Abstract： With the rapid development of assisted reproductive technology, various reproductive disorders have been effectively addressed. Acupuncture-like therapies, including electroacupuncture （EA） and transcutan...Abstract： With the rapid development of assisted reproductive technology, various reproductive disorders have been effectively addressed. Acupuncture-like therapies, including electroacupuncture （EA） and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation （TEAS）, become more popular world-wide. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that EA and TEAS are effective in treating gynecological disorders, especially infertility. This present paper describes how to select acupoints for the treatment of infertility from the view of theories of traditional Chinese medicine and how to determine critical parameters of electric pulses of ENTEAS based on results from animal and clinical studies. It summarizes the principles of clinical application of EA/rEAS in treating various kinds of reproductive disorders, such as polycystic ovary syndrome （PCOS）, pain induced by oocyte retrieval, diminished ovarian reserve, embryo transfer, and oligosperrnia/ asthenospermia. The possible underlying mechanisms mediating the therapeutic effects of EA/TEAS in reproductive medicine are also examined.展开更多
The problem of fixed-time group consensus for second-order multi-agent systems with disturbances is investigated.For cooperative-competitive network,two different control protocols,fixed-time group consensus and fixed...The problem of fixed-time group consensus for second-order multi-agent systems with disturbances is investigated.For cooperative-competitive network,two different control protocols,fixed-time group consensus and fixed-time eventtriggered group consensus,are designed.It is demonstrated that there is no Zeno behavior under the designed eventtriggered control.Meanwhile,it is proved that for an arbitrary initial state of the system,group consensus within the settling time could be obtained under the proposed control protocols by using matrix analysis and graph theory.Finally,a series of numerical examples are propounded to illustrate the performance of the proposed control protocol.展开更多
Reaching consensus within larger social network groups has emerged as a pivotal concern in the digital age of connectivity.This article redefines group consensus as the emergence of collective intelligence resulting f...Reaching consensus within larger social network groups has emerged as a pivotal concern in the digital age of connectivity.This article redefines group consensus as the emergence of collective intelligence resulting from self-organizing actions and interactions of individuals within a social network group.In our exploration of extant research on group consensus,we illuminate two frequently underestimated,yet noteworthy facets:Dynamism and emergence.In contrast to the conventional perspective of consensus as a mere outcome,we perceive it as an ongoing,dynamic process.This process encompasses self-organized communication and interaction among group members,collectively guiding the group towards cognitive convergence and viewpoint integration.Consequently,it is imperative to redirect our focus from the outcomes of group interactions to an examination of the relationships and processes underpinning consensus formation,thus elucidating the mechanisms responsible for the generation of group consensus.The amalgamation of cognitive contexts and accurate simplification of real-world scenarios for simulation and experimental analysis offers a pragmatic operational approach.This study contributes novel theoretical underpinnings and quantitative insights for establishing and sustaining group consensus within the realm of engineering management practices.Concurrently,it holds substantial importance for advancing the broader research landscape pertaining to social consensus.展开更多
To solve the problem of providing the best initial situation for terminal guidance when multiple missiles intercept multiple targets,a group cooperative midcourse guidance law(GCMGL)considering time-to-go is proposed....To solve the problem of providing the best initial situation for terminal guidance when multiple missiles intercept multiple targets,a group cooperative midcourse guidance law(GCMGL)considering time-to-go is proposed.Firstly,a threedimensional(3D)guidance model is established and a cooperative trajectory shaping guidance law is given.Secondly,for estimating the unknown target maneuvering acceleration,an adaptive disturbance observer(ADO)is designed,combining finitetime theory with a radial basis function(RBF)neural network,and the convergence of the estimation error is proven using Lyapunov stability theory.Then,to ensure time-to-go cooperation among missiles within the same group and across different groups,the group consensus protocols of virtual collision point mean and the inter-group cooperative consensus protocol are designed respectively.Based on the group consensus protocols,the virtual collision point cooperative guidance law is given,and the finite-time convergence is proved by Lyapunov stability theory.Simultaneously,combined with trajectory shaping guidance law,virtual collision point cooperative guidance law and the intergroup cooperative consensus protocol,the design of GCMGL considering time-to-go is given.Finally,numerical simulation results show the effectiveness and the superiority of the proposed GCMGL.展开更多
