Informatica

Sustainable practices are essential for long-term societal development, minimizing environmental impacts while promoting the efficient use of resources. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches can play a vital role in assessing and prioritizing sustainability solutions by considering diverse economic, social, and environmental factors. This study proposes a multi-criteria group decision-making approach based on the Objective Pairwise Adjusted Ratio Analysis (OPARA) method in a fuzzy environment and presents its application for the assessment of sustainable agriculture solutions. In the proposed approach, the evaluation criteria weights are determined by combining subjective weights from experts and objective weights obtained from the MEREC (Method Based on the Removal Effects of Criteria) method. The Relative Preference Relation (RPR) approach is employed for ranking fuzzy numbers and final evaluation. Sensitivity analysis and comparison with other methods are conducted to assess the robustness and validity of the proposed approach. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in evaluating solutions. Based on the final evaluation from the case study, the most important criteria are “Availability and quality of water”, “Focus on immediate economic returns”, and “Financial incentives and access to credit”, while the most suitable solutions for advancing sustainable agriculture are “Financial and credit support”, “Education and enhancement of farmers’ knowledge”, and “Enhancement of research and development”.

Most existing traffic trajectory recommendation methods don’t consider the driver-car-road preferences, resulting in the poor ability to meet the driver-car-road requirements. To address this issue, we propose a traffic Trajectory Recommendation scheme based on Edge-cloud computing Driver-car-road Preferences (named as TREDP). TREDP reduces the computational, storage, and energy burden on the edge through edge-cloud collaborative computing. TREDP enhances the recommended accuracy by considering driver-car-road requirements and the relationship among driver-car-road in different traffic trajectories. Meanwhile, TREDP increases the computational efficiency through edge-cloud computing. Thus, it improves the driver experience of intelligent traffic trajectory recommendation systems.

One of the most recent innovations in the field of fuzzy sets has been continuous intuitionistic fuzzy sets (CINFUSs), where membership and non-membership degrees are defined by nonlinear functions, as a direct extension of intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs). The membership and non-membership degrees of CINFUSs can account for uncertainty at every point since they are represented by continuous structures that change based on how the decision-maker responds to uncertainty. On the other hand, Pythagorean fuzzy sets (PFSs) allow for a more accurate representation of the data and a better way to handle uncertainty in decision issues by reflecting the hesitations of decision-makers over a larger range. Due to these superior advantages of CINFUSs and the fact that PFSs are more comprehensive than IFSs, in this study, continuous Pythagorean fuzzy sets (CPFUSs) have been aimed at introducing to define uncertainty more broadly and accurately by representing PFSs with a continuous structure as in IFSs. In this study, firstly, the basic principles and mathematical operators of CPFUSs have been developed and presented. Then, multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) models have been developed by considering different aggregation operators to indicate the feasibility and effectiveness of the continuous Pythagorean fuzzy (CPFU) extension. The developed CPFU-MADM models have been implemented to the solution of two different decision problems: green supplier selection and waste disposal site selection problems. In addition, sensitivity analyses have been conducted on criterion weights, expert weights and parameters in order to demonstrate the reliability and stability of the developed models. Furthermore, the validity and superiority of the developed models have been indicated by the comparative analysis conducted with IFSs and PFSs-based MADM models in the literature. MADM applications have shown that continuous Pythagorean fuzzy sets can successfully represent the expert decisions with different attitudes within the same model. It has been observed that the rankings of alternatives according to aggregation operators do not change even when there are differences in the score values of the alternatives.

Quantum computing has come to stay in our lives. Companies are investing billions of dollars in it because of the potential benefits that it can achieve, providing promising applications in almost every business sector. Although quantum computing is evolving at an exponential rate, the development of tools, techniques, or frameworks for the evolution of current information systems towards quantum software systems is still proving to be a challenge. This research contributes to the evolution of current information systems towards hybrid information systems (combining the classical and quantum computing paradigm). We propose a software modernization process, by following model-driven engineering principles, adapted to the quantum paradigm, based on modified versions of standards for reverse engineering of classical, quantum software assets, and for the design of the target system. In particular, this paper focuses on the restructuring transformation from KDM to UML models, where KDM models have been generated from Q# code. This proposal has been validated through a case study involving 17 programmes. The results obtained show optimistic values regarding the complexity of the UML models generated, their expressiveness and scalability. The main implication of this research is that UML models can indeed help the software evolution of/toward hybrid information systems.

