We consider a general control problem for networks which includes the special cases of scheduling in multiclass queueing networks and routing problems. The fluid approximation of the network is used to derive new results about the optimal control for the stochastic network. The main emphasis lies on the average cost criterion, however the β-discounted as well as the finite cost problem are also...

background: in order to provide guidance on the efficient allocation of health resources when handling public health emergencies in the future, the study evaluated the h1n1 influenza prevention and control program in hubei province of china using cost-benefit analysis. methods: the costs measured the resources consumed and other expenses incurred in the prevention and control of h1n1. the assum...

in this paper, an integration of improve particle swarm optimization (ipso) incombination with successive quadratic programming (sqp) so called ipso-sqpalgorithm is proposed to solve time optimal bang-bang control problems. theprocedure is found not sensitive to the initial guess of the solution. due to randomselection in the first stage of the search process, the chance of converging to theglo...

abstract t he return of capital is fundamental to the intertemporal allocation of resources by changing the consumption behavior and capital accumulation over time. taxation on return of capital increases the marginal product of capital, meaning that capital stock is lower than when capital is not taxed, which results decreased growth and welfare in steady state. this paper studies the impact o...

In this paper we intend to generate some set of optimal trajectories according to the number of control points has been applied for parameterizing those using B-spline curves. The trajectories are used to generate an optimal locomotion gait in a crawling worm-like robot. Due to gait design considerations it is desired to minimize the required torques in a cycle of gait. Similar to caterpillars,...

We applied optimal control theory to an SI epidemic model to identify optimal culling strategies for diseases management in wildlife. We focused on different forms of the objective function, including linear control, quadratic control, and control with limited amount of resources. Moreover, we identified optimal solutions under different assumptions on disease-free host dynamics, namely: self-r...

The paper proposes goal-oriented error estimation and mesh refinement for optimal control problems with elliptic PDE constraints using the value of the reduced cost functional as quantity of interest. Error representation, hierarchical error estimators, and greedy-style error indicators are derived and compared to their counterparts when using the all-at-once cost functional as quantity of inte...

This paper studies optimal switching on and off of the entire service capacity of an M/M/∞ queue with holding, running and switching costs. The running costs depend only on whether the system is on or off, and the holding costs are linear. The goal is to minimize average costs per unit time. The main result is that an average-cost optimal policy either always runs the system or is an (M,N)-poli...

It is shown here that stability of the stochastic approximation algorithm is implied by the asymptotic stability of the origin for an associated ODE. This in turn implies convergence of the algorithm. Several specific classes of algorithms are considered as applications. It is found that the results provide (i) a simpler derivation of known results for reinforcement learning algorithms; (ii) a ...

Objectives To investigate, using a Dutch model, whether and under what variables framed for other European countries screening for human papillomavirus (HPV) is preferred over cytology screening for cervical cancer, and to calculate the preferred number of examinations over a woman’s lifetime. DesignCost effectiveness analysis based on a Dutch simulation model. Base case analyses investigated t...