A fuzzy random forest

When individual classifiers are combined appropriately, a statistically significant increase in classification accuracy is usually obtained. Multiple classifier systems are the result of combining several individual classifiers. Following Breiman’s methodology, in this paper a multiple classifier system based on a “forest” of fuzzy decision trees, i.e., a fuzzy random forest, is proposed. This approach combines the robustness of multiple classifier systems, the power of the randomness to increase the diversity of the trees, and the flexibility of fuzzy logic and fuzzy sets for imperfect data management. Various combination methods to obtain the final decision of the multiple classifier system are proposed and compared. Some of them are weighted combination methods which make a weighting of the decisions of the different elements of the multiple classifier system (leaves or trees). A comparative study with several datasets is made to show the efficiency of the proposed multiple classifier system and the various combination methods. The proposed multiple classifier system exhibits a good accuracy classification, comparable to that of the best classifiers when tested with conventional data sets. However, unlike other classifiers, the proposed classifier provides a similar accuracy when tested with imperfect datasets (with missing and fuzzy values) and with datasets with noise.     

Multiple imputation in principal component analysis

The available methods to handle missing values in principal component analysis only provide point estimates of the parameters (axes and components) and estimates of the missing values. To take into account the variability due to missing values a multiple imputation method is proposed. First a method to generate multiple imputed data sets from a principal component analysis model is defined. Then, two ways to visualize the uncertainty due to missing values onto the principal component analysis results are described. The first one consists in projecting the imputed data sets onto a reference configuration as supplementary elements to assess the stability of the individuals (respectively of the variables). The second one consists in performing a principal component analysis on each imputed data set and fitting each obtained configuration onto the reference one with Procrustes rotation. The latter strategy allows to assess the variability of the principal component analysis parameters induced by the missing values. The methodology is then evaluated from a real data set.     

A fuzzy MCDM approach for stock selection

A fuzzy MCDM approach is applied to the stock selection problem, where the proposed approach can deal with qualitative information in addition to quantitative information. A hierarchy of major–sub criteria is then established to reduce the dependence between criteria. The ratings of alternatives versus qualitative sub-criteria and the weights of major- and sub-criteria are assessed in linguistic terms represented by fuzzy numbers. Each sub-criterion is in a benefit, cost, or balanced nature. New standardization methods for fuzzy numbers in the cost and balanced nature are presented. The algorithms of membership functions of the final aggregation are completely developed instead of approximation. The final aggregations in fuzzy numbers are then defuzzified to crisp values in order to rank the performance of alternatives. Moreover, the ratio of market price to performance (PP) is suggested to filter the over/under-pricing of alternatives. A set of buying/selling strategies are recommended according to the performance and PP. An empirical example then demonstrates the processing of the proposed approach.     

An interactive method for multiple criteria group decision analysis based on interval type-2 fuzzy sets and its application to medical decision making

The theory of interval type-2 fuzzy sets provides an intuitive and computationally feasible way of addressing uncertain and ambiguous information in decision-making fields. The aim of this paper is to develop an interactive method for handling multiple criteria group decision-making problems, in which information about criterion weights is incompletely (imprecisely or partially) known and the criterion values are expressed as interval type-2 trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. With respect to the relative importance of multiple decision-makers and group consensus of fuzzy opinions, a hybrid averaging approach combining weighted averages and ordered weighted averages was employed to construct the collective decision matrix. An integrated programming model was then established based on the concept of signed distance-based closeness coefficients to determine the importance weights of criteria and the priority ranking of alternatives. Subsequently, an interactive procedure was proposed to modify the model according to the decision-makers’ feedback on the degree of satisfaction toward undesirable solution results for the sake of gradually improving the integrated model. The feasibility and applicability of the proposed methods are illustrated with a medical decision-making problem of patient-centered medicine concerning basilar artery occlusion. A comparative analysis with other approaches was performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.     

