Sustainability performance assessment with intuitionistic fuzzy composite metrics and its application to the motor industry

The performance assessment of companies in terms of sustainability requires to find a balance between multiple and possibly conflicting criteria. We here rely on composite metrics to rank a set of companies within an industry considering environmental, social and corporate governance criteria. To this end, we connect intuitionistic fuzzy sets and composite programming to propose novel composite metrics. These metrics allow to integrate important environmental, social and governance principles with the gradual membership functions of fuzzy set theory. The main result of this paper is a sustainability assessment method to rank companies within a given industry. In addition to consider multiple objectives, this method integrates two important social principles such as maximum utility and fairness. A real-world example is provided to describe the application of our sustainability assessment method within the motor industry. A further contribution of this paper is a multicriteria generalization of the concept of magnitude of a fuzzy number

Estructura sanitaria de atención al tabaquismo

El presente artículo trata de analizar la necesidad de generar una estructura sanitaria de atención al tabaquismo en los distintos departamentos de salud, dependientes de la red pública sanitaria. Esta estructura cobra fuerza y llega a un mayor número de sujetos si se asienta sobre la Atención Primaria de salud, articulándose alrededor de las consultas específicas de tabaquismo en los distintos centros de Salud. Estas consultas deben contar como mínimo con un médico y una enfermera que se dediquen especialmente a atender la consulta al menos 4 horas a la semana. Aun siendo la Atención Primaria la principal puerta de entrada de los pacientes, no podemos descartar el papel de otras unidades o servicios como, medicina Preventiva, los servicios de Neumología o las Unidades de Conductas Adictivas, que también deben hacer un papel importante a la hora de su interrelación. Con todo esto hay que establecer una correcta coordinación entre los distintos servicios, consultas y unidades, sumando a ellas los recursos de Salud Pública e incluso el apoyo que se pueda ofrecer desde distintos ayuntamientos y otras administraciones no sanitarias. Al contar con una estructura definida y una organización coordinada se puede llegar al máximo número de pacientes, además de realizar otras tareas como la prevención o incluso la investigación en este campo, por parte de personas que conozcan toda la problemática de los fumadores. A pesar de los documentos previos, llega la hora de que los distintos gobiernos tanto a nivel autonómico como estatal, consensúen y establezcan un modelo de Atención sanitaria al tabaquismo para todo el Estado español. En este trabajo, aparte de presentar nuestro proyecto, ofrecemos los resultados preliminares que nos indica que nuestra experiencia es efectiva y eficiente en nuestro Departamento de Salud cuando se compara con otros trabajos. Esperamos que con el seguimiento aportemos datos más concluyentes

Teaching operations management to lawyers

[EN] This paper deals with a problem present in most Master in Business Administration (MBA) classrooms. This problem is the heterogeneity of students and their backgrounds. Different backgrounds pose a challenge to teachers that require the use of quantitative techniques such as optimization within an Operations Management subject. Engineers and other students with mathematical training probably get bored if the level is too low. On the contrary, Lawyers and other students without technical background usually find contents cumbersome. This paper aims to find a compromise between the heterogeneity of backgrounds and the fulfilment of learning objectives for students of Operations Management in an MBA. To this end, we propose a methodology to support the selection of teaching methods from a multiobjective perspective. The results derived from this methodology enable professors to consider their particular preferences and to integrate important decision-making principles by selecting the appropriate distance function to an ideal point that acts as a reference.Salas-Molina, F.; Vercher-Ferrandiz, M.; Pla Santamaría, D.; Garcia-Bernabeu, A. (2022). Teaching operations management to lawyers. IATED. 9293-9299. https://doi.org/10.21125/edulearn.2022.22399293929

