Tandem queues with general blocking: A unified model and comparison results

We study tandem queues with finite intermediate buffers and develop a general blocking scheme that unifies and generalizes various blocking schemes previously studied in the literature, such as manufacturing blocking, communication blocking, kanban blocking and its variations. In the general blocking scheme, job movement and service at each stage are controlled by three parameters, which represent, respectively, the upper limits (at that stage) on work-in-process inventory, finished goods inventory, and buffer space. We derive a set of recursive equations that characterize the dynamics of the system, in terms of the job completion and departure processes, and establish comparison results for these processes in the settings of stochastic ordering, variability ordering and stochastic convexity. Free of distributional assumptions, the results provide characterization of system behavior with respect to the control parameters as well as to the arrival and service processes. We also compare system performance under two different modes of operation: make-to-order versus make-to-stock, and demonstrate the trade-off between improving service and reducing inventory. Numerical studies are also presented to illustrate the diversity of performance trade-off, including composition of inventory, offered by the general model.Supported in part by NSF under grant ECS-89-96201.     

基于Legendre多项式的随机连续系统的Markov参数估计

本文在讨论连续Ｗｉｓｅｎｒ过程的Ｌｅｇｅｎｄｒｅ多项式逼近值的相关性和Ｗｉｅｎｅｒ过程扰动下连续线性系统基于该正交多项的最小二乘估计有偏性后，提出了无偏一致的且数估计误差方差最小的Ｍａｒｋｏｖ估计（最小方差估计）算法，并给出本文方法的仿真结果。     

Activation of action rules in action observation.

Visually perceiving an action may activate corresponding motor programs. This automatic motor activation can occur both for higher level (i.e., the goal of an action) and for lower level (i.e., the specific effector with which it is executed) aspects of an action. The authors used a tool-use action paradigm to experimentally dissociate priming effects for observing the target, the movement, or the target-to-movement mapping of a tool-use action. In 3 experiments, participants took turns in acting, observing the tool-use action of another person in trial n-1, and executing an action in trial n. Trial transitions from n-1 to n were manipulated in 4 conditions with (a) mapping repeated and movement and target changed, (b) target repeated and movement and mapping changed, (c) movement repeated and target and mapping changed, or (d) all components repeated. Results indicate priming effects for repeating the target-to-movement mapping (i.e., the action rule) of a tool-use action and suggest that a rather abstract action schema is activated during action observation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SOME NEW ASPECT OF LYAPUNOV TYPE THEOREMS FOR STOCHASTIC DIFFERENCE EQUATIONS WITH CONTINUOUS TIME

Some new Lyapunov type theorems for stochastic difference equations with continuous time are proven. It is shown that these theorems simplify an application of Lyapunov functionals construction method.     

Nonlinear filtering structure for image smoothing in mixed-noise environments

This paper introduces a new nonlinear filtering structure for filtering image data that have been corrupted by both impulsive and nonimpulsive additive noise. Like other nonlinear filters, the proposed filtering structure uses order-statistic operations to remove the effects of the impulsive noise. Unlike other filters, however, nonimpulsive noise is smoothed by using a maximum a posteriori estimation criterion. The prior model for the image is a novel Markov random-field model that models image edges so that they are accurately estimated while additive Gaussian noise is smoothed. The Markov random-field-based prior is chosen such that the filter has desirable analytical and computational properties. The estimate of the signal value is obtained at the unique minimum of the a posteriori log likelihood function. This function is convex so that the output of the filter can be easily computed by using either digital or analog computational methods. The effects of the various parameters of the model will be discussed, and the choice of the predetection order statistic filter will also be examined. Example outputs under various noise conditions will be given.     

Structural change in diamond by hydrogen plasma treatment at room temperature

The structural change of diamond induced by hydrogen plasma exposure at room temperature, and its thermal stability, were investigated using electron spin resonance (ESR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. ESR observation revealed that it gave rise to a highly defective structure (spin concentration of 10²⁰ cm^{− 3}), which is very similar to the structure of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C : H) confirmed by XPS and FTIR. Post-annealing was also carried out to clarify the thermal stability of the defects. The number of spin centers decreased with increasing annealing temperature, and eventually, the defective structure changed to a graphitic one by annealing at 800 °C.     

容错磁盘阵列的性能模型

本文以排队论为工具，建立了容错磁盘阵列的Ｍ／Ｇ／１排队模型，并在此基础上分析了ＲＡＩＤ的平均响应时间，稳定数据传输率等重要性能指标；比较了同步和异步ＲＡＩＤ的性能差异，最后提出了以吞吐率作为衡量ＲＡＩＤ性能的综合指标，并给出了确定最大吞吐率的定量。     

关于约束方差控制器的评估问题的研究

本文研究当系统的性能指标表现为系统输入及输出的方差约束时一类随机控制器的评价问题，给出了系统反馈输入及输出的辨识算法，该算法可用来评价反馈控制器能否使反馈系统满足既定的方差约束，以便在对实际系统实施控制之前及时调整控制器，从而达到设计目的。     

Measurement of metal nanolayers optical parameters using surface plasmon resonance method

The results of experimental definition of optical parameters of silver nanolayers by the method of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) are described. The goniometric installation for measurement of angular dependences of reflection of light by layered nanosructures at the attenuated internal reflection (angular spectrum of reflection) is designed. Calculation of optical parameters of nanolayers is executed taking into account the form of a curve of tin angular spectrum of reflection. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Metaheuristic downhill simplex method in combinatorial optimization

The concept of combinatorial objects is formalized. It allows strict definition of a combinatorial optimization problem (COP). An efficient metaheuristic method to solve COPs (H-method) is considered. It includes stochastic local search algorithms as a built-in procedure. A parallel implementation of the H-method is set forth and analyzed. The results from a numerical experiment and solution of some well-known COPs on personal computers and on the SKIT cluster supercomputer are presented. The study was supported by INTAS (Project 06-1000017-8909). __________ Translated from Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 6, pp. 70–79, November–December 2007.