Supervised learning of multivariate skew normal mixture models with missing information

We establish computationally flexible tools for the analysis of multivariate skew normal mixtures when missing values occur in data. To facilitate the computation and simplify the theoretical derivation, two auxiliary permutation matrices are incorporated into the model for the determination of observed and missing components of each observation and are manifestly effective in reducing the computational complexity. We present an analytically feasible EM algorithm for the supervised learning of parameters as well as missing observations. The proposed mixture analyzer, including the most commonly used Gaussian mixtures as a special case, allows practitioners to handle incomplete multivariate data sets in a wide range of considerations. The methodology is illustrated through a real data set with varying proportions of synthetic missing values generated by MCAR and MAR mechanisms and shown to perform well on classification tasks.     

Multicriteria decision-making method using the Dice similarity measure based on the reduct intuitionistic fuzzy sets of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets

This paper proposes the concept of the reduct intuitionistic fuzzy sets of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFSs) with respect to adjustable weight vectors and the Dice similarity measure based on the reduct intuitionistic fuzzy sets to explore the effects of optimism, neutralism, and pessimism in decision making. Then a decision-making method with the pessimistic, optimistic, and neutral schemes desired by the decision maker is established by combining adjustable weight vectors and the Dice similarity measure for IVIFSs. The proposed decision-making method is more flexible and adjustable in practical problems and can determine the ranking order of alternatives and the optimal one(s), so that it can overcome the difficulty of the ranking order and decision making when there exist the same measure values of some alternatives in some cases. This adjustable feature can provide the decision maker with more selecting schemes and actionable results for the decision-making analysis. Finally, two illustrative examples are employed to show the feasibility of the proposed method in practical applications.     

The extended QUALIFLEX method for multiple criteria decision analysis based on interval type-2 fuzzy sets and applications to medical decision making

QUALIFLEX, a generalization of Jacquet-Lagreze’s permutation method, is a useful outranking method in decision analysis because of its flexibility with respect to cardinal and ordinal information. This paper develops an extended QUALIFLEX method for handling multiple criteria decision-making problems in the context of interval type-2 fuzzy sets. Interval type-2 fuzzy sets contain membership values that are crisp intervals, which are the most widely used of the higher order fuzzy sets because of their relative simplicity. Using the linguistic rating system converted into interval type-2 trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, the extended QUALIFLEX method investigates all possible permutations of the alternatives with respect to the level of concordance of the complete preference order. Based on a signed distance-based approach, this paper proposes the concordance/discordance index, the weighted concordance/discordance index, and the comprehensive concordance/discordance index as evaluative criteria of the chosen hypothesis for ranking the alternatives. The feasibility and applicability of the proposed methods are illustrated by a medical decision-making problem concerning acute inflammatory demyelinating disease, and a comparative analysis with another outranking approach is conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.     

基于VIKOR和关联系数的犹豫三角模糊语言多属性决策方法

针对属性评价值为犹豫三角模糊语言集的多属性决策问题,提出一种基于VIKOR方法的犹豫三角模糊语言多属性决策方法.首先定义了犹豫三角模糊语言集的相关概念.然后运用VIKOR和关联系数方法,在可接受优势和决策过程稳定的条件下对方案进行择优,在理论分析的基础上,提出了这种新方法的计算步骤.并构建了确定最优属性权重的非线性规划模型,研究了当专家权重和属性权重未知情况下的犹豫三角模糊语言多属性决策方法.最后通过实例说明了该方法的有效性和可行性.     

部分权重信息下对方案有互补偏好的多属性决策法

研究了只有部分权重信息且对方案的偏好信息以模糊互补判断矩阵形式给出的多属性决策问题.首先,基于模糊互补判断矩阵的主观偏好信息,利用转换函数将客观决策信息一致化,建立一个目标规划模型,通过求解该模型得到属性权重,从而利用加性加权法获得各方案的综合属性值,并以此对方案进行排序或择优.提出了一种基于目标规划的多属性决策方法.该方法具有操作简便和易于上机实现的特点.最后,通过实例说明模型及方法的可行性和有效性.     

