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Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing
Urszula Bentkowska
Interval-Valued
Methods in
Classifications
and Decisions
Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing
Volume 378
Series editor
Janusz Kacprzyk, Polish Academy of Sciences, Systems Research Institute,
Warsaw, Poland
e-mail: kacprzyk@ibspan.waw.pl
The series “Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing” contains publications on
various topics in the area of soft computing, which include fuzzy sets, rough sets,
neural networks, evolutionary computation, probabilistic and evidential reasoning,
multi-valued logic, and related fields. The publications within “Studies in Fuzziness
and Soft Computing” are primarily monographs and edited volumes. They cover
significant recent developments in the field, both of a foundational and applicable
character. An important feature of the series is its short publication time and
world-wide distribution. This permits a rapid and broad dissemination of research
results.
Indexed by ISI, DBLP and Ulrichs, SCOPUS, Zentralblatt Math, GeoRef,
Current Mathematical Publications, IngentaConnect, MetaPress and Springerlink.
The books of the series are submitted for indexing to Web of Science.
Interval-Valued Methods
in Classifications
and Decisions
123
Urszula Bentkowska
Faculty of Mathematics and Natural
Sciences
University of Rzeszów
Rzeszów, Poland
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To my Family and Friends,
especially to my Parents
Preface
I saw the need, but I did not know how to satisfy it. I posed
the problem to my best friends, Herbert Robins and Richard
Bellman, because as mathematicians they were better qual-
ified than I was to come up with a theory which was needed.
Both were too busy with their own problems. I was left on my
own.
Lotfi A. Zadeh [1]
Since the seminal paper on fuzzy sets was published [2], plenty of books and papers
devoted to the topic of fuzzy sets theory, its extensions and applications appeared.
According to the Web of Science, there are over 198,000 works with the fuzzy as a
topic. Among them, there are also works of the best friends mentioned in the
quotation by Lotfi Zadeh (e.g., [3]). The author of this monograph also would like
to contribute to the subject of fuzzy sets, especially interval-valued fuzzy sets,
which are one of the most important and developing generalizations of the fuzzy
sets theory. However, the presented results may be also advantageous to the whole
community, not only fuzzy, but more generally involved in research under uncer-
tainty or imperfect information.
Fuzzy sets theory and its extensions are interesting not only from a theoretical
point of view, but also they have applications in many disciplines such as computer
science and technology. Fuzzy sets turned out to be effective tools for many
practical applications in all areas, where we deal with natural language and per-
ceptions. Fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic contributed to the development of the artificial
intelligence and its applications. Fuzzy sets theory and its diverse extensions are
still one of the most important approaches for dealing with uncertain, incomplete,
imprecise, or vague information. The aspect of data uncertainty is studied inten-
sively in many contexts and scientific disciplines. Many different forms of uncer-
tainty in data have been recognized. Some come from conflicting or incomplete
information, as well as from multiple interpretations of some phenomenon. Other
arise from lack of well-defined distinctions or from imprecise boundaries. It is
impossible to eliminate completely uncertainty and ignorance from everyday
experience of scientists, specialists in various fields, and also the life of an average
man. According to Lotfi A. Zadeh As complexity rises, precise statements lose
vii
viii Preface
meaning and meaningful statements lose precision. This is why there is a need to
develop effective algorithms and decision support systems that would be able to
capture the arising problems.
The main aim of this monograph is to consider interval-valued fuzzy methods
that improve the classification results and decision processes under incomplete or
imprecise information. The presented results may be useful not only for the com-
munity working on fuzzy sets and their extensions, but also for researches and
practitioners dealing with the problems of uncertain or imperfect information. The
key part of the monograph is the description of the original classification algorithms
based on interval-valued fuzzy methods. The described algorithms may be applied
in decision support systems, for example, in medicine or other disciplines where the
incomplete or imprecise information may appear (cf. Chap. 4), or for data sets with
a very large number of objects or attributes (cf. Chap. 5). The presented solutions
may cope with the challenges arising from the growth of data and information in
our society since they enter the field of large-scale computing. As a result, they may
enable efficient data processing. The presented applications are based on theoretical
results connected with the family of comparability relations defined for intervals
and other related notions. We show the origin, interpretation, and properties of the
considered concepts deriving from the epistemic interpretation of intervals.
