Consistency Ratio Research Articles

GIS-based analysis of landslides susceptibility mapping: a case study of Lushoto district, north-eastern Tanzania

Landslides are becoming increasingly widespread, claiming tens of thousands of fatalities, hundreds of thousands of injuries, and billions of dollars in economic losses each year. Thus, studies for geographically locating landslides, vulnerable areas have been increasingly relevant in recent decades. This research is aimed at integrating Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) techniques to delineate landslides susceptibility areas of Lushoto district, Tanzania. RS assisted in providing remote datasets including; Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), Landsat 8 OLI imageries, and past spatially distributed landslides coordinate with the use of a handheld Global Position System (GPS) receiver, while various GIS analysis techniques were used in the preparation and analysis of landslides influencing factors hence, generating landslides susceptibility areas index values. However, rainfall, slope angle, elevation, soil type, lithology, proximity to roads, rivers, faults, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) factors were found to have a direct influence on the occurrence of landslides in the study area. These factors were evaluated, weighted, and ranked using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique in which a 0.086 (8.6%) Consistency Ratio (CR) was attained (highly accepted). Findings reveal that rainfall (29.97%), slopes’ angle (21.72%), elevation (15.68%), and soil types (11.77%) were found to have high influence on the occurrence of landslides, while proximity to faults (8.35%), lithology (4.94%), proximity to roads (3.41%), rivers (2.48%), and NDVI (1.69%) had very low influences, respectively. The overall results, obtained through Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) analysis techniques indicate that about 97669.65 Hectares (ha) of land are under very low levels of landslides susceptibility, which accounts for 24.03% of the total study area. Low susceptibility levels had 123105.84 ha (30.28%), moderate landslides susceptibility areas were found to have 140264.79 ha (34.50%), while high and very high susceptibility areas were found to cover about 45423.43 ha (11.17%) and 57.78 ha (0.01%), respectively. Furthermore, 81% overall model accuracy was obtained as computed from the Area Under the Curve (AUC) using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve.

Development of an instrument to elicit patient preferences for Person‐Centered Dementia Care – insights from a formative pilot study to design a dementia‐friendly Analytic Hierarchy Process‐Survey

AbstractBackgroundPerson‐Centered Care (PCC) requires knowledge about patient preferences for multiple components (criteria) of care. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one approach to measure the importance of individual criteria from the patient perspective and to identify quantitative preferences for PCC. The AHP is expected to be suitable for People living with Dementia (PlwD) due to its simple pairwise comparisons with individual criteria of a complex decision problem. The aim of this pilot study was to design a dementia‐friendly assisted AHP‐survey with PlwD.MethodWe conducted two expert panels with n = 4 Dementia Care Managers and n = 4 physicians to ensure content validity, as well as individual “thinking aloud”‐interviews with n = 11 PlwD and n = 3 informal caregivers (CGs) to ensure face validity. Interviews followed a semi‐structured interview guide. Participants were asked to assess the survey’s appropriateness, coherence, and to provide information about the motivation for their answers. Main source of data were field notes. Interviews were recorded and partially transcribed. To follow an iterative constant comparative approach, data were analyzed and patient’s feedback incorporated on a continuous basis by two reviewers until the patients had no further comments and no struggles with completion of the survey. Survey data were analyzed with Microsoft®Excel and ExpertChoice Comparion®, to i.a. assess consistency ratios (CRs).ResultThree main categories with several sub‐categories emerged from data analysis: 1) content including clear introduction, description of (sub)criteria, homogeneity of criteria, appropriateness of (sub)criteria, inclusion of re‐test questions, sociodemographic questions to consider heterogeneity of respondents, 2) format including structure of an AHP‐survey for PlwD, sequence of pairwise‐comparison questions, length of survey, visual formatting (incl. AHP‐scale), explanation of survey procedure, assistance during survey, perspective during completion of survey, and 3) layout including easy wording, avoidance of long sentences, and use of ICONs as visual aids. Individual CRs ranged from 0.08 to 0.859, whilst the consolidated CR was 0.038.ConclusionOur study provides insights from a formative pilot study to design a dementia‐friendly AHP‐Survey. Consideration of our findings may contribute to content‐ and face validity, acceptability, feasibility and internal consistency, as well as reproducibility in future dementia‐focused quantitative preference research.

