Vehicle and personnel routing optimization in the service sector: application to water distribution and treatment

We present an overview of the author’s Ph.D. thesis, supervised by P. Dejax and N. Bostel, which was defended in February 2006 at école des Mines de Nantes, France. The thesis is written in French, and is available at . It was conducted in the context of a research contract with a water distribution company. In a first section, we define multiperiod routing problems for service technicians. In a second section, we present some heuristics and a memetic algorithm used to solve these problems. The third section introduces optimal and near-optimal approaches based on column generation. Finally, we present some applications to the real-life case. The methods presented in Sects. 2, 3 and 4 were tested over several sets of problems, based on real-life statistics provided by the company.      

一类具无穷时滞泛函微分方程的周期解

讨论具有无穷时滞中立型泛函微分方程$ \frac{\rm d}{{\rm d}t}\left(x(t)-\int_{-\infty}^{0}g(s,x(t+s)){\rm d}s\right) =A(t,x(t))x(t)+f(t,x_t)$的周期解问题,利用重合度理论中的延拓定理得到了周期解的存在性和唯一性条件;特别地,当$g(s,x)\equiv 0, A(t,x)=A(t)$时, 给出了存在唯一稳定周期解的条件.     

基于三维矩阵重构争论有向图的域间路由振荡检测算法

边界网关协议(Border G atew ay P rotoco l,BGP)是当前In ternet域间路由协议的事实标准,基于策略的路由选择过程使它不再是严格意义上的距离矢量协议,也不再具有距离矢量协议的收敛性.V aradhan指出,自治系统各自为政的策略配置方式会导致全局策略冲突,引起永久性的路由振荡.针对该问题,G riffin利用稳定路径问题(S tab le Path P rob lem,SPP)模型形式化的抽象出BGP协议行为,并以此为基础提出了一种分布式的策略冲突检测算法,尽管该算法完全避免了传统方法的缺陷,但仍然存在泄漏策略信息和对BGP协议改动太大以及浪费网络资源的问题.本文提出了一种基于安全多方计算的检测路由策略冲突的方法,用于在怀疑BGP路由发生振荡时,动态的检测系统中是否存在策略冲突.该方法采纳了G riffin的理论基础,同时由于巧妙的运用了安全多方计算协议,可以完全解决G riffin算法的问题,具有很好的实用性.     

Multiple nontrivial solutions for nonlinear periodic problems with the p-Laplacian

We consider a nonlinear periodic problem driven by the scalar p-Laplacian with a nonsmooth potential (hemivariational inequality). Using the degree theory for multivalued perturbations of (S)₊-operators and the spectrum of a class of weighted eigenvalue problems for the scalar p-Laplacian, we prove the existence of at least three distinct nontrivial solutions, two of which have constant sign.     

Markovian network processes: Congestion-dependent routing and processing

A Markovian network process describes the movement of discrete units among a set of nodes that process the units. There is considerable knowledge of such networks, often called queueing networks, in which the nodes operate independently and the routes of the units are independent. The focus of this study, in contrast, is on networks with dependent nodes and routings. Examples of dependencies are parallel processing across several nodes, blocking of transitions because of capacity constraints on nodes, alternate routing of units to avoid congestion, and accelerating or decelerating the processing rate at a node depending on downstream congestion. We introduce a general network process representing the numbers of units at the nodes and derive its equilibrium distribution. This distribution takes the form of a product of functions of vectors in which the arguments of the functions satisfy an interchangeability property. This new type of distribution may apply to other multi-variate processes as well. A basic idea in our approach is a linking of certain micro-level balance properties of the network routing to the processing rates at the nodes. The link is via routing-balance partitions of nodes that are inherent in any network. A byproduct of this approach is a general characterization of blocking of transitions without the restriction that the process is reversible, which had been a standard assumption. We also give necessary and sufficient conditions under which a unit moving in the network sees a time average for the unmoved units (called the MUSTA property). Finally, we discuss when certain flows between nodes in an open network are Poisson processes.This research was sponsored in part by Air Force Office of Scientific Research contract 84-0367.     