The accelerated progress of aquaponics offers a promising remedy for food production in arid regions, where success heavily hinges on sustaining optimal water quality parameters of aquaponic system. However, managing water parameters in large-scale aquaponic farms, given their complex and interconnected nature, poses significant challenges. Various control approaches have been introduced over the years, but selecting the most suitable one is vital for ensuring stability, efficiency, and high productivity. In this study, a novel fuzzy-based Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methodology is proposed, which combines the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Ordinary Priority Approach (OPA-IF) with the Neutrosophic-TOPSIS strategy. This methodology aims to identify the most appropriate control strategy for large-scale aquaponic systems. The OPA-IF analysis reveals that the ‘Capability to Handle MIMO Systems’ is the most critical criterion, leading to the conclusion, through the Neutrosophic-TOPSIS approach, that ‘Model Predictive Control (MPC)’ is the optimal choice for managing large-scale aquaponic systems. Additionally, a comparative analysis using the BWM-Neutrosophic-TOPSIS strategy further supports the findings of the proposed method. The results are further validated through statistical analysis and sensitivity testing, ensuring their robustness and reliability. Overall, this study not only contributes to the scientific understanding of control strategies in aquaponics but also offers practical insights for farmers and aquaponic practitioners. The ultimate goal is to enhance the sustainability and efficiency of aquaponic systems, promoting their adoption and long-term success in sustainable food production.

Multi-criteria group decision-making has gained considerable attention due to its ability to aggregate diverse expert opinions and establish a preference order among alternatives. While probabilistic hesitant fuzzy (PHF) sets offer increased flexibility and generality for representing criteria values compared to traditional fuzzy and hesitant fuzzy set theories, existing aggregation techniques often fail to enhance consensus among biased expert judgments. Motivated by the need for more effective consensus-based decision-making, this paper proposes a new framework that integrates PHF set theory with Aczel-Alsina weighted averaging and geometric aggregation operators. These operators, known for their flexibility and the inclusion of an adjustable parameter, are particularly well-suited for addressing real-world decision-making challenges. The framework employs a cross-entropy based model to determine criteria weights and multi-objective optimization by ratio analysis plus the full multiplicative form (MULTIMOORA) method to establish priority orders of alternatives. The proposed framework is demonstrated through a case study on manufacturing outsourcing vendor selection. The results show that Bertrandt is the most suitable vendor, with a score of 0.2390, and resources consumption is identified as the most critical criterion, with a weight of 0.20. To validate the robustness of the proposed framework, sensitivity and comparison analyses have also been conducted.

This paper focuses on the aggregation or scoring methods to evaluate the alternatives in Multiple Attribute Decision Making problems (MADM), e.g. Weighted Sum Model (WSM) and Weighted Product Model (WPM). The paper deals with the incorporation of the two concepts into the scoring methods, which has not been studied yet. These concepts are decision maker’s Indifference Thresholds (IT) and Yearning Thresholds (YT) on the decision making criteria. Reviewing the related literature reveals that the existent scoring methods do not have a suitable structure to involve the IT, and there is no scoring method which addresses a way to take the YT into account. The paper shows that there is an important drawback to the famous Aspiration Level (AL) concept. Hence, the YT idea is given to resolve the AL limitation. Based on the IT and YT concepts, two new scoring methods are developed: Extended WPM (EWPM) and Extended WSM (EWSM). The EWPM and EWSM are compared with the other scoring methods using a set of simulation analysis. A real-world case extracted from Exploration and Production (E&P) companies in oil industry is examined.

Smart Farming (SF) has garnered interest from computer science researchers for its potential to address challenges in Smart Farming and Precision Agriculture (PA). This systematic review explores the application of Fuzzy Logic (FL) in these areas. Using a specific anonymous search method across five scientific web indexing databases, we identified relevant scholarly articles published from 2017 to 2024, assessed through the PRISMA methodology. Out of 830 selected papers, the review revealed four gaps in using FL to manage imprecise data in Smart Farming. This review provides valuable insights into FL for potential applications and areas needing further investigation in SF.

This paper develops a two-stage decision approach with probabilistic hesitant fuzzy data. Research challenges in earlier models are: (i) the calculation of occurrence probability; (ii) imputation of missing elements; (iii) consideration of attitude and hesitation of experts during weight calculation; (iv) capturing of interdependencies among experts during aggregation; and (v) ranking of alternatives with resemblance to human cognition. Driven by these challenges, a new group decision-making model is proposed with integrate methods for data curation and decision-making. The usefulness and superiority of the model is realized via an illustrative example of a logistic service provider selection.