The study of hesitant consistency is very important in decision-making with hesitant fuzzy linguistic preference relations (HFLPRs), and generally the normalization method is used as a tool to ...measure the consistency degree of a HFLPR. In this paper we propose a new hesitant consistency measure, called interval consistency index, to estimate the consistency range of a HFLPR. The underlying idea of the interval consistency index consists of measuring the worst consistency index and the best consistency index of a HFLPR. Furthermore, by comparative study, a connection is shown between the interval consistency index and the normalization method, demonstrating that the normalization method should be considered as an approximate average consistency index of a HFLPR.
•We propose a linguistic GDM approach based on linguistic distributions and HFLTSs.•Our model aims at maximizing the support degree of the group opinion.•The accuracy of the group opinion in our ...model is guaranteed.•A mixed 0–1 linear programming approach is presented to solve our model.•The use of our model in MAGDM is demonstrated.
The hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS) and the linguistic distribution are becoming popular tools to model linguistic expressions with multiple linguistic terms in decision problems. Compared with HFLTSs, linguistic distributions provide more probabilistic preference information over linguistic terms, and are useful to express decision makers' preferences accurately. However, in a group decision context a linguistic distribution based group opinion will bring great difficulty for the group to take an accurate action. Meanwhile, the linguistic group opinion should obtain enough support from decision makers in the group. To tackle these issues, based on the use of linguistic distributions and HFLTSs we propose a new linguistic group decision model called the maximum support degree model (MSDM), aiming at maximizing the support degree of the group opinion as well as guarantying the accuracy of the group opinion. A mixed 0–1 linear programming approach is presented to solve the MSDM, and a feedback adjustment is employed to improve the support degree of the group opinion. Finally, the use of the MSDM in multiple attribute group decision making is demonstrated.
Exosomes are extracellular vesicles secreted by most eukaryotic cells and participate in intercellular communication. The components of exosomes, including proteins, DNA, mRNA, microRNA, long ...noncoding RNA, circular RNA, etc., which play a crucial role in regulating tumor growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis in the process of cancer development, and can be used as a prognostic marker and/or grading basis for tumor patients. Hereby, we mainly summarized as followed: the role of exosome contents in cancer, focusing on proteins and noncoding RNA; the interaction between exosomes and tumor microenvironment; the mechanisms that epithelial-mesenchymal transition, invasion and migration of tumor affected by exosomes; and tumor suppression strategies based on exosomes. Finally, the application potential of exosomes in clinical tumor diagnosis and therapy is prospected, which providing theoretical supports for using exosomes to serve precise tumor treatment in the clinic.
College English is a required curriculum for all college students in China so that the ICC as one of the core contents and primary objectives has been a concern for EFL educators and researchers. ...There is a need to study the teachers of College English curricula since the lack of related researches fails to provide enough convincing findings to reveal the teachers’ understanding, attitudes and experiences in IC cultivation. The College English teachers’ perspectives on ICC can affect the effectiveness of ICC teachers so that the research focuses on probing the teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, experiences and challenges by interviewing twelve EGP teaching from the five colleges in northeastern China. The findings are that although the teachers hold positive attitudes to ICC teaching , their teaching beliefs and teaching practices are not always consistent due to the lack of the theoretical guideline, first hand intercultural experiences and supportive training. There are some suggestions on how to aid EGP teachers to improve their ICC teaching.
In group decision making (GDM) situations, it is quite natural that the decision makers who may have different background and knowledge will provide their preferences by means of different linguistic ...term sets. Specifically, multi-granular linguistic term sets that are not uniformly and symmetrically distributed will be employed. To deal with this type of GDM problems, this paper proposes a consensus-based GDM model by using two existing 2-tuple linguistic representation models (i.e., the Herrera and Martínez model and the Wang and Hao model), which we called the GDM model based on multi-granular unbalanced 2-tuple linguistic preference relations. First, the framework of the GDM model with multi-granular unbalanced 2-tuple linguistic preference relations is proposed. Then, the transformation function is obtained to relate multi-granular unbalanced linguistic preference relations with uniform balanced linguistic preference relations. Further, a consensus model is presented to help the decision makers reach a consensus. This consensus model not only provides a new way to simultaneously manage individual consistency and group consensus in a linear programming model, but also minimizes information loss (or consensus cost) when reaching the established consensus level. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the feasibility and validity of the proposed model.
