Scheduling Tool Research Articles

SmartRank: a smart scheduling tool for mobile cloud computing

Resource scarcity is a major obstacle for many mobile applications, since devices have limited energy power and processing potential. As an example, there are applications that seamlessly augment human cognition and typically require resources that far outstrip mobile hardware's capabilities, such as language translation, speech recognition, and face recognition. A new trend has been explored to tackle this problem, the use of cloud computing. This study presents SmartRank, a scheduling framework to perform load partitioning and offloading for mobile applications using cloud computing to increase performance in terms of response time. We first explore a benchmarking of face recognition application using mobile cloud and confirm its suitability to be used as case study with SmartRank. We have applied the approach to a face recognition process based on two strategies: cloudlet federation and resource ranking through balanced metrics (level of CPU utilization and round-trip time). Second, using a full factorial experimental design we tuned the SmartRank with the most suitable partitioning decision calibrating scheduling parameters. Nevertheless, SmartRank uses an equation that is extensible to include new parameters and make it applicable to other scenarios.

Uncertainty analysis of an irrigation scheduling model for water management in crop production

Irrigation scheduling tools are critical to allow producers to effectively manage water resources for crop production. To be useful, these tools need to be accurate, complete, and relatively reliable. The current work presents an uncertainty analysis and its results for the Mississippi Irrigation Scheduling Tool (MIST) model, showing the margin of error (uncertainty) of the resulting irrigation advice arising solely from the propagation of measurement uncertainty through the MIST calculations. The final relative uncertainty in the water balance value from MIST was shown to be around 9% of that value, which is in the normal range of the margin of error and acceptable for agronomic systems. The results of this research also indicate that accurate measurements of irrigation and rainfall are critical to minimizing errors when using MIST and similar scheduling tools. While developed with data from Mississippi, the results of this uncertainty analysis are relevant to similar tool development efforts across the southern and southeastern United States and other high-rainfall areas, especially for locations lacking high-quality co-located weather stations.

Systematic tool to plan and evaluate demand side strategies during sustained energy crises in hydrothermal power systems

Abstract HARE, a systematic tool to evaluate demand side measures to face sustained energy supply risk in hydrothermal power systems is presented in this paper. The main focus of the paper is to help centralized planners to systematically discuss, select, and plan the measures that better respond to the variety of critical situations that can arise due to expected energy shortage, integrate them into the usual medium-term scheduling tool and consequently keep the associated overall costs as low as possible. A medium-term definition of the system state is proposed as a decision-making aid, as well as a set of general energy saving measures that can be applied with their corresponding attributes (time delays, costs of implementation, and energy saving impact). The tool is demonstrated and applied to a simplified version of Chilean’s medium-term hydrothermal scheduling model and to a specific risk scenario experienced during 2011. The results show that it is possible to define various sets of demand side measures that avoid the impacts on the system and subsequently to select among them those with least expected implementation costs. This tool seems mainly useful for hydro-electric systems, which are more vulnerable to sustained energy supply risk. Every power system will have to go through a detailed review and planning process to implement this type of tool.

SmartIrrigation Avocado App: A Step-by-Step Guide

UF’s SmartIrrigation Avocado for iOS and Android platforms provides a simple ET-based method to schedule irrigation and is expected to provide 20% to 50% water savings based on findings with other schedule tools. This 6-page fact sheet provides configuration instructions and main menu features. Written by D. Mbabazi, K. W. Migliaccio, J. H. Crane, J. H. Debastiani Andreis, C. Fraisse, L. Zotarelli, and K. T. Morgan, and published by the UF Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, May 2015. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae513

Schedulability and Scheduling Analysis of Dual-Arm Cluster Tools with Wafer Revisiting and Residency Time Constraints Based on a Novel Schedule

