Heuristics for Improving Operational Performance of Permutation Circulati on-type Vehicle Routing System

This paper discusses an optimization of operating a p ermutation circulation-type vehicle routing system (PCVRS, for short), in w hich several stages are located along by a single loop, and a fleet of vehicles travels on the loop unidirectionally and repeatedly. Traveling on the loop, each vehicle receives an object from the loading stage and then carries it to a cert ain processing stage, or receives an object from a certain processing stage and then carries it to the unloading stage per a turnaround. No passing is allowed f or the vehicles on the loop (from which the system is called permutation, and th is restriction may cause interferences between vehicles). Material handling systems such as PCVRS are actually encountered in flexible man ufacturing systems and in automated storage/retrieval systems. In this paper, we propose a heuristic algorithm for operating the PCVRS, which i ncorporates a new scheduling method for the vehicles with the SPT (shortest proc essing time) numbering of jobs and a round-robin manner of allocating jobs to t he stages, aiming to reduce interferences between the vehicles. We also give num erical results with respect to system performances attained by the heuristic. Description of the system The PCVRS consists of a set of n v vehicles V={V 1,V 2,...,V n v}, a set of n s, processing stages S p={S 1,S 2,...,S n s}, a loading stage S 0 and an unloading stage S n s +1. We denote by S=S p∪{S 0,S n s+l} the set of all the stages. The vehicles travel on a single loop unidirectionany and repeated ly. The system layout is depicted in Fig.1. There is a set of n jobs J={J 1,J 2,...,J n} to be processed b y the vehicles. Each job consists of two tasks: That is, each vehicle receives a n object from S 0 and then carries it to S l with a certain l∈{1,2, ...,n s} (a throw-in job), or receives an object from S l with a certain l∈{1,2,...,n s} and then carries it to S n s+1 (a throw-out job ) per a turnaround. The loop consists of buffer zones BZ(l) and travel zones TZ(l) (see Fig. 1). Each buffer zone BZ(l) is placed in front of stage S l, l=0,1,..., n s, n s+1, in order to avoid a collision between vehicles (i.e., the syste m adopts the so-called zone control strategy). A heuristic algorithm We develop a heuristic algorithm to obtain a good performance for the PCVRS. An operation π={A/B/C} for the PCVRS consists of three decision factors: (A) Numbering jobs Jobs are loaded into S 0 according to an assending order of job numbers. In this paper, we use the following rules to number jobs: SPT: Order jobs in the shortest processing time rule, i.e., P 1≤P 2≤...≤P n for the set of jobs J={J 1,J 2,...,J n}, rather than the FCFS numbering (i.e., number jobs in first-come-first-served order). The SPT rule intends to reduce interferences between two adjacent vehicles at stages. (B) Allocating jobs to stages For the purpose of balancing loads of processing stages, we adopt the following to allocate jobs to the stages: ORDER: Allocate n jobs to n s, processing stages by an in-order manner , i.e., let l(i) be the index of processing stage allocated job J i by ORDER, it holds that l(i)=n s+1-(i-[(i-1)/n s]n s).(1) The ORDER rule intends to process jobs parallel at stages as many as possible. (C) Scheduling vehicles The following method for scheduling vehicles under ORDER rule is already known: Fig.1 The vehicle ro uting system, PCVRS Fig.2 Mean turnaroun d times by heuristics Unchange: Assign n jobs to n v vehicles such that let k(i) be the i ndex of vehicle processing job J i, then k(i)= i-[(i-1)/n v]n v.(2) In csse of n v≥n s, mod (n v,n s)=0 or n v<n s, mod (n s,n v)=0 (mod(x,y) is the remainder of x/y), the number of interferences between vehicles is minimized at stage S 1 under Unchange sche dules, while in the other cases it is not [Lu et al. (2001a)]. Therefore, in t his paper, we develop a new scheduling method of the vehicles, denoted by Ex change, to modify Unchange schedules. Note

Operations Improvement Function and Organisational Adaptability of Petroleum Tank Farms in South-South, Nigeria

