Relative Comparison Method Research Articles

Gas-phase odor mixture quantification based on relative comparison method using multiple olfactory receptors

The gas-phase odor biosensors exhibit outstanding sensitivity and selectivity towards target ligands. Current odor detections, however, were only operated under one or multiple separated olfactory receptors (ORs) stimulated by a single component odor. Meanwhile, the nonlinear characteristic, drift, and aging problems in biosensors were the main barriers for better quantification performance. Here, we proposed a gas-phase odor biosensor for odor mixture quantification based on relative comparison method using cell expressing ORs, the liquid thickness control and liquid exchange maintained repeatable OR responses. We repeatedly compared the known and its adjacent unknown odor response thus mitigating the biosensor drift interference and sensor nonlinearity characteristic. We first conducted the odor quantification of one odor component in a mixture of five odors. The existence of other odors did not influence the quantification of Or56a towards geosmin component in the mixture. Then, two types of OR were utilized for quantifying odor mixture with or without adding the OR label information to the individual cells. With-label quantification was more precise and efficient than without-label one. Lastly, we simultaneously expressed two ORs on one cell line for wider detection range and quantified the mixture even if OR has cross sensitivity. We believe the odor mixture quantification methods established in this study will extend the application scenarios of odor biosensors especially in rapid on-site odor detection.

Evaluation of the Relative Phase Comparison Method at Its Limits Used for Absolute Phase Determination of an AC Cage Current Shunt Group.

AC current shunts are used for precise current measurements. The application of AC current shunts requires that their amplitude phase characteristics are known. A group of three geometrically identical current shunts and a reference shunt are observed in this paper. The phase characteristics of the reference shunt have been previously obtained. A relative phase comparison has been made between the three geometrically identical shunts, and phase displacement values for each have been obtained. After this, the results are verified with the reference shunt. The relative method is most suitable for shunts, where their respective RC and L/R values are small (compared with 1/ω) and of the same order. The ratios of the nominal resistance values of the shunts used in this paper are at the limit of the given statement. The conclusion is that the method applied at the mentioned limits, in terms of the metrology-grade phase angle determination of current shunts, is not to be considered reliable at frequencies higher than 1 kHz.

Research on coal combustion catalysts for cement kiln via comprehensive evaluation method based on combustion characteristics

Thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DSC) has been used to obtain information on combustion characteristics of bituminous coal and anthracite incorporating Cu(NO3)2, KNO3, ZnO and MnO2, and the apparent kinetic parameters were determined by the first-order Coats & Redfern method based on the TG-DSC results. Experiments were conducted from the 303 K–1172 K at heating rate of 10 K min−1. The ignition index, burning intensity, burnout index and activation energy were used as evaluation indexes. The weight of evaluation indexes was given by relative comparison method, The catalyst activity was evaluated by linear weighted synthesis method. It was indicated that those of bituminous coal and anthracite, the relative active sequence of catalysts to the comprehensive combustion performance of bituminous coal could be described as follows: Cu(NO3)2>KNO3>ZnO > MnO2. The relative active sequence of catalysts to the comprehensive combustion performance of anthracite could be described as follows: Cu(NO3)2>ZnO > MnO2>KNO3.

Инструментарий сбора и экономического анализа информации о ресурсном обеспечении производственного предприятия для инновационного развития

Under conditions of increasing the rate of domestic production, the availability of resources and provision of enterprises with them is a factor of success and implementation of the development strategy. Resources availability is not only the current state of the enterprise functioning. It is necessary to assess the development prospects in the future, the efficiency of using the accumulated potential and directing it to innovations related to the renewal of fixed assets, production of new products types, and use of new technologies by the enterprise employees. Directions, recommendations and suggestions related to the assessment of the existing experience and development of new knowledge in the field of analysis of resource support of production are considered in the article. The purpose of the study is to develop proposals and recommendations for the development of tools for collecting and economic analysis of information about the resource provision of a manufacturing enterprise for innovative development. Te methods of analysis used are: dynamic construction, method of absolute and relative values, comparison method, coefficient method, system approach, and data structuring technique. The sources of information used were accounting data, explanatory analytical information, data analytics of information systems Interfax, Sbis, RBK company, the All-Russian Contractor Verification System For Honest Business. As a result, the practice of collecting and analyzing information about the resource provision of a manufacturing enterprise was assessed from the point of view of readiness for innovation is given on the materials of a manufacturing enterprise. It is shown how to assess the readiness of the enterprise for further development and the effectiveness of the formation and use of resources on the basis of calculation and analysis of indicators and ratios. Management conclusions are formulated to assess the resource availability of the enterprise and innovative transformations.

