A Discrete Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm for Minimizing the Total Flow Time in the Blocking Flow Shop Scheduling

A discrete artificial bee colony algorithm is proposed for solving the blocking flow shop scheduling problem with total flow time criterion. Firstly, the solution in the algorithm is represented as job permutation. Secondly, an initialization scheme based on a variant of the NEH (Nawaz-Enscore-Ham) heuristic and a local search is designed to construct the initial population with both quality and diversity. Thirdly, based on the idea of iterated greedy algorithm, some newly designed schemes for employed bee, onlooker bee and scout bee are presented. The performance of the proposed algorithm is tested on the well-known Taillard benchmark set, and the computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of the discrete artificial bee colony algorithm. In addition, the best known solutions of the benchmark set are provided for the blocking flow shop scheduling problem with total flow time criterion.

FURTHER DISCUSSION ON STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF ACTIVITY FLOW TIME IN PERT

In this paper attempts are made at answering the problems on the statistical properties of activity flow time in PERT raised by the late famous mathematician Hua Loo-keng.

iFlow彩色血流编码成像技术在下肢动脉硬化闭塞症诊断中的应用价值

目的研究iFlow彩色血流编码成像技术在下肢动脉硬化闭塞症(LEASO)诊断中的应用价值。方法选择2022年3月至2023年10月期间确诊的106例LEASO患者作为本研究的LEASO组,以一般资料与LEASO组匹配且无动脉病变的80例志愿者作为对照组。两组受试者均进行数字减影血管造影(DSA)并采用iFlow彩色血流编码成像技术检测股骨头区域和踝关节区域达峰时间(TTP)、计算踝关节区域与股骨头区域TTP的差值,测量踝肱指数(ABI)。结果两组研究对象年龄、性别、体质量指数、吸烟史、高血压病史、糖尿病史、冠心病史、股骨头区域TTP的比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);LEASO组踝关节区域TTP及TTP差值均高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);LEASO组中不同Rutherford分类患者股骨头区域TTP的比较以及左侧病变患者与右侧病变患者股骨头区域TTP、踝关节区域TTP、TTP差值的比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),Rutherford分类越高,踝关节区域TTP及TTP差值越低(P<0.05);经Pearson检验,LEASO患者的踝关节区域TTP、TTP差值与ABI呈负相关(P<0.05);经受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线分析,踝关节区域TTP、TTP差值对LEASO具有诊断效能;经Delong检验,TTP差值诊断的ROC曲线下面积高于踝关节区域TTP(P<0.05)。结论iFlow彩色血流编码成像技术测定踝关节区TTP及TTP差值是诊断LEASO的量化指标。

Scheduling a three-machine no-wait flowshop with separated setup time

In many practical flowshop production environments, there is no intermediate storage space available to keep partially completed jobs between any two machines. The workflow has to be continuous, implying that the no-wait conditions must be abided, which is typical in steel and plastic production. We discuss the three-machine no-wait flowshop scheduling problem where the setup times are considered as separated from processing times and sequence independent. The scheduling goal is to minimize the total flowtime. An optimal property and two heuristic algorithms for this problem are proposed. Evaluated over a large number of problems, the proposed heuristics are found that they can yield good solutions effectively with low computational complexity, and have more obvious advantage for the large size problem compared with the existing one.

Impact of time lags on diurnal estimates of canopy transpiration and canopy conductance from sap-flow measurements of Populus cathayana in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

Recently, canopy transpiration （Ec） has been often estimated by xylem sap-flow measurements. However, there is a significant time lag between sap flow measured at the base of the stem and canopy transpiration due to the capacitive exchange between the transpiration stream and stem water storage. Significant errors will be introduced in canopy conductance （gc） and canopy transpiration estimation if the time lag is neglected. In this study, a cross-correlation analysis was used to quantify the time lag, and the sap flowbased transpiration was measured to pararneterize Jarvistype models of gc and thus to simulate Ec of Populus cathayana using the Penman-Monteith equation. The results indicate that solar radiation （Rs） and vapor pressure deficit （VPD） are not fully coincident with sap flow and have an obvious lag effect; the sap flow lags behind Rs and precedes VPD, and there is a 1-h time shift between Eo and sap flow in the 30-min interval data set. A parameterized Jarvis-type gc model is suitable to predict P. cathayana transpiration and explains more than 80% of the variation observed in go, and the relative error was less than 25%, which shows a preferable simulation effect. The root mean square error （RMSEs） between the predicted and measured Ec were 1.91×10^-3 （with the time lag） and 3.12×10^-3cm h^-1 （without the time lag）. More importantly, Ec simulation precision that incorporates time lag is improved by 6% compared to the results without the time lag, with the mean relative error （MRE） of only 8.32% and the mean absolute error （MAE） of 1.48 × 10^-3 cm h^-1.

