Selection of Electric Vehicles for the Needs of Sustainable Transport under Conditions of Uncertainty—A Comparative Study on Fuzzy MCDA Methods

All over the world, including Poland, authorities are taking steps to increase consumer interest in electric vehicles and sustainable transport as a way to reduce environmental pollution. For this reason, the electric vehicle market is dynamically and constantly developing, more and more modern vehicles are introduced to it, and purchases are often subsidized by the government. The aim of the article is to analyse the A–C segments of the Polish electric vehicle market and to recommend the most attractive vehicle from the perspective of sustainable transport. The aim of the research was achieved with the use of three multi-criteria decision aid (MCDA) methods, which deal well with the uncertainty and imprecision of data that occur in the case of many different parameters of electric vehicles. In particular, the following methods were used: the fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), the fuzzy simple additive weighting (SAW) method, and the new easy approach to fuzzy preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation II (NEAT F-PROMETHEE II). Electric vehicle rankings obtained using each method were compared and verified by stochastic analysis. The conducted analyses and comparisons allowed us to identify the most interesting electric vehicles, which currently appear to be the Volkswagen ID.3 Pro S and Nissan LEAF e+.

TR Locus Annotation and Characteristics of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

T-cell antigen receptors (TRs) in vertebrates can be divided into αβ or γδ, encoded by TRA/D, TRG, or TRB loci. TRs play a central role in mammal cellular immunity, which occurs by rearrangement of V, D, J, and C genes in the loci. The bat is the only mammal with flying ability and is considered the main host of zoonotic viruses, an important public health concern. However, at present, little is known about the composition of bat TR genes. Based on the whole genome sequence of the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) and referring to the TR/IG annotation rules formulated by the international ImMunoGeneTics information system (IMGT), we present a complete annotation of TRA/D, TRG, and TRB loci of R. ferrumequinum. A total of 128 V segments, three D segments, 85 J segments, and 6 C segments were annotated and compared with other known mammalian data. The characteristics of the TR locus and germline genes of R. ferrumequinum are analyzed.

The TR locus annotation and characteristics of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

Rhinolophus ferrumequinumin vertebrate could be divided into αβ or γδ, which are encoded by TRA/D, TRG and TRB loci respectively. TCRs play a central role in mammal cellular immunity, which are functionally produced by rearrangement of V gene, D gene, J gene and C gene in the loci. Bat is the only mammal with flying ability, and is considered as the main host of zoonotic virus, which occupies an important position in the field of public health. At present, little is known about the composition of bat TRs gene. According to the whole genome sequencing results of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, and referring to the TR/IG annotation rules formulated by IMGT. We make a complete annotation on the TRA/D, TRG and TRB loci of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. A total of 128 V segments, 3 D segments, 85 J segments and 6 C segments were annotated, in addition to compared with the known mammalian, the characteristics of the TRs locus and germline genes of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum were analyzed.

The TR locus annotation and characteristics of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

T cell antigen receptors (TCRs) in vertebrate could be divided into αβ or γδ, which are encoded by TRA/D, TRG and TRB loci respectively. TCRs play a central role in mammal cellular immunity, which are functionally produced by rearrangement of V gene, D gene, J gene and C gene in the loci. Bat is the only mammal with flying ability, and is considered as the main host of zoonotic virus, which occupies an important position in the field of public health. At present, little is known about the composition of bat TRs gene. According to the whole genome sequencing results of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, and referring to the TR/IG annotation rules formulated by IMGT. We make a complete annotation on the TRA/D, TRG and TRB loci of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. A total of 128 V segments, 3 D segments, 85 J segments and 6 C segments were annotated, in addition to compared with the known mammalian, the characteristics of the TRs locus and germline genes of the Rhinolophus ferrumequinum were analyzed.