Some wafer fabrication processes require a wafer to visit some processing modules in a cluster tool multiple times, leading to a wafer revisiting process. They may pose wafer residency time constraints, i.e., a wafer can stay in a module for a limited time after it is processed. Although techniques exist for scheduling cluster tools with either wafer residency time constraints or wafer revisiting, it is much more challenging to schedule tools with both of them. Considering that atomic layer deposition is a typical wafer revisiting process, this paper intends to schedule a dual-arm cluster tool dealing with it. Based on the analysis of such a tool's properties, a novel scheduling strategy called modified 1-wafer cyclic scheduling is derived. With this strategy, necessary and sufficient schedulability conditions are presented. If schedulable, highly efficient scheduling algorithms are developed to obtain a feasible and optimal schedule together with a way to implement the obtained one. Illustrative examples are given to show the application of the proposed approach.

UNFOLD PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND FUNCTIONAL UNFOLD PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS FOR ONLINE PLANT STRESS DETECTION

To be able to develop accurate plant-based irrigation scheduling tools, automatic and early detection of plant drought stress is of great importance. In this context, measurements of stem diameter variations are very promising as a source of information. These measurements are sensitive for drought stress, but also depend on changing microclimatic conditions. Specific data mining techniques, such as Unfold Principal Component Analysis (UPCA), have been developed to facilitate monitoring and diagnosing of such large-dimensional data sets. A UPCA model is used in this study to determine whether the measured stem diameter variations deviate from normal conditions due to drought stress. A newer technique, Functional Unfold Principal Component Analysis (FUPCA), combines functional data analysis with UPCA. The function parameters instead of the original data are then analysed by UPCA. The resulting FUPCA model is less complex and more robust compared to the original UPCA model. Moreover, FUPCA can handle days with missing data straightforwardly. The performances of UPCA and FUPCA models for online plant stress detection were investigated and compared to each other. Two pilot-scale setups were conducted: one with an herbaceous and one with a woody species. For both species, UPCA and FUPCA were shown to be applicable for stress detection. Both allowed successful detection days before visible symptoms appeared, while FUPCA exhibited a lesser parametric complexity.

Subsurface drip irrigation in California—Here to stay?

Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) has been used in California for over 30 years. Adoption occurred first in high value annual row crops. Over the years as drip irrigation materials, installation equipment, and irrigation scheduling tools have evolved, SDI has gained wider acceptance and is now being used in perennial crops as well on a limited basis. We discuss the early research on SDI in California and provide examples of the current commercial practices in both annual and perennial crops. These examples demonstrate how research preceded on-farm adoption and contributed to the implementation of SDI in California's production agriculture. SDI is being implemented throughout the world and these examples of implementation in production agriculture will be of interest in countries adopting the technology. Significant benefits are identified in terms of increased yield, improved crop quality, reduction in applied water and reduced agronomic costs for weed control, fertilization, and tillage. Improved water management is crucial for a sustainable future and SDI will be one tool that is available to improve water productivity.

A smartphone app to extend use of a cloud-based irrigation scheduling tool

Irrigation in Colorado, a headwaters state, is crucial for viable agricultural production; consequently, with the foreseen population growth, there will become a greater demand placed on precious water resources. Technology must be adopted and embraced as part of the solution to water shortage. Researchers at Colorado State University have created an online evapotranspiration-based irrigation scheduling tool called Water Irrigation Scheduling for Efficient Application (WISE) that uses the soil water balance method and data queries from Colorado Agricultural Meteorological Network (CoAgMet) and Northern Colorado Water Conservation District (NCWCD) weather stations. To expedite and mobilize required user interaction with the software interface, a smartphone app has been developed that allows users to quickly view their soil moisture deficit, weather measurements, and the ability to input applied irrigation amounts into WISE. Potential users: agricultural producers, irrigation managers, and research scientists, will benefit from this app as it allows lite access to the tool from any location within a cellular data network. Technology such as the scheduling tool and smartphone app, when adopted within Colorado and the western United States, allow irrigators another tool to better utilize water resources.

