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Determining criteria weights plays a crucial role in multi-criteria decision analyses. Entropy is a significant measure in information science, and several multi-criteria decision-making methods utilize the entropy weight method (EWM). In the literature, two approaches for determining the entropy weight method can be found. One involves normalization before calculating the entropy values, while the second does not. This paper investigates the normalization effect for entropy-based weights and Hellwig's method. To compare the influence of various normalization methods in both the EWM and Hellwig's method, a study evaluating the sustainable development of EU countries in the education area in the year 2021 was analyzed. The study used data from Eurostat related to European countries' realization of the SDG 4 goal. It is observed that vector normalization and sum normalization did not change the entropy-based weights. In the case study, the max–min normalization influenced EWM weights. At the same time, these weights had only a very weak impact on the final rankings of countries with respect to achieving the SDG 4 goal, as determined by Hellwig's method. The results are compared with the outcome obtained by Hellwig's method with equal weights. The simulation study was conducted by modifying Eurostat data to investigate how the different normalization relationships discovered among the criteria affect entropy-based weights and Hellwig's method results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the crucial steps in the multi-criteria decision analysis involves establishing the importance of criteria and determining the relationship between them. This paper proposes an extended Hellwig's method (H_EM) that utilizes entropy-based weights and Mahalanobis distance to address this issue. By incorporating the concept of entropy, weights are determined based on their information content represented by the matrix data. The Mahalanobis distance is employed to address interdependencies among criteria, contributing to the improved performance of the proposed framework. To illustrate the relevance and effectiveness of the extended H_EM method, this study utilizes it to assess the progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda within the European Union countries for education in the year 2021. Performance comparison is conducted between results obtained by the extended Hellwig's method and its other variants. The results reveal a significant impact on the ranking of the EU countries in the education area, depending on the choice of distance measure (Euclidean or Mahalanobis) and the system of weights (equal or entropy-based). Overall, this study highlights the potential of the proposed method in addressing complex decision-making scenarios with interdependent criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The imbalance of external and internal forces acting on the lower eyelid can result in entropion and ectropion, both of which cause ocular irritation and loss of proper eye protection. Potential complications of untreated cases include recurrent inflammation of the conjunctiva and cornea, conjunctival neovascularization, corneal abrasion or perforation, and ultimately even loss of vision. Although various surgical techniques are used to address this problem, their long-term outcome and effectiveness are still under discussion. Aim: To evaluate outcomes of surgery for entropion and ectropion, including a modified Wheeler's method for entropion correction. Methods: A non-comparative study (prospective and retrospective groups) included 100 patients operated on in two university hospitals' plastic surgery departments for lower eyelid entropion or ectropion, following formal ethics approval. The prospective group included 50 patients assessed preoperatively and at 3 and 12 months postoperatively. The retrospective group was comprised of 50 patients (2012-2018), whose preoperative documentation and clinical examinations were analyzed. The main outcome measures were change between pre- and postoperative patient-reported symptoms (VAS scale), ectropion/entropion grading scale (EGS/EnGS), quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF), and occurrence of complications. Results: The differences in the severity of all symptoms before and after surgery evaluated with the VAS scale were statistically significant in both groups (p <0.05). We observed 6 recurrences (12%) in the prospective group and 9 (18%) in the retrospective group, with minor complications. Very good functional and esthetic postoperative results were confirmed in 70% (79) of the whole group and in 13 patients (81.3%) treated with the modified Wheeler's method. In the prospective group, the Mann--Whitney U test for dependent variables revealed significant improvement in the somatic, psychological, and environmental domains, with no significant change in the social relationships domain. Conclusions: The results following entropion/ectropion surgery prove the effectiveness of the methods used. Complementing them with the modified Wheeler's method brought an increase in the number of very good outcomes. Surgery of lower eyelid malposition contributed to reduced symptoms and improved quality of life. The rates of postoperative sequelae were low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hellwig's method is a multi-criteria decision-making technique designed to facilitate the ranking of alternatives based on their proximity to the ideal solution. Typically, this approach calculates distances using the