Namely, the epistemic uncertainty represents the idea of partial or incomplete
information. It may be described by means of a set of possible values of some
quantity of interest, one of which is the right one [4]. Since the subject is wide, we
mainly concentrate on theory and applications of new concepts of aggregation
functions in interval-valued fuzzy settings. The theory of aggregation functions
became an established area of research in the past 30 years [5]. Apart from theo-
retical results, there are many applications in decision sciences, artificial intelli-
gence, fuzzy systems, or image processing. One of the challenges is to propose
implementable aggregation methods (cf. [6]) to improve the usability of the pro-
posed ideas. Such methods provide a heuristic which may be conveniently
implemented and easily understood by practitioners. Moreover, another challenge is
related to the ability of including in the proposed solutions human-specific features
like intuition, sentiment, judgment, affect, etc. These features are expressed in
natural language which is the only fully natural means of articulation and com-
munication of the human beings. This idea led to considering aggregations inspired
by the Zadeh idea computing with words [7]. Computing with words (CWW) (cf.
[8]) has a very high application potential by its remarkable ability to represent and
handle all kinds of descriptions of values, relations, handling imprecision. There are
many aggregation methods that try, with success, to resolve the challenges of
nowadays problems (cf. [9–16]). In this book, we examine the so-called possible
and necessary aggregation functions defined for interval-valued fuzzy settings. One
of the reasons to consider these types of aggregation operators is connected with the
fact that these notions of aggregation functions were recently introduced [17] and
they have not been widely examined before.
Preface ix
The book consists of two parts. In the first part, theoretical background is pre-
sented and next in the second part application results are analyzed. In theoretical
part, in Chap. 1 elements of fuzzy sets theory and its extensions are provided. There
are presented the notions of interval-valued fuzzy calculus. Diverse orders applicable
for interval-valued comparing, including interval-valued fuzzy settings, are dis-
cussed. Furthermore, in Chap. 2 aggregation functions defined on the unit interval
½0; 1 are recalled and useful notions and properties are provided. Construction
methods of interval-valued aggregation functions derive from the real-line settings
and interval-valued aggregation functions often inherit the properties of their com-
ponent functions defined on the unit interval ½0; 1. All these issues will be presented
in Chap. 2.
Part II covers two major topics: decision-making and classification problems.
Chapter 3 is devoted to decision-making problems with interval-valued fuzzy
methods involved. It is pointed out the usage of new concepts with possible and
necessary interpretation involved. Next, the classification problems are discussed.
When classifiers are used there is a problem of lowering its performance due to the
large number of objects or attributes and in the case of missing values in attribute
data. In this book, it is shown that in such situations interval-valued fuzzy methods
help to retrieve the information and to improve the quality of classification. These
issues are discussed in Chaps. 4 and 5. In Chap. 4, there are proposed methods of
optimization problem of k-NN classifiers that may be useful in diverse computer
support systems facing the problem of missing values in data sets. Missing values
appear very often in data sets of computer support systems designed for the medical
diagnosis, where the lack of data may be due to financial reasons or the lack of a
specific medical equipment in a given medical center. Chapter 5 presents methods of
dealing with large-scale problems such as large number of objects or attributes in
data sets. Specifically, there is presented a method of optimization problem of k-NN
classifiers in DNA microarray methods for identification of marker genes, where
typically there is faced the problem of huge number of attributes. Finally, in Chap. 6,
there is presented the performance of the new types of aggregation functions for
interval-valued fuzzy settings in the computer support system OvaExpert [18].
The book ends with a brief description of the future research plans in the area of
presented problems, both in the theoretical and practical aspects.
The book is aimed at practitioners working in the areas of classification and
decision-making under uncertainty, especially in medical diagnosis. It can serve as
a brief introduction into the theory of aggregation functions for interval-valued
fuzzy settings and application in decision-making and classification problems. It
can also be used as supplementary reading for the students of mathematics and
computer science. Moreover, the results on aggregation functions may be inter-
esting for computer scientists, system architects, knowledge engineers, program-
mers, who face a problem of combining various inputs into a single output. The
classification algorithms considered in this book (in Chaps. 4 and 5), along with
other supplementary materials are available at [19], where there are provided
suitable files to download and run the experiments.
x Preface
I would like to thank Prof. Józef Drewniak for introducing me to the subject of
fuzzy sets theory. Moreover, I would like to thank other Professors that helped me
in better understanding the nuances of fuzzy sets theory, its extensions, and
applications. Namely, these are the following persons (listed in the alphabetical
order): Jan G. Bazan, Humberto Bustince, Bernard De Baets, Przemysław
Grzegorzewski, Janusz Kacprzyk, Radko Mesiar, Vilém Novák, and Eulalia
Szmidt. I am also grateful to my colleagues from Poland and abroad with whom I
cooperated working on scientific problems or whom I met during scientific con-
ferences. Especially, I would like to thank my colleagues from the University of
Rzeszów with whom we spent many hours on seminars discussing scientific
problems.
Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family and friends
for their constant encouragement and support.
