Search

Over the last twenty years, patient opinions of the received healthcare services have emerged as a crucial quality indicator and a valuable instrument for evaluating the service quality of health organizations. However, many surveyors still utilized uncertain information for conducting this evaluation process. Whereas, in the past few years, the issues of inconsistency, indeterminacy, and uncertainty in data have been growing and have become a matter of concern in dealing with decision-making issues. This paper proposes an improved RAFSI method based on a single-valued trapezoidal neutrosophic number (SVTraNN) as a multi-attribute framework for dealing with a healthcare service quality evaluation. The proposed framework consists of two features: a feature for determining numerical criteria weights involving the procedures of the Ordinal Priority Approach (OPA) and a feature for selecting the best polyclinic through contributing our new SVTraNN Harmonic and arithmetic mean to yield criterion functions in the RAFSI method. This paper then compares the results obtained by the proposed method with other SVTraNN decision-making methods. A comparative analysis and rank reversal testing of the improved method demonstrated that the multi-attribute framework proffers the option of capability and stability in overcoming inconsistency, indeterminacy, and uncertainty information efficiently during the healthcare service quality evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Study analyzes 1374 papers on sensitivity analysis in Scopus. • RStudio, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer are used. • China has most articles published; India leads in international cooperation. • Top three cited journals: J. Clean. Prod., Expert Syst. Appl., and Comput. Ind. Eng. • Most cited authors are Pamučar D, Kahraman C, and Zavadskas EK. In the present era, the implementation of scientifically grounded Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) has emerged as a pivotal solution to diverse decision-making challenges across various domains. Although a substantial body of exploratory, conceptual, and experimental studies exists, only 9.457% studies have incorporated sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of MCDM methods. An exhaustive scientific exploration of sensitivity analysis within the scope of MCDM is thus lacking. This research aims to address this gap through Bibliometric Analysis while examining 1374 articles published between January 2000 and March 2023 from the Scopus database. Using RStudio (Biblioshiny), CiteSpace, and VOSviewer software, the study constructs a visual representation of the most prolific countries, institutions, and authors. Impressively, China takes the lead in article publications, while India excels in international collaboration. "An extended TODIM multi-criteria group decision-making method for green supplier selection in an interval type-2 fuzzy environment," featured in the Journal of Environmental Management, emerges as the most cited paper with a total citation of 455. The study also identifies the top three most cited journals, namely "Journal of Cleaner Production," "Expert Systems With Applications," and "Computers and Industrial Engineering." "North China Electric Power University" is the leading institute with the highest research outputs. "Pamučar D" is the most cited author, with 2594 citations and 39 articles, followed by "Kahraman C" and "Zavadskas EK. This study sheds light on trends in scientific developments and collaborations, providing a model for the application of sensitivity analysis in MCDM research and highlighting global trends. An understanding of the current state of sensitivity analysis research can assist researchers working in the entire domain of MCDM. Additionally, the visualization provides prescriptive data for future work and applications related to sensitivity analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The centroid distance of PFNs is proposed and its properties are discussed. • Propose a score function based on the centroid distance and discuss its properties. • Applications of Pythagorean fuzzy clustering, ranking and MCDM are developed. • Some advantages of the proposed methods are showed through comparative analysis. By using Pythagorean fuzzy set (PFS), people can quantitatively describe and process information with fuzziness, and then make reasonable and effective judgments or decisions. In this process, distance measure often serves as a useful and important tool. The purpose of this paper is to explore some information processing methods and techniques in Pythagorean fuzzy environment. Firstly, the research progress of PFS is reviewed, and the main research directions and some hot issues in relevant research fields are discussed. Secondly, by analyzing the information of hesitation degree of Pythagorean fuzzy number (PFN), definitions of hesitation factor and centroid distance measure based on the representation of centroid coordinates of the hesitation regions are proposed, and properties of hesitation factor and centroid distance measure are discussed. Finally, the novel clustering algorithm, ranking method and multi criteria decision making (MCDM) method are developed in Pythagorean fuzzy environment, which are based on the new centroid distance measure. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and methods are verified through numerical examples and comparative analysis. The research results indicate that the centroid distance measure proposed in this paper can effectively characterize the distance between PFNs, thus making the clustering algorithm of PFNs, the ranking method of PFNs, and the Pythagorean fuzzy MCDM method have obvious superiorities and advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are more complex heterogeneous preference expressions and methods (HPEMs) in heterogeneous multi-attribute group decision making (MAGDM) with several attribute sets, which makes the effective fusion of HPEMs become an important challenge in practical applications. The paper aims to propose a stochastic-integration-based decision support framework for the unified fusion of various HPEMs and provide some feasible solution methods. The construction process of decision support framework is embodied in recombining and connecting the HPEMs into "information flows" according to the traditional multi-attribute decision making procedures. For the information flows, three types of solution methods, such as the global solution method, the simplified solution method, and the consistency-measure-based solution method, are proposed to transform them into a final superiority-probability-based pairwise comparison matrix (SPM). Based on the final SPM, a ranking method is developed that uses probabilities to present the superiority relationship between two alternatives. In addition, a comparison discussion is given to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the research. And two application examples are used to illustrate the validity of the proposed framework and solution methods. The decision support framework proposed in this paper is more open and inclusive, providing a feasible way for the unified fusion of various HPEMs. The proposed solution methods not only realize the sufficient solution, but also extend the decision results to probabilistic form, making the decision results more consistent with heterogeneous environment. The research in the paper can further enrich the methodology of heterogeneous MAGDM system and provide methods and technic support for complex group decision-making problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigate a novel TrFBWM to yield the TrF criteria weights. • Develop the TrFZSG to rank the alternatives. • Propose a TrF-BWM-ZSG by fusinging the BWM and ZSG. This paper investigates a hybrid emergency decision-making (EDM) method called TrF-BWM-ZSG by combining the BWM (best-worst method) and ZSG (zero-sum game) in trapezoidal fuzzy (TrF) environment. Firstly, this paper defines the entropy and similarity for trapezoidal fuzzy numbers (TrFNs). Based on the entropy and similarity measures, a bi-objective programming model is constructed to distribute the weights for experts. Then, based on the multiplicative consistent trapezoidal fuzzy reference comparisons (TrFRCs), a novel TrFBWM is investigated to yield the TrF criteria weights. This novel TrFBWM highlights two innovations: (i) A crisp goal programming weight-determining model is constructed by using the multiplicative consistent TrFRCs; (ii) A reasonable consistency ratio is defined, in which the consistency index is determined according to the consistent transitivity of TrFRCs. Afterwards, the TrFZSG is developed to achieve the alternatives' ranking order by extending the classical ZSG into TrF environment. Lastly, the availability of the TrF-BWM-ZSG is corroborated through a real EDM case of Henan rainstorm disaster. The advantages of the TrF-BWM-ZSG are manifested by several valuable comparisons. Some desirable results derived by the TrF-BWM-ZSG are received: (i) The optimal alternative selected by the proposed TrF-BWM-ZSG suits the actual rescue situation; (ii) The proposed TrF-BWM-ZSG owns high generality since TrFN can reduce to crisp number, interval and triangular fuzzy number; (iii) The developed novel TrFBWM is helpful to preserve more inherent information of TrFNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feature selection facilitates uncertainty disposal and information mining, and it has received widespread research interests. Divergence-based fuzzy rough sets (Div-FRSs), a new kind of fuzzy rough sets, have been applied to feature selection and induced two efficient algorithms, FS-AFS and FS-RFS. Nevertheless, FS-AFS and FS-RFS still have advancement space, because the dependency functions only focus on lower approximation and ignore the uncertainty in upper approximation, which will certainly undermine the algorithmic evaluation effects. To this end, this paper introduces the upper approximation and fuses it with lower approximation via class-specific pattern and Spearman coefficient to construct a new information measurement for metric perfection, called Spearman-based self-information. Relying on this new measurement, a novel feature selection algorithm SPESI is established to improve FS-AFS and FS-RFS. At first, Spearman coefficient is introduced and upper approximation is defined. Second, class-driven precision and roughness are built by incorporating Spearman coefficient-based class-specific weight vectors with class-driven lower and upper approximations. Meanwhile, the granulation monotonicity of newly-defined measurements is also explored. Then, the core measurement Spearman-based self-information is firstly given and its feature significance motivates a feature selection algorithm SPESI with heuristic search. Finally, data experiments are implemented to validate the effectiveness of SPESI, and a conclusion can be drawn that SPESI outperforms FS-AFS and FS-RFS to acquire better classification performances