Evaluation of heuristics for scheduling in a flowshop: a case study

The problem of finding the best permutation schedule for a flowshop has engaged the attention of researchers for almost four decades. In view of its NP-completeness, the problem is not amenable to the development of efficient optimizing algorithms. A number of heuristics have been proposed, most of which have been evaluated by using randomly generated problems for a single measure of performance. However, real-life problems often have more than one objective. This paper discusses a live flowshop problem that has the twin objectives of minimizing the production run-time as well as the total flowtime of jobs. Five heuristics are evaluated in this study and some interesting findings are reported.     

On an Asymptotic Theory of Conditional and Unconditional Coverage Probabilities of Empirical Bayes Confidence Intervals

Empirical Bayes (EB) methodology is now widely used in statistics. However, construction of EB confidence intervals is still very limited. Following Cox (1975 ), Hill (1990 ) and Carlin & Gelfand (1990 , 1991 ), we consider EB confidence intervals, which are adjusted so that the actual coverage probabilities asymptotically meet the target coverage probabilities up to the second order. We consider both unconditional and conditional coverage, conditioning being done with respect to an ancillary statistic.     

Colonial Frontiers of the Georgian State: East India Company's Rule in India*

Abstract The East India Company in India during the period of “indirect rule,” has so far been seen as a trading corporation drawn unprepared into the exigencies of warfare and rule. Early colonial rule, however, entailed much more than the quotidian problems of maintaining trade and commerce in the colonies. Its ideology and objectives derived from reigning notions of eighteenth century political economy, and it shared crucial aspects of nation-state formation in Georgian England. Through an exegetical reading of contemporary political economic texts, pamphlets and tracts, this essay attempts to elicit a sense of accepted ideas and articulations pertaining to the equations between nation, commerce, law and the state - especially as they were seen on the colonial front in eastern India.