With the penetration of the Internet, virtual groups have become more and more popular. The reliability and accuracy of interpersonal perception in the virtual environment is an intriguing issue. Using the Social rela...With the penetration of the Internet, virtual groups have become more and more popular. The reliability and accuracy of interpersonal perception in the virtual environment is an intriguing issue. Using the Social relations model (SRM) [1], this paper investigates interpersonal perception in virtual groups from a multilevel perspective. In particular, it examines the following three areas: homophily, identification, and individual attraction, and explores how much of these directional and dyadic relational evaluations can be attributed to the effect of the actor, the partner, and the relationship.展开更多
This paper proposes a multi-criteria decision-making (MCGDM) method based on the improved single-valued neutrosophic Hamacher weighted averaging (ISNHWA) operator and grey relational analysis (GRA) to overcome the lim...This paper proposes a multi-criteria decision-making (MCGDM) method based on the improved single-valued neutrosophic Hamacher weighted averaging (ISNHWA) operator and grey relational analysis (GRA) to overcome the limitations of present methods based on aggregation operators. First, the limitations of several existing single-valued neutrosophic weighted averaging aggregation operators (i.e. , the single-valued neutrosophic weighted averaging, single-valued neutrosophic weighted algebraic averaging, single-valued neutrosophic weighted Einstein averaging, single-valued neutrosophic Frank weighted averaging, and single-valued neutrosophic Hamacher weighted averaging operators), which can produce some indeterminate terms in the aggregation process, are discussed. Second, an ISNHWA operator was developed to overcome the limitations of existing operators. Third, the properties of the proposed operator, including idempotency, boundedness, monotonicity, and commutativity, were analyzed. Application examples confirmed that the ISNHWA operator and the proposed MCGDM method are rational and effective. The proposed improved ISNHWA operator and MCGDM method can overcome the indeterminate results in some special cases in existing single-valued neutrosophic weighted averaging aggregation operators and MCGDM methods.展开更多
Background:This study examined the determinants of loan repayment among microcredit finance group members in Delta State,Nigeria.Methods:To capture the determinants of loan repayment in the study area,a total of 48 mi...Background:This study examined the determinants of loan repayment among microcredit finance group members in Delta State,Nigeria.Methods:To capture the determinants of loan repayment in the study area,a total of 48 microcredit groups and 300 microcredit group members were randomly selected through a multi-stage random sampling technique.The study data was collected by questionnaire.Statistical tools such as simple descriptive statistics(table,frequency,percentage and mean)and a multiple regression analysis were used to examine the data.Results:The results indicate that females form a greater proportion of the study area microcredit group members at 70%,moreover 73%of the respondents have a household size of between 6 to 10 persons.These findings revealed that the groups had a mean 8 years of existence with a mean membership size of 13 persons.Further,an average interest rate of 40 percent per annum was charged on loans,with mean loan duration of 6 months.The regression’s result demonstrated that the determinants of the group member’s loan repayment included the group member’s age,household size,house income,and educational level,the amount of credit received,length of stay in their locality,distance to the credit source,supervision and disbursement lag.Conclusion:Therefore it was suggested that the various agricultural microcredit finance groups should carefully examine the significant determinants of loan repayment for the approach’s viability and sustainability and for optimum repayment performance.展开更多
Intuitionistic fuzzy preference relation(IFPR) is a suitable technique to express fuzzy preference information by decision makers(DMs). This paper aims to provide a group decision making method where DMs use the IFPRs...Intuitionistic fuzzy preference relation(IFPR) is a suitable technique to express fuzzy preference information by decision makers(DMs). This paper aims to provide a group decision making method where DMs use the IFPRs to indicate their preferences with uncertain weights. To begin with, a model to derive weight vectors of alternatives from IFPRs based on multiplicative consistency is presented. Specifically, for any IFPR,by minimizing its absolute deviation from the corresponding consistent IFPR, the weight vectors are generated. Secondly,a method to determine relative weights of DMs depending on preference information is developed. After that we prioritize alternatives based on the obtained weights considering the risk preference of DMs. Finally, this approach is applied to the problem of technical risks assessment of armored equipment to illustrate the applicability and superiority of the proposed method.展开更多
Intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations are powerful techniques used to express uncertain preference information.However, simultaneously providing the exact priority and nonpriority intensities could be difficult in...Intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations are powerful techniques used to express uncertain preference information.However, simultaneously providing the exact priority and nonpriority intensities could be difficult in real applications. A credible interval intuitionistic fuzzy number(CIIFN) is introduced and a credible interval intuitionistic fuzzy reciprocal preference relation(CIIFRPR) is developed to solve this issue. Unlike intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations, the new preference relations use the CIIFNs to express the preference information such that the decision makers simply provide the priority intensity with intervalvalued numbers and calculate the non-preference intensity with the transformed method, which avoids a complex evaluation of non-priority information. Furthermore, some basic operations and comparison laws are investigated, based on which three credible interval intuitionistic fuzzy aggregation operators are proposed.Two models are presented to manage the group decision-making.Finally, a practical case is used to demonstrate the feasibility and reasonability of the proposed preference relations and aggregation operators.展开更多
Group decision making problems are investigated with uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations.An unbalanced multiplicative linguistic label set is introduced,which can be used by the experts to express...Group decision making problems are investigated with uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations.An unbalanced multiplicative linguistic label set is introduced,which can be used by the experts to express their linguistic preference information over alternatives.The uncertain linguistic weighted geometric mean operator is utilized to aggregate all the individual uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations into a collective one,and then a simple approach is developed to determine the experts' weights by utilizing the consensus degrees among the individual uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations and the collective uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations.Furthermore,a practical interactive procedure for group decision making is proposed based on uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations,in which a possibility degree formula and a complementary matrix are used to rank the given alternatives.Finally,the proposed procedure is applied to solve the group decision making problem of a manufacturing company searching the best global supplier for one of its most critical parts used in assembling process.展开更多
The constitutive relation of bond-slip on steel and concrete interface is proposed for short steel reinforced concrete(SRC)column.Based on the experimental research on bond-slip performance,a mechanical model of short...The constitutive relation of bond-slip on steel and concrete interface is proposed for short steel reinforced concrete(SRC)column.Based on the experimental research on bond-slip performance,a mechanical model of short SRC column in pulling or pushing test is established.By means of the elasto-plasticity theory the explicit formulation of bond-slip constitutive relation τ-s in different anchor-hold place of push and pull member is investigated under the conditions of balance and boundary.The study shows that the constitutive relation is relevant to the embedment length and the thickness of concrete cover.The results are continuous descriptions of bond-slip constitutive relation and can be used to analyze the non-linear performance of SRC members.Results indicate that the principle of the method is correct and it performs well for short SRC column.展开更多
The group decision making problem with linguistic preference relations is studied.The concept of additive consistent linguistic preference relation is defined,and then some properties of the additive consistent lingui...The group decision making problem with linguistic preference relations is studied.The concept of additive consistent linguistic preference relation is defined,and then some properties of the additive consistent linguistic preference relation are studied. In order to rank the alternatives in the group decision making with the linguistic preference relations,the weighted average is first utilized to combine the group linguistic preference relations to one linguistic preference relation,and then the transformation function is proposed to transform the linguistic preference relation to the multiplicative preference relation,and thus the Saaty's eigenvector method(EM) of multiplicative preference relation is utilized to rank the alternatives in group decision making with the linguistic preference relations.Finally,an illustrative numerical example is given to verify the proposed method.A comparative study to the linguistic ordered weighted averaging(LOWA) operator method is also demonstrated.展开更多
This paper investigates the approach of presenting groups by generators and relations from an original angle. It starts by interpreting this familiar concept with the novel notion of “formal words” created by juxtap...This paper investigates the approach of presenting groups by generators and relations from an original angle. It starts by interpreting this familiar concept with the novel notion of “formal words” created by juxtaposing letters in a set. Taking that as basis, several fundamental results related to free groups, such as Dyck’s Theorem, are proven. Then, the paper highlights three creative applications of the concept in classifying finite groups of a fixed order, representing all dihedral groups geometrically, and analyzing knots topologically. All three applications are of considerable significance in their respective topic areas and serve to illustrate the advantages and certain limitations of the approach flexibly and comprehensively.展开更多