with fewer feature numbers and less running time. • Upper approximation is first defined in Div-FRSs to induce measurement. • Class-specific information of D s enriches decision analysis. • Spearman correlation coefficient reveals the relevance between classes. • Algorithm SPESI outperforms FS-AFS and FS-RFS to offer better classification performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) technique to rank alternatives is a well-known area of study in which aggregation operators, such as ordered weighted averaging (OWA) and induced OWA (IOWA) operators, play an important role in merging information and producing an overall ranking. The distance measures from ideal argument values in aggregation operators have gained attention in recent literature. Distance measures are traditionally used as argument variables, which leads to the depiction that the attribute cannot be aggregated directly. In this paper, a generalized form of distance-induced OWA (DIOWA) operators is proposed with distance measures used as order-inducing variables. A distinctive benefit of DIOWA operators is that they permit us to consider ideal argument values while simultaneously also taking the attribute values as argument variables. Three variants of DIOWA operators are proposed and investigated, namely a) the Hamming distance-induced OWA (HDIOWA) operator, b) the normalized Hamming distance-induced OWA (NHDIOWA) operator, and c) the weighted Hamming distance-induced OWA (WHDIOWA) operator. We highlight their important properties and provide proofs to necessary theorems, and also suggest the determination methods for calculating their associated weights. We discuss further extensions of the proposed DIOWA operators with the help of generalized and quasi-arithmetic means. We discuss the use of our proposed family of operators for two different decision making situations, and demonstrate their validity by an illustrative numerical example. Finally, we apply the proposed operators to a real-life problem of ranking Chinese provinces for their science and technology (S&T) development levels. The proposed operators are shown to be a useful addition to the aggregation toolbox for decision analysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In literature, many studies try to analyze healthcare usage and generated decision support systems. In this paper, the aim is to generate a decision support system for insurance companies in the United States according to the federal dataset. The data set contains variables from the United States Healthcare Administration formal data group and they are; group of age, group of healthcare insurance, group of nationality, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) usage, and Advance Premium Tax Credit (APTC) usage. The best model for each state in the United States is determined with the dataset from 2014 November to 2015 February. In this study, various statistical models are attempted to generate independent and optimal models for each state. In the model selection process, three different metrics are used. Accuracy rate, f1score and precision score are used in the model selection process and models are compared to each other according to these three metrics for each state uniquely. Consequently, the proposed model is used with a decision support scheme to support customer service workers in healthcare insurance companies. The decision support system under consideration can facilitate a substantial decrease in the duration of interactions between customer service representatives and clients. Additionally, this system can generate more logically sound and efficient customer offers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel hybrid framework for evaluating and benchmarking trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) applications in healthcare by using multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques under a new fuzzy environment. To develop such a framework, a new decision matrix has been built, and then integrated with q-ROF2TL-FWZIC (q‐Rung Orthopair Fuzzy 2‐Tuple Linguistic Fuzzy-Weighted Zero-Inconsistency) and q-ROF2TL-CODAS (q‐Rung Orthopair Fuzzy 2‐Tuple Linguistic Combinative Distance-Based Assessment). In this integration, q-ROF2TL-FWZIC is utilized for assigning the weights of evaluation attributes of trustworthy AI, while q-ROF2TL-CODAS is employed for benchmarking trustworthy AI applications. Findings show that the q-ROF2TL-FWZIC method effectively weights the evaluation attributes. The transparency attribute receives the highest importance weight (0.173566825), whereas the human agency and oversight criterion has the lowest weight (0.105741901). The remaining attributes are distributed in between. Moreover, alternative_4 receives the highest rank order (score of 7.370410417), while alternative_13 receives the lowest rank order (score of −4.759794397). To evaluate the validity of the proposed framework, systematic ranking and sensitivity analysis assessments were employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a new information set of multiple interacting fuzzy linguistic set(MIFLS) to describe the interaction of uncertain linguistic information. The property of the MIFLS and its characteristic of processing consensus information are also discussed, the introduction of MIFLS provides a new perspective to improve the consistency of decision makers' evaluation information, and the application of MIFLS can improve the accuracy of decision making. Furthermore, we propose an optimization consistency information model based on the MIFLS and TOPSIS method, an example of emergency decision plan is used to illustrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed model. The optimal consistency adjustment is not only the highly consistent evaluation information, but also the minimal difference between the original information and the adjusted information. The proposed MIFLS is fit for dealing with the interaction of decision information, which means MIFLS is one of the effective tools to processing the interaction of uncertain fuzzy set and dealing with the emergency decision making problem. More important, the MIFLS not only provides a way to quantify the correlation of multi-attribute information, but also provides a method how to improve the consistency of decision-maker information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at three issues in large-scale group decision-making (LSGDM): risk attitudes, dynamically changing roles, and dynamically adjust evaluation information of decision makers (DMs), this paper constructs an LSGDM model by considering risk attitudes and dynamically changing roles. Firstly, we introduce the concept of risk attitudes and the method of identification and creatively combine it with Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory to divide DMs into four categories including core DMs, driven DMs, independent DMs, and followers. Considering the dynamically changing roles of DMs, an adjustment method for evaluation information is proposed. Then a double recognition mechanism is developed to determine whether the consensus has been reached. Moreover, we construct a method to determine the weights of DMs. Based on the above research, an LSGDM model based on probabilistic double hierarchy linguistic term set is constructed and applied to a practical problem of the selection of emergency medical distribution schemes. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to examine the impact of different adjustment coefficients on the results, and the validity of our method is further illustrated by comparative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A baseline value based method is introduced into multiple criteria problems, where redundant solutions always exist in non-dominated solutions. • Different selection strategies are analyzed on single and multiple objectives problems under baseline value. • The VIKOR method is extended to E-VIKOR, which is able to deal with evaluation problems with incomplete information, denoted by an interval mode in the paper. Abstract For multi-objective problems, most corresponding methods will terminate when the non-dominated set (Pareto set) is acquired, while some redundant systems may exist in it. The same situation may appear in the weapon system portfolio selection as it always tends to be a multi-objective problem. The paper employs a baseline-based method to decide whether to select a redundant system. First, the problem is analyzed in depth to demonstrate the connotation of baseline and related concepts are defined. Then, based on the definition of the redundancy system, baseline system, and baseline value, the weapon system portfolio selection approach with regard to a baseline value is proposed. Starting from the two core parts of the approach, selection strategy analysis, and weapon systems ranking, the strategy analysis of weapon system selection under a single objective and multiple objectives were performed. Subsequently, the interval number theory was employed to extend the VIKOR method to the E-VIKOR method, with a linear programming model as the weighting method under uncertainties to rank the candidate weapon systems. Finally, a case with three different ranking results of candidate weapon systems are studied under different weighting schemes. Based on the ranking results, baseline value, and selection strategy, the weapon system portfolio refining was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important tool for information fusion, evidence theory has been widely applied in many areas. Unlike spatial evidence combination, temporal evidence combination is sequential and dynamic, which calls for new temporal evidence combination rule. In this paper, temporal evidence is combined based on relative reliability evaluation and evidence discounting. We first recall the method of evidence reliability evaluation based on intuitionistic fuzzy multiple criteria decision making (ERE-IFMCDM). Based on ERE-IFMCDM method, relative reliability factors of evidence sources in neighboring time nodes can be obtained. Then, according to evidence discounting and Dempster's combination rule, a method for temporal evidence combination based on the relative reliability factor is developed. Numerical examples and simulation demonstrate that the proposed method is time sensitive, which can reflect the dynamic feature of temporal information fusion. Moreover, the proposed method can deal with conflict in temporal fusion much better, which can enhance the anti-interference performance of the fusion system. The fusion framework proposed in this paper provides a dynamic perspective of the fusion of temporal uncertain information. It is helpful for the structural design of intelligent fusion system based on multiple temporal-spatial information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to more and more awareness of environmental conservancy and sustainable development, automated container terminals (ACTs) have gained increasing attention and become popular worldwide. However, there is a crucial