Force deployment and optimal resource allocation has been an area of considerable research interest in conventional warfare. In the modern scenario, with significant advances in technology related to communication and computation, sophisticated decision-making in these situations has become feasible. This has generated renewed interest in formulating decision-making problems in these areas and seeking optimal solutions to them. This thesis addresses one such problem in which the defending forces need to optimally Partition their resources between several attacking forces of differing strengths. The basic model considered for resource allocation is Lanchester attrition models. Lanchester models are deterministic differential equations that model attrition to forces in convict. In this thesis we address a resource allocation problem where the resource allocation is done using different approaches. First, we developed a (2,1) model using the Lanchester square law model for attrition. For this model we assumed that the attacking force consists of two types of forces and the defending force consists of only one type of force. The objective is to optimally partition the defending force against the two attacking forces so as to maximize the surviving defending force strength and to minimize the attacking force strength. The objective function considered in this thesis is the weighted sum of the surviving defending force strength and the destroyed attacking force strength. We considered a resource allocation problem in which allocation of resources are done using four different approaches. The simplest is the case when allocation is done initially and no further action is taken Iv Abstract v (Time Zero Allocation (TZA)). For the TZA allocation scheme, when any of attacking forces gets destroyed, the corresponding defending force which was engaging that attacking force will stop interacting further. This situation rarely happens in reality. Hence to make this scenario more realistic, we considered another allocation scheme in which allocation is followed by redistribution of resources depending on certain decisive events (Time Zero Allocation with Redistribution (TZAR)). In TZA and TZAR schemes, the allocation of defending force is done only at the initial time. Deviating from this assumption, we considered another allocation scheme in which a constant allocation ratio is used continuously over time till the end of the convict (Continuous Constant Allocation (CCA). To account for the redistribution of resources we extended this allocation scheme to the case in which continuous constant allocation is followed by redistribution of the resources (Continuous Constant Allocation with Redistribution (CCAR)). In each of these formulations we define the conditions for an optimal resource partitioning and allocation. We were able to obtain analytical expression for resource partitioning in almost all of these cases. Next, in order to consider situations in which area fire is required, we developed a (2,1) model using Lanchester linear law model for attrition. Here we considered a resource allocation problem in which the resource allocation is done using ideas similar to the square law case. In the Linear law, the resources will get destroyed completely only at infinite time, hence a situation for redistribution of resources does not arise for this law. We considered Time Zero Allocation and Continuous Constant Allocation schemes for this law. We obtained analytical results for the TZA scheme. For the CCA scheme, closed form solutions are difficult to obtain but numerical solutions were obtained. The above schemes were extended to an (n, 1) model for resource allocation using Lanchester square and linear laws. Here the defending forces have to determine an optimal partitioning of available resources to counter attacks from an adversary from n different fronts. For the square law model, we considered both TZA and CCA schemes for resource allocation. As the number of force types increases, the equations becomes much more complicated and the analytical solutions are difficult to obtain. We were able to obtain analytical solutions for some of the situations that occurs during the conflict. For the linear law, we considered only the TZA scheme since, even for the simpler (2,1) model, the analytical solutions are difficult to obtain for the CCA scheme. The resource allocation strategies developed in this thesis contribute to the growing research in the field of conflicts. The thesis concludes with a discussion on some future Extensions of this work.

A distribuição de recursos financeiros é um desafio para a gestão pública de saúde. Este estudo revisa sistematicamente os critérios de alocação de recursos financeiros públicos dentro de territórios políticos administrativos para serviços e ações de saúde com acesso universal de populações em áreas geográficas definidas em documentos publicados sem restrição de data inicial até 2015 em português, inglês, espanhol e italiano em sites acadêmicos, Organização Mundial da Saúde e Banco Mundial. Foram encontradas 37 publicações abrangendo 53 metodologias, a maioria referente a países europeus de alto desenvolvimento humano e língua inglesa. A Inglaterra foi o país pioneiro e desenvolveu 6 metodologias de alocação. A maioria das metodologias inclui critérios socioeconômicos, demográficos e epidemiológicos. Critérios espacial, oferta de serviços e/ou capacidade instalada, fonte própria de financiamento, custo de prestação de serviços e ações, utilização de serviços de saúde e fluxos inter-regionais ocorreram quase que exclusivamente em países de alto desenvolvimento econômico e social. Esses resultados sugerem que a minoria dos países utiliza metodologias padronizadas para alocar recursos financeiros entre regiões do seu território. A grande maioria das metodologias baseia-se na determinação social da saúde. Existe uma tendência de desenvolvimento de modelos mais complexos com a inclusão de variáveis que necessitam de um sistema de informação mais complexo, raramente disponíveis. / The distribution of financial resources is a challenge for public health management. This study systematically reviews the criteria for allocating public financial resources within political administrative territories for health services and actions with universal access of populations in defined geographical areas in published documents without restriction of initial date up to 2015 in Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian On academic sites World Health Organization and the World Bank. We found 37 publications covering 53 methodologies, most of which refer to European countries with high human development and English language. England pioneered and developed 6 allocation methodologies. Most methodologies include socioeconomic, demographic and epidemiological criteria. Spatial criteria, supply of services and / or installed capacity, own source of financing, cost of services and actions, use of health services and interregional flows occurred almost exclusively in countries with high economic and social development. These results suggest that the minority of countries use standardized methodologies to allocate financial resources between regions of their territory. The vast majority of methodologies are based on the social determination of health. There is a tendency to develop more complex models with the inclusion of variables that require a more complex information system, rarely available.

