1,721,021 research outputs found
On the exact separation of cover inequalities of maximum-depth
We investigate the problem of separating cover inequalities of maximum-depth exactly. We propose a pseudopolynomial-time dynamic-programming algorithm for its solution, thanks to which we show that this problem is weakly NP-hard (similarly to the problem of separating cover inequalities of maximum violation). We carry out extensive computational experiments on instances of the knapsack and the multi-dimensional knapsack problems with and without conflict constraints. The results show that, with a cutting-plane generation method based on the maximum-depth criterion, we can optimize over the cover-inequality closure by generating a number of cuts smaller than when adopting the standard maximum-violation criterion. We also introduce the Point-to-Hyperplane Distance Knapsack Problem (PHD-KP), a problem closely related to the separation problem for maximum-depth cover inequalities, and show how the proposed dynamic programming algorithm can be adapted for effectively solving the PHD-KP as well
Submodular maximization of concave utility functions composed with a set-union operator with applications to maximal covering location problems
We study a family of discrete optimization problems asking for the maximization of the expected value of a concave, strictly increasing, and differentiable function composed with a set-union operator. The expected value is computed with respect to a set of coefficients taking values from a discrete set of scenarios. The function models the utility function of the decision maker, while the set-union operator models a covering relationship between two ground sets, a set of items and a set of metaitems. This problem generalizes the problem introduced by Ahmed S, Atamtürk A (Mathematical programming 128(1-2):149–169, 2011), and it can be modeled as a mixed integer nonlinear program involving binary decision variables associated with the items and metaitems. Its goal is to find a subset of metaitems that maximizes the total utility corresponding to the items it covers. It has applications to, among others, maximal covering location, and influence maximization problems. In the paper, we propose a double-hypograph decomposition which allows for projecting out the variables associated with the items by separately exploiting the structural properties of the utility function and of the set-union operator. Thanks to it, the utility function is linearized via an exact outer-approximation technique, whereas the set-union operator is linearized in two ways: either (i) via a reformulation based on submodular cuts, or (ii) via a Benders decomposition. We analyze from a theoretical perspective the strength of the inequalities of the resulting reformulations, and embed them into two branch-and-cut algorithms. We also show how to extend our reformulations to the case where the utility function is not necessarily increasing. We then experimentally compare our algorithms inter se, to a standard reformulation based on submodular cuts, to a state-of-the-art global-optimization solver, and to the greedy algorithm for the maximization of a submodular function. The results reveal that, on our testbed, the method based on combining an outer approximation with Benders cuts significantly outperforms the other ones.</p
A new combinatorial branch-and-bound algorithm for the Knapsack Problem with Conflicts
We study the Knapsack Problem with Conflicts, a generalization of the Knapsack Problem in which a set of conflicts specifies pairs of items which cannot be simultaneously selected. In this work, we propose a novel combinatorial branch-and-bound algorithm for this problem based on an n-ary branching scheme. Our algorithm effectively combines different procedures for pruning the branch-and-bound nodes based on different relaxations of the Knapsack Problem with Conflicts. Its main elements of novelty are: (i) the adoption of the branching-and-pruned set branching scheme which, while extensively used in the maximum-clique literature, was never successfully employed for solving the Knapsack Problem with Conflicts; (ii) the adoption of the Multiple-Choice Knapsack Problem for the derivation of upper bounds used for pruning the branch-and-bound tree nodes; and (iii) the design of a new upper bound for the latter problem which can be computed very efficiently. Key to our algorithm is its high pruning potential and the low computational effort that it requires to process each branch-and-bound node. An extensive set of experiments carried out on the benchmark instances typically used in the literature shows that, for edge densities ranging from 0.1 to 0.9, our algorithm is faster by up to two orders of magnitude than the state-of-the-art method and by up to several orders of magnitude than a state-of-the-art mixed-integer linear programming solver.</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
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
“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
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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
We have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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