The extended linear assignment method for multiple criteria decision analysis based on interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets

The theory of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets is useful and beneficial for handling uncertainty and imprecision in multiple criteria decision analysis. In addition, the theory allows for convenient quantification of the equivocal nature of human subjective assessments. In this paper, by extending the traditional linear assignment method, we propose a useful method for solving multiple criteria evaluation problems in the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy context. A ranking procedure consisting of score functions, accuracy functions, membership uncertainty indices, and hesitation uncertainty indices is presented to determine a criterion-wise preference of the alternatives. An extended linear assignment model is then constructed using a modified weighted-rank frequency matrix to determine the priority order of various alternatives. The feasibility and applicability of the proposed method are illustrated with a multiple criteria decision-making problem involving the selection of a bridge construction method. Additionally, a comparative analysis with other methods, including the approach with weighted aggregation operators, the closeness coefficient-based method, and the auxiliary nonlinear programming models, has been conducted for solving the investment company selection problem to validate the effectiveness of the extended linear assignment method.     

On the Parameterized OWA Operators for Fuzzy MCDM Based on Vague Set Theory

The family of Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) operators, as introduced by Yager, appears to be very useful in multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). In this paper, we extend a family of parameterized OWA operators to fuzzy MCDM based on vague set theory, where the characteristics of the alternatives are presented by vague sets. These families are specified by a few parameters to aggregate vague values instead of the intersection and union operators proposed by Chen. The proposed method provides a “soft” and expansive way to help the decision maker to make his decisions. Examples are shown to illustrate the procedure of the proposed method at the end of this paper.     

缺失数据均值推断的经验似然方法

研究了缺失数据的均值推断问题.在随机缺失及半参数模型的假设下,设计了基于影响函数理论的经验似然推断方法,证明了所构造的对数经验似然比检验统计量具有非参数Wilks性质.此外,该经验似然方法可以利用辅助协变量中提供的附加信息来提高检验的功效.在近邻备择假设下,计算了检验统计量的功效,并且通过一些模拟考察了该方法在有限样本下的表现.     

Multicriteria fuzzy decision-making method using entropy weights-based correlation coefficients of interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets

A multicriteria fuzzy decision-making method based on weighted correlation coefficients using entropy weights is proposed under interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy environment for the some situations where the information about criteria weights for alternatives is completely unknown. To determine the entropy weights with respect to a decision matrix provided as interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IVIFSs), we propose two entropy measures for IVIFSs and establish an entropy weight model, which can be used to determine the criteria weights on alternatives, and then propose an evaluation formula of weighted correlation coefficient between an alternative and the ideal alternative. The alternatives can be ranked and the most desirable one(s) can be selected according to the values of the weighted correlation coefficients. Finally, two applied examples demonstrate the applicability and benefit of the proposed method: it is capable for handling the multicriteria fuzzy decision-making problems with completely unknown weights for criteria.     

证据视角下考虑多参考点的直觉模糊多属性决策模型

针对直觉模糊多属性决策中,决策者内心同时存在多个独立参考点并且各属性之间相互关联的问题,进一步考虑智能传感设备在决策中的参考作用,提出证据视角下考虑多参考点的直觉模糊多属性决策模型。模型首先利用证据理论融合各传感器数据,得到各状态的mass函数;其次,考虑决策者内心同时存在多个参考点,利用价值函数得到各状态下多参考点价值矩阵;进一步,针对属性间的关联性,利用模糊积分得到各状态下不同方案的综合评价值;再次,利用基于证据理论的直觉模糊诱导有序加权平均(DS-IFIOWA)算子将各状态下不同方案的综合评价值进行集结,得到方案的总评价值,并以此对方案进行排序和优选。最后,利用数值算例验证了模型的有效性和可行性。     

