ABSTRACT We study a class of integer bilevel problems, the so-called Integer Linear Multiplicative Bilevel Problem, ILMBP, where the constraints are linear and both the upper level problem and the lower level problem are integer linear multiplicative problems. We assume that the k -linear factors of the upper level problem and the l -linear factors of the lower level problem to be non-negative. In this paper, we propose an algorithm based on branch-and-cut method for solving the Integer Linear Multiplicative Bilevel Problem. First, the continuous upper level linear multiplicative problem is solved, then the optimal integer solution obtained is tested for the optimality of the main problem by solving the lower level linear multiplicative problem. If this solution is not optimal for the problem ILMBP, a cut is added to the upper level problem and a new best integer solution is determined. The integer solution is generated by the branching process well known in the branch and bound procedure. Following, the presentation and validation of the algorithm, an example is provided to better visualize the algorithm. problems socalled so called Problem ILMBP nonnegative. nonnegative non negative. negative non-negative paper branchandcut First solved determined procedure Following

ABSTRACT With the growth of the demand flow and its variability at an emergency department, the complexity to deal with the prioritization of assistance also increases, seeking to offer a quality service. In this sense, several systematized risk triage protocols were created to organize the queues at the emergency, establishing an order of service to ensure that patients do not wait more than a safe time to receive their first medical care. Therefore, the objective of this work is to analyze and evaluate the behavior of an emergency department using a discrete event simulation model. For the results, it was possible to better understand the patient flow, identify problems and difficulties in the system, propose alternatives to deal with patient prioritization, and evaluate the performance of these alternatives through the Goal Question Metric methodology. increases sense care Therefore model results system methodology

ABSTRACT This work presents an integrated decision support process based on Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) applicable to personal and organizational decisions. There are three main goals of this research: (i) present a methodological discussion on Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) and depict how it can contribute to support decision processes; (ii) present an integrated guide for a decision-support process based on VFT to help analysts and decision-makers in conducting decision processes; (iii) present applications of the proposed approach in a personal and a public management problem. This work delivers two main contributions: (a) a unified process that integrates different approaches based on VFT with a consistent structure for sequencing the stages of the decision-making process; and (b) examples that demonstrate the use of the proposed process in real problems and different contexts, presenting insights not thoroughly explored in the literature. ValueFocused Value Focused (VFT decisions research i (i processes ii (ii decisionsupport decisionmakers makers iii (iii problem contributions (a decisionmaking making b (b contexts literature

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to prioritize which waste should be treated by Lean Healthcare in a medical clinic of a middle-sized Brazilian hospital, using the multicriteria decision support method THOR 2. It focusses on structuring the problem, establishing alternatives through the study hospital and Lean interventions already made in it, and determining the criteria and parameters of THOR 2 with the help of Value Focus Thinking (VFT) and the hospital directors. THOR 2 was able to identify, taking into account its preference relationships in S2, that establishing a Kanban within the hospital’s medical clinic is the preferred and the main contribution and novelty to the literature is the way that multicriteria methods can help in Lean Healthcare decision making. As conclusions, it was possible to establish a prioritization order, maintaining the concept of continuous improvement, arising from Lean Healthcare, while respecting the limits and restrictions of the hospital. middlesized middle sized problem VFT (VFT directors identify S2 S hospitals s making conclusions order improvement

ABSTRACT Rising demand for more efficient and higher-quality public services has challenged public managers to meet these expectations. Performance evaluation has emerged as a crucial management tool to enhance public services. Its application in specific functional areas, such as Supply Chain Management (SCM), holds the potential to mitigate the escalating healthcare costs. This study aimed to develop a performance evaluation framework for the supply chain management of a public teaching hospital, utilizing the Constructivist Multi Criteria Decision Aid methodology (MCDA-C). Through structured interviews with the hospital's administrative manager, 160 criteria across eleven domains were identified for assessing supply chain management performance. The resulting framework allowed for a comprehensive evaluation, yielding a score of 51.55%. Proposed enhancements are expected to boost the global performance from 51.55 to 76.25% when implemented. A literature comparison underscores the comprehensive and specific nature of this performance evaluation model, demonstrating its influence on the healthcare services provided. higherquality higher quality expectations areas SCM, SCM , (SCM) costs hospital MCDAC. MCDAC MCDA C . (MCDA-C) hospitals s manager 16 5155 51 55 51.55% 51.5 7625 76 25 76.25 implemented model provided (SCM (MCDA-C 1 515 5 51. 762 7 2 76.2 76.

