Minimizing total weighted completion time when scheduling orders in a flexible environment with uniform machines

We consider the scheduling of orders in an environment with m uniform machines in parallel. Each order requests certain amounts of k different product types. Each product type can be produced by any one of the m machines. No setup is required if a machine switches over from one product type to another. Different product types intended for the same order can be produced at the same time (concurrently) on different machines. Each order is released at time zero and has a positive weight. Preemptions are allowed. The completion time of an order is the finish time of the product type that is completed last for that order. The objective is to minimize the total weighted completion time. We propose heuristics for the non-preemptive as well as the preemptive case and obtain worst case bounds that are a function of the number of machines as well as the differences in the speeds of the machines. Even though the worst-case bounds we showed for the two heuristics are not very tight, our experimental results show that they yield solutions that are very close to optimal.     

Algorithms for multiprocessor scheduling with two job lengths and allocation restrictions

A variant of the High Multiplicity Multiprocessor Scheduling Problem with C job lengths is considered, in which jobs can be processed only by machines not greater than a given index. When C=2, polynomial algorithms are proposed, for the feasibility version of the problem and for maximizing the number of scheduled jobs.     

Preparation of monodisperse poly(vinyl alcohol) microspheres by heterogeneous surface saponification and iodine complex formation

Monodisperse poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) microspheres with high molecular weight obtained by suspension polymerization of vinyl acetate were saponified in alkaline aqueous solution to keep their spherical structure. The saponification was restricted on the surface of the PVAc microspheres and obtained particles had skin/core structure. Various poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) microspheres with different diameters and degrees of saponification (DSs) were obtained. The conversion of PVAc to PVA during the heterogeneous surface saponification time were examined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and after 72 h hydrogel type PVA microspheres completely saponified were obtained. The crystal melting temperatures of the microspheres obtained by the saponification were measured a constant value of 238°C irrespective of varying DS, and the peaks became enlarged as reaction time. Iodine complexes were formed in saponified microspheres with DS of 41% and 99% by immersing them in I₂/KI aqueous solution and decomposed by the reduction of I₂ in the complexes to 2I^? using sodium sulfite to confirm whether the skin formed through the saponification was composed of PVA with high VA content. Obviously, characteristic blue color developments owing to I₅^?‐PVA complexes were observed in both saponified regions and a red in the PVAc core. Consequently, it was concluded that the PVA skins formed by heterogeneous surface saponification had high DSs. Such complexes endowed polymeric microspheres a good radiopacity which would be useful in clinical treatment of vascular diseases and were examined by X‐ray irradiation image. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Integration of batching and scheduling for hot rolling production in the steel industry

This paper investigates the hot rolling production scheduling problem in the steel industry and proposes a new mixed integer programming model for this problem based on the monolithic modeling strategy that integrates batching and scheduling. Using this strategy, the new model can simultaneously schedule multiple turns and simultaneously determine the production timetable of these turns in a global optimal view. A long-term tabu search heuristic using frequency-based memory is developed to obtain near-optimal solutions for this problem. Three kinds of speed-up strategies are developed to accelerate the search procedure of the proposed tabu search. A practical scheduling system combining the proposed mathematical model and the tabu search heuristic has been developed and tested on instances collected from practical production data. The experimental results show that the proposed mathematical model and the tabu search heuristic outperform both the current manual scheduling method and the traditional serial method.     

Hybrid photocatalytic membranes embedding decatungstate for heterogeneous photooxygenation

The incorporation of decatungstate in polymeric membranes provides new heterogeneous photocatalysts for the oxidation of organic substrates under oxygen atmosphere at 25 °C. Photocatalytic membranes have been prepared yielding polymeric films with a high thermal, chemical and mechanical stability (PVDF, PDMS, Hyflon). Surface spectroscopy techniques including transmittance and reflectance UV-Vis and FT-IR have been used to assess the photocatalyst integrity within the polymeric support. Catalyst screening has been performed under both homogeneous and heterogeneous photooxygenation conditions. The photocatalyst activity has been evaluated in terms of the substrate conversion, turnover numbers, and recycling experiments. A membrane induced selectivity behavior has been evidenced by comparison with homogeneous oxidations.     

Bandwidth allocation algorithms for weighted maximum rate constrained link sharing policy

This paper addresses the problem of bandwidth allocation under the weighted maximum rate constrained link sharing policy and proves a key theory in the condition of allocation termination. We propose several algorithms with various worst-case and average-case time complexities, and evaluate their computation elapse times.     

Effect of the particle size ratio on the conductivity of conductor-insulator powder composites: Numerical simulation

A theoretical method for determining the percolation limit and effective conductivity of composites based on polydisperse mixtures of insulator and conductor powders is proposed. The effect of the particle size ratio between the insulator and conductor on the percolation limit and effective conductivity is studied. Numerical simulation of the microstructure, effective properties, and percolation limit in composites is discussed. __________ Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, Vol. 46, No. 1–2(453), pp. 31–40, 2007.     

Intelligent scheduling with tabu search: An application to jobs with linear delay penalties and sequence-dependent setup costs and times

In this article we study thetabu search (TS) method in an application for solving an important class of scheduling problems. Tabu search is characterized by integrating artificial intelligence and optimization principles, with particular emphasis on exploiting flexible memory structures, to yield a highly effective solution procedure. We first discuss the problem of minimizing the sum of the setup costs and linear delay penalties when N jobs, arriving at time zero, are to be scheduled for sequential processing on a continuously available machine. A prototype TS method is developed for this problem using the common approach of exchanging the position of two jobs to transform one schedule into another. A more powerful method is then developed that employs insert moves in combination with swap moves to search the solution space. This method and the best parameters found for it during the preliminary experimentation with the prototype procedure are used to obtain solutions to a more complex problem that considers setup times in addition to setup costs. In this case, our procedure succeeded in finding optimal solutions to all problems for which these solutions are known and a better solution to a larger problem for which optimizing procedures exceeded a specified time limit (branch and bound) or reached a memory overflow (branch and bound/dynamic programming) before normal termination. These experiments confirm not only the effectiveness but also the robustness of the TS method, in terms of the solution quality obtained with a common set of parameter choices for two related but different problems.     

Oracle 9i Data Guard技术在水调自动化系统中的应用与实施

水调自动化系统是电网运行的重要生产系统,该系统对数据库备份、数据完整性、实时性和并发访问能力等都提出了较高的要求,如何科学地应用商用数据库提供的高级功能构建稳定、可靠、高效的水调自动化系统,成为一个新课题.文中针对该问题,分析比较了多种常见的高可用数据库方案,最终选择应用Oracle Data Guard技术,构建高性能、高可用、低成本、易维护的水调自动化系统.