Thesis (M. Sc. (Mathematics))--Rhodes University, 2006. / A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mathematics.

Satellite images increasingly become a major data source for monitoring changes in the natural environment. A main task in the analysis of satellite images is concerned with the modelling of land use classes by reducing uncertainty during a classification process. In the approach presented in this paper uncertainty is perceived to be due to the vagueness of geographical categories caused by either the complexity of the category (like 'urban area') or by the use of the category in several application contexts. Two circumstances of use of an extended set theoretical concept (fuzzy sets) are discussed. First, two algorithms from the ISODATA class are used to determine the grades of membership to three a priori defined classes (woodland, suburban area, urban area) of a LANDSAT TM satellite image of Vienna, Austria. The results are visualized by a RGB image of the grades of membership to each category. Second, a measure of fuzziness is employed on the results. The measure relies on the concept of distance between a seUcategory and its complement. The so determined vagueness provide more information on the uncertainty of the different categories and may improve further information processing tasks. (authors' abstract) / Series: Discussion Papers of the Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience

Orientador: Valério Antonio Pamplona Salomon / Banca: Fernando Augusto Silva Marins / Banca: Carlos Henrique Pereira Mello / Resumo: Nos últimos anos, várias novas plantas industriais para a produção de veículos automotores foram construídas e estão em operação no Brasil. Esse fato, aliado às mudanças estruturais dos fabricantes em todo o mundo, gerou novas relações entre as montadoras e seus fornecedores de autopeças. As montadoras adotaram um processo de delegação produtiva junto a seus fornecedores. Lançada em 1999, a ISO/TS 16949 tem como objetivo atender aos requisitos normativos das principais montadoras americanas, alemãs, francesas e italianas. Entre estes requisitos tem-se o desenvolvimento e revisão de análises do modo e efeito de falha (FMEA, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) para a aplicação em desenvolvimento de projetos de produtos e processos de manufatura. Mesmo com um formulário semelhante a um roteiro, o preenchimento de um FMEA de processo é uma atividade complexa, na qual as relações entre as colunas e os critérios de pontuação adotados são de vital importância para o seu desempenho. Em muitos casos o FMEA é usado mais por exigências normativas do que por seus benefícios, sendo que o seu incorreto emprego pode acarretar em desperdício de recursos. Tendo um foco em empresas do setor automotivo, o presente estudo visa apresentar uma proposta para a avaliação do desempenho da aplicação do FMEA de processo, identificando as irregularidades que ocorrem em seu uso, de forma a hierarquizá-las de acordo com a gravidade e obtendo uma sistemática de avaliação de cada caso. Para tanto, foi realizado um embasamento teórico sobre a aplicação de FMEA de processo associado a um estudo de caso para avaliação do uso do FMEA nas organizações selecionadas pela aplicação da metodologia de auxílio à decisão. / Abstract: In recent years, new several industrial plants for the vehicles production were built and are in operation in Brazil. That fact, added to the global changes in the automotive production, generated new relationships between the assembly plants and their suppliers, that it resulted in the adoption of a process of productive delegation with the manufacturers of automotive parts. Maid in 1999, ISO/TS 16949 has as objective assists to the normative requirements of the main American, Germans, French and Italian assembly plants. Among these requirements there is the development and revision of analyses in the mode and faulire effect (FMEA, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) for the application in development of projects of products and manufacture processes. Even with a form similar to an itinerary, the completion of a process FMEA is a complex activity, which the relationships between the columns and the punctuation criteria adopted are very important for its performance. In many cases FMEA is used more by normative demands than for their benefits, and its incorrect job can result in resources waste. With a focus in companies of the automotive section, this study seeks to present a proposal for the evaluation of the of Process FMEA application, identifying the irregularities that happen in its use, in way the hierarchy in agreement with the gravity and obtaining a systematic of evaluation of each case. For that, a theoretical rising was accomplished about the application of process FMEA associated to a case study for evaluation of FMEA aplication in the selected organizations by the application of the decision-making methodology. Specifically will be used the method AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and the Fuzzy Sets, which, starting from the literature, the fundamental concepts are discussed associates to the theory of this methods. / Mestre

