Optimization of Urban Rail Transportation in Emerging Countries Using Operational Research Techniques

Rail systems are gradually becoming the most desirable form of transit infrastructure around the world, partly because they are becoming more environmentally friendly compared with airplanes and automobiles. This paper examines the place of emerging countries in this move of implementing modern rail system that will eventually enhance the realization of a low-carbon society. Network model, transportation model and linear programming algorithms are used to model the present urban rail transport system in Nigeria, as an emerging country, in order to optimize it. Operational research methods, including simplex method and MODI, with the aids of computer software (excel solver and LIP solver) were adopted to solve the resulting models. The results showed that optimization of rail transport system will not only reduce carbon emission but also bring about economic development which is required for the eradication of prevalent poverty in these emerging countries.

FINAL SUCCESS AND LONG TERM TNTERESTS COMES FROM CAREFUL OPERATIONAL RESEARCH——A visit to Cai JingHua,executive director and Wu JiaLe,vice general manager of Guangdong Investment Limited

The leading role of undertaking most part of business activities bytapping fund through public listing for Guangdong Enterprises(Holdings)Limited.(here-in-after called GDE)is Played by one of its affiliate,GuangdongInvestment Limited (Here-in-after called GDI).In ten years of activeties,GDIPolicy makers deeply felt that their supreme responsibility was to create thebiggest wealth at present and in the future for the property owner,to achievethe biggest increase of property value,and in the meantime to contribute a bitfor the continuous progress of society.

Operational research capacity building through the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative(SORT-IT)in China:implementation,outcomes and challenges

Background:Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention(China CDC)introduced the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative(SORT IT)into China to build a special capacity and equip public health professionals with an effective tool to support developing countries in strengthening their operational research.The paper aims to investigate and analyze the implementation,outcomes and challenges of the first cycle of SORT IT in China.

Research and Practice of the Blended Teaching Model of BOPPPS Teaching Method Under the Background of Digital Education: Taking Operations Research Course as an Example

The rapid development of digital education provides new opportunities and challenges for teaching model innovation.This study aims to explore the application of the BOPPPS(Bridge-in,Objective,Pre-assessment,Participatory learning,Post-assessment,Summary)teaching method in the development of a blended teaching model for the Operations Research course under the background of digital education.In response to the characteristics of the course and the needs of the student group,the teaching design is reconstructed with a student-centered approach,increasing practical teaching links,improving the assessment and evaluation system,and effectively implementing it in conjunction with digital educational technology.This teaching model has shown significant effectiveness in the context of digital education,providing valuable experience and insights for the innovation of the Operations Research course.

Survey of the research on dynamic weapon-target assignment problem

The basic concepts and models of weapon-target assignment （WTA） are introduced and the mathematical nature of the WTA models is also analyzed. A systematic survey of research on WTA problem is provided. The present research on WTA is focused on models and algorithms. In the research on models of WTA, the static WTA models are mainly studied and the dynamic WTA models are not fully studied in deed. In the research on algorithms of WTA, the intelligent algorithms are often used to solve the WTA problem. The small scale of static WTA problems has been solved very well, however, the large scale of dynamic WTA problems has not been solved effectively so far. Finally, the characteristics of dynamic WTA are analyzed and directions for the future research on dynamic WTA are discussed.

Research on Application of Radar Decoy

Taken guidance radar as an example,some evaluation models for number of shot,single-shot kill probability and damage ability are established firstly.Then tactics calculation methods for number of anti-radar reflector beam,throwing time interval and total consumption are given.Finally,the models' feasibility is illustrated with a numerical example and some valuable conclusions are drawn.

Exploration and Practice of Ideological and Political Theories Teaching in Operations Research Courses Based on the“Trinity”

This study analyzes the background of ideological and political theories teaching in operations research courses and provides a design framework for ideological and political theories teaching in operations research courses based on“trinity”according to real teaching practices.This article summarizes the merging point of ideological and political theories teaching in operations research courses,taking ability and knowledge as its carrier and ideological and political theories teaching as its core,as well as discusses four methods of ideological and political theories teaching:online and offline interactive teaching,stimulating independent learning by practical application,seminar-style flipped classroom,and promoting theoretical teaching through competition and scientific research.

