Konrad Kułakowski

On the quality evaluation of scientific entities in Poland supported by consistency-driven pairwise comparisons method

Comparison, rating, and ranking of alternative solutions, in case of multicriteria evaluations, have been an eternal focus of operations research and optimization theory. There exist numerous approaches at practical solving the multicriteria ranking problem. The recent focus of interest in this domain was the event of parametric evaluation of research entities in Poland. The principal methodology was based on pairwise comparisons. For each single comparison, four criteria have been used. One of the controversial points of the assumed approach was that the weights of these criteria were arbitrary. The main focus of this study is to put forward a theoretically justified way of extracting weights from the opinions of domain experts. Theoretical bases for the whole procedure are based on a survey and its experimental results. Discussion and comparison of the two resulting sets of weights and the computed inconsistency indicator are discussed.

Notes on order preservation and consistency in AHP

The pairwise comparisons method is a convenient tool used when the relative order among different concepts (alternatives) needs to be determined. One popular implementation of the method is based on solving an eigenvalue problem for the pairwise comparisons matrix. In such cases the ranking result the principal eigenvector of the pairwise comparison matrix is adopted, whilst the eigenvalue is used to determine the index of inconsistency. A lot of research has been devoted to the critical analysis of the eigenvalue based approach. One of them is the work of Bana e Costa and Vansninck [1]. In their work authors define the conditions of order preservation (COP) and show that even for a sufficiently consistent pairwise comparisons matrices, this condition can not be met. The present work defines a more precise criteria for determining when the COP is met. To formulate the criteria a discrepancy factor is used describing how far the input to the ranking procedure is from the ranking result.The pairwise comparisons method is a convenient tool used when the relative order among different concepts (alternatives) needs to be determined. One popular implementation of the method is based on solving an eigenvalue problem for the pairwise comparisons matrix. In such cases the ranking result for the principal eigenvector of the pairwise comparisons matrix is adopted, while the eigenvalue is used to determine the index of inconsistency. A lot of research has been devoted to the critical analysis of the eigenvalue based approach. One of them is the work of Bana e Costa and Vansnick (2008). In their work, the authors define the conditions of order preservation (COP) and show that even for sufficiently consistent pairwise comparisons matrices, this condition cannot be met. The presented work defines more precise criteria for determining when the COP is met. To formulate the criteria, an error factor is used describing how far the input to the ranking procedure is from the ranking result. The relationship between the Saaty consistency index and COP is also discussed.

Heuristic Rating Estimation Approach to The Pairwise Comparisons Method

The Heuristic Ratio Estimation (HRE) approach proposes a new way of using the pairwise comparisons matrix. It allows the assumption that the weights of some alternatives (herein referred to as concepts) are known and fixed, hence the weight vector needs to be estimated only for the other unknown values. The main purpose of this paper is to extend the previously proposed iterative HRE algorithm and present all the heuristics that create a generalized approach. Theoretical considerations are accompanied by a few numerical examples demonstrating how the selected heuristics can be used in practice.

Morphinome – A meta-analysis applied to proteomics studies in morphine dependence

This review is a meta‐analysis of data describing proteins regulated by morphine influence studied worldwide across last years administration. Up to date (July 2010), 15 studies concerning this subject have been published. Animal models, examined brain structures, the route of morphine administration and proteomic platforms used for identification of differentially expressed proteins were described. Standardization of obtained results allowed for creation of database of proteins, whose expression was altered by morphine administration (www.addiction‐proteomics.org). Their analysis by tools available in Celera Panther Database was possible too. Proteins, which seem to be the most promising candidates for further research, due to their consistent appearance in different studies, were indicated. Created database may facilitate further studies by providing a possibility to compare results obtained during different experiments. At the end, dynamic picture of proteome after morphine administration, which emerges from the obtained results, is discussed and need for standardization of proteomics experiments is stressed. As meta‐analysis is a very powerful tool for evaluation and comparison of multiple data. We believe this approach will be useful in the nearest future to extract vital information from a vast number of similar publications. Morphinome database created already by our group is a comfortable tool for validation and verification of new data received after morphine influence on proteomes investigations. It gives a chance for fast comparison of results without hours spent on life science literature mining.

