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2006

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Features Of Advanced Decision Support Systems For Environmental Studies, Management, And Regulation, Edwin Roehl, Ruby Daamen, Paul A. Conrads Jul 2006

Features Of Advanced Decision Support Systems For Environmental Studies, Management, And Regulation, Edwin Roehl, Ruby Daamen, Paul A. Conrads

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Natural resource managers and users face difficult challenges when managing the interactions between natural and man-made systems. Even though the collective interests and computer skills of the community of managers, scientists, and other stakeholders are quite varied, there is an overarching need for equal access by all to the scientific knowledge needed to make the best possible decisions. A decision support system (DSS) can meet this need. DSS have been described as, “computer-based systems (for) helping decision-makers to solve various semi structured and unstructured problems involving multiple attributes, objectives, and goals… Historically, the majority of DSSs have been either computer …

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Scenario Analysis In Water Resources Management Under Data Uncertainty, Antonio Manca, Giovanni M. Sechi, Andrea Sulis, Paola Zuddas Jul 2006

Scenario Analysis In Water Resources Management Under Data Uncertainty, Antonio Manca, Giovanni M. Sechi, Andrea Sulis, Paola Zuddas

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In water resources management problems, uncertainty is mainly associated with the value of hydrological exogenous inflows and demand patterns. Deterministic models are inadequate to represent these problems and traditional stochastic optimization models cannot be used if there is insufficient statistical information to support the model. In this paper the uncertainty is modelled by a scenario approach in a multistage environment which includes different possible system configurations in a wide time horizon. A robust chance optimization model is used in order to obtain a so-called barycentric value with respect to decision variables. The successive reoptimization step, based on this barycentric solution, …

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Identification Of Alternatives Strengths And Weaknesses During The Conceptual Design Of Environmental Systems, Xavier Flores Alsina, Manel Poch, Laureano Jiménez, Rene Bañares-Alcántara, Ignasi Rodríguez Roda Jul 2006

Identification Of Alternatives Strengths And Weaknesses During The Conceptual Design Of Environmental Systems, Xavier Flores Alsina, Manel Poch, Laureano Jiménez, Rene Bañares-Alcántara, Ignasi Rodríguez Roda

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The objective of this paper is to present a systematic procedure to support environmental engineers during the evaluation of alternative options, identifying both, the strong and weak points of their decisions. The evaluation of alternative options in the design of environmental systems is complex because several objectives must be considered simultaneously (e.g. environmental, technical, economical, legal), i.e. the problem is multicriteria. The systematic procedure presented consists of three steps: 1) multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), where the best alternative is selected among the most promising options by evaluating the degree of accomplishment of several design objectives; 2) sensitivity analysis, where multidimensional …

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Imagine – Scenario Development For Environmental Impact Assessment Studies, T. Wagener, Y. Liu, S. Stewart, H. Hartman, M. Mahmoud Jul 2006

Imagine – Scenario Development For Environmental Impact Assessment Studies, T. Wagener, Y. Liu, S. Stewart, H. Hartman, M. Mahmoud

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Scenario analysis is a process of evaluating possible future events through the consideration of alternative possible (though not equally likely) outcomes (scenarios). The analysis is designed to enable improved decision-making and assessment through a more complete consideration of possible outcomes and their implications. The development of strategies for water resources planning and management and the assessment of impacts of potential environmental change are often guided by analyzing multiple future scenarios within an Integrated Modeling (IM) framework, usually driven by forcing derived from global climate models and/or possible future socio-economic changes. The process of scenario development involves making explicit and/or implicit …

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An Efficient Algorithmic Framework For Environmental Modeling, U. Diwekar Jul 2006

An Efficient Algorithmic Framework For Environmental Modeling, U. Diwekar

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Environmental systems often involve nonlinear models, continuous as well discrete decisions, and multiple objectives. Uncertainties are inherent in these models increasing the complexity of decision making further. This paper presents an efficient algorithmic framework for environmental decision making for large scale systems involving multiple objectives in the face of uncertainties.

