Fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making method-based operational assessment of Chinese electricity markets

The evaluation of the electricity market is crucial for fostering market construction and development.An accurate assessment of the electricity market reveals developmental trends,identifies operational issues,and contributes to stable and healthy market growth.This study investigated the characteristics of electricity markets in different provinces and synthesized a comprehensive set of evaluation indicators to assess market effectiveness.The evaluation framework,comprising nine indicators organized into two tiers,was constructed based on three aspects:market design,market efficiency,and developmental coordination.Furthermore,a novel fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making evaluation model for electricity market performance was developed based on the Fuzzy-BWM and fuzzy COPRAS methodologies.This model aimed to ensure both accuracy and comprehensiveness in market operation assessment.Subsequently,empirical analyses were conducted on four typical provincial-level electricity markets in China.The results indicate that Guangdong’s electricity market performed best because of its effective balance of stakeholder interests and adherence to contractual integrity principles.Zhejiang and Shandong ranked second and third,respectively,whereas Sichuan exhibited the poorest market performance.Sichuan’s electricity market must be improved in terms of market design,such that market players can obtain a fairly competitive environment.The sensitivity analysis of the constructed indicators verified the effectiveness of the evaluation model proposed in this study.Finally,policy recommendations were proposed to facilitate the sustainable development of China’s electricity markets with the objective of transforming them into efficient and secure markets adaptable to the evolution of novel power systems.

Multi-criteria decision making method based on improved cosine similarity measure with interval neutrosophic sets

Purpose–The fuzziness and complexity of evaluation information are common phenomenon in practical decision-making problem,interval neutrosophic sets(INSs)is a power tool to deal with ambiguous information.Similarity measure plays an important role in judging the degree between ideal and each alternative in decision-making process,the purpose of this paper is to establish a multi-criteria decision-making method based on similarity measure under INSs.Design/methodology/approach–Based on an extension of existing cosine similarity,this paper first introduces an improved cosine similarity measure between interval neutosophic numbers,which considers the degrees of the truth membership,the indeterminacy membership and the falsity membership of the evaluation values.And then a multi-criteria decision-making method is established based on the improved cosine similarity measure,in which the ordered weighted averaging(OWA)is adopted to aggregate the neutrosophic information related to each alternative.Finally,an example on supplier selection is given to illustrate the feasibility and practicality of the presented decision-making method.Findings–In the whole process of research and practice,it was realized that the application field of the proposed similarity measure theory still should be expanded,and the development of interval number theory is one of further research direction.Originality/value–The main contributions of this paper are as follows:this study presents an improved cosine similarity measure under INSs,in which the weights of the three independent components of an interval number are taken into account;OWA are adopted to aggregate the neutrosophic information related to each alternative;and a multi-criteria decision-making method using the proposed similarity is developed under INSs.

Multi-criteria group decision making with fuzzy data:an extension of the VIKOR method

The VIKOR method is a multi-criteria decision making aid, which employs linear normalization to offer compromise solu- tions and has been successfully applied to various group decision making problems. However, the conventional VIKOR techniques used to integrate group judgments and the information loss arising from defuzzification are problematic and distort final outcomes. An improved integration method, which is optimization-based, is proposed. And it can handle fuzzy criteria values and weights. The precondition for accurately defuzzifying triangular fuzzy num- bers is identified. Several effective defuzzification procedures are proposed to improve the extant VIKOR, and a comprehensive evaluation framework is offered to aid multi-criteria group decision making. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the practicability of the proposed method.

Dynamic programming methodology for multi-criteria group decision-making under ordinal preferences

A method of minimizing rankings inconsistency is proposed for a decision-making problem with rankings of alternatives given by multiple decision makers according to multiple criteria. For each criteria, at first, the total inconsistency between the rankings of all alternatives for the group and the ones for every decision maker is defined after the decision maker weights in respect to the criteria are considered. Similarly, the total inconsistency between their final rankings for the group and the ones under every criteria is determined after the criteria weights are taken into account. Then two nonlinear integer programming models minimizing respectively the two total inconsistencies above are developed and then transformed to two dynamic programming models to obtain separately the rankings of all alternatives for the group with respect to each criteria and their final rankings. A supplier selection case illustrated the proposed method, and some discussions on the results verified its effectiveness. This work develops a new measurement of ordinal preferences’ inconsistency in multi-criteria group decision-making （MCGDM） and extends the cook-seiford social selection function to MCGDM considering weights of criteria and decision makers and can obtain unique ranking result.

