Stochastic, iterative search methods such as Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) are proven to be efficient optimizers. However, they require evaluation of the candidate solutions which may be prohibitively expensive in many real world optimization problems. Use of approximate models or surrogates is being explored as a way to reduce the number of such evaluations. In this paper we investigated three...

The fuzzy preference framework of Graph Model for Conflict Resolution (GMCR), handling both crisp and fuzzy preferences of decision makers (DMs), is capable of calculating and predicting different conflict resolutions (equilibria) according to DMs’ different satisficing criteria. Employing this methodology, a water contamination conflict occurs at the boundary of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces ...

We describe a web-based system to support groups in elaborating participatory budgets. Rather than using physical meetings with voting mechanisms, we promote virtual meetings with explicit preference elicitation, guided negotiations and, only if consensus is not reached, vot-

South African law recognises a financial claim against a health provider for negligently failing to advise an expectant mother that she might give birth to a child suffering from a severe health condition or congenital disability. In December 2014, the Constitutional Court handed down a judgment that could lead to financial claims by the child, who was subsequently born with a severe health con...

The contribution of sexual selection to diversification remains poorly understood after decades of research. This may be in part because studies have focused predominantly on the strength of sexual selection, which offers an incomplete view of selection regimes. By contrast, students of natural selection focus on environmental differences that help compare selection regimes across populations. ...

Multicriteria conflict arises in pairwise comparisons, where each alternative outperforms the other one on some criterion, which imposes a trade-off. Comparing two alternatives can be difficult if their respective advantages are of high magnitude (the attribute spread is large). In this paper, we investigate to which extent conflict in a comparison situation can lead decision makers to express ...

In some MCDM techniques Ð most notably in Outranking Methods Ð the result of the comparison of a finite set of alternatives according to several criteria is summarised using a fuzzy preference relation. This fuzzy relation does not, in general, possess "nice properties" such as transitivity or completeness and elaborating a recommendation on the basis of such information is not an obvious task....

Mass customization, as a means to meet individual consumer’s need on a large scale, has recently attracted the attention of both researchers and practitioners. However, as customers and their needs grow increasingly diverse, meeting every consumer’s need has become a surefire way to add unnecessary cost and complexity to operations. Furthermore, consumers are not all really ready for mass custo...

The priority problem of incomplete preference relations is investigated. Using the transformation relation between multiplicative preference relation and fuzzy preference relation, we develop a least-square model to obtain the collective priority vector of the incomplete preference relations presented by multiple decision makers, with the existence condition of the solution being developed. Mea...

We consider the challenge of preference elicitation in systems that help users discover the most desirable item(s) within a given database. Past work on preference elicitation focused on structured models that provide a factored representation of users’ preferences. Such models require less information to construct and support efficient reasoning algorithms. This paper makes two substantial con...