A Proactive Crew Recovery Decision Support Tool for Commercial Airlines During Irregular Operations

In this paper, a decision support tool that automates crew recovery during irregular operations for large-scale commercial airlines is presented. The tool is designed for airlines that adopt the hub-spoke network stru cture. The advance of this tool over the existing ones is that it recovers projected crew problems that arise due to current system disruptions. In other words, it proactively recovers crew problems ahead of time before their occurrence. In addition, it gives a wide flexibility to react to different operation scenarios. Also, it solves for the most efficient crew recovery plan with the least deviation from the originally planned schedule. The tool adopts a rolling approach in which a sequence of optimization assignment problems is solved such that it recovers flights in chronological order of their departure times. In each assignment problem, the objective is to recover as many flights as possible while minimizing total system cost resulting from resource reassignments and flight delays. The output of this tool is in the form of new crew trippairs that cover flights in the considered horizon. A test case is presented to illustrate the model capabilities to solve a real-life problem for one of the major commercial airlines in the U.S.     

Electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power of AgInSe2 in the solid and liquid states

The electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power of AgInSe₂ have been investigated as a function of temperature from 420°C to 950°C. Experimental data are analyzed in terms of a model developed for the density of states and electrical transport in solid amorphous semiconductors [1]. The activation energy calculated from electrical conductivity data is found to be 0.06 eV for the solid and 0.37 eV for the liquid phase. Moreover, the coefficient of the linear decrease of the energy gap with temperature was found to be 1.96×10^–4 eV/K.     

Bismuth silicate glass as host media for some selected rare-earth ions and effects of gamma irradiation

Ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectral measurements were used to investigate prepared undoped and rare-earth doped (2.5%) bismuth silicate glasses (80% Bi₂O₃–20%SiO₂) before and after being subjected to gamma irradiation (8?Mrad). The base bismuth silicate glass reveals strong extended UV–near visible absorption bands which are attributed to the presence of trace iron impurities in the raw materials together with absorption due to sharing of Bi³⁺ ions. The RE-doped samples show the same strong UV–near visible bands as the undoped glasses beside extra narrow characteristic bands mostly in the visible and near-infrared regions due to the respective studied rare-earth ions. The base undoped and all RE-doped samples except CeO₂ sample reveal quite resistance to the effect of gamma irradiation due to heavy atomic mass Bi³⁺ ions present in high content (80%) and the rare-earth ions are known to be weakly affected due to the known 5s, 5p shielding. The exceptional effect of CeO₂-doped sample is related to the ability of Ce³⁺ ions to change its oxidation state through photochemical reaction by irradiation or exchange with Fe³⁺ present as trace iron impurities. The FT infrared spectra of the prepared glasses reveal characteristic absorption bands which are related to the silicate groups together with the sharing of vibrational modes due to Bi–O groups. The IR spectra are slightly affected by gamma irradiation indicating the stability of the structural network groups consisting of SiO₄ and BiO₆ units.     

New 1,3,4‐Oxadiazinoisoquinoline Methine Cyanine Dyes: Synthesis,Photosensitivity and Antibacterial Activity

New heterocyclic ring system including 1,3,4‐oxadiazino[6,5‐c]isoquinoline was prepared and employed as a precursor for preparation of monomethine and trimethine cyanine dyes. The structure of the new compounds was characterized via elemental analysis and mass, ¹H‐NMR, and ¹³C‐NMR spectroscopy. The photosensitivity (electronic transitions inside the dye molecule due to photon absorption) of the new methine cyanine dyes was investigated by studying their visible spectra in absolute ethanol and showed its maxima in the visible range of the spectrum with relatively strong absorption bands. The antibacterial activity of the newly synthesized compounds was evaluated against some bacterial strains, resulting in a promising antibacterial efficacy that recommend the tested compounds as new candidates for further pharmaceutical evaluations.     