Safety, Space and Structure Quality Requirements in Construction Scheduling

Abstract Quality assessment of a construction project schedule can be a challenging task for project stakeholders. A little research work has addressed quality of schedules though a good project schedule can be considered as of the key factors of project success. The development of a reliable and easy to perform construction schedule quality assessment procedure seems to be a challenging task. Since Schedule Health Assessment of a construction project has to be strictly related to process requirements, it is used the3 “S” rule as a starting point and framework for obtaining improved understanding of quality of construction schedules. The 3 “S” are Safety, Space and Structure, meaning that the planned process should provide a safe working environment to construction workers, sufficient space to perform construction activities and the required sequence of construction operations and project phases.The aim of the study is to implement a schedule quality assessment method that takes into account the 3“S” rule of construction process.The 3“S” requirements can be successfully integrated in a Schedule Health Assessment method, but to facilitate their implementation and control a flow-line chart is needed,thus the schedule tool becomes a new requirement for construction schedule quality control.

Perception of the clients’ regarding specific radio diagnostic procedures

Radiological technology is the production of images of internal organs and structures by passing a small, highly controlled amount of radiation through the human body, and capturing the resulting image on a image recording device. The field of radiological technology also includes therapeutic procedures, often referred to as interventional radiology. Interventional radiology is used in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of injury and disease. Certain patients who undergo MRI/CT examinations may undergo great emotional distress. Distress can range from mild anxiety up to a serious panic attack that may require psychiatric intervention. This study was conducted at NIMHANS to assess the client’s perception level regarding the various radio diagnostic procedures. Descriptive research design was used for the study. Study Sample was 30. The Data was collected for duration of two months. Convenience sampling technique was adopted for the study. Socio demographic data schedule and perception assessment tool regarding CT/MRI was used to collect the information the results showed that the perception mean score was 7.93 with standard deviation of 2.62. There was no statistically significant association between the selected socio demographic variables such as age, gender, residence, education and occupation and perception scores of the clients.

Exploration of correct LPS practices in scheduling of large, complex, and constrained construction projects

Last planner system (LPS) is introduced in construction to make the sites lean. LPS has been facing implementation challenges which result in a misused or limited LPS. To compare application with theory, daily application of LPS was monitored at three construction cases. In all cases it was registered that only parts of LPS were applied. When application was compared with theory it was found that some elements were misused. The four main schedules were all applied, but the interactions between the plans did not function. Moreover, the rules of the making-ready process were not observed, and were offered little concern. The result was a low-efficient scheduling tool. To overcome the implementation challenges of LPS the knowledge level first needs to be increased. Furthermore, there is a need for support in the entire organisation. More energy or stubbornness should be put into the implementation to anchor the changes deep into the organisation.

GnRH antagonist pre-treatment: one centre's experience for IVF–ICSI cycle scheduling

Scheduling gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist (GnRH-ant) cycles for IVF intracytoplasmic sperm injection in patients is a challenge because of unpredictable ovum retrieval procedures on weekends, when less manpower is available. Recently, the use of GnRH-ant pre-treatment to delay an IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle showed no negative effect on clinical pregnancy rates. An age-matched, case-control study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of such pre-treatment for scheduling purposes. Patients (n = 140) undergoing their first ovarian stimulation for IVF–ICSI were included. Patients starting their stimulation on Tuesdays or Wednesdays were most likely to have their ovum retrieval procedure on Saturdays. Seventy patients received a 3-day course of GnRH-ant before starting stimulation, and were compared with 70 age-matched controls not receiving pre-treatment. The main outcomes were the proportion of ovum retrieval procedures occurring on Saturdays, clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rates. A five-fold reduction in the number of ovum retrievals occurred on Saturdays compared with controls (7.1% versus 34.3%; OR 0.15; 95% CI 0.05 to 0.42; P < 0.001), with no significant differences in clinical pregnancy rate (40.9% versus 37.5%) and live birth rate (27.3% versus 31.3%). GnRH-ant pre-treatment is an effective tool for scheduling of GnRH-ant cycles.

