New hybrid EC-PROMETHEE method with multiple iterations of random weight ranges: Step-by-step application in Python.

The decision-making process consists of finding the best solution to an analyzed problem. This search is carried out in the face of countless interactions when analyzing an alternative criterion by criterion, under which weights are assigned that distinguish the degree of importance they have for the decision-makers. The definition of weight for each criterion gives rise to three lines of thought on the subject. There are objective, subjective, and hybrid methods. This discussion concerns the degree to which experts define the criteria weights. Based on this discussion, we developed a hybrid method to integrate the Entropy and CRITIC methods with the PROMETHEE method, called EC-PROMETHEE. The innovation of this method is that the combination of the Entropy and CRITIC methods does not result in a single set of weights. In reality, the weights generated by each method are used to define each criterion's upper and lower limits. The range of weights generated for each criterion is emulated "n" times and builds a set of weights that are applied to the ranking definition process. The model generates "n" rankings, defining a single ranking. In this article, we demonstrate a step-by-step application of a tool developed in Python called EC-PROMETHEE and use it as an example of the problem of choosing rotary-wing airplanes for application in the military police service.➢The method reduces discretion in determining the weights of the criteria;➢The innovation lies in the use of a range of weights for criteria;➢Consistency in defining the final ranking.

Feasibility of a Hospital Information System for a Military Public Organization in the Light of the Multi-Criteria Analysis.

The healthcare environment presents a large volume of personal and sensitive patient data that needs to be available and secure. Information and communication technology brings a new reality to healthcare, promoting improvements, agility and integration. Regarding high-level and complex decision-making scenarios, the Brazilian Navy (BN), concerning its healthcare field, is seeking to provide better management of its respective processes in its hospital facilities, allowing accurate control of preventive and curative medicine to members who work or have served there in past years. The study addresses the understanding, structure and clarifying variables related to the feasibility of technological updating and installing of a Hospital Information System (HIS) for BN. In this scenario, through interviews and analysis of military organization business processes, criteria and alternatives were established based on multi-criteria methodology as a decision aid. As methodological support for research and data processing, THOR 2 and PROMETHEE-SAPEVO-M1 methods were approached, both based on the scenarios of outranking alternatives based on the preferences established by the stakeholders in the problem. As a result of the methodological implementation, we compare the two implemented methods in this context, exposing the Commercial Software Purchase and Adoption of Free Software, integrated into Customization by the Marine Studies Foundation, as favorable actions to be adopted concerning HIS feasibility. This finding generates a comprehensive discussion regarding the BN perspective and changes in internal development in the military environment, prospecting alignment to the culture of private organizations in Information Technology for healthcare management. In the end, we present some conclusions concerning the study, exploring the main points of the decision-making analysis and for future research.

Decision-Making Support in Stroke Diagnosis Process: An Approach Based on the PROMETHEE Method and Decision Model Notation.

Decision-making in the field of healthcare is a very complex activity. Several tools have been developed to support the decision-making process. DMN, a modeling technique focused on decisions, is among these and has been gaining prominence in both, literature and business, as has the multi-criteria method PROMETHEE II that helps decision-makers with multi-criteria in analyses. Thus, this research targets combining these two techniques and analyzing the decision support that these two tools afford together. The diagnostic stage of stroke patients was used to perform this work. The research demonstrated that this proposal can drive major gains in efficiency and assertiveness in decision-making in time-sensitive hospital processes. After all, there is a noticeable dearth of hospitals with specialized teams as well as a shortfall of adequate infrastructure for this treatment.

Sensitivity Analysis by the PROMETHEE-GAIA method: Algorithms evaluation for COVID-19 prediction.

With the expansion of coronavirus in the World, the search for technology solutions based on the analysis and prospecting of diseases has become constant. The paper addresses a machine learning algorithms analysis used to predict and identify infected patients. For analysis, we use a multicriteria approach using the PROMETHEE-GAIA method, providing the structuring of alternatives respective to a set of criteria, thus enabling the obtaining of their importance degree under the perspective of multiple criteria. The study approaches a sensitivity analysis, evaluating the alternatives using the PROMETHEE I and II methods, along with the GAIA plan, both implemented by the Visual PROMETHEE computational tool, exploring numerical and graphical resources. The analysis model proves to be effective, guaranteeing the ranking of alternatives by inter criterion evaluation and local results with intra criterion evaluation, providing a transparent analysis concerning the selection of prediction algorithms to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking for consensual protection categories to reduce conservation conflicts in protected áreas / Procurando categorias de proteção consensuais para reduzir conflitos em áreas protegidas