Orientador: José Arnaldo Frutuoso Roveda / Banca: João Carlos Nucci / Banca: Vidal Dias da Mota Junior / Banca: Renata Fracácio Francisco / Banca: Gerson Araújo de Medeiros / Resumo: O aumento desordenado da urbanização gerou diminuição das áreas verdes urbanas e possíveis efeitos negativos na qualidade de vida da população. Como forma de discutir este problema, no Capítulo I deste trabalho foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica com objetivo de entender como a ciência compreende a atuação da vegetação urbana no processo de potencializar os serviços ecossistêmicos. No Capítulo II, foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliográfica quanto ao processo evolutivo da legislação ambiental brasileira e de Sorocaba quanto à reserva de espaços verdes e áreas livres no processo de parcelamento do solo no ambiente urbano. No Capítulo III, foi construído com auxílio da teoria dos conjuntos fuzzy um modelo para analisar os estágios de sucessão florestal em fragmentos florestais. Considerando que a vegetação florestal exerce forte influência nos serviços ecossistêmicos urbanos. O Capítulo IV tem por objetivo, propor um modelo de avaliação dos fragmentos florestais urbanos que possa refletir sua capacidade em contribuir com os serviços ecossistêmicos urbanos. O modelo foi constituído com uso da Teoria dos Conjuntos Fuzzy. Para testar o modelo, foram utilizados parâmetros de loteamentos aprovados e implantados no município de Sorocaba, SP, Brasil. O resultado mostrou-se eficiente no seu propósito. O Sistema comprovou servir como ferramenta auxiliar no processo de decisão de aprovação de projetos e poderá contribuir para melhorar as decisões dos gestores públicos e melhorar o proce... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The disorderly increase of urbanization generated reduction of urban green areas and possible negative effects on the quality of life of the population. As a way to discuss this issue in chapter I of this work was performed a literature review in order to understand how science understands the action of urban vegetation in the process of enhancing ecosystem services. In chapter II a bibliographical research as to the evolutionary process of the brazilian environmental legislation and of Sorocaba how to green spaces and open areas in the process of subdivision of the soil in urban environment. In chapter III was built with the aid of fuzzy set theory a model to analyze the stages of forest succession in forest fragments. Whereas the forest vegetation exerts strong influence on ecosystem services. Chapter IV aims to propose a model for the evaluation of urban forest fragments that can reflect your ability to contribute to ecosystem services. The model was constituted with use of Fuzzy set theory. To test the model, approved building lots parameters were used and deployed in the municipality of Sorocaba, SP, Brazil. The result proved to be efficient in your purpose. The system proved serve as auxiliary tool in the decision-making process for approval of projects and can help improve decisions of public managers and improve the process of occupation of urban land. / Doutor

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-07-04Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:20:26Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 aguiar_dc_me_guara.pdf: 846291 bytes, checksum: 030eb13cc5419ded212eaada663096e1 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Nos últimos anos, várias novas plantas industriais para a produção de veículos automotores foram construídas e estão em operação no Brasil. Esse fato, aliado às mudanças estruturais dos fabricantes em todo o mundo, gerou novas relações entre as montadoras e seus fornecedores de autopeças. As montadoras adotaram um processo de delegação produtiva junto a seus fornecedores. Lançada em 1999, a ISO/TS 16949 tem como objetivo atender aos requisitos normativos das principais montadoras americanas, alemãs, francesas e italianas. Entre estes requisitos tem-se o desenvolvimento e revisão de análises do modo e efeito de falha (FMEA, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) para a aplicação em desenvolvimento de projetos de produtos e processos de manufatura. Mesmo com um formulário semelhante a um roteiro, o preenchimento de um FMEA de processo é uma atividade complexa, na qual as relações entre as colunas e os critérios de pontuação adotados são de vital importância para o seu desempenho. Em muitos casos o FMEA é usado mais por exigências normativas do que por seus benefícios, sendo que o seu incorreto emprego pode acarretar em desperdício de recursos. Tendo um foco em empresas do setor automotivo, o presente estudo visa apresentar uma proposta para a avaliação do desempenho da aplicação do FMEA de processo, identificando as irregularidades que ocorrem em seu uso, de forma a hierarquizá-las de acordo com a gravidade e obtendo uma sistemática de avaliação de cada caso. Para tanto, foi realizado um embasamento teórico sobre a aplicação de FMEA de processo associado a um estudo de caso para avaliação do uso do FMEA nas organizações selecionadas pela aplicação da metodologia de auxílio à decisão. / In recent years, new several industrial plants for the vehicles production were built and are in operation in Brazil. That fact, added to the global changes in the automotive production, generated new relationships between the assembly plants and their suppliers, that it resulted in the adoption of a process of productive delegation with the manufacturers of automotive parts. Maid in 1999, ISO/TS 16949 has as objective assists to the normative requirements of the main American, Germans, French and Italian assembly plants. Among these requirements there is the development and revision of analyses in the mode and faulire effect (FMEA, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) for the application in development of projects of products and manufacture processes. Even with a form similar to an itinerary, the completion of a process FMEA is a complex activity, which the relationships between the columns and the punctuation criteria adopted are very important for its performance. In many cases FMEA is used more by normative demands than for their benefits, and its incorrect job can result in resources waste. With a focus in companies of the automotive section, this study seeks to present a proposal for the evaluation of the of Process FMEA application, identifying the irregularities that happen in its use, in way the hierarchy in agreement with the gravity and obtaining a systematic of evaluation of each case. For that, a theoretical rising was accomplished about the application of process FMEA associated to a case study for evaluation of FMEA aplication in the selected organizations by the application of the decision-making methodology. Specifically will be used the method AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and the Fuzzy Sets, which, starting from the literature, the fundamental concepts are discussed associates to the theory of this methods.