In this paper,we study the proximal relation,regionally proximal relation and Banach proximal relation of a topological dynamical system for amenable group actions.A useful tool is the support of a topological dynamic...In this paper,we study the proximal relation,regionally proximal relation and Banach proximal relation of a topological dynamical system for amenable group actions.A useful tool is the support of a topological dynamical system which is used to study the structure of the Banach proximal relation,and we prove that above three relations all coincide on a Banach mean equicontinuous system generated by an amenable group action.展开更多
Based on the analyses of existing preference group decision-making(PGDM)methods with intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations(IFPRs),we present a new PGDM framework with incomplete IFPRs.A generalized multiplicative ...Based on the analyses of existing preference group decision-making(PGDM)methods with intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations(IFPRs),we present a new PGDM framework with incomplete IFPRs.A generalized multiplicative consistent for IFPRs is defined,and a mathematical programming model is constructed to supplement the missing values in incomplete IFPRs.Moreover,in this study,another mathematical programming model is constructed to improve the consistency level of unacceptably multiplicative consistent IFPRs.For group decisionmaking(GDM)with incomplete IFPRs,three reliable sources influencing the weights of experts are identified.Subsequently,a method for determining the weights of experts is developed by simultaneously considering three reliable sources.Furthermore,a targeted consensus process(CPR)is developed in this study with reference to the actual situation of the consensus level of each IFPR.Meanwhile,in response to the proposed multiplicative consistency definition,a novel method for determining the optimal priority weights of alternatives is redefined.Lastly,based on the above theory,a novel GDM method with incomplete IFPRs is developed,and the comparative and sensitivity analysis results demonstrate the utility and superiority of this work.展开更多
We study the topological complexities of relative entropy zero extensions acted upon by countable-infinite amenable groups.First,for a given Følner sequence,we define the relative entropy dimensions and the dimen...We study the topological complexities of relative entropy zero extensions acted upon by countable-infinite amenable groups.First,for a given Følner sequence,we define the relative entropy dimensions and the dimensions of the relative entropy generating sets to characterize the sub-exponential growth of the relative topological complexity.we also investigate the relations among these.Second,we introduce the notion of a relative dimension set.Moreover,using the method,we discuss the disjointness between the relative entropy zero extensions via the relative dimension sets of two extensions,which says that if the relative dimension sets of two extensions are different,then the extensions are disjoint.展开更多
On 29th November 2004, BSI Group Chairman Sir David John and senior colleagues were in Beijing to meet with Management Systems’ clients of the BSI Group and to consolidate already established relationships with the C...On 29th November 2004, BSI Group Chairman Sir David John and senior colleagues were in Beijing to meet with Management Systems’ clients of the BSI Group and to consolidate already established relationships with the Chinese standards community. This trip came in the wake of last year’s visit of the Group Chairman to Beijing and Shanghai, which paved the way for the signing of a cooperation agreement between BSI and the Standardization Adminis-展开更多
BACKGROUND The efficacy of cognitive behavioral group therapy(CBGT)for cognitive dysfunction and negative symptoms of schizophrenia is established,but more evidence is required.AIM To assess the effectiveness of CBGT ...BACKGROUND The efficacy of cognitive behavioral group therapy(CBGT)for cognitive dysfunction and negative symptoms of schizophrenia is established,but more evidence is required.AIM To assess the effectiveness of CBGT combined with mental health education as a treatment for schizophrenia compared with mental health education alone.METHODS In all,120 schizophrenia out-patients were randomized into CBGT combined with mental health education or single mental health education.The primary outcomes were positive and negative symptoms,cognitive function,excitatory factor,anxiety and depression symptom improvements on the positive and negative syndrome scale score.Secondary outcome measures included social function and drug compliance.RESULTS There were significant differences between CBGT combined with mental health education and single mental health education on measures of positive and negative symptoms,cognitive functions,excitatory factor,anxiety and depression symptoms,and social functions.No other significant difference in outcomes was observed.CONCLUSION CBGT combined with mental health education may be relevant beneficial treatment method in reducing symptoms,cognitive and social functions of patients with schizophrenia.展开更多
文摘With the penetration of the Internet, virtual groups have become more and more popular. The reliability and accuracy of interpersonal perception in the virtual environment is an intriguing issue. Using the Social relations model (SRM) [1], this paper investigates interpersonal perception in virtual groups from a multilevel perspective. In particular, it examines the following three areas: homophily, identification, and individual attraction, and explores how much of these directional and dyadic relational evaluations can be attributed to the effect of the actor, the partner, and the relationship.