A multi-criteria decision-making approach for comparing sample preservation and DNA extraction methods from swine feces

Molecular microbiological methods, such as competetive PCR, real-time PCR, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and large-scale parallel-pyrosequencing, require the extraction of sufficient quantity of high quality DNA from microbiologically and chemically complex matrices. Due to difficulties in the field to standardize/select the optimum DNA preservation-extraction methods in view of laboratories differences, this article attempts to present a straight-forward mathematical framework for comparing some of the most commonly used methods. To this end, as a case study, the problem of selecting an optimum sample preservation-DNA extraction strategy for obtaining total bacterial DNA from swine feces was considered. Two sample preservation methods (liquid nitrogen and RNAlater?) and seven extraction techniques were paired and compared under six quantitative DNA analysis criteria: yield of extraction, purity of extracted DNA (A260/280 and A 260/230 ratios), duration of extraction, degradation degree of DNA, and cost. From a practical point of view, it is unlikely that a single sample preservation-DNA extraction strategy can be optimum for all selected criteria. Hence, a systematic multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach was used to compare the methods. As a result, the ZR Fecal DNA MiniPrepTM DNA extraction kit for samples preserved either with liquid nitrogen or RNAlater? were identified as potential optimum solutions for obtaining total bacterial DNA from swine feces. Considering the need for practicality for in situ applications, we would recommend liquid nitrogen as sample preservation method, along with the ZR Fecal DNA MiniPrepTM kit. Total bacterial DNA obtained by this strategy can be suitable for downstream PCR-based DNA analyses of swine feces.

A Comprehensive Overview of the ELECTRE Method in Multi-Criteria Decision-Making

The ELECTRE(ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalite)method has gained widespread recognition as one of the most effective multi-criteria decision-making(MCDM)methods.Its versatility allows it to be applied in a wide range of areas such as engineering,economics,business,environmental management and many others.This paper aims to provide an overview of the ELECTRE method,including its fundamental concepts,applications,advantages,and limitations.At its core,the ELECTRE method is an outranking family of MCDM techniques,which allows for the direct comparison of alternatives based on a set of criteria.The method takes into account the preferences and importance of decision-makers and generates a ranking of the alternatives based on their relative strengths and weaknesses.The ELECTRE method is a powerful tool for decision-making,and its applicability to a wide range of fields demonstrates its versatility and adaptability.By understanding its concepts,applications,merits,and demerits,decision-makers can use the ELECTRE method to make informed and effective decisions in a variety of contexts.

Enabling weakened hedges in linguistic multi-criteria decision making

A semantics-based model is proposed to enable weakened hedges, such as ＂more or less＂ and ＂roughly＂ in the context of linguistic multi-criteria decision making. First, the resemblance relations are defined based on the semantics of terms on the domain. Then, the hedges can be represented after the upper and loose upper approximations of a linguistic term are derived. Accordingly, some compact formulae can be derived for the semantics of linguistic expressions with hedges. Parameters in these formulae are objectively determined according to the semantics of original terms. The proposed model presents a more natural way to express the decision information under uncertainties and its semantics is clear. The proposed model is clarified by solving the problem of evaluation and selection of sustainable innovative energy technologies. Computational results demonstrate that the model can deal with various uncertainties of the problem. Finally, the model is compared with existing techniques and extended to the case when the semantics of terms are represented by trapezoidal fuzzy numbers.

Aggregation operators on intuitionistic trapezoidal fuzzy number and its application to multi-criteria decision making problems

Intuitionistic trapezoidal fuzzy numbers and their operational laws are defined. Based on these operational laws, some aggregation operators, including intuitionistic trapezoidal fuzzy weighted arithmetic averaging operator and weighted geometric averaging operator are proposed. Expected values, score function, and accuracy function of intuitionitsic trapezoidal fuzzy numbers are defined. Based on these, a kind of intuitionistic trapezoidal fuzzy multi-criteria decision making method is proposed. By using these aggregation operators, criteria values are aggregated and integrated intuitionistic trapezoidal fuzzy numbers of alternatives are attained. By comparing score function and accuracy function values of integrated fuzzy numbers, a ranking of the whole alternative set can be attained. An example is given to show the feasibility and availability of the method.

Response surface method using grey relational analysis for decision making in weapon system selection

A proper weapon system is very important for a na- tional defense system. Generally, it means selecting the optimal weapon system among many alternatives, which is a multiple- attribute decision making （MADM） problem. This paper proposes a new mathematical model based on the response surface method （RSM） and the grey relational analysis （GRA）. RSM is used to obtain the experimental points and analyze the factors that have a significant impact on the selection results. GRA is used to an- alyze the trend relationship between alternatives and reference series. And then an RSM model is obtained, which can be used to calculate all alternatives and obtain ranking results. A real world application is introduced to illustrate the utilization of the model for the weapon selection problem. The results show that this model can be used to help decision-makers to make a quick comparison of alternatives and select a proper weapon system from multiple alternatives, which is an effective and adaptable method for solving the weapon system selection problem.

