The Implications of Cognitive-style Findings for Operational Research

Cognitive style refers to differences that can be perceived in individuals due to differing cognitive structures. There has been a large amount of research on how cognitive style affects managerial decision-making, particularly in the context of management information systems, but little or no attempt to relate these findings to operational research. This paper reviews the findings of cognitive-style research from the perspective of operational research, and draws a number of useful inferences concerning the matching of OR aids to managers, the presentation of information and recommendations, the use and acceptance of OR, and the structure of OR groups. Further, it is argued that cognitive-style findings help to give a justification to the move towards ‘soft’ approaches to analysis.     

Evaluating the Efficiency of US Air Force Real-Property Maintenance Activities

The objective of this research is to evaluate a new methodology, data envelopment analysis (DEA), as a tool for measuring and evaluating the operational efficiency of US Air Force organizations. This study involves the application of DEA to locate possible inefficiencies in the performance of US Air Force real-property maintenance activities. Dynamic behaviour, as exhibited via window analyses, is reviewed along with static counterparts. The testing was done in close coordination with Air Force officials, who reviewed the results for accuracy, validity and relevance. We conclude that this type of efficiency analysis does have value for the Air Force, where it can serve as a guide to auditors, budget programmers, managers and others in measuring, evaluating and enhancing operational efficiency.     

赝能隙导致的YBa2(Cu1-xMx)3O7-δ(M=Co,Zn)薄膜的输运性质异常

报道了两类典型元素替代的超导Y123相体系-YBa2(Cu1-xCox)3O7-δ(x=0.01,0.02)和YBa2(Cu1-yZny)3O7-δ(y=0.005,0.010)薄膜的电阻率-温度特性(ρ(T))和Hall效应(RH (T)).研究表明,Co掺杂的Y123相体系十分类似于氧欠掺杂的情况,对Co掺杂的薄膜样品,由电阻率-温度特性定义的赝能隙打开的温度T*分别为193和225K.而Zn掺杂的样品没有观察到赝能隙打开对电阻率-温度特性的影响.由Hall效应的测量和Hall角(cotθH)定义了另一个特征温度T 0,介于Tc与T*之间,这一特征温度与核磁共振(NMR)给出的赝能隙打开温度相近,说明可能源于电子自旋自由度上的能隙打开.在室温到Tc范围内,电阻率-温度特性和Hall效应分别定义了两类不同的转变温度(T*和T 0),可能分别源于电子电荷和自旋通道上的赝能隙的打开,预示着电荷和自旋自由度分别进入某种基态.     

Efficient computation of natural convection in a concentric annulus between an outer square cylinder and an inner circular cylinder

In this work, the natural convection in a concentric annulus between a cold outer square cylinder and a heated inner circular cylinder is simulated using the differential quadrature (DQ) method. The vorticity‐stream function formulation is used as the governing equation, and the coordinate transformation technique is introduced in the DQ computation. It is shown in this paper that the outer square boundary can be approximated by a super elliptic function. As a result, the coordinate transformation from the physical domain to the computational domain is set up by an analytical expression, and all the geometrical parameters can be computed exactly. Numerical results for Rayleigh numbers range from 104 to 106 and aspect ratios between 1.67 and 5.0 are presented, which are in a good agreement with available data in the literature. It is found that both the aspect ratio and the Rayleigh number are critical to the patterns of flow and thermal fields. The present study suggests that a critical aspect ratio may exist at high Rayleigh number to distinguish the flow and thermal patterns. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of signal-to-noise ratio, signal periodicity, and degree of hearing impairment on the performance of voice-separation algorithms

Procedures for enhancing the intelligibility of a target talker in the presence of a co-channel competing talker were evaluated in tests involving (i) continuously voiced sentences spoken on a monotone, (ii) continuously voiced sentences with time-varying intonation, and (iii) noncontinuously voiced sentences produced with natural intonation. The procedures were based on the methods of harmonic selection and cepstral filtering [R.J. Stubbs and Q. Summerfield, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 87, 359-372 (1990)]. Target and competing voices were combined at signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) between -10 dB and +10 dB. Subjects were a group with normal hearing and a heterogeneous group with mild-moderate cochlear hearing impairments. Processing enhanced the target voice over a range of SNRs for each type of sentence and for most listeners. Enhancement was greatest at negative SNRs. Among the impaired listeners, benefit was generally greater for those with milder losses. These results consolidate and extend previous demonstrations that voice-separation algorithms that exploit the harmonic structure of the voiced portions of speech can enhance intelligibility. However, practical application of such algorithms depends on a solution to the problem of tracking the fundamental-frequency contour of one voice in the presence of a competing voice.     

Applying Stochastic Algorithms to a Locomotive Scheduling Problem

This paper addresses a problem common to all railway networks. Given a fixed train timetable and locomotives (or other forms of traction) of various types, each train must be allocated a locomotive. This paper examines the use of stochastic algorithms for such a problem. Two types of algorithm are used—a simple ‘local improvement’ method, performed successively from randomly chosen starting points, and a ‘simulated annealing’ approach. Both are found to give considerably better results than a deterministic method in current use, and the annealing approach is probably the better stochastic method.     

The study and applications of photochemical-dynamical gravity wave model II

A nonlinear, compressible, non-isothermal gravity wave model that involves photochemistry is used to study the effects of gravity wave on atmospheric chemical species distributions in this paper. The changes in the distributions of oxygen compound and hydrogen compound density induced by gravity wave propagation are simulated. The results indicate that when a gravity wave propagates through a mesopause region, even if it does not break, it can influence the background distributions of chemical species. The effect of gravity wave on chemical species at night is larger than in daytime.     

Linear nonstationary optical dimensional resonances in atomic nanostructures

The existence of linear nonstationary optical resonances in a diatomic nanostructural object with a dipole-dipole atomic interaction has been proved. A new solution to the joint system of modified Bloch optical equations and nonlocal field equations is obtained for time intervals much shorter than the times of phase and energy relaxation. Formulas for effective polarizabilities of the object’s atoms, which have a set of dimensional resonances, are derived. The frequencies of these resonances significantly differ from the eigenfrequencies of the object’s atoms, and their properties depend on the interatomic distance, light-pulse duration, initial atomic inversions, and the orientation of the object’s axis relative to the direction of incidence of the external light wave.     

DISCRETE HUYGENS' MODELLING APPROACH TO WAVE PROPAGATIONS IN A HOMOGENEOUS ELASTIC FIELD

The application of the discrete Huygens' modelling has been discussed for acoustic wave propagation problems, in which the scalar wave field problems have been focused. The present paper extends the application of the modelling to the elastic wave propagation in a homogeneous elastic medium in which two types of waves, the longitudinal wave and the shear wave, are independent except at the boundary. Each wave can be treated like a scalar wave until the two waves reach the boundary where they couple so as to satisfy the displacement or stress boundary condition. We propose the approach confining ourselves to the two-dimensional field. Some examples are demonstrated, whose solutions are compared with the vectorial wave modelling and finite difference modelling solutions whenever they are available.