Green Supplier Selection in the Construction Industry Using a Novel Fuzzy Decision-Making Approach

Concern for the environment among individuals, stakeholders, and governments has steadily increased during the last few decades. Strict environmental regulations and policies have prompted enterprises to develop positive improvements such as green supply chain selection practices. Selecting a suitable supplier is essential for the competitiveness and profitability of an enterprise due to environmental and economic impacts. Managers face challenges as a result of uncertainty in supply chain management. This research narrows the knowledge gap by applying a decision-making approach in a fuzzy environment to consider the uncertainties for green supplier selection in the construction industry. In this paper, a new approach using the best-worst method (BWM) and the superiority and inferiority ranking (SIR) is applied to assist managers in the appropriate supplier selection, in which the assessment is carried out with probabilistic dual hesitant fuzzy sets (PDHFS). The BWM with PDHFSs is used to generate the weights for criteria and experts. Also, a consistency index based on an input-based consistency ratio (CR) is introduced to solve the problem of poor consistency and make the computing process simpler. Moreover, the extended SIR method with the PDHFS is established using the criteria weights obtained by the BWM-PDHFS. A numerical study is employed to show the reliability and validity of the proposed approach, and comparisons are made to highlight its superiority.

Assessing Vulnerability in Flood Prone Areas Using Analytic Hierarchy Process—Group Decision Making and Geographic Information System: A Case Study in Portugal

A flood vulnerability index was constructed by coupling Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping capabilities with an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Group Decision-Making (GDM) resulting from a paired comparison matrix of expert groups to assign weights to each of the standardised criteria. A survey was sent to 25 flood experts from government organisations, universities, research institutes, NGOs, and the private sector (56% academics and 44% non-academics). Respondents made pairwise comparisons for several criteria (population, socio-economic, buildings, and exposed elements) and sub-criteria. The group priorities were obtained by combining the Consistency Ratio (CR) and Euclidean Distance (ED) measures to assess the weight of each expert and obtain a final weight for each criterion and sub-criteria. In Portugal, 23 flood-prone areas were considered, and this work contributes with a tool to assess the flood vulnerability and consequently the flood risk. The flood vulnerability index was calculated, and the relevance of the proposed framework is demonstrated for flood-prone areas, in mainland Portugal. The results showed that in all five hydrographic regions, flood-prone areas with very high vulnerability were found, corresponding to areas with a high probability of flooding. The most vulnerable areas are Ponte de Lima in the North, Coimbra, and Pombal in the Centre; Loures in the Tagus and West Region; Setúbal and Alcácer do Sal in the Alentejo Region and Monchique in the Algarve Region. This methodology has the potential to be successfully applied to other flood-prone areas, combining the opinions of stakeholders validated by a mathematical model, which allows the vulnerability of the site to be assessed.

Performance assessment of hydrogen-based commercial hybrid renewable energy power generation system

The world is transitioning toward hybrid renewable energy systems in order to cope with increased power demand. The aim of this research article is to assess various hydrogen-based hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) based on their performance, which is used commercially. A total of nineteen projects were selected at random across different regions and evaluated based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). In order to compare, five criteria are selected viz. 1. Plant Capacity, 2. Electrolyzer Capacity, 3. Utilization of Energy Produced, 4. Energy Sources Involved, 5. Type of Hydrogen Storage Technology Used. Plant Capacity and Energy sources involved are the criteria given more weightage. Using AHP multi-criteria decision-making was possible and all the projects are ranked accordingly based on performance parameters. SCHATZ Solar Demonstration Project, USA, 1989 was given a priority of 0.8% with a rank of 16 despite being the oldest project. Wherein, Foshan Hydrogen City Project, China, 2018 was assigned a priority of 23.2% and ranked 1st. Projects were prioritized and ranked with a consistency ratio (CR) of 28.9% in AHP.

