21,140 research outputs found
New perspectives on realism, tractability, and complexity in economics
Fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms are used to rework more realistic (and more complex) models of competitive markets. The resulting equilibria are significantly different from the ones predicted from the usual static analysis; the methodology solves the Walrasian problem of how markets can reach equilibrium, starting with firms trading at disparate prices.
The modified equilibria found in these complex market models involve some mutual self-restraint on the part of the agents involved, relative to economically rational behaviour. Research (using similar techniques) into the evolution of collaborative behaviours in economics, and of altruism generally, is summarized; and the joint significance of these two bodies of work for public policy is reviewed.
The possible extension of the fuzzy/ genetic methodology to other technical aspects of economics (including international trade theory, and development) is also discussed, as are the limitations to the usefulness of any type of theory in political domains. For the latter purpose, a more differentiated concept of rationality, appropriate to ill-structured choices, is developed. The philosophical case for laissez-faire policies is considered briefly; and the prospects for change in the way we âdo economicsâ are analysed
Fuzzy Decision-Support System for Safeguarding Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage
In the current world economic situation, the maintenance of built heritage has been limited
due to a lack of funds and accurate tools for proper management and implementation of these actions.
However, in specific local areas, the maintenance and conservation of historical and cultural heritage
have become an investment opportunity. In this sense, in this study, a new tool is proposed, for the
estimation of the functional service life of heritage buildings in a local region (city of Seville, South
Spain). This tool is developed in Art-Risk research project and consists of a free software to evaluate
decisions in regional policies, planning and management of tangible and intangible cultural heritage,
considering physical, environmental, economic and social resources. This tool provides a ranking of
priority of intervention among case studies belonging to a particular urban context. This information
is particularly relevant for the stakeholders responsible for the management of maintenance plans in
built heritage
New perspectives on realism, tractability, and complexity in economics
Fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms are used to rework more realistic (and more complex) models of competitive markets. The resulting equilibria are significantly different from the ones predicted from the usual static analysis; the methodology solves the Walrasian problem of how markets can reach equilibrium, starting with firms trading at disparate prices. The modified equilibria found in these complex market models involve some mutual self-restraint on the part of the agents involved, relative to economically rational behaviour. Research (using similar techniques) into the evolution of collaborative behaviours in economics, and of altruism generally, is summarized; and the joint significance of these two bodies of work for public policy is reviewed. The possible extension of the fuzzy/ genetic methodology to other technical aspects of economics (including international trade theory, and development) is also discussed, as are the limitations to the usefulness of any type of theory in political domains. For the latter purpose, a more differentiated concept of rationality, appropriate to ill-structured choices, is developed. The philosophical case for laissez-faire policies is considered briefly; and the prospects for change in the way we âdo economicsâ are analysed.Fuzzy logic; genetic algorithms; complexity; emergence; rationality; ill-structured choice; equilibrium; Walrasian Crier; paradigm change;
Psychoanalysis and neurosciences: fuzzy outlines? Notes on the notion of cerebral plasticity
âPsychoanalysis versus psychiatryâ and âunconscious versus brainâ are classic oppositions between different perspectives on the human being and mental suffering. This article draws on certain elements of this discussion and reflects on how new ideas about the brain and biology favor closer interaction between psychoanalysis and the neurosciences. These questions are redefined through the notion of cerebral plasticity, by which the brain is open to interaction with the social environment and the influence of psychoanalytical therapy. Conceiving of the brain as a plastic organ allows for the possibility of interchange between psychoanalysis and the neurosciences.Fil: Mantilla, Maria Jimena. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones ; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; Argentin
Fuzzy logic as a decision-making support system for the indication of bariatric surgery based on an index (OBESINDEX) generated by the association between body fat and body mass index
Background: A Fuzzy Obesity Index (OBESINDEX) for use as an alternative in bariatric surgery indication (BSI) is presented. The search for a more accurate method to evaluate obesity and to indicate a better treatment is important in the world health context. BMI (body mass index) is considered the main criteria for obesity treatment and BSI. Nevertheless, the fat excess related to the percentage of Body Fat (%BF) is actually the principal harmful factor in obesity disease that is usually neglected. This paper presents a new fuzzy mechanism for evaluating obesity by associating BMI with %BF that yields a fuzzy obesity index for obesity evaluation and treatment and allows building up a Fuzzy Decision Support System (FDSS) for BSI.

Methods: Seventy-two patients were evaluated for both BMI and %BF. These data are modified and treated as fuzzy sets. Afterwards, the BMI and %BF classes are aggregated yielding a new index (OBESINDEX) for input linguistic variable are considered the BMI and %BF, and as output linguistic variable is employed the OBESINDEX, an obesity classification with entirely new classes of obesity in the fuzzy context as well is used for BSI.

Results: There is a gradual, smooth obesity classification and BSI when using the proposed fuzzy obesity index when compared with other traditional methods for dealing with obesity.

Conclusion: The BMI is not adequate for surgical indication in all the conditions and fuzzy logic becomes an alternative for decision making in bariatric surgery indication based on the OBESINDEX
Fuzzy logic as a decision-making support system for the indication of bariatric surgery based on an index (MAFOI) generated by the association between body fat and body mass index.
Background: A fuzzy obesity index (MAFOI) for use as an alternative to bariatric surgery indication (BSI) is presented. The search for a more accurate method to evaluate obesity and to indicate a better treatment is important in the world health context. BMI (body mass index) is considered the main criteria for obesity treatment and BSI. Nevertheless, the fat excess related to the percentage of Body Fat (%BF) is actually the principal harmful factor in obesity disease that is usually neglected. This paper presents a new fuzzy mechanism for evaluating obesity by associating BMI with %BF that yields a fuzzy obesity index for obesity evaluation and treatment and allows building up a Fuzzy Decision Support System (FDSS) for BSI. Methods: Seventy-two patients were evaluated for both BMI and %BF. These data are modified and treated as fuzzy sets. Afterwards, the BMI and %BF classes are aggregated yielding a new index (MAFOI) for input linguistic variable are considered the BMI and %BF, and as output linguistic variable is employed the MAFOI, an obesity classification with entirely new classes of obesity in the fuzzy context as well as is used for BSI. Results: There is gradual, smooth obesity classification and BSI when using the proposed fuzzy obesity index when compared with other traditional methods for dealing with obesity.
Conclusion: The BMI is not adequate for surgical indication in all the conditions and fuzzy logic becomes an alternative for decision making in bariatric surgery indication based on the MAFOI
Acquisition of Information is Achieved by the Measurement Process in Classical and Quantum Physics
No consensus seems to exist as to what constitutes a measurement which is
still considered somewhat mysterious in many respects in quantum mechanics. At
successive stages mathematical theory of measure, metrology and measurement
theory tried to systematize this field but significant questions remain open
about the nature of measurement, about the characterization of the observer,
about the reliability of measurement processes etc. The present paper attempts
to talk about these questions through the information science. We start from
the idea, rather common and intuitive, that the measurement process basically
acquires information. Next we expand this idea through four formal definitions
and infer some corollaries regarding the measurement process from those
definitions. Relativity emerges as the basic property of measurement from the
present logical framework and this rather surprising result collides with the
feeling of physicists who take measurement as a myth. In the closing this paper
shows how the measurement relativity wholly consists with some effects
calculated in QM and in Einstein's theory.Comment: Prepared for : Quantum Theory: Reconsideration of Foundations - 4
(QTFR-4), Vaxjo, Sweden, 6-11 June 2007. To be published by the American
Institute of Physics in the AIP Conference Proceedings series. Talk presented
by Paolo Rocch
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