References
1. Zadeh, L.A.: Fuzzy logic–a personal perspective. Fuzzy Sets Syst. 281, 4–20 (2015)
2. Zadeh, L.A.: Fuzzy sets. Inf. Control 8, 338–353 (1965)
3. Bellman, R., Giertz, M.: On the analytic formalism of the theory of fuzzy sets. Inf.
Sci. 5, 149–156 (1973)
4. Dubois, D., Prade, H.: Gradualness, uncertainty and bipolarity: making sense of fuzzy sets.
Fuzzy Sets Syst. 192, 3–24 (2012)
5. Beliakov, G., Bustince, H., Calvo, T.: A Practical Guide to Averaging Functions. Studies in
Fuzziness and Soft Computing. Springer International Publishing, Switzerland (2016)
6. Albers, S.: Optimizable and implementable aggregate response modeling for marketing
decision support. Int. J. Res. Mark. 29, 111–122 (2012)
7. Kacprzyk, J., Merigó, J.M., Yager, R.R.: Aggregation and linguistic data summaries: a new
perspective on inspirations from Zadeh’s fuzzy logic and computing with words. IEEE
Computational Intelligence Magazine (forthcoming) (2018)
8. Zadeh L.A.: Computing with Words—Principal Concepts and Ideas. Studies in Fuzziness and
Soft Computing, p. 277, Springer (2012)
9. Blanco-Mesa, F., Merigó, J.M., Kacprzyk, J.: Bonferroni means with distance measures and
the adequacy coefficient in entrepreneurial group theory. Knowl.-Based Syst. 111, 217–227
(2016)
10. Castro, E.L., Ochoa, E.A, Merigó, J.M., Gil Lafuente, A.M.: Heavy moving averages and
their application in econometric forecasting. Cybern. Syst. 49(1), 26–43 (2018)
11. Castro, E.L., Ochoa, E.A, Merigó, J.M.: Induced heavy moving averages. Int. J. Intell.
Syst. 33(9), 1823–1839 (2018)
12. Liu, P., Liu, J., Merigó, J.M.: Partitioned Heronian means based on linguistic intuitionistic
fuzzy numbers for dealing with multi-attribute group decision making. Appl. Soft Comput.
62, 395–422 (2018)
13. Merigó, J.M., Palacios Marqu´es, D., Soto-Acosta, P.: Distance measures, weighted averages,
OWA operators and Bonferroni means. Appl. Soft Comput. 50, 356–366 (2017)
Preface xi
14. Merigó, J.M., Gil Lafuente, A.M., Yu, D., Llopis-Albert, C.: Fuzzy decision making in
complex frameworks with generalized aggregation operators. Appl. Soft Comput. 68,
314–321 (2018)
15. Merigó, J.M., Zhou, L., Yu, D., Alrajeh, N., Alnowibet, K.: Probabilistic OWA distances
applied to asset management. Soft Comput. 22(15), 4855–4878 (2018)
16. Zeng, S., Merigó, J.M., Palacios Marqu´es, D., Jin, H., Gu, F.: Intuitionistic fuzzy induce-
dordered weighted averaging distance operator and its application to decision making.
J. Intell. Fuzzy Syst. 32(1), 11–22 (2017)
17. Bentkowska, U.: New types of aggregation functions for interval-valued fuzzy setting and
preservation of pos-B and nec-B-transitivity in decision making problems. Inf. Sci. 424,
385–399 (2018)
18. Dyczkowski, K.: Intelligent Medical Decision Support System Based on Imperfect
Information. The Case of Ovarian Tumor Diagnosis. Studies in Computational Intelligence,
Springer (2018)
19. http://diagres.ur.edu.pl/*fuzzydataminer/
Contents
Part I Foundations
1 Fuzzy Sets and Their Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 Elements of Fuzzy Sets Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.1 Basic Notions of Fuzzy Calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.2 Fuzzy Connectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2 Elements of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Sets Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.1 Basic Notions of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Calculus . . . . . . . 9
1.2.2 Order Relations for Interval-Valued Fuzzy Settings . . . . . . 12
1.2.3 Linear Orders for Interval-Valued Fuzzy Settings . . . . . . . 15
1.2.4 Possible and Necessary Properties of Interval-Valued
Fuzzy Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 17
1.2.5 Interval-Valued Fuzzy Connectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 19
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 20
2 Aggregation in Interval-Valued Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.1 Aggregation Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.1.1 Development of the Concept of Aggregation Function . . . . 26
2.1.2 Classes of Aggregation Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.1.3 Dominance Between Aggregation Functions . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.2 Classes of Aggregation Functions for Interval-Valued Fuzzy
Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 38
2.2.1 Interval-Valued Aggregation Functions with Respect
to the Classical Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 39
2.2.2 Pos-Aggregation Functions and Nec-Aggregation
Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 42
2.2.3 Interval-Valued Aggregation Functions with Respect
to Linear Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 45
xiii
xiv Contents
Part II Applications
3 Decision Making Using Interval-Valued Aggregation . . . . . . ...... 71
3.1 Preservation of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Relation Properties
in Aggregation Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 72
3.2 Multicriteria Decision Making Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 74
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 81
