Are non‐lethal weapons a viable military option to strengthen the hearts and minds approach in Afghanistan?

Commanders of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have repeatedly stressed the hearts and minds approach in Afghanistan, in saying that the human terrain is decisive for a successful outcome of the mission. Avoidance of civilian casualties is considered of strategic importance, and by nature highly dependent on the management of tactical level Escalation of Force (EoF) situations. Non‐lethal weapons (NLWs) are expected to enable tactical commanders to avoid innocent civilian casualties in such situations. This article considers a selected NLW on its potential to accomplish this requirement. It uses a defence technology assessment approach to analyse EoF situations experienced by Dutch ISAF forces in which the NLW is inserted. The analysis demonstrates that a range of contextual factors in the Afghanistan high‐risk environment tend to narrow down the window of opportunity for the NLW to help defuse the risk of unintended civil casualties.     

一种面向Agent的概念化建模方法*

面向Agent的建模方法为基于Agent系统的概念化描述提供了一种新的技术.针对多Agent系统分析与建模问题,扩展并规范了面向Agent概念化建模过程,定义了Agent模型及其扩展模型,并给出了形式化描述.同时,给出面向Agent的分析和设计过程,为其具体建模提供了一种高层指导.最后,与其它现有面向Agent的方法在应用方面进行了类比分析,为该方法的广泛和深入地应用研究打下基础.     

Approximation results for min‐max path cover problems in vehicle routing

This article studies a min‐max path cover problem, which is to determine a set of paths for k capacitated vehicles to service all the customers in a given weighted graph so that the largest path cost is minimized. The problem has wide applications in vehicle routing, especially when the minimization of the latest service completion time is a critical performance measure. We have analyzed four typical variants of this problem, where the vehicles have either unlimited or limited capacities, and they start from either a given depot or any depot of a given depot set. We have developed approximation algorithms for these four variants, which achieve approximation ratios of max{3 ‐ 2/k,2}, 5, max{5 ‐ 2/k,4}, and 7, respectively. We have also analyzed the approximation hardness of these variants by showing that, unless P = NP , it is impossible for them to achieve approximation ratios less than 4/3, 3/2, 3/2, and 2, respectively. We have further extended the techniques and results developed for this problem to other min‐max vehicle routing problems.© 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010     

Dynamic capacity reservation and due date quoting in a make‐to‐order system

We consider a make‐to‐order manufacturer facing random demand from two classes of customers. We develop an integrated model for reserving capacity in anticipation of future order arrivals from high priority customers and setting due dates for incoming orders. Our research exhibits two distinct features: (1) we explicitly model the manufacturer's uncertainty about the customers' due date preferences for future orders; and (2) we utilize a service level measure for reserving capacity rather than estimating short and long term implications of due date quoting with a penalty cost function. We identify an interesting effect (“t‐pooling”) that arises when the (partial) knowledge of customer due date preferences is utilized in making capacity reservation and order allocation decisions. We characterize the relationship between the customer due date preferences and the required reservation quantities and show that not considering the t‐pooling effect (as done in traditional capacity and inventory rationing literature) leads to excessive capacity reservations. Numerical analyses are conducted to investigate the behavior and performance of our capacity reservation and due date quoting approach in a dynamic setting with multiple planning horizons and roll‐overs. One interesting and seemingly counterintuitive finding of our analyses is that under certain conditions reserving capacity for high priority customers not only improves high priority fulfillment, but also increases the overall system fill rate. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

基于作战仿真的指令分析研究

分析研究的主要内容是基于作战仿真的各种指挥指令,比较了实际军用文书与仿真指令之间存在的异同,分析了作战仿真系统中指令的类型以及内容结构,列举典型真实军事命令语言,进行便于仿真系统使用的格式化,重点论述实际军事命令等文书在作战仿真系统中如何被准确、高效地识别与运用,提出了两个适用于作战仿真系统的指令格式——基本指令格式和拓展指令格式,并归纳出指令格式的回字架构,为仿真指令在仿真系统中的应用提供支撑。     

FIPA规范的防空导弹体系Agent建模方法

针对防空导弹体系建模的复杂性,探讨研究防空导弹体系的Agent建模方法.提出了基于G/A矩阵的Agent建模方法步骤,通过分析角色之间的关系描述了Agent组织结构,给出了角色类和Agent类的统一定义,并建立了Agent结构框架和类实现模型,最后构建了基于FIPA规范的MAS综合集成框架.该方法的提出,为防空导弹体系的进一步建模提供了方法依据.     