An interval set model for learning rules from incomplete information table

A novel interval set approach is proposed in this paper to induce classification rules from incomplete information table, in which an interval-set-based model to represent the uncertain concepts is presented. The extensions of the concepts in incomplete information table are represented by interval sets, which regulate the upper and lower bounds of the uncertain concepts. Interval set operations are discussed, and the connectives of concepts are represented by the operations on interval sets. Certain inclusion, possible inclusion, and weak inclusion relations between interval sets are presented, which are introduced to induce strong rules and weak rules from incomplete information table. The related properties of the inclusion relations are proved. It is concluded that the strong rules are always true whatever the missing values may be, while the weak rules may be true when missing values are replaced by some certain known values. Moreover, a confidence function is defined to evaluate the weak rule. The proposed approach presents a new view on rule induction from incomplete data based on interval set.     

Fuzzy similarity-based nearest-neighbour classification as alternatives to their fuzzy-rough parallels

Fuzzy-rough sets have enjoyed much attention in recent years as an effective way in which to extend rough set theory such that it can deal with real-valued data. More recently, fuzzy-rough sets have been employed for the task of classification. This has led to the development of approaches such as fuzzy-rough nearest-neighbour (FRNN) and its extension based on vaguely-quantified rough sets (VQNN). These methods perform well and experimental evaluation demonstrates that VQNN in particular is very effective for dealing with data in the presence of noise. In this paper, the underlying mechanisms of FRNN and VQNN are investigated and analysed. The theoretical proof and empirical evaluation show that the resulting classification of FRNN and VQNN depends only upon the highest similarity and greatest summation of the similarities of each class, respectively. This fact is exploited in order to formulate the novel methods proposed in this paper: similarity nearest-neighbour (SNN) and aggregated-similarity nearest-neighbour (ASNN). These two novel approaches are equivalent to FRNN and VQNN, but do not employ the concepts or framework of fuzzy-rough sets. Instead only fuzzy similarity is used. Experimental evaluation confirms the observation that these new methods maintain the classification performance of the existing advanced fuzzy-rough nearest-neighbour-based classifiers. In addition, the underlying mathematical foundation is simplified.     

Robust fuzzy rough classifiers

Fuzzy rough sets, generalized from Pawlak's rough sets, were introduced for dealing with continuous or fuzzy data. This model has been widely discussed and applied these years. It is shown that the model of fuzzy rough sets is sensitive to noisy samples, especially sensitive to mislabeled samples. As data are usually contaminated with noise in practice, a robust model is desirable. We introduce a new model of fuzzy rough set model, called soft fuzzy rough sets, and design a robust classification algorithm based on the model. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.     

模糊多属性决策的直觉模糊集方法

基于直觉模糊集理论,提出了一种新的TOPSIS方法来研究模糊多属性决策问题。首先,根据直觉模糊集的几何意义,定义了两个直觉模糊集之间的距离,且每个备选方案的评价值用直觉模糊值表示;然后,根据TOPSIS原理,通过计算备选方案到直觉模糊正理想解和负理想解的距离,来确定备选方案的综合评价指数,以此判断方案的优劣次序。最后,通过一个具体实例说明该方法的有效性和具体应用过程。     

基于前景理论的三角犹豫模糊多属性决策方法

针对属性权重信息完全未知,属性值为三角犹豫模糊元的多属性决策问题,提出一种基于前景理论和模糊结构元的决策分析方法。首先,基于模糊结构元理论,定义三角犹豫模糊元的结构元形式和海明距离公式,并通过求解属性间距离离差最大化的优化模型确定权重。其次,依据前景理论,分别以正负理想点作为决策参照点,构建收益矩阵和损失矩阵。在此基础上,应用TOPSIS方法计算各备选方案的相对贴近度,并依据相对贴近度的大小实现备选方案排序。最后,通过算例验证方法是有效和可行的。