Scheduling

This paper considers a flexible flow shop scheduling problem, where at least one production stage is made up of unrelated parallel machines.  Moreover, sequence- and machine-dependent setup times are given. The objective is to find a schedule that minimizes a convex sum of makespan and the number of tardy jobs in a static flexible flow shop environment.  For this problem, a 0-1 mixed integer program is formulated.  The problem is however a combinatorial optimization problem which is too difficult to be solved optimally for large problem sizes, and hence heuristics are used to obtain good solutions in a reasonable time.  The proposed constructive heuristics for sequencing the jobs start with the generation of the representatives of the operation time for each operation. Then some dispatching rules and flow shop makespan heuristics are developed. To improve the solutions obtained by the constructive algorithms, fast polynomial heuristic improvement algorithms based on shift moves and pairwise interchanges of jobs are applied.  In addition, metaheuristics are suggested, namely simulated annealing, tabu search and genetic algorithms.  The basic parameters of each metaheuristic are briefly discussed in this paper. The performance of the heuristics is compared relative to each other on a set of test problems with up to 50 jobs and 20 stages and with an optimal solution for small-size problems.  We have found that among the constructive algorithms the insertion based approach is superior to the others, whereas the proposed simulated annealing algorithms are better than tabu search and genetic algorithms among the iterative metaheuristic algorithms.

Numerosi prodotti di importazione arricchiscono sempre più spesso l’offerta dei media italiani, tv compresa: in questo modo, nel nostro Paese approdano contenuti che non sono pensati e realizzati appositamente per il pubblico nazionale, ma che, una volta trasferiti e adattati, mutano – almeno in parte – la loro forma. In ambito televisivo, un caso particolarmente interessante è quello della situation comedy americana: un genere centrale nella tv statunitense, ma che in Italia è insieme molto diffuso nei palinsesti e spesso frainteso, complesso da tradurre e talvolta ricostruito – o persino stravolto –, disprezzato ma visto (e rivisto) da intere generazioni di spettatori. Questo volume pone le basi teoriche per uno stu dio dei processi di ‘mediazione’, solo apparentemente banali, che intercorrono nel passaggio di un prodotto mediale da un Paese all’altro: l’appropriazione nazionale (o ‘italianizzazione’), la traduzione, l’adattamento, la distribuzione. E poi applica queste basi a un’approfondita analisi delle vicende italiane della sitcom americana, e di alcuni suoi titoli in particolare (Seinfeld, Friends, Will & Grace, How I Met Your Mother), da tre punti di vista: la ricostruzione della sto ria del genere nel nostro Paese; la rassegna delle variazioni e modifiche traduttive che il prodotto televisivo si trova necessariamente ad affrontare; infine, il racconto della sua filiera produttiva e distributiva, delle routine traduttive e dei professionisti coinvolti. Per capire cosa cambia nella sitcom quando passa dagli Stati Uniti all’Italia, e perché.

Reviews the nature of Programmes and delay analysis within the context of Construction Law; considers and compares the contractual provisions in the various standard forms of contract as used for complex construction projects in England and Wales; compares these with other jurisdictions and industries. Concludes with an account of what is missing and what might be provided.

This study is motivated by the unexpected failure of a network-based system during the performance of corrective maintenance. This incident highlights the importance of incorporating network connectivity analysis in maintenance planning. This study shows that it is crucial to consider network connectivity when planning maintenance. Procedures to conduct maintenance planning with network connectivity consideration is proposed and discussed

The increase in traffic intensity and complexity of the railway system demands new methods for real-time traffic control. This paper introduces the architecture, the approach and the current implementation of an advanced Traffic Management System (TMS) able to optimise traffic fluency in large railway networks equipped with either fixed or moving block signalling systems.The TMS takes into account both the actual position and speed of each train in the area and the actual status of the infrastructure, and the dynamic characteristics of the train and the characteristics of the infrastructure such gradients, admissible speeds, signal positions and signal patterns.Potential conflicts can be predicted in advance and solved in real time, by managing the order of trains, or using alternative routes if possible, and by issuing proper speed recommendations to train drivers. In this way, the TMS prevents or limits the number of unplanned stops and the accompanying journey time loss.

We investigate the issues involved in developing a scalable World Wide Web (WWW) server on a cluster of workstations and parallel machines. The objective is to strengthen the processing capabilities of such a server by utilizing the power of multicomputers to match huge demands in simultaneous access requests from the Internet. We have implemented a system called SWEB on a distributed memory machine, the Meiko CS-2, and networked workstations. The scheduling component of the system actively monitors the usages of CPU, I/O channels and the interconnection network to effectively distribute HTTP requests across processing units to exploit task and I/O parallelism. We present the experimental results on the performance of this system

The instructional scheduling arrangements of simulated and community-based instruction across an equivalent set of functional and vocational skills were examined. Five secondary age students with moderate intellectual disabilities participated in four instructional scheduling arrangements measuring skill acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of functional tasks. The four instructional scheduling arrangements examined were simulated-only instruction (SOI), community-based instruction only (CBI), combination of SOI and CBI on consecutive school days (CCD), and combination of SOI and CBI on the same school day (CSD). The CSD schedule was significantly more effective for student acquisition performance than SOI, CBI, and CCD schedules. Although the CBI schedule resulted in the fewest number of instructional sessions for students to acquire the targeted skill, fewer sessions for skill generalization were required for students during the combined simulation and community instruction CSD schedule. Overall, both combined instructional scheduling arrangements (e.g., CCD, CSD) produced more efficient outcomes for generalization than SOI and CBI scheduling arrangements.