Euclidean norm, assuming implicitly that the considered criteria are independent. However, in real-world situations, the assumption of criteria independence is rarely met. The paper aims to propose an extension of Hellwig's method by incorporating the Mahalanobis distance. Substituting the Euclidean distance with the Mahalanobis distance has proven to be effective in handling correlations among criteria, especially in the context of asymmetrical relationships between criteria. Subsequently, we investigate the impact of the Euclidean and Mahalanobis distance measures on the several variants of Hellwig procedures, analyzing examples based on various illustrative data with 10 alternatives and 4 criteria. Additionally, we examine the influence of three normalization formulas in Hellwig's aggregation procedures. The investigation results indicate that both the distance measure and normalization formulas have some impact on the final rankings. The evaluation and ranking of alternatives using the Euclidean distance measure are influenced by the normalization formula, albeit to a limited extent. In contrast, the Mahalanobis distance-based Hellwig's method remains unaffected by the choice of normalization formulas. The study concludes that the ranking of alternatives is strongly dependent on the distance measure employed, whether it is Euclidean or Mahalanobis. The Mahalanobis distance-based Hellwig method is deemed a valuable tool for decision-makers in real-life situations. It enables the evaluation of alternatives by considering interactions between criteria, providing a more comprehensive perspective for decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an extended Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure (IFSM) with intuitionistic fuzzy (IF) entropy-based weights is presented. This method can be implemented in a ranking problem where the assessments of the criteria are expressed in the form of intuitionistic fuzzy values and the information about the importance criteria is unknown. One example of such a problem is measuring the subjective quality of life in cities. We join the debate on the determination of weights for the analysis of the quality of life problem using multi-criteria methods. To handle this problem, four different IF entropy-based weight methods were applied. Their performances were compared and analyzed based on the questionnaires from the survey concerning the quality of life in European cities. The studies show very similar weighting systems obtained by different IF entropy-based approaches, resulting in almost the same city rankings acquired through IFSM by using those weights. The differences in rankings obtained through the IFSM measure (and only by one position) concern the six cities included in the analysis. Our results support the assumption of the equal importance of the criteria in measuring this complex phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel Double Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure (DIFSM), based on intuitionistic fuzzy values for handling multi-criteria decision-making problems used to rank alternatives, is presented. In the studies, intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs) represented uncertain, imprecise information or human judgment. The intuitionistic fuzzy sets can also reflect the approval, rejection, and hesitation of decision-makers. The degrees of satisfiability and non-satisfiability and uncertainty of each alternative with respect to a set of criteria are described by membership functions, non-membership functions, and hesitancy indexes, respectively. The aggregation algorithm DIFSM is inspired by Hellwig's method based on two reference points: ideal point (pattern) and anti-ideal point (anti-pattern), measuring distances between the alternative and ideal point and distance between the ideal and anti-ideal point. The proposed methods take into consideration the entropy-based weights of criteria. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed approach. Additionally, the comparative analysis results, using the DIFSM and the Intuitionistic Fuzzy TOPSIS-based framework, are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benchmarking the analysis of countries' performance in terms of sustainable development helps to understand the success factors of countries that over perform and to target priority issues of others with lower performance. However, assessing sustainable development comes with methodological challenges, including indicator standardization, aggregation and weighting. Our study significantly contributes to the measure of sustainable development by providing a new approach based on an extended Hellwig method. After describing the main limitations of existing methodologies, this paper's aim is twofold. First, we show that the proposed analytical framework allows for comparing the sustainable performance of EU countries on the national level. The extended Hellwig method takes into consideration EU targets and/or national targets in building patterns of development. Second, this framework is tested as a part of the evaluation of the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy in the education area. The results obtained using the extended Hellwig method were compared with those obtained by means of the Education Index, TOPSIS and Ward technique. Our analysis showed the significant disparities in the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy recommendations in the education area in 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autoimmune syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA) is the spectrum of diseases in which the substances considered inert to the body induce autoimmune reactions and inflammation. Some of the biomaterials recently used in plastic surgery, such as silicone or polyacrylamide hydrogel (PAAG) seem to trigger clinical features of ASIA. