Fuzzy logic as a decision-making support system for the indication of bariatric surgery based on an index (OBESINDEX) generated by the association between body fat and body mass index

Background: A Fuzzy Obesity Index (OBESINDEX) for use as an alternative in bariatric surgery indication (BSI) is presented. The search for a more accurate method to evaluate obesity and to indicate a better treatment is important in the world health context. BMI (body mass index) is considered the main criteria for obesity treatment and BSI. Nevertheless, the fat excess related to the percentage of Body Fat (%BF) is actually the principal harmful factor in obesity disease that is usually neglected. This paper presents a new fuzzy mechanism for evaluating obesity by associating BMI with %BF that yields a fuzzy obesity index for obesity evaluation and treatment and allows building up a Fuzzy Decision Support System (FDSS) for BSI.

Methods: Seventy-two patients were evaluated for both BMI and %BF. These data are modified and treated as fuzzy sets. Afterwards, the BMI and %BF classes are aggregated yielding a new index (OBESINDEX) for input linguistic variable are considered the BMI and %BF, and as output linguistic variable is employed the OBESINDEX, an obesity classification with entirely new classes of obesity in the fuzzy context as well is used for BSI.

Results: There is a gradual, smooth obesity classification and BSI when using the proposed fuzzy obesity index when compared with other traditional methods for dealing with obesity.

Conclusion: The BMI is not adequate for surgical indication in all the conditions and fuzzy logic becomes an alternative for decision making in bariatric surgery indication based on the OBESINDEX

Leave blank (2009/2010)

Leave blank (2009/2010

Open-closed superstring amplitudes using vertex operators in AdS5×S5\mathrm{AdS}_5 \times \mathrm{S}^5

Using the pure spinor formalism, a particular superstring scattering amplitude involving one closed string and $N$ open string vertex operators in $\mathrm{AdS}{}_5 \times \mathrm{S}^5$ is studied. It is shown that the tree-level amplitude containing one supergravity state and $N$ super-Yang-Mills states located on D3-branes near the AdS${}_5$ boundary can be expressed as a $d=4$ ${\cal N}=4$ harmonic superspace integral in terms of the supergravity and super-Yang-Mills superfields.Comment: 33 pages, including appendices; v2: minor change

Multi-scale uncertainty quantification in geostatistical seismic inversion

Geostatistical seismic inversion is commonly used to infer the spatial distribution of the subsurface petro-elastic properties by perturbing the model parameter space through iterative stochastic sequential simulations/co-simulations. The spatial uncertainty of the inferred petro-elastic properties is represented with the updated a posteriori variance from an ensemble of the simulated realizations. Within this setting, the large-scale geological (metaparameters) used to generate the petro-elastic realizations, such as the spatial correlation model and the global a priori distribution of the properties of interest, are assumed to be known and stationary for the entire inversion domain. This assumption leads to underestimation of the uncertainty associated with the inverted models. We propose a practical framework to quantify uncertainty of the large-scale geological parameters in seismic inversion. The framework couples geostatistical seismic inversion with a stochastic adaptive sampling and Bayesian inference of the metaparameters to provide a more accurate and realistic prediction of uncertainty not restricted by heavy assumptions on large-scale geological parameters. The proposed framework is illustrated with both synthetic and real case studies. The results show the ability retrieve more reliable acoustic impedance models with a more adequate uncertainty spread when compared with conventional geostatistical seismic inversion techniques. The proposed approach separately account for geological uncertainty at large-scale (metaparameters) and local scale (trace-by-trace inversion)

The bound state Aharonov-Bohm effect around a cosmic string revisited

In this article we observe that the self-adjoint extension of the Hamiltonian of a particle moving around a shielded cosmic string gives rise to a gravitational analogue of the bound state Aharonov-Bohm effect.Comment: 2 pages, no figure

A model for J/ψJ/\psi - kaon cross section

We calculate the cross section for the dissociation of $J/\psi$ by kaons within the framework of a meson exchange model. We find that, depending on the values of the coupling constants used, the cross section can vary from 5 mb to 30 mb at $\sqrt{s}\sim5$ GeV.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figure