琼脂凝胶中形成铬酸铅周期性沉淀的机理研究

选择硝酸铅和铬酸钾作为相互扩散的反应物以形成铬酸铅在琼脂凝胶中的周期性沉淀．分别在光照和黑暗中对六种不同浓度的硝酸铅溶液进行了实验．根据实验现象对周期性沉淀的形成提出了可能的机理．认为光辐射可使铬酸铅部分电离，从而减慢了胶核成长速率，有利于汇聚成带．     

Formation of polymeric micelles with amino surfaces from amphiphilic AB‐type diblock copolymers composed of poly(glycolic acid lysine) segments and polylactide segments

Amphiphilic AB‐type diblock copolymers composed of hydrophobic poly(L ‐lactide) (PLA) segments and hydrophilic poly(glycolic acid lysine) [poly(Glc‐Lys)] segments with amino side‐chain groups self‐associated to form PLA‐based polymeric micelles with amino surfaces in an aqueous solution. The average diameter of the loose core–shell polymeric micelles for poly(Glc‐Lys) [number‐average molecular weight (M_n) = 1240]‐b‐PLA (M_n = 7000) obtained by a dimethyl sulfoxide/water dialysis method was estimated to be about 50 nm in water by dynamic light scattering measurements. The size and shape of the obtained polymeric micelles were further observed with transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. To investigate the possibility of applying the obtained PLA‐based polymeric micelles as bioabsorbable vehicles for hydrophobic drugs, we tested the entrapment of drugs in poly(Glc‐Lys) (M_n = 1240)‐b‐PLA (M_n = 7000) micelles and their release with doxorubicin as a hydrophobic drug. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 1426–1432, 2002     

Estimation of diffusion coefficient of Ba++ ions in silica gel from periodic precipitation of BaMoO4

Formation of Liesegang rings on the growth of BaMoO₄ crystals in silica gel by single diffusion is discussed. The rhythmic precipitation is found to be influenced profoundly by (a) the molarity of inner and outerelectrolytes (b) the age of gel and (c) the pH of the gel medium. The time law, spacing law and the law relating diffusion depth and width are verified. A method to estimate the diffusion coefficient of the outer electrolyte in the gel medium is developed and calculated for Ba⁺⁺ions.     

基于改进模拟退火算法的推动式生产-配送协调优化

为减小物资生产与配送不协调造成的成本及生产资源浪费,建立了考虑推动式生产调度的物资配送优化模型,并针对标准模拟退火算法受随机因素影响易陷入局部最优的缺点,设计带有回火与缓冷操作的改进模拟退火算法对模型求解,确定了优化的车辆配送路线以及物资生产计划。对比实验结果表明:相对于单纯的物资配送优化模型,考虑推动式生产调度的配送优化模型,能够有效减小物资滞留时间以及配送延误成本;相较于标准模拟退火算法,改进算法搜索到了更优解,且计算结果的标准差减小了93.42%,稳定性更好;同时,改进模拟退火算法具有较低的偏差率,在中小规模算例中求解质量较高,平均偏差率在0.5%以内。     

考虑订单取件时间和柔性时间窗的取送货车辆路径问题

研究了同城配送中考虑订单取货时间和柔性时间窗的取送货车辆路径问题,考虑同城配送中订单起终点,订单取货时间和订单配送的柔性时间窗,车容量限制等因素。首先构建以配送成本与超时惩罚成本之和最小化为目标的混合整数线性模型。其次,设计了含多种有效不等式及其对应分离算法的改进分支切割算法对该模型进行精确求解。最后通过实验测试分析了不等式的性能,验证了算法的有效性,实验表明适当的减少车辆数和增大装载能力能够有效的减少成本。