An Optimal Transport Based Global Similarity Index for Remote Sensing Products Comparison

Remote sensing products, such as land cover data products, are essential for a wide range of scientific studies and applications, and their quality evaluation and relative comparison have become a major issue that needs to be studied. Traditional methods, such as error matrices, are not effective in describing spatial distribution because they are based on a pixel-by-pixel comparison. In this paper, the relative quality comparison of two remote sensing products is turned into the difference measurement between the spatial distribution of pixels by proposing a max-sliced Wasserstein distance-based similarity index. According to optimal transport theory, the mathematical expression of the proposed similarity index is firstly clarified, and then its rationality is illustrated, and finally, experiments on three open land cover products (GLCFCS30, FROMGLC, CNLUCC) are conducted. Results show that based on this proposed similarity index-based relative quality comparison method, the spatial difference, including geometric shapes and spatial locations between two different remote sensing products in raster form, can be quantified. The method is particularly useful in cases where there exists misregistration between datasets, while pixel-based methods will lose their robustness.

Third-party Payment Services Selection for Logistics Public Information Platforms

The payment mode has important effects on business transactions. This paper focuses on decision-making research on third-party payment services selection for logistics information platforms (LPIPs). From the point of view of technology adoption and LPIPs, six selection criteria of third-party payment services were proposed based on UTAUT model. An optimal decision-making approach measured by these criteria was put forward based on the multi-attribute decision-making theory. The final criteria weights were adjusted by the initial individuals separately obtained by the relative comparison method and entropy evaluation method. And the final evaluation of all was obtained by weighted averaging. An illustrative case was carried out based on the former method. It is indicated that the proposed decision-making method is effective and could well distinguish different third-party payment software for LPIPs in quantitative way.

Optimization of pressure drop model for shale gas wells in area X based on correlation coefficient method

The bottom hole pressure is an important parameter in the production process of a gas well, and it is of great significance to many aspects such as gas well productivity evaluation, dynamic analysis and production allocation. A large number of shale gas wells in area X were lack of the bottom hole pressure data. In order to solve this problem, based on extensive research in many articles, this paper selected eight kinds of calculation models as candidate objects, such as Hagadorn-Brown and Beggs-Brill. Different models were used to calculate the bottom hole pressure of only two shale gas wells with measured pressure data in this area, and the calculated results were compared with the measured data to select the best model for calculating the bottom hole pressure of shale gas wells in area X. In the optimization analysis, it was found that the conventional average relative error comparison method or the graph comparison method could not reflect the application situation of the calculation models well in this area. Therefore, on the basis of the two comparison methods, the correlation coefficient method was introduced to quantify the overall difference between the calculated pressure and the measured pressure. The results showed that the calculated result of Orkiszewski model fitted the measured pressure best.

Selection of optimized treatment plan of acupuncture for lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis

To select the optimized treatment plan of acupuncture for lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis by using multiple indexes decision-making method based on the clinical evidence. The randomized control trials (RCTs) regarding acupuncture for lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis in the CNKI database, CBM database, WANFANG database, VIP database, PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase published before December 31, 2017 were comprehensively collected. The modified Jadad scale was used to evaluate the quality of the RCTs. Then the evaluation indexes were selected and the dimensions of evaluation indexes were standardized by using extreme difference transformation method. The weight of each index was determined by using relative comparison method and the standardized matrix was weighted. Thus, the ideal solution and the negative ideal solution were obtained, and the relatively degree of each treatment plan to the ideal solution was calculated to propose the optimized plan of acupuncture for lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis. A total of 18 RCTs were included, the optimized plan of acupuncture for lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis was using thin fire needle to rapidly prick the abnormal skin region with fast needle insertion-withdrawal technique; the fire needle was applied repeatedly; intensive pricking to form a treatment area; the treatment was given once every 5 days. Based on the current clinical evidence, the optimized plan of acupuncture for lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis is using thin fire needle to prick the abnormal skin region; the multiple methods of plum-blossom needling met the characteristic of lateral femoral cutaneous neuritis and is suitable for clinical selection. The main acupoints are ashi points in the abnormal skin area or the acupoints in the foot-yangming meridian and foot-shaoyang meridian, combined with lumbar Jiaji (EX-B2) points.