In this paper,a group consensus problem is investigated for multiple networked agents with parametric uncertainties where all the agents are governed by the Euler-Lagrange system with uncertain parameters.In the group...In this paper,a group consensus problem is investigated for multiple networked agents with parametric uncertainties where all the agents are governed by the Euler-Lagrange system with uncertain parameters.In the group consensus problem,the agents asymptotically reach several different states rather than one consistent state.A novel group consensus protocol and a time-varying estimator of the uncertain parameters are proposed for each agent in order to solve the couple-group consensus problem.It is shown that the group consensus is reachable even when the system contains the uncertain parameters.Furthermore,the multi-group consensus is discussed as an extension of the couple-group consensus,and then the group consensus with switching topology is considered.Simulation results are finally provided to validate the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis.展开更多
The issue of stability and group consensus tracking is investigated for the discrete-time heterogeneous networked multi-agent systems with communication constraints(e.g.,time delays and data loss)in this paper.Firstly...The issue of stability and group consensus tracking is investigated for the discrete-time heterogeneous networked multi-agent systems with communication constraints(e.g.,time delays and data loss)in this paper.Firstly,the couple-group consensus tracking control is analyzed theoretically,the communication constraints are compensated by the prediction method,and the factor of leaders is introduced to make the system not lose generality.Secondly,the necessary and sufficient condition is given to ensure the stability of the system and achieve the couple-group consensus tracking control,and relax the topology constraint of in-degrees balance by cooperative-competitive interactions.In addition,the result of couple groups is extended to multiple groups based on the predictive control protocol.Numerical simulations with Matlab show that the proposed networked predictive control can effectively overcome the network constraints,the dynamic performance and control effect are better than the general control without the prediction.展开更多
In this paper,the projective group consensus issue for second order multi-agent systems(MASs)in directed graphs with a dynamic leader is investigated.The proposed projective group consensus with arbitrary parameter in...In this paper,the projective group consensus issue for second order multi-agent systems(MASs)in directed graphs with a dynamic leader is investigated.The proposed projective group consensus with arbitrary parameter includes traditional consensus,reverse group consensus and cluster consensus as its special cases.Novel distributed control protocols are designed to obtain projective group consensus without analyzing signed directed graph as in most current literatures on bipartite consensus problem.On the basis of Lyapunov stability property,algebraic graph and some necessary matrix theory,sufficient conditions for delay and delay-free cases are derived.Finally,simulations of nonlinear chaotic MASs are adopted to testify the theoretical results.展开更多
Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamical group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed topologies.Design/methodology/approach–The tool used in this paper to model the topologies ...Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamical group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed topologies.Design/methodology/approach–The tool used in this paper to model the topologies of multi-agent systems is algebraic graph theory.The matrix theory and stability theory are applied to research the groupconsensusofheterogeneousmulti-agentsystemswithfixedtopologies.TheLaplacetransformand Routh criterion are utilized to analyze the convergence properties of heterogeneous multi-agent systems.Findings–It is discovered that the dynamical group consensus for heterogeneous multi-agent systems with first-order and second-order agents can be achieved under the reasonable hypothesizes.The group consensus condition is only relied on the nonzero eigenvalues of the graph Laplacian matrix.Originality/value–The novelty of this paper is to investigate the dynamical group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with first-order and second-order agents and fixed topologies and obtain a sufficient group consensus condition.展开更多
