The Determination Method of Product Engineering Features Based on Linguistic Variables

To overcome the problem of imprecise and unclear information in the development of quality functions,a method for determining the priority of engineering features based on mixed linguistic variables is proposed.First,the evaluation member uses the determined linguistic variable to give the correlation strength evaluation matrix of customer requirements and engineering features.Secondly,the relative importance of the evaluation member and customer requirements are aggregated.Finally,the priority of engineering features is obtained by calculating the deviation.The feasibility and practicability of this method are proven by taking the design of a new product of a long bag low-pressure pulse dust collector as an example.

Multiple attribute decision making method based on trapezoid fuzzy linguistic variables

The problem of multiple attribute decision making under fuzzy linguistic environments, in which decision makers can only provide their preferences （attribute values）in the form of trapezoid fuzzy linguistic variables（TFLV）, is studied. The formula of the degree of possibility between two TFLVs is defined, and some of its characteristics are studied. Based on the degree of possibility of fuzzy linguistic variables, an approach to ranking the decision alternatives in multiple attribute decision making with TFLV is developed. The trapezoid fuzzy linguistic weighted averaging （TFLWA） operator method is utilized to aggregate the decision information, and then all the alternatives are ranked by comparing the degree of possibility of TFLV. The method can carry out linguistic computation processes easily without loss of linguistic information, and thus makes the decision results reasonable and effective. Finally, the implementation process of the proposed method is illustrated and analyzed by a practical example.

Multi-attribute group decision making method under 2-dimension uncertain linguistic variables

A method is proposed to deal with the uncertain multiple attribute group decision making problems,where 2-dimension uncertain linguistic variables(2DULVs)are used as the reliable way for the experts to express their fuzzy subjective evaluation information.Firstly,in order to measure the 2DULVs more accurately,a new method is proposed to compare two 2DULVs,called a score function,while a new function is defined to measure the distance between two 2DULVs.Secondly,two optimization models are established to determine the weight of experts and attributes based on the new distance formula and a weighted average operator is used to determine the comprehensive evaluation value of each alternative.Then,a score function is used to determine the ranking of the alternatives.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed method is proved by an illustrated example.

Multiple attribute decision making based on different types of linguistic information

Distance measures between exact linguistic variables and between uncertain linguistic variables are introduced respectively. Based on exact linguistic variables and uncertain linguistic variables, the concepts of positive linguistic ideal solution and negative linguistic ideal solution of attribute values are defined. To rank and select alternatives, based on the distance measures of two types of linguistic variables and the linguistic ideal solutions, a method for multiple attribute decision making with different types of linguistic information is proposed, by which all alternatives can be ranked. The method can carry out linguistic computation processes easily without loss of linguistic information, and thus makes the decision result reasonable and effective. Finally, the implementation process of the proposed method is illustrated and analyzed by a numerical example.

Real Time Study and Related Variables

This paper first, illustrates the advantages of applying real time study to linguistic researches. Second, this paper also compares linguistic variables with linguistic variant; nasality, stronger constraint and weaker constraint have been clearly defined as well.

Multi-attribute decision-making approach dealing with uncertain linguistic assessment information

An approach is presented to deal with a multi-attribute decision-making problem in which the attribute weights are unknown and the attribute values take the form of uncertain linguistic variables. First, a linguistic assessment standard is set up to deal with the uncertain linguistic attributes, and the operation laws of uncertain linguistic variables and the uncertain linguistic weighting average(ULWA)operator are introduced. Then a ranking formula of uncertain linguistic variables based on expectation-variance is proposed. As for the case without weight information, a goal program based on a warp function is constructed to determine the attribute weights, and the ULWA operator is utilized to aggregate the assessment information of uncertain linguistic variables, and the corresponding alternatives are ranked by a formula based on expectation-variance. Finally, a numerical example is given, and the results demonstrate that it is much easier and faster for the ranking method based on expectation-variance when compared to the existing methods.

Linguistic Dimensions of Accentedness,Comprehensibility and Intelligibility:Exploring Listener Effects in American,Moroccan,Turkmen and Chinese Varieties of English

The present study examines accentedness, comprehensibility, and intelligibility of American English, Moroccan English, Turkmen English, and Chinese English, from the perspectives of three groups of listeners: native speakers of English and Chinese speakers of English with or without international experiences. Of the 145 listeners, 38 had face-to-face interviews. These listener groups were asked to listen to the recordings of the four English varieties and fill in a cloze test.Results indicated that the three listener groups differed significantly in rating comprehensibility of American English, Moroccan English and Chinese English but they did not give Turkmen English statistically different ratings;there were no significant differences in accentedness ratings except for Chinese English;and there were significant differences in the intelligibility scores of the four English varieties. In addition, with respect to seven linguistic variables-speed, clarity, intonation,smoothness and fluency, vocal intensity, pause, vocabulary and grammar, there were significant differences in three listener groups’ rating of six variables in American English except the one of“speed”. By contrast, Chinese English received significantly different ratings only in “proper speed”. No differences were found in the ratings for Moroccan English and Turkmen English.Finally, unlike Chinese listeners without international experiences, native listeners and Chinese listeners with international experiences shared some similarities in correlations between the ratings of accentedness and comprehensibility and those of linguistic variables on Moroccan English,Turkmen English, and Chinese English. However, the results for American English from Chinese listeners without international experiences and native listeners seemed to be more alike. Linguistic variables correlating with accentedness and comprehensibility of American English showed a mixed profile. Qualitative data provided more variant elaborations on the pronunciations and language uses of the speakers.

Linguistic Truth Values Lattice Implication Algebras

In order to study uncertainty reasoning and automatic reasoning with linguistic terms, in this paper, the set of basic linguistic truth values and the set of modifiers are defined, according to common sense; partially orderings are defined on them. Based on it, a lattice implication algebra model L18 of linguistic terms is built; furthermore, its some basic properties are discussed.