Pulsed laser ablated zeolite nanoparticles: A novel nano-catalyst for the synthesis of 1,8-dioxo-octahydroxanthene and N-aryl-1,8-dioxodecahydroacridine with molecular docking validation

There is an increasing interest in the synthesis of metal nanoparticles (NPs) from bulk metals using pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL), as it offers an easy and simple synthesis route. In this work, zeolite NPs (molecular sieve 4A) were successfully synthesized by the PLAL technique, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Data obtained confirm the formation of the crystalline phase of zeolite. The synthesized catalyst (zeolite molecular sieve 4A) was used as an efficient and facile promotor for the synthesis of xanthene and acridine derivatives. Molecular docking of the synthesized compounds was validated using quinone reductase 2 (NQO2) and acridine orange as the ligand, with the synthesized molecules showing good drug–ligand interaction on the active site of NQO2, compared with that of acridine orange.     

V2O5 based quadruple nano‐perovskite as a new catalyst for the synthesis of bis and tetrakis heterocyclic compounds

In this article, we presented a novel, efficient and facile approach for using strontium titanate supported catalyst in organic synthesis. Bis and tetrakis of coumarin, indole and xanthene derivatives can effortlessly have prepared using V₂O₅/perovskite nanoparticles (NPs) under solvent‐free condition. V₂O₅/perovskite in (NPs) was prepared and identified using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope supported with energy dispersive X‐ray (SEM/EDAX). Calculated crystal size was from the intense XRD peaks was found to range between 50–60 nm in agreement with that obtained from the transmission electron microscopic investigation. EDAX analysis and mapping images reveal a homogenous distribution of all constituents with their calculated ratios in the synthesized catalyst.     

An integrated decision support tool for airlines schedule recovery during irregular operations

This paper presents a decision support tool for airlines schedule recovery during irregular operations. The tool provides airlines control centers with the capability to develop a proactive schedule recovery plan that integrates all flight resources. A rolling horizon modeling framework, which integrates a schedule simulation model and a resource assignment optimization model, is adopted for this tool. The schedule simulation model projects the list of disrupted flights in the system as function of the severity of anticipated disruptions. The optimization model examines possible resource swapping and flight re-quoting to generate an efficient schedule recovery plan that minimizes flight delays and cancellations. A detailed example that illustrates the application of the tool to recover the schedule of a major US air-carrier during a hypothetical ground delay program scenario is presented. The results of several experiments that illustrates overall model performance in terms of solution quality and computation experience are also given.     

UV-visible and infrared absorption spectra of gamma irradiated CuO-doped lithium phosphate, lead phosphate and zinc phosphate glasses: A comparative study

Undoped and CuO-doped lithium phosphate, lead phosphate and zinc phosphate glasses were prepared. UV-visible and infrared absorption spectra of the prepared samples were measured before and after successive gamma irradiation. Experimental optical spectra of the undoped samples reveal strong UV absorption bands, which are attributed to the presence of trace iron impurities in both the lithium and zinc phosphate glasses while the lead phosphate glass exhibits broad UV bands due to combined absorption of trace iron impurities and divalent lead ions. The CuO-doped glasses reveal an extra broad visible band due to Cu²⁺ ions in octahedral coordination. The effects of gamma irradiation have been analyzed for both the sharing of all constituent components including trace iron impurities. Infrared absorption spectra of the prepared samples were investigated by the KBr disk technique. The FTIR spectra reveal main characteristic absorption bands due to different phosphate groups. The IR spectra are observed to be slightly affected by the increase of CuO in the doping level (0.2-3%) indicating the stability of the main network units.     

Ride matching and vehicle routing for on-demand mobility services

Journal of Heuristics - On-Demand Mobility Services (ODMS) have gained considerable popularity over the past few years. Travelers use mobile phone applications to easily request a ride, update trip...     

Optical and FTIR studies of CuO-doped lead borate glasses and effect of gamma irradiation

CuO doped lead borate glasses of the composition PbO 70%–B₂O₃ 30% with varying CuO contents were prepared. UV–visible and infrared spectroscopic studies were measured before and after successive gamma irradiation with two different doses namely 2 and 8 Mrad. The experimental results indicate that the undoped sample reveals strong UV–near visible absorption while copper doped samples show additional broad visible band due to (Cu^2 +) ions.FT infrared absorption spectrum reveals vibrational bands due to triangular and tetrahedral borate groups together with the sharing of Pb–O vibrations.CuO-doped glasses have been found to show a shielding behavior towards the effects of progressive gamma irradiation causing the maintenance of the spectral curves. The changes in the UV–visible and infrared spectral data are discussed in relation to the states of copper ions and structural evolution caused by the change in glass composition including the CuO.