A distribuição de recursos financeiros é um desafio para a gestão pública de saúde. Este estudo revisa sistematicamente os critérios de alocação de recursos financeiros públicos dentro de territórios políticos administrativos para serviços e ações de saúde com acesso universal de populações em áreas geográficas definidas em documentos publicados sem restrição de data inicial até 2015 em português, inglês, espanhol e italiano em sites acadêmicos, Organização Mundial da Saúde e Banco Mundial. Foram encontradas 37 publicações abrangendo 53 metodologias, a maioria referente a países europeus de alto desenvolvimento humano e língua inglesa. A Inglaterra foi o país pioneiro e desenvolveu 6 metodologias de alocação. A maioria das metodologias inclui critérios socioeconômicos, demográficos e epidemiológicos. Critérios espacial, oferta de serviços e/ou capacidade instalada, fonte própria de financiamento, custo de prestação de serviços e ações, utilização de serviços de saúde e fluxos inter-regionais ocorreram quase que exclusivamente em países de alto desenvolvimento econômico e social. Esses resultados sugerem que a minoria dos países utiliza metodologias padronizadas para alocar recursos financeiros entre regiões do seu território. A grande maioria das metodologias baseia-se na determinação social da saúde. Existe uma tendência de desenvolvimento de modelos mais complexos com a inclusão de variáveis que necessitam de um sistema de informação mais complexo, raramente disponíveis. / The distribution of financial resources is a challenge for public health management. This study systematically reviews the criteria for allocating public financial resources within political administrative territories for health services and actions with universal access of populations in defined geographical areas in published documents without restriction of initial date up to 2015 in Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian On academic sites World Health Organization and the World Bank. We found 37 publications covering 53 methodologies, most of which refer to European countries with high human development and English language. England pioneered and developed 6 allocation methodologies. Most methodologies include socioeconomic, demographic and epidemiological criteria. Spatial criteria, supply of services and / or installed capacity, own source of financing, cost of services and actions, use of health services and interregional flows occurred almost exclusively in countries with high economic and social development. These results suggest that the minority of countries use standardized methodologies to allocate financial resources between regions of their territory. The vast majority of methodologies are based on the social determination of health. There is a tendency to develop more complex models with the inclusion of variables that require a more complex information system, rarely available.