With the development of big data and social computing,large-scale group decisionmaking(LGDM)is nowmerging with social networks.Using social network analysis(SNA),this study proposes an LGDM consensus model that consid...With the development of big data and social computing,large-scale group decisionmaking(LGDM)is nowmerging with social networks.Using social network analysis(SNA),this study proposes an LGDM consensus model that considers the trust relationship among decisionmakers(DMs).In the process of consensusmeasurement:the social network is constructed according to the social relationship among DMs,and the Louvain method is introduced to classify social networks to form subgroups.In this study,the weights of each decision maker and each subgroup are computed by comprehensive network weights and trust weights.In the process of consensus improvement:A feedback mechanism with four identification and two direction rules is designed to guide the consensus of the improvement process.Based on the trust relationship among DMs,the preferences are modified,and the corresponding social network is updated to accelerate the consensus.Compared with the previous research,the proposedmodel not only allows the subgroups to be reconstructed and updated during the adjustment process,but also improves the accuracy of the adjustment by the feedbackmechanism.Finally,an example analysis is conducted to verify the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed method.Moreover,compared with previous studies,the superiority of the proposed method in solving the LGDM problem is highlighted.展开更多
There exist many two-level group consensus problems with different psychological behaviors of decision makers.To deal with these group consensus problems and reach a stable consensus,based on the principles and method...There exist many two-level group consensus problems with different psychological behaviors of decision makers.To deal with these group consensus problems and reach a stable consensus,based on the principles and methods of grey system,utility theory and group consensus,we use grey utility function to describe and reflect decision makers’opinion preferences in different subgroups and different levels,and then we construct a two-level group consensus method with a moderator,and exploit it to solve the negotiation problems of the natural gas subsidy.展开更多
The aggregation of fuzzy opinions is an important component of group decision analysis with fuzzy information. This paper proposes two new approaches for the assessment of the weights to be associated with fuzzy opini...The aggregation of fuzzy opinions is an important component of group decision analysis with fuzzy information. This paper proposes two new approaches for the assessment of the weights to be associated with fuzzy opinions. These approaches involve,respectively,the minimization of the sum of squared differences between the individual weighted fuzzy opinion and the weighted mean value of all fuzzy opinions,which is called the weighted minimum variance method (WMVM),and the minimax difference of any two adjacent individual weighted fuzzy opinions,which is called the mean value minimax differences method (MVMDM). The two approaches are developed and numerical examples are presented to illustrate their simplicity and effectiveness in aggregating fuzzy opinions.展开更多
Group decision making plays an important role in various fields of management decision and economics. In this paper, we develop two methods for hesitant fuzzy multiple criteria group decision making with group consens...Group decision making plays an important role in various fields of management decision and economics. In this paper, we develop two methods for hesitant fuzzy multiple criteria group decision making with group consensus in which all the experts use hesitant fuzzy decision matrices （HFDMs） to express their preferences. The aim of this paper is to present two novel consensus models applied in different group decision making situations, which are composed of consensus checking processes, consensus-reaching processes, and selection processes. All the experts make their own judgments on each alternative over multiple criteria by hesitant fuzzy sets, and then the aggregation of each hesitant fuzzy set under each criterion is calculated by the aggregation operators. Furthermore, we can calculate the distance between any two aggregations of hesitant fuzzy sets, based on which the deviation between any two experts is yielded. After introducing the consensus measure, we develop two kinds of consensus-reaching procedures and then propose two step-by-step algorithms for hesitant fuzzy multiple criteria group decision making. A numerical example concerning the selection of selling ways about ＇Trade-Ins＇ for Apple Inc. is provided to illustrate and verify the developed approaches. In this example, the methods which aim to reach a high consensus of all the experts before the selection process can avoid some experts＇ preference values being too high or too low. After modifying the previous preference information by using our consensus measures, the result of the selection process is much more reasonable.展开更多
