Emergency response scheme selection with T-spherical hesitant probabilistic fuzzy TODIM-TPZSG approach

This paper aims to investigate an innovative framework to handle emergency response scheme selection (ERSS) issues by integrating TODIM and TPZSG (two-person zero-sum game) methods under novel T-spherical hesitant probabilistic fuzzy set (T-SHPFS) environments. First, T-SHPFS is defined as an extension of the existing tools, which can depict the complex assessment information including several possible values of the various membership functions' degrees and the associated statistical uncertainty information. Concomitantly, T-SHPFS's normalization method, comparison laws, operation rules, cross-entropy measure and Hausdorff distance are explored. Then, an objective attribute weight determining model is constructed, considering the credibility of T-SHPF evaluations and the divergence degrees between attribute assessments simultaneously. Next, an integrated TODIM-TPZSG decision-making approach is developed to select the most desirable emergency response scheme. Finally, an illustrative example concerning the selection of the best medical waste disposal method during the COVID-19 epidemic is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed TODIM-TPZSG method. Sensitivity analysis and comparisons between the TODIM-TPZSG and other representative methods are also provided to demonstrate the superiorities of the proposed method. The results reveal that the developed T-SHPFSs give DMs more assessment freedom;the proposed TODIM-TPZSG approach considers the decision makers' psychological behaviors;the ranking results of the proposed method can reflect the specific divergence degrees among the alternatives;and the needed computation burden and computational complexity are low and less affected by the number of alternatives and criteria than most current ERSS methods. © 2023

Understanding Consumer Panic Buying Behaviors during the Strict Lockdown on Omicron Variant: A Risk Perception View

Panic buying has been globally observed, leading to substantial stock-outs and supply chain disruptions, thus inducing additional panic buying. Regarding panic buying behavior as an intuitive over-protective measure during the strict lockdown and seal-off management in China, this study presented a synthetic conceptual model by integrating the protective action decision model (PADM). We examined inductively the relationships among media exposure, cognitive-affective risk perception, stakeholder perception, protective perception, and panic buying behavior using a survey of 517 participants who experienced panic buying during the Omicron epidemic in China. Results suggest that traditional media exposure could attenuate people's affective risk perception, whereas social media exposure increases the degree of cognitive and affective aspects of risk perception. Furthermore, we detect that cognitive and affective risk perceptions positively affect people's panic-buying behaviors. The effects of stakeholder and protective perceptions on panic buying were also examined.

[Analysis of differences and influencing factors of liver injury associated with different strains of 2019-nCoV infection].

Objective: To analyze whether there are differences and related influencing factors in liver injury associated with different strains of 2019-nCoV/SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: Data of epidemiology, clinical symptoms, laboratory tests, and treatment outcomes of patients with COVID-19 infection confirmed with Alpha and Delta virus strain in Zhejiang Province were retrospectively collected. Statistical analysis was performed using independent samples t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, χ2 test or Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 788 and 381 cases with Alpha and Delta virus strain were included. Vaccination ratio was 0% in Alpha and 85.30% in Delta group (P<0.001), The proportion of patients with fever (80.71% vs. 40.94%, P<0.001) was significantly higher in Alpha than Delta strain group. The proportion of critical ill patients was significantly higher in Delta group (9.90% vs. 1.57%, respectively, P<0.001). The virus negative conversion time was significantly longer in Delta than Alpha group (22 d vs. 11 d, P<0.001), but the incidence of liver injury was significantly higher in Alpha than Delta group (20.05% vs. 13.91%, P=0.011). Univariate analysis showed that Alpha virus strain infection, male sex, body mass index, chronic liver disease, fever, diarrhea, shortness of breath, severe/critical illness, elevated creatine kinase (CK), elevated international normalized ratio (INR) and an elevated neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was significantly associated with an increased risk of liver injury occurrence, and in patients with pharyngeal pain the risk of liver injury occurrence was significantly reduced. Multivariate analysis showed that shortness of breath [OR, 2.667 (CI: 1.389-5.122); P=0.003], increased CK [OR, 2.544 (CI: 1.414-4.576); P=0.002] and increased INR [OR, 1.721] (CI: 1.074-2.758); P=0.024] was significantly associated with an increased risk of liver injury occurrence, and in patients with pharyngeal pain the risk of liver injury occurrence was significantly reduced [OR, 0.424 (CI: 0.254-0.709); P=0.001]. Conclusion: Although the virulence of the Delta is stronger than Alpha strain, most patients infected with Delta strain vaccinated against COVID-19 in Zhejiang province had milder clinical symptoms and a lower incidence and degree of liver injury. Notably, the infection risk even remains after vaccination; however, symptoms and the incidence of severe and critical illness can be significantly reduced.