Preference Relations Research Articles

Mapping the neural mechanism that distinguishes between holistic thinking and analytic thinking

Holistic and analytic thinking are two distinct modes of thinking used to interpret the world with relative preferences varying across cultures. While most research on these thinking styles has focused on behavioral and cognitive aspects, a few studies have utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the correlations between brain metrics and self-reported scale scores. Other fMRI studies used single holistic and analytic thinking tasks. As a single task may involve processing in spurious low-level regions, we used two different holistic and analytic thinking tasks, namely the frame-line task and the triad task, to seek convergent brain regions to distinguish holistic and analytic thinking using multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA). Results showed that brain regions fundamental to distinguish holistic and analytic thinking include the bilateral frontal lobes, bilateral parietal lobes, bilateral precentral and postcentral gyrus, bilateral supplementary motor areas, bilateral fusiform, bilateral insula, bilateral angular gyrus, left cuneus, and precuneus, left olfactory cortex, cingulate gyrus, right caudate and putamen. Our study maps brain regions that distinguish between holistic and analytic thinking and provides a new approach to explore the neural representation of cultural constructs. We provide initial evidence connecting culture-related brain regions with language function to explain the origins of cultural differences in cognitive styles.

ALM for insurers with multiple underwriting lines and portfolio constraints: a Lagrangian duality approach

We investigate how an insurance firm can optimally allocate its assets to back up liabilities from multiple non-life business lines. The insurance risks are modeled by a multidimensional jump-diffusion process that accounts for simultaneous claims in different insurance lines with policy limits. We use Lagrangian convex duality techniques to derive optimal investment-underwriting strategies that maximize the expected utility from dividends and final wealth over a finite horizon. We examine how risk aversion, prudence, portfolio constraints, and multivariate insurance risk affect the firm’s earnings retention. We obtain explicit solutions for optimal strategies under constant relative risk aversion preferences. Finally, we illustrate our results with numerical examples and show the impact of co-integration for asset-liability management with multiple sources of insurance risk.

Preferences, risk neutrality and risk-sensitive MDPs

Preferences, risk neutrality and risk-sensitive MDPs

Group decision making with incomplete triangular fuzzy multiplicative preference relations for evaluating third-party reverse logistics providers

The strategic management of reverse logistics (RL) is essential for enterprises to enhance their operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and sustainability performance in today's competitive marketplace. Many manufacturing firms have to cooperate with professional RL providers to overcome resource constraints and technological limitations, ultimately driving business success. Thus, it is critical for every enterprise to select the most suitable third-party RL provider (3PRLP). This paper provides a novel group decision making (GDM) method with incomplete triangular fuzzy multiplicative preference relations (TFMPRs) to cope with the selection of the most optimal 3PRLP. Firstly, a definition of acceptable incomplete TFMPRs is given. Then, the sufficient and necessary condition of an acceptable incomplete TFMPR is proposed. By analyzing the properties of consistent TFMPRs, a graph-based algorithm is designed to estimate the unknown elements in incomplete TFMPRs. Based on the proposed acceptable consistency definition of TFMPRs, an optimization model is set up to improve the consistency degree of inconsistent TFMPRs. The optimal normalized triangular fuzzy multiplicative weight vector (Tri-MWV) is obtained by computing two analytic expressions and solving a linear programming model. To measure the closeness degree of two TFMPRs, the concept of logarithmic correlation coefficient (LCC) between two TFMPRs is proposed. Combining the incomplete preference information in incomplete TFMPRs with the LCCs of any two TFMPRs, an algorithm of computing experts’ weights is displayed. Subsequently, a novel method of GDM with incomplete TFMPRs is presented. Lastly, a practical example of evaluating 3PRLPs is conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed GDM method with incomplete TFMPRs.