ABSTRACT Brazilian public universities are essential entities to foment technological and scientific development through the generation and transmission of knowledge; the existence of this environment is only possible through the capture, maintenance, and management of organizational resources. Ensuring the availability of such resources is a complex process. Regarding the management of infrastructure projects, the scenario is especially challenging. Considering this context, the main purpose of this article is to apply a multimethodology, based on Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA) and Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), to structure the problem of managing infrastructure projects in a Brazilian Public University, using data collected in a previous analysis to explore the perspective of key stakeholders. The decision-making relevant system was chosen to be detailed and explored. Results show that the proposed multimethodology was able to provide essential diagnosis for the decision situation, bringing three main levels of necessary facilitating intervention. knowledge capture maintenance process challenging context SODA (SODA SSM, SSM , (SSM) University stakeholders decisionmaking making explored situation intervention (SSM

ABSTRACT The main goal of this research was to identify personal and professional factors of train drivers which imply in the occurrence of accidents (denoted in this study as situations to non-compliance with procedures of the train driver consisting of unsafe acts that could cause major accidents) of a Brazilian logistics company related to accidentes in the period from 2014 to 2016. The research involved 348 drivers and some independent variables associated with each worker such as distances of removal (railway sections), driver’s age, working time (time working in the company), marital status, number of trips (number of train trips as a driver); months of work (months of work in the company) and total hours driving trains. Responses of interest are accident rates per work month and accident counts. Under a Bayesian approach, Beta and Poisson regression models were assumed in the presence of excess zeros. For the accident rate/months of work response, the covariates number of trips, posting distances and age showed some evidence of significant effects. For the response accident count, the covariate hours driving trains shows some evidence that it is a significant covariate. These results may be of great interest to rail logistics company managers to improve rail safety using some Bayesian modeling approaches in the presence of excess zeros. denoted noncompliance non compliance 201 2016 34 railway sections, sections , sections) s company, status driver) counts approach zeros ratemonths rate effects count 20 3 2

ABSTRACT Public bidding is a Brazilian subject of great importance, being subject to control by the federal audit court, to prevent deviations and corruption. Even national legislation has undergone recent changes to make the use of this instrument more effective. In the public aspect, the bidding process goes through the determination of the need, the publication process, the choice, the contracting, and the post-contract period. Since some of the bidding modalities are exclusively based in “lowest price” and prevent the direct use of MCDA selecting the alternatives, this paper proposes using a combined approach, using MCDA and cognitive maps, to help in the determination of the bidding object. This approach is applied to a hypothetical situation, and the case study shows the convenience of its practical use in a real situation. The specific case is related to structural covering, using NBR15575 as a criteria definition subsidy. The study shows a contribution of cognitive maps to express the rationale according to legal principles and providing elements of the MCDA model. While FITradeoff supports the definition of the object, which is fundamental to avoid failures in the contracting process. The recent FITradeoff web version is used and the advantage of using the method is the reduction of decision-maker biases, increasing the transparency of the process. importance court corruption effective aspect need choice postcontract post contract period lowest price alternatives object situation covering NBR NBR1557 subsidy model decisionmaker decision maker biases NBR155 NBR15 NBR1

ABSTRACT The Flexible and Interactive Tradeoff (FITradeoff) multicriteria method was developed under the scope of the Multiattribute Value Theory (MAVT) to elicit preferences under a partial information perspective. The flexibility of this method has been recently enhanced by the combination of two paradigms of preference modeling in the decision process, namely elicitation by decomposition (ED) and holistic evaluation (HE), improving the preferences elicitation task in a sense that fewer elicitation questions are expected to be answered by the Decision Maker (DM) to find a recommendation for the multicriteria decision making (MCDM) problem. The combination of two preference modelling paradigms in FITradeoff is an innovative characteristic on MCDM methods which deserves further analysis on its implications for the practice of decision making, not yet investigated in previous works. Considering that, this work aims to evaluate the impact of conducting HE in FITradeoff in terms of the expected reduction of the number of questions (NQ) that shall be answered to obtain the problem results. To do so, a simulation study has been carried out, in which multiple criteria problems have been generated and solved by simulating different preferences profiles. Hypotheses on the reduction of the number of questions were formulated and tested for identifying the actual effect of two different types of HE in the elicitation process: selection of the best alternative and elimination of the worst alternative considering a previously defined subset. Besides, we also analyze the relationship between the HE effects and important variables of MCDM problems such as number of criteria (NC), number of alternatives (NA), and weights distribution patterns (WD). The results obtained show that holistic evaluation judgments have a significant impact on the reduction of effort made by the DM in the elicitation process, in a sense that the total number of questions reduces in a significant manner, considering either selection tasks or elimination tasks in HE. (FITradeoff MAVT (MAVT perspective process ED (ED HE, , (HE) (DM (MCDM works NQ (NQ so out profiles subset Besides NC, NC (NC) NA, NA (NA) WD. WD . (WD) manner (HE (NC (NA (WD