Wushu Teaching Strategy and Development in Urban and Rural Schools

Affected by economic factors, rural sports are far behind cities in equipment construction and faculty, among urban and rural physical education, martial arts teaching is a considerable important part. The paper utilizes comparative analysis method and relative number comparison method, starts from urban and rural martial arts teaching development and martial arts cultural inheritance two aspects to analyze urban and rural martial arts teaching existing gap. Firstly, by deepen analysis of urban and rural martial arts course setup forms, curricular class hour, curricular established items; it researches on urban and rural martial arts teaching development. Secondly, by analyzing urban and rural sports teachers attitudes toward martial arts teaching, urban and rural students comprehension status on martial arts as well as comprehension paths, it states martial arts inheritance issue in urban and rural martial arts teaching process, and for gap be-tween towns and countries, it further gets conclusions that urban and rural martial arts teaching have great gaps, city martial arts teaching course established forms are relative plentiful, arranged class hours are more, and items’ contents selectivity is stronger, no matter students or teachers, their comprehension paths and behavioral attitudes toward martial arts teaching are better than rural teachers and students, by comparing, rural martial arts teaching is inferior to city ones.

Comparative lipidomics of mouse brain exposed to enriched environment

Several studies have shown that housing conditions and environmental exposure to a series of stimuli lead to behavior improvement in several species. While more works have been focused on illustrating changes of the proteome and transcriptome following enriched environment exposure in mice, little has been done to understand changes in the brain metabolome in this paradigm due to the complexity of this type of analysis. In this paper, lipidomics focused on phospholipids and gangliosides were conducted for brain tissues of mice exposed to enriched or impoverished conditions. We optimized previously reported method and established a reliable relative comparison method for phospholipids and gangliosides in brain tissue using prefractionation with weak anion exchange cartridge. We used liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to explore metabolic signatures of the cerebral cortex and hippocampus after confirming the animals had significant memory differences using the fear conditioning paradigm and brain immunohistochemistry. Although both cerebral cortex and hippocampus regions did not show major alterations in ganglioside composition, we found significant differences in a series of phospholipids containing 22:6 fatty acid in the prefrontal cortex, indicating that environmental enrichment and impoverished housing conditions might be a relevant paradigm to study aberrant lipid metabolism of docosahexaenoic acid consumption. Our study highlights the hypothesis-generating potential of lipidomics and identifies novel region-specific lipid changes possibly linked not only to change of memory function in these models, but also to help us better understand how lipid changes may contribute to memory disorders.

Performance Dashboard for a Pharmaceutical Project Benchmarking Program

AbstractPerformance measurement is essential to controlling and improving capital projects. Increasingly, industry sectors demand an industry-specific performance measurement system because their unique processes can result in significant differences in performance outcomes. This paper presents the development of a performance dashboard for a pharmaceutical project benchmarking program. The proposed approach adopts a relative comparison method and uses weighted key performance indicators (KPIs) to compare project performance. The dashboard generates an overall performance score both at the project level and at the company level, as shown in tabular and graphical formats. The dashboard provides flexibility for comparing the performance of projects even when the project types or KPIs are different. Although the study focuses on a performance dashboard for pharmaceutical industry projects, the dashboard development process described in this paper can be applied to other industry projects.