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of these features within a group of women after breast augmentation with PAAG. As many as 30 consecutive patients (26–59 years, mean age 39.5) referred to the Clinic of Plastic Surgery after breast enhancement with PAAG were examined. The validated criteria of ASIA syndrome were employed. Descriptive statistics were chosen based on the distribution of variables. The research was approved by the Bioethical Committee of the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education in Warsaw, Poland. Within the studied group, 50% of patients (n = 15) fulfilled ASIA diagnostic criteria. Apart from local complications, we encountered various general symptoms, among which fever (n = 13, 43.3%), tingling and numbness of upper extremities (n = 10, 33.3%) and chronic fatigue (n = 9, 30%) were the most common. These symptoms were present on an ambulatory visit, before qualification to the operation of hydrogel removal. All patients undergoing surgical PAAG removal (n = 8) declared alleviation or complete resolution of the symptoms. Polyacrylamide hydrogel breast filling, although limiting the invasiveness of the procedure in relation to silicone breast implants, also carries the risk of developing ASIA symptoms. The removal of PAAG may bring improvement in some cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to present some of the initial work of developing a social science grounded game theory-as a clear alternative to classical game theory. Two distinct independent initiatives in Sociology are presented: One, a systems approach, social systems game theory (SGT), and the other, Erving Goffman's interactionist approach (IGT). These approaches are presented and contrasted with classical theory. They focus on the social rules, norms, roles, role relationships, and institutional arrangements, which structure and regulate human behavior. While strategic judgment and instrumental rationality play an important part in the sociological approaches, they are not a universal or dominant modality of social action determination. Rule following is considered, generally speaking, more characteristic and more general. Sociological approaches, such as those outlined in this article provide a language and conceptual tools to more adequately and effectively than the classical theory describe, model, and analyze the diversity and complexity of human interaction conditions and processes: (1) complex cognitive rule based models of the interaction situation with which actors understand and analyze their situations; (2) value complex(es) with which actors operate, often with multiple values and norms applying in interaction situations; (3) action repertoires (rule complexes) with simple and complex action alternatives-plans, programs, established (sometimes highly elaborated) algorithms, and rituals; (4) a rule complex of action determination modalities for actors to generate and/or select actions in game situations; three action modalities are considered here; each modality consists of one or more procedures or algorithms for action determination: (I) following or implementing a rule or rule complex, norm, role, ritual, or social relation; (II) selecting or choosing among given or institutionalized alternatives according to a rule or principle; and (III) constructing or adopting one or more alternatives according to a value, guideline, or set of criteria. Such determinations are often carried out collectively. The paper identifies and illustrates in a concluding table several of the key differences between classical theory and the sociological approaches on a number of dimensions relating to human agency; social structure, norms, institutions, and cultural forms; patterns of game interaction and outcomes, the conditions of cooperation and conflict, game restructuring and transformation, and empirical relevance. Sociologically based game theory, such as the contributions outlined in this article suggest a language and conceptual tools to more adequately and effectively than the classical theory describe, model, and analyze the diversity, complexity, and dynamics of human interaction conditions and processes and, therefore, promises greater empirical relevance and scientific power. An Appendix provides an elaboration of SGT, concluding that one of SGT's major contributions is the rule based conceptualization of games as socially embedded with agents in social roles and role relationships and subject to cognitive-normative and agential regulation. SGT rules and rule complexes are based on contemporary developments relating to granular computing and Artificial Intelligence in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In negotiations, the parties can be offered decision support based on formal scoring systems. These systems can be determined by means of various preference elicitation techniques and multiple criteria decision aiding (MCDA) approaches. In most situations the simplest tool is used, namely the direct rating technique (DR). In this paper we analyze to what extent the scoring system obtained by means of a mix of MARS (Measuring Attractiveness near Reference Solutions) and UTASTAR (Utilités Additives) holistic preference elicitation approaches accurately reflects the negotiator's preferences; and how much its potential inaccuracy may affect the symmetric support given to the parties. We compare the differences in the recommendation of Nash bargaining solutions offered to the parties when the bargaining analysis is determined by means of holistic and DR approaches and analyze which of them misrepresent the actual negotiation situation more. The results show that there are no significant differences when the quality of average recommendations are compared, yet the DR-based scoring system recommends the true Nash bargaining solution for more negotiation instances than the holistic one does. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on earlier work in social system theorizing and analysis--in particular, the theory of social rule systems. On the basis of this foundational work, its aim is to systematically link theories of social groups and organizations, on the one hand, and social science game and interaction theory, on the other hand. Rule system theory has contributed to significant features of group theory and social science game theory. It is a cultural-institutional approach to conceptualizing group systems and games. We explore how groups and their particular games can be effectively described, analyzed, and compared--and their similarities and differences identified on a systematic basis. For illustrative purposes, we present a selection of several ideal types of groups: a military unit, a terrorist group, a recreational or social group, a research group, and a business entity, each of whom has a distinct rule configuration making for particular "rules of the game" and game patterns of interaction and outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The negotiation template, which defines a set of potential negotiation offers, is traditionally evaluated by means of the simple additive weighting method (SAW). However, some recent research reports on the potential problems and inconsistencies in using and interpreting SAW-based scores. Thus, in this paper we consider the issue of evaluating negotiation offers when the negotiator's preferences are expressed verbally. We present a new approach called Measuring Attractiveness near Reference Situations (MARS), which combines the algorithms of two multiple criteria decision making methods: ZAPROS and MACBETH. Applying the elements of ZAPROS allows identifying a small set of reference alternatives that consists of the best resolution levels for all the negotiation issues but one. In pair-wise comparisons of these alternatives negotiators need to evaluate trade-offs only, which means deciding which concessions are better to be made. Using the elements of MACBETH allows determining the strong interval scale based on verbal judgments defined by negotiators at the beginning of the preference elicitation process. We study in detail the legitimacy of hybridizing ZAPROS and MACBETH that differ in their philosophies of decision support as well as discuss the drawbacks of these two MCDM methods and propose some alternative solutions that make this approach applicable to supporting negotiators in the evaluation of negotiation offers. Finally, we present an example in which we indicate the differences in the negotiation offers' scoring process conducted by means of MARS and the traditional ZAPROS and MACBETH procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the issue of evaluation of grant and loan proposals submitted by start-up businesses. A multi-criteria model for the evaluation of proposals for start-up business financing is proposed, based on the MARS method and taking into account three criteria: professional experience of the person planning to start a business, evaluation of the business plan, and evaluation of credit history of the applicant. Modelling of the expert's preferences was based on verbal comparisons of decision variants from the reference set consisting of solutions close to the ideal solution. The usefulness of the model has been verified using data from loan applications submitted to the Business Friendly Fund, operating in one of cooperative banks in the Podlaskie voivodeship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper an impact of the party's negotiation profile on the misperception of the preferential information provided to the negotiating parties is studied. In particular, the problems with determining an adequate and preferentially correct negotiation offer scoring system is analyzed, when the parties are supported in their decision analyses by means of the SAW technique. In the analyses we use the negotiation data from bilateral negotiation experiments conducted by means of the Inspire negotiation support system. To determine the negotiators' profiles the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument was used, which allows to describe their general negotiation approach using two dimensions of assertiveness and cooperativeness. The accuracy of scoring systems was defined as the extent to which the negotiator's individual scoring system (agent's system) is concordant to the preferential information provided by the negotiator's superior (principal's system) in the form of verbal and graphical descriptions, and measured by means of ordinal and cardinal accuracy indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the problem of complex socio-economic phenomena assessment using questionnaire surveys. The data are represented on an ordinal scale; the object assessments may contain positive, negative, no answers, a "difficult to say" or "no opinion" answers. The general framework for Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure (IFSM) based on distances to the pattern object (ideal solution) is used to analyze the survey data. First, Euclidean and Hamming distances are applied in the procedure. Second, two pattern object constructions are proposed in the procedure: one based on maximum values from the survey data, and the second on maximum intuitionistic values. Third, the method for criteria comparison with the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure is presented. Finally, a case study solving the problem of rank-ordering of the cities in terms of satisfaction from local public administration obtained using different variants of the proposed method is discussed. Additionally, the comparative analysis results using the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Synthetic Measure and the Intuitionistic Fuzzy TOPSIS (IFT) framework are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops further our earlier analysis of the Pareto multi-agent problematique concerning collective choice situations where members of a group, community or society are faced with alternative allocations, institutional arrangements, or states of the world and may collectively choose an option if they can agree on the choice. Our reconceptualisation of the Pareto problematique is based on a general principle of "legitimation of collective choice"; such collective choices have a high likelihood of being accepted by a substantial part of society or by key relevant agents (including government agencies, businesses, NGOs, etc) in the population. But such legitimized choices need not be best or right. Consequently, effective choices - whether legitimate or not - require the application of relevant knowledge (often multiple types of knowledge). This paper identifies and analyses governance structures and procedures which bring systematic knowledge to bear on selected problem(s), for instance, scientific knowledge, legal knowledge, and local practical knowledge. Many contemporary forms of collective decision-making entail mobilising and applying expertise such as technical, economic, organisational, legal, cultural knowledge and com-bining it with legitimizing procedures to gain acceptance of the collective decisions and, thereby, ac-complish societal equilibria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Game theory in its several variants is widely recognized as a contribution to social and economic modeling. One relevant development of classical game theory, Generalized Game Theory (GGT), entails its extension and generalization through the formulation of the mathematical theory of rules and rule complexes. Social theory concepts such as norm, value, belief, role, social relationship, and institution as well as game can be defined in a uniform way in terms of rules and rule complexes. Among the applications, one major initiative has been the conceptualization of fuzzy games and equilibria. In this paper a GGT model of 2-person fuzzy bargaining games is outlined. Two key concepts are applied: (1) players’ value (or “utility”) structures consisting of ideal points or expectation levels, on the one hand, and limits of acceptance, on the other; (2) fuzzy judgment functions in which players deal with imprecise information and use approximate reasoning in making decisions and negotiating agreements. Such fuzzy judgment functions can take into account economic, socio-psychological, and cultural and institutional aspects of the bargaining context, which affect the bargaining process in specifiable ways. Several significant results are obtained from the application of this model: the opportunities (or not) for agreement, the participants’ satisfaction levels with an agreement, and the question whether or not the agreed “price” is an equilibrium price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, one of the multi-criteria models in making decision, a Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), is described. Some of the advantages of TOPSIS methods are: simplicity, rationality, comprehensibility, good computational efficiency and ability to measure the relative performance for each alternative in a simple mathematical form. The paper has a review character. It systematises the knowledge within the scope of techniques of decision taking with the use of the TOPSIS method. Simple numerical examples that reference real situations show practical applications of different aspects of this method. The paper is organized as follows. The Introduction presents a short overview of the decision making steps as well as MCDM techniques. Section 1 presents matrix representation of the MCDM problem. Section 2 describes the TOPSIS procedure for crisp data, and Section 3 for interval data. The TOPSIS algorithm in group decision environment in the case of crisp and interval data is also presented. In Section 4 the problem of qualitative data in TOPSIS model is discussed. The numerical examples showing applications of those techniques in the negotiation process are presented in Section 5. Finally, conclusions and some concluding remarks are made in last section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the negotiation problem, in which an agent negotiates on behalf of a principal. Our considerations are focused on the Inspire negotiation support system in which the principal's preferences are visualised by circles. In this way, the principal describes the importance of each negotiation issue and the relative utility of each considered option. The paper proposes how this preference information may be implemented by the agent for determining a