4 Optimization Problem of k-NN Classifier for Missing Values
Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.1 Construction of the Classifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.1.1 Aggregation Operators for Interval-Valued Settings . . . . . . 85
4.1.2 Missing Values in Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.1.3 k-NN Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.1.4 New Version of Classifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.2 Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.2.1 Conditions of Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.2.2 Discussion and Statistical Analysis of the Results . . . . . . . 97
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
5 Optimization Problem of k-NN Classifier in DNA Microarray
Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
5.1 DNA Microarray Methods from Biological Point of View . . . . . . 108
5.2 DNA Microarray Methods from Information Technology
Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.3 A Method of Constructing a Complex Classifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Contents xv
In this part there are presented concepts related to fuzzy sets theory and its exten-
sions. Moreover, short historical mentions regarding the development of these notions
are provided. There are recalled diverse types of comparability relations between
intervals, including orders and linear orders. Mostly, this part of book concerns
aggregation functions defined both on the real line (or the unit interval [0,1]) and
for interval-valued settings. There are presented diverse representation methods of
interval-valued aggregation operators, their properties, construction methods and
dependencies between diverse classes of these operators. The considered aggrega-
tion operators may fulfil various monotonicity conditions, namely with respect to
the classical partial order, with respect to the linear orders or with respect to the
two other distinguished comparability relations derived from the epistemic inter-
pretation of intervals. Special attention is paid to the recently introduced notions of
pos-aggregation functions and nec-aggregation functions. There is also discussed the
problem of preservation of width of intervals by aggregation operators.
Chapter 1
Fuzzy Sets and Their Extensions
In this chapter basic notions regarding fuzzy calculus, its history and basic properties
are recalled. Moreover, extensions of fuzzy sets are briefly described and the most
important results concerning interval-valued fuzzy calculus are provided. Especially,
the notions of diverse order and comparability relations for interval-valued settings
are discussed.
Lotfi A. Zadeh is credited with inventing the specific idea of a fuzzy set, i.e. an exten-
sion of the classical notion of set in his seminal paper on fuzzy sets [2]. He gave a
formal mathematical representation of the concept which was widely accepted by
scholars. In fact, the German researcher Dieter Klaua independently published a
German-language paper presenting examples of fuzzy sets in the same year, but he
used a different terminology (he referred to many-valued sets, mehrwertiger men-
genlehre in German, [3]). The ideas of a fuzzy set, as a generalized characteristic
function, appeared much earlier. Jan Łukasiewicz is a pioneer with the concept of
multivalued logic. In 1920 he introduced the concept of a trivalent logic [4]. Edward
Szpilrajn considered a generalized characteristic function with the values in the Can-
tor Set [5]. Examples of fuzzy relations were provided by Karl Menger in 1951
(ensembles flous in French, [6]). Helena Rasiowa in 1964 considered generalized
characteristic functions (functions f : X → L, where L is any logical algebra, cf.
[7]), but did not use them in the sense of fuzzy sets.
Farther important papers on fuzzy sets published after 1965 are the ones on fuzzy
relations by Zadeh [8] and L-fuzzy sets by Goguen [9]. Now there exist a long list of
papers on fuzzy sets theory and there exist a long list of applications such as digital
cameras, fraud detection systems, fuzzy logic blood pressure monitors, fuzzy logic
based train operation systems and many others. Fuzzy sets theory is a very wide
branch of science. In this section we will provide only some basic notions connected
with the theory of fuzzy sets.
Definition 1.4 (cf. [2]) Let B : [0, 1]2 → [0, 1]. A sup–B–composition of relations
R ∈ F R(X, Y ) and W ∈ F R(Y, Z ) is the relation (R ◦ B W ) ∈ F R(X, Z ) such
that for any (x, z) ∈ X × Z it holds
In the next section the notions of fuzzy connectives are recalled. They are exten-
sions of adequate notions of the classical propositional calculus.
Fuzzy connectives are important notions in fuzzy sets theory. A fuzzy negation, a
fuzzy conjunction, a fuzzy disjunction, a fuzzy implication, and a fuzzy equivalence
are the basic connectives.
6 1 Fuzzy Sets and Their Extensions
The next class of fuzzy connectives consists of fuzzy conjunctions and disjunc-
tions. There exist diverse definitions of these notions (cf. [12]). We recall one of the
weakest approach to define fuzzy conjunctions and disjunctions along with some of
their important subclasses.