The study examined the nexus between operations improvement function (dimensioned by contingency planning, benchmarking and continuous improvement processes) and organisational adaptability of Petroleum tank farms in South-South, Nigeria. The contingency theory and the theory of routine dynamics underpinned the study, and positivism was the underlying philosophy. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey through the use of questionnaire. 820 middle and top-level managers constituted the elements of the population, and the Krejcie & Morgan’s formula was used to determine the sample size of 262 respondents. Structural Equation Modeling was deployed to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level. The results showed that contingency planning;benchmarking and continuous improvement processes all have a significant positive relationship with organisational adaptability of Petroleum tank farms in South-South, Nigeria. The study concludes that Petroleum tank farms’ operations should focus on the adoption of contingency planning, benchmarking and continuous improvement processes to enhance organisational adaptability. Therefore, it is recommended that the management of Petroleum tank farms should put in place mechanisms to advance continuous improvement processes by allocating the necessary amount of resources, such as energy, time and money, in order to promote the continuous development of the continuous improvement systems. Furthermore, managers of Petroleum tank farms should make better the adoption of contingency planning, ensuring that there is as much necessary training and information for employees on how to act during a crises situation, in order to evaluate safety and prepare in advance for recovery from disasters.

Improved Operation Characteristics for Nonvolatile Charge-Trapping Memory Capacitors with High-κ Dielectrics and SiGe Epitaxial Substrates

A novel high-κ~ A1203/HfO2/AI203 nanolaminate charge trapping memory capacitor structure based on SiGe substrates with low interface densities is successfully fabricated and investigated. The memory capacitor exhibits excellent program-erasable characteristics. A large memory window of ~4 V, a small leakage current density of ~2 ×10-6 Acre-2 at a gate voltage of 7V, a high charge trapping density of 1.42 × 1013 cm-2 at a working vo]tage of 4-10 V and good retention characteristics are observed. Furthermore, the programming （△ VFB = 2.8 V at 10 V for 10μs） and erasing speeds （△VFB =-1.7 V at -10 V for 10μs） of the fabricated capacitor based on SiGe substrates are significantly improved as compared with counterparts reported earlier. It is concluded that the high-κ Al2O3/HfO2/Al2O3 nanolaminate charge trapping capacitor structure based on SiGe substrates is a promising candidate for future nano-scaled nonvolatile flash memory applications.

Improvement of Operation Characteristics for MONOS Charge Trapping Flash Memory with SiGe Buried Channel

We propose and investigate a novel metal/SiO_2/Si_3N_4/SiO_2/SiGe charge trapping flash memory structure（named as MONOS）, utilizing Si Ge as the buried channel. The fabricated memory device demonstrates excellent programerasable characteristics attributed to the fact that more carriers are generated by the smaller bandgap of Si Ge during program/erase operations. A flat-band voltage shift 2.8 V can be obtained by programming at ＋11 V for 100 us. Meanwhile, the memory device exhibits a large memory window of ~7.17 V under ±12 V sweeping voltage, and a negligible charge loss of 18% after 104 s＇ retention. In addition, the leakage current density is lower than 2.52 × 10^（-7） A·cm^（-2） below a gate breakdown voltage of 12.5 V. Investigation of leakage current-voltage indicates that the Schottky emission is the predominant conduction mechanisms for leakage current. These desirable characteristics are ascribed to the higher trap density of the Si_3N_4 charge trapping layer and the better quality of the interface between the SiO_2 tunneling layer and the Si Ge buried channel. Therefore, the application of the Si Ge buried channel is very promising to construct 3 D charge trapping NAND flash devices with improved operation characteristics.

The Work of JTCA in Standardizing and Improving the Quality of Operating Information in Japan

Main Activities of JTCA JTCA activities cover the following five areas: ……

An improved self-adaptive membrane computing optimization algorithm and its applications in residue hydrogenating model parameter estimation

In order to solve the non-linear and high-dimensional optimization problems more effectively, an improved self-adaptive membrane computing(ISMC) optimization algorithm was proposed. The proposed ISMC algorithm applied improved self-adaptive crossover and mutation formulae that can provide appropriate crossover operator and mutation operator based on different functions of the objects and the number of iterations. The performance of ISMC was tested by the benchmark functions. The simulation results for residue hydrogenating kinetics model parameter estimation show that the proposed method is superior to the traditional intelligent algorithms in terms of convergence accuracy and stability in solving the complex parameter optimization problems.