Decision-making in protected areas is often difficult due to an unclear definition of management objectives and indicators for their monitoring. This is frequently related to the coexistence of systems of protected areas at national and regional levels for which management objectives are ambiguous or that are not directly related to protected areas classification standards. In this study, we proposed a participative model based on PROMETHEE II to find consensual protected areas categories based on IUCN framework. This model involved the stakeholders assessments of management objectives in a protected area and their aggregation based on distance comparisons with objectives of international protected areas standards. The model was tested in the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, a strongly human-modified wetland located in Eastern Spain and it allowed the identification of consensual management priorities and the IUCN category V as the equivalent international protected area category for this regional protected area.(AU)

A tomada de decisão em áreas protegidas é frequentemente um processo difícil pelo facto de não se encontrarem claramente definidos os objetivos de gestão e os indicadores para o seu monitoramento. Tal está habitualmente relacionado com a coexistência de sistemas de áreas protegidas a nível nacional e regional para os quais os objetivos de conservação são ambíguos, ou não se encontram diretamente enquadrados em normas formais de classificação de áreas protegidas. Neste estudo propomos um modelo participativo baseado em “PROMETHEE II” para definir categorias de áreas protegidas consensuais baseadas na estrutura da UICN. Este modelo considera a avaliação dos objetivos de gestão por parte de atores em áreas protegidas, e a sua agregação baseada na comparação de distâncias com os objetivos de normas internacionais destas áreas. O modelo foi testado no Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, uma zona úmida fortemente antropizada localizada no Leste de Espanha, o que permitiu a identificação de prioridades consensuais de gestão e a categoria V da UICN como a categoria internacional de área protegida equivalente para esta área protegida regional.(AU)

Looking for consensual protection categories to reduce conservation conflicts in protected áreas / Procurando categorias de proteção consensuais para reduzir conflitos em áreas protegidas

Decision-making in protected areas is often difficult due to an unclear definition of management objectives and indicators for their monitoring. This is frequently related to the coexistence of systems of protected areas at national and regional levels for which management objectives are ambiguous or that are not directly related to protected areas classification standards. In this study, we proposed a participative model based on PROMETHEE II to find consensual protected areas categories based on IUCN framework. This model involved the stakeholder’s assessments of management objectives in a protected area and their aggregation based on distance comparisons with objectives of international protected areas standards. The model was tested in the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, a strongly human-modified wetland located in Eastern Spain and it allowed the identification of consensual management priorities and the IUCN category V as the equivalent international protected area category for this regional protected area.

A tomada de decisão em áreas protegidas é frequentemente um processo difícil pelo facto de não se encontrarem claramente definidos os objetivos de gestão e os indicadores para o seu monitoramento. Tal está habitualmente relacionado com a coexistência de sistemas de áreas protegidas a nível nacional e regional para os quais os objetivos de conservação são ambíguos, ou não se encontram diretamente enquadrados em normas formais de classificação de áreas protegidas. Neste estudo propomos um modelo participativo baseado em “PROMETHEE II” para definir categorias de áreas protegidas consensuais baseadas na estrutura da UICN. Este modelo considera a avaliação dos objetivos de gestão por parte de atores em áreas protegidas, e a sua agregação baseada na comparação de distâncias com os objetivos de normas internacionais destas áreas. O modelo foi testado no Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, uma zona úmida fortemente antropizada localizada no Leste de Espanha, o que permitiu a identificação de prioridades consensuais de gestão e a categoria V da UICN como a categoria internacional de área protegida equivalente para esta área protegida regional.

Energy Efficiency in the Food Industry: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract Governments and private companies have increased efforts to identify effective actions for improving energy efficiency in manufacturing processes. The objective of this work is to improve the decision-making process by increasing the quality of information related to energy indicators in the food industry. This research involves developing a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify energy efficiency indicators in the food industry, which serve as inputs for a sectoral evaluation based on multicriteria techniques. The SLR identified six criteria evaluated by food industry experts, which form the proposed basis for evaluating the performance of related sectors. These criteria are: benchmarks, key performance indicators, framework, monitoring, ISO 50001, and information communication technologies (ICTs) in sectoral evaluations. The criteria were evaluated by experts using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), which prioritizes the most important food industry issues using an evaluation scale. Weights were attributed to each issue and positioned according to the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) to evaluate each sector by the identified criteria. The evaluated criteria are applicable to the three sectors surveyed, with emphasis on the beverage sector. Among the evaluated criteria, ICTs were highlighted by Industry 4.0 as a concern for the food sector.