challenge in implementing ACTs, i.e., how to develop terminal layout planning (including terminal layout and facility selection) to realize performance goals. Focusing on this challenge, the aim of this paper is to resolve how to appropriately select terminal layout and facilities in ACTs with respect to various performance criteria. Several research limitations can be gathered from the existing literature: (i) Most of the existing works mainly develop optimization technologies to tackle layout optimization and facility comparison issues within a few types of terminal layout and facilities, yet few researchers have proposed evaluation methods for making selection decisions on terminal planning. (ii) Only a few types of criteria are considered, and requirements and preferences of different participants are ignored, not to say realizing an optimal compromise by employing comprehensive criteria weights in evaluation processes. (iii) New technological improvement in ACTs has not received much attention, and there still lacks a method to precisely quantify the concerned criteria. Accordingly, this paper introduces a criteria system comprising economic, environment, social, resource and performance groups and develops an agent-based simulation method considering different terminal layout and facilities to determine criteria values. A multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) framework is proposed for making the most reasonable and appropriate selection decisions, which employs a variation coefficient weighted method to calculate comprehensive criteria weights, which integrate subjective and objective weights obtained from AHP (analytic hierarchy process) method and entropy weight method. To overcome rank reversal problems in the TOPSIS (technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution) method, a new improved rank reversal robust TOPSIS method, called NR-TOPSIS, is utilized to rank and select alternatives, which is ranking stable in the experiments performed. An illustrative application on a container terminal in China demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed MCDM method and sensitivity and comparative analysis verifies the robustness and stability of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a frontier analysis procedure for evaluating the relative performance of decision making units (DMUs) with multiple inputs and multiple outputs. To improve its discrimination power, an important extension is proposed as cross-efficiency, which uses peer DMUs’ optimal relative weights to evaluate the relative performance. However, the existing cross-efficiency methods show an inconsistent and unbalanced evaluation standard, since each DMU might determine a different total (or mean) efficiency value across all DMUs. The different values imply that the DMUs that have assigned larger cross-efficiency scores will have a larger effect in aggregating the ultimate cross-efficiency scores and different DMUs’ effects are unbalanced in cross-efficiency methods. In this paper, we will deal with this unbalanced cross-efficiency evaluation problem. To this end, we first suggest a practical adjustment measure to rectify the traditional cross-efficiency, which will provide a common evaluation standard for all DMUs and make each DMU dispatch an identical total efficiency score across all DMUs. Further, we propose a game-like iterative procedure to obtain the optimal balanced cross-efficiency. Finally, we present both a numerical example and an empirical study derived from the literature and a real-world problem to demonstrate the usefulness and efficacy of the new balanced cross-efficiency evaluation approach. The work presented in this paper can extend the traditional cross-efficiency approaches to situations involving unbalanced evaluation standards, and make the evaluation results more practical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance measurement is one of the most essential real life decision making problems faces several criteria and different types of uncertainty and vagueness. Human expertise is mandatory for such situation although it is not enough to overcome such complicated cases. Expert systems which can sense, analyze and incorporate all details of real life decision making problems are required. In this paper an expert system is proposed in form of an uncertain Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. More formally a mixed fuzzy-robust uncertainty is addressed in the proposed DEA. Two scenario-based robust DEA models under Constant Return to Scale (CRS) and Variable Return to Scale (VRS) conditions have been proposed. Since the observed values for the inputs and outputs of Decision Making Units (DMUs) in each scenario may be ambiguous or vague, fuzzy DEA models corresponding to each of the robust scenarios are developed. So, this paper proposes four fuzzy-robust DEA models, which simultaneously maintain the advantage of each of the fuzzy and robust approaches, and at same time calculate the upper and lower bounds of the efficiency scores of DMUs under CRS and VRS conditions. Finally, to evaluate the validity and applicability of the proposed models, two numerical examples and a real case study in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a complete review of computer vision algorithms and vision-based intelligent applications, that are developed in the field of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the latest decade. During this time, the evolution of relevant technologies for UAVs; such as component miniaturization, the increase of computational capabilities, and the evolution of computer vision techniques have allowed an important advance in the development of UAVs technologies and applications. Particularly, computer vision technologies integrated in UAVs allow to develop cutting-edge technologies to cope with aerial perception difficulties; such as visual navigation algorithms, obstacle detection and avoidance and aerial decision-making. All these expert technologies have developed a wide spectrum of application for UAVs, beyond the classic military and defense purposes. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Computer Vision are common topics in expert systems, so thanks to the recent advances in perception technologies, modern intelligent applications are developed to enhance autonomous UAV positioning, or automatic algorithms to avoid aerial collisions, among others. Then, the presented survey is based on artificial perception applications that represent important advances in the latest years in the expert system field related to the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. In this paper, the most significant advances in this field are presented, able to solve fundamental technical limitations; such as visual odometry, obstacle detection, mapping and localization, et cetera. Besides, they have been analyzed based on their capabilities and potential utility. Moreover, the applications and UAVs are divided and categorized according to different criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multiple attribute decision making (MADM) problems, when belief distributions (BDs) are used to express the preference information of decision-maker, obtaining the attribute weights using the difference among the assessments is a complex but interesting challenge. This paper introduces the weighted similarity measure of belief distribution to distinguish the alternatives to the greatest extent. After proposing the concepts of similarity measure and weighted similarity measure for two belief distribution vectors, an optimization model is developed to generate the attribute weights. After that, the comparison rules and the ideal belief distributions are defined, then the regret theory is extended to rank alternatives with the consideration of the psychological behavior of the decision-maker. The main characteristic of the proposed method involves: (1) An optimization model based on weighted similarity measure is proposed to derive attribute weights in BD environment; (2) The psychological behavior is taken into account to assist the decision-maker in avoiding regret; Finally, the applicability and validity of the proposed method are demonstrated by a medical example in which doctors could make the diagnosis with minimal regret. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Big Data era, context-aware mobile recommender systems are crucial in assisting citizens and tourists in making informed decisions, providing a suitable way for users to find the relevant data. These systems should be proactive, able to detect the ideal time and location to provide recommendations for a specific item or activity. To accomplish this, push-based recommender systems can be employed, utilizing context rules to determine when a recommendation should be initiated. However, there is very limited reported experience in defining and implementing such systems and a complete generic solution that adapts flexibly to the preferences of users and protects their privacy is still missing. In this paper, we present a novel approach where appropriate types of recommendations are provided automatically, without the need for user input. Our proposal allows users to easily activate, deactivate, customize, and create rules for improved personalization. Additionally, the module that, based on the context, decides the types of recommendations required is executed on the user's mobile device, reducing wireless communication and safeguarding the user's privacy, as context data are evaluated locally. To illustrate the approach, we have developed R-Rules, a prototype for Android devices focused on the triggering of recommendation rules, which provides a friendly user interface that facilitates user personalization. We have evaluated various technological options and demonstrated the feasibility, performance, and scalability of the proposal, as well as its suitability to users' needs. • Generic architecture for mobile push-based recommendations. • Decision module executing on the user device: privacy and wireless savings. • Flexible user-defined rules to decide when to fire a specific type of recommendation. • Android prototype and extensive experimental evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent computing is an independent algorithm system that imitates the laws and principles of nature's biological chain to design and solve practical problems in modern society, it can help people better handle some big data problems through artificial intelligence technology and different cognitive characteristics. Especially, when dealing with group decision problems, it is often considered as human behavior based on cognitive computing. The q-rung orthopair fuzzy set (q-ROFS) is not only a generalization of Pythagorean fuzzy set (PFS), but also can deal with the decision problem of multi-source information in a wider area. In this paper, we first give the detailed explanations of the relationship between the q-ROFS and q-rung orthopair fuzzy number (q-ROFN)by an example, and itis