A Variable Neighbourhood Search algorithm that employs new neighbourhoods is proposed for solving a task allocation problem whose main characteristics are: (i) each task requires a certain amount of resources and each processor has a capacity constraint which limits the total resource of the tasks that are assigned to it; (ii) the cost of solution includes fixed costs when using processors, tas...

In a Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system it is assumed that seats are apportioned to the different electoral districts/states according to the corresponding voters’ distribution. In a previous paper we proposed a MILP (Mixed Integer Linear Programming) model to apportion the seats in the European Parliament (EP). Since the exact solution to the problem is not computationally effic...

We discuss the geometrical interpretation of a well-known smoothing operator applied to the Molecular Distance Geometry Problem, and we then describe a heuristic approach based on Variable Neighbourhood Search on the smoothed and original problem. This algorithm often manages to find solutions having higher accuracy than other methods. This is important as small differences in the objective fun...

In this study, we discuss the capacitated facility location-allocation problem with uncertain parameters in which the uncertainty is characterized by given finite numbers of scenarios. In this model, the objective function minimizes the total expected costs of transportation and opening facilities subject to the robustness constraint. To tackle the problem efficiently and effectively, an effici...

A new hybrid algorithm is proposed in this paper. An independent task scheduling algorithm is designed based on the hybrid algorithm. The hybrid algorithm adopt list scheduling method to code harmony solution and convert harmony vector to priority-based independent task scheduling model, and perform variable neighborhood search on harmony solutions to improve Harmony Search efficiency and solut...

In this research a variable neighborhood search (VNS) algorithm is developed that can generate musical fragments of arbitrary length. The objective function of the algorithm is based on a quantification of existing fifth species counterpoint rules. A thorough parametric analysis of the VNS reveals the significance of the algorithm’s parameters on the quality of the composed fragment, as well as...