Parallel and interacting stochastic approximation annealing algorithms for global optimisation

We present the parallel and interacting stochastic approximation annealing (PISAA) algorithm, a stochastic simulation procedure for global optimisation, that extends and improves the stochastic approximation annealing (SAA) by using population Monte Carlo ideas. The efficiency of standard SAA algorithm crucially depends on its self-adjusting mechanism which presents stability issues in high dimensional or rugged optimisation problems. The proposed algorithm involves simulating a population of SAA chains that interact each other in a manner that significantly improves the stability of the self-adjusting mechanism and the search for the global optimum in the sampling space, as well as it inherits SAA desired convergence properties when a square-root cooling schedule is used. It can be implemented in parallel computing environments in order to mitigate the computational overhead. As a result, PISAA can address complex optimisation problems that it would be difficult for SAA to satisfactory address. We demonstrate the good performance of the proposed algorithm on challenging applications including Bayesian network learning and protein folding. Our numerical comparisons suggest that PISAA outperforms the simulated annealing, stochastic approximation annealing, and annealing evolutionary stochastic approximation Monte Carlo.     

t-Type corrected-loss estimation for error-in-variable model

In this article, we consider a linear model in which the covariates are measured with errors. We propose a t-type corrected-loss estimation of the covariate effect, when the measurement error follows the Laplace distribution. The proposed estimator is asymptotically normal. In practical studies, some outliers that diminish the robustness of the estimation occur. Simulation studies show that the estimators are resistant to vertical outliers and an application of 6-minute walk test is presented to show that the proposed method performs well.     

“沧浪之水”今何在?——文化生态系统视域下的文化生成、传播与实证研究

文化生态系统是特定文化生成、发展和传播的基础.文化内在的“生成性”特征决定了文化生成、发展和传播的基本规律.文化是特定“时间-历史”情境中的主体不断建构的结果,建构形成的“文化”又在新的“时间-历史”情境中得到继承、诠释和传播.纵观以“沧浪之水”为载体、以“有道则出、无道则隐”为核心的“沧浪文化”生成、发展和传播全过程, “沧浪文化”从文化的原始生长点出发,早期为扩展扩散,后期为迁移扩散;经由地理表征“升华”到经典文化中,又从经典文化“落实”到地理表征上的双向互动的生成和反身建构过程.就现实意义而言,不同地域的同类文化之间并非互相排斥而是互相联系、互相支持的关系,绝大多数地理性的“文化正宗”之争可以就此打住.     

Estimation of Deprivation Level Functions using a Numerical Rating Scale

Evaluating and quantifying human suffering in humanitarian operations offers an innovative and potentially powerful way to assess the performance of humanitarian logistics (HL) and help build optimization models. Previous studies have suggested deprivation cost as a metric and have estimated deprivation cost functions for water using willingness‐to‐pay. Our study proposes deprivation levels, defined as the degree of human suffering caused by lack of access to a good or service, and estimates deprivation level functions using a numerical rating scale. Analyzing data collected from respondents with and without disaster experience, we find that individuals in the latter category estimate deprivation differently from the beneficiaries of disaster relief. Our study demonstrates that deprivation levels can be expressed as logistic growth functions with a typical S‐shape, and that these can be integrated into HL optimization models to better account for human suffering.     

Online MapReduce scheduling problem of minimizing the makespan

MapReduce system is a popular big data processing framework, and the performance of it is closely related to the efficiency of the centralized scheduler. In practice, the centralized scheduler often has little information in advance, which means each job may be known only after being released. In this paper, hence, we consider the online MapReduce scheduling problem of minimizing the makespan, where jobs are released over time. Both preemptive and non-preemptive version of the problem are considered. In addition, we assume that reduce tasks cannot be parallelized because they are often complex and hard to be decomposed. For the non-preemptive version, we prove the lower bound is \(\frac{m+m(\Psi (m)-\Psi (k))}{k+m(\Psi (m)-\Psi (k))}\), higher than the basic online machine scheduling problem, where k is the root of the equation \(k=\big \lfloor {\frac{m-k}{1+\Psi (m)-\Psi (k)}+1 }\big \rfloor \) and m is the quantity of machines. Then we devise an \((2-\frac{1}{m})\)-competitive online algorithm called MF-LPT (Map First-Longest Processing Time) based on the LPT. For the preemptive version, we present a 1-competitive algorithm for two machines.     

A lower bound for the adaptive two-echelon capacitated vehicle routing problem

Adaptive two-echelon capacitated vehicle routing problem (A2E-CVRP) proposed in this paper is a variant of the classical 2E-CVRP. Comparing to 2E-CVRP, A2E-CVRP has multiple depots and allows the vehicles to serve customers directly from the depots. Hence, it has more efficient solution and adapt to real-world environment. This paper gives a mathematical formulation for A2E-CVRP and derives a lower bound for it. The lower bound is used for deriving an upper bound subsequently, which is also an approximate solution of A2E-CVRP. Computational results on benchmark instances show that the A2E-CVRP outperforms the classical 2E-CVRP in the costs of routes.     

供给侧结构性改革与上海发展——“供给侧改革与持续性增长”研讨会综述

推进供给侧结构性改革,目前首先要加强需求侧管理,要实施积极的财政政策和适度宽松的货币政策等扩张性政策,在稳定和扩大需求的前提下,实现中长期供给侧结构性改革.对上海等一些经济较为发达的区域而言,推进供给侧结构性改革,要把握好“三去一降一补”的顺序,应该从补短板开始,再降成本,然后去产能、去库存、去杠杆.     

法治国家对公民教育的诉求

法治国家既是公民教育得以产生的社会基础,也是公民教育的价值追求。培养独立人格,塑造国民的道德观,型构国民的世界观,培育国民的民族观,传授科学知识,普及法律常识,训练国民参与社会公共事务的技能,是法治国家对公民教育的七大诉求。作为公民教育的重要场域,学校教育应该适应公民教育的需求。     

Development of an expert system for abnormal operating procedures in a main control room

The study was conducted from the perspective of human factors engineering in order to compare the process that operators originally used to diagnose potential and actual faults with a process that included an expert system for diagnosing faults. The results of the study indicated that the existence of an expert system for fault diagnosis makes the task of fault diagnosis easier and reduces errors by quickly suggesting likely Abnormal Operating Procedures (AOPs).     

抗日战争时期中国共产党的宗教工作研究

抗日战争时期是中国共产党正确认识宗教问题和全面开展宗教工作的重要阶段.无论是在抗日民主根据地,还是在国统区、沦陷区,党都制定与抗日战争相适应的宗教政策,坚持和扩大抗日民族统一战线,积极引导宗教与抗日战争相适应,推动了抗日战争的胜利进程,积累了积极的理论成果和实践经验,为以后党的宗教工作提供了借鏊.