Sharif Digital Repository

Sectionalizing switches (SSs) are often presumed to function fully reliable. However, SSs are exposed to have some malfunctions, whereby undermining their ability to improve service reliability. This paper presents a model to integrate SS malfunction probability into SS placement problem. The model aims to minimize the total SSs costs as well as customers interruption cost. The proposed model is formulated in mixed integer programing, which can be easily solved via several available solvers and gain global optimal solution. The proposed model indicates the extent to which the placement problem is affected by uncertainty associated with SSs functionality, and how not considering SSs... 

Sectionalizing switches (SSs) are often presumed to function fully reliable. However, SSs are exposed to have some malfunctions, whereby undermining their ability to improve service reliability. This paper presents a model to integrate SS malfunction probability into SS placement problem. The model aims to minimize the total SSs costs as well as customers interruption cost. The proposed model is formulated in mixed integer programing, which can be easily solved via several available solvers and gain global optimal solution. The proposed model indicates the extent to which the placement problem is affected by uncertainty associated with SSs functionality, and how not considering SSs... 

We study the extent to which decentralized cost-sharing protocols can achieve good price of anarchy (PoA) bounds in network cost-sharing games with nagents. We focus on the model of resource-aware protocols, where the designer has prior access to the network structure and can also increase the total cost of an edge (overcharging), and we study classes of games with concave or convex cost functions. We first consider concave cost functions and our main result is a cost-sharing protocol for symmetric games on directed acyclic graphs that achieves a PoA of 2+ϵ for some arbitrary small positive ϵ, which improves to 1+ϵ for games with at least two players. We also achieve a PoA of 1 for... 

Braess' phenomenon, also known as Braess' paradox, is a phenomenon that has received considerable attention in transportation engineering and planning, as well as in other fields. It has an important implication in the area of investment in transportation networks, namely that adding a new link in a network may increase the cost to the users of that network. In this paper we show this phenomenon in a new environment. Unlike traditional examples, which involve the physical addition of a link to a network (a 0/1 integer decision variable), an example is presented where the decision variable is continuous in nature. Moreover, this example conveys two new messages. First, it is shown that some... 

Due to the boom in world trade, port authorities are looking into ways of making existing facilities more efficient. One way to improve efficiency, increase capacity, and meet future demand is to use advanced technologies and automation in order to speed up terminal operations. In this paper, we design, analyze, and evaluate four different automated container terminal (ACT) concepts. These concepts include automated container terminals based on the use of automated guidance vehicles (AGVs), a linear motor conveyance system (LMCS), an overhead grid rail system (GR), and a high-rise automated storage and retrieval structure (AS/RS). We use future demand scenarios to design the characteristics... 

Cost and time overruns have been a common characteristic of development projects in many countries. This paper presents a theory of cost and time overruns based on project cost structure. The cost of a development project consists of base cost and progress cost. Base cost keeps a project ready for physical progress. Progress cost creates real physical progress on the project. This cost structure has an important inherent dynamic characteristic with implications for the efficiency and effectiveness of project management. An imbalance between annual budget and ongoing projects results in an increasing inefficiency and ineffectiveness unrelated to the quality of management of individual... 

In this paper, the conventional 2D H-filter is modified to 3D multi-layer structures fabricated by low-cost xurography. The extraction efficiency was studied experimentally for different 3D structures and then compared with conventional 2D H-filter. Numerical simulations were performed to model the diffusion flow in the proposed H-filters, showing a good agreement with the experimental observations. Results show that 3D H-filters have higher extraction efficiency at the same Reynolds number. Moreover, these structures could benefit low-cost and commercial applications due to their higher efficiency at smaller sizes. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH... 

The application of mathematical and systematic models and approaches to health is on the rise. In this study, a mixed-integer linear programming problem with cost (staff payroll) objective function is proposed to determine homogeneous personnel shift scheduling so that the constraints of the number of personnel per shift are met. The purpose of this study is to optimize the scheduling of personnel with the same skills to minimize variable hospital costs. In a hospital, homogeneous personnel might be skilled nurses who can work in the same departments or service staff of the departments. First, a mathematical model is proposed for scheduling as a linear problem and solved using Lingo... 

Customers participating in demand response programs known as active customers provide significant flexibility in demand, thereby causing a meaningful reduction in customer interruption cost (CIC) during critical periods. This letter illustrates the impact on the amount of CIC of active customers' flexible demand realized by smart grid technologies. The focus of this letter is on residential electricity use. The study is applied to actual data from Kainuu, Finland  

The earned value management (EVM) model is an essential technique for managing and forecasting project features such as scheduling and cost performances indexes. This paper presents a novel fuzzy earned-value model based on Z-number theory incorporating both the impreciseness of real life conditions and a degree of reliability through considering an expert judgment process. The latter factor has not been used by other researchers in the field. The proposed model provides a reliable assessment for the progress performance of a project and its 'at completion' cost in an uncertain environment. Finally, an illustrative case demonstrates the applicability of the proposed model in real life... 