Decision Support System for Selection of Quality Palm Seeds with the Analytical Hierarchy Process Method

At PT. Gersindo, which is located in West Pasaman Regency, is a factory company that processes palm fruit into semi-finished oil or often called CPO (Crude Palm Oil). The main part that is managed in oil palm is the fruit, the fruit of the oil palm produces crude oil. PT. Gersindo is currently still using the manual method in determining the quality of the oil palm kernels, so that problems arise in the selection of the oil palm kernels at PT. Gersindo. At the factory PT. Gersindo in selecting quality palm kernels can be solved by developing an application in a decision support system. A decision support system is a system that is able to solve problems efficiently and effectively, which aims to help make decisions by choosing various alternative decisions. One technique that can be applied in developing a decision support system is to use the AHP ( Analytical Hierarchy Process ) method. The AHP method is a method in a decision support system for solving a very complex and unstructured problem into several component parts in a hierarchical arrangement by giving subjective values. The essence of the AHP method is to determine the weight value for each criterion. The results of this study can be determined Consistency Ratio (CR) is 0.0705 . And CR is less than 0.1 , then the matrix is declared consistent, so it is very effective and efficient in making decisions on selecting quality palm kernels.

RANKING OF CRITERIA FOR ORDER ALLOCATION IN A RUBBER GLOVE MANUFACTURING FACTORY USING ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP)

Malaysia is the world’s leading producer of rubber gloves, among over 150 manufacturers worldwide. Based on current practice among the manufacturer of rubber gloves, there is no fixed guideline in planning for the orders based on various criteria as each criterion has its importance, and the orders are planned based on the real-time situation. Therefore, in this study, the criteria to be considered for order allocation to factories and their importance were determined using Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) technique. Six criteria, namely quality, cost, lead time, capacity, special requirement, and regulation compliance, were identified based on the literature search of past studies in the field and supported by the expert’s opinion. Later, the experts ranked the importance of each criterion using a specifically designed questionnaire employing the AHP method. The pairwise comparison matrix was consistent with a consistency ratio (CR) value of 0.0495. Thus, the six criteria by ranking top to bottom with respective weightage are quality (25.81%), cost (21.7%), lead time (20.73%), regulation compliance (16.86%), special requirement (7.86%), and capacity (7.04%). In summary, the objectives of this research have been successfully met, according to the findings, and the criteria ranking can be used as a guideline by rubber glove manufacturers in planning for order allocation.

Secured MCDM Model for Crowdsource Business Intelligence

In the current era, there are a plethora of mobile phone companies rendering different features. It is challenging to distinguish the best and create correlations among them. However, this can be accomplished through crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is the process of gathering information from multiple sources, and we use the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) process to determine which company’s model is the best among many. The weight value of each model is compared to the assigned values, and if one of the company product weights is greater than the assigned weight, that product is the best. Eventually, we can use this process to select the most preferred and best mobile phone model from among all other models. Gray Relational Analysis (GRA) is one of the most popular models, employing a grey co-efficient that estimates the data items by ranking. This model defines a process’s situation or state as black with no information and white with perfect information. In this work, AHP initially assumes criteria weights and assigns rank with the CR (Consistency Ratio) of 1.5%. The criteria weights are re-assigned based on the outcomes, and the CR remains constant as 1.5%. This work also provides an environmental-based attribute access control system, which adds the strength to the system by providing security and the integrity. So, this proposed work performs as a decision support system combined with the security enhancements, and hence it becomes a complete framework to provide a solution to a target application. The novelty of the proposed work is the combination of the crowdsourcing with the recommender system on a secured framework.

A Multicriteria Decision-Making Framework for Access Point Selection in Hybrid LiFi/WiFi Networks Using Integrated AHP-VIKOR Technique.