文摘This paper proposes a multi-criteria decision-making (MCGDM) method based on the improved single-valued neutrosophic Hamacher weighted averaging (ISNHWA) operator and grey relational analysis (GRA) to overcome the limitations of present methods based on aggregation operators. First, the limitations of several existing single-valued neutrosophic weighted averaging aggregation operators (i.e. , the single-valued neutrosophic weighted averaging, single-valued neutrosophic weighted algebraic averaging, single-valued neutrosophic weighted Einstein averaging, single-valued neutrosophic Frank weighted averaging, and single-valued neutrosophic Hamacher weighted averaging operators), which can produce some indeterminate terms in the aggregation process, are discussed. Second, an ISNHWA operator was developed to overcome the limitations of existing operators. Third, the properties of the proposed operator, including idempotency, boundedness, monotonicity, and commutativity, were analyzed. Application examples confirmed that the ISNHWA operator and the proposed MCGDM method are rational and effective. The proposed improved ISNHWA operator and MCGDM method can overcome the indeterminate results in some special cases in existing single-valued neutrosophic weighted averaging aggregation operators and MCGDM methods.
文摘Background:This study examined the determinants of loan repayment among microcredit finance group members in Delta State,Nigeria.Methods:To capture the determinants of loan repayment in the study area,a total of 48 microcredit groups and 300 microcredit group members were randomly selected through a multi-stage random sampling technique.The study data was collected by questionnaire.Statistical tools such as simple descriptive statistics(table,frequency,percentage and mean)and a multiple regression analysis were used to examine the data.Results:The results indicate that females form a greater proportion of the study area microcredit group members at 70%,moreover 73%of the respondents have a household size of between 6 to 10 persons.These findings revealed that the groups had a mean 8 years of existence with a mean membership size of 13 persons.Further,an average interest rate of 40 percent per annum was charged on loans,with mean loan duration of 6 months.The regression’s result demonstrated that the determinants of the group member’s loan repayment included the group member’s age,household size,house income,and educational level,the amount of credit received,length of stay in their locality,distance to the credit source,supervision and disbursement lag.Conclusion:Therefore it was suggested that the various agricultural microcredit finance groups should carefully examine the significant determinants of loan repayment for the approach’s viability and sustainability and for optimum repayment performance.
