Influential DMUs and outlier detection in data envelopment analysis with an application to health care

This paper explains some drawbacks on previous approaches for detecting influential observations in deterministic nonparametric data envelopment analysis models as developed by Yang et al. (Annals of Operations Research 173:89–103, 2010). For example efficiency scores and relative entropies obtained in this model are unimportant to outlier detection and the empirical distribution of all estimated relative entropies is not a Monte-Carlo approximation. In this paper we developed a new method to detect whether a specific DMU is truly influential and a statistical test has been applied to determine the significance level. An application for measuring efficiency of hospitals is used to show the superiority of this method that leads to significant advancements in outlier detection.     

Resolving Controversies in the Application of the Method of Multiple Scales and the Generalized Method of Averaging

I compare application of the method of multiple scales with reconstitution and the generalized method of averaging for determining higher-order approximations of three single-degree-of-freedom systems and a two-degree-of-freedom system. Three implementations of the method of multiple scales are considered, namely, application of the method to the system equations expressed as second-order equations, as first-order equations, and in complex-variable form. I show that all of these methods produce the same modulation equations.I address the problem of determining higher-order approximate solutions of the Duffing equation in the case of primary resonance. I show that the conclusions of Rahman and Burton that the method of multiple scales, the generalized method of averaging, and Lie series and transforms might lead to incorrect results, in that spurious solutions occur and the obtained frequency–response curves bear little resemblance to the actual response, is the result of their using parameter values for which the neglected terms are the same order as the retained terms. I show also that spurious solutions cannot be avoided, in general, in any consistent expansion and their presence does not constitute a limitation of the methods. In particular, I show that, for the Duffing equation, the second-order frequency–response equation does not possess spurious solutions for the case of hardening nonlinearity, but possesses spurious solutions for the case of softening nonlinearity. For sufficiently small nonlinearity, the spurious solutions are far removed from the actual response. But as the strength of the nonlinearity increases, these solutions move closer to the backbone and eventually distort it. This is not a drawback of the perturbation methods but an indication of an application of the analysis for parameter values outside the range of validity of the expansion.Also, I address the problem of obtaining non-Hamiltonian modulation equations in the application of the method of multiple scales to multi-degree-of-freedom Hamiltonian systems written as second-order equations in time and how this problem can be overcome by attacking the state-space form of the governing equations. Moreover, I show that application of a variation of the method of Rahman and Burton to multi-degree-of-freedom systems leads to results that do not agree with those obtained with the generalized method of averaging.Contributed by Prof. R.A. Ibrahim.     

Kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic studies of cadmium (II) adsorption by modified agricultural wastes

Agricultural wastes have great potential for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solution. The contamination of water by toxic heavy metals is a worldwide environmental problem. Unlike organic pollutants, the majority of which are susceptible to biological degradation, heavy metals do not degrade into harmless end products. Discharges containing cadmium, in particular, are strictly controlled because of the highly toxic nature of this element and its tendency to accumulate in the tissues of living organisms. This work aims to develop inexpensive, highly available, effective metal ion adsorbents from natural wastes as alternatives to existing commercial adsorbents. In particular, Tamrix articulata wastes were modified chemically by esterification with maleic acid to yield a carboxyl-rich adsorbent. The adsorption behavior of treated Tamrix articulata wastes toward cadmium ions in aqueous solutions in a batch system has been studied as a function of equilibration time, adsorbent dose, temperature and pH. Results showed that the maximum adsorption capacity was 195.5 mg/g in a pH 4 solution at 30 °C with a contact time of 120 min, an initial concentration of 400 mg/L and an adsorbent dose of 0.3 g/L. The kinetic data were analyzed using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. It was shown that the adsorption of cadmium could be described by a pseudo-second-order equation. The experimental data were also analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich models of adsorption. Thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° have been evaluated and it has been found that the sorption process was spontaneous and exothermic in nature. From all of our data, we conclude that the treated Tamrix articulata wastes investigated in this study showed good potential for cadmium removal from aqueous solutions.     

MICELLIZATION STUDIES OF DODECYL BENZENESULFONIC ACID AND ITS INTERACTION WITH POLYVINYLPYRROLIDONE

Dodecyl benzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) surfactant was used in the present study to find the effect of concentration on its electrical conductance in solution from 293-323K above and below the critical micelle concentration (CMC). The micellization parameters i.e. degree of counter ion binding (β), aggregation number (n) and number of counter ion micelle(m) were measured. The interaction of DBSA with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was also studied at 293K throughconductance and surface tension measure ments. A number of important parameters i.e. critical aggregation concentration (CAC), Gibb‘s free energy (△G) and binding ratio (R) were determined and the effect of NaCl on the CAC and polymer saturation point (PSP) was also investigated.     

Organocatalytic Asymmetric Mannich Cyclization of Hydroxylactams with Acetals: Total Syntheses of (−)‐Epilupinine, (−)‐Tashiromine,and (−)‐Trachelanthamidine

An asymmetric, organocatalytic, one‐pot Mannich cyclization between a hydroxylactam and acetal is described to provide fused, bicyclic alkaloids bearing a bridgehead N atom. Both aliphatic and aromatic substrates were used in this transformation to furnish chiral pyrrolizidinone, indolizidinone, and quinolizidinone derivatives in up to 89 % yield and 97 % ee. The total syntheses of (?)‐epilupinine, (?)‐tashiromine, and (?)‐trachelanthamidine also achieved to demonstrate the generality of the process.     

