A Synergistic Multi-Attribute Decision-Making Method for Educational Institutions Evaluation Using Similarity Measures of Possibility Pythagorean Fuzzy Hypersoft Sets

Due to the numerous variables to take into account as well as the inherent ambiguity and uncertainty,evaluating educational institutions can be difficult.The concept of a possibility Pythagorean fuzzy hypersoft set(pPyFHSS)is more flexible in this regard than other theoretical fuzzy set-like models,even though some attempts have been made in the literature to address such uncertainties.This study investigates the elementary notions of pPyFHSS including its set-theoretic operations union,intersection,complement,OR-and AND-operations.Some results related to these operations are also modified for pPyFHSS.Additionally,the similarity measures between pPyFHSSs are formulated with the assistance of numerical examples and results.Lastly,an intelligent decision-assisted mechanism is developed with the proposal of a robust algorithm based on similarity measures for solving multi-attribute decision-making(MADM)problems.A case study that helps the decision-makers assess the best educational institution is discussed to validate the suggested system.The algorithmic results are compared with the most pertinent model to evaluate the adaptability of pPyFHSS,as it generalizes the classical possibility fuzzy set-like theoretical models.Similarly,while considering significant evaluating factors,the flexibility of pPyFHSS is observed through structural comparison.

Medical Diagnosis Based on Multi-Attribute Group Decision-Making Using Extension Fuzzy Sets,Aggregation Operators and Basic Uncertainty Information Granule

Accurate medical diagnosis,which involves identifying diseases based on patient symptoms,is often hindered by uncertainties in data interpretation and retrieval.Advanced fuzzy set theories have emerged as effective tools to address these challenges.In this paper,new mathematical approaches for handling uncertainty in medical diagnosis are introduced using q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets(q-ROFS)and interval-valued q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets(IVq-ROFS).Three aggregation operators are proposed in our methodologies:the q-ROF weighted averaging(q-ROFWA),the q-ROF weighted geometric(q-ROFWG),and the q-ROF weighted neutrality averaging(qROFWNA),which enhance decision-making under uncertainty.These operators are paired with ranking methods such as the similarity measure,score function,and inverse score function to improve the accuracy of disease identification.Additionally,the impact of varying q-rung values is explored through a sensitivity analysis,extending the analysis beyond the typical maximum value of 3.The Basic Uncertain Information(BUI)method is employed to simulate expert opinions,and aggregation operators are used to combine these opinions in a group decisionmaking context.Our results provide a comprehensive comparison of methodologies,highlighting their strengths and limitations in diagnosing diseases based on uncertain patient data.

Healthcare providers’perspectives on factors influencing their critical care decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic:An international pilot survey

BACKGROUND Understanding a patient's clinical status and setting priorities for their care are two aspects of the constantly changing process of clinical decision-making.One analytical technique that can be helpful in uncertain situations is clinical judgment.Clinicians must deal with contradictory information,lack of time to make decisions,and long-term factors when emergencies occur.AIM To examine the ethical issues healthcare professionals faced during the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic and the factors affecting clinical decision-making.METHODS This pilot study,which means it was a preliminary investigation to gather information and test the feasibility of a larger investigation was conducted over 6 months and we invited responses from clinicians worldwide who managed patients with COVID-19.The survey focused on topics related to their professional roles and personal relationships.We examined five core areas influencing critical care decision-making:Patients'personal factors,family-related factors,informed consent,communication and media,and hospital administrative policies on clinical decision-making.The collected data were analyzed using theχ2 test for categorical variables.RESULTS A total of 102 clinicians from 23 specialties and 17 countries responded to the survey.Age was a significant factor in treatment planning(n=88)and ventilator access(n=78).Sex had no bearing on how decisions were made.Most doctors reported maintaining patient confidentiality regarding privacy and informed consent.Approximately 50%of clinicians reported a moderate influence of clinical work,with many citing it as one of the most important factors affecting their health and relationships.Clinicians from developing countries had a significantly higher score for considering a patient's financial status when creating a treatment plan than their counterparts from developed countries.Regarding personal experiences,some respondents noted that treatment plans and preferences changed from wave to wave,and that there was a rapid turnover of studies and evidence.Hospital and government policies also played a role in critical decision-making.Rather than assessing the appropriateness of treatment,some doctors observed that hospital policies regarding medications were driven by patient demand.CONCLUSION Factors other than medical considerations frequently affect management choices.The disparity in treatment choices,became more apparent during the pandemic.We highlight the difficulties and contradictions between moral standards and the realities physicians encountered during this medical emergency.False information,large patient populations,and limited resources caused problems for clinicians.These factors impacted decision-making,which,in turn,affected patient care and healthcare staff well-being.

