Given a set P of points in the plane, and a set D of unit disks of fixed location, the discrete unit disk cover problem is to find a minimum-cardinality subset D′ ⊆ D that covers all points of P . This problem is a geometric version of the general set cover problem, where the sets are defined by a collection of unit disks. It is still NP-hard, but while the general set cover problem is not appr...

This paper examines the determinants of truck accidents in the United States using a time series data set covering the period 1970–2001. Along with other factors, the effect of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, which deregulated the trucking industry, is examined for its impact on truck accidents. In addition, the model accounts for the effect railroad freight mileage has on truck accidents. Empir...

We consider a problem of minimizing the number of batches of a fixed capacity processing the orders of various sizes on a finite set of items. This batch consolidation problem is motivated by the production system typical in raw material industries in which multiple items can be processed in the same batch in case they share sufficiently close production parameters. If the number of items proce...

In this paper we present an approach to support privacy in people-centric sensing. In particular, we propose a technique that allows a central authority to select a subset of users whose past positions provide a good coverage of a given area of interest, without explicitly georeferencing them. To achieve this goal, we propose an efficient algorithm to solve the well known, NP -complete Set Cove...

We propose a new learning algorithm for the set covering machine and a tight data-compression risk bound that the learner can use for choosing the appropriate tradeoff between the sparsity of a classifier and the magnitude of its separating margin.

We consider a restricted version of the general Set Covering problem in which each set in the given set system intersects with any other set in at most 1 element. We show that the Set Covering problem with intersection 1 cannot be approximated within a o(log n) factor in random polynomial time unless N P ZT IM E(n O(log log n)). We also observe that the main challenge in derandomizing this redu...

A one of the central questions in the global strategy field is how multinational firms successfully navigate multiple and often conflicting institutional environments, we know relatively little about the effect of conflicting labor market institutions on multinational firms’ strategic choice and operating performance. With its decision to invest in manufacturing operations in nearly every one o...

We are going to analyze simple search tree algorithms for Weighted d-Hitting Set. Although the algorithms are simple, their analysis is technically rather involved. However, this approach allows us to even improve on elsewhere previously published running time estimates for the more restricted case of (unweighted) d-Hitting Set. 1

Emergency medical service (EMS) providers continually seek ways to improve system performance particularly the response time to incidents. The demand for ambulances fluctuate throughout the week, depending on the day of week, and even the time of day, therefore EMS operators can improve system performance by dynamic relocation/redeployment of ambulances in response to fluctuating demand patters...

In this paper we present a cutting plane algorithm for the Set Covering problem. Cutting planes are generated by a “general” (i.e. not based on the “template paradigm”) separation algorithm based on the following idea: i) identify a suitably small subproblem defined by a subset of the constraints of the formulation; ii) run an exact separation algorithm over the subproblem to produce a violated...