Multi-criteria multi-stakeholder decision analysis using a fuzzy-stochastic approach for hydrosystem management

The conventional methods used to solve multi-criteria multi-stakeholder problems are less strongly formulated, as they normally incorporate only homogeneous information at a time and suggest aggregating objectives of different decision-makers avoiding water–society interactions. In this contribution, Multi-Criteria Group Decision Analysis (MCGDA) using a fuzzy-stochastic approach has been proposed to rank a set of alternatives in water management decisions incorporating heterogeneous information under uncertainty. The decision making framework takes hydrologically, environmentally, and socio-economically motivated conflicting objectives into consideration. The criteria related to the performance of the physical system are optimized using multi-criteria simulation-based optimization, and fuzzy linguistic quantifiers have been used to evaluate subjective criteria and to assess stakeholders' degree of optimism. The proposed methodology is applied to find effective and robust intervention strategies for the management of a coastal hydrosystem affected by saltwater intrusion due to excessive groundwater extraction for irrigated agriculture and municipal use. Preliminary results show that the MCGDA based on a fuzzy-stochastic approach gives useful support for robust decision-making and is sensitive to the decision makers' degree of optimism

Perception of nonnative tonal contrasts by Mandarin-English and English-Mandarin sequential bilinguals

This study examined the role of acquisition order and crosslinguistic similarity in influencing transfer at the initial stage of perceptually acquiring a tonal third language (L3). Perception of tones in Yoruba and Thai was tested in adult sequential bilinguals representing three different first (L1) and second language (L2) backgrounds: L1 Mandarin-L2 English (MEBs), L1 English-L2 Mandarin (EMBs), and L1 English-L2 intonational/non-tonal (EIBs). MEBs outperformed EMBs and EIBs in discriminating L3 tonal contrasts in both languages, while EMBs showed a small advantage over EIBs on Yoruba. All groups showed better overall discrimination in Thai than Yoruba, but group differences were more robust in Yoruba. MEBs’ and EMBs’ poor discrimination of certain L3 contrasts was further reflected in the L3 tones being perceived as similar to the same Mandarin tone; however, EIBs, with no knowledge of Mandarin, showed many of the same similarity judgments. These findings thus suggest that L1 tonal experience has a particularly facilitative effect in L3 tone perception, but there is also a facilitative effect of L2 tonal experience. Further, crosslinguistic perceptual similarity between L1/L2 and L3 tones, as well as acoustic similarity between different L3 tones, play a significant role at this early stage of L3 tone acquisition.Published versio

Phylogeny of the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Virus in European Aquaculture

<p>One of the most valuable aquaculture fish in Europe is the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, but the profitability of trout production is threatened by a highly lethal infectious disease, viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS), caused by the VHS virus (VHSV). For the past few decades, the subgenogroup Ia of VHSV has been the main cause of VHS outbreaks in European freshwater-farmed rainbow trout. Little is currently known, however, about the phylogenetic radiation of this Ia lineage into subordinate Ia clades and their subsequent geographical spread routes. We investigated this topic using the largest Ia-isolate dataset ever compiled, comprising 651 complete G gene sequences: 209 GenBank Ia isolates and 442 Ia isolates from this study. The sequences come from 11 European countries and cover the period 1971-2015. Based on this dataset, we documented the extensive spread of the Ia population and the strong mixing of Ia isolates, assumed to be the result of the Europe-wide trout trade. For example, the Ia lineage underwent a radiation into nine Ia clades, most of which are difficult to allocate to a specific geographic distribution. Furthermore, we found indications for two rapid, large-scale population growth events, and identified three polytomies among the Ia clades, both of which possibly indicate a rapid radiation. However, only about 4% of Ia haplotypes (out of 398) occur in more than one European country. This apparently conflicting finding regarding the Europe-wide spread and mixing of Ia isolates can be explained by the high mutation rate of VHSV. Accordingly, the mean period of occurrence of a single Ia haplotype was less than a full year, and we found a substitution rate of up to 7.813 × 10^-4 nucleotides per site per year. Finally, we documented significant differences between Germany and Denmark regarding their VHS epidemiology, apparently due to those countries' individual handling of VHS.</p

