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Abstract: Design, implementation and operation of solar thermal electricity plants are no more an academic task, rather they have become a necessity. In this paper, we work with power industries to formulate a multi-objective optimization model and attempt to solve the resulting problem using classical as well as evolutionary optimization techniques. On a set of four objectives having complex trade-offs, our proposed procedure first finds a set of trade-off solutions showing the entire range of optimal solutions. Thereafter, the evolutionary optimization procedure is combined with a multiple criterion decision making (MCDM) approach to focus on preferred regions of the trade-off frontier. Obtained solutions are compared with a classical generating method. Eventually, a decision-maker is involved in the process and a single preferred solution is obtained in a systematic manner. Starting with generating a wide spectrum of trade-off solutions to have a global understanding of feasible solutions, then concentrating on specific preferred regions for having a more detailed understanding of preferred solutions, and then zeroing on a single preferred solution with the help of a decision-maker demonstrates the use of multi-objective optimization and decision making methodologies in practice. As a by-product, useful properties among decision variables that are common to the obtained solutions are gathered as vital knowledge for the problem. The procedures used in this paper are ready to be used to other similar real-world problem solving tasks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aims of multi-objective optimization are (1) to find pareto-optimal solutions and (2) to analyze the trade-off between conflicting objectives. This paper proposes an interactive method for solving multi-objective optimization problems using the satisficing trade-off method (STOM). In particular, we introduce a trade-off matrix to quantitatively analyze the trade-off between conflicting objectives. Each element of the trade-off matrix consists of a projection matrix of active constraints and gradients of objective functions. In addition, the compromise point and the compromise solution incorporating the trade-off ratio that the decision-maker desires are defined in this paper. The technique to obtain the compromise point is proposed in this paper. Through numerical examples, the validity proposed method is examined. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Computing traffic equilibria with a general nonadditive route cost disutility function is considered in this paper. Following the user equilibrium (UE) condition, that is, no driver can unilaterally change route to achieve less travel costs, the traffic equilibrium problem (TEP) can be formulated as a nonlinear complementary problem (NCP). In this paper, we propose a semismooth Newton method with a penalized Fischer–Burmeister (PFB) NCP function to solve the NCP formulation of the TEP, and also, we investigate the properties of the proposed method. Numerical results are provided and compared with the classical TEP with additive route cost functions. The results show the algorithm can achieved substantially better performance than the existing approaches. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted to examine the parameter of the proposed nonadditive route cost function. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper introduces a modified power flow model for Hybrid Flow Controller (HFC) as an energy flow controller. The existing power flow models for Hybrid Flow Controller are suitable only for conventional power flow analysis, and are not applicable for OPF and optimal location analysis of FACTS devices. In this paper, some modifications were applied to the existing models to promote the accuracy and improve their conformability on any power system and hence leading to a precise steady-state analysis. The modified model and the existing model are investigated using different IEEE test systems and the results are compared together. The optimization method is numerically solved using Matlab and General Algebraic Modelling System (GAMS) software environments. The solution procedure uses Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) and Relaxed Mixed Integer Non-Linear Programming (RMINLP) to solve the optimal location and setting of HFC incorporated in OPF problem considering the total fuel cost, power losses, and the system loadability as objective functions for single objective optimization problem and improve the power system operation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the optimal locations of surveillance cameras on straight lanes. As known, inappropriate settings of surveillance cameras will result in some dead angles and dead space, and oversetting of surveillance cameras will waste limited resources. The considered location problem aims to minimize the maximal detection failure probability of points on straight lane subject to a limited budget. The problem is an important and complex location problem in practice. The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly, exact closed forms of optimal locations of single-type surveillance cameras are derived. Secondly, we apply a PSO algorithm for solving the types and locations of multiple-type surveillance cameras. Numerical results are reported and compared with those by well known software LINGO. Limited numerical results show the effectiveness of PSO especially when the budget is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, a new fault prediction model is presented to deal with the fault prediction problems in the presence of both quantitative and qualitative data based on the dynamic evidential reasoning (DER) approach. In engineering practice, system performance is constantly changed with time. As such, there is a need to develop a supporting mechanism that can be used to conduct dynamic fusion with time, and establish a prediction model to trace and predict system performance. In this paper, a DER approach is first developed to realize dynamic fusion. The new approach takes account of time effect by introducing belief decaying factor, which reflects the nature that evidence credibility is decreasing over time. Theoretically, it is show that the new DER aggregation schemes also satisfy the synthesis theorems. Then a fault prediction model based on the DER approach is established and several optimization models are developed for locally training the DER prediction model. The main feature of these optimization models is that only partial input and output information is required, which can be either incomplete or vague, either numerical or judgmental, or mixed. The models can be used to fine tune the DER prediction model whose initial parameters are decided by expert’s knowledge or common sense. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the detailed implementation procedures of the proposed approach and demonstrate its potential applications in fault prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The VIKOR method was developed for multi-criteria optimization of complex systems. It determines the compromise ranking list and the compromise solution obtained with the initial (given) weights. This method focuses on ranking and selecting from a set of alternatives in the presence of conflicting criteria. It introduces the multi-criteria ranking index based on the particular measure of “closeness” to the “ideal” solution. The aim of this paper is to extend the VIKOR method for decision making problems with interval number. The extended VIKOR method’s ranking is obtained through comparison of interval numbers and for doing the comparisons between intervals, we introduce α as optimism level of decision maker. Finally, a numerical example illustrates and clarifies the main results developed in this paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper addresses a nonconvex optimization problem with the cost function and inequality constraints given by d.c. functions. The original problem is reduced to a problem without inequality constraints by the exact penalization procedure. A special local search method for the penalized problem is developed, which is based, first, on the linearization procedure with respect to the basic nonconvexity and, second, on the consecutive solutions of linearized convex problems. Convergence properties of the method are investigated. In particular, it is shown that a limit point of the sequence produced by the method is considerably stronger than the usual KKT-vector. In addition, the relations between an approximate solution of linearized convex problem and the KKT-vector of the original problem are established, and the various stopping criteria are substantiated. Besides, we established the relations among the Lagrange multipliers of the original problem, those ones of the linearized problem, and the value of the penalty parameter. Finally, a preliminary computational testing of the LSM developed has been carried out on several test problems taken from literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Model updating for the quadratic eigenvalue problem aims to update the model by given eigendata. In this paper, we consider the -weighted model updating problem which can not only preserve the symmetry and definiteness of the original model but also express our confidence in the original model through assigning different confidence weights. We propose an augmented Lagrangian dual method for the -weighted model updating problem. Under some mild assumptions, our method is shown to converge at least linearly. Numerical results illustrate the effectiveness of our method. In addition, we compare our method with the semi-definite programming (SDP) method. Numerical results illustrate that when the scale of the model becomes large our method still works but the SDP method failed to converge. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, a new numerical method is presented for constructing an approximation of the Pareto front of multi-objective optimization problems. This method is based on the well-known scalarization approach by Pascoletti and Serafini. The proposed method is applied to four test problems that illustrate specific difficulties encountered in multi-objective optimization problems, such as nonconvex, disjoint and local Pareto fronts. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by comparing it with the NSGA-II algorithm and the Normal Constraint method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, the solution of nonsmooth equations is studied. We first transform the problem into an equivalent nonsmooth optimization problem and then the quasisecant method is introduced to solve it. Some nonsmooth equations that have arisen from bilevel programming problems are solved by our proposed method. The numerical results show the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Numerical dependencies (NDs) are database constraints that limit the number of distinct Y-values that can appear together with any X-value, where both X and Y are sets of attributes in a relation schema. While it is known that NDs are not finitely axiomatizable, there is no study on how to efficiently derive NDs using a set of sound (yet necessarily incomplete) rules. In this paper, after proving that solving the entailment problem for NDs using the chase procedure has exponential space complexity, we show that, given a set of inference rules similar to those used for functional dependencies, the membership problem for NDs is NP-hard. We then provide a graph-based characterization of NDs, which is exploited to design an efficient branch & bound algorithm for ND derivation. Our algorithm adopts several optimization strategies that provide considerable speed-up over a naïve approach, as confirmed by the results of extensive tests we made for efficiency and effectiveness using six different datasets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Melody Search (MS) Algorithm as an innovative improved version of Harmony Search optimization method, with a novel Alternative Improvisation Procedure (AIP) is presented in this paper. MS algorithm mimics performance processes of the group improvisation for finding the best succession of pitches within a melody. Utilizing different player memories and their interactive process, enhances the algorithm efficiency compared to the basic HS, while the possible range of variables can be varied going through the algorithm iterations. Moreover, applying the new improvisation scheme (AIP) makes algorithm more capable in optimizing shifted and rotated unimodal and multimodal problems than the basic MS. In order to demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm, it is successfully applied to various benchmark optimization problems. Numerical results reveal that the proposed algorithm is capable of finding better solutions when compared with well-known HS, IHS, GHS, SGHS, NGHS and basic MS algorithms. The strength of the new meta-heuristic algorithm is that the superiority of the algorithm over other compared methods increases when the dimensionality of the problem or the entire feasible range of the solution space increases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, the solution of fuzzy linear system (FLS) is investigated based on a -level expansion. To this end, -level of FLS is solved for calculating the core of fuzzy solution and then its spreads are obtained by solving an optimization problem with a special objective function. Using our proposed method, if the computed solution satisfies the FLS, it can be as exact or approximated solution. Finally, the existence of solution of FLS is proved in details and some numerical examples are solved to illustrate the accuracy and capability of the method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present paper is devoted to solve the problem of identifying an unknown heat source depending simultaneously on both space and time variables. This problem is transformed into an optimization problem and the uniqueness of minimum element is proved rigorously. Then a variational formulation for solving the optimization problem is given. A conjugate gradient method and a finite difference method are used to solve the variational problem. Some numerical examples are also provided to show the efficiency of the proposed method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Quadratic knapsack problem has a central role in integer and nonlinear optimization, which has been intensively studied due to its immediate applications in many fields and theoretical reasons. Although quadratic knapsack problem can be solved using traditional nonlinear optimization methods, specialized algorithms are much faster and more reliable than the nonlinear programming solvers. In this paper, we study a mixed linear and quadratic knapsack with a convex separable objective function subject to a single linear constraint and box constraints. We investigate the structural properties of the studied problem, and develop a simple method for solving the continuous version of the problem based on bi-section search, and then we present heuristics for solving the integer version of the problem. Numerical experiments are conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed solution methods by comparing our methods with some state of the art linear and quadratic convex solvers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, a hybrid genetic algorithm with flexible allowance technique (GAFAT) is proposed for solving constrained engineering design optimization problems by fusing center based differential crossover (CBDX), Levenberg–Marquardt mutation (LMM) and non-uniform mutation (NUM). Inheriting the merits of mutation of differential evolution (DE), the proposed CBDX is a multi-parent recombination operator for generating offspring based on a parent vector and two parent center vectors. As an improvement of the gradient-based mutation, the proposed LMM is more numerically stable when enhancing the feasibility of the new individuals. To enrich the population diversity, NUM is incorporated into the hybrid algorithm. In addition, a flexible allowance technique (FAT) is designed and used in the hybrid algorithm to balance the selection of bad feasible solutions and good infeasible solutions. The proposed GAFAT is first tested based on the 13 widely used benchmark functions, which shows that GAFAT is of better or competitive performances when compared with six existing algorithms. The, GAFAT is applied to solve six well-known constrained engineering design problems, which also shows that GAFAT is of superior searching quality with fewer evaluation times than other algorithms. Finally, GAFAT is successfully applied to solve a real pipe frequency improvement problem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A DoS attack can be regarded as an attempt of attackers to prevent legal users from gaining a normal network service. The TCP connection management protocol sets a position for a classic DoS attack, namely, the SYN flood attack. In this attack some sources send a large number of TCP SYN segments, without completing the third handshake step to quickly exhaust connection resources of the under attack system. This paper models the under attack server by using the queuing theory in which attack requests are recognized based on their long service time. Then it proposes a framework in which the defense issue is formulated as an optimization problem and employs the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to optimally solve this problem. PSO tries to direct the server to an optimum defense point by dynamically setting two TCP parameters, namely, maximum number of connections and maximum duration of a half-open connection. The simulation results show that the proposed defense strategy improves the performance of the under attack system in terms of rejection probability of connection requests and efficient consumption of buffer space. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The performance of an optimization tool is largely determined by the efficiency of the search algorithm used in the process. The fundamental nature of a search algorithm will essentially determine its search efficiency and thus the types of problems it can solve. Modern metaheuristic algorithms are generally more suitable for global optimization. This paper carries out extensive global optimization of unconstrained and constrained problems using the recently developed eagle strategy by Yang and Deb in combination with the efficient differential evolution. After a detailed formulation and explanation of its implementation, the proposed algorithm is first verified using twenty unconstrained optimization problems or benchmarks. For the validation against constrained problems, this algorithm is subsequently applied to thirteen classical benchmarks and three benchmark engineering problems reported in the engineering literature. The performance of the proposed algorithm is further compared with various, state-of-the-art algorithms in the area. The optimal solutions obtained in this study are better than the best solutions obtained by the existing methods. The unique search features used in the proposed algorithm are analyzed, and their implications for future research are also discussed in detail. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper proposes a new ranking method for fuzzy numbers, which uses a defuzzification of fuzzy numbers and a weighting function. Following Saeidifar and Pasha (2008), first, we define a weighted distance measure on fuzzy numbers, and then, by minimizing this distance, the weighted interval and point approximations of fuzzy numbers are obtained. These indices are applied to rank the fuzzy numbers. This method is new and interesting for ranking fuzzy numbers, and it can be applied for solving and optimizing engineering and economics problems in a fuzzy environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we present a new nonmonotone trust-region method of conic model for solving unconstrained optimization problems. Both the local and global convergence properties are analyzed under reasonable assumptions. Numerical experiments are conducted to compare this method with some existed ones which indicate that the new method is efficient. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]