Algebraic Structures Formalizing the Logic of Quantum Mechanics Incorporating Time Dimension

AbstractAs Classical Propositional Logic finds its algebraic counterpart in Boolean algebras, the logic of Quantum Mechanics, as outlined within G. Birkhoff and J. von Neumann’s approach to Quantum Theory (Birkhoff and von Neumann in Ann Math 37:823–843, 1936) [see also (Husimi in I Proc Phys-Math Soc Japan 19:766–789, 1937)] finds its algebraic alter ego in orthomodular lattices. However, this logic does not incorporate time dimension although it is apparent that the propositions occurring in the logic of Quantum Mechanics are depending on time. The aim of the present paper is to show that tense operators can be introduced in every logic based on a complete lattice, in particular in the logic of quantum mechanics based on a complete orthomodular lattice. If the time set is given together with a preference relation, we introduce tense operators in a purely algebraic way. We derive several important properties of such operators, in particular we show that they form dynamic pairs and, altogether, a dynamic algebra. We investigate connections of these operators with logical connectives conjunction and implication derived from Sasaki projections in an orthomodular lattice. Then we solve the converse problem, namely to find for given time set and given tense operators a time preference relation in order that the resulting time frame induces the given operators. We show that the given operators can be obtained as restrictions of operators induced by a suitable extended time frame.

Effect of Heated Saline Solution on Pain Intensity, Wound Bed Temperature, and Comfort during Chronic Wound Dressing Changes: Crossover Randomized Clinical Trial.

To evaluate the use of heated saline solution during wound cleaning on the intensity of pain related to the procedure, the temperature of the wound bed, and the comfort of patients with chronic wounds. Further, to investigate patient preference in relation to the temperature of the solution used for cleaning. Crossover, single-blind, clinical trial with 32 people with chronic wounds. Providers cleaned the wounds with room temperature and heated saline solution. Participants were randomized into group 1 A/B (heated solution first, room temperature second) or group 2 B/A (room temperature solution first, heated solution second), with a 10-minute washout period. Investigators evaluated pain intensity, wound bed temperature, and patient-reported comfort and preference. The heated solution was preferred (P = .04) and more often referred to as comfortable (P = .04) by the participants. There was no difference in pain intensity before and after cleaning with room temperature (2.03; P = .155) and heated saline (2.25; P = .44). The heated solution increased the temperature of the wound bed by 0.5 °C. Although heating saline solution could be an important comfort measure during dressing changes, quantitatively, the temperature of the solution did not significantly change the temperature of the wound bed nor the intensity of pain patients experienced.

Breaking down barriers to bariatric care: a qualitative study on how telemedicine could transform patient experiences in a Swiss monocentric setting

ObjectiveTelemedicine is becoming an increasingly feasible option for patients with chronic diseases due to its convenience, cost-effectiveness and ease of access. While there are certain limitations, the benefits can be...

Investigating consumer preferences and experiences of telehealth services in Australian allied health practice: a study protocol

IntroductionTelehealth service provision and uptake has rapidly increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing healthcare to be delivered safely and reducing non-essential face-to-face (F2F) contact. In Australia, the expansion of subsidisation...

Survey of the Barriers, Enablers, and Preferences to Swimming for People With Chronic Low Back Pain

Background and Purpose: It is common practice for health professionals to recommend swimming to people with chronic low back pain (CLBP) for rehabilitation and pain management and to improve levels of physical activity. Uptake and engagement in swimming involve a change in behavior, influenced by various factors including barriers, enablers, and preferences. The aim of this study was to identify the most common barriers, enablers, and preferences to swimming for people with CLBP and map them onto the Capability Opportunity Motivation-Behavior (COM-B) model. Methods: People with CLBP were invited to complete a survey collecting data regarding the barriers, enablers, and preferences in relation to swimming. The questions were scored on a 5-point Likert scale and mapped onto the COM-B model. Results: Eighty-two people completed the survey. More than 50% of participants agreed with the following barriers: I am not sure which swimming stroke is best for my back pain and I lack motivation to go swimming. These barriers mapped to the psychological capability and reflective motivation dimensions on the COM-B model. At least 50% of participants agreed with the following enablers: I would like to use swimming to improve my strength, flexibility, weight, fitness, health, mood, and well-being; setting goals and making an action plan could help me swim regularly, I am more likely to go swimming if a health professional advised me and I believe that swimming is good for my back. These enablers were also mapped to the reflective motivation and physical and social opportunity dimensions on the COM-B model. Discussion and Conclusions: The findings from this survey suggest that when recommending swimming, health professionals should discuss the wider health benefits of swimming, discuss specific swimming strokes and why swimming could be beneficial for back pain, and consider using motivational tools to encourage reflective motivation such as goal setting and action planning.

