Distributed Linguistic Representations in Decision Making: Taxonomy, Key Elements and Applications, and Challenges in Data Science and Explainable Artificial Intelligence

Distributed linguistic representations are powerful tools for modelling the uncertainty and complexity of preference information in linguistic decision making. To provide a comprehensive perspective on the development of distributed linguistic representations in decision making, we present the taxonomy of existing distributed linguistic representations. Then, we review the key elements and applications of distributed linguistic information processing in decision making, including the distance measurement, aggregation methods, distributed linguistic preference relations, and distributed linguistic multiple attribute decision making models. Next, we provide a discussion on ongoing challenges and future research directions from the perspective of data science and explainable artificial intelligence.National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 71971039 71421001,71910107002,71771037,71874023 71871149Sichuan University sksyl201705 2018hhs-5

Hotel selection with safe tourism certificates in Covid-19 pandemic using SWARA and fuzzy COPRAS methods

The virus, which emerged in Wuhan, China, has taken the whole world under its influence in a short time. The World Health Organization declared this period as the "pandemic period", which means a global epidemic, due to the spread of the virus to the world in a short time. This period has undoubtedly been a period when many habits changed for everyone. Vacation habit is also one of the habits that change during this period. Especially in the summer months, people who spend their holidays in hotels had to be more sensitive in choosing the hotel due to the continuation of the pandemic period. While different criteria were considered in hotel selection before, the criterion of having a safe tourism certificate has become the most important criterion due to the pandemic. Businesses with this certificate can provide service without any problems as they take all precautions during the pandemic period. In this study, a hotel selection problem that takes into account the criteria of safe tourism certificate is discussed. In this study, a hotel selection problem that takes into account the safe tourism certification criteria is discussed. In the study, Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) and fuzzy logic based The Complex Proportional Assessment (COPRAS) methods were used to solve the problem of choosing the most suitable hotel. As a result of the study, ten hotel alternatives were evaluated according to the criteria of safe tourism certificate during the pandemic period and the most suitable hotel was selected

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

A data analysis approach to study events’ influence in social networks

Dissertação de mestrado em Computer ScienceNowadays, the assimilation of web content, by each individual, has a considerable impact on our’ everyday life. With the undeniable success of online social networks and microblogs, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, the phenomenon of influence exerted by users of such platforms on other users, and how it propagates in the network, has been attracting, for some years computer scientists, information technicians, and marketing specialists. Increased connectivity, multi-model access and the rise of social media shortened the distance between almost every person in the world, more and more content is generated. Extracting and analyzing a significant amount of data is not a trivial task, Big Data techniques are essential. Through the analysis of this interaction, an exchange of information and feelings, it is entirely imaginable its usefulness in understanding complex human behaviours and so, help diverse organization’s decision-making. Influence maximization and viral marketing are among the possibilities. This work is intended to study what is the impact and role that an event’s social influence has and how does it propagate, particularly on its surrounding territory. This influence is inferred by analysis of the online platform’s data, by applying intelligent techniques, right after its extraction. The final step is to validate the results with data from different sources. Helping businesses through actionable and valuable knowledge is the ultimate goal. This document contemplates an introductory section where the study subject and its State of the Art are addressed. Next, the problem and what direction to take to solve it are discussed.Atualmente, a assimilação de conteúdo Web, por cada individuo, tem um impacto considerável no nosso quotidiano. Com o inegável sucesso de redes sociais e microblogs, como por exemplo Facebook, Instagram e Twitter, o fenómeno de influência exercida, por utilizadores de tais plataformas, em outros utilizadores e como se propaga na rede tem atraído, por alguns anos, informáticos, técnicos de informação e especialistas em marketing. O aumento da conectividade, o acesso multi-modal e a proliferação dos meios de comunicação social reduziram a distância entre quase todas as pessoas do mundo, mais e mais conteúdo é gerado. Extrair e analisar uma grande quantidade de dados não é uma tarefa trivial, são essenciais técnicas de Big Data. Através da análise desta interação, troca de informações e emoções, é perfeitamente imaginável a sua utilidade na compreensão de complexos comportamentos humanos e, portanto, ajudar na tomada de decisão de diversas organizações. A maximização da influência e o marketing viral estão entre as possibilidades. Este trabalho destina-se a estudar qual é o impacto e o papel que a influência social de um evento tem e como se propaga, particularmente no território envolvente. Esta influência é inferida pela análise dos dados de plataformas online, aplicando técnicas inteligentes, logo após a sua extração . O passo final é validar os resultados com dados de diferentes fontes. Ajudar empresas através do conhecimento valioso e atuável é o objetivo final. Este documento contempla uma seção introdutória, onde o assunto de estudo e o seu estado da arte são abordados. De seguida, é discutido o problema e a direção a seguir para o solucionar

Technology transfer practices and strategies: Issues for Nigerian construction organisations and for research

Technology transfer is increasingly being seen as an important issue for economic development and growth. Arguably, this is why developed and especially developing countries are very keen on technology transfer. However, there are those that contend that organisations in the Nigerian construction industry are not as engaged in technology transfer as many would like, and that potential benefits of doing so are not realized. In the same vein, the challenges that confront construction organisations in Nigeria in terms of technology transfer have received very little empirical studies. This paper, therefore, presents a thorough review of literature on strategic issues and choices that Nigerian construction organisations face in grappling with technology transfer, together with associated challenges. Consideration is also given to what technology transfer actually means to such organisations, and how this is viewed in line with other terms such as innovation. The paper argues and concludes that the challenges that confront construction organisations in Nigeria are multifaceted and likely to impact on their strategic choices. In the same vein, it is also argued that these have implications for researchers attempting to investigate technology transfer practices and strategies in construction organisations in Nigeria in terms of their choice of research strategy and design