Islamic Azad University

About: Islamic Azad University is a education organization based out in Tehran, Iran. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Adsorption. The organization has 83635 authors who have published 113437 publications receiving 1275049 citations. The organization is also known as: Azad University.

Sustainable third-party reverse logistics provider evaluation and selection using fuzzy SWARA and developed fuzzy COPRAS in the presence of risk criteria

Abstract: A third party reverse logistic provider (3PRLP) selection and evaluation process is developed.A multiple attribute decision making (MADM) model to evaluate and select 3PRLPs in the presence of risk factors is proposed.A fuzzy step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) approach to weight the evaluation criteria is applied.A fuzzy (COPRAS) is proposed to rank and select the sustainable third-party reverse logistics providers in the presence of risk factors.A real world case study is used from automotive industry to validate the quality of our model. Reverse logistics is the backward process of collecting and redistributing products at the end-of-life from customers to producers and manufacturers for reuse, remanufacturing and disposal purposes. While reverse logistics brings several economic benefits, it seems to become a necessity for businesses to remain competitive in a world that environmental and social aspects of business activities are key to sustainable development. The operations and management of reverse logistics systems is a complex task that requires substantial level of infrastructure, technology, expertise and experience. Therefore, increasingly many business organizations tend to outsource their reverse logistics activities to third-party reverse logistics providers (3PRLPs). In this paper, we propose a multiple attribute decision making (MADM) model to rank and select 3PRLPs, using fuzzy step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) to weight the evaluation criteria. Accordingly, a developed fuzzy complex proportional assessment of alternatives (COPRAS) was proposed to rank and select the sustainable 3PRLPs in the presence risk factors. The suggested model was applied to a case study from automotive industry. Eventually, COPRAS and COPRAS-G methods were considered for the purpose of comparison and validation. As a result, the most sustainable 3PRLP was selected. While incorporating risk factors into our analysis, our study shows that environmental and social drivers are increasingly becoming dominant when selecting 3PRLPs.

A new hybrid model using Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) technique and Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) for regional landslide hazard assessment in Iran

Abstract: In recent years, Iran has experienced many landslides due to high tectonic activity, and a variety of geological and climatic conditions. This paper proposes a novel hybrid model based on step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) method and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to evaluate landslide susceptible areas using geographical information system (GIS). At first, based on an inventory map, landslide locations were randomly divided into two parts, 70% of which were used for generating the landslide hazard map and 30% of which were used for the validation of the model. Then, twelve landslide predisposing factors, such as lithology, slope angle, slope aspect, plan curvature, profile curvature, altitude, distance to streams, distance to faults, distance to roads, land use, seismicity, and rainfall were considered for the analysis. All the factors were then weighted by the SWARA method. Considering the nature of predisposing factors, they were split into two groups, factors with discrete data and factors with continuous data. For factors with discrete data, the SWARA method was used for final weight of each class, and for factors with continuous data, results related to the center of each class were obtained from the SWARA method. Subsequently, AFNIS was used to obtain weight of each value. All the values obtained from the model were then used to generate the landslide hazard map of the study area. Finally, the landslide hazard map was validated by receiver operating characteristics (ROC) using both success rate curve and prediction rate curve. 70% of observed landslides were used for the former while the remaining was used for the latter. The validation results showed that the area under the success rate curve and prediction rate curve (AUC) are 0.84 and 0.80 respectively. Additionally, the prediction performance of the SWARA method for landslide hazard mapping was investigated and the results were compared with those obtained from the proposed model. The comparison revealed that the developed model has better prediction ability for landslide hazard assessment. The results also indicated that the proposed model used in this study produced satisfactory and reliable landslide hazard map, which can be used for preliminary land use and infrastructure planning in Iran.

Search for the associated production of the Higgs boson with a top-quark pair

Abstract: A search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair (ttH) is presented, using data samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 5.1 fb^(−1) and 19.7 fb^(−1) collected in pp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV respectively. The search is based on the following signatures of the Higgs boson decay: H → hadrons, H → photons, and H → leptons. The results are characterized by an observed ttH signal strength relative to the standard model cross section, μ=σ/σ SM,under the assumption that the Higgs boson decays as expected in the standard model. The best fit value is μ = 2.8 ± 1.0 for a Higgs boson mass of 125.6 GeV.