Solving efficiently complex problems using metaheuristics, and in particular local search algorithms, requires incorporating knowledge about the problem to solve. In this paper, the permutation flowshop problem is studied. It is well known that in such problems, several solutions may have the same fitness value. As this neutrality property is an important issue, it should be taken into account ...

positive political metatheory based on the naturalistic ontology concerning unity of method in science, implies reducing social and political issues to naturalistic one and study the emperical regularities in a similar methodology. therfore, behaviors political fields conciderd to be subjected to a causal order that implies explanation and prediction according to deductive structure of scientif...

The Internet serves as ubiquitous, prompt source of information in our society. Due to the giant amount of information, the access to the information relies on information processing mechanisms as implemented in search engines, product recommendation systems, or online social networks. As a result of the engineered preprocessing mechanism, the retrieved information is biased and does not repres...

The paper uses both the single rotation and ongoing rotation framework to study the impact of yield tax, lump-sum tax, cash flow tax and tax on interest rate earnings on the privately optimal rotation period when forest value growth is stochastic and forest owners are either risk neutral or risk averse. Under risk neutrality forest owner higher yield tax raises the optimal harvesting threshold ...

Abstract Participatory modeling in sustainability science allows scientists to take stakeholders’ interests, knowledge and values into account when designing a model-based solution problem, by incorporating stakeholders the model-building process. This improves chance of generating socially robust consensus on solutions. Part what helps this regard is that scientists, through involving stakehol...

I defend the idea that a liberal commitment to value neutrality is best honoured by maintaining a pure cardinality component in our rankings of opportunity or liberty sets. I consider two challenges to this idea. The first holds that cardinality rankings are unnecessary for neutrality, because what is valuable about a set of liberties from a liberal point of view is not its size but rather its ...