Many optimization problems can be expressed using some form of soft constraints, where different measures of desirability are associated with different combinations of domain values for specified subsets of variables. In this paper we identify a class of soft binary constraints for which the problem of finding the optimal solution is tractable. In other words, we show that for any given set of ...

We present a technique that classifies users’ age group, i.e., child or adult, from touch coordinates captured on touch-screen devices. Our technique delivered 86.5% accuracy (user-independent) on a dataset of 119 participants (89 children ages 3 to 6) when classifying each touch event one at a time and up to 99% accuracy when using a window of 7+ consecutive touches. Our results establish that...

a box-behnken design with three replicates was used for preparation and evaluation of eudragit vancomycin (vcm) nanoparticles prepared by double emulsion. the purpose of this work was to optimize vcm nanoparticles to improve the physicochemical properties. nanoparticles were formed by using w1/o/w2 double-emulsion solvent evaporation method using eudragit rs as a retardant material. full factor...

there have been many productive methods developed so far for optimization of multiple response surface (mrs) problems. this paper tends to review the most seminal approaches in mrs and discuss the strength and weakness of each of the approaches through existing aspects in mrs. a numerical example is included to compare results by different methods. finally some of the prominent areas for future...

in this work, hydrochloric acid is used to remove iron impurities in the bauxite ore contained in the diasporite mineral located in the sari region. the bauxite ore was calcined at different temperatures and times, and then dissolved in a hydrochloric acid solution. after determining the optimum calcination conditions in 1 h at 900 °c, the response surface methodology (rsm) with four factors in...

the turbidity of sour orange juice after juice extraction affects on quality, shelf-life and concentration of juice. therefore, juice clarification is an important operation in the fruit processing industry. the goal of this study was evaluating the effect of membrane operation parameters including pressure (120-220 kpa) and temperature (25-35 ºc) on the permeate flux and hydraulic resistance o...

in today's globalization, an effective integration of production and distribution plans into a unified framework is crucial for attaining competitive advantage. this paper addresses an integrated multi-product and multi-time period production/distribution planning problem for a two-echelon supply chain subject to the real-world variables and constraints. it is assumed that all transportations a...