Program evaluation and its application to equipment based on super-efficiency DEA and gray relation projection method

For the gray attributes of the equipment program and its difficulty to carry out the quantitative assessment of the equipment program information, the gray relation projection method is simply reviewed. Combining the super-data envelopment analysis（DEA） model and the gray system theory, a new super-DEA for measuring the weight is proposed, and a gray relation projection model is established to rank the equipment programs. Finally, this approach is used to evaluate the equipment program. The results are verified valid and can provide a new way for evaluating the equipment program.

Method for multi-attribute group decision-making based on the compromise weights

Multi-attribute group decision-making problems are considered where information on both attribute weights and value scores of consequences is incomplete.In group decision analysis,if preference information about alternatives is provided by participants,it should be verified whether there exist compromise weights that can support all the preference relations.The different compromise weight vectors may differ for the ranking of the alternatives.In the case that compromise weights exist,the method is proposed to find out all the compromise weight vectors in order to rank the alternatives.Based on the new feasible domain of attribute weights determined by all the compromise weight vectors and the incomplete information on value scores of consequences,dominance relations between alternatives are checked by a nonlinear goal programming model which can be transformed into a linear one by adopting a transformation.The checked dominance relations uniformly hold for all compromise weight vectors and the incomplete information on value scores of consequences.A final ranking of the alternatives can be obtained by aggregating these dominance relations.

High-resolution remote sensing data can predict household poverty in pastoral areas,Inner Mongolia,China

The accurate prediction of poverty is critical to efforts of poverty reduction,and high-resolution remote sensing(HRRS)data have shown great promise for facilitating such prediction.Accordingly,the present study used HRRS with 1 m resolution and 238 households data to evaluate the utility and optimal scale of HRRS data for predicting household poverty in a grassland region of Inner Mongolia,China.The prediction of household poverty was improved by using remote sensing indicators at multiple scales,instead of indicators at a single scale,and a model that combined indicators from four scales(building land,household,neighborhood,and regional)provided the most accurate prediction of household poverty,with testing and training accuracies of 48.57%and 70.83%,respectively.Furthermore,building area was the most efficient indicator of household poverty.When compared to conducting household surveys,the analysis of HRRS data is a cheaper and more time-efficient method for predicting household poverty and,in this case study,it reduced study time and cost by about 75%and 90%,respectively.This study provides the first evaluation of HRRS data for the prediction of household poverty in pastoral areas and thus provides technical support for the identification of poverty in pastoral areas around the world.

Evaluation of Stocking All Female Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) in Alabama (USA) Ponds

Excessive largemouth bass ( Micropterus salmoides ) recruitment in small impoundments leads to density-dependent growth depression, causing populations to have length distributions skewed towards smaller fish. To address this issue, we conducted three trials that evaluated stocking all female largemouth bass (F-LMB) in two small Alabama ponds (0.5 and 2.0 ha) where the drainage basin was isolated. Age-1 fish were individually identified for sex using a micro pipette inserted in the urogenital pore, tagged, and stocked at 38-40 F-LMB/ha into ponds that contained pre-established sunfish ( Lepomis spp.) populations. Female largemouth bass were collected with electrofishing, angling, and rotenone over a 2.5- to 5-year period among the three trials. Sex was correctly identified for 179 of the 180 F-LMB stocked. One male was detected in the first trial which resulted in successful largemouth bass reproduction and this trial was terminated after two years. Growth was rapid the first 2 years after stocking as 3-year-old fish reached an average of 429 to 459 mm and 1.37 to 1.66 kg in all 3 trials. However, 2 years after stocking, growth was nil in the second trial even though relative weights of F-LMB were generally greater than 100. In this second trial, removal of about 30% of the F-LMB inhabiting the pond and stocking small Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (25 - 75 mm) resulted in average weights increasing from 1.30 to 2.34 kg in 1 year. Growth of F-LMB continued in the third trail, and average size approached 500 mm and 2.2 kg three years after stocking. Annual survival rates of F-LMB were high and ranged from 0.78 to 0.93 among the 3 trials. Stocking F-LMB offers an attractive alternative in ponds to create a low density largemouth bass population that displays fast growth and high survival when catch-and-release fishing is primarily practiced.

Effect of different sources and levels of iron in the diet of sows on iron status in neonatal pigs

This study was conducted to determine the effects of maternal dietary supplementation of ferrous glycine chelate(Fe-Gly) and ferrous sulfate monohydrate(FeSO_4·H_2O) on the relative organ weight, tissue iron contents, red blood cells(RBC), hemoglobin concentration(HGB) and hematocrit(HCT) in blood, as well as ferritin(Fn), serum iron(SI), and total iron binding capacity(TIBC) in serum of newborn piglets.Forty-five sows(Landrace × Large white, mean parity 3 to 4, no significant differences in BW) were randomly allotted to 9 treatments(n=5 sows/treatment): control(basal diet with no Fe supplementation), the basal diet supplemented with 50, 80, 110 or 140 mg Fe/kg as Fe-Gly, and the basal diet supplemented with 50, 80, 110 or 140 mg Fe/kg as FeSO_4·H_2O.The neonatal piglets(n=45) were used to determine the relative organ weight, tissue iron contents and blood biochemical indices.Compared with the control, the relative weight of spleen and kidney were significantly increased(P < 0.05) in the Fe-Gly groups.The iron contents in liver,spleen, kidney and femur were also found increased(P < 0.05) in the Fe-Gly groups.The RBC(d 1 and 21),HGB(d 1 and 21) and HCT(d 1 and 21) in blood and Fn(d 1) and SI(d 1 and 21) significantly increased(P < 0.05), but the TIBC(d 1 and 21) in serum decreased(P < 0.05) in the Fe-Gly groups.Moreover, the kidney relative weight, iron content in liver, spleen, kidney and femur, RBC(d 1) and HGB(d 21) in blood, and SI(d 1)in the Fe-Gly groups increased(P < 0.05) compared with the FeSO_4·H_2O treatment.Linear and quadratic responses of the kidney relative weight, the iron content in liver, spleen, kidney and femur, RBC(d 1 and 21),HGB(d 1 and 21) and HCT(d 1 and 21) in whole blood, SI(d 1) and TIBC(d 1 and 21) in the Fe-Gly groups were observed(P < 0.05).Linear responses of Fn(d 1 and 21) and SI(d 21) in the Fe-Gly groups, and spleen relative weight, HCT(d 1), Fn(d 1) and TIBC(d 1 and 21) in the FeSO_4·H_2O groups were observed(P < 0.05).These finding suggest that Fe-Gly supplemented at the level of 110 mg/kg in the diet of sows in this experiment is superior to other forms of supplementation, based on HGB concentration, the relative organ weight, tissue iron contents and blood biochemical indices of piglets.

Studies on the Synthesis,Characterization and Properties of the Reactive Thermotropic Liquid Crystalline Polymer

1 Introduction Four species of reactive thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (LCMC) with different relative molecular weight were synthesized in this work (see scheme 1, n=2, 6, 10, ∞.n means number of repeat structure unit). Their structure, morphology and properties were investigated systemically by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), polarizing opticalmicroscopy (POM) and ubb...