Preparation,morphology and electrical conductivity of polyaniline/polyoxyalkylene–montmorillonite exfoliated nanocomposites

Polyaniline (PANI)/organoclay exfoliated nanocomposites containing different organoclay contents (14–50 wt%) were prepared. PANI emeraldine base (EB) and oligomeric PANI (o‐PANI) were intercalated into montmorillonite (MMT) modified by four types of polyoxyalkylene diamine or triamine (organoclay) using N‐methyl pyrolidinone (NMP) as a solvent in the presence of 0.1 M HCl. o‐PANI and EB have been synthesized by oxidative polymerization of aniline using ammonium peroxydisulfate (APS). Infrared absorption spectra (IR) confirm the electrostatic interaction between negatively charged surface of MMT and positively charged sites in PANI. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) studies disclosed that the d₀₀₁ spacing between interlamellar surface disappeared at low content of the organoclay. The morphology of these materials was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Electrical conductivities of the PANI‐organoclay and o‐PANI‐organoclay nanocomposites were 1.5 × 10^?3–2 × 10^?4 and 9.5 × 10^?7–1.8 × 10^?9 S/cm, respectively depending on the ratio of PANI. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison between standard and counterpoise-corrected optimization using some hydrogen and halogen bonded systems

The effect of the counterpoise correction on the geometries, stabilization energies, and vibrational harmonic frequencies of some hydrogen- and halogen-bonded systems (B?=?CH₃CN,?HCN,?NH₃,?N₂,?CO,?H₂O,?H₂S,?PH₃;?HX?=?HF,?HCl,?HBr,?HCN,?HCF₃; XY?=?Br₂,?BrCl,?BrF,?Cl₂,?ClF,?F₂) has been analysed at the MP2 level of theory using the popular 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. The optimized B?···?H and B?···?X bond lengths increase with counterpoise (CP) correction. In some cases standard values and in other cases CP-corrected values are close to experimental data. The absolute values of complexation energies of CP-corrected structures are higher than standard by inclusion of BSSE correction. The effect of CP correction on intermolecular bond lengths and complexation energies of B?···?XY series are usually higher than B?···?HX. Also, this effect is higher for H₂S and PH₃ groups. The CP correction changes the vibrational harmonic frequencies by 0–100%. The changes are frequently lower than 20% for frequencies higher than 300?cm^?1.     

Quantitative reaction cascades of ninhydrin in the solid state

Crystalline ninhydrin (1) undergoes waste-free solid-state cascade reactions with dimedone, L-proline, three o-phenylenediamines, o-mercaptoaniline, two ureas, three thioureas, and methyl 3-aminocrotonate. The yields are quantitative and give pure crystalline products without workup just by milling stoichiometric mixtures of the crystalline reagents. The structures of the new and the previously obtained products with lower yields from solutions are established or confirmed by spectroscopic data and density functional calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G* level. The success of 3- and 4-cascade reactions in the crystal without melting is unusual and of unmatched atom economy. They are mechanistically investigated with atomic force microscopy techniques (AFM) on six different faces of 1 when o-phenylenediamine was the reagent (substitution, elimination, cyclization, elimination) and interpreted on the basis of known crystal structure data. Strict correlations to the crystal packings are observed. The characteristic surface features grow to microm heights in some cases at distances of 0.5 mm from the contact edge of the reacting crystals. The waste-free and easy syntheses of highly functionalized (C=O; O-H; C=N) heterocycles or of a tetraketone are also of interest for synthetic use.     

Synthesis,Spectroscopy, In Vitro Biological Activity and X-ray Structure of (4-Methylpiperidine-dithiocarbamato-<Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>,<Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>′)triphenyltin(IV)

Abstract (4-Methylpiperidine-dithiocarbamato-S,S′)triphenyltin(IV) derivative of 4-methyl-1-piperidine carbodithioic acid (4-MePCDTA) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental, IR, multinuclear NMR (¹H and ¹³C) and mass spectrometric studies. The crystal structure of the complex has been determined by X-ray single crystal analysis, which shows unsymmetrical nature of the ligand towards coordination to tin. It crystallizes in monoclinic P21/c space group with the crystal cell parameters: a = 10.1863(10) ?, b = 21.200(2) ?, c = 11.7332(11) ?, β = 111.2020(10)°, Z = 4 and V = 2,362.2(4) ?³. The tin atom is coordinated to the two sulfur atoms of the dithiocarbamate ligand and three carbon atoms of the phenyl groups are in distorted trigonal bipyramid geometry. This complex was tested for its antimicrobial activity against six different plant and human pathogens. The screening results show that the complex exhibit higher antibacterial and antifungal activity than the free ligand. Index abstract Synthesis, Spectroscopy, in vitro Biological Activity and X-Ray Structure of (4-Methylpiperidine-dithiocarbamato-S,S′)triphenyltin(IV) Saira Shahzadi, Saqib Ali and Mohammmed Fettouhi 4-Methyl-1-piperidine carbodithioic acid behaves as anisobidentate ligand and chelates the tin atom by means of sulfur atoms giving cis-trigonal bipyramid geometry around the tin atom. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.