in this paper, an exact geometric algorithm is presented for solving two-job sequencing and scheduling problems in flexible flow shop and job shop environments while the resources are (un)available in some time periods and processors (un)availability is the same in all work centers. this study seems utterly new and it is applicable to any performance measure based on the completion time. the in...

This paper considers open-shop scheduling with no intermediate buffer to minimize total tardiness. This problem occurs in many production settings, in the plastic molding, chemical, and food processing industries. The paper mathematically formulates the problem by a mixed integer linear program. The problem can be optimally solved by the model. The paper also develops a novel metaheuristic base...

We consider a general class of multiprocessor shop scheduling problems, preemptive or nonpreemptive, with precedence constraints between operations, with job or operation release dates, and with a class of objective functions including weighted sums of job, operations and stage completion times. We present a general approximation method combining a linear programming relaxation in the operation...

This is a summary of the PhD thesis defended by the author in September 2011 at thé Ecole des Mines de Nantes (EMNantes). The thesis was advised by Narendra Jussien (EMNantes) and co-advised by Louis-Martin Rousseau (´ Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal – Poly), Christelle Guéret (EMNantes) and André Langevin (Poly). The manuscript is written in French and can be obtained from The focus of the dis...

After proposing the "Deeming Rule" in 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began regulating the manufacturing, marketing, and sales of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) products as tobacco products in 2016. The current study conducted vape shop store observations and surveyed Los Angeles-area shop employees (assessing their beliefs, awareness, and perceptions of e-cigarettes and r...