Today, population census results are not only fundamental for population counting but also for providing various information to many organizations and people who make research and take decisions about human-related issues. However, statistics produced on the basis of administrative divisions in Turkey are inadequate to meet the needs of most In this study, a new census geography is aimed for Turkey using Geographic Information Systems and Multi Criteria Decision Making methodologies. This new census geography is for statistical purposes only, independent from legal boundaries and generated by the concept of small area statistics. New rules and methodologies are created by taking the United States and the United Kingdom systems as models to reach to the main aim, and then they are applied on a case study area, &Ccedil / ankaya District in Ankara. Through this application process, firstly all the collected graphical and nongraphical raw data are geo-referenced and combined in a common geodatabase. Secondly, this geodatabase is used to understand the differentiation of quality of life indicators across the case study area. This pattern is then used to draw the boundaries of small statistical units of the new census geography in terms of the previously defined population sizes. In conclusion, a nationwide standard census geography hierarchy, which ranges between national level at the top and block level at the bottom, is proposed for use in 2010 Population Census and afterwards.

The decision-making process in highway construction projects identifies and selects the optimal alternative based on the user requirements and evaluation criteria. The current practice of the decision-making process does not consider all construction impacts in an integrated decision-making process. This dissertation developed a multi-criteria evaluation framework to support the decision-making process in highway construction projects. In addition to the construction cost and mobility impacts, reliability, safety, and emission impacts are assessed at different evaluation levels and used as inputs to the decision-making process. Two levels of analysis, referred to as the planning level and operation level, are proposed in this research to provide input to a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) process that considers user prioritization of the assessed criteria. The planning level analysis provides faster and less detailed assessments of the inputs to the MCDM utilizing analytical tools, mainly in a spreadsheet format. The second level of analysis produces more detailed inputs to the MCDM and utilizes a combination of mesoscopic simulation-based dynamic traffic assignment tool, and microscopic simulation tool, combined with other utilities. The outputs generated from the two levels of analysis are used as inputs to a decision-making process based on present worth analysis and the Fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Situation) MCDM method and the results are compared.

A finales de los años noventa, y al comienzo del nuevo milenio, las redes inalámbricas han evolucionado bastante, pasando de ser sólo una tecnología prometedora para convertirse en un requisito para las actividades cotidianas en las sociedades desarrolladas. La infraestructura de transporte también ha evolucionado, ofreciendo comunicación a bordo para mejorar la seguridad vial y el acceso a contenidos de información y entretenimiento. Los requisitos de los usuarios finales se han hecho dependientes de la tecnología, lo que significa que sus necesidades de conectividad han aumentado debido a los diversos requisitos de las aplicaciones que se ejecutan en sus dispositivos móviles, tales como tabletas, teléfonos inteligentes, ordenadores portátiles o incluso ordenadores de abordo (On-Board Units (OBUs)) dentro de los vehículos. Para cumplir con dichos requisitos de conectividad, y teniendo en cuenta las diferentes redes inalámbricas disponibles, es necesario adoptar técnicas de Vertical Handover (VHO) para cambiar de red de forma transparente y sin necesidad de intervención del usuario. El objetivo de esta tesis es desarrollar algoritmos de decisión (Vertical Handover Decision Algorithms (VHDAs)) eficientes y escalables, optimizados para el contexto de las redes vehiculares. En ese sentido se ha propuesto, desarrollado y probado diferentes algoritmos de decisión basados en la infraestructura disponible en las actuales, y probablemente en las futuras, redes inalámbricas y redes vehiculares. Para ello se han combinado diferentes técnicas, métodos computacionales y modelos matemáticos, con el fin de garantizar una conectividad apropiada, y realizando el handover hacia las redes más adecuadas de manera a cumplir tanto con los requisitos de los usuarios como los requisitos de las aplicaciones. Con el fin de evaluar el contexto, se han utilizado diferentes herramientas para obtener información variada, como la disponibilidad de la red, el estado de la red, la geolocalización / Márquez Barja, JM. (2012). SCALABLE AND EFFICIENT VERTICAL HANDOVER DECISION ALGORITHMS IN VEHICULAR NETWORK CONTEXTS [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/17869 / Palancia

