AI and OR in management of operations: history and trends

The last decade has seen a considerable growth in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for operations management with the aim of finding solutions to problems that are increasing in complexity and scale. This paper begins by setting the context for the survey through a historical perspective of OR and AI. An extensive survey of applications of AI techniques for operations management, covering a total of over 1200 papers published from 1995 to 2004 is then presented. The survey utilizes Elsevier's ScienceDirect database as a source. Hence, the survey may not cover all the relevant journals but includes a sufficiently wide range of publications to make it representative of the research in the field. The papers are categorized into four areas of operations management: (a) design, (b) scheduling, (c) process planning and control and (d) quality, maintenance and fault diagnosis. Each of the four areas is categorized in terms of the AI techniques used: genetic algorithms, case-based reasoning, knowledge-based systems, fuzzy logic and hybrid techniques. The trends over the last decade are identified, discussed with respect to expected trends and directions for future work suggested.     

Expansion of explosion products of silver azide

A new method for studying the kinetics of the expansion of explosion products based on measuring the time elapsed from explosion initiation to the short-circuiting of the discharge gap by the products was proposed. It was revealed that, at the initial stage of expansion of the silver azide explosion products, they move with uniform acceleration, a behavior suggestive that, during this period, the exothermic reaction 2N₃ → 3N₂ occurs.     

Ordering of structural vacancies in vanadium monoxide of substoichiometric composition

The order-disorder phase transition in vanadium monoxide of substoichiometric compositions VO_y has been studied for the first time in situ by the Faraday method with a pendulum magnetic balance of the Domenically type. A minimum is found on the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility of vanadium monoxide of different compositions at a temperature of about 700 K. X-ray diffraction analysis performed before and after measuring the magnetic susceptibility confirmed the change in the structure of vanadium monoxide and the possibility of atom-vacancy processes upon cooling and heating of the samples.     

Is soft physics entropy driven?

The soft physics, p_T<2 GeV/c, observables at both RHIC and the SPS have now been mapped out in quite specific detail. From these results there is mounting evidence that this regime is primarily driven by the multiplicity per unit rapidity, dN_ch/dη. This suggests that the entropy of the system alone is the underlying driving force for many of the global observables measured in heavy-ion collisions. That this is the case and there is an apparent independence on collision energy is surprising. I present the evidence for this multiplicity scaling and use it to make some extremely naive predictions for the soft sector results at the LHC.     

Early Evolution of Gas Chromatography in East Germany. Part I: Beginnings, Instrument and Column Development and Organizations

The early evolution of gas chromatography in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) is surveyed and instrument development is outlined, describing the most important models manufactured in the GDR. The organization of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Gas-Chromatographie (Working Group for GC) is chronicled and its activities are discussed. Subsequent parts of this article will deal with the six symposia organized by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft between 1958 and 1968.     

Mass spectral analysis and imaging of tissue by ToF-SIMS—The role of buckminsterfullerene, C60, primary ions

Recent developments in desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry techniques have made their application to biological analysis a realistic and successful proposition. Developments in primary ion source technology, mainly through the advent of polyatomic ion beams, have meant that the technique of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) can now access the depths of information required to allow biological imaging to be a viable option.Here the role of the primary ion C₆₀⁺ is assessed with regard to molecular imaging of lipids and pharmaceuticals within tissue sections. High secondary ion yields and low surface damage accumulation are demonstrated on both model and real biological samples, indicating the high secondary ion efficiency afforded to the analyst by this primary ion when compared to other cluster ion beams used in imaging. The newly developed 40 keV C₆₀⁺ ion source allows the beam to be focused such that high resolution imaging is demonstrated on a tissue sample, and the greater yields allow the molecular signal from the drug raclopride to be imaged within tissue section following in vivo dosing.The localisation shown for this drug alludes to issues regarding the chemical environment affecting the ionisation probability of the molecule; the importance of this effect is demonstrated with model systems and the possibility of using laser post-ionisation as a method for reducing this consequence of bio-sample complexity is demonstrated and discussed.