Multi-attributed decision making for mining methods based on grey system and interval numbers

In the case of unknown weights, theories of multi-attributed decision making based on interval numbers and grey related analysis were used to optimize mining methods. As the representative of independence for the indicator, the smaller the correlation of indicators is, the greater the weight is. Hence, the weights of interval numbers of indicators were determined by using correlation coefficient. Relative closeness based on positive and negative ideal methods was calculated by introducing distance between interval numbers, which made decision making more rational and comprehensive. A new method of ranking interval numbers based on normal distribution was proposed for the optimization of mining methods, whose basic properties were discussed. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of this method were verified by theories and practice.

Solution to multiple attribute group decision making problems with two decision makers

A kind of multiple attribute group decision making （MAGDM） problem is discussed from the perspective of statistic decision-making. Firstly, on the basis of the stability theory, a new idea is proposed to solve this kind of problem. Secondly, a con- crete method corresponding to this kind of problem is proposed. The main tool of our research is the technique o~ the jackknife method. The main advantage of the new method is that it can identify and determine the reliability degree of the existed decision making information. Finally, a traffic engineering example is given to show the effectiveness of the new method.

Multi-criteria linguistic interval group decision-making approach

For group decision-making problems with linguistic assessment information, a new method based on two-tuple and WC-OWA operator is proposed, in which the criteria＇s weights and the decision-makers＇ preference information might take the form of linguistic grade, or might be between two continuous linguistic grades, or might be linguistic interval, or might be default. In this method, all linguistic values are transformed into two-tuple, and an aggregative decision-making matrix is obtained by using interval operation. The group aggregative values of each criterion on alternatives are computed by using a WC-OWA operator, the aggregative values on alternatives are worked out, and transformed into two-tuple. And the rank of the alternatives is obtained by using the order property of two-tuple. An example shows the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Maximizing deviation method for multiple attribute decision making under q-rung orthopair fuzzy environment

Because of the uncertainty and subjectivity of decision makers in the complex decision-making environment,the evaluation information of alternatives given by decision makers is often fuzzy and uncertain.As a generalization of intuitionistic fuzzy set(IFSs)and Pythagoras fuzzy set(PFSs),q-rung orthopair fuzzy set(q-ROFS)is more suitable for expressing fuzzy and uncertain information.But,in actual multiple attribute decision making(MADM)problems,the weights of DMs and attributes are always completely unknown or partly known,to date,the maximizing deviation method is a good tool to deal with such issues.Thus,combine the q-ROFS and conventional maximizing deviation method,we will study the maximizing deviation method under q-ROFSs and q-RIVOFSs in this paper.Firstly,we briefly introduce the basic concept of q-rung orthopair fuzzy sets(q-ROFSs)and q-rung interval-valued orthopair fuzzy sets(q-RIVOFSs).Then,combine the maximizing deviation method with q-rung orthopair fuzzy information,we establish two new decision making models.On this basis,the proposed models are applied to MADM problems with q-rung orthopair fuzzy information.Compared with existing methods,the effectiveness and superiority of the new model are analyzed.This method can effectively solve the MADM problem whose decision information is represented by q-rung orthopair fuzzy numbers(q-ROFNs)and whose attributes are incomplete.

Kind of Fuzzy Method Determining Index Weight on Multi-Objctive Decision Making

Based on fuzzy characteristic of dicision-making thought, matrix of priority relation has been introduced and blurrized. A kind of fuzzy method, which is to determine the index weight on multi-objective decision making, has been put forward by means of the sequence root method for analysis of hierarchical process (AHP). Using this method an example which is to define the index weigbt on multi-objective decision making in thc scheme optimization of mine design has been given.

A Simple Additive Weighting Method for Time-SeriesMultiindices Decision Making and Its Applications

This paper takes the evaluation of overall economic benefit by an example and proposes a simple additive weighting method for time-series multiindices decision making. The method can automatically determine the weight coefficients among the multiindices and the years respectively and it also can obtain the objective evaluation results and conclusions.