Definition 1.6 (cf. [11, 13]) An operation C : [0, 1]2 → [0, 1] is called a fuzzy
conjunction (respectively disjunction) if it is increasing and C(1, 1) = 1, C(0, 0)
= C(0, 1) = C(1, 0) = 0 (respectively C(0, 0) = 0, C(1, 1) = C(0, 1) = C(1, 0)
= 1). A fuzzy conjunction is called a triangular seminorm (respectively triangular
semiconorm) if it has a neutral element 1 (respectively 0). A triangular seminorm
(respectively triangular semiconorm) is called a triangular norm (respectively trian-
gular conorm) if it is commutative and associative.
Triangular norms (t-norms for short) and triangular conorms (t-conorms for short)
are precisely discussed in the monograph [11].
Example 1.3 ([11]) Examples of fuzzy conjunctions are the following well-known
t-norms (denoted by T ) given here with their usually used abbreviations:
TM (x, y) = min(x, y), TP (x, y) = x y, TL (x, y) = max(x + y − 1, 0),
⎧
⎪
⎨x, if y = 1
TD (x, y) = y, if x = 1 .
⎪
⎩
0, otherwise
T D TL T P T M , S D SL S P S M . (1.6)
Other examples and classes of fuzzy conjunctions and disjunctions are gathered for
example in [14].
Fuzzy implications are interesting connectives in fuzzy settings which may fulfil
many additional properties (cf. [12, 15]).
Definition 1.7 ([15], pp. 2, 9) A function I : [0, 1]2 → [0, 1] is called a fuzzy impli-
cation, if it is decreasing with respect to the first variable, increasing with respect to
the second variable and fulfils the truth-table of a crisp implication, i.e. I (1, 0) = 0,
I (1, 1) = I (0, 1) = I (0, 0) = 1.
A fuzzy implication I fulfils the identity principle, if
In the next section a brief overview of extensions of fuzzy sets are provided. Espe-
cially, some useful notions connected with interval-valued fuzzy sets and Atanassov
intuitionistic fuzzy sets are recalled.
There are numerous extensions of fuzzy sets including one of the most important
among them, i.e. interval-valued fuzzy sets [21, 22] introduced in 1970s and consid-
ered later by Gorzałczany [23] in 1987. Overview of the notions which extend the
notion of a fuzzy set one may find in [24]. We briefly recall some of them. Hirota in
1977 introduced the notion of probabilistic sets [25]. Liu in 1982 considered for the
first time the concept of a grey set [26]. In 1983 Atanassov presented at the conference
the notion of intuitionistic fuzzy sets [27] and published the first paper on this sub-
ject [28] in 1986. This notion was suggested to be called an Atanassov intuitionistic
fuzzy set due to some terminological difficulties [29]. Gau and Buehrer considered
vague sets [30] in the seminal paper on this subject in 1993. One of the recent exten-
sions of fuzzy sets are Pythagorean fuzzy sets [31] proposed by Yager in 2013. It is
also worth to mention that Polish computer scientist Pawlak first described the con-
cept of a rough set [32]. A rough set is a formal approximation of a crisp set in terms
of a pair of sets which give the lower and the upper approximation of the original
set. In the standard version of rough sets theory, the lower- and upper-approximation
sets are crisp sets, but in other variations, the approximating sets may be fuzzy sets.
We concentrate here on the notion of an interval-valued fuzzy set and Atanassov
intuitionistic fuzzy set. Interval-valued fuzzy sets are applied in many areas like
databases, pattern recognition, neural networks, fuzzy modeling, economy, medicine
or multicriteria decision making. Also in classification some algorithms for fuzzy rule
based classification systems were improved using interval-valued fuzzy calculus. The
use of intervals for the creation of the rules gives more flexibility to the algorithms,
which leads to better results [33]. Intervals allow us to incorporate, the uncertainty
or imprecision for instance in the original preference values given by the experts by
means of the length of the intervals. The interval-valued fuzzy sets or relations may
be obtained from fuzzy sets or relations, respectively using the concept of ignorance
functions. This concept was defined in [34] to measure the degree of ignorance or lack
of knowledge of an expert when he or she assigns numerical value as the membership
degree of an object to a given class and another numerical value for the membership
of the same element to a different class. Other construction methods of intervals from
numbers and the application of the ignorance function to that number may be found
for example in [35].
In this section we present the basic notions of interval-valued fuzzy calculus.
We provide a discussion on diverse orders and comparability relations for intervals
(not only for interval-valued fuzzy calculus) including the notions of linear orders for
intervals. Moreover, we consider the notions of pos-B-transitivity, nec-B-transitivity
and present information about interval-valued fuzzy connectives.