Risk assessment of pathological conditions caused by circulating H. pylori strains

In recent years, there has been an increase in the prevalence of inflammatory and destructive diseases of the gastroduodenal zone, which is primarily explained by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. One of the main factors of H. pylori pathogenicity is presence of cytotoxin-associated gene — CagA. It is known that CagA-positive H. pylori strains are associated with the development of atrophy, tumor invasion and rapid metastasis. A number of recently published studies have revealed that CagA is a polymorphic gene which contains a different number of repetitive sequences located in the 3’ region. Each repetitive region of CagA contains Glu-Pro-Ile-Tyr-Ala (EPIYA) profiles including tyrosine phosphorylation. Depending on the sequence of the EPIYA profile, there are 4 segments: EPIYA-A, EPIYA-B, EPIYA-C, EPIYA-D, each containing a repetitive region. Geographical features of the prevalence of H. pylori strains depending on the sequence of EPIYA have been revealed: EPIYA-A region of the western isolates of this bacterium is associated with EPIYA-A, EPIYA-B, EPIYA-C segments, while the eastern CagA-positive H. pylori isolates are characterized by the A-B-D type of the CagA gene. Data illustrating the strong correlation between the western CagA-positive H. pylori strains, which have a repeating EPIYA-C segment, and the development of precancerous states, as well as gastric cancer, are presented. H. pylori strains containing simultaneously A-B motives of EPIYA or one C-type of the CagA gene are associated with a 7-fold increase of risk of gastric cancer compared to CagA-negative strains; presence of two or more EPIYA-C motives is associated with a 30-fold increase of this risk.

An Experimental Study on the Fire Behavior of Concrete Segments in Tunnel Linings

As soon as the plan to build deep and long tunnels in Korea was announced, guaranteeing fire-resistance of R/C tunnel linings became an important issue. As a matter of fact, the R/C segments used in bored tunnels are structural members which are requested to resist both the transverse pressure of the soil and the longitudinal thrust of the TBM. Because of the temperature sensitivity of the high-performance concrete (compressive strength>40 MPa) that will be used, proper measures should be taken against possible fire-induced damage, like surface spalling and deterioration of the reinforcement. In the past, concrete linings were built in Korea with scanty attention to their fire safety, as demonstrated by the lack of studies on fire resistance of both materials and structures. Therefore, in this study the objective is how to improve the safety of R/C tunnel linings in case of fire, by comparing the damage observed in some full-scale tests recently performance in Korea with the damage observed in the tests performed by EFNARC (European Federation of Producer and Applicators of Specialist Products for Structures) and by investigating the fire behavior of a concrete lining as a whole.

Microphysics of Raindrop Size Spectra: Tropical Continental and Maritime Storms

This work uses raindrop size spectra measured at the surface in tropical continental storms to determine the associated parameters of the best-fit gamma distributions. The physical processes responsible for those parameters and their relations to the measurable radar reflectivity Z and differential reflectivity ZDR are then explored. So too are their relations to quantitative measurements of rain. Comparison is then made with corresponding features previously reported in tropical maritime regimes. The storms observed in Brazil and Arecibo, Puerto Rico, have been divided into convective (C), transition (T), and stratiform (S) segments. The raindrop size distribution (DSD) parameters are clearly defined on a gamma parameter diagram (GPD) that shows 1) how median volume drop size D0 increases from S to T to C segments of the rain while 2) the range of the spectrum breadth parameter μ increases, and the range of the slope parameter Λ decreases in the same sequence of S to C. Drop growth occurs predominantly below the 0°C level by collision, coalescence, and breakup in the C rains. The median volume diameter D0 grows as more of the water is concentrated near that size and so the DSD narrows; that is, both μ and Λ increase. In both maritime and continental storms the DSD in the convective portion of the storm approaches equilibrium. The coefficient A in the Z = ARb relation increases with D0 while the exponent b approaches unity. The D0 and A pair increase with, and appear to be determined largely by, the updraft strength, thus providing a possible means of determining the appropriate algorithms for rainfall measurement. Although the small drop number samples measured by the surface disdrometer relative to the large volumes sampled by a radar tend to truncate the DSD at both small and large drop sizes, narrow distributions with μ = 5 to 12 cannot be attributed to such an effect. Such narrow DSDs accord with common experience of monodispersed large drops at the beginning of a convective storm. There is also remarkable agreement of the surface-based observations of ZDR–Z–D0 with the time–space variations from C to T to S rain types observed by radar in England and elsewhere. Because the C region of a storm often accounts for a major share of the rain accumulation despite its shorter duration, it is particularly important to measure that region more accurately. There are distinctive clusters of the generalized number parameter NW versus D0 between maritime and continental storms. Methods for remote sensing and parameterization must partition the rainstorms into convective, transition, and stratiform segments.