Harmony Search Algorithm for the Multiple Runways Aircraft Landing Scheduling Problem

This paper proposes a Harmony Search (HS) algorithm to solve the multiple runways aircraft landing scheduling (ALS) problem. ALS is a combinatorial optimization problem that has been recognized as an NP-hard problem. It deals with assigning landing times and runways for a set of arrival aircrafts. Each aircraft has its predefined target landing time within a time window, and a separation time between each successive pairs of aircrafts. The objective of ALS problem is to minimize the deviation from the target landing time of each aircraft subject to a set of constraints. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated on thirteen benchmark instances ranging from 10 to 500 aircrafts, and 1 to 5 runways. The results show that the proposed algorithm works considerably well on small-sized instances

Proceedings, MSVSCC 2012

Proceedings of the 6th Annual Modeling, Simulation & Visualization Student Capstone Conference held on April 19, 2012 at VMASC in Suffolk, Virginia

India's intended nationally determined contribution: working towards climate justice

"With the responsibility of ensuring a reasonable HDI for the country and the economic progress of its vast population, India has attempted to follow a path 'cleaner' than the one followed by many countries in the past. Today these countries may be in the forefront of Page 3 of 38 development, even providing a model of growth to other developing countries. However, if India compares the emission intensity of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) terms at present with those countries at a similar level of development, it is seen that their emissions then were far more than India’s at present. This is as much on account of India being open and innovative in embracing new technology and a cleaner way of doing things, as it is from the inherent principles of sustainability ingrained in its thought process.

Contribution from brazilian postgraduate studies to sustainable development: Capes at Rio+20

190 p.The book Contribution from brazilian postgraduate studies to sustainable development: Capes at Rio+20, is published by the Foundation for the Coordination and Improvement of Higher Level or Education Personnel (Capes) and represents the Brazilian PostGraduation contribution to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development - Rio+20, at a time when Brazil commemorates the 60th anniversary of the creation of Capes. The publication is a synthesized version of the efforts made by Brazilian Institutions, within the National PostGraduation System (SNPG), and Capes in particular, to identify resources, potentials and challenges that need to be jointly addressed in order to create a coherent development standard in harmony with sustainable development ideals

Recreation, tourism and nature in a changing world : proceedings of the fifth international conference on monitoring and management of visitor flows in recreational and protected areas : Wageningen, the Netherlands, May 30-June 3, 2010

Proceedings of the fifth international conference on monitoring and management of visitor flows in recreational and protected areas : Wageningen, the Netherlands, May 30-June 3, 201

Beetles or Bureaucrats? Reconsidering the United States\u27 Failure to Stop Dutch Elm Disease

In this dissertation, I analyze the failure of the United States to address the Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma ulmi) epidemic that affected American elm (Ulmus americana) across the country. The disease, a fungus carried by beetles between trees, was introduced in 1930 in New York City and slowly spread across the Northeast United States and beyond. A federal program to save the elm trees was in place from 1930-1952. I use archival documents to create a narrative describing the management of the disease by the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, the division of the United States Department of Agriculture tasked with controlling the fungus and its vectors. The dissertation is organized into three body chapters, each representing a manuscript prepared for publication in various journals. The first body chapter addresses the issues of quarantine, both international to prevent the import of the fungus and domestic to prevent its spread after its arrival. This chapter relies heavily on Historical Geographic Information Systems (HGIS), a method which incorporates archival materials into modern mapmaking software. The second chapter addresses the difficulties encountered in controlling the spread of the fungus. I trace the different methods studied and used to reduce the number of infected trees. In both of these chapters, I examine the failures of the Bureau to accomplish their goal of saving the elms and highlight the key role officials played in creating a management program that was doomed to fail by focusing on total elimination of the disease as opposed to containment and control. In the third chapter, I use Syracuse, NY as a case study to analyze the management of Dutch elm disease after the federal program run by the Bureau was eliminated. In this chapter, I emphasize the role of private property as a biogeographical unit by using the lens of the commons and demonstrating its important role in the failure to contain the fungus within the city. I conclude the dissertation with a chapter summarizing the timeline of events and major conclusions of each chapter while providing additional arguments of the importance of this work for urban foresters, biogeographers and environmental historians

