Including cognitive aspects in multiple criteria decision analysis

"First Online: 21 December 2016"Many Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods have been proposed over the last decades. Some of the most known methods share some similarities in the way they are used and configured. However, we live in a time of change and nowadays the decision-making process (especially when done in group) is even more demanding and dynamic. In this work, we propose a Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis method that includes cognitive aspects (Cognitive Analytic Process). By taking advantage of aspects such as expertise level, credibility and behaviour style of the decision-makers, we propose a method that relates these aspects with problem configurations (alternatives and criteria preferences) done by each decision-maker. In this work, we evaluated the Cognitive Analytic Process (CAP) in terms of configuration costs and the capability to enhance the quality of the decision. We have used the satisfaction level as a metric to compare our method with other known MCDA methods in literature (Utility function, AHP and TOPSIS). Our method proved to be capable to achieve higher satisfaction levels compared to other MCDA methods, especially when the decision suggested by CAP is different from the one proposed by those methods.This work was supported by COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) within project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043, by National Funds through the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within the Projects UID/CEC/00319/2013, UID/EEA/00760/2013, and the João Carneiro PhD grant with the reference SFRH/BD/89697/2012.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

What Stops Designers from Designing Sustainable Packaging?—A Review of Eco-design Tools with Regard to Packaging Design

Packaging has caused much waste and its sustainability has received much attention in the past decades. Designers have made efforts to mitigate environmental impacts of packaging. However, many packaging designs are still far from achieving their sustainability goals. The purpose of this study is to perform a literature review of the principal design methods and tools for sustainable packaging published over the last twenty years. The objective is to understand the main obstacles that limit their effective implementation in the packaging design process. This study develops a sustainable packaging design and development model and proposes criteria for accessing packaging tools and methods. This study has found that to achieve sustainable design, many tools have limitations in demonstrating usage and balancing trade-off situations. Most of the tools focus on defining problems rather than suggesting possible solutions

Evaluation of Species-Specific Dissimilarities in Two Marine Fish Species: Mercury Accumulation as a Function of Metal Levels in Consumed Prey

The aim of this research was to compare mercury (Hg) accumulation (total and organic) and tissue distribution in two marine fish species with contrasting feeding tactics. Thus, juvenile specimens of European sea bass and Golden grey mullet were surveyed in an estuary historically affected by Hg discharges. Total Hg was preferentially accumulated in intestine, muscle, and liver, whereas gills and brain presented the lowest Hg levels observed in both species. Significant differences between species were only verified for muscle, with D. labrax’s levels being greater than L. aurata’s. Muscle accounted for >87% of the Hg relative tissue burden, whereas liver did not exceed 11%. Organic Hg accumulation occurred mainly in liver and muscle, with D. labrax evidencing significantly greater loads. Moreover, organic Hg in consumed prey items was also significantly greater in D. labrax. Accumulation of organic Hg in liver, intestine, and muscle seemed to vary as a function of the consumed prey items contamination, suggesting fish feeding strategies as the dominant factor determining metal accumulation. For both fish species, a stable ratio was observed between Hg increments from the reference to the contaminated site, possibly indicating that the organic Hg content of diet may regulate the internal levels of this contaminant. Thus, this ratio might prove to be a useful contamination predictor tool in early life stages of fish