A continuation method for monotone variational inequalities

This paper presents a continuation method for monotone variational inequality problems based on a new smooth equation formulation. The existence, uniqueness and limiting behavior of the path generated by the method are analyzed.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award ECE-8552773 and by a grant from the Burlington Northern Railroad.     

Validation and generalization of DEA and its uses

Summary Rapidly expanding uses of DEA have been accompanied by developments which have enhanced its power and enlarged its utility for additional applications. Developments covered in the present paper include simulation studies comparing DEA with competing forms of statistical regressions. Other studies covered show how these two approaches can be combined in complementary fashion. Another part of this paper deals with Chance Constrained Programming formulations which incorporate probabilistic elements into DEA. Included also are discussions of statistical characterizations with accompanying tests of statistical significance for DEA efficiency evaluations. This paper concludes with uses of DEA in “discovery processes”-processes that need strengthening (and encouragemnt) in contemporary social science and management science research. Suggestions are made for additional research on further developments which extend to uses of DEA to provide new approaches in economics (including econometrics), management and psychology and an Appendix introduces new or recently developed efficiency measures for use in DEA. Invited by J. T. Pastor     

Cyclic reservation schemes for efficient operation of multiple-queue single-server systems

We study two new cyclic reservation schemes for the efficient operation of systems consisting of a single server and multiple queues. The schemes are the Globally Gated regime and the Cyclic-Reservation Multiple-Access (CRMA). Both procedures possess mechanisms for prioritizing the queues and lend themselves to a closed-form analysis. The combination of these two properties allows for effective and efficient operation of the systems, for which we provide a thorough delay analysis and derive simple rules for optimal operation.     

Strategy-proofness and the strict core in a market with indivisibilities

We show that, in markets with indivisibilities (typified by the Shapley-Scarf housing market), the strict core mechanism is categorically determined by three assumptions: individual rationality, Pareto optimality and strategy-proofness.     

A note on the Weber location problem

In this note, we collect some interesting and useful results about the Weber problem. We investigate an accelerated Weiszfeld procedure which increases the step size and find a formula for the step size that empirically produces the fastest convergence rate. We also derive an estimate for the optimal cost of the system.     

Global games

Global games are real-valued functions defined on partitions (rather than subsets) of the set of players. They capture “public good” aspects of cooperation, i.e., situations where the payoff is naturally defined for all players (“the globe”) together, as is the case with issues of environmental clean-up, medical research, and so forth. We analyze the more general concept of lattice functions and apply it to partition functions, set functions and the interrelation between the two. We then use this analysis to define and characterize the Shapley value and the core of global games.     

Kripke, Putnam and the introduction of natural kind terms

In this paper, I will outline some of the important points made by Kripke and Putnam on the meaning of natural kind terms. Their notion of the baptism of natural kinds- the process by which kind terms are initially introduced into the language — is of special concern here. I argue that their accounts leave some ambiguities that suggest a baptism of objects and kinds that is free of additional theoretical commitments. Both authors suggest that we name the stuff and then let the scientists tell us what properties it really has, and hence what the real meaning is. I contend that such a barren baptism, taken at face value, cannot succeed in the semantic roles it has been assigned and that softening the stance on baptism suggests a more subtle and complex relation between reference and theoretical commitment than has emerged thus far.     

Batching deteriorating items with applications in computer communication and reverse logistics

We study two deterministic scheduling problems that combine batching and deterioration features. In both problems, there is a certain demand for identical good quality items to be produced in batches. In the first problem, each batch is assigned an individual machine that requires a cost and a time to be activated. All the machines are identical, work in parallel, and always produce good quality items. All the items are available at time zero and they deteriorate while waiting for production. Deterioration results in a linear increase of time and cost of production. In the second problem, there is a single machine that produces good quality as well as defective items in batches. Each batch is preceded by a setup time and requires a setup cost. Defective items have to be reworked on the same machine. They deteriorate while waiting for rework. At a time to be decided, the machine switches from production to rework defective items of the current batch. After rework, every defective item has the required good quality. In both problems, the objective is to find batch partitioning such that a linear combination of the production cost and production completion time is minimized. The two problems are observed at computer service providers and also reverse logistics. In computer service providers, machines and items correspond to communication service channels and information transfer tasks, respectively. We reduce both problems to minimizing a function of one variable representing the number of batches. In an optimal solution of either problem, there are at most two different batch sizes. Linear time algorithms are proposed for both problems.     

Genetic algorithms for supply-chain scheduling: A case study in the distribution of ready-mixed concrete

The coordination of just-in-time production and transportation in a network of partially independent facilities to guarantee timely delivery to distributed customers is one of the most challenging aspect of supply chain management. From a theoretical perspective, the timely production/distribution can be viewed as a hybrid combination of planning, scheduling and routing problems, each notoriously affected by nearly prohibitive combinatorial complexity. From a practical viewpoint, the problem calls for a trade-off between risks and profits. This paper focuses on the ready-mixed concrete delivery: in addition to the mentioned complexity, strict time-constraints forbid both earliness and lateness of the supply. After developing a detailed model of the considered problem, we propose a novel meta-heuristic approach based on a hybrid genetic algorithm combined with constructive heuristics. A detailed case study derived from industrial data is used to illustrate the potential of the proposed approach.     

Linear estimate of the number of limit cycles for a class of non-linear systems

A dynamic system has a finite number of limit cycles. However, finding the upper bound of the number of limit cycles is an open problem for general non-linear dynamical systems. In this paper, we investigated a class of non-linear systems under perturbations. We proved that the upper bound of the number of zeros of the related elliptic integrals of the given system is 7n + 5 including multiple zeros, which also gives the upper bound of the number of limit cycles for the given system.