Daily newspaper distribution planning with integer programming: an application in Turkey

Abstract

This paper concerns the newspaper distribution problem. It addresses the transportation of newspapers from printing plant to newsagents with distribution vehicles under various particular constraints. The objective is to minimize the distance traveled by the vehicles and/or the number of vehicles. In this study, the routes for vehicles of a leading newspaper distributor company in the Turkish press sector are examined. The problem is defined as determining optimal delivery routes for a fleet of homogeneous vehicles, starting and ending at the printing plant that is required to serve a number of geographically dispersed newsagents with known demands under capacity and time constraints, while minimizing the total distribution cost. An integar linear programming model is proposed as a solution using Cplex. Computational results demonstrate that the proposed model is fast and able to find optimal solutions for problem scenarios with up to 55 newsagents within reasonable computing times. It was found that the proposed model reduced the delivery cost by 21% on average when compared to the current manual method. The results show that this model is adequate for medium-sized distribution problems.     

Detection of captopril based on its enhanced resonance light scattering signals of fluorosurfactant-capped gold nanoparticles

In this study, based on its enhancement effect on resonance light scattering (RLS) of fluorosurfactant (FSN)-capped gold nanoparticles (GNPs), we reported a simple approach for the rapid sensing of captopril. Under optimum conditions, the lowest detectable concentration of captopril through this approach (S/N=3) was 0.01μg/mL. The calibration curve was linear over the range of 0.08-4.0μg/mL for the detection of captopril. The recoveries of captopril were found to fall in the range between 99% and 100%. We have validated the applicability of our method through the analyses of captopril in pharmaceutical formulations. Good agreements were obtained for the determination of captopril between the present approach and official method.     

Improvement of the volume-delay function by incorporating the impact of trucks on traffic flow

In current transportation modelling, travel time is the most important factor in decisions regarding transport modes, destinations and routes. The calculation of travel time is deployed by volume-delay functions (VDFs), a sub-model of route assignment procedure, using the correlation between increasing numbers of vehicles on a road and the road's restrictive capacity. By investigating existing VDFs, a clear gap is seen, demonstrating that current functions are not suited to reflect the empirically known large impact of trucks on passenger car travel times. This issue becomes crucial when transport models are used to reflect future scenarios where goods transportation is expected to increase greatly, and when transport models combine passenger and commercial traffic. This paper presents a new VDF which successfully includes trucks’ impact on traffic flow in the case of Germany and, with slight deviations, for North America. The function is developed using ideal-type data for German motorways. The differences between German and US data and their implications for VDFs are also discussed.     

Empirical speed models for cycling in the Oslo road network

Transportation - Knowing the speed at which a cyclist travels is important in route and mode choice modelling. Empirical evidence suggests that it varies significantly in accordance...     

以可靠度为中心的动车组设备预防性维修策略

广泛应用于高速铁路动车组设备维修领域的等周期预防性维修策略不可避免地使动车组设备可靠度随着维修次数和服役里程的增加而降低.为了制定更加符合设备衰退规律的维修计划以改善设备的可靠度,采用混合式故障率演化模型动态决策动车组设备的预防性维修计划,更符合随服役里程增加设备的维修间隔呈递减趋势的实际情况.在此基础上,将非完美维修...     

PHP+MySQL环境下论坛的搭建

“PHP”论坛包括登录、注册和帖子归类等相关功能,以PHP MySQL来搭建个人论坛,整个安装过程均简单易懂。本文从PHP配置、MySQL安装、GD库安装和phpMyAdmin等五个方面介绍了安装设置过程,经过测试,该论坛达到预期目标并运行正常。     

新型含1H-吡唑的新型双杂环化合物的合成

以乙酰乙酸乙酯和芳甲酰氯为原料,合成相应的β-酮酸酯,在乙醇钠／碘的作用下实现二聚偶联反应得到1,4-二酮化合物,然后与水合肼反应,得到两个新型含1肺吡唑的双杂环化合物,其结构经’HNMR、Ms及IR证实。     

6160船用柴油机连杆有限元分析

建立了6160船用柴油机连杆的三维有限元模型,并用有限元软件对模型进行分析, 应用约束方程和结点自由度耦合的方法模拟了连杆组件之间的接触关系,对最大压缩工况和最大拉伸工况下连杆危险部位的强度和刚度进行了校核,还对6160提升功率前后的小头危险部位的疲劳安全系数和大头变形进行了对比分析．     

Potential of Real-Time Cylinder Pressure Analysis by Using Field Programmable Gate Arrays

In this paper, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) was used to implement a real-time cylinder pressure analysis. The goal of the project was to improve the accuracy of calculated heat release and center of combustion calculations to enhance the precision of engine control functions. Compared to today’s real-time pressure analysis systems, several additional physical effects were taken into account for this objective. The wall heat transfer was calculated based on the approach published by Hohenberg. A chemical equilibrium with six substances was assumed for the mixture composition and a real-time calculation method was developed. Furthermore, a two-zone model was adapted and implemented for this realtime analysis. The validation of the results and the rating of the improvement in precision were based on GT-SUITE simulation results as an offline reference tool. Compared to state-of-the-art analysis systems, it was possible to reduce the average error of the center of combustion position from 1.6° to 0.5° crank angle (CA) by taking the investigated effects into account. Moreover, it was possible to significantly reduce the time required for the calculation from one complete combustion cycle to 0.2°CA at an engine speed of 3,000 rpm by using a continuous calculation method on the FPGA. This led to an additional improvement of the ability to control the engine, especially under highly dynamic operation conditions.