1.2 Elements of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Sets Theory 9
Now, we recall definition of an interval-valued fuzzy set and the classically applied
order for this settings. Throughout this book we apply the following notation
Family L I has bounds denoted by 0 = [0, 0], 1 = [1, 1] (cf. Fig. 1.1) and together
with the relation it is a complete and bounded lattice [36], where lattice operations
are defined as follows
In the interval-valued fuzzy sets theory to each element of the given universe a
closed subinterval of the unit interval is assigned. This is the way of describing the
unknown membership degree of the element to the given universe.
for all couples (x, y) ∈ (X × Y ), where R and R are fuzzy relations associated with
the interval-valued fuzzy relation R. The class of all interval-valued fuzzy relations
between universes X, Y is denoted by I V F R(X × Y ) or I V F R(X ) for X = Y .
I V F R(X × Y ) or I V F R(X ) with the order is a complete and bounded
lattice.
Family L ∗ has the greatest element denoted by 1 L ∗ = (1, 0) and the least element
denoted by 0 L ∗ = (0, 1) (cf. Fig. 1.2). Together with relation L ∗ it is a complete and
bounded lattice, where lattice operations are defined as follows
Definition 1.11 (cf. [28]) Let X = ∅, μ, ν : X → [0, 1] be fuzzy sets fulfilling the
condition
μ(x) + ν(x) 1, x ∈ X.
The existence of the membership degree interval [μ(x), 1 − ν(x)] is always pos-
sible thanks to the condition μ(x) + ν(x) 1, which each Atanassov intuitionistic
fuzzy set ρ = (μ, ν) should fulfill. The presented above isomorphism is due to the
appropriate choice of operations in both theories, however the initial ideas behind
each theory are different (cf. [29]). Interval-valued fuzzy set is defined by an interval-
valued membership function representing the uncertainty or imprecision. Atanassov
intuitionistic fuzzy set is defined by ascribing to an element a membership function
and a non-membership function separately, in such a way that an element cannot
have degrees of membership and non-membership that sum up to more than 1. The
membership and non-membership degrees may represent the idea that concepts are
more naturally approached by separately visualizing positive and negative informa-
tion about the given fuzzy set.
The fuzzy set πρ : X → [0, 1] is associated with each Atanassov intuitionistic
fuzzy set ρ = (μ, ν), where
The origin of these relations is other than the one presented in [45] for partial order
used classically in interval-valued fuzzy settings. These relations, including classical
order, follow from the epistemic settings of interval-valued fuzzy sets (representing
the uncertainty of membership value of a given object in an interval-valued fuzzy
set, cf. [44]). Relation π between intervals may be interpreted as follows: at least
one element in the first interval is smaller or equal to at least one element in the
second interval. Relation ν between intervals may be interpreted as follows: each
element in the first interval is smaller or equal to each element in the second interval.
Relation (1.8) (traditionally used in interval-valued settings) may be interpreted as a
conjunction of the condition: there exists an element in the first interval that is smaller
or equal to each element in the second interval and the condition: for each element
in the first interval there exists a greater element in the second interval. Regarding
this type of interpretation (all combinations of universal and existential quantifiers)
by considering these three relations, i.e. , π and ν , we have the full possible
set of interpretations of comparability relations on intervals regarding the epistemic
settings. Let us note, that the relation (1.12) may also reflect the ontic approach of
interval interpretation, which is not the case for the comparability relations (1.11)
and (1.8).
To proceed with further properties of relations π and ν we recall the definition
of some classes of crisp relations that constitute order relations.
1.2 Elements of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Sets Theory 13
Relations π and ν are not partial orders (reflexive, antisymmetric and transitive
relations). Relation π is an interval order (complete and fulfils the Ferrers property,
cf. [46–48]) and the relation ν is antisymmetric and transitive.
In Fig. 1.3 exemplary intervals are illustrated by segments reflecting some of the
possible cases of comparability between intervals x = [x, x], y = [y, y]:
(a) according to relation (1.8), x y;
(b) according to relation (1.11), x π y and y π x;
(c) according to relation (1.12), x ν y.
We see in Fig. 1.3 (case b)) that both x π y and y π x. This may be problematic
in practice, since using this comparability relation may require application of some
additional steps in algorithms (cf. Sects. 3.2 and 6.2). Other notions of orders for
intervals were introduced for example in the paper [45], where the general method
to build different linear orders for the family of intervals L I , covering some of the
known linear orders for intervals was presented. This subject will be developed in
the sequel part of the monograph.
It is worth to mention that other examples of orders for the family of intervals,
considered not necessarily in the context of interval-valued fuzzy settings, were pro-
posed for example in [41, 49–52]. Moore [51] developed an interval mathematics in
(b)
(c)
14 1 Fuzzy Sets and Their Extensions
order to allow the control of errors in numeric computations in the solution of prob-
lems concerning real numbers. Moore first proposed two transitive order relations
for intervals [51], where using the notations x = [x, x], y = [y, y], the following
relations were defined:
• x 1 y ⇔ x < y,
• x 2 y ⇔ (y x and x y).