Resistin Promotes Cardiac Hypertrophy via the AMP-activated Protein Kinase/Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (AMPK/mTOR) and c-Jun N-terminal Kinase/Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 (JNK/IRS1) Pathways

Resistin has been suggested to be involved in the development of diabetes and insulin resistance. We recently reported that resistin is expressed in diabetic hearts and promotes cardiac hypertrophy; however, the mechanisms underlying this process are currently unknown. Therefore, we wanted to elucidate the mechanisms associated with resistin-induced cardiac hypertrophy and myocardial insulin resistance. Overexpression of resistin using adenoviral vector in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes was associated with inhibition of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity, activation of tuberous sclerosis complex 2/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, and increased cell size, [(3)H]leucine incorporation (i.e. protein synthesis) and mRNA expression of the hypertrophic marker genes, atrial natriuretic factor, brain natriuretic peptide, and β-myosin heavy chain. Activation of AMPK with 5-aminoimidazole-4-carbozamide-1-β-D-ribifuranoside or inhibition of mTOR with rapamycin or mTOR siRNA attenuated these resistin-induced changes. Furthermore, resistin increased serine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate (IRS1) through the activation of the apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1/c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) pathway, a module known to stimulate insulin resistance. Inhibition of JNK (with JNK inhibitor SP600125 or using dominant-negative JNK) reduced serine 307 phosphorylation of IRS1. Resistin also stimulated the activation of p70(S6K), a downstream kinase target of mTOR, and increased phosphorylation of the IRS1 serine 636/639 residues, whereas treatment with rapamycin reduced the phosphorylation of these residues. Interestingly, these in vitro signaling pathways were also operative in vivo in ventricular tissues from adult rat hearts overexpressing resistin. These data demonstrate that resistin induces cardiac hypertrophy and myocardial insulin resistance, possibly via the AMPK/mTOR/p70(S6K) and apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1/JNK/IRS1 pathways.

Measurement of 10B content in thin-film 10B samples

Two thin-film (10)B samples on tantalum backings were made for measurement of cross sections of the (10)B(n,α)(7)Li reaction in the MeV neutron energy region. The number of (10)B atoms in the samples was determined using the relative comparison method by detecting alpha and triton particles from thermal neutron induced nuclear reactions of (10)B(n(th),α)(7)Li and (6)Li(n(th),t)(4)He with a (6)LiF sample as the reference. A twin gridded ionization chamber was used as the detector of charged particles.

新型螺芴类蓝光材料的合成与性能

A type of spirofluorene,DCSF,was successfully synthesized through a series of organic reactions,and determined by 1H NMR、13C NMR、MS、FT-IR.Optoelectric properties were researched by UV-Vis absorption spectra and fluorescence spectra.The photoluminescence quantum yield was measured by the relative comparison method,using quinine sulfate in 0.05 mol/L H2SO4 as standard,which was measured to be 0.391.The energy gap of the HOMO energy and LUMO energy was calculated through cyclic voltammeter measurement,which was estimated to be 3.32 eV.

Relative Comparison Method of Rolling Contact Fatigue Performance of Silicon Nitrides by Stepwise Loading Balls-on-Flat Test—Experimental Verification of Validity of Some Assumptions for the Method

Abstract We have verified the validity of some assumptions in the method described in our prior paper entitled “Relative Comparison Method of Rolling Contact Fatigue Performance of Silicon Nitrides by Stepwise Loading Balls-on-Flat Test—A Candidate for Standard Practice for Comparison of RCF Performance,” (J. ASTM Int., Vol 5, No. 6, 2008). In this method, the mean effective mechanical input (Min)m is used as a criterion for the comparison. The balls-on-flat rolling contact fatigue (RCF) tests under constant loading were carried out at three stress levels for two bearing grade (BG) silicon nitrides and one general purpose (GP) nitride. The values of p, which is defined in the well-known Lundberg and Palmgren theory and is assumed to be constant for any silicon nitride in the calculation of (Min)m, are shown to be close to each other in these three different silicon nitrides, lending support to the assumption. To investigate the influence of loading history in stepwise loading, tests under three different stepwise loading conditions starting from minimum loads of 1, 2.5, and 4 kN were carried out. Generally, with an increase in minimum load, (Min)m decreased, but there was no significant influence of the minimum load on the results of distinguishing between BG and GP. One BG, which is manufactured by gas pressure sintering, however, seems to have a (Min)m higher than the true value when tested from the minimum load of 1 kN. It can be inferred that compressive residual stress causes a suppressing effect on peeling. This anomaly was circumvented by choosing a minimum loading condition higher than 2.5 kN for the test materials used in this research. The test results and the ratios of two surface failure categories, spall and peeling, in the constant loading tests lend support to the hypothesis that relative comparison of RCF performance under stepwise loading can substitute for that under constant load.

