Novel approaches to container loading: from heuristics to hybrid tabu search

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University ofBedford shireThis work investigates new approaches to the container loading problem which address the issue of how to load three-dimensional, rectangular items (e.g. boxes) into the container in such a way that maximum utilisation is made of the container space. This problem occurs in several industry sectors where the loading approach places cargo effectively into aeroplanes, ships, trailers or trucks in order to save considerable cost. In carrying out this work, the investigation starts by developing a new heuristic approach to the two-dimensional bin packing problem, which has lower complexity than container loading in the aspects of constraints and geometry. A novel approach, including the heuristic strategies and handling method for remaining areas, is developed that can produce good results when testing with benchmark and real world data. Based on the research for two-dimensional bin packing, a novel heuristic approach is developed to deal with the container loading problem with some practical constraints. The heuristic approach to container loading also includes heuristic strategies and the handling of remaining spaces. The heuristic strategies construct effective loading arrangements where combinations of identical or different box types are loaded in blocks. The handling method for remaining spaces further improves the loading arrangements through the representation, partitioning and merging of remaining spaces. The heuristic approach obtains better volume utilisation and the highest stability compared with other published heuristic approaches. However, it does not achieve as high a volume utilisation as metaheuristic approaches, e.g. genetic algorithms and tabu search.To improve volume utilisation, a new hybrid heuristic approach to the container loading problem is further developed based on the tabu search technique which covers the encoding, evaluation criterion and configuration of neighbourhood and candidate solutions. The heuristic strategies as well as the handling method for remaining spaces developed in the heuristic approach are used in this new hybrid tabu search approach. It is shown that the hybrid approach has better volume utilisation than the published approaches under the condition that all loaded boxes with one hundred per cent support from below. In addition, the experimental results show that both the heuristic and hybrid tabu search approaches can also be applied to the multiple container loading problem

Three-way noiseless signal splitting in a parametric amplifier with quantum correlation

We demonstrate that a phase-insensitive parametric amplifier, coupled to a quantum correlated source, can be used as a quantum information tap for noiseless three-way signal splitting. We find that the output signals are amplified noiselessly in two of the three output ports while the other can more or less keep its original input size without adding noise. This scheme is able to cascade and scales up for efficient information distribution in an optical network. Furthermore, we find this scheme satisfies the criteria for a non-ideal quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement and thus can serve as a QND measurement device. With two readouts correlated to the input, we find this scheme also satisfies the criterion for sequential QND measurement

POM@MOF hybrids : synthesis and applications

The hybrid materials that are created by supporting or incorporating polyoxometalates (POMs) into/onto metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have a unique set of properties. They combine the strong acidity, oxygen-rich surface, and redox capability of POMs, while overcoming their drawbacks, such as difficult handling, a low surface area, and a high solubility. MOFs are ideal hosts because of their high surface area, long-range ordered structure, and high tunability in terms of the pore size and channels. In some cases, MOFs add an extra dimension to the functionality of hybrids. This review summarizes the recent developments in the field of POM@MOF hybrids. The most common applied synthesis strategies are discussed, together with major applications, such as their use in catalysis (organocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and photocatalysis). The more than 100 papers on this topic have been systematically summarized in a handy table, which covers almost all of the work conducted in this field up to now

Interactive Effects of Order Assignment Strategy and Information Disclosure on Courier’s Continuance Participation Intention Arising in the On-Demand Logistics