This article provides a brief tour through the main fuzzy and linguistic decision-making trends, studies, methodologies, and models developed in the last 50 years. Fuzzy and linguistic ...decision-making approaches allow to address complex real-world decision problems where humans exhibit vagueness, imprecision, and/or use natural language to assess decision alternatives, criteria, etc. The aim of this article is threefold. First, the main fuzzy set theory and computing with words-based representation paradigms of decision information, with their different levels of expressive richness and complexity, are reviewed. Second, three core decision-making frameworks are examined: 1) multicriteria decision making; 2) group consensus-driven decision making; and 3) multiperson multicriteria decision making. Third, the article discusses new complex decision-making frameworks that have emerged in recent years, where decisions are guided by the "wisdom of the crowd": their associated challenges are highlighted and considerations on much needed key guidelines for future research in the field are provided.
Polyamide thin film composite (PA-TFC) membranes are becoming more and more widely used for water desalination both in industrial and experimental plants due to their superior properties. However, ...trade-off between the permeability and the salt rejections, fouling and chlorination are seriously restricting their better operational functions. Therefore, various strategies have been explored to tackle these problems, among which surface modifications (e.g., surface coating) and nanoparticles incorporations have been identified to be the most effective ones. Thus, in this review, the state-of-the-art developments and breakthrough in the surface modified and nanoparticles incorporated PA-TFC reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are focused and summarized combining with the prospects. This review provides comprehensive information and gives an outlook on the surface modifications and nanoparticles incorporations, which might supply some clues to explore more advanced and innovative strategies for improving the performance of the PA-TFC RO membranes.
•The main drawbacks of the PA-TFC membranes are presented.•Strategies in improving the performance of PA-TFC membranes are reviewed.•Special focus is on surface modifications and nanoparticles incorporations.•Future developments in the focused special strategies are discussed.
The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is widely employed to guide the decision-maker to rank or evaluate the alternatives in decision activities. Its fuzzy set-based version, i.e., the fuzzy AHP, has ...also been widely studied and applied since its inception. The essential distinction between the AHP and fuzzy AHP comes from the diverse transformation methods between the linguistic and numeric judgments. In this article, we conduct a thorough comparative study between the AHP and fuzzy AHP methods in the framework of two linguistic models, i.e., the linguistic model based on the membership functions and two-tuple linguistic model. First, four AHP and three fuzzy AHP methods are revisited with the involvement of two linguistic models. Then, the comparison criteria are involved by calculating the cardinal or ordinal deviation between the original information and decision solutions, and the effects of the transitivity of the reciprocal matrix are also discussed in the comparative study. Finally, the detailed experiments along with a thorough comparative analysis are conducted based on the random and publicly available data to show the difference between the AHP and fuzzy AHP methods.
The location of mobile terminals has received considerable attention in the recent years. The performance of mobile location systems is limited by errors primarily caused by nonline-of-sight (NLOS) ...propagation conditions. We investigate the NLOS error identification and correction techniques for mobile user location in wireless cellular systems. Based on how much a priori knowledge of the NLOS error is available, two NLOS mitigation algorithms are proposed. Simulation results demonstrate that with the prior information database, the location estimate can be obtained with good accuracy even in severe NLOS propagation conditions.
Abstract
The memory effects in non-Markovian quantum dynamics can induce the revival of quantum coherence, which is believed to provide important physical resources for quantum information processing ...(QIP). However, no real quantum algorithms have been demonstrated with the help of such memory effects. Here, we experimentally implemented a non-Markovianity-assisted high-fidelity refined Deutsch–Jozsa algorithm (RDJA) with a solid spin in diamond. The memory effects can induce pronounced non-monotonic variations in the RDJA results, which were confirmed to follow a non-Markovian quantum process by measuring the non-Markovianity of the spin system. By applying the memory effects as physical resources with the assistance of dynamical decoupling, the probability of success of RDJA was elevated above 97% in the open quantum system. This study not only demonstrates that the non-Markovianity is an important physical resource but also presents a feasible way to employ this physical resource. It will stimulate the application of the memory effects in non-Markovian quantum dynamics to improve the performance of practical QIP.
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