Inverse Malthusianism and Recycling Economics: The Case of the Textile Industry

[EN] The current use of natural resources in the textile industry leads us to introduce a new economic concept called inverse Malthusianism describing a context in which population grows linearly and resource consumption grows exponentially. Inverse Malthusianism implies an exponential increase in environmental impact that recycling may contribute to reduce. Our main goal is to extend the analysis of materials selection under the principle of equimarginality proposed by Jevons. As a first result, we show the particular circumstances under which policies excluding recycled supplies are never optimal. We also aim to overcome the difficulties of reducing environmental aspects to monetary units. To this end, we propose a multicriteria approach to solve the conventional-recycled materials dilemma considering not only economic but also environmental criteria. Then, we allow producers to enrich their decision-making process with relevant information about the environmental impact of materials selection. Although we use examples of the textile industry to illustrate our results, most of the insights in this paper can be extended to other industries.Salas-Molina, F.; Pla Santamaría, D.; Vercher-Ferrandiz, ML.; Reig-Mullor, J. (2020). Inverse Malthusianism and Recycling Economics: The Case of the Textile Industry. Sustainability. 12(14):1-20. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145861S1201214Chapagain, A. K., Hoekstra, A. Y., Savenije, H. H. G., & Gautam, R. (2006). The water footprint of cotton consumption: An assessment of the impact of worldwide consumption of cotton products on the water resources in the cotton producing countries. Ecological Economics, 60(1), 186-203. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.11.027Esteve-Turrillas, F. A., & de la Guardia, M. (2017). Environmental impact of Recover cotton in textile industry. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 116, 107-115. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.09.034McInerney, J. (1976). THE SIMPLE ANALYTICS OF NATURAL RESOURCE ECONOMICS. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 27(1), 31-52. doi:10.1111/j.1477-9552.1976.tb00964.xRomero, C. (2012). Short communication. Economics of natural resources: in search of a unified theoretical framework. Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, 10(1), 29. doi:10.5424/sjar/2012101-329-11Sandin, G., & Peters, G. M. (2018). Environmental impact of textile reuse and recycling – A review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 184, 353-365. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.266Leal Filho, W., Ellams, D., Han, S., Tyler, D., Boiten, V. J., Paço, A., … Balogun, A.-L. (2019). A review of the socio-economic advantages of textile recycling. Journal of Cleaner Production, 218, 10-20. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.210Hotelling, H. (1931). The Economics of Exhaustible Resources. Journal of Political Economy, 39(2), 137-175. doi:10.1086/254195Solow, R. M. (1974). Intergenerational Equity and Exhaustible Resources. The Review of Economic Studies, 41, 29. doi:10.2307/2296370Thampapillai, D. J. (1985). Trade-offs for conflicting social objectives in the extraction of finite energy resources. International Journal of Energy Research, 9(2), 179-192. doi:10.1002/er.4440090209Stahel, W. R. (2016). The circular economy. Nature, 531(7595), 435-438. doi:10.1038/531435aGeissdoerfer, M., Savaget, P., Bocken, N. M. P., & Hultink, E. J. (2017). The Circular Economy – A new sustainability paradigm? Journal of Cleaner Production, 143, 757-768. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048Ayres, R. U. (1997). Metals recycling: economic and environmental implications. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 21(3), 145-173. doi:10.1016/s0921-3449(97)00033-5Ljungberg, L. Y. (2007). Materials selection and design for development of sustainable products. Materials & Design, 28(2), 466-479. doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2005.09.006Garcia-Bernabeu, A., Hilario-Caballero, A., Pla-Santamaria, D., & Salas-Molina, F. (2020). A Process Oriented MCDM Approach to Construct a Circular Economy Composite Index. Sustainability, 12(2), 618. doi:10.3390/su12020618Scott, A. D. (1953). Notes on User Cost. The Economic Journal, 63(250), 368. doi:10.2307/2227129Romero, C. (1997). Multicriteria decision analysis and environmental economics: An approximation. European Journal of Operational Research, 96(1), 81-89. doi:10.1016/s0377-2217(96)00118-xLaitala, K., Klepp, I., & Henry, B. (2018). Does Use Matter? Comparison of Environmental Impacts of Clothing Based on Fiber Type. Sustainability, 10(7), 2524. doi:10.3390/su10072524Materials Sustainability Indexhttps://msi.higg.orgAlcott, B. (2005). Jevons’ paradox. Ecological Economics, 54(1), 9-21. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.03.020Roy, J. (2000). The rebound effect: some empirical evidence from India. Energy Policy, 28(6-7), 433-438. doi:10.1016/s0301-4215(00)00027-6Cambra‐Fierro, J., & Ruiz‐Benitez, R. (2009). Advantages of intermodal logistics platforms: insights from a Spanish platform. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 14(6), 418-421. doi:10.1108/1359854091099518