The relationship between working memory capacity, bilingualism, and ambiguous relative clause attachment.

Working memory (WM) capacity has been shown to influence how readers resolve syntactic ambiguities. Building on the work of Swets et al. (2007, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136[1], 64-81), the goal of the present study was to assess the effects of working memory and language proficiency on first language (L1) relative clause attachment decisions across three different language samples: English monolinguals, L1-L2 Spanish-English heritage bilinguals, and L1-L2 Mandarin-English bilinguals. Binomial logistic regression analyses demonstrated that low WM span is associated with a preference to attach ambiguous relative clauses higher in the syntactic structure, as reported by Swets et al. (2007), and contrary to a recency strategy. We also observed that proficiency in L1 and L2 have little effect, suggesting that relative clause attachment preferences primarily reflect the properties of the language and the working memory capacity of the comprehender.

Cooperative Games for Group Decision Making Under Undirected Collaboration Network With Hesitant Fuzzy Preference Relations

Cooperative Games for Group Decision Making Under Undirected Collaboration Network With Hesitant Fuzzy Preference Relations

Forecasting the probability of successful deployment of internet of things and cloud computing in the building sector through consistent fuzzy preference relations method

Purpose This study aims to identify significant factors, analyse them using the consistent fuzzy preference relations (CFPR) method and forecast the probability of successful deployment of the internet of things (IoT) and cloud computing (CC) in Gujarat, India’s building sector. Design/methodology/approach From the previous studies, 25 significant factors were identified, and a questionnaire survey with personal interviews obtained 120 responses from building experts in Gujarat, India. The questionnaire survey data’s validity, reliability and descriptive statistics were also assessed. Building experts’ opinions are inputted into the CFPR method, and priority weights and ratings for probable outcomes are obtained to forecast success and failure. Findings The findings demonstrate that the most important factors are affordable system and ease of use and battery life and size of sensors, whereas less important ones include poor collaboration between IoT and cloud developer community and building sector and suitable location. The forecasting values demonstrate that the factor suitable location has a high probability of success; however, factors such as loss of jobs and data governance have a high probability of failure. Based on the forecasted values, the probability of success (0.6420) is almost twice that of failure (0.3580). It shows that deploying IoT and CC in the building sector of Gujarat, India, is very much feasible. Originality/value Previous studies analysed IoT and CC factors using different multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods to merely prioritise ranking in the building sector, but forecasting success/failure makes this study unique. This research is generally applicable, and its findings may be utilised for decision-making and deployment of IoT and CC in the building sector anywhere globally.

Aggregation of I-transitive fuzzy relations and fuzzy preference relations

Aggregation of I-transitive fuzzy relations and fuzzy preference relations

No‐choice oviposition preferences predict neighborhood effects among host plants in a model system

Abstract Neighbouring plant species can indirectly affect each other's fitness through insect herbivores. For instance, the number of eggs an insect deposits on a focal plant can be influenced by the presence of a neighbouring plant species because of the herbivore's relative host plant preferences. Yet, the relationship between oviposition preferences (measured in no‐choice tests) and the strength and direction of such indirect effects among neighbouring plants remains poorly understood. We performed a lab experiment using bean beetles (Callosobruchus maculatus) and five species of beans to determine if beetles' no‐choice preferences for a neighbouring bean species correlated with the number of eggs laid on a focal species in two‐species environments (diculture). We predicted that as the preference for the neighbouring beans increased compared to the focal host, beetles would lay fewer eggs on the focal bean host. Across all pair‐wise combinations, our prediction was supported: as the relative no‐choice preference of neighbouring beans increased, the number of eggs laid on focal beans decreased. However, this relationship was relatively weak. We also found that beetles tended to lay more eggs in diculture compared to arenas with one bean species. These results provide empirical evidence linking herbivores' no‐choice preferences to the strength of neighbourhood effects and suggest that even within a relatively controlled environment, neighbourhood effects can be weak. Our results also highlight that unexpected changes to the total number of eggs laid by herbivores in mixed‐plant patches relative to monoculture can complicate predictions.

