An integrated decision-making approach based on q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets in service industry

This study defines key issues for sustainable healthcare policy in COVID-19 period. For this purpose, 9 different criteria that affect vaccine hesitancy are selected with the help of a detailed literature evaluation. A novel hybrid fuzzy decision-making model is developed using DEMATEL and TOPSIS based on q-Rung orthopair fuzzy sets. A comparative evaluation has also been performed using IF DEMATEL and PF DEMATEL. The results of all different methods are almost the same that indicates the reliability and coherency of the proposed model. The findings demonstrate that religion is the most critical factor that causes vaccine hesitancy. It is also defined that active population in daily life is the most important alternative. Developing countries should mainly focus on the actions regarding the religious issues to have sustainable healthcare policies in COVID-19 period. In this context, religious leaders can be released to the media and give information that the vaccine is not against religious rules. This has a significant contribution to convince people who are against the vaccine. Furthermore, these countries should also give priorities to the active population in daily life. Because this group supports the workforce in the country very seriously, it can be possible to increase the workforce in the country by completing the vaccination of this group that helps to boost economic development

Informational Paradigm, management of uncertainty and theoretical formalisms in the clustering framework: A review

Fifty years have gone by since the publication of the first paper on clustering based on fuzzy sets theory. In 1965, L.A. Zadeh had published “Fuzzy Sets” [335]. After only one year, the first effects of this seminal paper began to emerge, with the pioneering paper on clustering by Bellman, Kalaba, Zadeh [33], in which they proposed a prototypal of clustering algorithm based on the fuzzy sets theory

RISK PRIORITY EVALUATION OF POWER TRANSFORMER PARTS BASED ON HYBRID FMEA FRAMEWORK UNDER HESITANT FUZZY ENVIRONMENT

The power transformer is one of the most critical facilities in the power system, and its running status directly impacts the power system's security. It is essential to research the risk priority evaluation of the power transformer parts. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a methodology for analyzing the potential failure modes (FMs) within a system in various industrial devices. This study puts forward a hybrid FMEA framework integrating novel hesitant fuzzy aggregation tools and CRITIC (Criteria Importance Through Inter-criteria Correlation) method. In this framework, the hesitant fuzzy sets (HFSs) are used to depict the uncertainty in risk evaluation. Then, an improved HFWA (hesitant fuzzy weighted averaging) operator is adopted to fuse risk evaluation for FMEA experts. This aggregation manner can consider different lengths of HFSs and the support degrees among the FMEA experts. Next, the novel HFWGA (hesitant fuzzy weighted geometric averaging) operator with CRITIC weights is developed to determine the risk priority of each FM. This method can satisfy the multiplicative characteristic of the RPN (risk priority number) method of the conventional FMEA model and reflect the correlations between risk indicators. Finally, a real example of the risk priority evaluation of power transformer parts is given to show the applicability and feasibility of the proposed hybrid FMEA framework. Comparison and sensitivity studies are also offered to verify the effectiveness of the improved risk assessment approach

Managing Incomplete Preference Relations in Decision Making: A Review and Future Trends

In decision making, situations where all experts are able to efficiently express their preferences over all the available options are the exception rather than the rule. Indeed, the above scenario requires all experts to possess a precise or sufficient level of knowledge of the whole problem to tackle, including the ability to discriminate the degree up to which some options are better than others. These assumptions can be seen unrealistic in many decision making situations, especially those involving a large number of alternatives to choose from and/or conflicting and dynamic sources of information. Some methodologies widely adopted in these situations are to discard or to rate more negatively those experts that provide preferences with missing values. However, incomplete information is not equivalent to low quality information, and consequently these methodologies could lead to biased or even bad solutions since useful information might not being taken properly into account in the decision process. Therefore, alternative approaches to manage incomplete preference relations that estimates the missing information in decision making are desirable and possible. This paper presents and analyses methods and processes developed on this area towards the estimation of missing preferences in decision making, and highlights some areas for future research

HFMADM method based on nondimensionalization and its application in the evaluation of inclusive growth

Inclusive growth, which encompasses different aspects of life, is a growth pattern that allows all people to participate in and contribute to growth process. In this paper, a novel hesitant fuzzy multiple attribute decision making (HFMADM) approach based on the nondimensionalization of decision making attributes is presented and then applied to the evaluation of inclusive growth in China. Firstly, a novel generalized hesitant fuzzy distance measure is proposed to calculate the difference and deviation between two hesitant fuzzy elements (hfes) without adding any values into the shorter hesitant fuzzy element. Secondly, the coefficient of variation and efficacy coefficient method are extended to accommodate hesitant fuzzy environment and then used to cope with HFMADM. In the analysis process, non-dimensional treatment for hesitant fuzzy decision data is produced. Lastly, the method proposed in this paper is applied to an example of inclusive growth evaluation problem under hesitant fuzzy environment and the case study illustrates the practicality of the proposed method. Beyond that, a comparative analysis with some other approaches is also conducted to demonstrate the superiority and feasibility of the proposed method

A CLOUD TOPSIS MODEL FOR GREEN SUPPLIER SELECTION

Due to stringent governmental regulations and increasing consciousness of the customers, the present day manufacturing organizations are continuously striving to engage green suppliers in their supply chain management systems. Selection of the most efficient green supplier is now not only dependant on the conventional evaluation criteria but it also includes various other sustainable parameters. This selection process has already been identified as a typical multi-criteria group decision-making task involving subjective judgments of different participating experts. In this paper, a green supplier selection problem for an automobile industry is solved while integrating the Cloud model with the technique for order of preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS). The adopted method is capable of dealing with both fuzziness and randomness present in the human cognition process while appraising performance of the alternative green suppliers with respect to various evaluation criteria. This model identifies green supplier S4 as the best choice. The derived ranking results using the adopted model closely match with those obtained from other variants of the TOPSIS method. The Cloud model can efficiently take into account both fuzziness and randomness in a qualitative attribute, and effectively reconstruct the qualitative attribute into the corresponding quantitative score for effective evaluation and appraisal of the considered green suppliers. Comparison of the derived ranking results with other MCDM techniques proves applicability, potentiality and solution accuracy of the Cloud TOPSIS model for the green supplier selection

Stochastic multiple attribute decision making with Pythagorean hesitant fuzzy set based on regret theory

The objective of this paper is to present an extended approach to address the stochastic multi-attribute decision-making problem. The novelty of this study is to consider the regret behavior of decision makers under a Pythagorean hesitant fuzzy environment. First, the group satisfaction degree of decision-making matrices is used to consider the different preferences of decision-makers. Second, the nonlinear programming model under different statues is provided to compute the weights of attributes. Then, based on the regret theory, a regret value matrix and a rejoice value matrix are constructed. Furthermore, the feasibility and superiority of the developed approach is proven by an illustrative example of selecting an air fighter. Eventually, a comparative analysis with other methods shows the advantages of the proposed methods

New Challenges in Neutrosophic Theory and Applications

Neutrosophic theory has representatives on all continents and, therefore, it can be said to be a universal theory. On the other hand, according to the three volumes of “The Encyclopedia of Neutrosophic Researchers” (2016, 2018, 2019), plus numerous others not yet included in Encyclopedia book series, about 1200 researchers from 73 countries have applied both the neutrosophic theory and method. Neutrosophic theory was founded by Professor Florentin Smarandache in 1998; it constitutes further generalization of fuzzy and intuitionistic fuzzy theories. The key distinction between the neutrosophic set/logic and other types of sets/logics lies in the introduction of the degree of indeterminacy/neutrality (I) as an independent component in the neutrosophic set. Thus, neutrosophic theory involves the degree of membership-truth (T), the degree of indeterminacy (I), and the degree of non-membership-falsehood (F). In recent years, the field of neutrosophic set, logic, measure, probability and statistics, precalculus and calculus, etc., and their applications in multiple fields have been extended and applied in various fields, such as communication, management, and information technology. We believe that this book serves as useful guidance for learning about the current progress in neutrosophic theories. In total, 22 studies have been presented and reflect the call of the thematic vision. The contents of each study included in the volume are briefly described as follows. The first contribution, authored by Wadei Al-Omeri and Saeid Jafari, addresses the concept of generalized neutrosophic pre-closed sets and generalized neutrosophic pre-open sets in neutrosophic topological spaces. In the article “Design of Fuzzy Sampling Plan Using the Birnbaum-Saunders Distribution”, the authors Muhammad Zahir Khan, Muhammad Farid Khan, Muhammad Aslam, and Abdur Razzaque Mughal discuss the use of probability distribution function of Birnbaum–Saunders distribution as a proportion of defective items and the acceptance probability in a fuzzy environment. Further, the authors Derya Bakbak, Vakkas Uluc¸ay, and Memet S¸ahin present the “Neutrosophic Soft Expert Multiset and Their Application to Multiple Criteria Decision Making” together with several operations defined for them and their important algebraic properties. In “Neutrosophic Multigroups and Applications”, Vakkas Uluc¸ay and Memet S¸ahin propose an algebraic structure on neutrosophic multisets called neutrosophic multigroups, deriving their basic properties and giving some applications to group theory. Changxing Fan, Jun Ye, Sheng Feng, En Fan, and Keli Hu introduce the “Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Method Using Heronian Mean Operators under a Bipolar Neutrosophic Environment” and test the effectiveness of their new methods. Another decision-making study upon an everyday life issue which empowered us to organize the key objective of the industry developing is given in “Neutrosophic Cubic Einstein Hybrid Geometric Aggregation Operators with Application in Prioritization Using Multiple Attribute Decision-Making Method” written by Khaleed Alhazaymeh, Muhammad Gulistan, Majid Khan, and Seifedine Kadry