Relation 1 , which is a strict order relation (irreflexive, asymmetric and transitive
relation), was proposed for non-overlapping intervals. Relation 2 is the generaliza-
tion of the definition of subsets for intervals and it follows the properties of partial
order relation as the classical set inclusion operation ⊂ possesses.
In [50] were presented a few relations of comparability between intervals which
are considered in the rough set approach to multicriteria classification along with the
corresponding P-dominance relations. P-dominance relation is connected with the
dominance principle which requires that an object having not worse evaluations on
condition criteria than another object should be assigned to the class not worse than
the other object. The imprecision in classifications are given in the form of intervals
of possible values. These are the following relations:
• x 3 y ⇔ x y,
• x 4 y ⇔ x y,
• x 5 y ⇔ x y.
Relation 3 is equal to the relation (1.11), relations 4 and 5 are complete quasi-
orders (reflexive, transitive and complete relations).
The order (1.8) was first defined for the family of closed intervals of the real line
I (R) (it is called the Kulish-Miranker order [53, 54]). Despite this order there exist
also some other orders for the family I (R), namely:
x 6 y ⇔ (x = y or x y) (the Moore order, cf. [55, 56]),
x 7 y ⇔ (x y y x) (the information order, cf. [52, 57]).
Many other orders for intervals have been developed to serve various purposes
(cf. [58–63]). Detailed survey for these definitions were given in [41, 64] with their
advantages and disadvantages. The primary goal of these definitions is to develop
reliable solution technique for interval optimization problems with the help of interval
ranking.
Below there will be presented more information about comparability relations ν
and π , since in this monograph we concentrate on the results connected with these
notions.
Proposition 1.1 (cf. [44, 65]) Relation π is an interval order and the relation ν
is antisymmetric and transitive on L I . Moreover, ν ⇒ ⇒ π .
The converse implications do not hold, as can be seen from the following example.
Example 1.4 For intervals A = [0.2, 0.3], B = [0.1, 0.5] and C = [0.4, 0.8] we
observe that A π B but it is not true that A B and similarly B C but it is
not true that B ν C.
1.2 Elements of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Sets Theory 15
Proposition 1.2 (cf. [65]) The boundary elements on L I , with respect to each of the
comparability relations (1.8), (1.11), (1.12), are 1 = [1, 1] and 0 = [0, 0].
Relations π and ν may be defined also on the family I V F S (X ) (and cer-
tainly I V F R(X, Y )). However, on such domain they may posses another set of
properties than they have on L I .
Proposition 1.3 (cf. [44, 65]) The relation π on I V F S (X ) is reflexive and the
relation ν on I V F S (X ) is antisymmetric and transitive.
Note that, relations (1.8), (1.11) and (1.12) coincide on the family of fuzzy sets.
It means that if the given A, B ∈ I V F S (X ) are such that for some x ∈ X their
membership intervals [A(x), A(x)] and [B(x), B(x)] fulfil the condition A(x) =
A(x) and B(x) = B(x), then applying each of the relations (1.8), (1.11) and (1.12)
to the given intervals, we obtain the order relation for fuzzy sets (1.2).
In the next section we provide the results referring to the notion of an admissible
linear order, which was defined for interval-valued fuzzy settings.
The classical monotonicity (partial order), which is traditionally used for intervals,
is the consequence of the following interpretation. To each interval [a, b] ∈ L I one
may assign uniquely a point (a, b) ∈ R2 , so intervals (thanks to isomorphism) may
be ordered by means of orders for points on R2 . The usual partial order on R2 , given
by (a, b) ≤ (c, d) ⇔ a c and b d, induces the partial order (1.8) (cf. [45]).
Classical order (1.8) is not complete (which is important for application reasons for
example in decision making problems to compare alternatives and choose the best
one). It is worth to recall that in the paper [45] the general method to build different
linear orders, i.e. complete order relations covering some of the known linear orders
for intervals, such as Xu and Yager’s [66] or the lexicographical ones, is presented.
Definition 1.13 ([45]) An order ≤ L I on L I is called admissible if it is linear and
satisfies that for all x, y ∈ L I , such that x y, then x ≤ L I y.
According to the above definition it means that an order ≤ L I on L I is admissible,
if it is linear and refines the order . There exist a construction method of admis-
sible linear orders with the use of aggregation functions (an aggregation function
A : [0, 1]2 → [0, 1] is an increasing in each variable function fulfilling boundary
conditions A(0, 0) = 0 and A(1, 1) = 1, more detailed information on the concept
of an aggregation functions will be given in Chap. 2).