Fuzzy distances based FMAGDM compromise ratio method and application

An extended compromise ratio method（CRM） based on fuzzy distances is developed to solve fuzzy multi-attribute group decision making problems in which weights of attributes and ratings of alternatives on attributes are expressed with values of linguistic variables parameterized using triangular fuzzy numbers.A compromise solution is determined by introducing the ranking index based on the concept that the chosen alternative should be as close as possible to the positive ideal solution and as far away from the negative ideal solution as possible simultaneously.This proposed method is compared with other existing methods to show its feasibility and effectiveness and illustrated with an example of the military route selection problem as one of the possible applications.

A Statistical Theory of Language Translation Based on Communication Theory

We propose the first statistical theory of language translation based on communication theory. The theory is based on New Testament translations from Greek to Latin and to other 35 modern languages. In a text translated into another language, all linguistic variables do numerically change. To study the chaotic data that emerge, we model any translation as a complex communication channel affected by “noise”, studied according to Communication Theory applied for the first time to this channel. This theory deals with aspects of languages more complex than those currently considered in machine translations. The input language is the “signal”, the output language is a “replica” of the input language, but largely perturbed by noise, indispensable, however, for conveying the meaning of the input language to its readers. We have defined a noise-to-signal power ratio and found that channels are differently affected by translation noise. Communication channels are also characterized by channel capacity. The translation of novels has more constraints than the New Testament translations. We propose a global readability formula for alphabetical languages, not available for most of them, and conclude with a general theory of language translation which shows that direct and reverse channels are not symmetric. The general theory can also be applied to channels of texts belonging to the same language both to study how texts of the same author may have changed over time, or to compare texts of different authors. In conclusion, a common underlying mathematical structure governing human textual/verbal communication channels seems to emerge. Language does not play the only role in translation;this role is shared with reader’s reading ability and short-term memory capacity. Different versions of New Testament within the same language can even seem, mathematically, to belong to different languages. These conclusions are everlasting because valid also for ancient Roman and Greek readers.

A BENCHMARK EXERCISE ON FUZZY SET THEORY BASED EXPERT JUDGEMENT TECHNIQUE

It is sometimes impossible to make a correct decision in a certain engineering task without the help from professional expert judgments. Even though there are different expert opinions available, however, they should be appropriately aggregated to a useful form for making an acceptable engineering decision. This paper proposed a technique which utilizes the fuzzy set theory in the aggregation of expert judgments. In the technique, two main key concepts are employed: linguistic variables and fuzzy numbers. Linguistic variables first represent the relative importance of evaluation criteria under consideration and the degree of confidence on each expert perceived by the decision maker, and then are replaced by suitable triangular fuzzy numbers for arithmetic manipulation. As a benchmark problem, the pressure increment in the containment of Sequoyah nuclear power plant due to reactor vessel breach was estimated to verify and validate the proposed technique.

A Novel Dependent Aggregation Approach for Intuitionistic Uncertain Linguistic Multiple Attribute Group Decision Making

The multiple attribute group decision making problem in which the input arguments take the form of intuitionistic uncertain linguistic information is studied in the paper.Based on the operational principles of intuitionistic uncertain linguistic variables and the concept of the expected value and accuracy function,some new dependent aggregation operators with intuitionistic uncertain linguistic information including the dependent intuitionistic uncertain linguistic ordered weighted average(DIULOWA)operator,the dependent intuitionistic uncertain linguistic ordered weighted geometric(DIULOWG)operator,the generalized dependent intuitionistic uncertain linguistic ordered weighted aggregation(GDIULOWA)operator and so on are developed,in which the associated weights only depend on the aggregated arguments.Also,we study some desirable properties of the aggregation operators.Moreover,the approach of multiple attribute group decision making with intuitionistic uncertain linguistic information based on the developed operators is proposed.Finally,an illustrative numerical example is given to show the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed approaches.

Group Decision-making Models on Determining the Importance Ratings of Technical Characteristics

Determining the importance ratings of technical characteristics is a typical group decision-making process. The linguistic-based approach can effectively manage the imprecise and multi-granularity information i;n quality function deployment and facilitate decision-making in deriving the importance ratings. Based on the linguistic weighted averaging （LWA） operator and the linguistic hybrid averaging （LHA） operator, a practical approach is proposed to first aggregate the individual judgments into a collective value for each technical characteristic under linguistic environment, and then measure the deviation degree of linguistic variables to obtain the importance ratings of technical characteristics. A case study shows the application of the proposed method.

A Dynamic Emergency Decision-Making Method Based on Group Decision Making with Uncertainty Information

In emergency decision making(EDM),it is necessary to generate an effective alternative quickly.Case-based reasoning(CBR)has been applied to EDM;however,choosing the most suitable case from a set of similar cases after case retrieval remains challenging.This study proposes a dynamic method based on case retrieval and group decision making(GDM),called dynamic casebased reasoning group decision making(CBRGDM),for emergency alternative generation.In the proposed method,first,similar historical cases are identified through case similarity measurement.Then,evaluation information provided by group decision makers for similar cases is aggregated based on regret theory,and comprehensive perceived utilities for the similar cases are obtained.Finally,the most suitable historical case is obtained from the case similarities and the comprehensive perceived utilities for similar historical cases.The method is then applied to an example of a gas explosion in a coal company in China.The results show that the proposed method is feasible and effective in EDM.The advantages of the proposed method are verified based on comparisons with existing methods.In particular,dynamic CBRGDM can adjust the emergency alternative according to changing emergencies.The results of application of dynamic CBRGDM to a gas explosion and comparison with existing methods verify its feasibility and practicability.