The total cost of earthquakes is in this paper modeled as a continuous random variable that includes the cost of damage and the cost of construction to prevent damage. Realizations of this variable are obtained by evaluating an array of probabilistic models that take many basic random variables as input. Consequently, analyses can be conducted to determine the mean cost, as well as cost exceedance probabilities and other measures of seismic risk. Such results are employed to address the underlying decision problem, namely to minimize the total cost of earthquakes when that cost is a continuous random variable. Applicable decision theories are outlined and several risk measures are... 

Today, the interest on distributed generation has been increasing, especially due to technical development on generation systems that meet environmental and energy policy concerns. One of the most important distributed energy technologies is Combined Heat and Power (CHP). CHP is small and self-contained electric generation plan that can provide power for household applications, commercial or industrial facilities and hence its applications are overtly increasing. It can reduce power loss and enhance service reliability in distribution systems. One of the influential factors for the users is the purchasing cost of CHP which is largely dependent on its type, capacity and efficiency. Therefore... 

This work aims to develop an innovative low-temperature sonochemical synthesis pathway for synthesizing the carbonate-free SrTiO3 nanocrystals with tailored morphology. Ultrasonication causes the formation of stoichiometric SrTiO3 nanocrystals and accelerates their formation. Moreover, SrTiO3 nanocrystals are synthesized at low temperature. The methodology described here is simple, fast, cost-effective, and useful for large-scale production purposes  

Environmental considerations have imposed new restrictions in the planning and management of energy systems. This research aims at describing the necessity and application of a new concept in environmental responsibility accounting. The method is based on physical quantities to overcome the weaknesses of already developed allocation approaches, and to internalize the external environmental damages using the exergy concept. The proposed method is a modification of the exergoenvironmental analysis in order to take into account the effect of non-energy streams in a macro-level energy system. In the proposed method, environmental responsibilities are to be calculated based on the exergy... 

Many countries use a single water meter for multiple units within a building. This creates a cost externality where the cost of water consumed is spread over all units. Using administrative data from Tehran Water and Wastewater Co. for 2013 and 2014, we find an increase in the number of units on a communal meter on average increases per unit use by 0.4%. Estimation at different levels of units reveals that almost all communal meters have higher per unit water use. The results suggest that removing this externality could save 2.7% water consumption in our sample. © 2018 Elsevier B.V  

In this study the effects of using different musculoskeletal models on load-displacement behavior of FE models of the human lumbar spine under external loads and moments have been analyzed in terms of equilibrium and clinical stability. A simplified and a complex architecture of muscles have been integrated to FE based models of lumbar spine and were loaded to simulate the load carrying behavior of human lumbar spine in flexion, extension and lateral bending. The displacement values as well as muscle forces have been computed and compared in both cases using optimization methods with different cost functions. The models showed similar kinematics in pure flexion but the simplified model... 

In this manuscript, a vehicle allocation problem involving a heterogeneous fleet of vehicles for delivering products from a manufacturing firm to a set of depots is considered. Each depot has a specific order quantity and transportation costs consist of fixed and variable transportation cost. The objective is to assign the proper type and number of vehicle to each depot route to minimize the total transportation costs. It is assumed that the number of chartering vehicle types is limited. It is also assumed that a discount mechanism is applied to the vehicles renting cost. The discount mechanism is applied to the fixed cost, based on the number of vehicles to be rented. A mathematical... 

There are a vast number of cloud service providers, which offer virtual machines (VMs) with different configurations. From the companies perspective, an appropriate selection of VMs is an important issue, as the proper service selection leads to improved productivity, higher efficiency, and lower cost. An effective service selection cannot be done without a systematic approach due to the modularity of requests, the conflicts between requirements, and the impact of network parameters. In this paper, we introduce an innovative framework, called PCA, to solve service selection problem in the hybrid environment of peer-assisted, public, and private clouds. PCA detects the conflicts between the... 

All costs within the life cycle of a building are known as its life cycle cost (LCC). In the design process of a building, the use of a lower initial cost index to select an option among others with similar performance may not lead to an economically optimal alternative during the life cycle. Hence, today, building designers and investors require a tool to estimate life cycle cost at the conceptual design stage to select an economically efficient option. Resilient solutions generally lead to a higher level of complexity and upfront costs and carry additional embodied environmental impact as well. This study aims to support the design of resilient buildings using a sound LCC methodology in...