International Journal of Uncertainty, Fuzziness and Knowledge-Based Systems

The problem of automating the sensing and classification of odours is one which promises a wide range of industrial applications. During the INTESA project, a prototype electronic nose was developed, using sensors based on novel conducting polymer materials and also more traditional MOS materials. The software component of the prototype processes the transient resistance change signals recorded by the hardware, and classifies the odour sample into one of a number of "odour classes". This paper describes two of the soft computing methods investigated for learning classification rules in this domain. The first method builds on previous work done on the Fril data browser, using clustering, fuzzy matching, Fril rules and evidential logic rules. The second method uses a fuzzy extension of the ID3 decision tree induction method, called "mass assignment tree induction (MATI)". Some of the results of applying these methods to data obtained from the INTESA prototype are presented and discussed.

In this paper we study conditional independence structures arising from conditional probabilities and lower conditional probabilities. Such models are based on notions of stochastic independence apt to manage also those situations where zero evaluations on possible events are present: this is particularly crucial for lower probability.

The "graphoid" properties of such models are investigated, and the representation problem of conditional independence structures is dealt with by generalizing the wellknown classic separation criteria for undirected and directed acyclic graphs. Our graphical models describe the independence statements and the possible logical dependencies among the random variables.

This paper considers a renewal process in which the interarrival times and rewards are characterized as fuzzy variables. A fuzzy elementary renewal theorem shows that the expected number of renewals per unit time is just the expected reciprocal of the interarrival time. Furthermore, the expected reward per unit time is provided by a fuzzy renewal reward theorem. Finally, a numerical example is presented for illustrating the theorems introduced in the paper.

In belief functions, there is a total measure of uncertainty that quantify the lack of knowledge and verifies a set of important properties. It is based on two measures: maximum of entropy and non-specificity. In this paper, we prove that the maximum of entropy verifies the same set of properties in a more general theory as credal sets and we present an algorithm that finds the probability distribution of maximum entropy for another interesting type of credal sets as probability intervals.

An axiomatic approach to scalar cardinalities of finite fuzzy sets involving t-norms and t-conorms is presented. A characterization theorem for these cardinalities is proved and it is also proved that some standard properties remain true. On the other hand, properties like finite additivity, valuation property or finite subadditivity depend on the t-norm and the t-conorm.

In this paper, we introduce a simple new method on calculating the entropy of the image fuzzy set gotten by the extension principle without calculating its membership function.

In this paper, two new formulas of fuzzy entropy induced by distances between two intuitionistic fuzzy sets are given. These entropy measures can be computed easily and give reliable results. Some examples are illustrated for the comparison with Burillo and Bustince (1996) and Szmidt and Kacprzyk (2001).

In many cases, criterion values are crisp in nature, and their values are determined by economic instruments, mathematical models, and/or by engineering measurement. However, there are situations when the evaluation of alternatives must include the imprecision of established criteria, and the development of a fuzzy multicriteria decision model is necessary to deal with either "qualitative" (unquantifiable or linguistic) or incomplete information. The proposed fuzzy multicriteria decision model (FMCDM) consists of two phases: the CFCS phase - Converting the Fuzzy data into Crisp Scores, and the MCDM phase - MultiCriteria Decision Making. This model is applicable for defuzzification within the MCDM model with a mixed set of crisp and fuzzy criteria. A newly developed CFCS method is based on the procedure of determining the left and right scores by fuzzy min and fuzzy max, respectively, and the total score is determined as a weighted average according to the membership functions. The advantage of this defuzzification method is illustrated by some examples, comparing the results from three considered methods.

This section is maintained by Vladik Kreinovich. Please send you abstract (or copies of papers that you want to see reviewed here) to vladik@cs.utep.edu, or by regular mail to: Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA.