bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Military Decision and Game Theory
Authors: Haywood O. G. 
Published: November 2008

The United States military doctrine of decision prescribes that a commander select the course of action which offers the greatest promise of success in view of the enemy's capabilities of opposing him. This paper analyzes two battle decisions of World War II, and develops the analogy between existing military doctrine and the “theory of games” proposed by von Neumann. Current U.S. doctrine is conservative. The techniques of game theory permit analysis of the risk involved if the commander deviates from current doctrine to base his decision on his estimate of what his enemy intends to do rather than on what his enemy is capable of doing. The idea of “mixed strategies” presents more difficulties but may be useful, particularly for command decisions for small military organizations. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
Solution of a Large-Scale Traveling-Salesman Problem
Authors: Dantzig G. , Fulkerson R. , Johnson S. 
Published: November 2008

It is shown that a certain tour of 49 cities, one in each of the 48 states and Washington, D.C., has the shortest road distance. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
Optimum Operation of a Complex Activity Under Conditions of Uncertainty
Authors: Solomon Morris J. 
Published: November 2008

The model presented is suitable for determining the optimum manner of operation of a complex activity that depends on the maintenance of each of many subactivities, each subactivity being subject to uncertainty, measurable by a probability distribution. The activity discussed is the flying of planes at a base, the subactivities being the supply of spare parts. The first problem of the base is how many of each part to order. This has been satisfactorily solved by existing literature. The second problem is when to order, if the lack of any one of many different parts can ground an aircraft. It is this problem which the present paper solves. Consistent with stated assumptions, formulas are derived that yield minimum routine supply cost sets of reorder points (one reorder point for each part). Each set gives some specified protection against a plane being grounded because the base lacks one or more parts, at minimum cost, ignoring costs which arise from grounding of planes. Taking into account the costs that arise from the grounding of planes, such as the cost of rush requisitions and the need for additional aircraft and other considerations, a procedure is developed for choosing one set among all minimum cost sets which is optimum in an over-all sense. The solution is put in a form which can be used on a decentralized basis and under changing conditions. The use of the model under dynamic conditions is discussed. A variant of the main model is described which should be extremely useful for combat situations. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
Numerical Solution of the Problem of Optimum Distribution of Effort
Authors: Miehle William 
Published: November 2008

This paper is an extension of previously published work by Bernard O. Koopman to the general case of any number of tasks and any effect function. A systematic method for the numerical calculation of the maximum effect and its corresponding optimum distribution is presented in a form which is also suitable for solution on an automatic digital computer. For the special case of additive returns which saturate, a special graphical or numerical method for any number of tasks is presented with an example worked out in detail. A similar method for multiplicative effects is sketched. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
An Algorithm for the Dynamic Relocation of Fire Companies
Authors: Kolesar Peter , Walker Warren E. 
Published: November 2008

When all the fire companies in a region are engaged in fighting fires, protection against a future fire is considerably reduced. It is standard practice in many urban fire departments to protect the exposed region by relocating outside fire companies temporarily to some of the vacant houses. In New York City, situations requiring such relocations arise ten times a day on the average. The Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) currently makes its relocations according to a system of preplanned moves. This system was designed at a time when alarm rates were low and is based on the assumption that only one fire is in progress at a time. Because of the high alarm rates currently being experienced in parts of New York City, this assumption is no longer valid, and the preplanned relocation system breaks down at the times when it is needed most. This paper describes a computer-based method for determining relocations that overcomes the deficiencies of the existing method by utilizing the computer’s ability to (1) store up-to-date information about the status of all fires in progress and the location and activity of all fire companies, (2) generate and compare many alternative relocation plans quickly. The method, which will become part of the FDNY’s real-time Management Information and Control System (MICS), is designed to be fast and to require little computer memory. After giving some background of the problem and the objectives of relocation, we give the problem a mathematical programming formulation and then describe the heuristic algorithm to be used for generating relocations in the MICS. The remainder of the paper is devoted to a discussion of an example illustrating how the algorithm works, a rigorous test of the algorithm using a computer simulation model of Fire-Department operations, and a description of the current use of the computer algorithm by dispatchers in an interactive time-shared environment. The results of the testing indicate that the proposed algorithm is a significant improvement over existing methods, particularly in crisis situations. Although designed to solve a problem for the New York City Fire Department, the algorithm should be applicable to other cities.
On Competitive Bidding
Authors: Oren M. E. , Williams A. C. 
Published: November 2008

This paper develops a model for describing some aspects of competitive bidding. The motivating purpose of the model was that of formally examining the hypothesis put forward by Capen, Clapp and Campbell: In a competitive oil and gas lease sale, or indeed in any bidding situation in which the ultimate value of the object to be won is subject to uncertainty, the highest bidder tends to be one who has overvalued the prize. As a result, any company tends to win tracts (or prizes) which it has overvalued and tends to lose those which it has undervalued. Therefore, even if the pre-sale value estimates, on the average, turn out to be correct for each of the tracts bid on, the estimates for those that are actually won will tend to prove to have been too high. The model developed not only supports the hypothesis as set forth, but also establishes its validity much more generally.
Implementation and Computational Study on an In-Core, Out-of-Core Primal Network Code
Authors: Karney D. , Klingman D. 
Published: November 2008

This paper presents extensive computational experience with a special-purpose primal simplex code using the augmented threaded index method for solving capacitated and uncapacitated transshipment and transportation problems. This code is distinguished from other codes for solving such problems in that not all of the data resides in central memory simultaneously; thus, it is referred to as an in-core, out-of-core code. The major advantages of such a code over an in-core code are (1) it can solve problems that the latter can not solve because of central memory requirements; (2) even for problems that the latter can solve, it requires less central memory, which is critical for fast job processing on multiprogrammed computer systems; and (3) the code can also be used as an in-core code. The design of such codes presents numerous computational difficulties in selecting the best starting and pivot procedures in order to minimize central as well as peripheral processing time. We present computational experience with various pivot, start and capacity buffer procedures, as well as different buffer sizes. Computational results are also provided for different types of network problems, including assignment, transportation, and minimum cost flow problems. These computational results are compared with in-core, out-of-kilter, negative cycle, and primal simplex network codes for problem sizes that these codes could solve.
Optimal Structures and Maintenance Policies for PABX Power Systems
Authors: Vered Goor , Yechiali Uri 
Published: November 2008

A power system for a private automatic branch exchange (PABX) consists of n independent and identical rectifiers hooked up in parallel. The lifetime of each component is an exponential random variable with a known mean (MTBF). The system fails when the number of operating rectifiers is less than m(m ≤ n). Rectifiers are distinguished by two main characteristics: the current they carry and their MTBF. The minimal number of units, m, is determined by technological considerations: for each type of rectifier, m is calculated so that the system can carry a given maximal current. This maximal current is specified for each PABX. The system is maintained by a technician who may visit the exchange regularly every v units of time or when it fails. Several maintenance policies are considered. For each type of exchange and for each form of maintenance policy, we determine the optimal set of parameters, {m, n, MTBF, and v}, to minimize the operating cost for a required level of reliability. These results are then used as guidelines for standardizing PABX power systems.
The Use of Storage Water in a Hydroelectric System
Authors: Little John D. C. 
Published: November 2008

The big water reservoirs of a hydroelectric system collect water during high river flows for use during low flows. The problem considered is how to use such stored water in the face of uncertain future flow. A method for handling the problem has been formulated and used to obtain numerical results for a simple case on a high-speed digital computer. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
The Poisson Distribution as a Limit for Dependent Binomial Events with Unequal Probabilities
Authors: Walsh John E. 
Published: November 2008

Many operations-research type problems are concerned with a number of events each of which has two possible outcomes (denoted by, say, “success” and “failure”). Very frequently for these problems the quantity of interest can be stated in terms of the probabilities of specified numbers of “successes” for the group of binomial events considered. The evaluation of these probabilities can be greatly simplified if it is known that they can be approximated by a Poisson distribution. For the special case where each event has the same “success” probability and the events are statistically independent, the binomial probability distribution is applicable. It is well known that the Poisson distribution approximates the binomial distribution if the number of events is large and the probability of “success” is small (see, e.g., Hoel, P. G. 1947. Introduction to Mathematical Statistics. Wiley, 50.). In Koopman [Koopman, B. O. 1950. Necessary and sufficient conditions for Poisson's distribution. Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 1 813–823.] this result was extended to the case of independent binomial events with possibly different probabilities for “success.” This paper presents a further extension in which an event is not required to be statistically independent of all the other events. These results indicate that the Poisson distribution often is applicable to operations-research problems dealing with large numbers of binomial events that have small “success” probabilities. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
On the Numerical Solution of the Transportation Problem
Authors: Houthakker H. S. 
Published: November 2008

The linear transportation problem consists in finding a pattern of shipments between m origins with given surpluses and n destinations with given deficits such that the total cost of transportation is minimized. The method of solution proposed here is iterative and will lead to the optimum in a finite number of steps. It involves finding a good first approximation by simple inspection and improving it by successive adjustments. The earlier stages of the proposed method are less laborious than the simplex method, but the latter has the advantage when the adjustments become more complicated. The proposed method may therefore be used as a starting approach to be followed by the simplex method if the optimum is not reached with simple adjustments only. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
From Plato to the Linear Program
Authors: Earl of Halsbury  
Published: November 2008

Talk presented at the Third Annual Lecture in Business and Management to the Informal Seminar on Operations Research, The Johns Hopkins University, October 20, 1954. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
Parametric Objective Function (Part 2)—Generalization
Authors: Gass S. I. , Saaty Thomas L. 
Published: November 2008

In Part 1 (Saaty, T. L., S. I. Gass. 1954. Parametric objective function (Part 1). J. Opns. Res. Soc. Am. 2 316.), the cost function in the general linear programming problem was parametrized with one parameter and the problem of generating solutions completely studied. In Part 2, a generalization to the n-parameter case is outlined, with special emphasis on the two-parameter case. An example is supplied for this case. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
A Non-Numerical Approach to Production Scheduling Problems
Authors: Akers Sheldon B. , Friedman Joyce 
Published: November 2008

In a typical production scheduling problem, n parts must be fabricated using m machines, and each part must be fabricated in a given order on the machines. It is desired to schedule the parts so that the program is optimal with respect to some given criteria. In general, (n!)m programs must be examined. To obtain the ultimate solution, it is necessary to know for each part its actual time of fabrication on each machine. However, it is shown that without consideration of numerical values, it is possible to eliminate initially a great number of the possible programs by purely non-numerical methods. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
Determination of the Maximal Steady State Flow of Traffic Through a Railroad Network
Authors: Boldyreff Alexander W. 
Published: November 2008

A simple and rapid method of estimating the maximal steady state flow of traffic through a railway network is described and illustrated by examples The method, as presently described, is entirely empirical in character and no generality is claimed. Essentially, it is an illustration of the application of the techniques of gaming to certain classes of mathematical problems. This study is an outcome of a suggestion by General F. S. Ross (U.S.A., Ret.), T. E. Harris, and others, and it has been prepared as a contribution to their much broader project. Operations Research, ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.
The Theory of Search. II. Target Detection
Authors: Koopman B. O. 
Published: November 2008

“Kinematic bases,” the first paper of this series, discussed the geometric and kinematic factors involved in search—the positions, motions, and contacts of observers and targets. Probability was introduced only in assuming specific relative positions for the observer and target. The present paper discusses the uncertainties inherent in the act of detection under various specific conditions of contact. In the course of the discussion a body of methods for applying probability to problems of detection is developed. It must be emphasized, however, that these methods are conditioned by the particular situation in the case of visual detection because the different elementary acts of looking or “glimpses” are essentially independent trials. The reason for the distinction follows.
A Two-State Partially Observable Markov Decision Process with Uniformly Distributed Observations
Authors: Grosfeld-Nir Abraham 
Published: November 2008

A controller observes a production system periodically, over time. If the system is in the GOOD state during one period, there is a constant probability that it will deteriorate and be in the BAD state during the next period (and remains there). The true state of the system is unobservable and can only be inferred from observations (quality of output). Two actions are available: CONTINUE or REPLACE (for a fixed cost). The objective is to maximize the expected discounted value of the total future income. For both the finite- and infinite-horizon problems, the optimal policy is of a CONTROL LIMIT (CLT) type: continue if the good state probability exceeds the CLT, and replace otherwise. The computation of the CLT involves a functional equation. An analytical solution for this equation is as yet unknown. For uniformly distributed observations we obtain the infinite-horizon CLT analytically. We also show that the finite horizon CLTs, as a function of the time remaining, are not necessarily monotone, which is counterintuitive.
Managing Capacity and Flow at Theme Parks
Authors: Ahmadi Reza H. 
Published: November 2008

The growth of service industries and their impact on the U.S. economy have attracted considerable attention in recent years. While some service sectors, most notably airline and telecommunication industries, have been in the forefront of model development, the industry is rather fragmented, and similar rigor is lacking in most other sectors. This paper describes an application of a model-based approach to some of the short-term ride capacity and visitor flow issues faced by the Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM), a major national theme park. Specifically, we consider daily operations at the theme park and focus on the generation and evaluation of alternative strategies for managing ride capacities and visitor flow. Management of demand involves two aspects: (a) understanding customer preferences as revealed by routing behavior, and (b) using the model to evaluate the implications of changes in transition-behavior. A crucial component of the study relates to the empirical data collected. Besides verifying the validity of the models, these data provide several insights for developing schemes to manage the day-to-day operations of the park. The SFMM management was actively involved in various phases of this study and as a result has been introducing the proposed models in a phased manner.
Single Machine Scheduling Problems with General Breakdowns, Earliness and Tardiness Costs
Authors: Federgruen A. , Mosheiov G. 
Published: November 2008

In this paper we consider single machine scheduling problems with a common due-date for all jobs, arbitrary monotone earliness and tardiness costs and arbitrary breakdown and repair processes. We show that the problem is equivalent to a deterministic one without breakdowns and repairs and with an equivalent cost function of a job's completion time. A V-shaped schedule without idle times is shown to be optimal, if this equivalent cost function is quasi-convex. Conversely, we show that a V-shaped schedule may fail to be optimal if the property does not apply. We derive general conditions for the earliness and tardiness cost structure and repair and breakdown processes under which the equivalent cost function is quasi-convex. When a V-shaped schedule is optimal, an efficient (though pseudo-polynomial) algorithm can be used to compute an optimal schedule.
A Minimal Algorithm for the 0-1 Knapsack Problem
Authors: Pisinger David 
Published: November 2008

Several types of large-sized 0-1 Knapsack Problems (KP) may be easily solved, but in such cases most of the computational effort is used for sorting and reduction. In order to avoid this problem it has been proposed to solve the so-called core of the problem: a Knapsack Problem defined on a small subset of the variables. The exact core cannot, however, be identified before KP is solved to optimality, thus, previous algorithms had to rely on approximate core sizes. In this paper we present an algorithm for KP where the enumerated core size is minimal, and the computational effort for sorting and reduction also is limited according to a hierarchy. The algorithm is based on a dynamic programming approach, where the core size is extended by need, and the sorting and reduction is performed in a similar “lazy” way. Computational experiments are presented for several commonly occurring types of data instances. Experience from these tests indicate that the presented approach outperforms any known algorithm for KP, having very stable solution times.
Improved Fashion Buying with Bayesian Updates
Authors: Eppen Gary D. , Iyer Ananth. V. 
Published: November 2008

We focus on the problem of buying fashion goods for the “big book” of a catalogue merchandiser. This company also owns outlet stores and thus has the opportunity, as the season evolves, to divert inventory originally purchased for the big book to the outlet store. The obvious questions are: (1) how much to order originally, and (2) how much to divert to the outlet store as actual demand is observed. We develop a model of demand for an individual item. The model is motivated by data from the women's designer fashion department and uses both historical data and buyer judgement. We build a stochastic dynamic programming (DP) model of the fashion buying problem that incorporates the model of demand. The DP model is used to derive the structure of the optimal inventory control policy. We then develop an updated Newsboy heuristic that is intuitively appealing and easily implemented. When this heuristic is compared to the optimal solution for a wide variety of scenarios, we observe that it performs very well. Similar numerical experiments show that the current company practice does not yield consistently good results when compared to the optimal solution.