Search results for " hierarchy"
showing 10 items of 158 documents
Challenges in truncating the hierarchy of time-dependent reduced density matrices equations
2012
In this work, we analyze the Born, Bogoliubov, Green, Kirkwood, and Yvon (BBGKY) hierarchy of equations for describing the full time evolution of a many-body fermionic system in terms of its reduced density matrices (at all orders). We provide an exhaustive study of the challenges and open problems linked to the truncation of such a hierarchy of equations to make them practically applicable. We restrict our analysis to the coupled evolution of the one- and two-body reduced density matrices, where higher-order correlation effects are embodied into the approximation used to close the equations. We prove that within this approach, the number of electrons and total energy are conserved, regardl…
Auditory Phenomena and Human Life: Phenomenological Experience
2018
The present study analyzes auditory phenomena from the point of view of hermeneutical phenomenology and shows their interconnectedness with the understanding of man, hearing and listening within the context of human life as the horizon of meaningful sonority and silence. The central questions to be answered in this study are these: What is experienced as sound and sonority? How does a human see himself in inclusion of his being from where he listens, understands, and speaks? The study explores the classical standpoints of Husserl’s phenomenology and other philosophical apprehensions which confirm that auditory phenomena is not to be apprehended solely as an isolated horizon but as being per…
An AHP-based evaluation procedure for Innovative Educational Projects: A face-to-face vs. computer-mediated case study
2008
In this paper a procedure to evaluate proposals for Educational Innovation Projects is proposed. This methodology should help the Institute of Educational Sciences of the Politechnical University of Valencia to choose the best Educational Project, the final aim being to provide the Administration with a stringent evaluation methodology, since the current evaluation methodology was found to be neither sufficiently objective nor systematic. Since in the definition and evaluation of these Educational Projects diverse stakeholders are involved, the process has been approached as a MCDA carried out by a group of experts. Although a whole methodology is proposed, the paper has been focused on the…
Dominància i ocupació de l'espai en grups de primats no-humans: un model basat en conducta adaptativa
2007
L'estructura jeràrquica és una de les característiques fonamentals de les societats de primats, que condiciona en gran mesura el comportament dels individus que conviuen al grup. Quines lleis regeixen la formació i l'estructura d'aquestes jerarquies? Per què en determinats grups els subjectes més dominants se situen al centre del grup i en uns altres de la mateixa espècie no? En el camp de la conducta animal s'han proposat múltiples hipòtesis, però no n'hi ha cap que siga totalment satisfactòria, ja que a causa de les múltiples variables que hi infl ueixen, és difícil desplegar una teoria que explique tota la complexitat que s'observa empíricament. La nostra proposta d'estudi es basa en l'e…
Combined fuzzy TOPSIS and AHP-based methodology for the prioritization of maintenance key performance indicators: Application to an oil refinery plant
2017
A Maintenance Performance Measurement model based on the use of Maintenance Key Performance Indicators (MKPIs) is proposed in the present paper. Referring to a specific industrial context, a multi-level hierarchical structure is firstly designed to highlight the most meaningful perspectives which affect the maintenance performance. Then, MKPIs selected from the literature or properly formulated to detail some particular perspective of the investigated maintenance process are assigned to the hierarchical framework and prioritized by a Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)-based approach.
A comparison of statistical methods and multi-criteria decision making to map flood hazard susceptibility in Northern Iran
2018
In north of Iran, flood is one of the most important natural hazards that annually inflict great economic damages on humankind infrastructures and natural ecosystems. The Kiasar watershed is known as one of the critical areas in north of Iran, due to numerous floods and waste of water and soil resources, as well as related economic and ecological losses. However, a comprehensive and systematic research to identify flood-prone areas, which may help to establish management and conservation measures, has not been carried out yet. Therefore, this study tested four methods: evidential belief function (EBF), frequency ratio (FR), Technique for Order Preference by Similarity To ideal Solution (TOP…
A knowledge-based exploratory framework to study quality of Italian mobile telecommunication services
2017
A novel two-step knowledge-based exploratory framework is proposed in this paper for studying quality of Italian Mobile Telecommunication Services (MTSs). Particularly, the Delphi technique is initially considered to finalize an overall quality structure of MTSs features, indicators and drivers, herein described on the basis of a comprehensive review of the fundamental references for the field, and also to select the key elements with reference to the Italian context. At the second step, selected key elements are prioritized via the Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) method according to viewpoints of the fundamental stakeholders for the sector. Furthermore, possible uncertainty and ambigui…
An AHP-based approach to PMISs assessment
2015
The project management environment gets complex and subject to uncertainty. The firm's managers need of tools supporting the decision–making process in order to properly manage project information. PMISs provide features facilitating the project management. The variety of software and the ambiguity of features meaning make the choice of the PMIS a difficult task. The literature analysis confirms the importance of user engagement in features and PMIS assessment and the lack of methodologies satisfying such a task. The paper focuses on the classification and assessment of features of PMIS considering the firm's needs. A case study is presented for the evaluation of a PMISs sample.
A fuzzy ServQual based method for reliable measurements of education quality in Italian higher education area
2013
In recent years, the attention that the European Community has focused on the education sector has produced a new university commitment addressed to quality aspects for all education related services. In fact, a quality oriented service requires excellence in the design and planning of service activities, as well as during its delivering and also for the adopted service performance evaluation method. However, considering that service performance evaluations are deeply based on stakeholders' judgments, they can be characterized by possible uncertainties related to incompleteness for partial ignorance, imprecision for subjectivity and even vagueness. Therefore, under these conditions, unrelia…
A fuzzy framework to evaluate service quality in the healthcare industry: An empirical case of public hospital service evaluation in Sicily
2016
A novel fuzzy framework is considered to analyze healthcare service quality.The fundamental quality structure of healthcare service delivered in Sicily is described.The public healthcare in Sicily (Italy) is strategically analyzed.Strategic stakeholders' oriented implications for healthcare improvements are given. A novel fuzzy evaluation framework is applied in this study to evaluate service quality in the public healthcare sector. In particular, the proposed framework is based on the ServQual disconfirmation paradigm and incorporates the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to elicit reliable estimations of service quality expectations. Moreover, degrees of uncertainty, subjectivity an…