Combined first principles statistical mechanics approach to sulfur structure in organic cathode hosts for polymer based lithium sulfur Li S batteries

Polymer based batteries that utilize organic electrode materials are considered viable candidates to overcome the common drawbacks of lithium sulfur Li S batteries. A promising cathode can be developed using a conductive, flexible, and free standing polymer, poly 4 thiophen 3 yl benzenethiol PTBT , as the sulfur host material. By a vulcanization process, sulfur is embedded into this polymer. Here, we present a combination of electronic structure theory and statistical mechanics to characterize the structure of the initial state of the charged cathode on an atomic level. We perform a stability analysis of differently sulfurized TBT dimers as the basic polymer unit calculated within density functional theory DFT and combine this with a statistical binding model for the binding probability distributions of the vulcanization process. From this, we deduce sulfur chain length rank distributions and calculate the average sulfur rank depending on the sulfur concentration and temperature. This multi scale approach allows us to bridge the gap between the local description of the covalent bonding process and the derivation of the macroscopic properties of the cathode. Our calculations show that the main reaction of the vulcanization process leads to high probability states of sulfur chains cross linking TBT units belonging to different polymer backbones, with a dominant rank around n 5. In contrast, the connection of adjacent TBT units of the same polymer backbone by a sulfur chain is the side reaction. These results are experimentally supported by Raman spectroscop

The ‘Galilean Style in Science’ and the Inconsistency of Linguistic Theorising

Chomsky’s principle of epistemological tolerance says that in theoretical linguistics contradictions between the data and the hypotheses may be temporarily tolerated in order to protect the explanatory power of the theory. The paper raises the following problem: What kinds of contradictions may be tolerated between the data and the hypotheses in theoretical linguistics? First a model of paraconsistent logic is introduced which differentiates between week and strong contradiction. As a second step, a case study is carried out which exemplifies that the principle of epistemological tolerance may be interpreted as the tolerance of week contradiction. The third step of the argumentation focuses on another case study which exemplifies that the principle of epistemological tolerance must not be interpreted as the tolerance of strong contradiction. The reason for the latter insight is the unreliability and the uncertainty of introspective data. From this finding the author draws the conclusion that it is the integration of different data types that may lead to the improvement of current theoretical linguistics and that the integration of different data types requires a novel methodology which, for the time being, is not available

The ‘Galilean Style in Science’ and the Inconsistency of Linguistic Theorising

Chomsky’s principle of epistemological tolerance says that in theoretical linguistics contradictions between the data and the hypotheses may be temporarily tolerated in order to protect the explanatory power of the theory. The paper raises the following problem: What kinds of contradictions may be tolerated between the data and the hypotheses in theoretical linguistics? First a model of paraconsistent logic is introduced which differentiates between week and strong contradiction. As a second step, a case study is carried out which exemplifies that the principle of epistemological tolerance may be interpreted as the tolerance of week contradiction. The third step of the argumentation focuses on another case study which exemplifies that the principle of epistemological tolerance must not be interpreted as the tolerance of strong contradiction. The reason for the latter insight is the unreliability and the uncertainty of introspective data. From this finding the author draws the conclusion that it is the integration of different data types that may lead to the improvement of current theoretical linguistics and that the integration of different data types requires a novel methodology which, for the time being, is not available

Predictive value of cardiac magnetic resonance right ventricular longitudinal strain in patients with suspected myocarditis