scoring function used to support decisions throughout the negotiation process. The starting point of our considerations is a discussion regarding the visualisation of the principal's preferences. We assume here that the importance of each issue and the utility of each option increases with the size of the circle representing them. The imprecise meaning of the notion of "circle size" implies that in a considered case, the utility of an option should be evaluated by a fuzzy number. The proposed utility fuzzification is justified by a simple analysis of results obtained from the empirical prenegotiation experiment. A novel method is proposed to determine trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, which evaluates an option's utility using a series of answers given by the participants of the experiment. The utilities obtained this way are applied to determine the fuzzy scoring function for an agent. By determining such a common generalised fuzzy scoring system, our approach helps agents handle the differences in human cognitive processes associated with understanding the principal's preferences. This work is the first approach to fuzzification of the preferences in the Inspire negotiation support system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the assessment of most complex socioeconomic phenomena with the use of multicriteria methods, continuous data are used, the source of which are most often public statistics. However, there are complex phenomena such as quality of life and quality of services in the assessment, for which questionnaire surveys and ordinal measurement scales are used. In this case, the use of classic multicriteria methods is very difficult, taking into account the way of presenting this type of data by official statistics, as well as their permissible transformations and arithmetic operations. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was the presentation of a novel framework which can be applied for assessing socioeconomic phenomena on the basis of survey data. It was assumed that the object assessments may contain positive or negative opinions and an element of uncertainty expressed in the form a "no", "difficult to say", or "no opinion" answers. For this reason, the intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS (IF-TOPSIS) method is proposed. To demonstrate the potential of this solution, the results of measuring the subjective quality of life of the inhabitants of 83 cities in EU countries, EFTA countries, the UK, the Western Balkans, and Turkey are presented. For most cities, a high level of subjective quality of life was observed using the proposed approach. The highest level of quality of life was observed in Zurich, whereas the lowest was observed in Palermo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several complex phenomena are measured with the use of tools in the form of a questionnaire where the values of criteria are assessed by the respondents using ordinal scales. Therefore, a special method of construction of synthetic measure is needed which takes into account the fact that such measurement scale allows only to determine the relationship between the states of objects: diversity, equality, minority, and majority. The main goal of this study is to propose a synthetic measure based on Hellwig's approach and the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set theory which allows to measure complex social phenomena under uncertainty, including data from questionnaire surveys. First, the method of converting ordinal data from questionnaires to interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (I-VIFS) is proposed. Next, the method of constructing a synthetic measure for I-VIFS is presented. Finally, through this synthetic measure, the optimism coefficient is defined, which allows to set the limits of the intervals for I-VIFS parameters. The usefulness of the proposed approach is showed using the results of a questionnaire survey of the subjective quality of life of inhabitants of selected communes in Poland. Results indicate that the synthetic measure is suitable and effective to evaluate complex phenomena based on ordinal data from questionnaire surveys under the conditions of measurement uncertainty. Moreover, the use of the concept of the optimism coefficient increases the flexibility of its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of each evaluation criterion, any decision alternative is evaluated by means of trapezoidal ordered fuzzy numbers (TrOFN). This approach is justified in the way that some criteria are linguistically evaluated. In this paper, decision alternatives are evaluated using oriented fuzzy Simple Additive Weighting (OF-SAW) scoring function. The ranking of alternatives may be defined by means of a nonincreasing sequence of defuzzified values of a scoring function. Any defuzzification procedure distorts ordered fuzzy numbers in a way that information on imprecision and orientation is lost. This undermines the credibility of the determined alternatives' ranking. The main purpose of this paper is to avoid the defuzzification stage in the OF-SAW method. Thus, the OF-SAW method is equipped with fuzzy scoring order. This OF-SAW method is described as a negotiation scoring system. We study an empirical example of the OF-SAW application and rank some negotiation offers. Here, we focus on the effects of replacing the defuzzified scoring function by a fuzzy one. The obtained conclusions are generalized for the case of any decision alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) occurs in aggressive and non-aggressive