Fundamental Research on Enhancing Operation Reliability for Large-Scale Interconnected Power Grids——An interview with Zhou Xiaoxin, chief scientist of "973 Program"

At the end of last year, the editors from Power and Electrical Engineers interviewed Zhou Xiaoxin on "Fundamental Research on Enhancing Operation Reliability for Large-Scale Interconnected Power Grids", a project of "973 Program". Mr. Zhou, the chief engineer of China Electric Power Research Institute(CEPRI) and an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the chief scientist in charge of this research project.

Research and Design of IPv6 Network Management and Operations Support System

IPv6 is the foundation of the development of Next Generation Internet (NGI). An IPv6 network management and operations support system is necessary for real operable NGI. Presently there are no approved standards yet and relevant equipment interfaces are not perfect. A Network Management System (NMS) at the network layer helps implement the integrated management of a network with equipment from multiple vendors, including the network resources and topology, end-to-end network performance, network failures and customer Service Level Agreement (SLA) management. Though the NMS will finally realize pure IPv6 network management, it must be accommodated to the management of relevant IPv4 equipment. Therefore, modularized and layered structure is adopted for the NMS in order to implement its smooth transition.

Original optimal method to solve the all-pairs shortest path problem: Dhouib-matrix-ALL-SPP

The All-pairs shortest path problem(ALL-SPP)aims to find the shortest path joining all the vertices in a given graph.This study proposed a new optimal method,Dhouib-matrix-ALL-SPP(DM-ALL-SPP)to solve the ALL-SPP based on column-row navigation through the adjacency matrix.DM-ALL-SPP is designed to generate in a single execution the shortest path with details among all-pairs of vertices for a graph with positive and negative weighted edges.Even for graphs with a negative cycle,DM-ALL-SPP reported a negative cycle.In addition,DM-ALL-SPP continues to work for directed,undirected and mixed graphs.Furthermore,it is characterized by two phases:the first phase consists of adding by column repeated(n)iterations(where n is the number of vertices),and the second phase resides in adding by row executed in the worst case(n∗log(n))iterations.The first phase,focused on improving the elements of each column by adding their values to each row and modifying them with the smallest value.The second phase is emphasized by rows only for the elements modified in the first phase.Different instances from the literature were used to test the performance of the proposed DM-ALL-SPP method,which was developed using the Python programming language and the results were compared to those obtained by the Floyd-Warshall algorithm.

Fuzzy Nash equilibrium of fuzzy n-person non-cooperative game

The fuzzy non-cooperative game with fuzzy payoff function is studied. Based on fuzzy set theory with game theory, the fuzzy Nash equilibrium of fuzzy non-cooperative games is proposed. Most of researchers rank fuzzy number by its center of gravity or by the real number with its maximal membership. By reducing fuzzy number into a real number, we lose much fuzzy information that should be kept during the operations between fuzzy numbers. The fuzzy quantities or alternatives are ordered directly by Yuan＇s binary fuzzy ordering relation. In doing so, the existence of fuzzy Nash equilibrium for fuzzy non-cooperative games is shown based on the utility function and the crisp Nash theorem. Finally, an illustrative example in traffic flow patterns of equilibrium is given in order to show the detailed calculation process of fuzzy Nash equilibrium.

Study on Anti-ship Missile Saturation Attack Model

Based on the analysis for the interception process of ship-to-air missile system to the anti-ship missile stream, the antagonism of ship-to-air missile and anti-ship missile stream was modeled by Monte Carlo method. This model containing the probability of acquiring anti-ship missile, threat estimation, firepower distribution, interception, effectiveness evaluation and firepower turning, can dynamically simulate the antagonism process of anti-ship missile attack stream and anti-air missile weapon system. The anti-ship missile's saturation attack stream for different ship-to-air missile systems can be calculated quantitatively. The simulated results reveal the relations among the anti-ship missile saturation attack and the attack intensity of anti-ship missile, interception mode and the main parameters of anti-air missile weapon system. It provides a theoretical basis for the effective operation of anti-ship missile.

