，以利於綠建築的推動。研究結果顯示，遺傳演算法可以成功地求解最佳的建築外殼及空調系統之設計。In order to comply with the trend of &quot;sustainable development&quot;, “green building” has become an important design concept in the construction industry. Among the four indexes of the “Green Building Assessment System” in Taiwan, index of “daily energy conservation” must be considered for designing buildings. Furthermore, building shells and air conditioning systems are the most important factors for daily energy conservation design. In the past, various types of shell forms and architectural materials are usually chosen based merely on the architects’ experience instead of a systematic assessment method. Therefore, the capacities of air conditioning systems are often over-designed and resulting in unnecessary waste of energy. This study employs genetic algorithms to find the least cost of the building shells and air-conditioning systems which meet the requirements of daily energy conservation index. The results show that genetic algorithms can successfully optimize the shells and air-conditioning designs, and may be a useful tool for green building design and promotion.中文摘要 i Abstract ii 表目錄 v 圖目錄 viii 1-1 研究緣起 1 1-2 研究目的 2 1-3 研究內容與流程 2 1-4 本文架構 2 第二章 文獻回顧 4 2-1 綠建築介紹 4 2-2台灣綠建築評估EEWH系統 6 2-2-1 EEWH系統之九大指標 6 2-2-2 日常節能指標 11 2-2-3 空調系統耗能係數 PACS 12 2-3 建築節能相關研究 13 2-3-1 建築物外殼節能 13 2-3-2 空調系統節能 15 2-4 文獻總結及研究方向 18 第三章 研究方法 19 3-1日常節能設計模式建立 20 3-1-1建築外殼耗能量模式 21 3-1-2 空調系統節能模式 28 3-1-3特殊空調節能系統修正效率之意義與求法 32 3-2 遺傳演算法 37 3-2-1搜尋機制 37 3-2-2 收斂條件 40 3-3 數學模式的設計 40 3-3-1 建築外殼節能設計之最佳化模式 40 3-3-2 建築空調系統設計之最佳化模式 43 3-4案例建築說明 46 3-4-1建築外殼基本資料 46 3-4-2建築外殼分區及命名 51 3-4-3建築外殼面積 53 3-5 室內空調系統設計 57 3-5-1 案例建築空調外周區及內部區面積 57 3-5-2 案例建築所需冷凍噸數 58 3-5-3 案例建築所需送風量 59 第四章 結果與討論 60 4-1 案例建築外殼及空調節能指標與成本評估 60 4-1-1 案例建築外牆基本資料 60 4-1-2 案例建築節能指標計算值 62 4-2 利用RGA優化日常節能指標 63 4-2-1 案例一：開窗率和遮陽的最佳配置 63 4-2-2 案例二：建築外殼的整體最佳配置 65 4-2-3 案例三：整體優化建築外殼及空調系統 70 4-2-4 案例四：外殼節能指標與成本之影響比較 73 第五章 結論與建議 74 5-1 結論 74 5-2 建議 75 參考文獻 76 附錄一、建材資料庫 80 附錄二、空調資料庫 9

The predictive value of parameters of clinical presentations for sperm yield in patients with nonobstructive azoospermia receiving microdissection testicular sperm extraction

Objective: We analyzed a cohort of nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) patients receiving microdissection testicular sperm extraction (mTESE) to examine the relationship of sperm yield and the parameters of clinical presentations. We aim to identify the parameters that might positively predict a positive sperm yield after mTESE. Materials and methods: A total of 200 patients with NOA who had undergone mTESE were enrolled. Among them, 112 (56%) had received a prior testicular needle biopsy. Clinical data including physical findings, underlying genetic abnormalities, pathologic findings in needle biopsy, and sperm retrieval rate (SRR) during mTESE were reviewed and analyzed. Results: The pathological findings of prior needle biopsy demonstrate a predictive value of sperm yield during mTESE. Hypospermatogenesis had SRR of 93.3% during mTESE, early maturation arrest had SRR of 13.3%, late maturation arrest (LMA) had SRR of 66.7%, and Sertoli cell-only syndrome had SRR of 18.1%. Regarding parameters of clinical presentation, we found that SRR during mTESE was 85.7% for patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, 60.0% for men with undescended testes (UDT) history, 50.0% for patients who had been exposed to chemotherapeutics due to malignancy of other organs, 100% for prior mumps infection, 50.0% for AZFc deletion, 50.0% for Klinefelter syndrome, and 33.3% for other sex chromosome-related abnormalities. No sperm was found in patients with AZFa or AZFb microdeletion. The consistency of histopathological findings between initial testis biopsy and mTESE was 77.7%. As much as 17.4% of cases had upgraded on spermatogenesis at later mTESE. Conclusion: Clinical presentations or phenotypes can be used as predictive factors for successful sperm retrieval during mTESE in patients with NOA. Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and cases with UDT history have a higher chance of sperm retrieval. Initial testicular needle biopsy, if available, can provide valuable information about chances of sperm retrieval. Hypospermatogenesis predicts high sperm yield rate, and LMA can have best upgrade results of sperm yield after mTESE