Purpose:The purpose of this paper is to propose a consensus method for multi-attribute group decisionmaking(MAGDM)problems based on preference-approval structure and regret theory,which can improve the efficiency of d...Purpose:The purpose of this paper is to propose a consensus method for multi-attribute group decisionmaking(MAGDM)problems based on preference-approval structure and regret theory,which can improve the efficiency of decision-making and promote the consensus level among individuals.Design/methodology/approach:First,a new method to obtain the reference points based on regret theory and expert weighting method is proposed.Second,a consensus reaching method based on preference-approval structure is proposed.Then,an adjustment mechanism to further improve the consensus level between individuals is designed.Finally,an example of the assessment of elderly care institutions is used to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.Findings:The feasibility and validity of the proposed method are verified by comparing with the advanced two-stage minimum adjustment method.The compared results show that the proposed method is more consistent with the actual situation.Research limitations/implications:This paper presents a consensus reaching method for MAGDM based on preference-approval structure,which considers the avoidance behaviors of individuals and reference points.Decision makers(DMs)can use this approach to rank and categorize alternatives while further increasing the level of consensus among them.This can further help determine the optimal alternative more efficiently.Originality/value:A new MAGDM problem based on the combination of regret theory and individual reference points is proposed.Besides,a new method of obtaining experts’weights and a consensus reaching method for MAGDM based on preference-approval structure are designed.展开更多
In this article, a new method for aggregating fuzzy individual opinions into a group consensus opinion is proposed. To obtain the aggregation weights of each individual opinion, a consistency index of each expert with...In this article, a new method for aggregating fuzzy individual opinions into a group consensus opinion is proposed. To obtain the aggregation weights of each individual opinion, a consistency index of each expert with the other experts is introduced based on similarity and distance. The importance of each expert is also taken into consideration in the process of aggregation. Finally, a numerical example is presented to illustrate the efficiency of the procedure.展开更多
Quality function deployment(QFD)is an effective method that helps companies analyze customer requirements(CRs).These CRs are then turned into product or service characteristics,which are translated to other attributes...Quality function deployment(QFD)is an effective method that helps companies analyze customer requirements(CRs).These CRs are then turned into product or service characteristics,which are translated to other attributes.With the QFD method,companies could design or improve the quality of products or services close to CRs.To increase the effectiveness of QFD,we propose an improved method based on Pythagorean fuzzy sets(PFSs).We apply an extended method to obtain the group consensus evaluation matrix.We then use a combined weight determining method to integrate former weights to objective weights derived from the evaluation matrix.To determine the exact score of each PFS in the evaluation matrix,we develop an improved score function.Lastly,we apply the proposed method to a case study on assembly robot design evaluation.展开更多
基金Project supported by the Special Research Fund for the Public Welfare Industry of Health of China(No.201302013)
文摘Abstract： With the rapid development of assisted reproductive technology, various reproductive disorders have been effectively addressed. Acupuncture-like therapies, including electroacupuncture （EA） and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation （TEAS）, become more popular world-wide. Increasing evidence has demonstrated that EA and TEAS are effective in treating gynecological disorders, especially infertility. This present paper describes how to select acupoints for the treatment of infertility from the view of theories of traditional Chinese medicine and how to determine critical parameters of electric pulses of ENTEAS based on results from animal and clinical studies. It summarizes the principles of clinical application of EA/rEAS in treating various kinds of reproductive disorders, such as polycystic ovary syndrome （PCOS）, pain induced by oocyte retrieval, diminished ovarian reserve, embryo transfer, and oligosperrnia/ asthenospermia. The possible underlying mechanisms mediating the therapeutic effects of EA/TEAS in reproductive medicine are also examined.
基金Project supported by the Graduate Student Research Innovation Project of Chongqing(Grant No.CYS22482)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.61773082)+1 种基金the Science and Technology Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission(Grant No.KJZD-K202000601)the Research Program of Chongqing Talent,China(Grant No.cstc2021ycjhbgzxm0044).