pointed out that there are some defects in the existing two ranking methods for the Pythagorean fuzzy numbers (PFNs) and intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (IFNs) through counterexamples, and then all q-ROFNs are mapped into the unit triangle of the first quadrant through q-compression mapping, and the concept of distance factor for q-ROFNs is proposed by Euclidean distance between each q-ROFN and the maximum element (1,0).Secondly, a novel inverse score function for q-ROFNs are put forward by the distance factor and hesitancy degree, and the monotonicity of the inverse score function are discussed. Finally, a new ranking criterion of q-ROFNs is given by the new score formula, and then the rationality of the ranking criterion is proved, and through the method of solving the conditional extreme value of multivariate function (Lagrange multiplier method), there is indeed an extreme value point (corresponding to the maximum q-ROFN) on υ = μ. Besides, a q-rung orthopair fuzzy decision-making method for multi-source information is given by the new ranking criterion and aggregation operations, and the comparison of examples shows that the inverse score function and decision-making method do have many advantages in the q-ROFN environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proposing a physical asset criticality analysis decision model based on BIA. • Risk Appetite and physical asset continuity measures are related. • Defining sub-criteria for impact and likelihood estimation in criticality analysis. The paper tackles the issue of managing physical assets in asset-intensive industries, where continuity plans are crucial for business operations during disruptions. However, resource constraints often hinder companies from implementing these plans for all their assets. Moreover, efforts to maximize resource utilization efficiency and minimize environmental impacts are limited to isolated disciplines, necessitating an integrated approach across natural, social, and technological systems. To address these challenges, this study proposes a framework based on a hybrid fuzzy BWM-TOPSIS methodology for identifying critical physical assets. The framework incorporates Business Impact Analysis (BIA) to determine essential products, a physical asset risk assessment matrix (PARAM) to assess critical assets based on likelihood and impact, and a mathematical model to estimate asset continuity parameters. The framework is applied to a petrochemical company in a case study, offering a guide for estimating the probability and impact of physical asset failure while accounting for inherent uncertainties. By adopting this framework, companies can efficiently manage their physical assets, prioritize continuity plans, and address resource constraints and uncertainties. This research contributes to practical tools and approaches that assist industries in sustaining operations and ensuring business continuity during disruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated energy system (IES) plays a vital role in achieving energy revolution and the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. The optimal planning of IES is of great significance for improving the overall efficiency of the system and promoting its sustainable development. Focusing on this issue, this paper proposes a planning framework integrating multi-objective optimization with fuzzy multi-criteria decision making (MCDM). In this framework, IES planning is modeled as a multi-objective optimization problem that, for the first time, simultaneously minimizes energy consumption, carbon emissions, and economic costs. Thereafter, the optimization problem is solved by a multi-objective state transition algorithm based on decomposition (MOSTA/D), which generates a Pareto set that realizes multiple conflicting objective tradeoffs. Furthermore, to comprehensively evaluate the Pareto optimal solutions, an evaluation criteria system is established from various perspectives, and a novel MCDM approach is proposed. This approach combines the analytic network process-entropy weighting technique, which takes into account the correlation between criteria as well as subjective preference and objective information, with fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution) for scientifically ranking and selecting solutions under uncertainty. The simulation results of an IES planning case study demonstrate that the optimal scheme determined by the proposed method achieves the best overall benefit for IES, with significant annual economic cost savings, primary energy savings, and carbon dioxide emission reduction rates of 2.27%, 40.36%, and 56.25%, respectively, proving the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atanassov's intuitionistic fuzzy sets play a vital role in handling vagueness and uncertainty successfully as they associate an additional non-membership degree to each element of the universal set. Interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy (IVIF) sets are more generalized quantities in this direction as they use intervals (⊂ [ 0 , 1 ]) to define the membership and non-membership grades of each element of the set. However, without defining basic arithmetic operations on the IVIF values/sets, the study is incomplete. This paper broadly examines the division and subtraction operations over any arbitrary IVIF values/sets using the concept of Hamming distance between them. A deterministic linear optimization model is proposed and solved in order to obtain the complete expressions for these operations. Next, various fundamental properties and relationships are examined and proved for the proposed arithmetic operations over IVIF values/sets. Furthermore, an example of a multi-criteria decision-making problem under uncertain conditions is studied and analyzed using the developed arithmetic operations on IVIF numbers. • Derived the generalized subtraction and division operations for IVIF values/sets. • The notion of Hamming distance and dual-simplex algorithm are used. • A deterministic LPP is proposed to obtain the expressions for the operations. • The fundamental properties and relationships for the basic operations are explored. • A case study of multi-criteria decision-making problems has been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classification of huge complex datasets to extract the information needed for making informed decisions has gained a lot of importance in today's scenario due to the outspurt of data. With an increase in dataset size, the means of obtaining the desired information via data clustering techniques also became complex. This paper illustrates a framework for selecting the best combination of the Kernel function and the Lattice structure for better classification based on the size of the data. The performance of the SOM majorly depends on the choice of Kernel Function, Lattice Structures, and the size of the datasets. The types of kernel functions deployed in this study are Gaussian, Exponential, and Laplacian Kernel along with the lattice Structures such as hexagonal, Rectangular, and Square which result in nine combinations respectively. These nine combinations of the Kernel Function and the Lattice Structure have been tested on datasets ranging from small to large size using the performance metrics. A frequency table has been arrived at based on the classification of the dataset size, combinations of Kernel functions, and Lattice Structures. The results of this study infer that the combination of Gaussian Kernel -Square Lattice performs better for small-size datasets wherein the Exponential and Laplacian Kernel functions along with Hexagonal Lattice perform better for mid-size datasets, while the Laplacian Kernel – Square Lattice perform better for large size datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In high-end equipment project selection, which involves high technical complexity, significant capital investment, and cross-industry applications, it is essential to involve experts from diverse fields in the decision-making process. To address the challenge of large-scale group decision-making, this paper proposes a three-way large-scale group decision-making model for triple-path consensus reaching process based on a rewards-and-punishments mechanism. The model consists of three stages. Firstly, the group consensus degree is calculated based on the initial input. If the specified threshold is not met, the consensus adjustment iteration stage is entered and decision makers are divided into three regions based on the Pareto principle. Secondly, separate calculations are conducted for the moving benefits and costs of decision makers in different regions, with the total benefits and costs used as targets for the NSGA-II algorithm. The Pareto solution set is obtained, and the solution with the least number of moving objects is selected as the three-way decision-making movement strategy. This process is repeated until the consensus threshold is reached or one of the regions is empty. Finally, based on the final adjustment results, scores are calculated for each project and a ranking is established as a selection suggestion. To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the model, ten high-end equipment projects are taken as examples, and the sensitivity of the model is tested by adjusting the number of decision makers. In conclusion, the proposed three-way large-scale group decision-making model based on a rewards-and-punishments mechanism for triple-path consensus reaching process is an effective and feasible approach for high-end equipment project selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pervasiveness of the Internet coupled with the advantages of cloud have almost made cloud services a necessity for organizations and individuals alike. However, it is a complex decision to choose a cloud vendor because of the large number of criteria and alternatives. Furthermore, the criteria in the case of cloud vendor selection are often interactive (synergic or opposing). To address this need, an approach is presented in this paper to select the most suitable cloud vendor while considering the nuances of human decision making, such as interactive criteria, and varying behavioural characteristics of the decision-makers (DMs). To this end, the recent Choquet logit models are deployed and generalized to add to their modelling abilities. Specifically, the following choice models are developed: generalized Choquet logit, generalized attitudinal Choquet logit, generalized Choquet mixed logit, and generalized attitudinal Choquet mixed logit models. The proposed generalized logit models have the Choquet logit, and the attitudinal Choquet logit models as their special cases. Thus the contributions of this work are two-fold: first an approach is developed to select suitable cloud vendor considering the human nuances and the actual practical aspects of the problem, and secondly a new class of powerful choice models is developed which may be useful in aiding any complex human decision-making, in which the cognitive