Using Pythagorean Fuzzy Sets (PFS) in Multiple Criteria Group Decision Making (MCGDM) Methods for Engineering Materials Selection Applications

The process of materials’ selection is very critical during the initial stages of designing manufactured products. Inefficient decision-making outcomes in the material selection process could result in poor quality of products and unnecessary costs. In the last century, numerous materials have been developed for manufacturing mechanical components in different industries. Many of these new materials are similar in their properties and performances, thus creating great challenges for designers and engineers to make accurate selections. Our main objective in this work is to assist decision makers (DMs) within the manufacturing field to evaluate materials alternatives and to select the best alternative for specific manufacturing purposes. In this research, new hybrid fuzzy Multiple Criteria Group Decision Making (MCGDM) methods are proposed for the material selection problem. The proposed methods tackle some challenges that are associated with the material selection decision making process, such as aggregating decision makers’ (DMs) decisions appropriately and modeling uncertainty. In the proposed hybrid models, a novel aggregation approach is developed to convert DMs crisp decisions to Pythagorean fuzzy sets (PFS). This approach gives more flexibility to DMs to express their opinions than the traditional fuzzy and intuitionistic sets (IFS). Then, the proposed aggregation approach is integrated with a ranking method to solve the Pythagorean Fuzzy Multi Criteria Decision Making (PFMCGDM) problem and rank the material alternatives. The ranking methods used in the hybrid models are the Pythagorean Fuzzy TOPSIS (The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) and Pythagorean Fuzzy COPRAS (COmplex PRoportional Assessment). TOPSIS and COPRAS are selected based on their effectiveness and practicality in dealing with the nature of material selection problems. In the aggregation approach, the Sugeno Fuzzy measure and the Shapley value are used to fairly distribute the DMs weight in the Pythagorean Fuzzy numbers. Additionally, new functions to calculate uncertainty from DMs recommendations are developed using the Takagai-Sugeno approach. The literature reveals some work on these methods, but to our knowledge, there are no published works that integrate the proposed aggregation approach with the selected MCDM ranking methods under the Pythagorean Fuzzy environment for the use in materials selection problems. Furthermore, the proposed methods might be applied, due to its novelty, to any MCDM problem in other areas. A practical validation of the proposed hybrid PFMCGDM methods is investigated through conducting a case study of material selection for high pressure turbine blades in jet engines. The main objectives of the case study were: 1) to investigate the new developed aggregation approach in converting real DMs crisp decisions into Pythagorean fuzzy numbers; 2) to test the applicability of both the hybrid PFMCGDM TOPSIS and the hybrid PFMCGDM COPRAS methods in the field of material selection. In this case study, a group of five DMs, faculty members and graduate students, from the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, were selected to participate as DMs. Their evaluations fulfilled the first objective of the case study. A computer application for material selection was developed to assist designers and engineers in real life problems. A comparative analysis was performed to compare the results of both hybrid MCGDM methods. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to show the robustness and reliability of the outcomes obtained from both methods. It is concluded that using the proposed hybrid PFMCGDM TOPSIS method is more effective and practical in the material selection process than the proposed hybrid PFMCGDM COPRAS method. Additionally, recommendations for further research are suggested