Building a binary outranking relation in uncertain, imprecise and multi-experts contexts: The application of evidence theory

We consider multicriteria decision problems where the actions are evaluated on a set of ordinal criteria. The evaluation of each alternative with respect to each criterion may be uncertain and/or imprecise and is provided by one or several experts. We model this evaluation as a basic belief assignment (BBA). In order to compare the different pairs of alternatives according to each criterion, the concept of first belief dominance is proposed. Additionally, criteria weights are also expressed by means of a BBA. A model inspired by ELECTRE I is developed and illustrated by a pedagogical example.     

Parent–Daughter Confusion Component: A New Approach for the Construction of Nonlinear Confusion Component

The nonlinear confusion component is one of an integral part of any modern block cipher. This nonlinear confusion component is used to hides the relationship between the ciphertext and the key. The primary objective of this article is to formulate a new mechanism for the construction this confusion component. Usually substitution box (S-box) is used to achieve this kind of characteristics in block ciphers. We have utilized deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences for the construction of new S-boxes with optimized cryptographic characteristics. The projected technique fundamentally optimized the DNA sequences along with traditional confusion component to generate a completely new S-box. The obtained S-boxes have the same cryptographic strength as a parent S-box have.

     

EMGGR: an energy-efficient multipath grid-based geographic routing protocol for underwater wireless sensor networks

Routing in underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSN) is an important and a challenging activity due to the nature of acoustic channels and to the harsh environment. This paper extends our previous work [Al-Salti et al. in Proceedings of cyber-enabled distributed computing and knowledge discovery (CyberC), Shanghai, pp 331–336, 2014] that proposed a novel multipath grid-based geographical routing (MGGR) protocol for UWSNs. The extended work, EMGGR, viewed the network as logical 3D grids. Routing is performed in a grid-by-grid manner via gateways that use disjoint paths to relay data packets to the sink node. The algorithm consists of three main components: (1) a gateway election algorithm; responsible for electing gateways based on their locations and remaining energy level (2) a mechanism for updating neighboring gateways’ information; allowing sensor nodes to memorize gateways in local and neighboring cells, and (3) a packet forwarding mechanism; in charge of constructing disjoint paths from source cells to destination cells, forwarding packets to the destination and dealing with holes (i.e. cells with no gateways) in the network. The performance of EMGGR has been assessed using Aqua-Sim, which is an NS2 based simulator for UWSNs. Results show that EMGGR is an energy efficient protocol in all simulation setups used in the study. Moreover, EMGGR can also maintain good delivery ratio and end-to-end delay.

     

Formulation Development of Mirtazapine Liquisolid Compacts: Optimization Using Central Composite Design

Mirtazapine is a tetracyclic anti-depressant with poor water solubility. The aim of this study was to improve the dissolution rate of mirtazapine by delivering the drug as a liquisolid compact. Central composite design (CCD) was employed for the preparation of mirtazapine liquisolid compacts. In this, the impacts of two independent factors, i.e., excipient ratio (carrier:coating) and different drug concentration on the response of liquisolid system were optimized. Liquisolid compacts were prepared using propylene glycol as a solvent, microcrystalline cellulose as a carrier, and silicon dioxide (Aerosil) as the coating material. The crystallinity of the formulated drug and the interactions between the excipients were examined using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. The dissolution study for the liquisolid compact was carried out as per FDA guidelines. The results showed loss of crystallinity of the mirtazapine in the formulation and was completely solubilized in non-volatile solvent and equally dispersed throughout the powder system. Moreover, drug dissolution was found to be higher in liquisolid compacts than the direct compressed conventional tablets (of mirtazapine). The liquisolid technique appears to be a promising approach for improving the dissolution of poorly soluble drugs like mirtazapine.     

Influence of sputtering power and Ar–N2 flow on the structure and optical properties of indium nitride films prepared by magnetron sputtering

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the deposition of indium nitride (InN) thin films on Si (100) substrates by using pulsed DC magnetron sputtering. Effects of varying sputtering power and Ar–N₂ flow ratio on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of indium nitride (InN) films were investigated. The structural characterization indicated nanocrystalline InN film with preferred orientation towards (101) plane that exhibited the optimum crystalline quality at 130?W and for 40:60 Ar–N₂ ratio. The surface morphology of InN, as observed through FESEM, contained irregularly shaped nanocrystals with size that increases with higher sputtering power and Ar:N₂ flow ratio. The optical properties of InN films were studied using ellipsometer at room temperature. The band gap of InN was decreased with the increase of sputtering power to 130?W, whereas an increase in the band gap was noticed with the increase of the Ar:N₂ flow ratio.     

Localization of Static Passive RFID Tags with Mobile Reader in Two Dimensional Tag Matrix

Wireless Personal Communications - Tag localization in passive UHF RFID has become increasingly important, since the RFID system was introduced. Primarily the localization techniques in RFID are...     

Simultaneous Determination of Tranexamic Acid and Losartan Potassium in Dosage Formulations and Human Serum by RP-LC

Rapid liquid chromatographic procedure for analytical quality control of pharmaceutical preparations and human serum containing drugs, tranexamic acid together with losartan potassium are proposed, using acetonitrile: water (50:50), adjusting pH to 2.6 with phosphoric acid as a mobile phase, UV detection at 205 nm and propylparaben sodium was used as internal standard. The results obtained showed a good agreement with the declared contents. The method shows good linearity in the range of 40–10,000 ng mL^?1 for tranexamic acid serum concentrations with a correlation coefficient 0.9999 (inter- and intra-day CV <3.18) and in the range 5–10,000 ng mL^?1 for losartan potassium serum concentrations with a correlation coefficient 0.9999 (inter- and intra-day CV <3.61). The recovery was >97.8%. The proposed method may be used for the quantitative analysis of tranexamic acid and losartan potassium alone or in combination from raw materials, in bulk drugs, dosage formulations and in serum.     

Developing a Conceptual Model of STEAM Teaching Practices

STEAM, where the “A” represents arts and humanities, is considered a transdisciplinary learning process that has the potential to increase diverse participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. However, a well‐defined conceptual model that clearly articulates essential components of the STEAM approach is needed to conduct empirical research on STEAM's efficacy–in particular, the teaching content that should be considered when enacting STEAM teaching practices. This paper proposes a conceptual model of STEAM, providing educators with the opportunity to teach effectively using transdisciplinary inquiry. The instructional content domain of the model includes problem‐based delivery, discipline integration, and problem‐solving skills.