Voices that matter:The impact of patient-reported outcome measures on clinical decision-making

The critical role of patient-reported outcome measures(PROMs)in enhancing clinical decision-making and promoting patient-centered care has gained a profound significance in scientific research.PROMs encapsulate a patient's health status directly from their perspective,encompassing various domains such as symptom severity,functional status,and overall quality of life.By integrating PROMs into routine clinical practice and research,healthcare providers can achieve a more nuanced understanding of patient experiences and tailor treatments accordingly.The deployment of PROMs supports dynamic patient-provider interactions,fostering better patient engagement and adherence to tre-atment plans.Moreover,PROMs are pivotal in clinical settings for monitoring disease progression and treatment efficacy,particularly in chronic and mental health conditions.However,challenges in implementing PROMs include data collection and management,integration into existing health systems,and acceptance by patients and providers.Overcoming these barriers necessitates technological advancements,policy development,and continuous education to enhance the acceptability and effectiveness of PROMs.The paper concludes with recommendations for future research and policy-making aimed at optimizing the use and impact of PROMs across healthcare settings.

UAV maneuvering decision-making algorithm based on deep reinforcement learning under the guidance of expert experience

Autonomous umanned aerial vehicle(UAV) manipulation is necessary for the defense department to execute tactical missions given by commanders in the future unmanned battlefield. A large amount of research has been devoted to improving the autonomous decision-making ability of UAV in an interactive environment, where finding the optimal maneuvering decisionmaking policy became one of the key issues for enabling the intelligence of UAV. In this paper, we propose a maneuvering decision-making algorithm for autonomous air-delivery based on deep reinforcement learning under the guidance of expert experience. Specifically, we refine the guidance towards area and guidance towards specific point tasks for the air-delivery process based on the traditional air-to-surface fire control methods.Moreover, we construct the UAV maneuvering decision-making model based on Markov decision processes(MDPs). Specifically, we present a reward shaping method for the guidance towards area and guidance towards specific point tasks using potential-based function and expert-guided advice. The proposed algorithm could accelerate the convergence of the maneuvering decision-making policy and increase the stability of the policy in terms of the output during the later stage of training process. The effectiveness of the proposed maneuvering decision-making policy is illustrated by the curves of training parameters and extensive experimental results for testing the trained policy.

Experimental analysis of decision-making for demand chasing in order behaviors

The traditional newsvendor model assumes that a decision-maker is risk-neutral. However, in actuality, a decisionmaker's order behavior is often influenced by waste-averse preference and stockout-averse preference. We extend the newsvendor model with consideration of averse preferences to investigate how the decision results of the previous period impact the order behavior of the current period, and design an inventory decision-making behavior experiment. Results from the study demonstrate that the order behavior of both a group and an individual exhibits a demand chasing phenomenon, and the former is more significant. Through the interval estimation of the decision maker's order quantity, by the maximum likelihood method we find that the stockout-averse preference has an effect on the decision-making when the prior period is insufficient, causing the current period order quantity larger than the expected profit-maximizing order quantity. In a similar way, waste-averse preference has an effect on decision-making when the prior period is surplus, resulting in the current period order quantity smaller than the expected profit-maximizing order quantity. Finally, we investigate the formation mechanism of demand chasing phenomenon from the perspective of the averse preferences, and propose that this phenomenon is a decision maker's cognitive reaction to stochastic demand environment.