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate to what extent the environmental agenda should be taken into consideration during the project phase of logistics at Northvolt. The objective is to build an optimization model for route planning with a trade-off solution for three criteria; cost, emission and time. An abductive research approach is used. The empirical data was collected quantitatively in accordance with cross-industry standard process for data mining. The results obtained from the optimization model were based on an emission calculation framework and weights assigned to the three selected criteria by five decision makers. These results are compared to an as-is analysis of current and of historical transportations as well as to expected future transportations. These results provide insights and emphasize the importance of agility in decision making aiming at the reduction of emissions. The analysis shows that increased costs do not have a clear correlation with reduced emissions or transportation time. It also demonstrates that transporting goods on sea would increase the transportation time but decrease the emissions. The conclusions of the study are that costs can be reduced by 8%, emissions by 6% and transportation time by 14%, compared to their current operations. Short-term recommendations address the need of being agile in the route planning and analyse each shipment individually where the weights of the criteria should be alternated depending on the status of the project. This requires increased communication with the installation team on site and negotiation of contractual rates from additional ports in Sweden. Long-term recommendations emphasise the importance of developing and using emission key performance indicators to set targets in combination with a strategy in order to steer daily operations.

The research focuses on the selection and prioritization of Continuous Improvement (CI)projects in organizations. This study emphasizes the importance of recognizing appropriatecriteria for selecting projects that align with an organization's needs, skills, and goals. Thechosen criteria are prioritized to ensure that those are crucial to the overall success and have themost significant influence on project decisions. The criteria are obtained through a literaturereview and interviews with the management team in the company. Finally, six critical criteriaare considered for the organization, Health & Safety, Impact on Customers, Financial Impact,Impact on Business Strategy, Risk of Project, and Project Duration. A survey has beenconducted to weight and prioritize the selected criteria based on their importance by using theAnalytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method.Additionally, the research focuses on the utilization of AHP and Failure Mode and EffectAnalysis (FMEA) in supporting organization project selection. In the following, six CI projectsfrom the organization portfolio are selected to be ranked and weighted based on the criteria’sweight by using the AHP method. The overall weight of each project evaluates as a benefit ofthe project. FMEA, on the other hand, helps identify and address potential failures and risksassociated with projects. By combining AHP and FMEA, organizations can gain acomprehensive understanding of project risks and benefits and make informed decisions onproject selection. To facilitate a holistic understanding, a benefit-risk matrix that integrates theevaluation of both the benefits and risks of the projects is presented. This matrix will serve as avisual representation, enabling decision-makers to assess the trade-offs and make informeddecisions. The final proposed model based on AHP simplifies and organizes the decisionmaking process for the case company and ensures structure and consistency.The overall conclusion highlights the benefits of using the proposed methods, such as improveddecision-making, alignment with organizational goals, and resource optimization. This methodemphasizes the need for a structured approach to project selection and acknowledges thesignificance of risk assessment in project management.

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yes / Food loss is one of the significant threats to sustainable development. Although various studies investigating food loss drivers disclosed that logistics is a significant reason for food loss, logistics-related food loss drivers have not been thoroughly studied. Thus, this paper aims to identify, classify and rank the logistics-related food loss drivers, having more influence on the amount of food loss in the fruit and vegetable supply chain, with the help of a mixed-method approach. First, a literature review was conducted to identify potential logistics-related food loss drivers. A total of 49 articles were analyzed. Second, 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted with industry experts to finalize the drivers. Third, the analytical hierarchy process was employed to rank the drivers having more influence on the amount of food loss. Five main drivers and nineteen sub-drivers were identified at the end of the literature review and interview process. Categorization of main drivers is based on the logistics activities. According to results, warehousing-related drivers and transportation-related drivers are the two most influential drivers on the amount of food loss, while lack of coordination and improper packaging material are the two most influential sub-drivers. Following the ranking of drivers and sub-drivers, mitigation strategies to diminish food loss are also discussed. The findings of this study are intended to guide fruit and vegetable supply chain actors in tackling food loss.