Multi-agent Systems in Pedestrian Dynamics Modeling

The article presents the use of Multi-agent system (MAS) in pedestrian dynamics modeling. Current trends in pedestrian dynamics are presented with particular focus on a short review of various agent-based models of pedestrian dynamics. The models are briefly discussed and compared.

Heuristic rating estimation: geometric approach

Heuristic rating estimation is a newly proposed method that supports decisions analysis based on the use of pairwise comparisons. It allows the ranking values of some alternatives (herein referred to as concepts) to be initially known, whilst ranks for other concepts have yet to be estimated. To calculate the missing ranks it is assumed that the priority of every single concept can be determined as the weighted arithmetic mean of the priorities of all the other concepts. It has been shown that the problem has an admissible solution if the inconsistency of the pairwise comparisons is not too high. The proposed approach adopts heuristics according to which a weighted geometric mean is used to determine the missing priorities. In this approach, despite increased complexity, a solution always exists and its existence does not depend on the inconsistency or reciprocity of the input matrix. Thus, the presented approach might be appropriate for a larger number of problems than previous methods. Moreover, it turns out that the geometric approach, as proposed in the article, can be optimal. The optimality condition is presented in the form of a corresponding theorem. A formal definition of the proposed geometric heuristics is accompanied by two numerical examples.

On the Properties of the Priority Deriving Procedure in the Pairwise Comparisons Method

The pairwise comparisons method can be used when the relative order of preferences among different concepts (alternatives) needs to be determined. There are several popular imple- mentations of this method, including the Eigenvector Method, the Least Squares Method, the Chi Squares Method and others. Each of the above methods comes with one or more inconsistency in- dices that help to decide whether the consistency of input guarantees obtaining a reliable output, thus taking the optimal decision. This article explores the relationship between inconsistency of input and error of output. An error describes to what extent the obtained results correspond to the single experts assessments. On the basis of the inconsistency and the error, two properties of the weight deriving procedure are formulated. These properties are proven for eigenvector method and Koczkodajs inconsistency index. Several estimates using Koczkodajs inconsistency index for a principal eigenvalue, Saatys inconsistency index and the Condition of Order Preservation are also provided.

The New Triad based Inconsistency Indices for Pairwise Comparisons

Abstract Pairwise comparisons are widely recognized method supporting decision making process based on the subjective judgments. The key to this method is the notion of inconsistency that has a significant impact on the reliability of results. Inconsistency is expressed by means of inconsistency indices. Depending on their construction, such indices may pay attention to different aspects of the set of pairwise comparisons. The family of indices proposed in this article tries to combine the advantages coming from different indices, thereby increases the expressiveness of the family elements. The newly introduced notion of equivalence can help in comparing the indices and identifying their common properties.

Modeling indoor lighting inspection robot behavior using Concurrent Communicating Lists

Today, energy efficiency is one of the top priorities in building design and construction. A significant share of energy usage is due to indoor lighting. Although methods exist for design and control of intelligent lighting systems, the task of real-world lighting assessment and verification remains only partly addressed. This paper describes foundations for design of a robot to conduct regular and automated audits of lighting quality in office buildings, with emphasis on the modeling of its behavior. The proposed model uses the Concurrent Communicating Lists (CCL) notation, which allows it to be easily simulated, executed, and formally verified. The CCL behavior model is discussed in the context of Knowledge-Behavior-Platform (KBP) robotic architecture proposed as a practical model runtime environment.

Agent-based approach in evacuation modeling

The article presents an agent-based approach to modeling of pedestrian evacuation. It includes some theoretical aspect of using the agents techniques as well as case study of evacuation tests realized by the authors. Results from real data gained from experiments are compared with data from designed simulations. The use of agent-based methods gives promising perspective in pedestrian evacuation modeling.