Computational Experiments for Complex Social Systems:Experiment Design and Generative Explanation

Powered by advanced information technology,more and more complex systems are exhibiting characteristics of the cyber-physical-social systems(CPSS).In this context,computational experiments method has emerged as a novel approach for the design,analysis,management,control,and integration of CPSS,which can realize the causal analysis of complex systems by means of“algorithmization”of“counterfactuals”.However,because CPSS involve human and social factors(e.g.,autonomy,initiative,and sociality),it is difficult for traditional design of experiment(DOE)methods to achieve the generative explanation of system emergence.To address this challenge,this paper proposes an integrated approach to the design of computational experiments,incorporating three key modules:1)Descriptive module:Determining the influencing factors and response variables of the system by means of the modeling of an artificial society;2)Interpretative module:Selecting factorial experimental design solution to identify the relationship between influencing factors and macro phenomena;3)Predictive module:Building a meta-model that is equivalent to artificial society to explore its operating laws.Finally,a case study of crowd-sourcing platforms is presented to illustrate the application process and effectiveness of the proposed approach,which can reveal the social impact of algorithmic behavior on“rider race”.

Evolutionary Decision-Making and Planning for Autonomous Driving Based on Safe and Rational Exploration and Exploitation

Decision-making and motion planning are extremely important in autonomous driving to ensure safe driving in a real-world environment.This study proposes an online evolutionary decision-making and motion planning framework for autonomous driving based on a hybrid data-and model-driven method.First,a data-driven decision-making module based on deep reinforcement learning(DRL)is developed to pursue a rational driving performance as much as possible.Then,model predictive control(MPC)is employed to execute both longitudinal and lateral motion planning tasks.Multiple constraints are defined according to the vehicle’s physical limit to meet the driving task requirements.Finally,two principles of safety and rationality for the self-evolution of autonomous driving are proposed.A motion envelope is established and embedded into a rational exploration and exploitation scheme,which filters out unreasonable experiences by masking unsafe actions so as to collect high-quality training data for the DRL agent.Experiments with a high-fidelity vehicle model and MATLAB/Simulink co-simulation environment are conducted,and the results show that the proposed online-evolution framework is able to generate safer,more rational,and more efficient driving action in a real-world environment.

Network pharmacology study and in vitro experimental validation of Xiaojianzhong decoction against gastric cancer

BACKGROUND Cancer is one of the most serious threats to human health worldwide.Conventional treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy are associated with some drawbacks.In recent years,traditional Chinese medicine treatment has been increasingly advocated by patients and attracted attention from clinicians,and has become an indispensable part of the comprehensive treatment for gastric cancer.AIM To investigate the mechanism of Xiaojianzhong decoction(XJZ)in the treatment of gastric cancer(GC)by utilizing network pharmacology and experimental validation,so as to provide a theoretical basis for later experimental research.METHODS We analyzed the mechanism and targets of XJZ in the treatment of GC through network pharmacology and bioinformatics.Subsequently,we verified the impact of XJZ treatment on the proliferative ability of GC cells through CCK-8,apoptosis,cell cycle,and clone formation assays.Additionally,we performed Western blot analysis and real-time quantitative PCR to assess the protein and mRNA expression of the core proteins.RESULTS XJZ mainly regulates IL6,PTGS2,CCL2,MMP9,MMP2,HMOX1,and other target genes and pathways in cancer to treat GC.The inhibition of cell viability,the increase of apoptosis,the blockage of the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase,and the inhibition of the ability of cell clone formation were observed in AGS and HGC-27 cells after XJZ treatment.In addition,XJZ induced a decrease in the mRNA expression of IL6,PTGS2,MMP9,MMP2,and CCL2,and an increase in the mRNA expression of HOMX1.XJZ significantly inhibited the expression of IL6,PTGS2,MMP9,MMP2,and CCL2 proteins and promoted the expression of the heme oxygenase-1 protein.CONCLUSION XJZ exerts therapeutic effects against GC through multiple components,multiple targets,and multiple pathways.Our findings provide a new idea and scientific basis for further research on the molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of XJZ in the treatment of GC.