A two-stage consensus model based on personalized individual semantics under linguistic preference relations with self-confidence

Linguistic preference relations with self-confidence (LPRs-SC) are the preference relation that can reflect the decision maker’s (DM) confidence psychology and has received widespread attention for their simple form and multiple information. Currently, arithmetic studies of LPRs-SC are conducted separately for preference relations and self-confidence. In addition, personalized individual semantics (PIS) is an important tool in large-scale decision-making to reflect the differences in the semantic understanding of DMs. However, the confidence level in LPRs-SC limits the preference relation to a certain extent and the linguistic representations of these two components are usually different. This means that it is not only necessary to propose an arithmetic rule that can express the restrictive relationship between the two but also to construct a model that can extract the PIS of preference relation and confidence respectively. Besides, we constructed a two-stage consensus reaching process (CRP) based on the specificity of the LPRs-SC structure when enhancing group harmony. The process takes self-confidence as an independent source of information, delineates the adjusted categories in detail, and builds an adjustment model accordingly. Finally, the example and comparative analyses verify the merits of the proposed PIS in terms of consistency enhancement and CRP in terms of speed and accuracy harmonization.

Bivariate scoring rules: Unifying the characterizations of positional scoring rules and Kemeny's rule

This paper studies social preference functions (SPFs), which map the voters' ordinal preferences over a set of alternatives to a non-empty set of strict rankings over the alternatives. Maybe the most prominent SPFs are positional scoring rules and Kemeny's rule. While these two types of rules behave intuitively quite differently, they are axiomatically surprisingly similar and we thus provide a joint axiomatic characterization of these SPFs. To this end, we introduce the class of bivariate scoring rules which generalize Kemeny's rule by weighting comparisons between alternatives depending on their positions in the voters' preference relations. In particular, this class contains both Kemeny's rule and all positional scoring rules. As our main result, we then characterize the set of bivariate scoring rules as the only SPFs that satisfy—aside from some standard axioms—mild consistency conditions for variable electorates and variable agendas. As corollaries of this result, we also derive variants of the well-known characterizations of positional scoring rules by Smith (1973) and of Kemeny's rule by Young (1988). Thus, our result unifies the independent streams of research on positional scoring rules and Kemeny's rule by giving a joint axiomatic basis of these SPFs.

Removal of older males increases extra-pair siring success of yearling males.

In animals, reproductive performance typically improves over time early in life. Several ultimate and proximate mechanisms may contribute to such an age-related improvement and these mechanisms can act in a relative or in an absolute sense. Low performance of young individuals may be the consequence of a comparison or competition with older individuals (relative), or it may be due to specific traits of young individuals and be unrelated to the presence of older competitors (absolute). Here, we perform a test to disentangle whether the effect of age class (yearling or older) on male extra-pair siring success is relative or absolute. Male age is the most consistent predictor of male extra-pair siring success across bird species, yet the mechanisms underlying this pattern are not well understood. Low extra-pair siring success of yearling males may be a consequence of the presence of older ("adult") males (hypothesis 1), because adult males are more successful in intra- and intersexual interactions or because females prefer to copulate with adult males when available (relative preference). Alternatively, low extra-pair siring success of yearlings may be independent of the presence of adult males (hypothesis 2), for example, if yearling males on average invest less in extra-pair behavior or if females avoid them as extra-pair mates, independent of the availability of older males (absolute preference). To distinguish between these 2 hypotheses, we experimentally manipulated the age structure of a nest-box-breeding population of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) by removing almost all adult males, and compared patterns of extra-pair paternity in the experimental year with those from the preceding 15 "control" years. Removal of adult males resulted in a substantial increase in the extra-pair siring success of yearling males compared to the "control" years, but did not affect the population-level frequency of extra-pair paternity or its spatial patterns. Our results provide clear evidence that extra-pair siring success of yearlings can increase and that it depends on the presence of older males in the population, indicating a relative effect of age on reproductive performance. These results suggest that older males outcompete yearling males in direct or indirect interactions, in sperm competition or as a result of differences in attractiveness to females.