文摘The problem of fixed-time group consensus for second-order multi-agent systems with disturbances is investigated.For cooperative-competitive network,two different control protocols,fixed-time group consensus and fixed-time eventtriggered group consensus,are designed.It is demonstrated that there is no Zeno behavior under the designed eventtriggered control.Meanwhile,it is proved that for an arbitrary initial state of the system,group consensus within the settling time could be obtained under the proposed control protocols by using matrix analysis and graph theory.Finally,a series of numerical examples are propounded to illustrate the performance of the proposed control protocol.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.72371224)Major Project of the National Social Science Fund of China(Grant No.19ZDA324)Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
文摘Reaching consensus within larger social network groups has emerged as a pivotal concern in the digital age of connectivity.This article redefines group consensus as the emergence of collective intelligence resulting from self-organizing actions and interactions of individuals within a social network group.In our exploration of extant research on group consensus,we illuminate two frequently underestimated,yet noteworthy facets:Dynamism and emergence.In contrast to the conventional perspective of consensus as a mere outcome,we perceive it as an ongoing,dynamic process.This process encompasses self-organized communication and interaction among group members,collectively guiding the group towards cognitive convergence and viewpoint integration.Consequently,it is imperative to redirect our focus from the outcomes of group interactions to an examination of the relationships and processes underpinning consensus formation,thus elucidating the mechanisms responsible for the generation of group consensus.The amalgamation of cognitive contexts and accurate simplification of real-world scenarios for simulation and experimental analysis offers a pragmatic operational approach.This study contributes novel theoretical underpinnings and quantitative insights for establishing and sustaining group consensus within the realm of engineering management practices.Concurrently,it holds substantial importance for advancing the broader research landscape pertaining to social consensus.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62003264).
文摘To solve the problem of providing the best initial situation for terminal guidance when multiple missiles intercept multiple targets,a group cooperative midcourse guidance law(GCMGL)considering time-to-go is proposed.Firstly,a threedimensional(3D)guidance model is established and a cooperative trajectory shaping guidance law is given.Secondly,for estimating the unknown target maneuvering acceleration,an adaptive disturbance observer(ADO)is designed,combining finitetime theory with a radial basis function(RBF)neural network,and the convergence of the estimation error is proven using Lyapunov stability theory.Then,to ensure time-to-go cooperation among missiles within the same group and across different groups,the group consensus protocols of virtual collision point mean and the inter-group cooperative consensus protocol are designed respectively.Based on the group consensus protocols,the virtual collision point cooperative guidance law is given,and the finite-time convergence is proved by Lyapunov stability theory.Simultaneously,combined with trajectory shaping guidance law,virtual collision point cooperative guidance law and the intergroup cooperative consensus protocol,the design of GCMGL considering time-to-go is given.Finally,numerical simulation results show the effectiveness and the superiority of the proposed GCMGL.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos.60974017.61273212,61322302,61104145,and 61004097Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No.LQ14F030011+2 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China under Grant No.BK2011581the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China under Grant No.20110092120024the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China
文摘In this paper,a group consensus problem is investigated for multiple networked agents with parametric uncertainties where all the agents are governed by the Euler-Lagrange system with uncertain parameters.In the group consensus problem,the agents asymptotically reach several different states rather than one consistent state.A novel group consensus protocol and a time-varying estimator of the uncertain parameters are proposed for each agent in order to solve the couple-group consensus problem.It is shown that the group consensus is reachable even when the system contains the uncertain parameters.Furthermore,the multi-group consensus is discussed as an extension of the couple-group consensus,and then the group consensus with switching topology is considered.Simulation results are finally provided to validate the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis.