Predicting the probability distribution of Martian rocks mechanical property based on microscale rock mechanical experiments and accurate grain-based modeling

The exploration of Mars would heavily rely on Martian rocks mechanics and engineering technology.As the mechanical property of Martian rocks is uncertain,it is of utmost importance to predict the probability distribution of Martian rocks mechanical property for the success of Mars exploration.In this paper,a fast and accurate probability distribution method for predicting the macroscale elastic modulus of Martian rocks was proposed by integrating the microscale rock mechanical experiments(micro-RME),accurate grain-based modeling(AGBM)and upscaling methods based on reliability principles.Firstly,the microstructure of NWA12564 Martian sample and elastic modulus of each mineral were obtained by micro-RME with TESCAN integrated mineral analyzer(TIMA)and nanoindentation.The best probability distribution function of the minerals was determined by Kolmogorov-Smirnov(K-S)test.Secondly,based on best distribution function of each mineral,the Monte Carlo simulations(MCS)and upscaling methods were implemented to obtain the probability distribution of upscaled elastic modulus.Thirdly,the correlation between the upscaled elastic modulus and macroscale elastic modulus obtained by AGBM was established.The accurate probability distribution of the macroscale elastic modulus was obtained by this correlation relationship.The proposed method can predict the probability distribution of Martian rocks mechanical property with any size and shape samples.

Experimental and simulation research on hollow AZ31 magnesium alloy three-channel joint by hot extrusion forming with sand mandrel

Magnesium alloy is one of the lightest metal structural materials.The weight is further reduced through the hollow structure.However,the hollow structure is easily damaged during processing.In order to maintain the hollow structure and to transfer the stresses during the high temperature deformation,the sand mandrel is proposed.In this paper,the hollow AZ31 magnesium alloy three-channel joint is studied by hot extrusion forming.Sand as one of solid granule medium is used to fill the hollow magnesium alloy.The extrusion temperatures are 230℃ and 300℃,respectively.The process parameters(die angle,temperature,bottom thickness,sidewall thickness,edge-to-middle ratio in bottom,bottom shape)of the hollow magnesium alloy are analyzed based on the results of experiments and the finite element method.The results are shown that the formability of the hollow magnesium alloy will be much better when the ratio of sidewall thickness to the bottom thickness is 1:1.5.Also when edge-to-middle ratio in bottom is about 1:1.5,a better forming product can be received.The best bottom shape in these experiments will be convex based on the forming results.The grain will be refined obviously after the extrusion.Also the microstructures will be shown as streamlines.And these lines will be well agreement with the mold in the corner.

Design and analysis of an advanced thermal management system for the solar close observations and proximity experiments spacecraft

In this paper,the mission and the thermal environment of the Solar Close Observations and Proximity Experiments(SCOPE)spacecraft are analyzed,and an advanced thermal management system(ATMS)is designed for it.The relationship and functions of the integrated database,the intelligent thermal control system and the efficient liquid cooling system in the ATMS are elaborated upon.For the complex thermal field regulation system and extreme space thermal environment,a modular simulation and thermal field planning method are proposed,and the feasibility of the planning algorithm is verified by numerical simulation.A solar array liquid cooling system is developed,and the system simulation results indicate that the temperatures of the solar arrays meet the requirements as the spacecraft flies by perihelion and aphelion.The advanced thermal management study supports the development of the SCOPE program and provides a reference for the thermal management in other deep-space exploration programs.

Toward Trustworthy Decision-Making for Autonomous Vehicles:A Robust Reinforcement Learning Approach with Safety Guarantees

While autonomous vehicles are vital components of intelligent transportation systems,ensuring the trustworthiness of decision-making remains a substantial challenge in realizing autonomous driving.Therefore,we present a novel robust reinforcement learning approach with safety guarantees to attain trustworthy decision-making for autonomous vehicles.The proposed technique ensures decision trustworthiness in terms of policy robustness and collision safety.Specifically,an adversary model is learned online to simulate the worst-case uncertainty by approximating the optimal adversarial perturbations on the observed states and environmental dynamics.In addition,an adversarial robust actor-critic algorithm is developed to enable the agent to learn robust policies against perturbations in observations and dynamics.Moreover,we devise a safety mask to guarantee the collision safety of the autonomous driving agent during both the training and testing processes using an interpretable knowledge model known as the Responsibility-Sensitive Safety Model.Finally,the proposed approach is evaluated through both simulations and experiments.These results indicate that the autonomous driving agent can make trustworthy decisions and drastically reduce the number of collisions through robust safety policies.