Reduction of waiting time of patients and idle time of doctors is one of the most important factors of outpatient ward management. Although conventional in-hospital outpatient navigation and re-scheduling systems free the patients from waiting rooms, the systems often cause additional idle times for the doctors and even several clinical incidents. This paper designed a new patient navigation and re-scheduling system equips position tracking. The authors introduced the system into Kyoto University Hospital. As a result, the system decreased more than 100 hours a day of wasted time and irritations of the patients and the clinical staffs. The results tell that the context-aware feature makes not only the system user friendly but also the users friendly.

The millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency band is seen as a key enabler of multi-gigabit wireless access in future cellular networks. In order to overcome the propagation challenges, mmWave systems use a large number of antenna elements both at the base station and at the user equipment, which lead to high directivity gains, fully-directional communications, and possible noise-limited operations. The fundamental differences between mmWave networks and traditional ones challenge the classical design constraints, objectives, and available degrees of freedom. This paper addresses the implications that highly directional communication has on the design of an efficient medium access control (MAC) layer. The paper discusses key MAC layer issues, such as synchronization, random access, handover, channelization, interference management, scheduling, and association. The paper provides an integrated view on MAC layer issues for cellular networks, identifies new challenges and tradeoffs, and provides novel insights and solution approaches.

During the last decade, the technologies related to electric vehicles (EVs) have captured both scientific and industrial interest. Specifically, the subject of the smart charging of EVs has gained significant attention, as it facilitates the managed charging of EVs to reduce disturbances to the power grid. Despite the presence of an extended literature on the topic, the implementation of a framework that allows flexibility in the definition of the decision-making objectives, along with user-defined criteria is still a challenge. Towards addressing this challenge, a framework for the smart charging of EVs is presented in this paper. The framework consists of a heuristic algorithm that facilitates the charge scheduling within a charging station (CS), and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to support the driver of the EV selecting the most appropriate charging station based on their needs of transportation and personal preferences. The communications are facilitated by the Open Platform Communications-Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) standard. For the selection of the scheduling algorithm, the genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimisation have been evaluated, where the latter had better performance. The performance of the charge scheduling is evaluated, in various charging tasks, compared to the exhaustive search for small problems.

This paper presents a practical Method for characterising, modelling and solving scheduling problems using a heuristic approach. The emphasis is on a heuristic methodology which has been adopted in developing the TRANSIM nurse allocation system. TRANSIM has been used in designing schedules in various schools of nursing in England and Australia. The methodology can be adopted for the purpose of automated scheduling in a variety of management and engineering applications.

АННОТАЦИЯ Актуальность. Составление расписания учебных занятий является одной из важнейших задач управления учебным процессом. Рост требований к качеству обучения, сокращение материальной базы и увеличение количества специальностей приводят к необходимости оптимизации процесса использования кадрового потенциала, аудиторного фонда и экономии энергетических ресурсов. Поскольку все факторы, влияющие на расписание, практически невозможно учесть, а интересы участников учебного процесса многообразны, задача составления расписания является многокритериальной с нечетким множеством факторов. В связи с этим проблема автоматизации составления расписаний учебных занятий в образователь-ных системах по-прежнему остается одной из актуальных проблем организации учебного процесса. Цель. Повышение качества расписания занятий университета и уменьшение времени его составления. Качество распи-сания определяется тем насколько соблюдаются необходимые и желательные требования к нему. Необходимо предусмотреть возможность расширения желательных требований без изменения оптимизирующего механизма. Метод. Для описания процессов составления расписания занятий применена методология конструктивно-продукционного моделирования. С точки зрения конструктивизма: на основе ряда конструкций с заданной структурой и содержанием необходимо завершить конструирование расписания с заданной структурой и частично содержанием. Разработка конструктора предусматривает определение расширяемого носителя, сигнатуры отношений и операций, а также информационного обеспечения. Наиболее сложной и существенной частью является создание множества правил подстановки, определяющих процесс вывода соответствующих конструкций. Результаты. Разработан конструктор составления расписания занятий и программное обеспечение, реализующее предложенный метод. Выводы. Проведенные эксперименты подтвердили эффективность предложенного подхода и программного обеспечения, реализующие предложенный метод. Это позволяет рекомендовать его для использования на практике при решении задач составления расписания занятий.

This article addresses the effects of 3-tiered comprehensive reading and behavior interventions on K-3 student outcomes in 7 urban elementary schools with a high prevalence of students considered difficult to teach. Specific features of each level of the implementation are described including screening and tier placement procedures, scheduling and personnel supports, procedures for ensuring strong implementation with fidelity, procedures for student progress monitoring, and guidelines for instructional decision making. Early literacy skill outcomes for students were the primary dependent measures in reading; schoolwide office discipline referral rate was the dependent measure in behavior. Significant improvement was evident in phoneme segmentation and nonsense word fluency in reading and significant decreases were documented in office discipline referrals across treatment and comparison schools. Significantly higher outcomes were also recorded on required statewide end-of-grade asse...

The impact schedule can represent delays, disruptions, or both. It is incumbent on the claims preparer to make that distinction. An impact schedule is predicated on a series or succession of events that are expected to increase overall duration or the critical path. In some cases the impact schedule reflects a reduction in overall duration. Such a document may accompany a claim for early completion, which may be compensable.