基金supported by Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of China under Grant No.LH2022F033the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos.61903104,61773144 and 12071102Heilongjiang Postdoctoral Scientific Research Developmental Fund under Grant Nos.LBHQ20099 and LBH-Q20168。
文摘The issue of stability and group consensus tracking is investigated for the discrete-time heterogeneous networked multi-agent systems with communication constraints(e.g.,time delays and data loss)in this paper.Firstly,the couple-group consensus tracking control is analyzed theoretically,the communication constraints are compensated by the prediction method,and the factor of leaders is introduced to make the system not lose generality.Secondly,the necessary and sufficient condition is given to ensure the stability of the system and achieve the couple-group consensus tracking control,and relax the topology constraint of in-degrees balance by cooperative-competitive interactions.In addition,the result of couple groups is extended to multiple groups based on the predictive control protocol.Numerical simulations with Matlab show that the proposed networked predictive control can effectively overcome the network constraints,the dynamic performance and control effect are better than the general control without the prediction.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos.61807016 and 61772013the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province under Grant Nos.BK20181342 and BK20171142。
文摘In this paper,the projective group consensus issue for second order multi-agent systems(MASs)in directed graphs with a dynamic leader is investigated.The proposed projective group consensus with arbitrary parameter includes traditional consensus,reverse group consensus and cluster consensus as its special cases.Novel distributed control protocols are designed to obtain projective group consensus without analyzing signed directed graph as in most current literatures on bipartite consensus problem.On the basis of Lyapunov stability property,algebraic graph and some necessary matrix theory,sufficient conditions for delay and delay-free cases are derived.Finally,simulations of nonlinear chaotic MASs are adopted to testify the theoretical results.
文摘Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamical group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed topologies.Design/methodology/approach–The tool used in this paper to model the topologies of multi-agent systems is algebraic graph theory.The matrix theory and stability theory are applied to research the groupconsensusofheterogeneousmulti-agentsystemswithfixedtopologies.TheLaplacetransformand Routh criterion are utilized to analyze the convergence properties of heterogeneous multi-agent systems.Findings–It is discovered that the dynamical group consensus for heterogeneous multi-agent systems with first-order and second-order agents can be achieved under the reasonable hypothesizes.The group consensus condition is only relied on the nonzero eigenvalues of the graph Laplacian matrix.Originality/value–The novelty of this paper is to investigate the dynamical group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with first-order and second-order agents and fixed topologies and obtain a sufficient group consensus condition.
基金The work was supported by Humanities and Social Sciences Fund of the Ministry of Education(No.22YJA630119)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.71971051)Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province(No.G2021501004).
文摘With the development of big data and social computing,large-scale group decisionmaking(LGDM)is nowmerging with social networks.Using social network analysis(SNA),this study proposes an LGDM consensus model that considers the trust relationship among decisionmakers(DMs).In the process of consensusmeasurement:the social network is constructed according to the social relationship among DMs,and the Louvain method is introduced to classify social networks to form subgroups.In this study,the weights of each decision maker and each subgroup are computed by comprehensive network weights and trust weights.In the process of consensus improvement:A feedback mechanism with four identification and two direction rules is designed to guide the consensus of the improvement process.Based on the trust relationship among DMs,the preferences are modified,and the corresponding social network is updated to accelerate the consensus.Compared with the previous research,the proposedmodel not only allows the subgroups to be reconstructed and updated during the adjustment process,but also improves the accuracy of the adjustment by the feedbackmechanism.Finally,an example analysis is conducted to verify the effectiveness and flexibility of the proposed method.Moreover,compared with previous studies,the superiority of the proposed method in solving the LGDM problem is highlighted.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71503103)the Outstanding Youth in Social Sciences of Jiangsu Provincethe Jiangsu Qinglan Project and the Tender Project from Wuxi Federation of Philosophy and Social Sciences(WXCK22-A-03).
文摘There exist many two-level group consensus problems with different psychological behaviors of decision makers.To deal with these group consensus problems and reach a stable consensus,based on the principles and methods of grey system,utility theory and group consensus,we use grey utility function to describe and reflect decision makers’opinion preferences in different subgroups and different levels,and then we construct a two-level group consensus method with a moderator,and exploit it to solve the negotiation problems of the natural gas subsidy.