power of the DM proves to be limited. The method is designed to consider the real nuances of the human decision making such as varying attitudes and varying degree of criteria interaction. The effectiveness of the proposed models in cloud vendor selection is tested through a real world case study from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In the case-study, there are 9 cloud vendors in the fray and 4 experts with different attitudes and different suggestions for the best cloud vendor. An approach is developed to solve this problem and a final ranking of the cloud vendors is determined considering experts suggestions. Apart from finding the best cloud vendor, the case study also helps in studying the role of an expert's attitudinal tendency on his preferences. Thus, concomitantly, the proposed approach also guides how to choose the best alternative based on the opinions of different experts with different attitudinal tendencies, without necessitating a forced consensus. • New probabilistic discrete choice models. • Representation of the complex decision making attitude. • Consideration of interaction among the criteria. • Variants of the proposed logit models. • Real Application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a framework to build home automation systems reactive to voice for improved comfort and autonomy at home. The focus of this paper is on the context-aware decision process which must reason from uncertain facts inferred from real sensor data. This framework for building context aware systems uses a hierarchical knowledge model so that different inference modules can communicate and reason with same concepts and relations. The context-aware decision module is based on a Markov Logic Network, a recent approach which make it possible to benefit from formal logical representation and to model uncertainty of this knowledge. In this work, uncertainty of the decision model has been learned from data. Although some expert systems are able to deal with uncertainty, the Markov Logic Network approach brings a unified theory for dealing with logical entailment, uncertainty and missing data. Moreover, the ability to use a priori knowledge and to learn weights and structure from data make this model appealing to address the challenge of adaptation of expert systems to new applications. Finally, the framework has been implemented in an on-line system which has been evaluated in a real smart home with real naive users. Results of the experiment show the interest of context-aware decision making and the advantages of a statistical relational model for the framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare events, especially those that could potentially negatively impact society, often require humans’ decision-making responses. Detecting rare events can be viewed as a prediction task in data mining and machine learning communities. As these events are rarely observed in daily life, the prediction task suffers from a lack of balanced data. In this paper, we provide an in depth review of rare event detection from an imbalanced learning perspective. Five hundred and seventeen related papers that have been published in the past decade were collected for the study. The initial statistics suggested that rare events detection and imbalanced learning are concerned across a wide range of research areas from management science to engineering. We reviewed all collected papers from both a technical and a practical point of view. Modeling methods discussed include techniques such as data preprocessing, classification algorithms and model evaluation. For applications, we first provide a comprehensive taxonomy of the existing application domains of imbalanced learning, and then we detail the applications for each category. Finally, some suggestions from the reviewed papers are incorporated with our experiences and judgments to offer further research directions for the imbalanced learning and rare event detection fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an extension of a well-known Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding method, namely the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Most of the TOPSIS applications assume that preferences are monotonic for each evaluation criterion and that qualitative scales are converted into quantitative ones before the method is applied. However, both assumptions have been subject of discussion and criticism in the literature. To this solution, this paper introduces a normalization technique based on simulations that permit taking into account non-monotonic preferences as well as qualitative criteria. An additional novelty lies in the integration of the Multiple Criteria Hierarchy Process, which extends the applicability of the method to problems in which criteria are hierarchically structured. To deal with robustness concerns, the Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis will be used in the new proposal, giving information in statistical terms on the goodness of the considered alternatives. The new method has been applied to evaluate a set of banks listed in the LSE's FTSE350 Index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The paper explores a new family of methods for heterogeneous MAGDM. • Diversified opinions are unified into random values to retain structural feature. • The SPM is developed to measure the superiority probability between alternatives. • Probabilistic rank is introduced to fit with heterogeneous decision environment. Heterogeneous multi-attribute group decision making (heterogeneous MAGDM) is a hot topic in complicated decision-making environment. This paper proposes a new approach for heterogeneous MAGDM problems, including three main research points. Firstly, different from the commonly used unified transformation process, the study provides a randomization method to transform heterogeneous opinions into random values, which can keep the structural features of the original data as much as possible. Secondly, the random values are integrated into superiority-probability-based pairwise comparison matrix (SPM) by combining stochastic simulation and multi-attribute decision making methods. Then, a maximization-similarity-based consensus approach is developed to obtain the collective SPM. The collective SPM can not only objectively present the superiority relationship between any two alternatives, but also balance the opinions of multiple experts. Thirdly, a new type of ranking, probabilistic rank order, is proposed, which is more consistent with the heterogeneous and uncertain characteristics of the decision-making opinions. At last, an example regarding missile weapon system selection is chosen from previous studies to illustrate the validity of the proposed methods. Another example about the predictive evaluation of city development potential is constructed to further illustrate the practical application prospects of the research methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• New Fermatean fuzzy cross entropy-based optimization weighting procedure is developed. • An integrated Fermatean fuzzy weighting procedure is developed for decision expert's weight. • A double normalized MARCOS approach with Fermatean fuzzy information is proposed. • A case study of warehouse location for the automotive manufacturing company is discussed. • The comparative study and sensitivity investigation are made to confirm the robustness of the obtained results. The automotive industry is one of the most competitive sectors, and it requires a well-structured logistics system to meet the industry' vital requirements such as just-in-time, lean and agile supply chain operations, productivity and sustainability. Well-located and well-designed warehouses can make reaching these aims for the automotive industry possible and more accessible. Hence, determining a location for a warehouse is a highly critical, tactical, and managerial resolution for the automotive industry, as there is a strong correlation between well-located warehouses and the well-structured logistics network in the automotive industry. Although the WSS is a significant decision-making problem, we observed four critical and severe gaps in the existing literature: (1) the authors preferred to apply traditional objective & subjective frames, and they overlooked existing highly complicated uncertainties. (2) The number of studies focusing on the WSS problem in the automotive industry is surprisingly scarce. (3) It is not sufficiently clear how these factors used in the previous studies were determined, which causes doubts about their reliability. (4) there is no satisfactory evidence of which approaches were used to identify the factors in the previous papers. By considering these gaps, we propose two approaches which can be accepted as a novelty of the paper. First is the extension of the Delphi techniques based on the Fermetean fuzzy sets (FFs) used for identifying the criteria. It also combines the two traditional approaches (i.e., literature review and professionals' evaluations to identify the criteria) with the FF-Delphi technique. The second is the Double Normalized MARCOS approach based on FFs (FF- DN MARCOS) implemented to identify the weights of the criteria and ranking performance of the alternatives. The proposed model was implemented to identify the best warehouse location for the automotive manufacturing company. The results show that the C1 "energy availability & cost" criterion is the most influential criterion and the C5 proximity to port and customs criterion is the second most crucial factor. Then we executed a comprehensive sensitivity analysis, and the results approved the suggested model's validity and robustness despite excessive modifications in the criteria weights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-objective optimization in the intuitionistic fuzzy environment is the process of finding a Pareto-optimal solution that simultaneously maximizes the degree of satisfaction and minimizes the degree of dissatisfaction of an intuitionistic fuzzy decision. In this paper, a new method for solving multi-objective programming problems is developed that unlike other methods in the literature, provides compromise solutions satisfying both the conditions of intuitionistic fuzzy efficiency and Pareto-optimality. This method combines the advantages of the intuitionistic fuzzy sets concept, goal programming, and interactive procedures, and supports the decision maker in the process of solving programming problems with crisp, fuzzy, or intuitionistic fuzzy objectives and constraints. A characteristic of the proposed method is that it provides a well-structured approach for determining satisfaction and the dissatisfaction degrees that efficiently uses the concepts of violation for both objective functions and constraints. Another feature of the proposed method comes from its continuous interaction with the decision maker. In this situation, through adjusting the problem's parameters, the decision maker would have the ability of revisiting the membership and