1,721,404 research outputs found

    Hybrid Metaheuristics: Preface to the proceedings of HM2005

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    Combinatorial optimization attracted many researchers since more than three decades. Plenty of classical hard problems have been tackled successfully with metaheuristic approaches. Several thereof are currently considered state-of-the-art methods for such problems. However, for many years the main focus of research was on the application of single metaheuristics to given problems. A tendency to compare different metaheuristics against each other could be observed, and sometimes this competition led to thinking in stereotypes in the research communities. In recent years, it has become evident that the concentration on a sole metaheuristic is rather restrictive, when focusing on the improvement of heuristic techniques to tackle both academic and practical optimization problems. A skilled combination of concepts stemming from different metaheuristics can provide a more efficient behavior and a higher flexibility. Also the hybridization of metaheuristics with other techniques known from classical artificial intelligence areas can be very fruitful. Further, the incorporation of typical operations research techniques can be very beneficial. Combinations of metaheuristic components with components from other metaheuristics or optimization strategies from artificial intelligence or operations research are called hybrid metaheuristics. The design and implementation of hybrid metaheuristics rises problems going beyond questions about the composition of a single metaheuristic. The proper interaction of different algorithm components must usually be based on a careful analysis of the single components. Choice and tuning of parameters is more important for the quality of the algorithms than before. Different concepts of interaction at low-level and at high-level are studied. As a result, the design of experiments and the proper statistical evaluation are in a more exposed position than before. We believe that the combination of elements coming from different metaheuristics, and from classical methods from both artificial intelligence and operations research, bears great chances to become one of the main tracks of research in applied artificial intelligence. It seems to be a promising and rewarding alternative to the still existing mutual contempt between the fields of exact methods and approximate techniques, and also to the competition between the different schools of metaheuristics, which sometimes focused more on a proof of concept than on good general results. Still, we have to realize that research on hybrid metaheuristics is in main parts based on experimental methods, thus being probably more related to natural sciences than to computer science. It can be stated that both the design and the evaluation of experiments have still not reached the standard as they have in physics or chemistry for example. The validity of analyses of experimental work on algorithms is a key aspect in hybrid metaheuristics, and the attention of researchers to this aspect seems to be important for the future of the field

    Preface to Hybrid Metaheuristics - 6th International Workshop, HM 2009

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    The International Workshop on Hybrid Metaheuristics was established with the aim of providing researchers and scholars with a forum for discussing new ideas and research on metaheuristics and their integration with techniques typical of other fields. The papers accepted for the sixth workshop confirm that such a combination is indeed effective and that several research areas can be put together. Slowly but surely, this process has been promoting productive dialogue among researchers with different expertise and eroding barriers between research areas. The papers in this volume give a representative sample of current research in hybrid metaheuristics. It is worth emphasizing that this year, a large number of papers demonstrated how metaheuristics can be integrated with integer linear programming and other operations research techniques. Constraint programming is also featured, which is a notable representative of artificial intelligence solving methods. Most of these papers are not only a proof of concept – which can be valuable by itself – but also show that the hybrid techniques presented tackle difficult and relevant problems

    Hybrid Metaheuristics: Preface to the proceedings of HM2006

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    The International Workshop on Hybrid Metaheuristics reached its third edition with HM 2006. The active and successful participation in the past editions was a clear indication that the research community on metaheuristics and related areas felt the need for a forum to discuss specific aspects of hybridization of metaheuristics. The selection of papers for HM 2006 consolidated some of the mainstream issues that have emerged from the past editions. Firstly, there are prominent examples of effective hybrid techniques whose design and implementation were motivated by challenging real-world applications. A second important issue is that the research community on metaheuristics has become increasingly interested in and open to techniques and methods known from artificial intelligence (AI) and operations research (OR). The awareness of the need for a sound experimental methodology is a third keypoint. This aspect has gained more relevance and currency, even though there are still no widely agreed standard methodologies. As research on hybrid metaheuristics is mostly based on experimental methods, similar standards to those found in the evaluation of experiments in natural sciences can be expected. Scientific testing, a fourth notable aspect, emerges as a fundamental methodology for understanding the behavior of algorithms. The goal of scientific testing is to abstract from actual implementations and study, empirically and through predictive models, the effect of algorithmic components. This research approach can be particularly useful in the case of conjectures on metaheuristic algorithm behavior that, while being widespread in the community, have not yet been the subject of validation. Finally, a tendency to reconsider hybrid metaheuristics from a higher and more general perspective is emerging. Providing classifications, systematic analyses and surveys on important branches underlines a certain maturity of the relatively young field. For the future, we envision a scenario in which some challenges have to be faced: – It should become common practice that experimental analysis meets high quality standards. This empirical approach is absolutely necessary to produce objective and reproducible results and to anchor the successes of metaheuristics in real-world applications. – Hybrid metaheuristic techniques have to be openly compared not just among themselves but also with state-of-the-art methods, from whatever field they are. By following this approach, researchers would be able to design techniques that meet the goal of solving a real-world problem and to consider the other approaches as rich sources of design components and ideas. – Scientific testing and theoretical models of algorithms for studying their behavior are still confined to a limited area of research. We believe that, by being able to explain rigorously algorithm behavior by means of sound empirical investigation and formal models, researchers would give the field a firmer status and give support to the development of real-world applications. The achievement of these goals will take some time in view of the difficult theoretical and practical problems involved in these challenges. Nevertheless, research is very active and has already produced some remarkable results and studies in this direction

    Rev. Virgil C. Blum lectures from a podium at the front of the classroom, circa 1985

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    Marquette professor of political science Rev. Virgil C. Blum lectures from a podium at the front of the classroom, circa 1985

    C. Blum. — Strength in Numbers: Population, Reproduction,and Power in Eighteenth-Century France

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    Charles Loïc. C. Blum. — Strength in Numbers: Population, Reproduction,and Power in Eighteenth-Century France. In: Population, 58ᵉ année, n°4-5, 2003. pp. 649-651

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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