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Data Mining As A Tool For Environmental Scientists, J. M. Spate, Karina Gibert, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, E. Frank, Joaquim Comas, Ioannis N. Athanasiadis Jul 2006

Data Mining As A Tool For Environmental Scientists, J. M. Spate, Karina Gibert, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, E. Frank, Joaquim Comas, Ioannis N. Athanasiadis

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Over recent years a huge library of data mining algorithms has been developed to tackle a variety of problems in fields such as medical imaging and network traffic analysis. Many of these techniques are far more flexible than more classical modelling approaches and could be usefully applied to data-rich environmental problems. Certain techniques such as Artificial Neural Networks, Clustering, Case-Based Reasoning and more recently Bayesian Decision Networks have found application in environmental modelling while other methods, for example classification and association rule extraction, have not yet been taken up on any wide scale. We propose that these and other data …

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Nesting Genetic Algorithms To Solve A Robust Optimal Experimental Design Problem, Dirk J. W. De Pauw, Peter A. Vanrolleghem Jul 2006

Nesting Genetic Algorithms To Solve A Robust Optimal Experimental Design Problem, Dirk J. W. De Pauw, Peter A. Vanrolleghem

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

When calibrating a (dynamic) model, one is often faced with a lack of information-rich data. Without such data, there is little hope in obtaining accurate parameter estimates. In order to improve the situation, optimal experimental design for parameter estimation (OED-PE) can be employed. The main drawback of the classical OED-PE methodology is that values for the model parameters need to be provided in order to obtain an optimal design. If the values of the model parameters are highly uncertain, robust OED-PE should be preferred, yielding a design which guarantees a certain information content given the parameter uncertainty. This approach adds …

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Comparison Of Linear And Non-Linear Pls Methods For Soft-Sensing Of An Sbr For Nutrient Removal, K. Villez, D. S. Lee, C. Rosen, Peter A. Vanrolleghem Jul 2006

Comparison Of Linear And Non-Linear Pls Methods For Soft-Sensing Of An Sbr For Nutrient Removal, K. Villez, D. S. Lee, C. Rosen, Peter A. Vanrolleghem

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Despite of promising results in research, advanced control strategies fail to gain trust in wastewater treatment practice. Due to the sensitivity of the biological processes to disturbances, operators are often unable to find the causes of faults due to the lack of effective real-time on-line monitoring. Strategies for on-line monitoring are therefore essential to enhance biological process control. Therefore, a suitable multivariate soft-sensor is desired for fault detection and control for a pilot-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) system to allow effluent quality to be estimated well before off-line analysis is finished. For this purpose, several multivariate methods are available, including …

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The Role Of Artificial Neural Network Models In Developing A Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility For Beaufort, Sc, Usa, Paul A. Conrads, Edwin Roehl, William Martello, Edward Saxon Jul 2006

The Role Of Artificial Neural Network Models In Developing A Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility For Beaufort, Sc, Usa, Paul A. Conrads, Edwin Roehl, William Martello, Edward Saxon

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Beaufort and Jasper Counties are two rapidly growing coastal counties in South Carolina. According to the 2000 census, the region grew by 40 percent during the preceding 10 years. The population growth has increased the quantity of wastewater in the area. The Beaufort River is a complex tidal river system that is home to shellfish grounds, fisheries nursery habitats, and extensive recreation by the local community. The river also serves as receiving water for treated wastewater from military and civilian wastewater reclamation facilities (WRF). Although not uncommon for coastal areas, the river is on the South Carolina list of impaired …

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Dealing With Uncertainty And Sensitivity Issues In Process-Based Models Of Carbon And Nitrogen Cycles In Northern Forest Ecosystems, G. R. Larocque, J. S. Bhatti, A. M. Gordon, N. Luckai, Jinxun Liu, Shuguang Liu, P. A. Arp, C. -F Zhang, Alexander Komarov, Pavel Grabarnik, M. Wattenbach, C. Peng, Jianfeng Sun, Thomas White Jul 2006

Dealing With Uncertainty And Sensitivity Issues In Process-Based Models Of Carbon And Nitrogen Cycles In Northern Forest Ecosystems, G. R. Larocque, J. S. Bhatti, A. M. Gordon, N. Luckai, Jinxun Liu, Shuguang Liu, P. A. Arp, C. -F Zhang, Alexander Komarov, Pavel Grabarnik, M. Wattenbach, C. Peng, Jianfeng Sun, Thomas White

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Many process-based models on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles have been developed for northern forest ecosystems. These models are widely used to evaluate the long-term decisions in forest management dealing with effects like particulate pollution, productivity and climate change. Regarding climate change, one of the key questions that have sensitive political implications is whether northern forests will sequester atmospheric C or not. Whilst many process-based models have been tested for accuracy by evaluating or validating against observed data, few have dealt with the complexity of the incorporated procedures to estimate uncertainties associated with model predictions or the sensitivity of …

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Data Mining And Image Segmentation Approaches For Classifying Defoliation In Aerial Forest Imagery, K. Fukuda, P. A. Pearson Jul 2006

