Direct-quadrature generalized moment based methods were analysed in terms of accuracy, computational cost and robustness for the solution of the population balance problems in the [0, ) ∞ and [0,1] domains. The minimum condition number of the coefficient matrix of their linear system of equations was obtained by global optimization. An heuristic scaling rule from the literature was also evaluat...

This paper compares heuristic criteria used for extracting a pre-specified number of fuzzy classification rules from numerical data. We examine the performance of each heuristic criterion through computational experiments on well-known test problems. Experimental results show that better results are obtained from composite criteria of confidence and support measures than their individual use. I...

Most commonly used inductive rule learning algorithms employ a hill-climbing search, whereas local pattern discovery algorithms employ exhaustive search. In this paper, we evaluate the spectrum of different search strategies to see whether separate-and-conquer rule learning algorithms are able to gain performance in terms of predictive accuracy or theory size by using more powerful search strat...

The blocking flow-shop scheduling problem, which is an NP-hard has wide applications in industry. Many studies have focused primarily on single-objective optimization, such as minimizing the makespan or total flow time, insufficient for practical problems. In this study, a problem with bicriteria of and machine utilization considered. A simple constructive heuristic, NEHCG, proposed by developi...

In this work, a new approach for creating Pattern Databases (PDBs) is suggested that induces non-consistent heuristic functions just by recognizing feasible (yet admissible) heuristic values. This approach serves to generalize even further the BPMX propagation rule, that will work now even in directed graphs. Experiments in different state spaces show a noticeable improvement over the Scalar Pa...

The vehicle routing problem (VRP), a well-known combinatorial optimization problem, holds a central place in logistics management. Many meta-heuristic approaches like Simulated Annealing (SA), Genetic Algorithms (GA), Tabu Search (TS), and Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) have been proposed to solve VRP. Ant Algorithm is a distributed meta-heuristic approach that has been applied to various combin...

In this paper we propose an approach for solving problems of optimal resource capacity allocation to a collection of stochastic dynamic competitors. In particular, we introduce the knapsack problem for perishable items, which concerns the optimal dynamic allocation of a limited knapsack to a collection of perishable or non-perishable items. We formulate the problem in the framework of Markov de...

The equity heuristic is a decision rule specifying that parents should attempt to subdivide resources more or less equally among their children. This investment rule coincides with the prescription from optimality models in economics and biology in cases in which expected future return for each offspring is equal. In this article, the authors present a counterintuitive implication of the equity...