Multi-criteria analysis for municipal solid waste management in a Brazilian metropolitan area.

The decision-making process involved in municipal solid waste management (MSWM) must consider more than just financial aspects, which makes it a difficult task in developing countries. The Recife Metropolitan Region (RMR) in the Northeast of Brazil faces a MSWM problem that has been ongoing since the 1970s, with no common solution. In order to direct short-term solutions, three MSWM alternatives were outlined for the RMR, considering the current and future situations, the time and cost involved and social/environmental criteria. A multi-criteria approach, based on the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE), was proposed to rank these alternatives. The alternative that included two private landfill sites and seven transfer, sorting and composting stations was confirmed as the most suitable and stable option for short-term MSWM, considering the two scenarios for the criteria weights. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to support the robustness of the results. The implementation of separate collections would minimize the amount of waste buried, while maximizing the useful life of landfill sites and increasing the timeframe of the alternative. Overall, the multi-criteria analysis was helpful and accurate during the alternative selection process, considering the similarities and restrictions of each option, which can lead to difficulties during the decision-making process.

Multi-criteria decision analysis and spatial statistic: an approach to determining human vulnerability to vector transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi

BACKGROUND Chagas disease (CD), caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is a neglected human disease. It is endemic to the Americas and is estimated to have an economic impact, including lost productivity and disability, of 7 billion dollars per year on average. OBJECTIVES To assess vulnerability to vector-borne transmission of T. cruzi in domiciliary environments within an area undergoing domiciliary vector interruption of T. cruzi in Colombia. METHODS Multi-criteria decision analysis [preference ranking method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE) and geometrical analysis for interactive assistance (GAIA) methods] and spatial statistics were performed on data from a socio-environmental questionnaire and an entomological survey. In the construction of multi-criteria descriptors, decision-making processes and indicators of five determinants of the CD vector pathway were summarily defined, including: (1) house indicator (HI); (2) triatominae indicator (TI); (3) host/reservoir indicator (Ho/RoI); (4) ecotope indicator (EI); and (5) socio-cultural indicator (S-CI). FINDINGS Determination of vulnerability to CD is mostly influenced by TI, with 44.96% of the total weight in the model, while the lowest contribution was from S-CI, with 7.15%. The five indicators comprise 17 indices, and include 78 of the original 104 priority criteria and variables. The PROMETHEE and GAIA methods proved very efficient for prioritisation and quantitative categorisation of socio-environmental determinants and for better determining which criteria should be considered for interrupting the man-T. cruzi-vector relationship in endemic areas of the Americas. Through the analysis of spatial autocorrelation it is clear that there is a spatial dependence in establishing categories of vulnerability, therefore, the effect of neighbors' setting (border areas) on local values should be incorporated into disease management for establishing programs of surveillance and control of CD via vector. CONCLUSIONS The study model proposed here is flexible and can be adapted to various eco-epidemiological profiles and is suitable for focusing anti-T. cruzi serological surveillance programs in vulnerable human populations.

Proposição de um modelo de avaliação multicritério da sustentabilidade em instituições públicas / Proposing a multi-criteria evaluation model of sustainability in public institutions

O presente trabalho trata-se de uma pesquisa aplicada com finalidade propositiva, que aborda o tema da avaliação multicritério da sustentabilidade em instituições públicas nas suas três principais dimensões: ambiental, social e econômica (tripé da sustentabilidade). A pesquisa analisou como principal instrumento o programa do governo federal brasileiro denominado Agenda Ambiental na Administração Pública – A3P, incorporando a ele os padrões da Global Reporting Initiative– GRI e do Instituto Ethos. A partir da análise deste instrumento foi proposto um modelo para avaliação da sustentabilidade de instituições públicas que permite converter indicadores qualitativos em quantitativos por meio da utilização da ferramenta multicritério de apoio à decisão (MCDA) Promethee. O modelo proposto estimula a utilização de ferramentas multicritério (MCDA) por gestores públicos nas suas decisões, a fim de buscar o equilíbrio dinâmico organizacional nas esferas ambiental, social e econômica nas instituições públicas.