Proposition 1.4 ([45]) Let B1 , B2 : [0, 1]2 → [0, 1] be two continuous aggregation
functions, such that, for all x = [x, x], y = [y, y] ∈ L I , the equalities B1 (x, x) =
B1 (y, y) and B2 (x, x) = B2 (y, y) hold if and only if x = y. If the order ≤ B1,2 on L I
is defined by x ≤ B1,2 y if and only if
16 1 Fuzzy Sets and Their Extensions
B1 (x, x) < B1 (y, y) or (B1 (x, x) = B1 (y, y) and B2 (x, x) B2 (y, y)),
• The first lexicographical order (with respect to the first variable), ≤ Lex1 defined
as: [x, x] ≤ Lex1 [y, y] if and only if
• The second lexicographical order (with respect to the second variable), ≤ Lex2
defined as:
[x, x] ≤ Lex2 [y, y] if and only if
As it may be noticed, the orders ≤ X Y , ≤ Lex1 , ≤ Lex2 and ≤αβ are special cases of
the order ≤ B1,2 . Linear orders may be also constructed with the use of other operators
[67]. We present below an example of such construction. There exist several operators
designed to act on intervals, for example Atanassov’s operators defined in [37] and
studied in [68].
Let [x, x] ∈ L I , α, β ∈ [0, 1] with α + β 1. The so called Atanassov’s operator
is defined as Fα,β : L I → L I with
»No niin, minä sanon sen teille», sanoi Billy ylpeänä. »Se on
Tailholt
Mountain.»
»Vai niin!»
»Ette etsinytkään?»
»En.»
»Oli kyllä. Minulla oli suuri tehtävä. Katsokaas, sitä minä mietin
Metsärajalla koko yön: koetin löytää toisen keinon sen täyttämiseen.
Kertoisitteko minulle, mikä tehtävä se on?» kysyi Phil uteliaana.
»Muukalainen.»
Palanen menneisyyttä.
»Ei, ei se, mitä mies saa, tee häntä rikkaaksi, vaan se, minkä hän
kykenee säilyttämään. Ja ne ihmiset, jotka halveksivat
vanhanaikaista rakkautta, joka rakentaa koteja ja pystyttää perheitä
ja panee miehen ja naisen yhdessä tekemään työtä ja kestämään
hyvät ja pahat päivät ja onnellisina vanhenemaan yhdessä, jos he
uudenaikaisten aatteiden vuoksi hylkäävät kaiken tämän, he tekevät
huonon kaupan ainakin minun mielestäni. Voi tapahtua sellaistakin,
että mies tai nainen sivistyksensä takia menettää parhaan onnensa.
Jollei Rovasti olisi ollut niin vaipunut omiin ajatuksiinsa, olisi hän
hämmästynyt siitä vaikutuksesta, jonka hänen sanansa tekivät
nuoreen mieheen. Hänen kasvonsa lehahtivat tulipunaisiksi ja
kalpenivat sitten kuin äkillisestä pahoinvoinnista, ja hän heitti
Rovastiin häpeää ja tuskaa kuvastavan syrjäsilmäyksen. Honourable
Patches, joka oli herättänyt Risti-Kolmio-Kartanon miesten ihailun ja
kunnioituksen, oli jälleen alakuloinen, arka, piilotteleva pakolainen,
jonka Phil oli tavannut Metsärajalla.
»No niin», jatkoi Rovasti. »Hän tuli seudulle noin kolme vuotta
sitten — suoraan yliopistosta — ja hän on varmasti saanut paljon
aikaan. Hän on saanut koulutusta ja sivistystä, mutta hän pitää
paikkansa kenen miehen rinnalla hyvänsä. Ei ole sitä miestä koko
Yavapai Countyssa — olipa hän karjamies tai kaivostyöläinen tai
mikä hyvänsä — joka ei nostaisi hattuaan Stanford Manningille.»
»Ei, kuulin, että hänen yhtiönsä kutsui hänet pois täällä noin
kuukausi takaperin. He aikovat lähettää hänet kaivoksilleen
Montanaan, luulen.»
»Niin, ja kun tutustutte Kittyyn, niin sanotte kuten minäkin, että jos
Yavapai Countyssa on ainoakaan mies, joka ei ratsastaisi parasta
hevosiaan kuoliaaksi saadakseen häneltä hymyn, niin hänet pitäisi
hirttää.»
Juoksuaita.
»Se oli kierosti tehty, Will Baldwin», torui Stella, kuten aina
ajatellen poikiensa mukavuutta. »Tiedäthän poikaparan varmasti
eksyvän tuossa autiossa Tailholt Mountainin seudussa.»
Pojat nauroivat.
»Jos hän vain huomaa sen ja antaa Snipin pitää päänsä», sanoi
Curly.