An Agent-Based Approach for Scheduling Multiple Machines

We present a new agent-based solution approach for the problem of scheduling multiple non-identical machines in the face of sequence dependent setups, job machine restrictions, batch size preferences, fixed costs of assigning jobs to machines and downstream considerations. We consider multiple objectives such as minimizing (weighted) earliness and tardiness, and minimizing job-machine assignment costs. We use an agent-based architecture called Asynchronous Team (A-Team), in which each agent encapsulates a different problem solving strategy and agents cooperate by exchanging results. Computational experiments on large instances of real-world scheduling problems show that the results obtained by this approach are significantly better than any single algorithm or the scheduler alone. This approach has been successfully implemented in an industrial scheduling system.     

Correlation between optical basicity, electronegativity and electronic polarizability for some oxides and oxysalts

A new method for calculating the optical basicity, electronic polarizability and oxygen electronegativity of oxides and oxysalts has been evaluated based on the concept of average electronegativity given by Asokamani and Manjula. The estimated parameters are in good agreement with the Duffy values. The results are also discussed in relation to the nature of bonding. It is suggested that the impurity of average electronegativity in predicting different parameters is well emphasised.     

LIBS based spectroscopic analysis and antidiabetic evaluation of a polyherbal formulation

Although plants have long been a major source of medicine, there is renewed interest in studying the phytochemistry and use of herbal formulations. This paper reports spectroscopic analysis using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) of a polyherbal formulation, whose antidiabetic activity has also been demonstrated on rat models. LIBS analysis revealed the presence of elements such as Na, K, Mg, Ca, H, O and N. The antidiabetic study showed that amongst the four doses studied (50, 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg bw), the dose of 150 mg/kg bw registered the maximum fall in Blood Glucose Level (BGL) in both normal and diabetic (sub and mild) rats in the Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) study—normal rats (22 %), sub-diabetic (36.6 %) and mild-diabetic (39 %). The dose of 150 mg/kg also showed the maximum fall of 23.7 % and 22 % in BGL during fasting BGL and GTT studies of normal rats, respectively. The formulation also showed significant antioxidant activity assessed using in vitro assays. The study validates for the first time the therapeutic use of an antidiabetic polyherbal formulation.     

Optical constants of Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 measured using spectroscopic ellipsometry

In this work, we present the optical constants of bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃), and antimony telluride (Sb₂Te₃) determined using spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The spectral range of the optical constants is from 404 nm to 740 nm. Bi₂Te₃ and Sb₂Te₃ films with different thicknesses were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Multiple sample analysis (MSA) technique was employed in order to eliminate the parameter correlation in the SE data analysis caused by the presence of the overalyer on top of Bi₂Te₃ and Sb₂Te₃ films. Optical constants and thicknesses for both Bi₂Te₃ and Sb₂Te₃ overlayers were also determined. Independent Bi₂Te₃ and Sb₂Te₃ samples were used to check the results obtained. In addition, SE analysis was performed on two Sb₂Te₃ samples after being etched in diluted NH₄OH solution in order to characterize the overlayer and confirm the reliability of the results.     

Crash reductions related to traffic signal removal in Philadelphia

The effect on intersection crashes of converting one-way street intersections in Philadelphia from signal to multiway stop sign control was estimated. Using crash and traffic volume data for a comparison group, regression models were computed to represent the normal crash experience of signal controlled intersections of one-way streets, by impact type, as a function of traffic volume. An empirical Bayesian procedure was used to estimate what would have been the expected number of crashes at the converted intersections had they not been converted. The empirical Bayesian estimates were compared with actual counts of crashes after conversion. Estimates were obtained for different classes of crashes categorized by impact type, day/night condition, and impact severity. Aggregate results indicate that replacing signals by multiway stop signs on one-way streets is associated with a reduction in crashes of approximately 24%, combining all severities, light conditions, and impact types.     

GFEM analysis of MHD nanofluid flow toward a power‐law stretching sheet in the presence of thermodiffusive effect along with regression investigation

In the current study, we use Galerkin finite‐element simulation to analyze the concept of triple diffusive flow with magnetic field effect toward a power law stretching sheet. The fluid comprises dissolved solutal particles and nanoparticles in the base fluid. The three important mechanisms that are responsible for rise in phenomenon of convective transportation are diffusophoresis, thermophoresis along with Brownian motion have been considered. Recently, the proposed nanoparticles' mass flux and heat flux boundary conditions have been imposed. Nanoparticle mass transportation, solutal mass transportation with heat transportation for prominent physical parameters, such as stretching parameter, magnetic influence parameter, thermophoresis parameter, and Brownian motion parameter are calculated. To further verify and understand the strength of the relationship between heat transportation rate and controlling parameters, the multiple regression process is used. The finite difference approach was adopted to numerically solve the nonlinear governing equations and the linked boundary conditions. In the present study, we used MATLAB software for finding the final outcomes and relating the concluding results for $?{{\theta }_{\delta }}^{\prime }\left(0\right)$ with extant outcomes in the literature as a limiting case in the absence of the magnetic intensity parameter and an excellent agreement was noted. It was observed that the magnetic field has a positive effect on heat and mass transfer. This study also helps in understanding and thus controlling the velocity of the flow along with solutal depositions, which has a significant engineering application in the process of extrusion. The findings of the present study help to control the rate of heat and mass transfer, aiding manufacturing companies in obtaining the desired quality of product.     

Efficient sign based normalized adaptive filtering techniques for cancelation of artifacts in ECG signals: Application to wireless biotelemetry

In this paper, several simple and efficient sign based normalized adaptive filters, which are computationally superior having multiplier free weight update loops are used for cancelation of noise in electrocardiographic (ECG) signals. The proposed implementation is suitable for applications such as biotelemetry, where large signal to noise ratios with less computational complexity are required. These schemes mostly employ simple addition, shift operations and achieve considerable speed up over the other least mean square (LMS) based realizations. Simulation studies shows that the proposed realization gives better performance compared to existing realizations in terms of signal to noise ratio and computational complexity.     

Sparsity-motivated automatic target recognition

We present an automatic target recognition algorithm using the recently developed theory of sparse representations and compressive sensing. We show how sparsity can be helpful for efficient utilization of data for target recognition. We verify the efficacy of the proposed algorithm in terms of the recognition rate and confusion matrices on the well known Comanche (Boeing-Sikorsky, USA) forward-looking IR data set consisting of ten different military targets at different orientations.