Project Scheduling by Integration of Time Cost Trade-off and Constrained Resource Scheduling

Project managers today rely on scheduling tools based on project network techniques like Critical Path Method (CPM) to determine the overall project duration and the activities float time. Such data provide important information about the degree of flexibility with respect to the project schedule that leads to greater efficiency in planning and control of projects. The traditional representation of CPM, however, is based on two unrealistic assumptions: that the project deadline is not restricted and that resources are unlimited. In most of the construction projects the deadline and resource limits are practical constraints that need to be satisfied simultaneously. While the available literatures describe several techniques to resolve the Time Cost Trade off (TCT) and Constrained Resource Scheduling (CRS) individually, little effort has been devoted to consider them simultaneously because of the higher modeling complexity involved. No commercial software includes any TCT heuristic to help meet deadline, let alone any procedure to resolve both deadline and resource constraints. In practice on the other hand there is a need to formulate a method that simultaneously resolves to meet out the specified duration and resource constraints. This paper therefore introduces a two-step procedure where first the TCT is applied using Microsoft excel software to meet the project deadline assuming unlimited resources. The various feasible schedules obtained in the first step are then explored by applying CRS using Microsoft Project Software (MSP) to arrive at the desired project schedule meeting the deadline with available resources. The proposed approach was experimented on several case studies that proved its usefulness. The intertwined approach using simple and popular Microsoft office tools (Excel and MSP) is logical, fast and provides a set of feasible project schedule meeting the deadline and that do not violate resource limits.

Table of Contents

Abstract Admissions Adopt best practices for your graduate admissions program Try these strategies to engage constituents Tools of the Trade Use scheduling tools to save staff time, make better use of space Consider multiple needs when creating campus schedules Infosilem offers flexible options to fit campus culture Idea File Review international recruitment guide to using commissioned agents Review ED guidance on 150 percent loan limit Review admissions director survey that shows problems filling classes Consider waiving application fees for transfer students Managing Your Office Get a good start on your enrollment management career Try these tools to simplify your workday FERPA Follow best practices for transparency about student privacy practices What Would You Do? Pressure is on to get noncredit students to enroll for credits Lawsuits &amp; Rulings SUSPENSION Failure to prove causation sinks student's case DISCRIMINATION Lack of similarly situated employees dooms fired admission rep's case FERPA Questions about parking citations prevent suit's dismissal Leaders &amp; Innovators Engage campus in strategic planning with a focus on students Help students adjust to institution culture

Table of Contents

Abstract FERPA Train campus on when consent is not required to disclose education records Tools of the Trade Use scheduling tools to save staff time, make better use of space Consider multiple needs when creating campus schedules Infosilem offers flexible options to fit campus culture News ED releases ongoing guidance on 150 percent loan limit Professors' observations lead to financial aid fraud investigation Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sues Corinthian Colleges Inc. Survey of admissions directors shows problems filling classes FERPA Follow best practices for transparency about student privacy practices Professional Development Learn how to develop your personal brand Veterans Consider whether your institution qualifies as veteran‐friendly Lawsuits &amp; Rulings RACIAL DISCRIMINATION Former student's discrimination suit stays alive FERPA President's alleged disclosure of education records not permitted DISABILITY College agrees to reconsider student's administrative withdrawal Leaders &amp; Innovators CARRIE BEARSS, REGISTRAR, ST. CLAIR COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Increase access with early, middle college options

Biopharmaceutical Process Optimization with Simulation and Scheduling Tools.

Design and assessment activities associated with a biopharmaceutical process are performed at different levels of detail, based on the stage of development that the product is in. Preliminary "back-of-the envelope" assessments are performed early in the development lifecycle, whereas detailed design and evaluation are performed prior to the construction of a new facility. Both the preliminary and detailed design of integrated biopharmaceutical processes can be greatly assisted by the use of process simulators, discrete event simulators or finite capacity scheduling tools. This report describes the use of such tools for bioprocess development, design, and manufacturing. The report is divided into three sections. Section One provides introductory information and explains the purpose of bioprocess simulation. Section Two focuses on the detailed modeling of a single batch bioprocess that represents the manufacturing of a therapeutic monoclonal antibody (MAb). This type of analysis is typically performed by engineers engaged in the development and optimization of such processes. Section Three focuses on production planning and scheduling models for multiproduct plants.