Orientadores: Akebo Yamakami, Laecio Carvalho de Barros, Laercio Luis Vendite / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-04T04:11:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Castanho_MariaJosedePaula_D.pdf: 5605275 bytes, checksum: 589180e36f1eeebf2b8fa1ced3a0a4db (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: O câncer de próstata é, atualmente, o segundo tipo de câncer com maior incidência entre a população masculina, no Brasil. Estimar o seu estágio, com as informações clínicas disponíveis para decidir a terapia a ser aplicada, é uma tarefa árdua. Neste trabalho, um modelo matemático é elaborado para auxiliar o médico na tomada de decisão. A teoria dos conjuntosfuzzy, por sua capacidade em lidar com incertezas, inerentes aos conceitos médicos, é a ferramenta utilizada, não só para desenvolver o modelo, como também para desenvolver a metodologia para sua avaliação, baseada na análise ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic). A avaliação foi feita utilizando-se dados obtidos junto ao Instituto Americano do Câncer e permite afinnar que o sistema especialista construí do discrimina pacientes com câncer confinado à próstata daqueles com câncer não-confinado. Considerando a taxa de crescimento como um parâmetro incerto e variável na população, também é apresentado um modelo para descrever o crescimento do tumor / Abstract: Nowadays, prostate cancer is the second most common man cancer diagnosed in Brazil. Predicting the cancer stage from available clinical information to decide the therapy to be used is hard work. ln this study a mathematical model is developed to assist the physician in this task. The fuzzy sets theory provides effective tools to handle and manipulate imprecise data and to make decisions based on such data. As imprecision is a characteristic of medical concepts, this theory is utilized not oniy to develop the model as to develop the methodology for its evaluation, based on ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) analysis. To evaluate its performance, data from the American Cancer lnstitute were used. The results indicate that the model is able to discriminate patients with organ-confined disease from those with non-confined cancer. In addition, considering the growth rate as an uncertain, changeable parameter in the population, a model to describe the tumor growth is suggested. / Doutorado / Automação / Doutor em Engenharia Elétrica

The idea of keychains, an (n+1)-tuple of non-increasing real numbers in the unit interval always including 1, naturally arises in study of finite fuzzy set theory. They are a useful concept in modeling ideas of uncertainty especially those that arise in Economics, Social Sciences, Statistics and other subjects. In this thesis we define and study some basic properties of keychains with reference to Partially Ordered Sets, Lattices, Chains and Finite Fuzzy Sets. We then examine the role of keychains and their lattice diagrams in representing uncertainties that arise in such problems as in preferential voting patterns, outcomes of competitions and in Economics - Preference Relations.

The broad goal in this thesis is to enumerate elements and fuzzy subsets of a finite set enjoying some useful properties through the well-known counting technique of the principle of inclusion-exclusion. We consider the set of membership values to be finite and uniformly spaced in the real unit interval. Further we define an equivalence relation with regards to the cardinalities of fuzzy subsets providing the Möbius function and Möbius inversion in that context.

We determine the number and nature of distinct equivalence classes of fuzzy subgroups of finite Abelian p-group G of rank two under a natural equivalence relation on fuzzy subgroups. Our discussions embrace the necessary theory from groups with special emphasis on finite p-groups as a step towards the classification of crisp subgroups as well as maximal chains of subgroups. Unique naming of subgroup generators as discussed in this work facilitates counting of subgroups and chains of subgroups from subgroup lattices of the groups. We cover aspects of fuzzy theory including fuzzy (homo-) isomorphism together with operations on fuzzy subgroups. The equivalence characterization as discussed here is finer than isomorphism. We introduce the theory of keychains with a view towards the enumeration of maximal chains as well as fuzzy subgroups under the equivalence relation mentioned above. We discuss a strategy to develop subgroup lattices of the groups used in the discussion, and give examples for specific cases of prime p and positive integers n,m. We derive formulas for both the number of maximal chains as well as the number of distinct equivalence classes of fuzzy subgroups. The results are in the form of polynomials in p (known in the literature as Hall polynomials) with combinatorial coefficients. Finally we give a brief investigation of the results from a graph-theoretic point of view. We view the subgroup lattices of these groups as simple, connected, symmetric graphs.

In this study we apply the knowledge of fuzzy sets to group structures and also to decision-making implications. We study fuzzy subgroups of finite abelian groups. We set G = Z[subscript p[superscript n]] + Z[subscript q[superscript m]]. The classification of fuzzy subgroups of G using equivalence classes is introduced. First, we present equivalence relations on fuzzy subsets of X, and then extend it to the study of equivalence relations of fuzzy subgroups of a group G. This is then followed by the notion of flags and keychains projected as tools for enumerating fuzzy subgroups of G. In addition to this, we use linear ordering of the lattice of subgroups to characterize the maximal chains of G. Then we narrow the gap between group theory and decision-making using relations. Finally, a theory of the decision-making process in a fuzzy environment leads to a fuzzy version of capital budgeting. We define the goal, constraints and decision and show how they conflict with each other using membership function implications. We establish sets of intervals for projecting decision boundaries in general. We use the knowledge of triangular fuzzy numbers which are restricted field of fuzzy logic to evaluate investment projections.