随机共振理论在雷达信号截获中的应用

雷达侦察主要通过无源侦察接收设备对空域中敌方雷达辐射源信号进行检测,若要实现对敌辐射源信号的截获,基本条件就是敌雷达信号能量能够达到雷达信号侦收设备的截获灵敏度。然而现代战场中,电磁环境复杂多变,敌雷达信号往往被干扰信号、噪声等掩盖,导致侦收设备漏警概率提高。针对以上问题,提出基于随机共振原理的雷达信号截获判断的方法,增大了截获信号的输出信噪比,解决了由于噪声过大掩盖的雷达信号的侦收问题。将该方法应用于雷达告警接收机的前端截获部分,大大降低了截获系统的漏警概率,保证了整个截获系统的稳定性。仿真实验验证了该方法的有效性。     

A multi‐stage stochastic programming approach for network capacity expansion with multiple sources of capacity

In networks, there are often more than one sources of capacity. The capacities can be permanently or temporarily owned by the decision maker. Depending on the nature of sources, we identify the permanent capacity, spot market capacity, and contract capacity. We use a scenario tree to model the uncertainty, and build a multi‐stage stochastic integer program that can incorporate multiple sources and multiple types of capacities in a general network. We propose two solution methodologies for the problem. Firstly, we design an asymptotically convergent approximation algorithm. Secondly, we design a cutting plane algorithm based on Benders decomposition to find tight bounds for the problem. The numerical experiments show superb performance of the proposed algorithms compared with commercial software. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 63: 600–614, 2017     

Value management of diagnostic equipment with cancelation,no‐show,and emergency patients

Magnetic resonance imaging and other multifunctional diagnostic facilities, which are considered as scarce resources of hospitals, typically provide services to patients with different medical needs. This article examines the admission policies during the appointment management of such facilities. We consider two categories of patients: regular patients who are scheduled in advance through an appointment system and emergency patients with randomly generated demands during the workday that must be served as soon as possible. According to the actual medical needs of patients, regular patients are segmented into multiple classes with different cancelation rates, no‐show probabilities, unit value contributions, and average service times. Management makes admission decisions on whether or not to accept a service request from a regular patient during the booking horizon to improve the overall value that could be generated during the workday. The decisions should be made by considering the cancelation and no‐show behavior of booked patients as well as the emergency patients that would have to be served because any overtime service would lead to higher costs. We studied the optimal admission decision using a continuous‐time discrete‐state dynamic programming model. Identifying an optimal policy for this discrete model is analytically intractable and numerically inefficient because the state is multidimensional and infinite. We propose to study a deterministic counterpart of the problem (i.e., the fluid control problem) and to develop a time‐based fluid policy that is shown to be asymptotically optimal for large‐scale problems. Furthermore, we propose to adopt a mixed fluid policy that is developed based on the information obtained from the fluid control problem. Numerical experiments demonstrate that this improved policy works effectively for small‐scale problems. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 63: 287–304, 2016     

武器装备体系能力矩阵评估方法

针对武器装备体系能力难以客观、定量评估的问题,引入复杂网络理论,提出了基于矩阵运算的武器装备体系能力评估方法。分析了武器装备体系能力的概念,建立了武器装备体系的复杂层次网络模型,描述了装备网络的组成、运行过程,定义了装备网络的矩阵描述方法和矩阵运算规则,提出了装备网络作战能力描述参数,给出了装备网络能力的矩阵计算方法,进行了影响因素分析,最后通过实例验证了方法可行性、有效性和灵活性。