基金partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(71371053)the Social Science Foundation of Fujian Province(FJ2015C111)
文摘Intuitionistic fuzzy preference relation(IFPR) is a suitable technique to express fuzzy preference information by decision makers(DMs). This paper aims to provide a group decision making method where DMs use the IFPRs to indicate their preferences with uncertain weights. To begin with, a model to derive weight vectors of alternatives from IFPRs based on multiplicative consistency is presented. Specifically, for any IFPR,by minimizing its absolute deviation from the corresponding consistent IFPR, the weight vectors are generated. Secondly,a method to determine relative weights of DMs depending on preference information is developed. After that we prioritize alternatives based on the obtained weights considering the risk preference of DMs. Finally, this approach is applied to the problem of technical risks assessment of armored equipment to illustrate the applicability and superiority of the proposed method.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(7156102671571123)+1 种基金the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2015M5707922016T90864)
文摘Intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations are powerful techniques used to express uncertain preference information.However, simultaneously providing the exact priority and nonpriority intensities could be difficult in real applications. A credible interval intuitionistic fuzzy number(CIIFN) is introduced and a credible interval intuitionistic fuzzy reciprocal preference relation(CIIFRPR) is developed to solve this issue. Unlike intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations, the new preference relations use the CIIFNs to express the preference information such that the decision makers simply provide the priority intensity with intervalvalued numbers and calculate the non-preference intensity with the transformed method, which avoids a complex evaluation of non-priority information. Furthermore, some basic operations and comparison laws are investigated, based on which three credible interval intuitionistic fuzzy aggregation operators are proposed.Two models are presented to manage the group decision-making.Finally, a practical case is used to demonstrate the feasibility and reasonability of the proposed preference relations and aggregation operators.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (70571087)the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (70625005)
文摘Group decision making problems are investigated with uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations.An unbalanced multiplicative linguistic label set is introduced,which can be used by the experts to express their linguistic preference information over alternatives.The uncertain linguistic weighted geometric mean operator is utilized to aggregate all the individual uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations into a collective one,and then a simple approach is developed to determine the experts' weights by utilizing the consensus degrees among the individual uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations and the collective uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations.Furthermore,a practical interactive procedure for group decision making is proposed based on uncertain multiplicative linguistic preference relations,in which a possibility degree formula and a complementary matrix are used to rank the given alternatives.Finally,the proposed procedure is applied to solve the group decision making problem of a manufacturing company searching the best global supplier for one of its most critical parts used in assembling process.
基金Sponsored by the Science and Technology Program Project of Henan Province(002462004)
文摘The constitutive relation of bond-slip on steel and concrete interface is proposed for short steel reinforced concrete(SRC)column.Based on the experimental research on bond-slip performance,a mechanical model of short SRC column in pulling or pushing test is established.By means of the elasto-plasticity theory the explicit formulation of bond-slip constitutive relation τ-s in different anchor-hold place of push and pull member is investigated under the conditions of balance and boundary.The study shows that the constitutive relation is relevant to the embedment length and the thickness of concrete cover.The results are continuous descriptions of bond-slip constitutive relation and can be used to analyze the non-linear performance of SRC members.Results indicate that the principle of the method is correct and it performs well for short SRC column.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(70771025)Hohai University Central University Special Fund Basic Scientific Research and Operational Costs
文摘The group decision making problem with linguistic preference relations is studied.The concept of additive consistent linguistic preference relation is defined,and then some properties of the additive consistent linguistic preference relation are studied. In order to rank the alternatives in the group decision making with the linguistic preference relations,the weighted average is first utilized to combine the group linguistic preference relations to one linguistic preference relation,and then the transformation function is proposed to transform the linguistic preference relation to the multiplicative preference relation,and thus the Saaty's eigenvector method(EM) of multiplicative preference relation is utilized to rank the alternatives in group decision making with the linguistic preference relations.Finally,an illustrative numerical example is given to verify the proposed method.A comparative study to the linguistic ordered weighted averaging(LOWA) operator method is also demonstrated.
文摘This paper investigates the approach of presenting groups by generators and relations from an original angle. It starts by interpreting this familiar concept with the novel notion of “formal words” created by juxtaposing letters in a set. Taking that as basis, several fundamental results related to free groups, such as Dyck’s Theorem, are proven. Then, the paper highlights three creative applications of the concept in classifying finite groups of a fixed order, representing all dihedral groups geometrically, and analyzing knots topologically. All three applications are of considerable significance in their respective topic areas and serve to illustrate the advantages and certain limitations of the approach flexibly and comprehensively.