The 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development

The International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) was held virtually on September 20-21, 2021, with the conference theme “Research for Impact: A Sustainable and Inclusive Planet.” ICSD provides a forum for academia, government, civil society, UN agencies, and the private sector to come together to share practical solutions to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The two-day conference hosted 49 different sessions across multiple time zones to accommodate the global audience, with 204 oral presenters, 239 poster presenters, and 977 total authors

On the Truly Noncooperative Game of Island Life: Introducing a Unified Theory of Value & Evolutionarily Stable Island Economic Development Strategy

This discourse offers a solution to The Problem of Sustainable Economic Development on islands. This hypothesis offers a foundational, sub-game solution to The Island Survival Game, a counterintuitive, dominant economic development strategy for ‘islands’ (and relatively insular states). This discourse also tables conceptual building blocks, prerequisite analytical tools, and a guiding principle for The Earth Island Survival Game, a bounded delay supergame which models The Problem of Sustainable Economic Development at the global level. We begin our exploration with an introduction to The Principle of Relative Insularity, a postulate which informs ESS for ‘island’ and ‘continental’ players alike. Next, we model ‘island’ economic development with two bio-geo-politico-economic models and respective strategies: The Mustique Co. Development Plan, and The Prince Edward Island Federal-Provincial Program for Social and Economic Advancement. These diametrically opposed strategies offer an extraordinary comparative study. One island serves as a highly descriptive model for The Problem of Sustainable Economic Development; the other model informs ESS. The Island Survival Game serves as a remarkable learning tool, offering lessons which promote Darwinian fitness, resource holding power, self-sufficiency, and cooperative behaviour, by illuminating the illusive path toward sustainable economic development.Non-cooperative games, evolutionary game theory, relative insularity, islands, tragedy of the commons, sustainable economic development, resource holding power, evolutionarily stable strategy, long distance dispersal

Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia Management Plan: 2022-2027

Established through the Coastal Zone Management Act, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) represents a partnership program between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the coastal states to promote informed management of the Nation’s estuaries and habitats. Designated in 1991, and administered by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) of William & Mary, the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia (CBNERR-VA or Reserve) is one of 30 protected areas, which encompass over 1.3 million acres and make up the NERRS. As the nation\u27s largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay contains a diverse collection of habitats and salinity regimes. In order to incorporate the diversity of habitats in the lower Bay subregion, CBNERR-VA incorporates a multi-component network along the salinity gradient of the York River estuary (YRE). The Reserve’s four components are: (1) Goodwin Islands (148 ha; 366 ac), an archipelago of polyhaline saltmarsh islands surrounded by inter-tidal flats, extensive submerged aquatic vegetation beds, and shallow open estuarine waters near the mouth of the YRE; (2) Catlett Islands (220 ha; 542 ac), consisting of multiple parallel ridges of forested wetland hammocks, maritime-forest uplands, and emergent mesohaline salt marshes; (3) Taskinas Creek (433 ha; 1070 ac), containing non-tidal feeder streams that drain oak-hickory forests, maple-gum-ash swamps and freshwater marshes which transition into tidal oligo and mesohaline salt marshes; and (4) Sweet Hall Marsh (443 ha; 1094 ac), an extensive tidal freshwater-oligohaline marsh ecosystem located in the Pamunkey River, one of two major tributaries of the York River. This plan aligns with and complements the NERRS 2017-2022 Strategic Plan and VIMS\u27s 2015-2020 Strategic Plan while building upon previous accomplishments and the desire to address current priority issues and meet future challenges. Its intent is to provide a vision and framework to guide Reserve activities for program undertakings over the five-year period from 2022-2027