non-membership functions. Therefore, despite the lack of information at the beginning of the solving process, a compromise solution that satisfies the decision maker's preferences can be obtained. A further feature of the proposed method is the introduction of a new two-step goal programming approach for determining the compromise solutions to multi-objective problems. This approach ensures that the compromise solution obtained during each iterative step satisfies both the conditions of intuitionistic fuzzy efficiency and Pareto-optimality. The application of the proposed model is also discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inventory management constitutes a fundamental decision-making problem, especially in systems which must guarantee high availability levels. In complex multi-echelon networks, in case of shortage at a location, resupplying from a near location on the same echelon rather than from the original supplier at the upper echelon, would be a potential faster and then more profitable policy. A wide interest in literature shows the importance of this policy, i.e. the lateral transhipment (LTR), as a means to reduce the inventory costs. This paper deals with unidirectional LTR, which often represent a reasonable policy in scenarios where backorders have different effects on the system. Based on METRIC, this paper defines a system-approach model for determining the stock levels of repairable items in a complex network, by a genetic algorithm optimization process. The model considers non-zero maintenance time for each item and different skills of maintenance centres, in a multi-echelon single-indenture system, with unidirectional LTR allowed. The expert system developed in the paper assists the decision maker to define the inventory levels for the maintenance sites across the system, taking advantage of the LTR to reduce costs and enhance availability. A case study of a European airline shows the relevance of the developed expert system, also considering its reproducibility to face different industrial contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a practical popular methodology for dealing with fuzziness and uncertainty in Multiple Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM), Fuzzy AHP (FAHP) has been applied to a wide range of applications. As of the time of writing there is no state of the art survey of FAHP, we carry out a literature review of 190 application papers (i.e., applied research papers), published between 2004 and 2016, by classifying them on the basis of the area of application, the identified theme, the year of publication, and so forth. The identified themes and application areas have been chosen based upon the latest state-of-the-art survey of AHP conducted by [Vaidya, O., & Kumar, S. (2006). Analytic hierarchy process: An overview of applications. European Journal of operational research, 169(1), 1–29.]. To help readers extract quick and meaningful information, the reviewed papers are summarized in various tabular formats and charts. Unlike previous literature surveys, results and findings are made available through an online (and free) testbed, which can serve as a ready reference for those who wish to apply, modify or extend FAHP in various applications areas. This online testbed makes also available one or more fuzzy pairwise comparison matrices (FPCMs) from all the reviewed papers (255 matrices in total). In terms of results and findings, this survey shows that: (i) FAHP is used primarily in the Manufacturing, Industry and Government sectors; (ii) Asia is the torchbearer in this field, where FAHP is mostly applied in the theme areas of Selection and Evaluation; (iii) a significant amount of research papers (43% of the reviewed literature) combine FAHP with other tools, particularly with TOPSIS, QFD and ANP (AHP’s variant); (iv) Chang’s extent analysis method, which is used for FPCMs’ weight derivation in FAHP, is still the most popular method in spite of a number of criticisms in recent years (considered in 57% of the reviewed literature). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely knowledge sharing in disaster management (DM) is clearly vital, but it is remains challenging. Roles involved in DM processes often cut across many organizational boundaries and are dynamic. Knowledge involved is enormous and diverse. It includes information related to varieties of disasters, roles descriptions, plans and operations. Alas, practices may also vary across different regions and authorities. This paper makes a crucial contribution to address the knowledge sharing challenge by providing a knowledge based systems approach to facilitate structuring, storing and reusing DM knowledge. The contribution of this paper is three folds: Firstly, it presents a metamodel-based architecture suitable for various distributed knowledge sharing settings; Secondly, it presents an actual implementation of such a system, the Disaster Management Knowledge Repository (DMKR1.0). DMKR facilitates collaboration and DM knowledge sharing using a tailored DM language. This offers a flexible structure to allow the storage and retrieval not only of observed and measured data, but also interpretative and inferred information of the disaster management knowledge. Thirdly, the paper provides disaster management exemplars of how DMKR users can easily instantiate DM models to communicate and to generalize their knowledge for the benefit of sharing it within their community. This presents a compelling evidence of the soundness and the effectiveness of the overall approach to DM knowledge sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concept drift is a prevalent phenomenon in data streams that necessitates detection and in-depth understanding, as it signifies that the statistical properties of a target variable, which the model aims to predict, change over time in unforeseen ways. Existing detection methods predominantly aim to identify the drift start time, which lack comprehensive understanding of data streams, leading to a loss of drift information. In this paper, we present a novel Quadruple-based Approach for Understanding Concept Drift in Data Streams (QuadCDD) framework that not only detects and predicts the concept drift start point but also offers a more detailed analysis of concept drift through the use of quadruples, encompassing drift start, drift end, drift severity, and drift type. Our framework employs quadruples to enable informed decision-making and adopt appropriate actions to handle various concept drifts, effectively maintaining high and stable performance in data streams with concept drift. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of our QuadCDD framework in accurately detecting and understanding concept drifts, as well as in preserving the stability and performance of models in the presence of these drifts. • Introduced a novel framework, QuadCDD, for concept drift Understanding. • The approach enables effective handling of various concept drifts. • Maintains high performance in data streams with drift. • Fosters a detailed understanding of concept drift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In large-scale group decision-making (LSGDM) events, conflicts among decision makers (DMs) usually occur, causing serious damage to the decision-making process. Accurate conflict detection and timely management in LSGDM can improve the efficiency of the consensus reaching process (CRP) and reduce the overall conflict degree. This paper presents a conflict management-based consensus reaching process (CM-CRP) to achieve centralized and efficient management of DMs. In CM-CRP, to further manage the conflict relationships among DMs, a new clustering algorithm is considered where DMs with conflicting opinions are clustered into a subgroup. To improve the accuracy of the management and precisely the portray behaviors of DMs, for a multi-attributes LSGDM event, the confidence of DMs at the attribute level is captured. Further, the dynamic opinion weight operator is proposed in CM-CRP combining the confidence level and conflict degree of DMs, which enables a more accurate measurement of DMs' receptivity to others' opinions. Comparative experiments prove that the proposed CM-CRP outperforms the existing CRP, and several simulations investigate the effect of different factors on the CM-CRP. • The model proposed can manage conflict among decision-makers intensively. • The clustering algorithm promotes information fusion and knowledge exchange. • New confidence levels improve decision efficiency and quality. • Dynamic opinion weights describe the decision-makers' receptivity to opinions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasing use of Machine Learning models in high stakes decision making settings, it has become increasingly important to have tools to understand how models arrive at decisions. Assuming an already trained Supervised Classification model, post-hoc explanations can be obtained via so-called counterfactual analysis: a counterfactual explanation of an instance indicates how this instance should be minimally modified so that the perturbed instance is classified in the desired class by the given Machine Learning classification model. Most of the Counterfactual Analysis literature focuses on the single-instance single-counterfactual setting, in which the analysis is done for one single instance to provide one single counterfactual explanation. Taking a stakeholder's perspective, in this paper we introduce the so-called collective counterfactual explanations. By means of novel Mathematical Optimization models, we provide a counterfactual explanation for each instance in a group of interest, so that the total cost of the perturbations is minimized under some linking constraints. Making the process of constructing counterfactuals collective instead of individual enables us to detect the features that are critical to the entire dataset to have the individuals classified in the desired class. Our methodology allows for some instances to be treated individually, as in the single-instance single-counterfactual case, performing the collective counterfactual analysis for a fraction of records of the group of interest. This way, outliers are identified and handled appropriately. Under some assumptions on the classifier and the space in which counterfactuals are sought, finding collective counterfactual explanations is reduced to solving a convex quadratic linearly constrained mixed integer optimization problem, which, for datasets of moderate size, can be solved to optimality using existing solvers. The performance of our approach is illustrated on real-world datasets, demonstrating its usefulness. • A new model for Explainable Artificial Intelligence is proposed. • Counterfactual Explanations for a full group of individuals are sought. • Sparsity both at individual and group level is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-democracy provides a virtual online platform characterized by information transparency and equal interaction, which facilitates the participation