Ranking ranges in cross-efficiency evaluations

The existence of alternate optima for the DEA weights may reduce the usefulness of the cross-efficiency evaluation, since the ranking provided depends on the choice of weights that the different DMUs make. In this paper, we develop a procedure to carry out the cross-efficiency evaluation without the need to make any specific choice of DEA weights. The proposed procedure takes into consideration all the possible choices of weights that all the DMUs can make, and yields for each unit a range for its possible rankings instead of a single ranking. This range is determined by the best and the worst rankings that would result in the best and the worst scenarios of each unit across all the DEA weights of all the DMUs. This approach might identify good/bad performers, as those that rank at the top/bottom irrespective of the weights that are chosen, or units that outperform others in all the scenarios. In addition, it may be used to analyze the stability of the ranking provided by the standard cross-efficiency evaluation.     

Determination of Paint Solvents by Vapour Phase Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry.

A fast procedure has been developed for the direct determination of paint solvents. The method is based on the injection of small volumes of untreated solvent mixtures into a heated Pyrex glass reactor in which the sample is volatilized and introduced by means of a flow of nitrogen into an IR multiple pass gas cell and the spectrum in the mid-IR region is registered as a function of time. Data found for samples are interpolated in calibration graphs obtained by injecting different volumes of pure compounds which constitute the solvent mixture. A methylisobutylketone (MIBK) toluene mixture was used as test system to develop the proposed procedure. The method provides a limit of detection of the order of 1–4 μg, a relative standard deviation of the order of 0.4 to 2% for five independent measurements, and recovery percentage values from 99.8 till 103.6 %. A commercial sample of polyurethane paint solvent has been analysed by the developed procedure.     

Orthogonal Wavelets Analysis of Electroanalytical Signals

ABSTRACT

A signal processing technique based on orthogonal wavelet analysis is applied to process various simulated electroanalytical signals. The results indicate that if the scale parameters are selected, the orthogonal wavelet processing method (OWPM) can remove high-frequency noise. Experimental signal was recorded by computer and used to test the OWPM procedure. After processing with OWPM, the processed data was used to analyze the mechanism of the electrode reactions. Processed results of the experimental data are also satisfactory.     

Construction of sliced (nearly) orthogonal Latin hypercube designs

Sliced Latin hypercube designs are very useful for running a computer model in batches, ensembles of multiple computer models, computer experiments with qualitative and quantitative factors, cross-validation and data pooling. However, the presence of highly correlated columns makes the data analysis intractable. In this paper, a construction method for sliced (nearly) orthogonal Latin hypercube designs is developed. The resulting designs have flexible sizes and most are new. With the orthogonality or near orthogonality being guaranteed, the space-filling property of the resulting designs is also improved. Examples are provided for illustrating the proposed method.     

Synthese et Etude Structurale D'acides Alkylphosphoniques a Longue Chaine Hydrocarbonee

Long-chain dialkyl alkylphosphonates were synthesized by radical addition of dialkyl hydrogenphosphonates onto alkenes in presence of di(t-butyl) peroxide. This synthetic route leads to high yields between 94 and 97%. We performed chemical modifications of these phosphonates in order to obtain acidic derivatives. The structure of these compounds was characterized by NMR analyses and mass spectroscopy. We also studied their thermal behaviour and various crystalline phases were put in evidence by differential scanning calorimetry and optical microscopy. The thermal stability of these compounds was compared by thermogravimetric analyses.     

Nonstandard Finite Difference Schemes for Differential Equations

This paper gives an introduction to nonstandard finite difference methods useful for the construction of discrete models of differential equations when numerical solutions are required. While the general rules for such schemes are not precisely known at the present time, several important criterion have been found. We provide an explanation of their significance and apply them to several model ordinary and partial differential equations. The paper ends with a discussion of several outstanding problems in this area and other related issues.     

Calculations of Two and Three-Body Correlation Entropies at the Freezing Points of Soft-Core Fluids: Effect of the Softness on the Correlation Entropy

Two and three-body correlation entropies of model fluids, in which particles interact each other through the 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th-inverse-power potentials, were calculated from their atomic configurations obtained by molecular dynamics simulations at their freezing points. Besides the soft-core fluid model with the inverse-power potentials, hard-sphere and classical one-component plasma models were employed to provide a comparison with the entropies of the soft-core model. The correlation entropies were plotted as a function of the softness of the potential. These values were also compared with the excess entropies of the hard-sphere and the one-component plasma models at their freezing points.     

Discriminant Analysis of Selected Organics Evaluated as Corrosion Inhibitors in 0.5 M HCL

Abstract

Discriminant analysis can be used to (1) find criteria to separate observations into groups and (2) to optimally assign a new observation to its correct group. It is rather exploratory in nature especially when causal relationships are not known. Twenty four selected organics were tested as corrosion inhibitors and both physical and structural features were encoded as criteria for discrimination. In addition, a narrower set of twelve nitrogen containing compounds was also studied. In both cases the carbon chain length was an important uncoded criterion. The physical factors such as boiling point, molecular weight, pKa, and molecular area were not as important as some of the structural parameters.     

Controllability of Nonsmooth Discrete Systems with Delay

This paper is concerned with a study of local controllability to discrete inclusions with delay. The sufficient conditions for relative and complete local controllability are obtained on the base of using Mordukhovich's nonsmooth constructions.     

UV–vis absorption spectroscopic study for on-line monitoring of uranium concentration in LiCl–KCl eutectic salt

UV–vis absorption spectroscopy of uranium in LiCl–KCl eutectic salt at 773 K was studied for the on-site use in pyrochemical process. Uranium(III) chloride was electrochemically prepared from uranium metal in LiCl–KCl eutectic salt at 773 K by using chronopotentiometry. Three absorption peak positions were selected and calibrated for the quantitative analysis of uranium in the molten salt medium. The molar absorptivity and minimum detectable concentration for the selected wavelength were obtained with a confidence level of 99%.