Is Minimizing Flow Completion Time the Optimal Way in Meeting Flow's Deadline in Datacenter Networks

In modern datacenters, the most common method to solve the network latency problem is to minimize flow completion time during the transmission process. Following the soft real-time nature, the optimization of transport latency is relaxed to meet a flow's deadline in deadline-sensitive services. However, none of existing deadline-sensitive protocols consider deadline as a constraint condition of transmission.They can only simplify the objective of meeting a flow's deadline as a deadline-aware mechanism by assigning a higher priority for tight-deadline constrained flows to finish the transmission as soon as possible, which results in an unsatisfactory effect in the condition of high fan-in degree. It drives us to take a step back and rethink whether minimizing flow completion time is the optimal way in meeting flow's deadline. In this paper, we focus on the design of a soft real-time transport protocol with deadline constraint in datacenters and present a flow-based deadline scheduling scheme for datacenter networks(FBDS).FBDS makes the unilateral deadline-aware flow transmission with priority transform into a compound centralized single-machine deadlinebased flow scheduling decision. In addition, FBDS blocks the flow sets and postpones some flows with extra time until their deadlines to make room for the new arriving flows in order to improve the deadline meeting rate. Our simulation resultson flow completion time and deadline meeting rate reveal the potential of FBDS in terms of a considerable deadline-sensitive transport protocol for deadline-sensitive interactive services.

Spectral Method for Solving Time Dependent Flow of Upper-Convected Maxwell Fluid in Tube

The ti me dependent flow of upper-convected Maxwell fluid in a horizontal circular pip e is studied by spectral method. The time dependent problem is mathematically re duced to a partial differential equation of second order. By using spectral meth od the partial differential equation can be reduced to a system of ordinary diff erential equations for different terms of Chebyshev polynomials approximations. The ordinary differential equations are solved by Laplace transform and the eige nvalue method that leads to an analytical form of the solutions.

Time lag characteristics of sap flow in seed-maize and their implications for modeling transpiration in an arid region of Northwest China

Plant capacity for water storage leads to time lags between basal stem sap flow and transpiration in various woody plants. Internal water storage depends on the sizes of woody plants. However, the changes and its influencing factors in time lags of basal stem flow during the development of herbaceous plants including crops remain unclear. A field experiment was conducted in an arid region of Northwest China to examine the time lag characteristics of sap flow in seed-maize and to calibrate the transpiration modeling. Cross-correlation analysis was used to estimate the time lags between stem sap flow and meteorological driving factors including solar radiation（R_s） and vapor pressure deficit of the air（VPD_（air））. Results indicate that the changes in seed-maize stem sap flow consistently lagged behind the changes in R_s and preceded the changes in VPD_（air） both on hourly and daily scales, suggesting that light-mediated stomatal closures drove sap flow responses. The time lag in the maize＇s sap flow differed significantly during different growth stages and the difference was potentially due to developmental changes in capacitance tissue and/or xylem during ontogenesis. The time lags between stem sap flow and R_s in both female plants and male plants corresponded to plant use of stored water and were independent of total plant water use. Time lags of sap flow were always longer in male plants than in female plants. Theoretically, dry soil may decrease the speed by which sap flow adjusts ahead of shifts in VPD_（air） in comparison with wet soil and also increase the speed by which sap flow adjusts to R_s. However, sap flow lags that were associated with R_s before irrigation and after irrigation in female plants did not shift. Time series analysis method provided better results for simulating seed-maize sap flow with advantages of allowing for fewer variables to be included. This approach would be helpful in improving the accuracy of estimation for canopy transpiration and conductance using meteorological measurements.

Time Series Forecasting Using Wavelet-Least Squares Support Vector Machines and Wavelet Regression Models for Monthly Stream Flow Data

This study explores the least square support vector and wavelet technique (WLSSVM) in the monthly stream flow forecasting. This is a new hybrid technique. The 30 days periodic predicting statistics used in this study are derived from the subjection of this model to the river flow data of the Jhelum and Chenab rivers. The root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (RME) and correlation (R) statistics are used for evaluating the accuracy of the WLSSVM and WR models. The accuracy of the WLSSVM model is compared with LSSVM, WR and LR models. The two rivers surveyed are in the Republic of Pakistan and cover an area encompassing 39,200 km2 for the Jhelum River and 67,515 km2 for the Chenab River. Using discrete wavelets, the observed data has been decomposed into sub-series. These have then appropriately been used as inputs in the least square support vector machines for forecasting the hydrological variables. The resultant observation from this comparison indicates the WLSSVM is more accurate than the LSSVM, WR and LR models in river flow forecasting.