of multiple agents in government decision making. This paper proposes a comprehensive loss analysis-based decision support method and applies it to a case study of e-democratic multi-agent cooperative decision-making. Multiple agents represent different interests and provide opinions with the goal of maximizing their own revenues. Agents' opinions are naturally prone to differences and even conflicts, which may have a negative impact on the harmony of the social system. To this end, this study develops a two-stage type- α constrained minimum-revenue-loss consensus (TS- α -CMRLC) model. In Stage 1, an α -CMRLC model is adopted to obtain the optimal solutions of agents' opinions with minimizing the social revenue loss and preventing excessive revenue loss. In Stage 2, the concept of reputation loss is defined and an α -CMRLC model considering reputation loss is proposed. In this matter, the agent with high reputation but low consensus can reduce its revenue loss through the cost of reputation loss. The research results show that an increase in some agents' reputation losses leads to a decrease in their revenue losses, but it may cause an increase in the social revenue loss. We perform a comprehensive loss analysis to evaluate the performance of reputation loss. Finally, the case study and comparative analysis reveal the feasibility and advantages of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the constant changes in the decision-making environment, various limitations have emerged in traditional decision-making methods, such as the inability to simultaneously consider multiple factors such as randomness, hesitation, and ambiguity, thus limiting a comprehensive grasp of the decision-maker's cognitive inputs. To address the above problems, we propose a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model based on a new fuzzy set (FS). Firstly, we define a new Z hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (ZHFLTS) and propose a visualization metric for mapping ZHFLTS into T-spherical fuzzy (T-SF) space to simplify the computation. The relevant properties of ZHFLTS are further investigated. In order to accurately measure the uncertainty of FSs, we propose the probabilistic-hesitation-fuzzy (PHF) entropy and use it as a basis to derive the potential probability distribution using the fruit fly optimization algorithm (FOA). Subsequently, an MCDM model is established based on the proposed ZHFLTS, visualization metric, and PHF entropy. The model can better solve complex decision-making problems such as TCM through example studies and comparative analyses. The research in this paper aims to cope with today's increasingly complex decision-making environments, and the introduced ZHFLTS framework and the corresponding methodology provide new ways to solve complex decision problems. • ZHFLTS is defined and a mapping method to visualize ZHFLTS in T-SF space is studied. • PHF entropy is proposed based on FOA for obtaining potential probability distribution. • A Novel MCDM model based on ZHFLTS is presented. • It proves the effectiveness of the model through instances and comparative analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to present one of the extensions of the single-valued neutrosophic set, by utilizing the features of the exponential and logarithmic (EL) parameters. The present idea is to integrate the features of the EL operations into the standard neutrosophic set to enhance their diversity. The proposed set is named an exponential-logarithm single-valued neutrosophic set. The major feature of the proposed set is to include one attitude character parameter which can help the decision-maker to give their decision as per their needs. In the defined set, the uncertainties which are present during the analysis are handled with the help of the advancement of the neutrosophic set. Later on, we stated some basic operations to aggregate the information by defining the several weighted operators. The characteristics of these proposed operators are also illustrated in detail. In addition to it, we state the new exponential entropy measure and investigate the impact of the membership degrees of the proposed set. Finally, we construct a multi-attribute group decision-making algorithm to address the decision-making problems based on the stated concept. The attribute weights are derived by using exponential entropy measures. Several case studies are illustrated and the performance of the algorithm is compared with several existing studies. The sensitivity analysis and advantages of the proposed algorithm are also stated. • Presented a new exponential-logarithm-based SVNS to handle the uncertainties. • Define new entropy measure for weight extraction. • Proposed MAGDM algorithm based on proposed operations. • Several case studies are taken to illustrate the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) is a popular branch of decision theory in which many methods have been proposed to solve MCDM real-world problems. However, in spite of the multiple methods, it is common that different of them provide the same solutions. Therefore, this paper analyzes the causes of the same solutions from different MCDM methods, studies why different normalization methods can achieve the same solutions in MCDM methods through the theory of MCDM methods, and discusses the relationship between different MCDM methods by category. To achieve such goals, MCDM methods are classified into three categories according to their ranking methods. Some traditional MCDM methods are then extended by considering general normalization methods and distance measures. Finally, the characteristics of various MCDM methods are discussed by category and their evaluation indexes are also compared. The comparison results are represented by tables and flowchart models. The relationship between different categories of MCDM methods is shown through the comparison of the evaluation indexes. The aim of the proposed method is not to replace existing MCDM methods, but to fill some present research gaps about MCDM methods. • General normalization methods and distance measures are considered in MCDM methods. • The causes of the same solutions from different MCDM methods are examined. • The characteristics of various MCDM methods are discussed by category. • The relationship between different MCDM methods is summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) theory has become main approach to representing imprecision and vagueness. The IF divergence measure (IFDivM) based on Jensen–Shannon divergence is perhaps the most widely used measure to compare the similarity of multiple intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs). In the present paper, this IFDivM is examined and applied to multiple examples. It is found that some extant IFDivMs hardly satisfy the axiomatic definition, and in a few cases even unable to show divergence of trivial IFSs. To address these inconsistencies, a new IFDivM based on Jensen–Shannon divergence is proposed, free from these problems. The effectiveness of the proposed IFDivM is tested on several critical cases, and precise analysis of its properties is performed. It is proved that the proposed IFDivM satisfies the axiomatic definition of IFDivMs. To illustrate the practical significance of the IFDivM, a novel intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) TODIM method, based on the proposed IFDivM, is developed, termed as GIF-TODIM method. Unlike the existing IF-TODIM methods, GIF-TODIM does not suffer from the revere ordering inconsistencies. The proposed GIF-TODIM method and the proposed IFDivM are applied to a real-world case study on supplier selection. A detailed comparative analysis is performed taking the TOPSIS method and other IFDivMs as baselines. The role of attitude on the final choice is analyzed in great detail. It is found that the proposed GIF-TODIM method is indeed useful, effective, and superior to the counterpart methods, when it comes to real-world situations. Concomitantly, in the present work, it is also revealed that the TOPSIS method based on the 2-D Hamming distance is a special form of the proposed GIF-TODIM method, when decision-makers have the same attitude towards losses and gains. Thus, an interesting relationship between TOPSIS and TODIM is identified under the intuitionistic fuzzy environment, which is bound to propel significant research in the area of decision making under uncertain conditions. As a whole, the article offers comprehensive analyses of IFDivMs and the TODIM method under the intuitionistic fuzzy environment. • Construct a new IF divergence measure (IFDivM) based on Jensen–Shannon divergence. • Develop a GIF-TODIM method based on the new IFDivM. • Apply the proposed GIF-TODIM method to a supplier selection problem. • Provide parameter analysis and comparative analysis with TOPSIS and other IFDivMs. • Show that TOPSIS based on 2-D Hamming distance is a special form of our GIF-TODIM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the multi-attribute group decision-making (MAGDM) processing, the individuals often hold different opinions about the alternatives. It is necessary to aggregate the different individual opinions into a unified group opinion. In the real world, experts sometimes use linguistic expressions to evaluate attributes in uncertain environments. To address the problem of reducing the information loss of expert opinion aggregation in MAGDM, this paper proposes a MAGDM approach based on linguistic concept lattices in the context of uncertain linguistic expression. A linguistic concept lattice for multi-expert linguistic formal context is first constructed based on linguistic truth-valued lattice implication algebra, which can express both comparable and incomparable linguistic information in the decision-making process. Different expert opinions are aggregated via the extent of fuzzy linguistic concepts, which can reduce information loss in the aggregation process. Second, meet-irreducible elements in the linguistic concept lattice are introduced to reduce the computational complexity of obtaining all fuzzy linguistic concepts in the decision-making process. the distance between the intents of different fuzzy linguistic concepts is considered to enhance the rationality of linguistic decision results. In addition, the expert's decision-making process for each alternative is visualized via linguistic concept lattices. Finally, the case study and comparative analysis illustrate the validity and rationality of the proposed approach in MAGDM with linguistic information. • The fuzzy linguistic concepts are used to aggregate expert opinions. • The comparable and incomparable linguistic information is handled in MAGDM. • Visualize the decision-making process of experts by constructing concept lattices. • A novel linguistic concept lattice-based MAGDM approach is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine learning techniques have been widely used and are mostly performed by predicting point estimation. Nevertheless, there are various scenarios that require more information