Integration of Decision-Support and Knowledge-Based Techniques in a Problem-Solving Strategy for Selection Problems

The limitations of traditional approaches to selection problems are examined. A problemsolving strategy is presented in which decision-support and knowledge-based techniques play complementary roles. An approach to the representation of knowledge to support the problem-solving strategy is presented which avoids commitment to a specific programming language or implementation environment. The problem of choosing a home is used to illustrate the representation of knowledge in a specific problem domain. Techniques for implementation of the problem-solving strategy are described. Knowledge elicitation techniques and their implementation in a development shell for application of the problem-solving strategy to any selection problem are also described.

Uncertain optimal model and solving method to platform scheduling problem in battlefield

The platform scheduling problem in battlefield is one of the important problems in military operational research.It needs to minimize mission completing time and meanwhile maximize the mission completing accuracy with a limited number of platforms.Though the traditional certain models obtain some good results,uncertain model is still needed to be introduced since the battlefield environment is complex and unstable.An uncertain model is prposed for the platform scheduling problem.Related parameters in this model are set to be fuzzy or stochastic.Due to the inherent disadvantage of the solving methods for traditional models,a new method is proposed to solve the uncertain model.Finally,the practicability and availability of the proposed method are demonstrated with a case of joint campaign.

Adjustable entropy method for solving convex inequality problem

To solve the inequality problem, an adjustable entropy method is proposed. An inequality problem can be transformed into a minimax problem which is nondifferentiable; then an adjustable entropy is used to smooth the minimax problem. The solution of inequalities can be approached by using a BFGS algorithm of the standard optimization method. Some properties of the new approximate function are presented and then the global convergence are given according to the algorithm. Two numerical examples illustrate that the proposed method is efficient and is superior to the former ones.

Fire Distribution of Integrated Missile-gun Air Defense System Based on Earlier Damage Criterion

The fire distribution can be divided into weapon assignment and firing time scheduling. The criterion of weapon allocation is that a target with greater threat has higher priority. And the criterion of firing time scheduling is that a target can be damaged with the expected probability before a specific time. A fire distribution scheme and a program for the integrated missile-gun air defense system based on a criterion of earlier damage were presented. An example was taken to illustrate its effectiveness.

Study on Calculating Blockage Probability and Entry Angle Error of Intelligence Missile to Runway

The blockage effectiveness problem for the runway cut-blanked modes of intelligence missile is described using probability integral method,when entry angle error and open cabin position error exist. On the condition of determined open cabin position error,the allowable range of entry angle error is inversely calculated with interdiction probability. The calculated results indicate that the method mentioned can estimate the intelligence missile interdiction efficiency to the runway and the range of entry angle error,which provides available basis for analyzing the intelligence missile attack assignment on the way.

Threefold Increase in the Number of Drug Resistant TB Cases after Introduction of Universal Drug Susceptibility Testing: Experiences from Two South India Districts

Background: In India, tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem, and the advent of drug resistance TB (DR-TB) has worsened the situation. The Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) has introduced universal drug susceptibility testing (UDST) for all diagnosed TB cases in 2018. We conducted this study to know the advantage of implementing UDST when compared to selective testing existent in 2017 on key diagnostic cascade parameters and to identify the challenges in the implementation of UDST. Methods: The study was conducted in two districts of Karnataka, India during January 2017-December 2018. The quantitative part consisted of before-and-after design and the qualitative part consisted of descriptive design. Results: In 2017 (during selective testing/“before” period) out of the 2440 TB patients, 80 (3%) were diagnosed with Isoniazid and Rifampicin resistance patients;in contrast in 2018 (during UDST/“after” period) of the 5129 TB patients 258 (5%) were diagnosed with Isoniazid and Rifampicin resistance. However, the proportion of eligible patients tested for rifampicin resistance during the “after” period was 60% when compared to 100% during the “before” period and median turnaround time for testing was also longer during the “after” period when compared to the “before” period (32.5 days vs 27.5 days). Major reasons for these two gaps were found to be difficulties in collecting sputum specimens and transportation. Conclusion: The rollout of UDST has led to a three-fold increase in a number of DR-TB cases detected in the region. There is a need for the programme to increase the proportion tested for DST by increasing the laboratory capacity and address the challenges in sputum collection and transportation.

