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This volume presents a catalogue of over 2000 doctoral theses by Africans in all fields of mathematics, including applied mathematics, mathematics education and history of mathematics. The introduction contains information about distribution by country, institutions, period, and by gender, about mathematical density, and mobility of mathematicians. Several appendices are included (female doctorate holders, doctorates in mathematics education, doctorates awarded by African universities to non-Africans, doctoral theses by non-Africans about mathematics in Africa, activities of African mathematicians at the service of their communities). Paulus Gerdes compiled the information in his capacity of Chairman of the African Mathematical Union Commission for the History of Mathematics in Africa (AMUCHMA). The book contains a preface by Mohamed Hassan, President of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and Executive Director of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS). (383 pp.)
This book showcases a large variety of multiple criteria decision applications (MCDAs), presenting them in a coherent framework provided by the methodology chapters and the comments accompanying each case study. The chapters describing MCDAs invite the reader to experiment with MCDA methods and perhaps develop new variants using data from these case studies or other cases they encounter, equipping them with a broader perception of real-world problems and how to overcome them with the help of MCDAs.
Nowadays, decision problems are pervaded with incomplete knowledge, i.e., imprecision and/or uncertain information, both in the problem description and in the preferential information. In this volume leading scientists in the field address various theoretical and practical aspects related to the handling of this incompleteness. The problems discussed are taken from multi-objective linear programming, rationality considerations in preference modelling, non-probabilistic utility theory, data fusion, group decision making and multicriteria decision aid. The book is oriented towards researchers, graduate and postgraduate students in decision analysis, fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic, and operations research/management science.
Combinatorial optimization is the process of finding the best, or optimal, so lution for problems with a discrete set of feasible solutions. Applications arise in numerous settings involving operations management and logistics, such as routing, scheduling, packing, inventory and production management, lo cation, logic, and assignment of resources. The economic impact of combi natorial optimization is profound, affecting sectors as diverse as transporta tion (airlines, trucking, rail, and shipping), forestry, manufacturing, logistics, aerospace, energy (electrical power, petroleum, and natural gas), telecommu nications, biotechnology, financial services, and agriculture. While much progress h...
Intelligent decision support is based on human knowledge related to a specific part of a real or abstract world. When the knowledge is gained by experience, it is induced from empirical data. The data structure, called an information system, is a record of objects described by a set of attributes. Knowledge is understood here as an ability to classify objects. Objects being in the same class are indiscernible by means of attributes and form elementary building blocks (granules, atoms). In particular, the granularity of knowledge causes that some notions cannot be expressed precisely within available knowledge and can be defined only vaguely. In the rough sets theory created by Z. Pawlak each...
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Evolutionary Multi-Criterion Optimization, EMO 2011, held in Ouro Preto, Brazil, in April 2011. The 42 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 83 submissions. The papers deal with fundamental questions of EMO theory, such as the development of algorithmically efficient tools for the evaluation of solution-set quality , the theoretical questions related to solution archiving and others. They report on the continuing effort in the development of algorithms, either for dealing with particular classes of problems or for new forms of processing the problem information. Almost one third of the papers is related to EMO applications in a diversity of fields. Eleven papers are devoted to promote the interaction with the related field of Multi-Criterion Decision Making (MCDM).
The success of metaheuristics on hard single-objective optimization problems is well recognized today. However, many real-life problems require taking into account several conflicting points of view corresponding to multiple objectives. The use of metaheuristic optimization techniques for multi-objective problems is the subject of this volume. The book includes selected surveys, tutorials and state-of-the-art research papers in this field, which were first presented at a free workshop jointly organized by the French working group on Multi-objective Mathematical Programming (PM2O) and the EURO working group on Metaheuristics in December 2002. It is the first book which considers both various metaheuristics and various kind of problems (e.g. combinatorial problems, real situations, non-linear problems) applied to multiple objective optimization. Metaheuristics used include: genetic algorithms, ant colony optimization, simulated annealing, scatter search, etc. Problems concern timetabling, vehicle routing, and more. Methodological aspects, such as quality evaluation, are also covered.
This collection of papers gives a broad overview of the state of the art in Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), in both theory and practice. Topical sections are ranging from preference modelling and methodological developments to a number of applications of MCDM thinking. Special sections are devoted to applications in natural resources and environmental management issues, to negotiation and group decision support, and to philosophical issues, particularly in the interface between systems thinking and MCDM. The book will be relevant not only to those working in the area of MCDM, but also to researchers and practitioners concerned with broader areas of management science, especially those concerned with decision support systems and negotiation support.
In the Theory of Philosophical Consciencism, Professor Dompere establishes how Nkrumah used the theory of categorical conversion housing the necessary conditions of transformation to design strategies for creating the sufficient conditions for socio-political transformations. The theory of Philosophical Consciencism is about the institutionally destruction-creation process for socio-political transformation. The theory shows the scientific contributions of Nkrumah's thinking to the solution of the transformation problem in science and its application to social systemicity, where Nkrumah's analytical weapons were drawn from African conceptual system. The theory is developed as logico-mathemat...
Scheduling and multicriteria optimisation theory have been subject, separately, to numerous studies. Since the last twenty years, multicriteria scheduling problems have been subject to a growing interest. However, a gap between multicriteria scheduling approaches and multicriteria optimisation field exits. This book is an attempt to collect the elementary of multicriteria optimisation theory and the basic models and algorithms of multicriteria scheduling. It is composed of numerous illustrations, algorithms and examples which may help the reader in understanding the presented concepts. This book covers general concepts such as Pareto optimality, complexity theory, and general method for multicriteria optimisation, as well as dedicated scheduling problems and algorithms: just-in-time scheduling, flexibility and robustness, single machine problems, parallel machine problems, shop problems, etc. The second edition contains revisions and new material.