Orientation and Decision-Making for Soccer Based on Sports Analytics and AI:A Systematic Review

Due to ever-growing soccer data collection approaches and progressing artificial intelligence(AI) methods, soccer analysis, evaluation, and decision-making have received increasing interest from not only the professional sports analytics realm but also the academic AI research community. AI brings gamechanging approaches for soccer analytics where soccer has been a typical benchmark for AI research. The combination has been an emerging topic. In this paper, soccer match analytics are taken as a complete observation-orientation-decision-action(OODA) loop.In addition, as in AI frameworks such as that for reinforcement learning, interacting with a virtual environment enables an evolving model. Therefore, both soccer analytics in the real world and virtual domains are discussed. With the intersection of the OODA loop and the real-virtual domains, available soccer data, including event and tracking data, and diverse orientation and decisionmaking models for both real-world and virtual soccer matches are comprehensively reviewed. Finally, some promising directions in this interdisciplinary area are pointed out. It is claimed that paradigms for both professional sports analytics and AI research could be combined. Moreover, it is quite promising to bridge the gap between the real and virtual domains for soccer match analysis and decision-making.

Ethical Decision-Making Framework Based on Incremental ILP Considering Conflicts

Humans are experiencing the inclusion of artificial agents in their lives,such as unmanned vehicles,service robots,voice assistants,and intelligent medical care.If the artificial agents cannot align with social values or make ethical decisions,they may not meet the expectations of humans.Traditionally,an ethical decision-making framework is constructed by rule-based or statistical approaches.In this paper,we propose an ethical decision-making framework based on incremental ILP(Inductive Logic Programming),which can overcome the brittleness of rule-based approaches and little interpretability of statistical approaches.As the current incremental ILP makes it difficult to solve conflicts,we propose a novel ethical decision-making framework considering conflicts in this paper,which adopts our proposed incremental ILP system.The framework consists of two processes:the learning process and the deduction process.The first process records bottom clauses with their score functions and learns rules guided by the entailment and the score function.The second process obtains an ethical decision based on the rules.In an ethical scenario about chatbots for teenagers’mental health,we verify that our framework can learn ethical rules and make ethical decisions.Besides,we extract incremental ILP from the framework and compare it with the state-of-the-art ILP systems based on ASP(Answer Set Programming)focusing on conflict resolution.The results of comparisons show that our proposed system can generate better-quality rules than most other systems.

Research on decision-making behavior of multi-agent alliance in cross-border electricity market environment: an evolutionary game

Constructing a cross-border power energy system with multiagent power energy as an alliance is important for studying cross-border power-trading markets.This study considers multiple neighboring countries in the form of alliances,introduces neighboring countries’exchange rates into the cross-border multi-agent power-trading market and proposes a method to study each agent’s dynamic decision-making behavior based on evolutionary game theory.To this end,this study uses three national agents as examples,constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model,and analyzes the evolution process of the decision-making behavior of each agent member state under the initial willingness value,cost of payment,and additional revenue of the alliance.This research helps realize cross-border energy operations so that the transaction agent can achieve greater trade profits and provides a theoretical basis for cooperation and stability between multiple agents.

Stroke Risk Assessment Decision-Making Using a Machine Learning Model:Logistic-AdaBoost

Stroke is a chronic cerebrovascular disease that carries a high risk.Stroke risk assessment is of great significance in preventing,reversing and reducing the spread and the health hazards caused by stroke.Aiming to objectively predict and identify strokes,this paper proposes a new stroke risk assessment decision-making model named Logistic-AdaBoost(Logistic-AB)based on machine learning.First,the categorical boosting(CatBoost)method is used to perform feature selection for all features of stroke,and 8 main features are selected to form a new index evaluation system to predict the risk of stroke.Second,the borderline synthetic minority oversampling technique(SMOTE)algorithm is applied to transform the unbalanced stroke dataset into a balanced dataset.Finally,the stroke risk assessment decision-makingmodel Logistic-AB is constructed,and the overall prediction performance of this new model is evaluated by comparing it with ten other similar models.The comparison results show that the new model proposed in this paper performs better than the two single algorithms(logistic regression and AdaBoost)on the four indicators of recall,precision,F1 score,and accuracy,and the overall performance of the proposed model is better than that of common machine learning algorithms.The Logistic-AB model presented in this paper can more accurately predict patients’stroke risk.