ABSTRACT We present a novel approach to the inverse data envelopment analysis (DEA) process, based on the slacks-based measure (SBM) model in the presence of undesirable outputs. In the first step, we determine the minimum undesirable outputs levels that a decision-making unit (DMU) can produce, according to the level of inputs and desired outputs, based on weak disposability. We then introduce counterpart (hypothetical) units corresponding to each DMU. In the second step, we determine the optimal level of inputs and outputs for the newly created units, based on the SBM model in the presence of undesirable outputs. We present two new criteria models based on the SBM model, to compare the efficiency of the newly created unit in the inverse DEA process with the original unit. We demonstrate that the efficiency scores obtained from these two models are equal. Using the SBM-based inverse non-radial DEA process, we can use all inefficiency slacks related to all input and undesirable output components in the inverse non-radial DEA process to estimate inputs and outputs simultaneously. (DEA slacksbased (SBM step decisionmaking decision making DMU (DMU produce disposability hypothetical (hypothetical equal SBMbased nonradial non radial simultaneously

ABSTRACT This paper describes the psychometric validation procedure for the creation of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) engine based on the theory of precision psychology and expert system-type machine learning algorithms. The focus is on individual coping strategies and the factor of reconciliation in victims of armed conflict in Colombia. A non-experimental methodology with a cross-sectional design was used, with a total of 363 participants. The results highlight that elements related to economic factors, individual condition, and political concerns in the victims explain the conditions required to generate a reconciliation process in the context of reintegrating into civilian life. It is concluded that the use of artificial intelligence enhances the process of psychological care by providing precision in the etiological information of the illness and the data, which enables discrimination between the health status, symptoms, and disease of the victims. AI (AI systemtype system type algorithms Colombia nonexperimental non experimental crosssectional cross sectional used 36 participants factors condition life data status symptoms 3

ABSTRACT Facility location-related decision problems pose a significant challenge for managers due to the multiple and conflicting factors involved. Moreover, incorrect decisions can lead to substantial impacts on companies' long-term strategic planning, resulting in losses for the business. This paper deals with a facility location problem in the educational sector in the northeast region of Brazil, which concerns the definition of the best location to place a private sector technical school, considering multiple objectives throughout a multicriteria approach. The decision-making process is structured based on a 9-step multicriteria model, and the preference elicitation phase is aided by the Flexible and Interactive Tradeoff (FITradeoff) method, using partial information provided by the decision-maker (DM). In the application presented in this paper, preference modeling is conducted considering the combination of two preference elicitation paradigms in the FITradeoff decision process: elicitation by decomposition and holistic evaluations, throughout a flexible approach. The DM’s preferences are elicited interactively, by means of a Decision Support System (DSS). At each interaction, the information given by the DM acts as constraints for a linear programming problem (LPP) model, which is computed in order to verify the potential optimality of each alternative. At the end of the elicitation process, a sensitivity analysis is performed so as to verify the robustness of the results obtained. Insights on the preference modeling paradigms combination with potential advantages for the decision process are also discussed in this paper. locationrelated related involved Moreover companies longterm long term planning business Brazil school approach decisionmaking making 9step step 9 model (FITradeoff method decisionmaker maker DM. . (DM) evaluations DMs s interactively DSS. DSS (DSS) interaction LPP (LPP alternative obtained (DM (DSS

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the operational efficiency of Brazil’s 30 largest airports from 2014 to 2018, using a two-stage model. Operational efficiency is defined as an airport’s capacity to effectively utilize resources, such as facilities, staff, and technology, to cater to air traffic and passenger needs. The first stage involved measuring operational efficiency through data envelopment analysis. The second stage used a three-level hierarchical linear model to identify influencing variables. Key findings reveal that location significantly impacts airport efficiency, which generally declined during the study period. The interest rate, the only notable economic factor, had a negative effect on efficiency. Factors like the number of aircraft parking positions, years of airport operation, and the number of airlines positively influenced efficiency. Conversely, governance structure, airport size, commercial establishment count, and vehicle parking lot numbers didn’t notably affect efficiency variation. This methodological approach provided more accurate predictions than traditional regression models. Brazils Brazil s 3 201 2018 twostage two resources facilities staff technology needs analysis threelevel three level variables period rate factor positions operation Conversely structure size count didnt didn t variation models 20 2

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a multicriteria model for ranking the functioning of the dominant economic sectors of the Mexican economy. The paper presents a real case study dealing with comparing economic sectors. It includes the problem situation, a suitable problem formulation, and a detailed version of the multicriteria evaluation model. The model considers the multiple dimensions involved in the evaluation. Eighty-nine dominant economic sectors of Mexico represent the alternatives to be considered in the evaluation model. The problem statement is a relative economic comparison of such sectors under a multicriteria ranking purpose from the 2019 Economic Census data. The study found that the model could determine the degree of the overall appeal of an economic sector in contrast to others. economy situation formulation Eightynine Eighty nine 201 data others 20 2