Compromise allocation in multivariate stratified sampling: An integer solution

The problem of determining the sample sizes in various strata when several characteristics are under study is formulated as a nonlinear multistage decision problem. Dynamic programming is used to obtain an integer solution to the problem. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Optimizing submarine berthing with a persistence incentive

Submarine berthing plans reserve mooring locations for inbound U.S. Navy nuclear submarines prior to their port entrance. Once in port, submarines may be shifted to different berthing locations to allow them to better receive services they require or to make way for other shifted vessels. However, submarine berth shifting is expensive, labor intensive, and potentially hazardous. This article presents an optimization model for submarine berth planning and demonstrates it with Naval Submarine Base, San Diego. After a berthing plan has been approved and published, changed requests for services, delays, and early arrival of inbound submarines are routine events, requiring frequent revisions. To encourage trust in the planning process, the effect on the solution of revisions in the input is kept small by incorporating a persistence incentive in the optimization model. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 44: 301–318, 1997.     

Distribution of the workload in multiclass queueing systems with server vacations

The steady-state workload at an arbitrary time is considered for several single-server queueing systems with nonpreemptive services for multiple classes of customers (arriving according to Poisson processes) and server vacation (switchover) times. The distribution of the workload at an arbitrary point during the vacation period is obtained for systems with setup times, and for polling systems with exhaustive, gated, or globally gated service disciplines. From the stochastic decomposition property, this workload is added to the workload in the corresponding M/G/1 system without vacations to give the workload at an arbitrary time in vacation systems. Dependence of the workload distribution on the vacation parameters is studied.     

Inference for the maximum cell probability under multinomial sampling

This article investigates inference for p_max, the largest cell probability in multinomial trials for the case of a small to moderate number of trials. Emphasis focuses on point and interval estimation. Both frequentist and Bayesian approaches are developed. The results of extensive simulation investigation are included as well as the analysis of a set of crime data for the city of New Orleans taken from the National Crime Survey.     

A parametric-based heuristic program for the quadratic assignment problem

In this article we study the quadratic assignment problem by embedding the actual data in a data space which satisfies an extension of the metric triangle property. This leads to simpler computations for the determination of heuristic solutions. Bounds are given for the loss of optimality which such heuristic solutions would involve in any specific instance. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Composite unimodality

This article defines a class of univariate functions termed composite unimodal, and shows how their minimization admits an effective search procedure, albeit one not as efficient as is Fibonacci search for unimodal functions. An approximate Lagrangian approach to an important real-world logistics problem is seen to yield a surrogate problem whose objective function is composite unimodal. The mathematical form of this objective function is likely to be encountered in solving future real-world problems. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Landmarks in defense literature

Strategy in the Missile Age. By Bernard Brodie. RAND Corporation, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1959. Paperback editions 1965, 1967.