Inverse malthusianism and recycling economics: the case of the textile industry

The current use of natural resources in the textile industry leads us to introduce a new economic concept called inverse Malthusianism describing a context in which population grows linearly and resource consumption grows exponentially. Inverse Malthusianism implies an exponential increase in environmental impact that recycling may contribute to reduce. Our main goal is to extend the analysis of materials selection under the principle of equimarginality proposed by Jevons. As a first result, we show the particular circumstances under which policies excluding recycled supplies are never optimal. We also aim to overcome the difficulties of reducing environmental aspects to monetary units. To this end, we propose a multicriteria approach to solve the conventional-recycled materials dilemma considering not only economic but also environmental criteria. Then, we allow producers to enrich their decision-making process with relevant information about the environmental impact of materials selection. Although we use examples of the textile industry to illustrate our results, most of the insights in this paper can be extended to other industries

The Association of Body Mass Index and Body Composition with Pain, Disease Activity, Fatigue, Sleep and Anxiety in Women with Fibromyalgia

The link between fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and obesity has not been thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among body mass index (BMI) and body composition parameters, including fat mass, fat mass percentage, and visceral fat, as well as FMS features, such as tender point count (TPC), pain, disease activity, fatigue, sleep quality, and anxiety, in a population of FMS women and healthy controls. A total of seventy-three women with FMS and seventy-three healthy controls, matched on weight, were included in this cross-sectional study. We used a body composition analyzer to measure fat mass, fat mass percentage, and visceral fat. Tender point count (TPC) was measured by algometry pressure. The disease severity was measured with the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ-R) and self-reported global pain was evaluated with the visual analog scale (VAS). To measure the quality of sleep, fatigue, and anxiety we used the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire (PSQI), the Spanish version of the multidimensional fatigue inventory (MFI), and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), respectively. Of the women in this study, 38.4% and 31.5% were overweight and obese, respectively. Significant differences in FIQ-R.1 (16.82 +/- 6.86 vs. 20.66 +/- 4.71, p = 0.030), FIQ-R.3 (35.20 +/- 89.02 vs. 40.33 +/- 5.60, p = 0.033), and FIQ-R total score (63.87 +/- 19.12 vs. 75.94 +/- 12.25, p = 0.017) among normal-weight and overweight FMS were observed. Linear analysis regression revealed significant associations between FIQ-R.2 ( (95% CI) = 0.336, (0.027, 0.645), p = 0.034), FIQ-R.3 ( (95% CI) = 0.235, (0.017, 0.453), p = 0.035), and FIQ-R total score ( (95% CI) = 0.110, (0.010, 0.209), p = 0.032) and BMI in FMS women after adjusting for age and menopause status. Associations between sleep latency and fat mass percentage in FMS women ( (95% CI) = 1.910, (0.078, 3.742), p = 0.041) and sleep quality and visceral fat in healthy women ( (95% CI) = 2.614, (2.192, 3.036), p = 0.008) adjusted for covariates were also reported. The higher BMI values are associated with poor FIQ-R scores and overweight and obese women with FMS have higher symptom severity. The promotion of an optimal BMI might contribute to ameliorate some of the FMS symptoms

New decision rules under strict uncertainty and a general distance-based approach

Strict uncertainty implies a complete lack of knowledge about the probabilities of possible future states of the world. However, there is complete information about the set of alternatives under consideration, the set of future states, and the scalar evaluation of choosing every alternative if a given state occurs. The principle of insufficient reason by Laplace, the maximin rule by Wald, the Hurwicz criterion, or the minimax regret criterion by Savage are examples of decision rules under strict uncertainty. Within the context of strict uncertainty, moderate pessimism implies the existence of a decision-maker who cautiously assumes that the most favorable state will not occur when the action has been taken with no conjecture being made about the other states. The criterion of moderate pessimism proposed by Ballestero implies the use of the inverse of the range of evaluation for each state as a weight system. In this paper, we extend the notion of moderate pessimism under strict uncertainty to solve some of its limitations. First, we propose a new domination analysis that avoids removing dominated alternatives that are still relevant in the final ranking of alternatives. Second, we propose additional score functions using the inverse of the standard deviation and the mean absolute deviation instead of the range of evaluations for each future state to reduce the impact of the possible existence of outliers in the decision table. This partial result is later generalized through the concept of average deviation of a given order. Finally, we show that all the mentioned decision rules are special cases of a general ranking method based on the Minkowski distance function. We illustrate the use of distance-based decision rules through an application in the context of portfolio selection