forms. The expression of immunohistochemical markers varies in different types of BCC. Aim: Immunohistochemical analysis of selected proteins in BCCs. Material and methods: The immunohistochemical method was used to examine the immunoexpression of Bmi-1, CK15 and Bcl-2 in 56 cases of BCC divided into four groups. Results: Positive Bmi-1 staining 3-4+ level (nodular type) was seen in 91.3% of samples, 4+ (infiltrative) in 92.3%, 4+ (nodular/infiltrative) - 69.2%, 3+ - 30.8%, in BSC 3+ - 42.8%, and 28.6% each for 2+ and 4+. Low grade positivity (0-1+) in CK15 staining was present in 52.1% of nodular BCC, 46.2% - nodular/infiltrative, 92.3% - infiltrative, and 100% - BSC, but levels 2-3+ in nodular BCC in 47.8%, nodular/infiltrative BCC - 53.8%, infiltrative - 7.7%. Bcl-2 positivity (3-4+) was revealed in nodular BCC in 95.6%, (1-2+) in 100% of BSC, infiltrative and infiltrative/nodular BCC, but the lowest (0-1+) in 76.9% of nodular/infiltrative BCC, 71.4% of BSC, and in 38.4% of infiltrative BCC. Conclusions: Positive Bmi-1 staining was the highest in the aggressive infiltrative subtype of BCCs, whereas the lowest in basosquamous cell carcinomas (BSC). Infiltrative BCC was characterized by a lower level of CK15 expression than nodular BCC and nodular/infiltrative BCC. Differentiation of Bcl-2 expression depended on the type of tumour; the highest level was found in nodular BCC, low grade in nodular/infiltrative and infiltrative BCCs, and BSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we undertake the problem of evaluating interrelation among time series. Interrelation is measured using a similarity index. In this paper, we suggest a new one based on the known fuzzy transform (F-transform), which has been proven to remove higher frequencies than a given threshold and reduce the random noise significantly. The F-transform also provides an estimation of the slope of time series in a given imprecisely delineated time. We prove some of the suggested index properties and show its ability to measure similarity (and thus the interrelation) on a selection of several real financial time series. The method is well interpretable and easy to adjust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surgical techniques for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) constantly evolve. This study aims to assess the effectiveness and safety of a new surgical approach for an OSAS pharyngoplasty with a dorsal palatal flap expansion (PDPFEx). A total of 21 participants (mean age 49.9; mean BMI 32.5) underwent a type III sleep study, an endoscopy of the upper airways, a filled medical history, a visual analog scale for snoring loudness, an Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and a Short Form Health Survey-36 questionnaire. A follow-up re-evaluation was performed 11 ± 4.9 months post-operatively. The study group (4 with moderate, 17 with severe OSAS) showed an improvement in all measured sleep study characteristics (p < 0.05), apnea-hypopnea index (pre-median 45.7 to 29.3 post-operatively, p = 0.009, r = 0.394), oxygen desaturation index (pre-median 47.7 and 23.3 post-operatively, p = 0.0005, r = 0.812), mean oxygen saturation (median 92% pre-operatively and median 94% post-operatively, p = 0.0002, r = 0.812), lowest oxygen saturation (p = 0.0001, r = 0.540) and time of sleep spent with blood oxygen saturation less than 90% (p = 0.0001, r = 0.485). The most commonly reported complications were throat dryness (11 patients) and minor difficulties in swallowing (5 patients transient, 3 patients constant). We conclude that a PDPFEx is a promising new surgical method; however, further controlled studies are needed to demonstrate its safety and efficacy for OSAS treatment in adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negotiation scoring systems are fundamental tools used in negotiation support to facilitate parties searching for negotiation agreement and analyzing its efficiency and fairness. Such a scoring system is obtained in prenegotiation by implementing selected multiple criteria decision-aiding methods to elicit the negotiator's preferences precisely and ensure that the support is reliable. However, the methods classically used in the preference elicitation require much cognitive effort from the negotiators, and hence, do not prevent them from using heuristics and making simple errors that result in inaccurate scoring systems. This paper aims to develop an alternative tool that allows scoring the negotiation offers by implementing a sorting approach and the reference set of limiting profiles defined individually by the negotiators in the form of complete packages. These limiting profiles are evaluated holistically and verbally by the negotiator. Then the fuzzy decision model is built that uses the notion of increasing the preference granularity by introducing a series of limiting sub-profiles for corresponding sub-categories of offers. This process is performed automatically by the support algorithm and does not require any additional preferential information from the negotiator. A new method of generating reference fuzzy scores to allow a detailed assignment of any negotiation offer from feasible negotiation space to clusters and sub-clusters is proposed. Finally, the efficient frontier and Nash's fair division are used to identify the recommended packages for negotiation in the bargaining phase. This new approach allows negotiators to obtain economically efficient, fair, balanced, and reciprocated agreements while minimizing information needs and effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]