Information technology (IT) investment decision makers are required to process large volumes of complex data. An existing body of knowledge relevant to IT portfolio management (PfM), decision analysis, visual comprehension of large volumes of information, and IT investment decision making suggest Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and hypervariate display techniques can reduce cognitive load and improve decision confidence in IT PfM decisions. This dissertation investigates improving the decision confidence by reducing cognitive burden of the decision maker through greater comprehension of relevant decision information. Decision makers from across the federal government were presented with actual federal IT portfolio project lifecycle costs and durations using hypervariate displays to better comprehend IT portfolio information more quickly and make more confident decisions. Other information economics attributes were randomized for IT portfolio projects to generate Balanced Scorecard (BSC) values to support MCDM decision aids focused on IT investment alignment with specific business objectives and constraints. Both quantitative and qualitative measures of participant comprehension, confidence, and efficiency were measured to assess hypervariate display treatment and then MCDM decision aid treatment effectiveness. Morae Recorder Autopilot guided participants through scenario tasks and collected study data without researcher intervention for analysis using Morae Manager. Results showed improved comprehension and decision confidence using hypervariate displays of federal IT portfolio information over the standard displays. Both quantitative and qualitative data showed significant differences in accomplishment of assigned IT portfolio management tasks and increased confidence in decisions. MCDM techniques, incorporating IT BSC, Monte Carlo simulation, and optimization algorithms to provide cost, value, and risk optimized portfolios improved decision making efficiency. Participants did not find improved quality and reduced uncertainty from optimized IT portfolio information. However, on average participants were satisfied and confident with the portfolio optimizations. Improved and efficient methods of delivering and visualizing IT portfolio information can reduce decision maker cognitive load, improve comprehension efficiency, and improve decision making confidence. Study results contribute to knowledge in the area of comprehension and decision making cognitive processes, and demonstrate important linkages between Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Decision Support Systems (DSS) to support IT PfM decision making.

A dynamic decision making framework implementing multi criteria routing of multimedia services at private-public network border with access technology convergence is presented. The ingredients of the framework include information model, semantics capturing via ontology, information sharing and dissemination mechanisms and rule/policy specifications methodology. The control and management over the infrastructure is carried out by revamping the sole signaling protocols (SIP, diameter and SNMP). DEN-ng is enhanced and tagged in accordance with the requirements over the underlying framework. A dedicated language for the platform is proposed that has its deep roots inside the framework to avoid conflicts and overlapping. A dynamic decision engine is developed for routing the requests/sessions at private-public network border over the underlying multi-homed environment. Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) theory is used for decision computation/calculation and the adapted methods are exploited according to the scenario and decision computation mode while keeping in view the corresponding enforcement mode. A test bed is developed to validate the proposed framework. The proposed system offers higher throughput and lowers call-dropping probability with an add-on susceptible delay.

The increased demand for biofuels is expected to put additional strain on the available agricultural resources while at the same time causing environmental degradation. Hence, new energy policies need to be formulated and implemented in order to meet global energy needs while reducing the impact of biofuels farming and production. This research focuses on proving a decision support system which can aid the formulation of policies for the sustainable biofuel production. The system seeks to address policy formulation that requires reconciliation of the qualitative aspects of decision making (such as stakeholder’s viewpoints) with quantitative data, which often may be imprecise. To allow this, based on: Fuzzy logic and Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) in the form of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Using these concepts, three software functionalities, “Options vs. Fuzzy Criteria Matrix”, “Analytical Hierarchy Process” and “Fuzzy AHP” were developed. These were added within the framework of pre-existing base software, Compendium (developed by the Open University, UK). A number of case study based models have been investigated using the software. These models made use of data from the Philippines and India in order to pinpoint suitable land and crop options for these countries. The models based on AHP and Fuzzy AHP were very successful in identifying suitable crop options for India by capturing both the stakeholder viewpoints and quantitative data. The software functionalities are very effective in scenario planning and selection of policies that would be beneficial in achieving a desired future scenario. The models further revealed that the newly developed software correctly identified many of the important issues in a consistent manner.