文摘The aggregation of fuzzy opinions is an important component of group decision analysis with fuzzy information. This paper proposes two new approaches for the assessment of the weights to be associated with fuzzy opinions. These approaches involve,respectively,the minimization of the sum of squared differences between the individual weighted fuzzy opinion and the weighted mean value of all fuzzy opinions,which is called the weighted minimum variance method (WMVM),and the minimax difference of any two adjacent individual weighted fuzzy opinions,which is called the mean value minimax differences method (MVMDM). The two approaches are developed and numerical examples are presented to illustrate their simplicity and effectiveness in aggregating fuzzy opinions.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Nos. 61273209, 71501135, 71571123, and 71532007）
文摘Group decision making plays an important role in various fields of management decision and economics. In this paper, we develop two methods for hesitant fuzzy multiple criteria group decision making with group consensus in which all the experts use hesitant fuzzy decision matrices （HFDMs） to express their preferences. The aim of this paper is to present two novel consensus models applied in different group decision making situations, which are composed of consensus checking processes, consensus-reaching processes, and selection processes. All the experts make their own judgments on each alternative over multiple criteria by hesitant fuzzy sets, and then the aggregation of each hesitant fuzzy set under each criterion is calculated by the aggregation operators. Furthermore, we can calculate the distance between any two aggregations of hesitant fuzzy sets, based on which the deviation between any two experts is yielded. After introducing the consensus measure, we develop two kinds of consensus-reaching procedures and then propose two step-by-step algorithms for hesitant fuzzy multiple criteria group decision making. A numerical example concerning the selection of selling ways about ＇Trade-Ins＇ for Apple Inc. is provided to illustrate and verify the developed approaches. In this example, the methods which aim to reach a high consensus of all the experts before the selection process can avoid some experts＇ preference values being too high or too low. After modifying the previous preference information by using our consensus measures, the result of the selection process is much more reasonable.
基金supported by the Jiangsu Social Science Research Fund of China(No.21SHB003).
文摘Purpose:The purpose of this paper is to propose a consensus method for multi-attribute group decisionmaking(MAGDM)problems based on preference-approval structure and regret theory,which can improve the efficiency of decision-making and promote the consensus level among individuals.Design/methodology/approach:First,a new method to obtain the reference points based on regret theory and expert weighting method is proposed.Second,a consensus reaching method based on preference-approval structure is proposed.Then,an adjustment mechanism to further improve the consensus level between individuals is designed.Finally,an example of the assessment of elderly care institutions is used to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.Findings:The feasibility and validity of the proposed method are verified by comparing with the advanced two-stage minimum adjustment method.The compared results show that the proposed method is more consistent with the actual situation.Research limitations/implications:This paper presents a consensus reaching method for MAGDM based on preference-approval structure,which considers the avoidance behaviors of individuals and reference points.Decision makers(DMs)can use this approach to rank and categorize alternatives while further increasing the level of consensus among them.This can further help determine the optimal alternative more efficiently.Originality/value:A new MAGDM problem based on the combination of regret theory and individual reference points is proposed.Besides,a new method of obtaining experts’weights and a consensus reaching method for MAGDM based on preference-approval structure are designed.
文摘In this article, a new method for aggregating fuzzy individual opinions into a group consensus opinion is proposed. To obtain the aggregation weights of each individual opinion, a consistency index of each expert with the other experts is introduced based on similarity and distance. The importance of each expert is also taken into consideration in the process of aggregation. Finally, a numerical example is presented to illustrate the efficiency of the procedure.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.71501135,71771156)the 2018 Key Project of the Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences in Sichuan Province(Nos.Xq18A01,LYC18-02)+2 种基金the Electronic Commerce and Modem Logistics Research Center Program,the Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Science,Sichuan Provincial Education Department(No.DSWL18-2)the Spark Project of Innovation at Sichuan University(No.2018hhs-43)the Scholarship from China Scholarship Council(No.201706240012).
文摘Quality function deployment(QFD)is an effective method that helps companies analyze customer requirements(CRs).These CRs are then turned into product or service characteristics,which are translated to other attributes.With the QFD method,companies could design or improve the quality of products or services close to CRs.To increase the effectiveness of QFD,we propose an improved method based on Pythagorean fuzzy sets(PFSs).We apply an extended method to obtain the group consensus evaluation matrix.We then use a combined weight determining method to integrate former weights to objective weights derived from the evaluation matrix.To determine the exact score of each PFS in the evaluation matrix,we develop an improved score function.Lastly,we apply the proposed method to a case study on assembly robot design evaluation.
