Unit commitment with valve-point loading effect

Valve-point loading affects the input-output characteristics of generating units, bringing the fuel costs nonlinear and nonsmooth. This has been considered in the solution of load dispatch problems, but not in the planning phase of unit commitment. This paper presents a mathematical optimization model for the thermal unit commitment problem considering valve-point loading. The formulation is based on a careful linearization of the fuel cost function, which is modeled with great detail on power regions being used in the current solution, and roughly on other regions. A set of benchmark instances for this problem is used for analyzing the method, with recourse to a general-purpose mixed-integer optimization solver

Grand Unification from Gauge Theory on M4×ZNM_4 \times Z_N

The SU(5) grand unified theory (GUT) is derived from the geometrical point of view of gauge theory on three-sheeted space-time, i.e., $M_4 \times Z_3$ manifold without recourse to noncommutative geometry. A derivation of SO(10) GUT is also discussed in the same point of view.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, style changed to revtex, added reference to section 1, corrected typo

The reliability and validity of a Japanese version of symptom checklist 90 revised

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To examine the validity and reliability of a Japanese version of the Symptom Checklist 90 Revised (SCL-90-R (J)).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The English SCL-90-R was translated to Japanese and the Japanese version confirmed by back-translation. To determine the factor validity and internal consistency of the nine primary subscales, 460 people from the community completed SCL-90-R(J). Test-retest reliability was examined for 104 outpatients and 124 healthy undergraduate students. The convergent-discriminant validity was determined for 80 inpatients who replied to both SCL-90-R(J) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The correlation coefficients between the nine primary subscales and items were .26 to .78. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were from .76 (Phobic Anxiety) to .86 (Interpersonal Sensitivity). Pearson's correlation coefficients between test-retest scores were from .81 (Psychoticism) to .90 (Somatization) for the outpatients and were from .64 (Phobic Anxiety) to .78 (Paranoid Ideation) for the students. Each of the nine primary subscales correlated well with their corresponding constructs in the MMPI.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We confirmed the validity and reliability of SCL-90-R(J) for the measurement of individual distress. The nine primary subscales were consistent with the items of the original English version.</p

Supply Chain Optimization: A Survey : Models, Algorithms, Decision Support Systems, and Applications

Recently almost all advanced companies own transactional ITs such as POS (point-of-sales), ERP (enterprise resource planning), MRP (material requirement planning), etc. Since analytic processes are necessary to obtain significant information from them, decision makers of most of those companies can not utilize the outcomes directly. A modern and advanced IT system consisting of models and algorithms is called analytic IT. The objective of the analytic IT is to help the decision maker. In this paper, we survey the supply chain (SC) optimization. We introduce three decision levels of the SC and show the classification of inventories. We also discuss several basic optimization models such as logistics network design, inventory, scheduling, lot-sizing, and vehicle routing models

The Life Span Method -- A New Variant of Local Search --

this paper, we present a variant of local search, namely the Life Span Method (LSM), for generic combinatorial optimization problems. The LSM can be seen as a variation of tabu search introduced by Glover [18, 19]. We outline applications of the LSM to several combinatorial optimization problems such as the maximum stable set problem, the traveling salesman problem, the quadratic assignment problem, the graph partitioning problem, the graph coloring problem, and the job-shop scheduling problem

Experimental Analyses of the Life Span Method for the Quadratic Assignment Problem

In this paper, we report an application of the life span method (LSM), a variant of tabu search introduced by the authors, to the quadratic assignment problem which has applications on facility location and backboard wiring, etc. We discuss how to adapt the LSM to the quadratic assignment problem and compare the performance with previous heuristics. The main purpose of this paper is to perform experimental analyses composed of optimizing the various parameters and to estimate the performance not only in the best case but the average behavior. Key words: life span method, tabu search, combinatorial optimization, approximate algorithms, experimental analysis, quadratic assignment problem. 1 Introduction The Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP) is a combinatorial optimization problem having many applications including facility location, ordering of data on a disk, backboard wiring, machine scheduling, analyzing chemical, the location of departments (or offices), etc. [9]. In the context o..