BACKGROUND Recent evidence underlined the importance of right (RV) involvement in suspected myocarditis. We aim to analyze the possible incremental prognostic value from RV global longitudinal strain (GLS) by CMR. METHODS Patients referred for CMR, meeting clinical criteria for suspected myocarditis and no other cardiomyopathy were enrolled in a dual-center register cohort study. Ejection fraction (EF), GLS and tissue characteristics were assessed in both ventricles to assess their association to first major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including hospitalization for heart failure (HF), ventricular tachycardia (VT), recurrent myocarditis and death. RESULTS Among 659 patients (62.8% male; 48.1 ± 16.1 years), RV GLS was impaired (> - 15.4%) in 144 (21.9%) individuals, of whom 76 (58%), 108 (77.1%), 27 (18.8%) and 40 (32.8%) had impaired right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF), impaired left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), RV late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) or RV edema, respectively. After a median observation time of 3.7 years, 45 (6.8%) patients were hospitalized for HF, 42 (6.4%) patients died, 33 (5%) developed VT and 16 (2.4%) had recurrent myocarditis. Impaired RV GLS was associated with MACE (HR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.04-1.10; p < 0.001), HF hospitalization (HR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.12-1.23; p < 0.001), and death (HR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.02-1.12; p = 0.004), but not with VT and recurrent myocarditis in univariate analysis. RV GLS lost its association with outcomes, when adjusted for RVEF, LVEF, LV GLS and LV LGE extent. CONCLUSION RV strain is associated with MACE, HF hospitalization and death but has neither independent nor incremental prognostic value after adjustment for RV and LV function and tissue characteristics. Therefore, assessing RV GLS in the setting of myocarditis has only limited value

Constructing Binder and Carbon Additive Free Organosulfur Cathodes Based on Conducting Thiol Polymers through Electropolymerization for Lithium Sulfur Batteries

Herein, the concept of constructing binder and carbon additive free organosulfur cathode was proved based on thiol containing conducting polymer poly 4 thiophene 3 yl benzenethiol PTBT . The PTBT featured the polythiophene structure main chain as a highly conducting framework and the benzenethiol side chain to copolymerize with sulfur and form a crosslinked organosulfur polymer namely S PTBT . Meanwhile, it could be in situ deposited on the current collector by electro polymerization, making it a binder free and free standing cathode for Li S batteries. The S PTBT cathode exhibited a reversible capacity of around 870 amp; 8197;mAh amp; 8201;g amp; 8722;1 at 0.1 amp; 8201;C and improved cycling performance compared to the physically mixed cathode namely S amp;PTBT . This multifunction cathode eliminated the influence of the additives carbon binder , making it suitable to be applied as a model electrode for operando analysis. Operando X ray imaging revealed the remarkable effect in the suppression of polysulfides shuttle via introducing covalent bonds, paving the way for the study of the intrinsic mechanisms in Li S batterie

Lipid Alterations in Experimental Murine Colitis: Role of Ceramide and Imipramine for Matrix Metalloproteinase-1 Expression

BACKGROUND:Dietary lipids or pharmacologic modulation of lipid metabolism are potential therapeutic strategies in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Therefore, we analysed alterations of bioactive lipids in experimental models of colitis and examined the functional consequence of the second messenger ceramide in inflammatory pathways leading to tissue destruction. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Chronic colitis was induced by dextran-sulphate-sodium (DSS) or transfer of CD4(+)CD62L(+) cells into RAG1(-/-)-mice. Lipid content of isolated murine intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) was analysed by tandem mass spectrometry. Concentrations of MMP-1 in supernatants of Caco-2-IEC and human intestinal fibroblasts from patients with ulcerative colitis were determined by ELISA. Imipramine was used for pharmacologic inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase (ASM). Ceramide increased by 71% in chronic DSS-induced colitis and by 159% in the transfer model of colitis. Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) decreased by 22% in both models. No changes were detected for phosphatidylcholine. Generation of ceramide by exogenous SMase increased MMP-1-protein production of Caco-2-IEC up to 7-fold. Inhibition of ASM completely abolished the induction of MMP-1 by TNF or IL-1beta in Caco-2-IEC and human intestinal fibroblasts. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Mucosal inflammation leads to accumulation of ceramide and decrease of LPC in the intestinal epithelium. One aspect of ceramide generation is an increase of MMP-1. Induction of MMP-1 by TNF or IL-1beta is completely blocked by inhibition of ASM with imipramine. Therefore, inhibition of ASM may offer a treatment strategy to reduce MMP-1 expression and tissue destruction in inflammatory conditions