Data Mining And Image Segmentation Approaches For Classifying Defoliation In Aerial Forest Imagery, K. Fukuda, P. A. Pearson

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Experimental data mining and image segmentation approaches are developed to add insight towards aerial image interpretation for defoliation survey procedures. A decision tree classifier generated with a data mining package, WEKA [Witten and Frank, 2005], based on the contents of a small number of training data points, identified from known classes, is used to predict the extents of regions containing different levels of tree mortality (severe, moderate, light and non attack) and land cover (vegetation and ground surface). This approach is applicable to low quality imagery without traditional image pre-processing (e.g., normalization or noise reduction). To generate the decision tree, …

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Uncertainty Management, Spatial And Temporal Reasoning, And Validation Of Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Karina Gibert, Rick Sojda, Jean-Philippe Steyer, Peter Struss, Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda Jul 2006

Uncertainty Management, Spatial And Temporal Reasoning, And Validation Of Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Karina Gibert, Rick Sojda, Jean-Philippe Steyer, Peter Struss, Ignasi Rodríguez-Roda

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

There are inherent open problems arising when developing and running Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems (IEDSS). During daily operation of IEDSS several open challenge problems appear. The uncertainty of data being processed is intrinsic to the environmental system, which is being monitored by several on-line sensors and off-line data. Thus, anomalous data values at data gathering level or even uncertain reasoning process at later levels such as in diagnosis or decision support or planning can lead the environmental process to unsafe critical operation states. At diagnosis level or even at decision support level or planning level, spatial reasoning or temporal …

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A Model For Investment Decision Support Based On Multicriteria Analysis, Irina Glazyrina Jul 2006

A Model For Investment Decision Support Based On Multicriteria Analysis, Irina Glazyrina

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The conventional implementation of polluter pays principle (PPP) in many countries is based on the use of an environmentaltax, which is determined proportionally to the amount of emissions of the polluting substances. Using aspecific mathematical model this study shows that this practice is not adequate for the real negative impact if thepollutant accumulates to a stock in the environment. Moreover, in many cases there is a danger of an unavoidableconflict between the interests of society as a whole and the interests of private business, generated by these proceduresof PPP implementation. This paper also presents a mathematical formula (obtained as an …

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Moira-Plus: A Decision Support System For The Management Of Complex Fresh Water Ecosystems Contaminated By Radionuclides And Heavy Metals, Luigi Monte, Lars Håkanson, D. Hofman, John Brittain, Eduardo Gallego, Antonio Jimenez, Giacomo Angeli Jul 2006

Moira-Plus: A Decision Support System For The Management Of Complex Fresh Water Ecosystems Contaminated By Radionuclides And Heavy Metals, Luigi Monte, Lars Håkanson, D. Hofman, John Brittain, Eduardo Gallego, Antonio Jimenez, Giacomo Angeli

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The accidental release of radioactive substances into the environment leads to the necessity of applying suitable countermeasures for the restoration of the polluted environment. However, despite their obvious benefits, such interventions may result in detrimental effects of economic, ecological and social nature that must be carefully evaluated. MOIRA–PLUS is a PC-based user-friendly, Computerised Decision Support System (CDSS) that helps decision makers to choose optimal countermeasure strategies for different kinds of aquatic ecosystems and contamination scenarios. CDSS MOIRA-PLUS is based on: a) Validated models to evaluate the behaviour of radionuclides in contaminated water bodies and biota and to assess the effect …

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Integrated Assessment Of Agricultural And Environmental Policies – Towards A Computerized Framework For The Eu (Seamless-If), Martin Van Ittersum, Frank Ewert, Johanna Alkan Olsson, Erling Andersen, Irina Bezlepkina, Floor Brouwer, Marcello Donatelli, Guillermo Flichman, Thomas Heckelei, Lennart Olsson, Alfons Oude Lansink, Andrea-Emilio Rizzoli, Tamme Van Der Wal, Jacques Wery Jul 2006

Integrated Assessment Of Agricultural And Environmental Policies – Towards A Computerized Framework For The Eu (Seamless-If), Martin Van Ittersum, Frank Ewert, Johanna Alkan Olsson, Erling Andersen, Irina Bezlepkina, Floor Brouwer, Marcello Donatelli, Guillermo Flichman, Thomas Heckelei, Lennart Olsson, Alfons Oude Lansink, Andrea-Emilio Rizzoli, Tamme Van Der Wal, Jacques Wery