Bifurcation and stability of an improved time-delayed fluid flow model in internet congestion control

Based on the fluid flow time-delayed model proposed by Misra et al in internet congestion control, one modified time-delayed model is presented, where the influence of the communication delay on the router queue length is investigated in detail. The main advantage of the new model is that its stability domain is larger even without an extra controller. By linear stability analysis and numerical simulation, tbe effectiveness and feasibility of the novel model in internet congestion control are verified.

Modeling on Residence Time Distribution in Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands by Multi Flow Dispersion Model

As an important design factor for constructed wetlands,hydraulic retention time and its distribution will affect the treatment performance.Instantaneously injected sodium chloride tracers were used to obtain residence time distributions of the lab scale subsurface flow constructed wetland.Considering the presence of trailing and multiple peaks of the tracer breakthrough curve,the multi flow dispersion model(MFDM)was used to fit the experimental tracer breakthrough curves.According to the residual sum of squares and comparison between the experimental values and simulated values of the tracer concentration,MFDM could fit the residence time distribution(RTD)curve satisfactorily,the results of which also reflected the layered structure of wetland cells,thus to give reference for application of MFDM to the same kind of subsurface flow constructed wetlands.

Exploring the Evolution of Passenger Flow and Travel Time Reliability with the Expanding Process of Metro System Using Smartcard Data

Metro system has experienced the global rapid rise over the past decades. However,few studies have paid attention to the evolution in system usage with the network expanding. The paper's main objectives are to analyze passenger flow characteristics and evaluate travel time reliability for the Nanjing Metro network by visualizing the smart card data of April 2014,April 2015 and April 2016. We performed visualization techniques and comparative analyses to examine the changes in system usage between before and after the system expansion. Specifically,workdays,holidays and weekends were specially segmented for analysis.Results showed that workdays had obvious morning and evening peak hours due to daily commuting,while no obvious peak hours existed in weekends and holidays and the daily traffic was evenly distributed. Besides,some metro stations had a serious directional imbalance,especially during the morning and evening peak hours of workdays. Serious unreliability occurred in morning peaks on workdays and the reliability of new lines was relatively low,meanwhile,new stations had negative effects on exiting stations in terms of reliability. Monitoring the evolution of system usage over years enables the identification of system performance and can serve as an input for improving the metro system quality.

GLOBAL EXISTENCE OF CLASSICAL SOLUTIONS TO THE HYPERBOLIC GEOMETRY FLOW WITH TIME-DEPENDENT DISSIPATION

In this article, we investigate the hyperbolic geometry flow with time-dependent dissipation（δ2 gij）/δt2＋μ/（（1 ＋ t）λ）（δ gij）/δt=-2 Rij,on Riemann surface. On the basis of the energy method, for 0 〈 λ ≤ 1, μ 〉 λ ＋ 1, we show that there exists a global solution gij to the hyperbolic geometry flow with time-dependent dissipation with asymptotic flat initial Riemann surfaces. Moreover, we prove that the scalar curvature R（t, x） of the solution metric gij remains uniformly bounded.

Time Series Modeling of River Flow Using Wavelet Neural Networks

A new hybrid model which combines wavelets and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) called wavelet neural network (WNN) model was proposed in the current study and applied for time series modeling of river flow. The time series of daily river flow of the Malaprabha River basin (Karnataka state, India) were analyzed by the WNN model. The observed time series are decomposed into sub-series using discrete wavelet transform and then appropriate sub-series is used as inputs to the neural network for forecasting hydrological variables. The hybrid model (WNN) was compared with the standard ANN and AR models. The WNN model was able to provide a good fit with the observed data, especially the peak values during the testing period. The benchmark results from WNN model applications showed that the hybrid model produced better results in estimating the hydrograph properties than the latter models (ANN and AR).

A multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method for high-speed compressible flows

This paper presents a coupling compressible model of the lattice Boltzmann method. In this model, the multiplerelaxation-time lattice Boltzmann scheme is used for the evolution of density distribution functions, whereas the modified single-relaxation-time （SRT） lattice Boltzmann scheme is applied for the evolution of potential energy distribution functions. The governing equations are discretized with the third-order Monotone Upwind Schemes for scalar conservation laws finite volume scheme. The choice of relaxation coefficients is discussed simply. Through the numerical simulations, it is found that compressible flows with strong shocks can be well simulated by present model. The numerical results agree well with the reference results and are better than that of the SRT version.