Since light fidelity (LiFi) and wireless fidelity (WiFi) do not interfere with one another, a LiFi/WiFi hybrid network may provide superior performance to existing wireless options. With many users and constant changes, a network can easily become overloaded, leading to slowdowns and fluctuations in data transfer speeds. Access point assignment (APA) is required with the increase of users, which can negatively impact the system performance and quality-of-service (QoS) due to mobility and line-of-sight (LOS) blockage. Many variables could influence the APA process; these variables are considered as criteria, such as the network capacity, the degree of blockage, the speed of the connected user, etc. Unlike conditional APA methods, recent studies have considered treating these variables as "evaluation criteria". Considering these criteria can offer better and more accurate results, eventually enhancing the APA process and QoS. However, the variety of these criteria, the conflict amongst them, their weights (importance), and priority have not been addressed so far. Moreover, treating the criteria equally might result in inaccurate outcomes. Therefore, to solve this issue, it is essential to investigate the impact of each criterion on the APA process. In this work, a multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) problem is formulated to determine a network-level selection for each user over a period of time The decision problem is modeled as a hierarchy that fragments a problem into a hierarchy of simple and small subproblems, and the selection of the AP network among various alternatives is a considered as an MCDM problem. Based on the previous works, we are not aware of any previous research attempts using MCDM methods in the LiFi research area for network selection. Therefore, this work proposes an access point assignment framework using an MCDM approach for users in a hybrid LiFi/WiFi network. The experiment was conducted based on four phases: Five criteria were identified and evaluated with eleven APs (alternatives). The outcome of this phase was used to build the decision matrix and an MCDM was developed and built based on user mobility and blockages with various scenarios using all the criteria; The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was employed to identify the criterion of the subjective weights of each criterion and to determine the degree of importance supported by experts' judgement. Determining the weights in the AHP process considered various investigations, including the consistency ratio (CR) and the AHP consensus indicator, which is calculated using the rank-based maximum likelihood method (RGMM) and Shannon entropy techniques. The VIekriteri-Jumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje (VIKOR) method is adopted in the selection of the optimal AP for the proper selection of whether a LiFi or WiFi AP must serve the users. The integrated AHP-VIKOR was effective for solving the APA and was the best solution based on using weighted criteria simultaneously. Moreover, the ranking outcomes of the developed integrated AHP-VIKOR approach were evaluated using sensitivity analysis. The result of this work takes the APA for hybrid LiFi networks to a new perspective.

Do They Align? Congruence Between Patient Preferences of People Living with Cognitive Impairments and Physicians' Judgements for Person-Centered Care: An Analytic Hierarchy Process Study.

Person-centered care (PCC) requires knowledge about patient preferences. Among people living with cognitive impairments (PlwCI), evidence on quantitative, choice-based preferences, which allow to quantify, weigh, and rank care elements, is limited. Furthermore, data on the congruence of patient preferences with physicians' judgements for PCC are missing. Such information is expected to support the implementation of PCC; state-of-the-art medical care aligned with patients' preferences. To elicit patient preferences and physicians' judgements for PCC and their congruence. Data from the mixed-methods PreDemCare study, including a cross-sectional, paper-and-pencil, interviewer-assisted analytic hierarchy process (AHP) survey conducted with n = 50 community-dwelling PlwCI and n = 25 physicians. Individual AHP weights (preferences/judgements) were calculated with the principal eigenvector method and aggregated per group by aggregation of individual priorities mode. Individual consistency ratios (CRs) were calculated and aggregated per group. Group differences in preferences/judgements were investigated descriptively by means and standard deviations (SDs) of AHP weights, resulting ranks, and boxplots. Additionally, differences between groups were investigated with independent paired t-test/Mann Whitney U-test. Sensitivity of AHP results was tested by inclusion/exclusion of inconsistent respondents, with an accepted threshold at CR≤0.3 for patients, and CR≤0.2 for physicians, due to better cognitive fitness of the latter group. Patient preferences and physicians' judgements did not differ significantly, except for the criterion Memory Exercises (AHP weights (mean (SD)): 0.135 (0.066) versus 0.099 (0.068), p = 0.01). We did not see rank-reversals of criteria after exclusion of inconsistent participants. Mean CR for patients at the criteria level was 0.261, and 0.181 for physicians. Physicians' judgements in our setting aligned well with patients' preferences. Our findings may be used to guide the implementation of preference-based PCC.

Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Based Soil Erosion Susceptibility Mapping in Northwestern Himalayas: A Case Study of Central Kashmir Province

The Kashmir Valley is immensely susceptible to soil erosion due to its diverse topography and unstable geological formations in the Himalayan region. The present study helps in assessing the spatial distribution and prioritizing soil erosion zones in the Central Kashmir region covering the Sindh and Dachigam catchments. The study implemented the GIS-based analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and weighted sum method (WSM) using datasets of precipitation, geological map, soil map, and satellite imagery and derived eleven factors (topographical derivatives, LULC, soil, drainage, rainfall, lithology, wetness index and greenness of an area). The ratings and weightage were proven to be unbiased and reliable based on the observed value of the consistency ratio (CR) (i.e., 0.07). The study depicts 41% of the total area to be extremely vulnerable to soil erosion. The slope varies from 0–62° with mean of 22.12°, indicating 467.99 km2 (26%) and 281.12 km2 (15%) of the area under high and very high susceptible zones, respectively. The NDVI and NDWI maps indicate soil erosion severity covering an area of 40% and 38%, respectively, in highly susceptible zones. High drainage density and curvature zones were observed in 18.33% and 22.64% of the study area, respectively. The study will assist in the planning and implementation of conservation measures.