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Agricultural systems continuously evolve and are forced to change as a result of a range of global and local driving forces. Agricultural and environmental policies are increasingly designed to contribute to the sustainability of agricultural systems and to enhance contributions of agricultural systems to sustainable development at large. The effectiveness and efficiency of such polices in realizing desired contributions could be greatly enhanced if it were possible to perform ex-ante assessments. The European Commission has recently introduced impact assessment of its policies as an essential step in policy development. This paper presents the design and first prototype of a computerized …

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Incorporating Qualitative Indicators To Support River Managers; Application Of Fuzzy Sets, J. A. E. B. Janssen, Jean-Luc De Kok, A. Y. Hoekstra, R. M. J. Schielen Jul 2006

Incorporating Qualitative Indicators To Support River Managers; Application Of Fuzzy Sets, J. A. E. B. Janssen, Jean-Luc De Kok, A. Y. Hoekstra, R. M. J. Schielen

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In evaluation of river management strategies it is generally difficult to deal with the loosely structured and uncertain information at hand. Due to the increasing number of interests and objectives involved in river management it becomes more important to find a way to deal with such information. This paper explores to what extent fuzzy set theory can help in the modelling of relations between river management measures and their effects. The authors conclude that fuzzy logic can provide a valuable contribution because of the relative transparency of the method, the possibility to include qualitative knowledge and the incorporation of uncertainty. …

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State Of The Art In Methods And Software For The Identification, Resolution And Apportionment Of Contamination Sources, Roma Tauler, Pentti Paatero, Cliff Spiegelman, Eun Sug Park, Richard L. Poirot, Philip Hopke, Ronald C. Henry Jul 2006

State Of The Art In Methods And Software For The Identification, Resolution And Apportionment Of Contamination Sources, Roma Tauler, Pentti Paatero, Cliff Spiegelman, Eun Sug Park, Richard L. Poirot, Philip Hopke, Ronald C. Henry

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Current approaches and recent developments and software related with multivariate factor analysis and related methods in the analysis of environmental data for the identification, resolution and apportionment of contamination sources are discussed and compared

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Weap Water Evaluation And Planning System, Jack Sieber Jul 2006

Weap Water Evaluation And Planning System, Jack Sieber

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

WEAP is a microcomputer tool for integrated water resources planning. It provides a comprehensive, flexible and user-friendly framework for policy analysis. A growing number of water professionals are finding WEAP to be a useful addition to their toolbox of models, databases, spreadsheets and other software. This introduction summarizes WEAPΥs purpose, approach and structure. A detailed technical description is available in a separate publication, the WEAP User Guide.

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Steady-Periodic Green’S Functions And Thermal- Measurement Applications In Rectangular Coordinates, Kevin . D. Cole Jul 2006

Steady-Periodic Green’S Functions And Thermal- Measurement Applications In Rectangular Coordinates, Kevin . D. Cole

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Methods of thermal property measurements based on steady-periodic heating are indirect techniques, in which the thermal properties are deduced from a systematic comparison between experimental data and heat-transfer theory. In this paper heat-transfer theory is presented for a variety of two-dimensional geometries applicable to steady-periodic thermal-property techniques. The method of Green’s functions is used to systematically treat rectangles, slabs (two dimensional), and semi-infinite bodies. Several boundary conditions are treated, including convection and boundaries containing a thin, highconductivity film. The family of solutions presented here provides an opportunity for verification of numerical results by the use of distinct, but similar, geometries. …

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A New Raster-Based Spatial Modelling System: 5d Environment, S. Mazzoleni, F. Giannino, M. Mulligan, D. Heathfield, M. Colandrea, M. Nicolazzo, M. D'Aquino Jul 2006

A New Raster-Based Spatial Modelling System: 5d Environment, S. Mazzoleni, F. Giannino, M. Mulligan, D. Heathfield, M. Colandrea, M. Nicolazzo, M. D'Aquino

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The functional description of natural systems requires the representation of different classes of processes including chemical, biochemical, and physical functions, with or without their spatial representation. On the other hand, there are several cases where a realistic representation of the process dynamics needs a spatially explicit implementation of the model (eg. hydrological flows, fire propagation, pollution diffusion, etc.). In more general terms, and for different scientific fields, scaling problems and the issue of linking dynamic and spatial processes require an integrated logic and appropriate software solutions. Different tools aimed at implementing spatial modelling capability (PCRaster, SME, SimARC) have not yet …

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Modeling Short-Term Epidemics And Intervention Strategies In Cities, Valeriy Perminov, M. Kornilina Jul 2006

Modeling Short-Term Epidemics And Intervention Strategies In Cities, Valeriy Perminov, M. Kornilina

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Individual-based model (IBM) for simulation of urban influenza epidemic is constructed. In comparison with the past similar models the proposed model has new features: 1)it bases on a real demographical and social infrastructure statistical data; 2)its contacts network is built up with the help of daily routines of different age and social groups of residents. Test simulations were carried out with the use of demographical data on the population of Dresden (Germany). The results obtained showed that the proposed model can be used for the simulation of different epidemics and intervention strategies to contain epidemic or to weaken its consequences.