基金supported by NSF of China(11671057)NSF of Chongqing(cstc2020jcyj-msxm X0694)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(2018CDQYST0023)。
文摘In this paper,we study the proximal relation,regionally proximal relation and Banach proximal relation of a topological dynamical system for amenable group actions.A useful tool is the support of a topological dynamical system which is used to study the structure of the Banach proximal relation,and we prove that above three relations all coincide on a Banach mean equicontinuous system generated by an amenable group action.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.71740021,11861034,and 61966030)the Humanities Social Science Programming Project of Ministry of Education of China(No.20YJA630059)+1 种基金the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province of China(No.20192BAB207012)the Natural Science Foundation of Qinghai Province of China(No.2019-ZJ-7086).
文摘Based on the analyses of existing preference group decision-making(PGDM)methods with intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations(IFPRs),we present a new PGDM framework with incomplete IFPRs.A generalized multiplicative consistent for IFPRs is defined,and a mathematical programming model is constructed to supplement the missing values in incomplete IFPRs.Moreover,in this study,another mathematical programming model is constructed to improve the consistency level of unacceptably multiplicative consistent IFPRs.For group decisionmaking(GDM)with incomplete IFPRs,three reliable sources influencing the weights of experts are identified.Subsequently,a method for determining the weights of experts is developed by simultaneously considering three reliable sources.Furthermore,a targeted consensus process(CPR)is developed in this study with reference to the actual situation of the consensus level of each IFPR.Meanwhile,in response to the proposed multiplicative consistency definition,a novel method for determining the optimal priority weights of alternatives is redefined.Lastly,based on the above theory,a novel GDM method with incomplete IFPRs is developed,and the comparative and sensitivity analysis results demonstrate the utility and superiority of this work.
基金supported by the NNSF of China (12201120,12171233)the Educational Research Project for Young and Middle-aged Teachers of Fujian Province (JAT200045).
文摘We study the topological complexities of relative entropy zero extensions acted upon by countable-infinite amenable groups.First,for a given Følner sequence,we define the relative entropy dimensions and the dimensions of the relative entropy generating sets to characterize the sub-exponential growth of the relative topological complexity.we also investigate the relations among these.Second,we introduce the notion of a relative dimension set.Moreover,using the method,we discuss the disjointness between the relative entropy zero extensions via the relative dimension sets of two extensions,which says that if the relative dimension sets of two extensions are different,then the extensions are disjoint.
文摘On 29th November 2004, BSI Group Chairman Sir David John and senior colleagues were in Beijing to meet with Management Systems’ clients of the BSI Group and to consolidate already established relationships with the Chinese standards community. This trip came in the wake of last year’s visit of the Group Chairman to Beijing and Shanghai, which paved the way for the signing of a cooperation agreement between BSI and the Standardization Adminis-
基金Supported by Science and Technology Innovation Bureau,Longhua District,Shenzhen,Guangdong Province,China,No.2020202.
文摘BACKGROUND The efficacy of cognitive behavioral group therapy(CBGT)for cognitive dysfunction and negative symptoms of schizophrenia is established,but more evidence is required.AIM To assess the effectiveness of CBGT combined with mental health education as a treatment for schizophrenia compared with mental health education alone.METHODS In all,120 schizophrenia out-patients were randomized into CBGT combined with mental health education or single mental health education.The primary outcomes were positive and negative symptoms,cognitive function,excitatory factor,anxiety and depression symptom improvements on the positive and negative syndrome scale score.Secondary outcome measures included social function and drug compliance.RESULTS There were significant differences between CBGT combined with mental health education and single mental health education on measures of positive and negative symptoms,cognitive functions,excitatory factor,anxiety and depression symptoms,and social functions.No other significant difference in outcomes was observed.CONCLUSION CBGT combined with mental health education may be relevant beneficial treatment method in reducing symptoms,cognitive and social functions of patients with schizophrenia.
