On matched active redundancy allocation for coherent systems with statistically dependent component lifetimes

This study addresses the allocation of matched active redundancy components to coherent systems with base components having statistically dependent lifetimes. We consider base component lifetimes and redundancy component lifetimes which are both stochastic arrangement monotone with respect to a pair of components given the lifetimes of the other components. In this context, allocating a more reliable redundancy component to the weaker base component is shown to incur a stochastically larger system lifetime. Numerical examples are presented as an illustration of the theoretical results.     

云平台上基于关键路径截取的有向无环图应用调度算法

针对云平台上有向无环图科学应用执行容易产生虚拟机资源过剩、资源使用率低及费用虚高的问题,给出一种基于关键路径截取的有向无环图应用调度算法。该算法采取关键路径截取技术,循环找出最晚完成的未分配任务,从该任务出发,在所有未分配任务构成的图中找出最大连通子图,并计算该子图的关键路径,然后将关键路径上的任务集调度到性能匹配的虚拟机上执行;同时通过任务回填技术充分利用虚拟机的空闲时间槽,提高资源使用率。实验结果表明,在云计算平台上,该算法不仅能够在截止时间内完成有向无环图科学应用,而且可以提高资源使用率,有效减少完成该应用所需整体费用。     

The burglar problem with multiple options

We consider the burglar problem in which a burglar can either retire or choose among different types of burglaries, with each type having its own success probability and reward distribution. Some general structural results are established and, in the case of exponentially distributed reward distributions, a solution technique is presented. The burglar problem's relationship to a stochastic knapsack problem with a random exponentially distributed knapsack capacity is shown. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 61: 359–364, 2014     

A branch‐and‐price approach for the stochastic generalized assignment problem

In this article, we address a stochastic generalized assignment machine scheduling problem in which the processing times of jobs are assumed to be random variables. We develop a branch‐and‐price (B&P) approach for solving this problem wherein the pricing problem is separable with respect to each machine, and has the structure of a multidimensional knapsack problem. In addition, we explore two other extensions of this method—one that utilizes a dual‐stabilization technique and another that incorporates an advanced‐start procedure to obtain an initial feasible solution. We compare the performance of these methods with that of the branch‐and‐cut (B&C) method within CPLEX. Our results show that all B&P‐based approaches perform better than the B&C method, with the best performance obtained for the B&P procedure that includes both the extensions aforementioned. We also utilize a Monte Carlo method within the B&P scheme, which affords the use of a small subset of scenarios at a time to estimate the “true” optimal objective function value. Our experimental investigation reveals that this approach readily yields solutions lying within 5% of optimality, while providing more than a 10‐fold savings in CPU times in comparison with the best of the other proposed B&P procedures. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 61: 131–143, 2014     

DEFENSIVE COUNTERTERRORISM MEASURES AND DOMESTIC POLITICS

Unlike most of the literature, this paper includes domestic political considerations in which two countries must decide defensive countermeasures against a common terrorist threat. A delegation problem arises as voters strategically choose a policymaker whose preferences differ from their own. As a consequence, countries limit the presumed oversupply of defensive countermeasures. Thus, the inclusion of domestic politics gives a new perspective on counterterrorism. The timing of elections is also shown to make a difference.     

THE MORAL PERMISSIBILITY OF AUTOMATED RESPONSES DURING CYBERWARFARE

Automated responses are an inevitable aspect of cyberwarfare, but there has not been a systematic treatment of the conditions in which they are morally permissible. We argue that there are three substantial barriers to the moral permissibility of an automated response: the attribution, chain reaction, and projection bias problems. Moreover, these three challenges together provide a set of operational tests that can be used to assess the moral permissibility of a particular automated response in a specific situation. Defensive automated responses will almost always pass all three challenges, while offensive automated responses typically face a substantial positive burden in order to overcome the chain reaction and projection bias challenges. Perhaps the most interesting cases arise in the middle ground between cyber-offense and cyber-defense, such as automated cyber-exploitation responses. In those situations, much depends on the finer details of the response, the context, and the adversary. Importantly, however, the operationalizations of the three challenges provide a clear guide for decision-makers to assess the moral permissibility of automated responses that could potentially be implemented.     

通信受限下分布式多传感器协同跟踪算法

在分布式多传感器目标跟踪系统中,由于局部融合中心(LFC)的物理限制(如:有限的频率信道、处理器容量有限等),只能接收有限个传感器的传送数据。此外,信息传输的方式也将影响传感网的使用寿命,因此,研究了通信受限下的分布式多传感器目标协同跟踪问题。首先对监视区内分布的传感器进行聚类分簇形成若干个子网,接着从通信能耗的角度出发,对传感器采集信息的传递路径进行最优路径规划;进而对子网局部状态进行估计,在子网信息融合中,分别采用最大距离和、最大化信息增量两种准则进行最佳传感器选择,最后通过各子网全局航迹融合实现分布式多传感器协同跟踪。仿真验证了算法的有效性。     

多雷达多目标航迹跟踪中FMM神经网络的应用与仿真

提出了一种基于Fuzzy Min-Max (FMM)人工神经网络的多雷达多目标航迹跟踪的方法。仿真应用的实验结果表明,这种方法能够有效地完成多雷达多目标的数据融合,并比较理想地实现了多雷达多目标的航迹相关。     

大学英语课堂教学存在的主要问题及应对策略

课堂是学员语言学习实践的重要场所,无论科技怎样发展,教学如何改革,英语课堂教学仍有不可替代的作用。通过调查研究和教学实践发现,武警初级院校的大学英语课堂活力不足,学员学习热情不高。针对这一现象进行原因分析和探究,找到了激活英语课堂气氛的应对策略,便于指导教学实践。     

二次型极小化问题带误差的迭代算法

证明了二次型极小化问题带误差的迭代算法的有效性,所得结果推广了关于二次型极小化问题迭代的收敛性。