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.     

知识建构课堂中的高阶思维发生路径研究

如何培养学生高阶思维能力是目前社会各界非常关注的问题。知识建构教学在促进"浅层学习"转向"深度学习"方面取得的研究,已经得到了国际学习科学领域的广泛认可,而对于如何促进学生高阶思维能力发展具体途径,还需要不断进行探索。研究以小学二年级科学课程为例,按照知识建构的课堂组织了教学设计过程。通过研究发现,知识建构的课堂通过培养学生发散思维能力、发现问题、解决问题的能力和综合能力,可以有效促进学生高阶思维能力的培养。     

海面空-空无线信道特征

针对海上远距通信场景,基于无人机之间的无线通信链路,对接收功率进行实际测量。在大尺度路径损耗方面,采用对数距离线性模型进行拟合,分析海上远距空-空无线信道特征,获取路径损耗指数,并采用射线跟踪方法进行仿真验证,通过仿真所得信道冲激响应在多径时延和功率方面分析产生接收功率快速变化的原因。分析结果表明,近岸的多径反射会造成接收功率的波动,并且会造成路径损耗的升高。利用三种分布函数对测量数据进行分布拟合,分析海面和近岸两种通信条件下空-空无线信道的小尺度分布特征。测量分析结果表明,小尺度特征受陆地反射影响明显,在距离陆地较远的海面呈现高斯分布特征,而在近陆地处未呈现典型分布特征。     

无人机的协同侦察航路规划

无人机将成为侦察卫星、有人驾驶侦察机的重要补充与增强手段 ,成为未来战场上广泛应用的一种侦察工具。为了提高无人机 (U AV)的侦察效率 ,在执行侦察任务前必需规划设计出高效的无人机侦察飞行航路。针对这一问题 ,提出了一种侦察效率指标评估的计算方法 ,解决了航路规划中的侦察效率量化问题。考虑在大范围任务区域内进行侦察航路优化存在计算的复杂性和收敛等问题 ,采用遗传算法对侦察航路进行了优化处理。通过该方法得到的侦察航路可以有效地提高无人机的侦察效率。     

Waiting time analysis for a queueing system with time‐limited service and exponential timer

We consider a single‐queue with exhaustive or gated time‐limited services and server vacations, in which the length of each service period at the queue is controlled by a timer, i.e., the server serves customers until the timer expires or the queue becomes empty, whichever occurs first, and then takes vacations. The customer whose service is interrupted due to the timer expiration may be attended according to nonpreemptive or preemptive service disciplines. For the M/G/1 exhaustive/gated time‐limited service queueing system with an exponential timer and four typical preemptive/nonpreemptive service disciplines, we derive the Laplace—Stieltjes transforms and the moment formulas for waiting times and sojourn times through a unified approach, and provide some new results for these time‐limited service disciplines. © John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 48: 638–651, 2001.     

Generating Pareto‐optimal boundary points in multiparty negotiations using constraint proposal method

In this paper a constraint proposal method is developed for computing Pareto‐optimal solutions in multiparty negotiations over continuous issues. Constraint proposal methods have been previously studied in a case where the decision set is unconstrained. Here we extend the method to situations with a constrained decision set. In the method the computation of the Pareto‐optimal solutions is decentralized so that the DMs do not have to know each others' value functions. During the procedure they have to indicate their optimal solutions on different sets of linear constraints. When the optimal solutions coincide, the common optimum is a candidate for a Pareto‐optimal point. The constraint proposal method can be used to generate either one Pareto‐optimal solution dominating the status quo solution or several Pareto‐optimal solutions. In latter case a distributive negotiation among the efficient points can be carried out afterwards. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 48: 210–225, 2001     

The resource constrained project scheduling problem with multiple crashable modes: An exact solution method

We introduce a formulation and an exact solution method for a nonpreemptive resource constrained project scheduling problem in which the duration/cost of an activity is determined by the mode selection and the duration reduction (crashing) within the mode. This problem is a natural combination of the time/cost tradeoff problem and the resource constrained project scheduling problem. It involves the determination, for each activity, of its resource requirements, the extent of crashing, and its start time so that the total project cost is minimized. We present a branch and bound procedure and report computational results with a set of 160 problems. Computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of our procedure. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 48: 107–127, 2001     

Optimal material control in an assembly system with component commonality

Allocation of scarce common components to finished product orders is central to the performance of assembly systems. Analysis of these systems is complex, however, when the product master schedule is subject to uncertainty. In this paper, we analyze the cost—service performance of a component inventory system with correlated finished product demands, where component allocation is based on a fair shares method. Such issuing policies are used commonly in practice. We quantify the impact of component stocking policies on finished product delays due to component shortages and on product order completion rates. These results are used to determine optimal base stock levels for components, subject to constraints on finished product service (order completion rates). Our methodology can help managers of assembly systems to (1) understand the impact of their inventory management decisions on customer service, (2) achieve cost reductions by optimizing their inventory investments, and (3) evaluate supplier performance and negotiate contracts by quantifying the effect of delivery lead times on costs and customer service. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 48:409–429, 2001     

Effectiveness of (R,Q) policies in one‐warehouse multiretailer systems with deterministic demand and backlogging

Consider a distribution system with a central warehouse and multiple retailers. Customer demand arrives at each of the retailers continuously at a constant rate. The retailers replenish their inventories from the warehouse which in turn orders from an outside supplier with unlimited stock. There are economies of scale in replenishing the inventories at both the warehouse and the retail level. Stockouts at the retailers are backlogged. The system incurs holding and backorder costs. The objective is to minimize the long‐run average total cost in the system. This paper studies the cost effectiveness of (R, Q) policies in the above system. Under an (R, Q) policy, each facility orders a fixed quantity Q from its supplier every time its inventory position reaches a reorder point R. It is shown that (R, Q) policies are at least 76% effective. Numerical examples are provided to further illustrate the cost effectiveness of (R, Q) policies. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 47: 422–439, 2000     

Optimal (τ, T) opportunistic maintenance of a k‐out‐of‐n:G system with imperfect PM and partial failure

The opportunistic maintenance of a k‐out‐of‐n:G system with imperfect preventive maintenance (PM) is studied in this paper, where partial failure is allowed. In many applications, the optimal maintenance actions for one component often depend on the states of the other components and system reliability requirements. Two new (τ, T) opportunistic maintenance models with the consideration of reliability requirements are proposed. In these two models, only minimal repairs are performed on failed components before time τ and the corrective maintenance (CM) of all failed components are combined with PM of all functioning but deteriorated components after τ; if the system survives to time T without perfect maintenance, it will be subject to PM at time T. Considering maintenance time, asymptotic system cost rate and availability are derived. The results obtained generalize and unify some previous research in this area. Application to aircraft engine maintenance is presented. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons;, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 47: 223–239, 2000