The application of crowdsourcing in logistics is a revolutionary change of urban distribution. The on-demand logistics is one of the typical crowdsourcing logistics modes which is popular in China since 2008, the demand volume of Chinese on-demand logistics was about 18.5 billion in 2019 with annual rate of growth about 37.6%, and the average annual growth rate in recent five years was 73.7%, the market scale reached 131.3 billion yuan with annual rate of growth about 33.8%, and due to the impact of Covid-19, the demand of on-demand logistics is increasing significantly, and the requirement for convenience and personalized services is changing sharply, the accelerating iteration of on-demand logistics patterns causes a downward trend of delivery income that it’s difficult for the platform to balance the operation cost and labor motivation from the perspective of revenue. The prior research in crowdsourcing logistics focuses on the influence of continuance participation intention from the perspectives of external and internal incentive. However, incentive researches are unsuitable for current background of the downwards trend of delivery income comlpetely. And the characteristics of instability, unsafety and unfairness of couriers occupation which were reported by social news not only the reasons of high turnover rate and mismatching of supply-demand, but also point to the problem of management mechanisms such as incentive mechanism, order mechanism and information mechanism. As our knowledge, platform mechanism influence couriers’ daily tasks immediately but the related researches are absent in crowdsourcing logistics, especially considering the order receiving and completing which is the first concern of courier, order mechanism and information mechanism will influence the order receiving and completing directly. Order mechanism means platform assigns orders to courier, it’s the guarantee of matching supply and demand (couriers and orders), as well as the full coverage of the orders. There are different order assignment strategies, from the perspective of the human resources, evaluating performance and seting grades is common strategy, grades is the principles for orders assignment priority to encourage employees with good service quality to stay. In order to guarantee the timeless, some platforms will assign orders from perspective of space. This research summarized the two kinds of order assignment strategies as performance-priority strategy and distance-priority strategy. In performance-priority order assignment strategy, the courier will get an evaluation grade and differentiated orders assignment priority according to their total number of completed orders, total milage, punctuality rate, praise rate and other indicators. The distance-priority order assignment strategy sends orders to the neighboring courier according to the distance from the orders and the stores, and give priority to the closer courier. Information mechanism provides platform labor with assistance, which focuses on the information content of user interface that disclosure by platform. The quantity and accuracy of the information have significant influence on users’ intention and behavior, and the richness of information content as an important dimension of information characteristics affects the information receivers’ behavior immediately. Therefore, according to the operation information in Chinese on-demand logistics platform, this research summarized the information content and conclude two levels of information disclosure in on-demand logistics: one is overall layout information, the number of orders and courier, location layout and real-time traffic information; the other one is individual specific information, order details (distribution revenue goods category, merchant location and time requirements of each order) and transportation capacity details (the level and ranking of each courier on the platform). Each information disclosure includes three aspects: order, capacity and transportation. Detailed information disclosure includes two levels of information: overall layout and individual specific information. Brief information disclosure only includes overall layout information. To abstract differences in orders and information mechanisms specifically, and control other mechanisms (such as incentive mechanism) keep cnsistent better to highlights the effects of the research object, this research designed experiments based on justice theory for Chinese couriers, considered different orders assignment strategy (Performance-priority vs. distance-priority) and information disclosure (detailed information vs. brief information), introduced information justice and distribution justice perception as mediation to investigate the interaction between order assignment strategy and information disclosure, analyzed the moderating path of work experience and proactive personality. With a sample of 340 part-time and full-time couriers, experiment 1 results showed that the interaction between order assignment strategy and information disclosure in on-demand logistics significantly affects the continuance participation intention of couriers, especially under performance-priority order assignment strategy disclosure detailed information(vs. brief information), but under distance-priority order assignment strategy there were no difference in continuance participation intention between detailed and brief information disclosure which showed the ceiling effect of information disclosure, brief information already contains the basis information of distance-priority order assignment strategy, more detailed information would not improve continuous participation intention significantly. Information justice and distributive justice played a significant mediating role, and work experience and proactive personality moderate the above interaction relationships. However, the results of experiment 2 with a sample of 180 part-time couriers indicated that the mediating effect of distributive justice and the moderating effect of proactive personality were both insignificant, which showed the purposefulness and proactiveness characteristcs of part-time couriers, . The research reveals the mechanism of justice perception on continuous participation intention and the process of information understanding and utilization in crowdsourcing logistics platform, provided specific management suggestions for the platform to attract delivery capacity by setting order assignment strategy and information disclosure when the distribution income is gradually stabilized. Furture, more mechanism can be introduced with appropriate justice perception, and more group characteristics of crowdsourcing logistics participants can be considered

MRCIAC: A Mixed Reality Conversational Intelligent Agent Companion in Cars for Supporting Travel Experience

This thesis investigates how a Mixed Reality Conversational Intelligent Agent Companion in Cars (MRCIAC) can enhance the travel experience of individuals in unfamiliar cities by addressing four main problems: difficulty finding popular locations, lack of a travel buddy, complex in-car human-machine interaction, and neglecting passenger experience. The research approach includes three methodologies: Research Through Design (RTD), Prototype Iteration, and Descriptive Design Evaluation. The study creates and evaluates three types of prototypes, including mobile applications, Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR), to demonstrate the potential of mixed reality intelligent agents to revolutionize human-computer interaction in transportation and improve the travel experience. The outcomes of this research demonstrate the potential of MRCIAC to provide a companion for the owner and passengers on a trip. It is hoped that further research in this area will lead to exciting new developments and improvements in transportation

Joint measurement of multiple noncommuting parameters

Although quantum metrology allows us to make precision measurements beyond the standard quantum limit, it mostly works on the measurement of only one observable due to the Heisenberg uncertainty relation on the measurement precision of noncommuting observables for one system. In this paper, we study the schemes of joint measurement of multiple observables which do not commute with each other using the quantum entanglement between two systems. We focus on analyzing the performance of a SU(1,1) nonlinear interferometer on fulfilling the task of joint measurement. The results show that the information encoded in multiple noncommuting observables on an optical field can be simultaneously measured with a signal-to-noise ratio higher than the standard quantum limit, and the ultimate limit of each observable is still the Heisenberg limit. Moreover, we find a resource conservation rule for the joint measurement