Designing a Data-Driven Decision Support Tool for Nurse Scheduling in the Emergency Department: A Case Study of a Southern New Jersey Emergency Department

A health system serving Burlington and Camden Counties, New Jersey, sought to improve labor productivity for its emergency departments, with emphasis on optimizing nursing staff schedules. Using historical emergency department visit data and operating constraints, a decision support tool was designed to recommend the number of emergency nurses needed in each hour for each day of the week. The pilot emergency department nurse managers used the decision support tool's recommendations to redeploy nurse hours from weekends into a float pool to support periods of demand spikes on weekdays. Productivity improved significantly, with no unfavorable impact on patient throughput, and patient and staff satisfaction. Today's emergency department manager can leverage the increasing ease of access to the emergency department information system's data repository to successfully design a simple but effective tool to support the alignment of its nursing schedule with demand patterns.

실용적 접근 기반의 전력계통 해석 프로그램 상정고장, 해소방안 자동화 기법: 휴전검토 자동화 툴 개발

ISO(Independent System Operator) or TSO(Transmission System Operator) use power system analysis program to simulate contingency analysis and remedial actions to operate power system stably. Generally, power system analysis program provides automated analysis functions(or modules) to deal with wide area power system. However, because of missed contingency cases, automated contingency analysis has no practical use or has limitation. And in case of remedial action, it doesn’t support automated function or takes a lot of times to study, because of simulation in manual for each cases. This paper suggests that new relation with buses and transmission line properties of power system DB used for power system analysis program to simulate automated contingency including all contingency cases needed in the field without missed cases. And it proposes automated remedial action scheme based on practical approach analysis to alleviate overloading or voltage problems. Finally it deals with automated contingency/remedial action analysis(automated scheduled outage) program which is developed by KEPCO and its performance and proposed schemes are proven by case study for real Korean power system data.

Applying TOC Heuristics to Job Scheduling in a Hybrid Flexible Flow Shop

This paper introduces an application of the Theory of Constraints product mix heuristic to job scheduling in a Hybrid Flexible Flow Shop. The general heuristic is adapted for unrelated parallel machines and the algorithm is implemented as a job detailed scheduling tool based on the principle of the Theory of Constraints to schedule the production based in the bottleneck resource. The adaptation of the methodology to a flexible hybrid context, where there is parallelism in the bottleneck stage, and its application in a textile plant, helps to assign capacity based on the contribution margin. The result is a viable job scheduling focused on the profitability unit. Although the results do not reach the global optimum of this type of problems, they represent a fast and effective job scheduling alternative in the contexts under study.

An investigation into the management of online teaching and learning spaces: A case study involving graduate research students

&lt;p&gt;This research evaluates the strategies implemented to support the research activities of postgraduate students pursuing online master’s programs in the University of the West Indies Open Campus, as well as the activities of their supervisors. The three main strategies employed were (1) the use of a web-based ‘teaching-learning space’ to facilitate asynchronous interaction between students and their supervisors; (2) the provision of a scheduling tool to facilitate the planning of one-on-one meetings via a synchronous web-conferencing tool; and (3) the organization of research seminars using the same web-conferencing tool.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This research used Moore’s theory of transactional distance and social cognitive theoretical framework to guide the project. Moore’s model reemphasizes the need for stronger forms of communicating for online students, whereas the cognitive framework focuses on the need for social interaction among learner and teacher. Participants were graduate students (&lt;em&gt;n&lt;/em&gt; = 34). All participants were required to complete a questionnaire online. Data were also collected from postings in discussion forums. Overall, notwithstanding limitations, the data shows there are benefits to be gained from conducting student research activities in an online environment.&lt;/p&gt;