Exact and Heuristic Algorithms for Risk-Aware Stochastic Physical Search

We consider an intelligent agent seeking to obtain an item from one of several physical locations, where the cost to obtain the item at each location is stochastic. We study risk-aware stochastic physical search (RA-SPS), where both the cost to travel and the cost to obtain the item are taken from the same budget and where the objective is to maximize the probability of success while minimizing the required budget. This type of problem models many task-planning scenarios, such as space exploration, shopping, or surveillance. In these types of scenarios, the actual cost of completing an objective at a location may only be revealed when an agent physically arrives at the location, and the agent may need to use a single resource to both search for and acquire the item of interest. We present exact and heuristic algorithms for solving RA-SPS problems on complete metric graphs. We first formulate the problem as mixed integer linear programming problem. We then develop custom branch and bound algorithms that result in a dramatic reduction in computation time. Using these algorithms, we generate empirical insights into the hardness landscape of the RA-SPS problem and compare the performance of several heuristics

Mathematical formulations and optimization algorithms for solving rich vehicle routing problems.

Objectives and methods of study: The main objective of this work is to analyze and solve three different rich selective Vehicle Routing Problems (VRPs). The first problem is a bi-objective variant of the well-known Traveling Purchaser Problem (TPP) in which the purchased products are delivered to customers. This variant aims to find a route for which the total cost (transportation plus purchasing costs) and the sum of the customers’s waiting time are simultaneously minimized. A mixed integer bi-objective programming formulation of the problem is presented and tested with CPLEX 12.6 within an ǫ-constraint framework which fails to find non-dominated solutions for instances containing more than 10 nodes. Therefore, a heuristic based on relinked local search and Variable Neighborhood Search (VNS) is proposed to approximate the Pareto front for large instances. The proposed heuristic was tested over a large set of artificial instances of the problem. Computational results over small-sized instances show that the heuristic is competitive with the ǫ-constraint method. Also, computational tests over large-sized instances were carried out in order to study how the characteristics of the instances impact the algorithm performance. The second problem consists of planning a selective delivery schedule of multiple products. The problem is modeled as a multi-product split delivery capacitated team orienteering problem with incomplete services, and soft time windows. The problem is modeled through a mixed integer linear programming formulation and approximated by means of a multi-start Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) metaheuristic. Computational results show that the multi-start metaheuristic reaches better results than its classical implementation in which a single solution is build and then improved. Finally, an Orienteering Problem (OP) with mandatory visits and conflicts, is formulated through five mixed integer linear programming models. The main difference among them lies in the way they handle the subtour elimination constraints. The models were tested over a large set of instances of the problem. Computational experiments reveal that the model which subtour elimination constraints are based on a single-commodity flow formulation allows CPLEX 12.6 to obtain the optimal solution for more instances than the other formulations within a given computation time limit. Contributions: The main contributions of this thesis are: • The introduction of the bi-objective TPP with deliveries since few bi-objective versions of the TPP have been studied in the literature. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, there is only one more work that takes into account deliveries in a TPP. • The design and implementation of a hybrid heuristic based on relinked local search and VNS to solve the bi-objective TPP with deliveries. Additionally, we provide guidelines for the application of the heuristic when different characteristics of the instances are observed. • The design and implementation of a multi-start adaptive large neighborhood search to solve a selective delivery schedule problem. • The experimental comparison among different formulations for an OP with mandatory nodes and conflicts

Relative Consent and Contract Law

What does it mean to consent? Consent is an essential component of contracts, yet its part in contract law is obscure. Despite its importance, there is no independent doctrine of consent; rather, it plays a key, but ill-defined role in assessing doctrines such as assent or duress. This Article addresses this significant omission in contract law by disassembling the meaning of contractual consent into three conditions: an intentional act or manifestation of consent, voluntariness and knowledge. This Article argues that consent can only be understood relative to these three conditions. Accordingly, consent is not merely a conclusion but a process and a dynamic that depends upon a variety of factors, including the relative blameworthiness of the parties, their relationship, third party effects and societal impact. This Article, through an examination of classic and modern cases, demonstrates how the concept of relative consent provides a coherent framework for understanding contract law

'Recommended by Duncan Hines': Automobility, Authority, and American Gastronomy

How did Duncan Hines become an authority on roadside dining? What role did he have in the consumption of food and the use of automobiles? What were the messages he pronounced to his audiences? In "'Recommended by Duncan Hines,'" I examine the formation of Duncan Hines as the premier American restaurant critic as occurring in national journals and self-published guidebooks of the 1930s to 1950s. Analyzed as a function of the discursive production of power/knowledge within the historical contexts of cultures of automobility, consumption, and authority, I frame Hines as a mediator between producers and consumers, a position gaining in significance in the early 20th century. Narrating the exchange of commodities, Hines' gastronomy acted as a fount of nationalism and American "taste" based in perceptions of geography, history, and authenticity. Furthermore, my thesis presents a model for comprehending the origins, role, and effects of critics and other cultural authorities

Differentiation by Design:How New Product Design Creates Value and Competitive Advantage in Small Manufacturing Entities (SMEs)

In the practice of new product value creation there is a creative quest that product design and development practitioners must address when existing knowledge of practice proves inadequate but the development objective remains. Design practitioners often achieve new competitive advantages as the outcome of these creative quests, and yet truly innovative and competitive products are rare, as their efforts often fall short of the original design aims. In this study, the design process of the author, a product design practitioner with over thirty years of experience, has been investigated through the examination of three case histories of successful new product development arising from his design practice. The cases were assembled by the practitioner, who is also an academic researcher, seeking an explanatory research analogue of his tacit design process. The methodology draws on the reflective practice philosophy of Donald Schön, in conjunction with grounded theory and case studies employing mixed methods, to explain how design can create new value and competitive advantage in the marketplace. The chosen cases share common successful marketplace outcomes resulting from their design and development approaches. Although qualitative in nature, this autobiographic study builds on the insights available to the researcher, and the unique access to rich quantitative evidence of the design narrative and marketing histories gained from an insider’s view of industry practice. Competitive advantage and its role in innovation in the real-world laboratory of the marketplace provide the context for researching the process of this design-focused strategy. This thesis explains the practice-design relationship in strategic new product design and development by distinguishing between existing practice and the new knowledge rivalry created through design practice, bringing focus to the new design’s ability to displace the existing solution. Whilst the primary focus of the study is on design value creation for competitive advantage in new product marketplaces, a new knowledge creation framework has emerged from this research with the potential for application by other practitioners. This strategically focused, differentiation by design based competitory action model (CAM) provides a systematic explanatory framework for practitioners seeking advantaged new knowledge creation for product design praxis, as well as an actionable framework for further academic research