Relative Comparison Method of Rolling Contact Fatigue Performance of Silicon Nitrides by Stepwise Loading Balls-on-Flat Test—A Candidate for Standard Practice for Comparison of RCF Performance

Abstract We have demonstrated a simple comparison method for rolling contact fatigue (RCF) performance of silicon nitrides using the balls-on-flat RCF test under stepwise loading. The RCF performance was evaluated by the mean effective mechanical input (Min)m which is the product of the mean effective load Pm, calculated from test loads and revolutions during the dwell time for each load, and the number of load cycles. The test materials were six kinds of commercially available silicon nitride, four of bearing-grade silicon nitrides (BG) and two general purpose ones (GP). The minimum test loads were 1 and 0.5 kN for BG and GP, respectively. The load was increased stepwise with each step 107 contact cycles unless failure of the specimen was detected by the acceleration pickup mounted on the loading arm of the testing machine. The balls and test specimen were immersed in mineral oil with kinematic viscosities of 8 mm2/s for BG and 68 mm2/s for GP. A clear distinction in (Min)m was made among the BG, and the GP have lower (Min)m compared to BG, despite small differences in conventional mechanical properties such as Vickers hardness, fracture toughness, and elastic modulus. The results of the balls-on-flat RCF test under constant load for one BG lend support to the hypothesis that the loading history in stepwise loading can be converted to the mean effective load Pm. It is also supported by the fact that classification of failure mechanisms in stepwise loading is similar to that for a constant load of 4 kN, which is close to the mean of Pm of the material. These results imply the viability of a standardized comparison method for RCF performance of bearing-grade silicon nitrides as well as screening for poor performance materials.

Thermal expansion of polyurethane foam at low temperature

The mean linear thermal expansion coefficient of a newly developed polyurethane foam with a blowing agent of HFC245fa was measured from the liquid nitrogen temperature to room temperature by means of a relative comparison method in this paper. An automatic temperature measuring system, a vacuum system and an electrical heating system were adopted in the experiment. The relative comparison method has been analyzed, and according to the Kelvin model, a model describing thermal expansion of the foams was introduced. A very low thermal expansion with a slowly increasing trend versus temperature rising from 77 K to 230 K was shown in the result. In addition, it was indicated that the thermal expansion rate along a direction perpendicular to the pore rise is a bit higher than that along a parallel direction.

Influence of pH, soil type and soil organic matter content on soil-to-plant transfer of radiocesium and -strontium as analyzed by a nonparametric method

A new nonparametric method, called the relative comparison method, is presented to evaluate the effect of some soil parameters on transfer of Cs or Sr from soil to edible plant parts. A large number of transfer factors is used for 134Cs, 137Cs, 85Sr and 90Sr. Analyses showed that soil organic matter content has a large impact on transfer of Cs or Sr. Transfer of Cs increased with increasing organic matter content. Compared to the transfer of Cs in soils with an organic matter content of less than 5%, the effect was approximately a factor of 2–5 to 20% and increased up to a factor of 10 in soils with an organic matter content of more than 50%. In contrast, transfer of Sr decreased with increasing soil organic matter content. Relative to the transfer of Sr in soils with an organic matter content of less than 5% the decrease was by about a factor of 1·5 at 6–10% organic matter up to a factor of 10 in soils with an organic matter content of more than 50%. In the range pH 3·9–8·4, transfer of Cs was not affected by soil pH. On average, transfer of Sr decreased by a factor of 1·7 when soil pH increased from pH 4·5 to 7·4. Transfer of Cs in clay or loam was lower than in sand, by five or three times, respectively. For Sr the transfer in clay or loam was about 1·4 times lower than in sand. These results may be used as correction factors when evaluating soil-to-plant transfer factors of Cs or Sr determined in different soil types, in soils with a different organic matter content or with a different pH.