Prospect Theory Based Hesitant Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making for Low Sulphur Fuel of Maritime Transportation

The environmental impact of maritime transport has now become a relevant issue in sustainable policy formulation and has attracted increasing interest from academia.For the sustainable development of maritime transport,International Maritime Organization stipulates that the sulfur content of ship emissions will reach 0.5 from 2020.With the approaching of the stipulated implementation date,shipowners need to adopt scientific methods to make decision on low sulfur fuel.In this study,we applied a prospect theory based hesitant fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making model to obtain the optimal decision of low Sulphur marine fuel.For this purpose,the hesitant fuzzy decision matrix is established to collect expert opinions,the maximizing deviation method is adopted to determine criteria weights.According to calculate the Euclidean distance from the reference points,we obtain the comprehensive prospect values of alternatives.Lastly,a case study is carried out to illustrate the significance and effectiveness of the proposed methodology.The innovation of this study is that it is the first-time adopting prospect theory and hesitate fuzzy sets to multi-criteria decision making for low Sulphur marine fuel,which provides an effective decision model for shipping companies under Low Sulphur regulations,and can also be extended to other industries.

Factors Affecting Selection of Elective Courses:The Use of Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model

Elective course selection has always been a serious and important decision making process for students in institutions. The aim of this study is to determine weights of factors affecting elective course selection from students' perspective. So as to solve the problem, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based model was used. Factors which affect the elective course selection from students' point of view include five main criteria and 13 sub-criteria which were indicated by students. An online questionnaire containing demographic questions, enabled each student to compare the relative priority of criteria with all of the other criteria. The responses were evaluated via Super Decisions software, and priorities were determined using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). According to the analysis of 40 experts (i.e., graduate students studying in engineering programs), course schedule and teaching staff related factors are the two most important factors affecting the elective course selection. A real- life situation which will help students who are indecisive and hesitates while selecting an elective course was observed. AHP contributes to develop an analytic and comprehensive framework decision making. The method should be considered by faculty member involved in decisions about curriculum update and offering new courses.

A Multi-Criteria Decision Making for the Unrelated Parallel Machines Scheduling Problem

In this paper, we propose a multi-criteria machine-schedules decision making method that can be applied to a produc-tion environment involving several unrelated parallel machines and we will focus on three objectives: minimizing makespan, total flow time, and total number of tardy jobs. The decision making method consists of three phases. In the first phase, a mathematical model of a single machine scheduling problem, of which the objective is a weighted sum of the three objectives, is constructed. Such a model will be repeatedly solved by the CPLEX in the proposed Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing (MOSA) algorithm. In the second phase, the MOSA that integrates job clustering method, job group scheduling method, and job group – machine assignment method, is employed to obtain a set of non-dominated group schedules. During this phase, CPLEX software and the bipartite weighted matching algorithm are used repeatedly as parts of the MOSA algorithm. In the last phase, the technique of data envelopment analysis is applied to determine the most preferable schedule. A practical example is then presented in order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed decision making method.

VIKOR Method-An Effective Compromising Ranking Technique for Decision Making

The VIKOR(VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje)method,which is a multi-criteria decision-making method,is examined in this paper.The VIKOR method,like other MCDM techniques such as the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution(TOPSIS),is widely used to solve complex decision-making problems in various fields such as engineering,management,and finance.This paper provides an overview of the VIKOR method,including its application areas,advantages,and disadvantages.Besides,in this survey paper,the process steps of the VIKOR method are described,including determining the decision matrix,normalizing the matrix,determining the weights of the criteria,calculating the utility and regret values,calculating the VIKOR index,and finally ranking the alternatives.By providing an overview of the VIKOR method and its process steps,this paper aims to provide a better understanding of the method and its potential application in different decision-making contexts.

Selection of Renewable Energy Based on Life Cycle Assessment and Multi-Criteria Decision Making

The development of renewable energy has become an important issue nowadays owing to the growing concerns about global warming and shortage of fossil fuels. The present study proposes an approach that integrates life cycle assessment (LCA), 3E (Energy-Economics-Environment) indicators and multi-criteria analysis (MCA) to evaluate environmental impacts and find the best choice or better choices among various renewable energy development plans. Several alternatives of wind turbines and photovoltaic (PV) systems are considered in the case study since they are found to be more feasible in Taiwan in a preliminary study. By using the proposed approach, the result indicates that the major environmental impacts arising from the development of wind turbines and PV systems in Taiwan are the generation of respiratory inorganics and minerals as well as the consumption of fossil fuels. Based on experts’ opinions, the outcome of multi-criteria analysis suggests that wind turbines have more advantages than PV systems in Taiwan. In particular, among the studied systems, a 2500-kW offshore wind turbine system has the greatest integrated performance, and a 4500-kW onshore wind turbine system comes in second.