A multicriteria extension of the efficient market hypothesis

Challenging the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) has been a recurrent topic for researchers and practitioners since its formulation. Hundreds of empirical studies claim to either prove or disprove the EMH by means of a number of heterogeneous methods. Even though the EMH is usually adjusted to a measure of risk, there is a lack of a formal analysis within a multiple-criteria context. In this paper, we propose a extension of the EMH that accommodates the foundations of multiple-criteria decision analysis. To this end, we rely on a family of parametric signed dissimilarity measures to assess multidimensional performance differences. Since normalization is a critical step in our approach to avoid meaningless comparisons, we present two novel theoretical results connecting different normalization techniques. This multicriteria extension provides a common framework on which to add empirical evidence regarding the EMH testing

Técnicas digitales para la valoración laringoscópica

En 1854 con el descubrimiento del espejito laríngeo por Manuel García, profesor de canto español, nació la laringología como especialidad. Desde entonces han sido numerosos los avances en el terreno de la valoración visual de la dinámica laríngea durante la fonación. En los últimos años la tecnología digital ha permitido no sólo la obtención y registro de imágenes de manera precisa y fiable sino que permite realizar mediciones de fenómenos extremadamente rápidos y delicados, como son el desplazamiento de la mucosa de las cuerdas vocales, los cambios del área glótica durante el ciclo vocal, etc. Se revisa la historia de la estroboscopia, los protocolos de valoración, las técnicas de la estroboscopia digital y sus posibilidades diagnósticas así como sus limitaciones. Se propone así mismo dos nuevas técnicas que han irrumpido recientemente en el panorama otorrinolaringológico que son la videokimografía digital y la grabación en vídeo de alta velocidad que superan las limitaciones de la estroboscopia y probablemente se convertirán en un medio de exploración rutinario en un futuro próximo

Changing the spatial pattern of TFL1 expression reveals its key role in the shoot meristem in controlling Arabidopsis flowering architecture

Models for the control of above-ground plant architectures show how meristems can be programmed to be either shoots or flowers. Molecular, genetic, transgenic, and mathematical studies have greatly refined these models, suggesting that the phase of the shoot reflects different genes contributing to its repression of flowering, its vegetativeness (‘veg’), before activators promote flower development. Key elements of how the repressor of flowering and shoot meristem gene TFL1 acts have now been tested, by changing its spatiotemporal pattern. It is shown that TFL1 can act outside of its normal expression domain in leaf primordia or floral meristems to repress flower identity. These data show how the timing and spatial pattern of TFL1 expression affect overall plant architecture. This reveals that the underlying pattern of TFL1 interactors is complex and that they may be spatially more widespread than TFL1 itself, which is confined to shoots. However, the data show that while TFL1 and floral genes can both act and compete in the same meristem, it appears that the main shoot meristem is more sensitive to TFL1 rather than floral genes. This spatial analysis therefore reveals how a difference in response helps maintain the ‘veg’ state of the shoot meristem.We thank Antonio Serrano for critical reading of the manuscript and stimulating discussions, and Enrico Coen for support and discussions. Two anonymous reviewers greatly helped in clarifying the text. This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [grant no. G18134] and the Spanish Minesterio de Ciencia e Innovacion [grant no. BIO2009-10876]. The authors declare no conflict of interest associated with this work.Baumann, K.; Venail, J.; Berbel Tornero, A.; Domenech Mir, MJ.; Money, T.; Conti, L.; Hanzawa, Y.... (2015). Changing the spatial pattern of TFL1 expression reveals its key role in the shoot meristem in controlling Arabidopsis flowering architecture. Journal of Experimental Botany. 66(15):4769-4780. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erv247S47694780661