Effects of relaxation time on start-up time for starting flow of Maxwell fluid in a pipe

Although the analytical solution of the starting flow of Maxwell fluid in a pipe has been derived for a long time, the effect of relaxation time λ on start-up time ts of this flow is still not well understood. Especially, there exist a series of jumps on the ts-λ. curve. In this paper we introduce a normalized mechanical energy by mode decomposition and mathematical analogy to describe the start-up process. An improved definition of start-up time is presented based on the normalized mechanical energy. It is proved that the ts-λ. curve contains a series of jumps if λ is larger than a critical value. The exact positions of the jumps are determined and the physical reason of the jumps is discussed.

INVISCID INCOMPRESSIBLE AND COMPRESSIBLE FLOW EQUATIONS UNDER SPACE-TIME TRANSFORMATION

The equations governing incompressible and compressible inviscid flows and written in the physical frame ( t,x,y,z ) are known to be linearly well posed and exhibit elliptic or hyperbolic nature. The linear well posedness is considered here for these equations under a space time transformation ( t,x,y,z)→(τ,ξ,η,ζ ), where the pseudo time τ and the new space coordinate ( ξ,η,ζ ) all depend on ( t,x,y,z ). Such a transformation could be useful for uniformly treating problems in which the flow is fast unsteady somewhere and slow unsteady or steady elsewhere. It is found that the transformation may alter the ellipticity, the hyperbolicty, and even the well posedness of the original equations. In one dimension, the transformed incompressible flow equations become weakly hyperbolic and the compressible ones could degenerate to elliptical equations. In high dimensions there are conditions such that the transformed equations become ill posed.

Combined immersed boundary method and multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann flux solver for numerical simulations of incompressible flows

A method combining the immersed boundary technique and a multi- relaxation-time （MRT） lattice Boltzmann flux solver （LBFS） is presented for numerical simulation of incompressible flows over circular and elliptic cylinders and NACA 0012 Airfoil. The method uses a simple Cartesian mesh to simulate flows past immersed complicated bodies. With the Chapman-Enskog expansion analysis, a transform is performed between the Navier-Stokes and lattice Boltzmann equations （LBEs）. The LBFS is used to discretize the macroscopic differential equations with a finite volume method and evaluate the interface fluxes through local reconstruction of the lattice Boltzmann solution. The immersed boundary technique is used to correct the intermediate velocity around the solid boundary to satisfy the no-slip boundary condition. Agreement of simulation results with the data found in the literature shows reliability of the proposed method in simulating laminar flows on a Cartesian mesh.

Time-Dependent Flow with Convective Heat Transfer through a Curved Square Duct with Large Pressure Gradient

A numerical study is presented for the fully developed two-dimensional laminar flow of viscous incompressible fluid through a curved square duct for the constant curvature δ = 0.1. In this paper, a spectral-based computational algorithm is employed as the principal tool for the simulations, while a Chebyshev polynomial and collocation method as secondary tools. Numerical calculations are carried out over a wide range of the pressure gradient parameter, the Dean number, 100 ≤ Dn ≤ 3000 for the Grashof number, Gr, ranging from 100 to 2000. The outer wall of the duct is treated heated while the inner wall cooled, the top and bottom walls being adiabatic. The main concern of the present study is to find out the unsteady flow behavior i.e. whether the unsteady flow is steady-state, periodic, multi-periodic or chaotic, if Dn or Gr is increased. It is found that the unsteady flow is periodic for Dn = 1000 at Gr = 100 and 500 and at Dn = 2000, Gr = 2000 but steady-state otherwise. It is also found that for large values of Dn, for example Dn = 3000, the unsteady flow undergoes in the scenario “periodic→chaotic→periodic”, if Gr is increased. Typical contours of secondary flow patterns and temperature profiles are also obtained, and it is found that the unsteady flow consists of single-, two-, three- and four-vortex solutions. The present study also shows that there is a strong interaction between the heating-induced buoyancy force and the centrifugal force in a curved square passage that stimulates fluid mixing and consequently enhance heat transfer in the fluid.

Cyclic Reconfigurable Flow Shop under Different Configurations Modeling and Optimization Based on Timed Event Graph

Based on the idea that modules are independent of machines, different combinations of modules and machines result in different configurations and the system performances differ under different configurations, a kind of cyclic reconfigurable flow shops are proposed for the new manufacturing paradigm-reconfigurable manufacturing system. The cyclic reconfigurable flow shop is modeled as a timed event graph. The optimal configuration is defined as the one under which the cyclic reconfigurable flow shop functions with the minimum cycle time and the minimum number of pallets. The optimal configuration, the minimum cycle time and the minimum number of pallets can be obtained in two steps.