Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) comes with many advantages. Unfortunately, it still is quite expensive to develop and maintain an operational CAT. In this paper, various steps involved in developing an operational CAT are described and literature on these topics is reviewed. Bayesian CAT is introduced as an alternative, and the use of empirical priors is proposed for estimating item and per...

This paper introduces a deterministic operational semantics for functional logic programs including notions like laziness, sharing, concurrency, non-deterministic functions, etc. Our semantic description is important not only to provide appropriate language definitions to reason about programs and check the correctness of implementations but it is also a basis to develop language-specific tools...

Middleboxes or network appliances like firewalls, proxies and WAN optimizers have become an integral part of today’s ISP and enterprise networks. Middlebox functionalities are usually deployed on expensive and proprietary hardware that require trained personnel for deployment and maintenance. Middleboxes contribute significantly to a network’s capital and operational costs. In addition, organiz...

This paper presents a Stochastic Multi-objective Optimal Operation Management (SMOOM) framework of distribution networks in presence of PEM-Fuel Cell Power Plants (FCPPs) and boilers. Operational costs, thermal recovery, power trade with grid and hydrogen management strategies are considered in this model. Furthermore, four objective functions has been considered as criteria for SMOOM, i.e. ele...

Wave energy has a promising technical potential that could contribute to the future energy mix. However, costs related to the deployment of wave energy converters (WECs) are still high compared to other technologies. In order to reduce these costs, two principle options are available, a reduction in cost and an increase in productivity. This paper presents a reliability-based computational tool...

Elaborating an appropriate cellular manufacturing system (CMS) could solve many structural and operational issues. Thereby, considering some significant factors as worker skill, machine hardness, and product quality levels could assist the companies in current competitive environment. This paper proposes a novel interactive possibilistic mixed integer nonlinear approach to minimize the total co...

different manufacturing enterprises use regularly scheduling algorithms in order to help meeting demands over time and reducing operational costs. nowadays, for a better useofresources and manufacturingin accordance withcustomer needs and given the level ofcompetitionbetweencompanies, employing asuitablescheduling programhasa double importance. conventional productionmethods are constantly subs...

this paper addresses a reliable facility location problem with considering facility capacity constraints. in reliable facility location problem some facilities may become unavailable from time to time. if a facility fails, its clients should refer to other facilities by paying the cost of retransfer to these facilities. hence, the fail of facilities leads to disruptions in facility location dec...

cellular manufacturing system is one of the most important applications of group technology. design of this system involves many structural and operational issues, in which the cell formation and production planning are two important steps. in this paper, a new mathematical model is proposed for integration of cell formation and production planning problems with the aim of minimizing the overal...

We describe a stochastic dynamic programming approach for “real option” based valuation of electricity generation capacity incorporating operational constraints and startup costs. Stochastic prices of electricity and fuel are represented by recombining multinomial trees. Generators are modeled as a strip of cross commodity call options with a delay and a cost imposed on each option exercise. We...