Institutional Investors and ESG Preferences

ABSTRACTResearch Question/IssueWe examine the effect of multiple environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores on institutional investor ownership of firms and investor portfolio weightings. We are also the first to analyze the three individual components of ESG rankings to estimate the relative preferences of institutional investors.Research Findings/InsightsUsing a unique panel dataset covering US companies and institutional investor portfolios over the 2010–2019 period, we find that while investors are driven to add high‐quality ESG companies to their portfolios, there is a negative relationship with ESG when it comes to taking large ownership stakes. Furthermore, ESG scores are negatively related to the portfolio weightings of institutional investors, which raises concerns of greenwashing. Our analysis of individual ESG scores points to significantly larger effects of G scores in terms of holdings, and G is the only score with no negative impact on portfolio weightings. Finally, in support of systematic stewardship theory, top institutional investors allocate higher proportions of their portfolios to firms with high‐ESG ratings. Our results are robust to the use of a difference‐in‐differences analysis addressing endogeneity concerns.Theoretical/Academic ImplicationsThe findings in this paper offer important policy implications for institutional investors, managers, and policymakers. Given the ongoing debate on ESG scores, this paper shows the importance of examining greenwashing for investors who have a concern regarding the extent to which the valuation of assets might be influenced by unsupported sustainability claims. In addition, our study adds to the debate regarding ESG investing and stewardship theory.

Exploring the learning preferences of farmworker-serving community health workers.

Community health workers are responsible for finding, processing, and transferring health information to communities with limited access to health-related resources, including farmworkers. This paper is the culmination of an undergraduate student research project to explore the learning processes and preferences of farmworker-serving community health workers in the USA. The project was designed for students from farmworker or agricultural backgrounds at two North Carolina universities and was supported by a North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services workforce development grant. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, in person and virtually, with a convenience sample of 17 current and former community health workers. The interview data were analysed thematically and identified a preference for a combination of learning styles, with visual and hands-on learning being the most preferred. Community health workers also identified the importance of learning preferences in relation to their responsibilities as health educators. This study provides librarians, along with public health and medical professionals, with useful information about learning preferences to inform the creation of new and varied learning materials for community health workers.

A maximum satisfaction consensus-based large-scale group decision-making in social network considering limited compromise behavior

With the enrichment of social platforms, large-scale group decision-making (LSGDM) in social networks has gradually taken shape. In practice, experts may show limited compromise behavior during consensus reaching process (CRP), which may lead to bias or even failure in decision-making results. To tackle this issue, considering limited compromise behavior, this paper proposes a maximum satisfaction consensus (MSC) model, and focusing on LSGDM with fuzzy preference relation in social networks. Firstly, an expert weight determination algorithm integrating the interactive weights and individual weights is constructed. The interactive weights are determined by social influence strength, while the individual weights are measured by the compromise degree of limited compromise behavior and the consistency level of preferences. Subsequently, a grey clustering method is developed to classify experts into subgroups, considering both opinions similarity and limited compromise behavior similarity. In CRP, considering the limited compromise behavior, an MSC model under the limited budget determined by the minimum cost consensus (MCC) model is proposed. Based on MSC and MCC models, satisfaction-cost ratio is defined to measure the efficiency of CRP. Finally, a case study of selecting of shared bicycle operators and further discussion are conducted to verify the feasibility and superiority of the study.