IDENTIFICATION OF SOIL EROSION-SUSCEPTIBLE AREAS USING ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP) AND GIS

Soil erosion is becoming one of the most serious phenomena over the world, impacting all water resources, agricultural lands, as well as the ecological and environmental systems in general. It is necessary to bring on studies for evaluating vulnerability to erosion, to set up strategies and management plans for the sustainable protection of watersheds. This study intends to demonstrate how the analytical hierarchy approach can be used in environmental studies, and more specifically, how it can be used to map erosion vulnerability using GIS software. The Lakhdar sub-basin is the subject of mapping; ten factors were used as evaluation criteria including: slope, elevation, soil types, morphometrics (curvature, aspect), river network density, LULC, NDVI, rainfall erosivity, and Stream power index (SPI). The weights of the factors were determined based on the AHP technique, and the results showed that the slope is the most important factor, followed by elevation, aspect and curvature, drainage density, SPI, NDVI, and rainfall erosion. The consistency of the parameters was verified by the consistency ratio (CR) having an acceptable result of 7.8%. According to the results of susceptibility, 31% of the basin is characterized by a moderate susceptibility to erosion, where 22% of the basin represents high susceptibility and 10% very high susceptibility. A larger part of the basin (63%), presents high erosion risks. Therefore, it is critical to bring protection plans for these area mapping and sustainable soil management measures to reduce the risk on the water potential and the natural ecological system. Keywords: Analytical Hierarchy Process, Erosion, Stream Power Index, NDVI, LULC, Geographic Information System DOI： https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.58.2.10

Decision Support System for Supplier Selection on Time Concept with AHP and SAW Method

Seeing the rapid development of global business causes companies to compete as the best to meet global market demands. In the current era of globalization, technological development is beneficial for human life. All human activities today can be done quickly and easily using a computer. Decision Support System is a computer-based system that assists decision-making in utilizing specific data and models to solve various unstructured problems. Decision makers in selecting the best supplier for Time Concept are still having difficulties, and this is because there are no appropriate criteria and weights. Making a decision support system is expected to help solve the problems in Time Concept. Moreover, it can provide benefits or convenience for Time Concept when selecting the best supplier. The author uses the method of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW). According to the system test results, the Consistency Ratio (CR) calculation value is 0.0752. The comparison assessment is considered CONSISTENT if the Consistency Ratio (CR) value is not greater than 0.1000. So that the comparison of the criteria does not need to be recalculated because it is CONSISTENT.

Investigating and Presenting the Optimal Alternative for Managing and Disposing Landfill Leachate in Iran Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process

Background. In most developing countries, concern about leachate pollution is serious. This study aimed to determine the best alternative for leachate management and disposal using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Methods. In this descriptive-applied research, the criteria and alternatives for leachate management and disposal were selected, including evaporation pond (natural with sunlight), recirculation/evaporation, and treatment (physical and chemical, biological/advanced). Then, three criteria and 11 sub-criteria were selected. The criteria and sub-criteria were weighted, using the Expert Choice 11 software and compared two by two to determine the relative importance of each. Then, each of the alternatives was compared and prioritized two by two in relation to the criteria and sub-criteria. Results. The results of the study showed that the evaporation pond (natural with sunlight) was the most preferable alternative with an importance coefficient of 0.569. The alternative of recycling/evaporation and treatment (physical and chemical, biological/advanced) with an importance factor equal to 0.216 was placed in the next priority. The consistency ratio (CR) of all the paired matrices of the alternatives was equal and less than 0.1. Conclusion. By considering the economic, technical, operating, health, and environmental criteria, the evaporation pond method (natural with sunlight) was chosen as the best method for managing and disposing landfill leachate in Iran. Therefore, it is recommended to consider the alternative of leachate management in landfills, especially considering the climatic conditions of the country (90% dry and semi-arid climate).