Composition of Web Services of Multi-Population Adaptive Genetic Algorithm Based on Cosine Improvement

Web quality of service (QoS) awareness requires not only the selection of specific services to complete specific tasks, but also the comprehensive quality of service of the whole web service composition. How to select the web service composition with the highest comprehensive QoS is a NP hard problem. In this paper, an improved multi population genetic algorithm is proposed. Cosine adaptive operator is added to the algorithm to avoid premature algorithm caused by improper genetic operator and the disadvantage of destroying excellent individuals in later period. Experimental results show that compared with the common genetic algorithm and multi population genetic algorithm, this algorithm has the advantages of shorter time consumption and higher accuracy, and effectively avoids the loss of effective genes in the population.

Research on Resource Scheduling of Cloud Computing Based on Improved Genetic Algorithm

In order to solve the problem that the resource scheduling time of cloud data center is too long,this paper analyzes the two-stage resource scheduling mechanism of cloud data center.Aiming at the minimum task completion time,a mathematical model of resource scheduling in cloud data center is established.The two-stage resource scheduling optimization simulation is realized by using the conventional genetic algorithm.On the technology of the conventional genetic algorithm,an adaptive transformation operator is designed to improve the crossover and mutation of the genetic algorithm.The experimental results show that the improved genetic algorithm can significantly reduce the total completion time of the task,and has good convergence and global optimization ability.

Stability of Linear Stochastic Differential Equations with Respect to Fractional Brownian Motion

This paper is concerned with the stochastically stability for the m-dimensional linear stochastic differential equations with respect to fractional Brownian motion （FBM） with Hurst parameter H ∈ （1/2, 1）. On the basis of the pioneering work of Duncan and Hu, a Ito＇s formula is given. An improved derivative operator to Lyapunov functions is constructed, and the sufficient conditions for the stochastically stability of linear stochastic differential equations driven by FBM are established. These extend the stochastic Lyapunov stability theories.

ZTE DSLAM Improves Operators' Carbon Footprint and Slashes Power Costs

ZTE Corporation (ZTE), a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, revealed on May 6, 2008 that its award winning Broadband Universal Access System could help operators make a major impact on their carbon footprint as well as save millions of dollars a year in power costs. ZTE’s DSLAM ZXDSL FSAP 9806H overreaches the European code of conduct on energy consumption for broadband equipment, offering a significant power consumption savings per port.

Impact factors and improvement measures of enviroment quality in cleaning operating room

Objective To analyze the factors that impact the environment quality of cleaning operating room and to discuss improvement measurement. Methods Environment bacteria testing results and prevalence of surgical incision infection in cleaning operating room were retro-

Numerical and Performance Analysis of one row Transonic Rotor with Sweep and Lean angle

In this study,aerodynamic behaviors of swept and leaned blades were investigated.Axial and tangential blade curvatures impacts on compressor's operating parameters were analyzed separately.A commercial CFD program which solves the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations was used to find out the mentioned impact and the complicated flow field of transonic compressor-rotors.The CFD method that was used for solving flow field's equation was validated by experimental data of NASA Rotor 67.The results showed that the compressor with curved rotors had higher efficiency,rotor pressure ratio and stable operating range compared to the compressor with un-curved rotors.Using curved rotors mostly had higher impact on the overall stable operating range compared to the other operating parameters.Operating range involves choking point and stall point that were changed separately by using of bended blade.For finding the detailed impact of sweep and lean angle on transonic blades,various forms of lean and sweep angles were exerted to basic rotor.It was found that sweep angles increased overall operating range up to 30%,efficiency up to 2%and pressure ratio up to 1%.Leaning the blades increased the safe operating range,the pressure ratio and efficiency by 14%,4%and 2%respectively.