Mechanical heterogeneity characterization of coal materials based on nano-indentation experiments

To investigate the complex macro-mechanical properties of coal from a micro-mechanical perspective,we have conducted a series of micro-mechanical experiments on coal using a nano-indentation instrument.These experiments were conducted under both dynamic and static loading conditions,allowing us to gather the micro-mechanical parameters of coal for further analysis of its micro-mechanical heterogeneity using the box counting statistical method and the Weibull model.The research findings indicate that the load–displacement curves of the coal mass under the two different loading modes exhibit noticeable discreteness.This can be attributed to the stress concentration phenomenon caused by variations in the mechanical properties of the micro-units during the loading process of the coal mass.Consequently,there are significant fluctuations in the micro-mechanical parameters of the coal mass.Moreover,the mechanical heterogeneity of the coal at the nanoscale was confirmed based on the calculation results of the standard deviation coefficient and Weibull modulus of the coal body’s micromechanical parameters.These results reveal the influence of microstructural defects and minerals on the uniformity of the stress field distribution within the loaded coal body,as well as on the ductility characteristics of the micro-defect structure.Furthermore,there is a pronounced heterogeneity in the micromechanical parameters.Furthermore,we have established a relationship between the macro and micro elastic modulus of coal by applying the Mori-Tanaka homogenization method.This relationship holds great significance for revealing the micro-mechanical failure mechanism of coal.

Research on Maneuver Decision-Making of Multi-Agent Adversarial Game in a Random Interference Environment

The strategy evolution process of game players is highly uncertain due to random emergent situations and other external disturbances.This paper investigates the issue of strategy interaction and behavioral decision-making among game players in simulated confrontation scenarios within a random interference environment.It considers the possible risks that random disturbances may pose to the autonomous decision-making of game players,as well as the impact of participants’manipulative behaviors on the state changes of the players.A nonlinear mathematical model is established to describe the strategy decision-making process of the participants in this scenario.Subsequently,the strategy selection interaction relationship,strategy evolution stability,and dynamic decision-making process of the game players are investigated and verified by simulation experiments.The results show that maneuver-related parameters and random environmental interference factors have different effects on the selection and evolutionary speed of the agent’s strategies.Especially in a highly uncertain environment,even small information asymmetry or miscalculation may have a significant impact on decision-making.This also confirms the feasibility and effectiveness of the method proposed in the paper,which can better explain the behavioral decision-making process of the agent in the interaction process.This study provides feasibility analysis ideas and theoretical references for improving multi-agent interactive decision-making and the interpretability of the game system model.

From the perspective of experimental practice: High-throughput computational screening in photocatalysis

Photocatalysis,a critical strategy for harvesting sunlight to address energy demand and environmental concerns,is underpinned by the discovery of high-performance photocatalysts,thereby how to design photocatalysts is now generating widespread interest in boosting the conversion effi-ciency of solar energy.In the past decade,computational technologies and theoretical simulations have led to a major leap in the development of high-throughput computational screening strategies for novel high-efficiency photocatalysts.In this viewpoint,we started with introducing the challenges of photocatalysis from the view of experimental practice,especially the inefficiency of the traditional“trial and error”method.Sub-sequently,a cross-sectional comparison between experimental and high-throughput computational screening for photocatalysis is presented and discussed in detail.On the basis of the current experimental progress in photocatalysis,we also exemplified the various challenges associated with high-throughput computational screening strategies.Finally,we offered a preferred high-throughput computational screening procedure for pho-tocatalysts from an experimental practice perspective(model construction and screening,standardized experiments,assessment and revision),with the aim of a better correlation of high-throughput simulations and experimental practices,motivating to search for better descriptors.