Construction and case study of a novel lung cancer risk index

PurposeThis study constructs a lung cancer risk index (LCRI) that incorporates many modifiable risk factors using an easily reproducible and adaptable method that relies on publicly available data.MethodsWe used meta-analysis followed by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to generate a lung cancer risk index (LCRI) that incorporates seven modifiable risk factors (active smoking, indoor air pollution, occupational exposure, alcohol consumption, secondhand smoke exposure, outdoor air pollution, and radon exposure) for lung cancer. Using county-level population data, we then performed a case study in which we tailored the LCRI for use in the state of Illinois (LCRIIL).ResultsFor both the LCRI and the LCRIIL, active smoking had the highest weights (46.1% and 70%, respectively), whereas radon had the lowest weights (3.0% and 5.7%, respectively). The weights for alcohol consumption were 7.8% and 14.7% for the LCRI and the LCRIIL, respectively, and were 3.8% and 0.95% for outdoor air pollution. Three variables were only included in the LCRI: indoor air pollution (18.5%), occupational exposure (13.2%), and secondhand smoke exposure (7.6%). The Consistency Ratio (CR) was well below the 0.1 cut point. The LCRIIL was moderate though significantly correlated with age-adjusted lung cancer incidence (r = 0.449, P < 0.05) and mortality rates (r = 0.495, P < 0.05).ConclusionThis study presents an index that incorporates multiple modifiable risk factors for lung cancer into one composite score. Since the LCRI allows data comprising the composite score to vary based on the location of interest, this measurement tool can be used for any geographic location where population-based data for individual risk factors exist. Researchers, policymakers, and public health professionals may utilize this framework to determine areas that are most in need of lung cancer-related interventions and resources.

The Impact of Time Pressure on the Results of Psychotechnical Tests Based on the Findings of Pilot Studies Conducted on a Group of Students of the Silesian University of Technology-A Case Study.

The performance of job tasks is increasingly being viewed through the prism of time constraints. Stress, as a consequence of these constraints, can play a dual role: motivating or destructive. This paper addresses the role of time pressure during the implementation of psychotechnical tests. Based on the example of a pilot group, which consisted of students of the Faculty of Mining, Safety Engineering, and Industrial Automation of the Silesian University of Technology, the authors presented the results of the study of the impact of time regime on the assessment of visuomotor coordination, psychomotor reaction time, the ability to focus attention, perceptual speed and accuracy, attention divisibility, and set-shifting. With the use of a survey conducted among the subjects and multivariate analysis (the Analytic Hierarchy Process method), an assessment was made in terms of difficulty levels during the implementation of exercises, including four evaluation criteria: complexity, repetition and timing of emitted signals, and the required accuracy of response to the signals in question. In the process of verifying the consistency of the evaluations carried out, the consistency ratio (CR) was adopted.

Application of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for Landslide Hazard Analysis (LHA) in Kota Kinabalu area, Sabah, Malaysia

A very good Landslide Hazard Analysis (LHA) model was developed using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method for the area of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The AHP is defined as theory of measurement through pairwise comparisons and relies on the judgements of experts to derive priority scales that measure intangibles in relative terms. The derived priority scales are synthesised by multiplying them by the priority of their parent nodes and adding for all such nodes. Weighted value of different spatial factors from the best models calculated with the AHP method were derived. The results showed that the geology (27% variance), geodynamic features (14% variance), slope conditions (26% variance), hydrology/hydrogeology (14% variance), types of land use (3% variance), and engineering characteristics of soils (8% variance), and rocks (8% variance) play an important role in landslide susceptibility analysis. In terms of Landslide Hazard Map (LHM), the analyses resulted of Kota Kinabalu area suggests that 2.78% of the area can be categorised as Very Low Hazard, 14.14% as Low Hazard, 19.74% as Moderate Hazard, 51.63% as High Hazard, 11.34% as Very High Hazard and 0.37% as Extremely High Hazard. Model accuracy assessment of LHA was performed using consistency ratio (CR) equal to 0.0129 (< 0.1) (acceptable) and 93.50 % accuracy of the validation prediction. Thus, the newly developed method works satisfactory and high reliability; and is applicable to further research development in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and potentially to expand with different environmental settings.