Interim Outcomes and Adverse Events among Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Patients Treated with Bedaquiline in the Philippines

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the interim outcomes for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) patients treated with bedaquiline regimen under the operational research conditions compared to DR-TB patients treated without bedaquiline in their regimen, and to describe the adverse events that occurred among patients treated with bedaquiline in the Philippines. Design: Patients who were treated with a bedaquiline-containing regimen from June 2016 to May 2017 were included in this study as the intervention group, while patients who were treated without bedaquiline regimen from January 2013 to May 2016 were included as the comparison group. The interim treatment outcomes were compared using Chi-square test. The analysis of time to culture conversion within 6 months of treatment was conducted. A Cox proportional hazard model was constructed to identify the variables associated with a favorable interim treatment outcome. The R program was used for statistical analysis. Results: On the 6th month of treatment, the culture conversion for patients treated with a bedaquiline-containing regimen was significantly higher than with the comparison group [63/75 (84.0%) vs 84/117 (71.8%), p = 0.012)]. Nearly 15% of the patients treated with bedaquiline were lost to follow-up. Frequent adverse events included vomiting, dizziness, nausea, joint pain, and abdominal pain. Conclusion: The patients who were treated with bedaquiline-containing regimen have better interim treatment outcomes than those treated without bedaquiline, but the proportion of patients who were lost to follow-up remains substantial.

Predictive Mathematical and Statistical Modeling of the Dynamic Poverty Problem in Burundi: Case of an Innovative Economic Optimization System

The mathematical and statistical modeling of the problem of poverty is a major challenge given Burundi’s economic development. Innovative economic optimization systems are widely needed to face the problem of the dynamic of the poverty in Burundi. The Burundian economy shows an inflation rate of -1.5% in 2018 for the Gross Domestic Product growth real rate of 2.8% in 2016. In this research, the aim is to find a model that contributes to solving the problem of poverty in Burundi. The results of this research fill the knowledge gap in the modeling and optimization of the Burundian economic system. The aim of this model is to solve an optimization problem combining the variables of production, consumption, budget, human resources and available raw materials. Scientific modeling and optimal solving of the poverty problem show the tools for measuring poverty rate and determining various countries’ poverty levels when considering advanced knowledge. In addition, investigating the aspects of poverty will properly orient development aid to developing countries and thus, achieve their objectives of growth and the fight against poverty. This paper provides a new and innovative framework for global scientific research regarding the multiple facets of this problem. An estimate of the poverty rate allows good progress with the theory and optimization methods in measuring the poverty rate and achieving sustainable development goals. By comparing the annual food production and the required annual consumption, there is an imbalance between different types of food. Proteins, minerals and vitamins produced in Burundi are sufficient when considering their consumption as required by the entire Burundian population. This positive contribution for the latter comes from the fact that some cows, goats, fishes, ···, slaughtered in Burundi come from neighboring countries. Real production remains in deficit. The lipids, acids, calcium, fibers and carbohydrates produced in Burundi are insufficient for consumption. This negative contribution proves a Burundian food deficit. It is a decision-making indicator for the design and updating of agricultural policy and implementation programs as well as projects. Investment and economic growth are only possible when food security is mastered. The capital allocated to food investment must be revised upwards. Demographic control is also a relevant indicator to push forward Burundi among the emerging countries in 2040. Meanwhile, better understanding of the determinants of poverty by taking cultural and organizational aspects into account guides managers for poverty reduction projects and programs.