This study is an applied research with propositioning purpose, which addresses the concept of multi-criteria analysis of sustainability in public institutions in their three main dimensions: environmental, social and economic. This research analyzed as the main instrument, the Brazilian federal government program called by Environmental Agenda in Public Administration - EAPA, incorporating to it the standards from the Global Reporting Initiative - GRI and from the Ethos Institute. As a result of this analysis, it was proposed a model for assessing the sustainability of public institutions that converts qualitative indicators into quantitative ones by using the Promethee multi-criteria decision support tool (MCDA). This proposed model encourages the use of multi-criteria decision tools (MCDA) by public officials in order to balance organizational dynamic in public institutions throughout environmental, social, and economic dimensions.

Metodologia para avaliar a saúde ambiental: uma aplicação em municípios empregando a análise multicriterial / Methodology for assessing the environmental health: an application in municipalities using a multicriteria analysis

Atualmente são observadas muitas maneiras de abordar a complexidade dos aspectos relacionados à saúde pública. Uma delas é a relação entre os seres humanos e o meio ambiente, especificamente através de indicadores de saúde ambiental. Dessa forma, o presente estudo objetiva propor uma metodologia baseada em indicadores de saúde ambiental e análise multicritério no intuito de analisar a situação da saúde em cidades, permitindo comparar dados ambientais entre municipalidades que integram a Região do Alto Curso do Rio Paraíba. Para tanto, fez-se o uso da pesquisa documental e exploratória e da análise multicriterial. Os municípios de São Domingos do Cariri foram os que apresentaram o menor Indicador Multicritério de Saúde Ambiental, seguido dos municípios de Amparo, Zabelê, São João do Tigre, Congo, Coxixola, São Sebastião do Umbuzeiro, Barra de São Miguel, Cabaceiras, Camalaú, Ouro Velho e São João do Cariri já que estes municípios apresentaram Indicador Multicritério de Saúde Ambiental (IMSA) negativo, ou seja, que necessitam de melhores estratégias de gestão pública no intuito de melhorar esse cenário. Por sua vez, as cidades com melhores desempenhos, IMSA positivos foram: Monteiro, Boqueirão, Sumé, Serra Branca e Prata...

Currently, there are many ways of approaching the complexity of issues related to public health. One of these is the relationship between humans and the environment, specifically through environmental health indicators. Thus, this study aims to propose a methodology based on indicators of environmental health and multi-criteria analysis in order to analyze the health situation in cities, allowing environmental data to be compared between municipalities comprising the region of the upper course of the Paraíba river. To this end, archival and exploratory research and multi-criteria analysis was used. The municipality of São Domingos do Cariri had the lowest  Multi-criteria Environmental Health indicator, followed by the cities of Amparo, Zabelê, São João do Tigre, Congo, Coxixola, São Sebastião do Umbuzeiro, Barra de São Miguel, Cabaceiras, Camalaú, Ouro Velho and São João do Cariri, as these municipalities had negative MEHI , in other words, they need better public management strategies in order to improve this scenario. The best performing cities, with positive MEHI were: Monteiro, Boqueirão, Sumé, Serra Branca and Prata...

Identification of areas in Brazil that optimize conservation of forest carbon, jaguars, and biodiversity.

A major question in global environmental policy is whether schemes to reduce carbon pollution through forest management, such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+), can also benefit biodiversity conservation in tropical countries. We identified municipalities in Brazil that are priorities for reducing rates of deforestation and thus preserving carbon stocks that are also conservation targets for the endangered jaguar (Panthera onca) and biodiversity in general. Preliminary statistical analysis showed that municipalities with high biodiversity were positively associated with high forest carbon stocks. We used a multicriteria decision analysis to identify municipalities that offered the best opportunities for the conservation of forest carbon stocks and biodiversity conservation under a range of scenarios with different rates of deforestation and carbon values. We further categorized these areas by their representativeness of the entire country (through measures such as percent forest cover) and an indirect measure of cost (number of municipalities). The municipalities that offered optimal co-benefits for forest carbon stocks and conservation were termed REDDspots (n = 159), and their spatial distribution was compared with the distribution of current and proposed REDD projects (n = 135). We defined REDDspots as the municipalities that offer the best opportunities for co-benefits between the conservation of forest carbon stocks, jaguars, and other wildlife. These areas coincided in 25% (n = 40) of municipalities. We identified a further 95 municipalities that may have the greatest potential to develop additional REDD+ projects while also targeting biodiversity conservation. We concluded that REDD+ strategies could be an efficient tool for biodiversity conservation in key locations, especially in Amazonian and Atlantic Forest biomes.