beyond only point estimation. Probabilistic prediction is a typical research topic that provides probability distribution while predicting, which addressed with much attention recently. Most of the previous works make an assumption on the probabilistic distribution to a certain extent, which may lead to potential errors in the subsequent decision-making procedure. In this paper, we propose a distribution-free method for regression problems on real-value response under the probabilistic prediction framework and present an effective boosting-based method to perform the training process. Moreover, we introduce a further improved method to accomplish an unbiased mean estimation of the target distribution. Thorough experiments on multiple benchmark data are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method with regard to different measures. • A distribution-free framework for probabilistic forecasting. • Use a mixture of Gaussian distribution as the target distribution. • An effective boosting-based strategy. • Providing unbiased mean estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifth-generation (5G) technology provides new possibilities for a variety of applications, but it also comes with challenges influenced by distinct aspects, such as the size of organizations that use such technology. Therefore, it is important to understand which architecture of 5G-radio access networks (RANs) is best for a given purpose; this requires an evaluation platform for assessment. This paper tackles this problem by presenting a novel multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) solution based on a new integrated fuzzy set. The proposed integrated approach, which is based on a Type-2 neutrosophic fuzzy environment, is developed to address the application challenges of 5G-RANs architecture evaluation, as also to face the MCDM theoretical challenge represented by ambiguities and inconsistencies among decision makers within the decision making context of the presented case study. Many MCDM techniques for weighting and selection were presented from the literature, yet many of them still suffer from inconsistencies and uncertainty. Therefore, the chosen methods in this research are unique in a way that previous issues are addressed, making them suitable for integration with Type-2 neutrosophic fuzzy environment, and therefore creating a more robust decision platform for the presented challenge in this research, as a theoretical contribution. First, a new "Type-2 Neutrosophic Fuzzy-Weighted Zero-Inconsistency" (T2NN-FWZIC) technique is formulated for weighting the evaluation criteria of RAN architectures. Second, another new method, namely, "Type-2 Neutrosophic Fuzzy Decision by Opinion Score Method" (T2NN-FDOSM), was formulated to select the optimal RAN architecture using the obtained weights. The weighting results by T2NN-FWZIC for the (n = 25) evaluation criteria revealed that (C 21 latency and C 22 reliability) as the most important criteria, with 0.06 value for each as opposed to (C 15 Data Processing) as the lowest weighted criteria with 0.0186 value. As for T2NN-FDOSM, a total of four 5G-RAN architectures were evaluated, including "virtualized cloud RAN" coming as the optimal one, followed by "fog RAN," "cloud RAN," and finally "heterogeneous cloud RAN." The results were confirmed by carrying out a sensitivity analysis. The outcome of this study can be used to assist future 5G-RAN developments according to business needs and to establish an assessment platform for 5G technology in different domains and applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trajectory prediction aims to estimate the future location of the vehicle based on its historical motion state, which is essential for driving decision-making and local motion planning of smart vehicles. However, affected by the multiple complex interaction in the traffic scene, predicting future trajectory accurately is a challenging task. The majority of existing methods only focus on modeling the inter-vehicle interaction, while ignoring the influence of road alignment and driver's lane-change intention, making the poor performance of models, especially for long-term prediction or when the vehicle maneuvers laterally. To overcome the deficiencies, this paper proposes Intention-convolution and Hybrid-Attention Network (IH-Net) for reliable trajectory prediction. Specifically, we analyze the correlation of lane-change behavior and the motion state of the vehicle, and then the Intention-convolutional Social Pooling module (I-CS) is introduced to extract complete interaction including the driver's lane-change intention and inter-vehicle interaction. In addition, we construct a novel Hybrid Attention Mechanism (H-AM) to explore the trajectory periodicity formed under the restriction of road alignment, as well as the impacts of different features on trajectory prediction, which is used to improve the model's long-term prediction capacity. The model's prediction accuracy with RMSE loss function is tested on two public datasets NGSIM and highD, and the results demonstrate that IH-Net remarkably outperforms the state-of-art methods in long-term prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the approach for solving the satisfactory Pareto-optimal solutions of the general form of bilevel multi-followers programming(BMFP), including the BMFP with partial shared variables among followers, the so-called referential-uncooperative BMFP, the uncooperative BMFP, and the cooperative BMFP. Without losing generality, the BMFP with partial shared variables among followers will be taken as a representative to explain the universal applicability of the proposed generic interactive intuitionistic fuzzy method. Based on the theory of intuitionistic fuzzy set, the new definition of satisfactory Pareto-optimal solutions is introduced by means of membership function, non-membership function, and score function. In order to obtain satisfactory Pareto-optimal solutions of BMFP with partial shared variables among followers, a prior minimization optimization problem and a series of corresponding auxiliary maximization optimization problems are formulated, and we strictly prove that the optimal solution of the prior minimization optimization problem is not necessarily the satisfactory Pareto-optimal solutions, but at least one satisfactory Pareto optimal solution can be derived by further solving these auxiliary maximization optimization problems. Then, a detailed interactive intuitionistic fuzzy algorithm framework that consider both the balance of satisfactory degree between the leader and the followers and the balance of satisfactory degree among all followers is proposed. In the part of numerical experiments, four examples(including a linear BMFP problem with partial shared variables among followers, a BMFP model of a road network problem, an uncooperative BMFP problem, and a nonlinear BMFP problem with partial shared variables among followers) are illustrated to demonstrate the applicability, effectiveness and superior performance of the proposed technique. • The definition of satisfactory Pareto-optimal solutions to BMFP is first introduced. • A prior optimization problem and the auxiliary problems are formulated. • At least one satisfactory Pareto-optimal solution can be derived is strictly proved. • Detailed interactive intuitionistic fuzzy algorithm framework is established. • Four numerical examples are given to explain the effectiveness of proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose an improved filtering algorithm for regular constraint, which demand that the sequence of all assignments for variables can be accepted by a Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA) or a regular language. Regular constraint is a type of global constraint in Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs) and a natural expression of deterministic patterns in planning and decision making, and it utilizes the properties of DFA to pre-specify the optional paths for multiple variables. Thus, it is sensible to improve the filtering algorithm that enforces Generalized Arc Consistency (GAC) for regular constraint in order to minimize memory and time consumption. With the goal in mind, we encode DFA using bit vectors and then devise a bit operations algorithm to maintain the domain consistency for regular constraint. Lastly, we carry out an experiment to compare to the state-of-the-art filtering algorithm. The experimental results demonstrates that the proposed algorithm significantly improves both memory and time. • The improved filtering algorithm improves efficiency for regular constraints. • Our filtering algorithm uses a large number of bit operations. • The proposed algorithm maintains generalized arc consistency. • The experimental results show that our algorithm provides a significant improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Linguistic Z-numbers are utilized to represent risk evaluation information. • The DEMATEL method is utilized to analyze relationships among human error factors. • The ORESTE method is extended for ranking the risk of human error factors. The human error factor is one of the leading causes of medical errors. Among risk analysis techniques for human error factors, HFACS (Human Factor Analysis and Classification System) method has been regarded as one of the most valuable approaches due to its advantage in potential failure classification. However, the conventional HFACS method is insufficient to handle the risk analysis problem for human error factors considering the interactive relationship among these factors. Moreover, the current fuzzy HFACS frameworks cannot address quantitative risk analysis issues, including imprecision and reliability of information. Thus, this paper constructs an integrated linguistic Z-number-based HFACS framework for analyzing the risk of human error factors. This framework can capture the uncertainty and reliability of the risk evaluation information and the interactive relationships among factors. First, the linguistic Z-number-DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method is used to generate the comprehensive risk matrix of human error factors identified by the HFACS method. Then, an extended linguistic Z-number-ORESTE method based on the score function is presented to prioritize the risk of human error factors, which can show the preference, indifference, and incomparability relationship among human error factors. Finally, a case study of a healthcare system is conducted to illustrate the reliability of the proposed method. The result of this case indicates that inadequate resources are the most severe risk. Sensitivity analysis and comparative analysis indicate the necessity of considering the effect of the semantics of language terms and the interrelationships between human error factors on risk analysis results. These results show that the proposed hybrid framework is a reliable means to analyze the risk of human error factors within the HFACS method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]