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Order And Disorder, Entropy In Math, Science, Nature And The Arts, Sol Neeman Ph.D., Arie Maharshak Jul 2006

Order And Disorder, Entropy In Math, Science, Nature And The Arts, Sol Neeman Ph.D., Arie Maharshak

Engineering Studies Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Often, science and engineering students have difficult time in viewing certain concepts in their holistic form. An example for such a concept is the concept of Entropy. Although it originated from the field of thermodynamics, the relation between order and disorder is a profound one and manifests itself in various fields, sometimes unrelated, such as math and science, nature and the arts. In the discipline of physics, the amount of disorder in a system has been quantified by the concept of Entropy. In the area of information theory it provides a quantitative measure of the amount of compression that may …

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An Investigation Of The Dynamic Effects Of Flap Deflection On The Aerodynamic Characteristics Of An Airplane Wing Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Alexander Moerchel Jul 2006

An Investigation Of The Dynamic Effects Of Flap Deflection On The Aerodynamic Characteristics Of An Airplane Wing Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Alexander Moerchel

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Flaps are used to increase an airplane's lift and to adjust its stability and maneuverability. This study shows an application of STAR-CD, a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, to an investigation of the dynamic effects of flap deflection on the lift, drag and moment coefficients, as well as on the location of the center of pressure. For this study, a plain flap was modeled with a moving mesh and was attached to a NACA 0012 airfoil and a wing of a general aviation aircraft for a 2D and 3D investigation, respectively. In addition, the flap deflection rates were varied …

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No Exit - The Roberts Court And The Future Of Election Law, Richard L. Hasen Jul 2006

No Exit - The Roberts Court And The Future Of Election Law, Richard L. Hasen

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Grand Valley Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 3 Summer 2006, Grand Valley State University Jul 2006

Grand Valley Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 3 Summer 2006, Grand Valley State University

Grand Valley Magazine

Grand Valley Magazine is a quarterly publication about Grand Valley State University produced by University Communications since 2001.

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Orange & White - Summer 2006, University Of Texas At Brownsville, Texas Southmost College Jul 2006

Orange & White - Summer 2006, University Of Texas At Brownsville, Texas Southmost College

UTB/TSC Archives - Orange & White Magazine

No abstract provided.

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Vehicle Routing Problem Using Genetic Algorithm / Shamini Nagaratnam, Nagaratnam Shamini Jul 2006

Vehicle Routing Problem Using Genetic Algorithm / Shamini Nagaratnam, Nagaratnam Shamini

Student Works (2000-2009)

This dissertation studies and explores the potential of using Genetic Algorithms to find the shortest path in Vehicle Routing Problem. Routes for vehicles with known location from source to destination are designed where the total distance or time traveled is minimized. Although genetic algorithms have been used to solve the Vehicle Routing Problem this research aims to create different a way of chromosome representation and introduction of overlapping rate to determine the number of chromosome sent for crossover and mutation. Fixed length chromosomes and their genes have been used for encoding this problem. The proposed method uses proportional selection with …

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South Dakota State University 2006-2008 Graduate Programs, South Dakota State University Jul 2006

South Dakota State University 2006-2008 Graduate Programs, South Dakota State University

South Dakota State University Catalogs and Bulletins: 1935 to present

No abstract provided.

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Wright State University Libraries Access Newsletter Summer 2006, Wright State University Libraries Jul 2006

Wright State University Libraries Access Newsletter Summer 2006, Wright State University Libraries

Access Newsletter

An eight page newsletter created by Wright State University Libraries that addresses the current affairs of the Libraries.

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The Theory Of Money And Financial Institutions: A Summary Of A Game Theoretic Approach, Martin Shubik Jul 2006

The Theory Of Money And Financial Institutions: A Summary Of A Game Theoretic Approach, Martin Shubik

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

A game theoretic approach to the theory of money and financial institution is given utilizing both the strategic and coalitional forms for describing the economy. The economy is first modeled as a strategic market game, then the strategic form is used to calculate several cooperative forms that differ from each other in their utilization of money and credit and their treatment of threats. It is shown that there are natural upper and lower bounds to the monetary needs of an economy, but even in the extreme structures the concept of “enough money” can be defined usefully, and for large economies …

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