ORDERING FUZZY SETS BY CONSENSUS CONCEPT AND FUZZY RELATION EQUATIONS

A general class of consensus measures of fuzzy sets is introduced in this paper. It is shown that, while the consensus measures are valuations but neither isotone nor antitone with respect to the lattice structure induced by the pointwise maximum and minimum operations to the set of all the fuzzy sets on a nonempty crisp set, they are antitone valuations with respect to the lattice structure induced by the generalized sharpening relation to a quotient set of the set of fuzzy sets. It is also shown that the solutions of a finite fuzzy relation equation that have the maximum consensus measure can be characterized through the join operation of the latter lattice in terms of the maximum solution and some of the minimal solutions of the equation.     

DISTRIBUTION OF ASCORBATE OXIDASE ACTIVITIES IN THE FRUITS OF FAMILY CUCURBITACEAE AND SOME OF THEIR PROPERTIES

Activities and some other properties of ascorbate oxidases (AAO) from the fruits of family Cucurbitaceae were investigated. The peel and the flesh of seven varieties had activities ranging between 35–56500 units/mg protein and 14–1250 units/mg protein, respectively. AAO from different varieties had a similar pH optimum of around 6–6.5 and a broad pH stability ranging from pH 5 or 6 to pH 10 or 11. These properties appear to be conserved in the AAO's from the family of Cucurbitaceae. The AAO's of melon cv. andes, kinsho and papaya were more susceptible to heat denaturation than AAO from pumpkin.     

Interfacial structure of Si3N4 whisker reinforced 7064 aluminium composite

Abstracts are not published in this journal This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Physical Properties of Soy Bean and Broad Bean 11S Globulin Gels Formed by Transglutaminase Reaction

Physical properties of transglutaminase-induced glycinin and legumin gels were compared with thermally induced gels. Results of deformation tests showed that transglutaminase-induced gels were more rigid and elastic than thermally induced gels. From creep compliance tests, all elastic moduli and viscosities except Newtonian viscosity were higher for transglutaminase-induced gels. Electron micrographs revealed that network structures of transglutaminase-induced gels were composed of larger unit particles forming more developed strands and clusters. More rigid and elastic gels were formed from glycinin as compared to legumin by both gelling methods.     

Crystalline Phase Change in Yttria-Partially-Stabilized Zirconia by Low-Temperature Annealing

Changes in the phase composition and microstructure of yttria-partially-stabilized zirconia by low-temperature annealing were investigated at 100° to 500°C using bodies sintered from coprecipitated fine ZrO₂-Y₂O₃ powders at varied temperatures. Tetragonal zirconia on the surfaces of bodies sintered at <1500°C transformed to the monoclinic phase at 100° to 400°C. Transformation behavior was strongly affected by grain size.     

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE OF SWIDDEN FARMERS AND CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE LAND USE: LESSONS FROM A WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PROJECT IN NORTHERN LAOS

In Laos, located in mainland Southeast Asia, shifting cultivation has been one of the important means of livelihood, in terms of food security as well as religious and cultural anchorage, for local communities in a number of areas, especially in upland areas in the country. In Pakbeng District, Oudomxay Province, northern Laos, due to the implementation of various land and forest management policies and a village relocation and consolidation program, local communities were restricted from access to the forests and faced a shortage of agricultural lands. After facing difficulties in securing sufficient lands, the local farmers used the forests in a destructive manner. The author of this article was engaged with the Community-based Watershed Management Project, as a program director of an environmental NGO and tackled challenges to achieve a land and forest management system suitable for land use by local communities. The NGO attempted to apply an alternative approach to incorporate swidden farmers’ land use system into official land and forest management institutions.     

Fabrication of Si3N4 Ceramics with Metal Nitride Additives by Isostatic Hot-Pressing

High-density Si₃N₄ ceramics with nitride additives such as TiN, AlN, ZrN, VN, NbN, YN, TUN, Mg₃N₂, and HfN were fabricated by isostatic hot-pressing. The temperature dependence of Vickers microhardness, fracture toughness, and thermal conductivity were measured; these properties, as well as microstructure, were strongly influenced by the additive used.     

ON MEASURES OF FUZZINESS AND FUZZY COMPLEMENTS

An axiomatic framework for formalizing the most general class of fuzzy complements is introduced in this paper. It is then used for investigating a general class of measures of fuzziness based on the view that the degree of fuzziness of a fuzzy set should characterize the lack of distinction between the set and its complement. It is shown that the various measures of fuzziness described previously in the literature are special cases of this general class. A class of so-called distance-based measures of fuzziness is also introduced. These measures are described in terms of the notion of an aggregation function of differences between the membership grades characterizing a fuzzy set and those of its complement. It is shown that the class of distance-based measures is equal to the class of general measures of fuzziness. It is also shown that, given a particular fuzzy complement, aggregation functions which differ only in a multiplication constant represent the same measure of fuzziness.     

Synthesis and Thermal Stability of Aluminum Titanate Solid Solutions

Aluminum titanate solid solutions with empirical formulas of Al₂Ti_1-xZr_xO₅, Al_6(2-x)(6+x)Si_6x/(6+x)□_6x/(6+x)TiO₅, and Al_2(1-x)Mg_xTi_1+xO₅ were synthesized by reaction sintering and annealed at 900° to 1300°C in air to evaluate the thermal stability. Substitution of Al in Al₂TiO₅ by Si and 2Al by Mg and Ti ions to form solid solutions such as AI_{6(2-x)/(6+x)l-Si}6x/(6+x)□_6x/(6+x)TiO₅, and Al_2(1-x)Mg_xTi_1+xO₅ was effective in controlling the thermal decomposition, but substitution of Ti by Zr had little effect.