Selecting an agricultural technology package based on the flexible and interactive tradeoff method

Annals of Operations Research - The aim of this paper is to solve an agricultural technology packages selection problem by considering multiple dimensions which influence a maize producer’s...     

A dominance-based rough set approach applied to evaluate the credit risk of sovereign bonds

4OR - Even though sovereign bonds represent low-risk alternatives that give investors a healthy income, the risk assessment process for these bonds is still considered subjective because of the...     

A normalization problem for a class of singular integral operators with carleman shift and unbounded coefficients

The solution to a normalization problem for singular integral operators with Carleman shift and degenerate and unbounded coefficients inL _p () is obtained, where is either the unit circle or the real line. The approach followed consists mainly in two steps: the reduction to a singular integral operator with bounded coefficients and the use of the solution to an abstract normalization problem.This research was supported by JNICT under the grant PBIC/C/CEN/1040/92.     

Asymptotic stability at infinity of planar vector fields

Let >0 andX be aC ¹ vector field on the plane such that: (i) for allq², Det(DX(q))>0; and (ii) for allp², with p, Trace(D(X(p))<0. IfX has a singularity and ² Trace(DX)dxdy is less than 0 (resp. greater or equal than 0), then the point at infinity of the Riemann sphere ²{} is a repellor (resp. an attractor) ofX.     

Interdiffusion studies in Bi-based layered systems with nanosecond laser pulses

Interdiffusion processes are induced by nanosecond laser pulses from an excimer laser. The Bi-based systems studied are formed by a Bi layer and a Sb or Ge layer. Configurations with Bi at the surface layer or at the innermost layer are both studied. Real-time reflectivity measurements are performed during the irradiation to determine the process kinetics and times and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry is used to obtain the concentration depth profiles. It will be shown that there is an interfacially initiated diffusion process in the Bi-Sb system and that the diffusion coefficients of this system within the liquid phase are in the 10^–5–10^–6 cm²/s range. The Bi-Ge system shows instead little mixing, the diffusion coefficients of the system within the liquid phase being at least two orders of magnitude lower. The differences observed when Bi is the surface layer or the innermost one are related to the different thermal responses of the system.