Consistency Improvement Method of Pairwise Matrix Based on Consistency Ratio Decreasing Rate and Attribute Weighting Method Considered Decision Makers’ Levels in Analytic Hierarchy Process: Application to Hip Joint Prosthesis Material Selection

Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a well-known attribute weighting method in multiattribute decision-making. Its major requirement is to satisfy the consistency of pairwise matrix (PM). To solve this problem, we first propose a new consistency improvement method of PM based on consistency ratio (CR) decreasing rate. In this method, we calculate the CR decreasing rates of all the PMs reconstituted by replacing all elements of the PM with the lower and upper neighbouring 9-point scales and find the element with maximum CR decreasing rate, and then modify it to its lower or upper neighbouring scale. Second, we develop third-order approximate polynomial for random consistency index using least square method. It enables to determine the RI value according to the number of attributes without a numerical table. Third, we propose the final PM determining method and final attribute weighting method considered decision makers’ levels based on the CR values of the individual PMs in case several decision makers perform their own pairwise comparisons. We test the performances of the proposed and some previous consistency improvement methods with two numerical examples. The results demonstrate that the proposed method improves the consistency of PM better and faster with smaller amount of modification than that of the previous methods, while it modify the elements of the PM to 9-point scales, necessarily. We apply the proposed method to hip joint prosthesis material selection. The proposed methods may be widely used in practical applications of AHP.

Urban-rural fringe identification and spatial form transformation during rapid urbanization: A case study in Wuhan, China

Urbanization and industrialization are widespread in China, but spatial form changes during urban sprawl are not explored in depth. This paper investigated the variation of the local climate zones (LCZs) within urban-rural fringe (URF) from 2010 to 2020 in Wuhan. Based on normalized multi-source data (population density, night-time light and land use data), the spatiotemporal distribution of the URF was obtained through K-means. LCZ maps for different years were produced by SAGA-GIS. The silhouette coefficient (SC), the sum of the squared errors (SSE), and the consistency ratio (CR) were selected to evaluate the accuracy of clustering and identification. We found that: 1) the identified UC and NUC areas were added up to be consistent with the published developed area and the CR values were all above 70%. 2) the middle region within the URFs has a high average annual growth area (AGA) and annual average area growth rate (AGR), while the urban-rural gradient within URFs near rural areas has become steeper. 3) LCZ 4, LCZ 8 and LCZ 10 were usually distributed in the NUC (near-urban core), LCZ 6 has always been in the NRA, and LCZ D always had the highest proportions in all URFs. 4) LCZ 1, 4, 8 and E continuously increased within all URFs, and with the maximum AGRs of 0.16%, 1.53%, 1.01% and 0.18%, respectively. This study presents the development characteristics of high-rise residential areas and low-rise industries in the URFs in a Chinese mainland city.

Accessing Occupational Health Risks Posed by Fishermen Based on Fuzzy AHP and IPA Methods: Management and Performance Perspectives

In developing countries such as China, commercial fishermen’s occupational health risks are rarely studied despite being extremely critical for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector. In this study, we attempt for the first time to categorize and prioritize multiple types of health risks posed by these fishermen. This was accomplished by conducting a structured questionnaire survey between 9 January 2022 and 24 May 2022. We sought the professional opinion of fishermen that were located in the coastal areas of Zhejiang, China, namely Zhoushan (121 responses, 64%), Taizhou (66 responses, 49%), and Wenzhou (94 responses, 53%). This study used two hundred eighty-one questionnaires with a consistency ratio (CR) below 0.1 and completed in every respect. Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (Fuzzy AHP) and Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) statistics were employed to perform statistical analysis. Results have revealed that commercial fishermen’s health is affected by five main risk factors, namely natural (0.058), biological (0.088), social (0.152), psychological (0.234), and physical (0.468), which are arranged from the least to the most significant risk factors. As for the performance of the main risk factors, the physical risk was ranked first (4.786), followed by social risk (4.571), psychological risk (4.214), biological risk (4.000), and natural risk (3.429). These research findings can serve as guidelines for managers. Moreover, this study discusses ramifications, constraints, and proposals for future research.