Design concept evaluation based on rough number and information entropy theory

Concept evaluation at the early phase of product development plays a crucial role in new product development. It determines the direction of the subsequent design activities. However, the evaluation information at this stage mainly comes from experts' judgments, which is subjective and imprecise. How to manage the subjectivity to reduce the evaluation bias is a big challenge in design concept evaluation. This paper proposes a comprehensive evaluation method which combines information entropy theory and rough number. Rough number is first presented to aggregate individual judgments and priorities and to manipulate the vagueness under a group decision-making environment. A rough number based information entropy method is proposed to determine the relative weights of evaluation criteria. The composite performance values based on rough number are then calculated to rank the candidate design concepts. The results from a practical case study on the concept evaluation of an industrial robot design show that the integrated evaluation model can effectively strengthen the objectivity across the decision-making processes

The Effect of Calcium and Phosphorous on Growth, Feed Efficiency, Mineral Content and Body Composition of Brown Marbled Grouper (Epinephelus Fuscoguttatus) Juvenile

The objectives of this study were to know concentration of calcium (Ca) and posphorus (P) in feed for growth, feed efficiency, proximate composition of the body and mineral content of brown marbled grouper juvenile. The study was conducted in the Center for Brackiswater Aquaculture Development, Takalar with randomized completed design 6 x 3 with the treatment of Ca and P supplement in feed i.e., (A) the supplement of 0 g/kg Ca and 0 g/kg P, (B) the supplement of 6 g/kg Ca and 0 g/kg P, (C) the supplement of 0 g/kg Ca and 6 g/kg P, (D) the supplement of 6 g/kg Ca and 6 g/kg P, (E) the supplement of 12 g/kg Ca and 6 g/kg P, and (F) the supplement of 18 g/kg Ca and 6 g/kg P. The result showed that P supplement with doses of 6 g/kg and Ca of 0 g/kg in feed are significantly affects on relative growth, feed efficiency, proximate composition and mineral content of brown marbled grouper juvenile

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Synthesis and biological evaluation of sophocarpinic acid derivatives as anti-HCV agents

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has become a major public health burden worldwide. Twenty-two sophocarpinic acid or matrine derivatives were synthesized and their anti-HCV activities were evaluated in vitro. The structure-activity analysis revealed that (i) sophocarpinic acids with a D-seco 3-ring structure scaffold were more favorable than matrines with a 4-ring scaffold; (ii) the introduction of an electron-withdrawing group on the phenyl ring in 12-N-benzenesulfonyl Δβγ sophocarpinic acids was beneficial for the antiviral activity against HCV. Among them, compounds 9h and 9j exhibited the most potent inhibitory activities on HCV replication with selectivity indies of 70.3 and 30.9, respectively. Therefore, both were selected as antiviral candidates for further investigation

Monte Carlo optimization simulation of neutron shielding performance of iron/polyethylene combined structure

This study aims to get the optimization neutron shielding design of iron/polyethylene combined shield structure. The neutron transmission coefficient with various energies for different thickness of iron and polyethylene combined shield structure were calculated by using Monte Carlo method. The simulation results show that the optimization effect of iron/polyethylene combined shield is not obvious when the neutron energy is low or the shield is thin, there is an optimal thickness ratio of iron to polyethylene adopted to get the best neutron shielding performance when the energy of neutron source is above 2 MeV and the total thickness of combined shielding structure is more than 20 cm. The optimal thickness ratio of iron to polyethylene increases with the increasing energy of neutron source; with the increasing of neutron source energy ranging from 4 MeV to 14 MeV, the optimal thickness ratio of iron to polyethylene trends from 0.11 to nearly 1.6