Malgré la hiérarchie mémoire utilisée dans les ordinateurs modernes, il convient toujours d'optimiser l'utilisation des registres du processeur et des mémoires locales gérées de manières logicielles (mémoires locales) présentes dans beaucoup de systèmes embarqués, de processeurs graphiques (GPUs) et de multiprocesseurs. Lors de la compilation, d'un code source vers un langage machine, deux optimisations de la mémoire revêtent une importance capitale : l'allocation de registres et l'allocation de mémoires locales. Dans ce manuscrit de thèse nous nous intéressons à des approches découplées, qui traitent séparément les problèmes d'allocation et d'assignation, permettant d'améliorer les allocations de registres et de mémoires locales. Dans la première partie de la thèse, nous nous penchons sur le problème de l'allocation de registres. Tout d'abord, nous proposons dans le contexte des compilateurs-juste-à-temps, une allocation de registres fractionnées (split register allocation). Avec cette approche l'allocation de registres est effectuée en deux étapes: une faite durant la phase de compilation statique et l'autre pendant la phase de compilation dynamique. Ce qui permet de réduire le temps d'exécution des programmes avec un impact négligeable sur le temps de compilation. Ensuite Nous introduisons une allocation de registres incrémentale qui permet de résoudre d'une manière quasi-optimale le problème d'allocation. Cette méthode est pseudo-polynomiale alors que le problème d'allocation est NP-complet même à l'intérieur d'un « basic block ». Dans la deuxième partie de la thèse nous nous intéressons au problème de l'allocation de mémoires locales. Au vu des dernières avancées dans le domaine de l'allocation de registres, nous étudions dans quelle mesure le problème d'allocation pourrait être séparé de celui de l'assignation dans le contexte des mémoires locales. Dans un premier temps nous validons expérimentalement que les problèmes d'allocation et d'assignation peuvent être résolus séparément. Ensuite, nous procédons à une étude plus théorique d'une approche découplée de l'allocation de mémoires locales. Cela permet d'introduire de nouveaux résultats sur le « submarine-building problem », une variante du « ship-building problem », que nous avons défini. L'un de ces résultats met en évidence pour la première fois une différence de complexité (P vs. NP-complet) entre les graphes d'intervalles et les graphes d'intervalles unitaires. Dans la troisième partie de la thèse nous proposons une nouvelle heuristique, appelée « clustering allocator » fondée sur la construction de sous-graphes stables d'un graphe d'interférence, permettant de découpler aussi bien le problème d'allocation pour les registres que pour les mémoires locales. Cette nouvelle heuristique se veut le pont qui permettra de réconcilier les problèmes d'allocations de registres et de mémoires locales. / Despite the benefit of the memory hierarchy, it is still essential, in order to reduce accesses to higher levels of memory, to have an efficient usage of registers and local memories (also called scratchpad memories) present in most embedded processors, graphical processors (GPUs) and network processors. During the compilation, from a source language to an executable code, there are two optimizations that are of utmost importance: the register allocation and the local memory allocation. In this thesis's report we are interested in decoupled approaches, solving separately the allocation and assignment problems, that helps to improve the quality of the register and local memory allocations. In the first part of this thesis we are interested in two aspects of the register allocation problem: the improvements of the just-in-time (JIT) register allocation and the spill minimization problem. We introduce the split register allocation which leverages the decoupled approach to improve register allocation in the context of JIT compilation. We experimentally validate the effectiveness of split register allocation and its portability with respect to register count variations, relying on annotations whose impact on the bytecode size is negligible. We introduce a new decoupled approach, called iterated-optimal allocation, which focus on the spill minimization problem. The iterated-optimal allocation algorithm achieves results close to optimal while offering pseudo-polynomial guarantees for SSA programs and fast allocations on general programs. In the second part of this thesis, we study how a decoupled local memory allocation can be proposed in light of recent progresses in register allocation. We first validate our intuition for decoupled approach to local memory allocation. Then, we study the local memory allocation in a more theoretical way setting the junction between local memory allocation for linearized programs and weighted interval graph coloring. We design and analyze a new variant of the ship-building problem called the submarine-building problem. We show that this problem is NP-complete on interval graphs, while it is solvable in linear time for proper interval graphs, equivalent to unit interval graphs. The submarine-building problem is the first problem that is known to be NP-complete on interval graphs, while it is solvable in linear time for unit interval graphs. In the third part of this thesis, we propose a heuristic-based solution, the clustering allocator, which decouples the local memory allocation problem and aims to minimize the allocation cost. The clustering allocator while devised for local memory allocation, it appears to be a very good solution to the register allocation problem. After many years of separation, this new algorithm seems to be a bridge to reconcile the local memory allocation and the register allocation problems.

Masonry construction is labor-intensive. Processes involve little to no mechanization and require a large number of crews made up of workers with diverse skills, capabilities, and personalities. Relationships among crews are tight and very dependent. Often crews are re-assembled and the superintendent is responsible for assigning workers to crews and allocating crews to different tasks to maximize workflow. This dynamic environment can influence the motivation of workers and impose pressure and stress on them. Workers, unlike other resources, have their own needs and requirements beyond the financial compensation for their work. Workers place a great value on requirements such as certainty about work assignments, matching assignments to career development goals, and work satisfaction. If managed properly, workers may bring considerable benefits to both the project and the contractor. A project that links workers to career goals not only allows contractors to develop more qualified staff for its future projects, but also gives the worker opportunities for career growth and development. Additionally, job satisfaction and efficiency increases from suitable worker assignment and consideration of tasks. Therefore, the study of sustainable labor management practices is of interest in masonry construction and other labor-intensive industries. A mixed-integer programming (MIP) model enables the integration of workers needs and contractor requirements into the process of labor allocation. Furthermore, the model can be used to quantify strategies that maximize productivity, quality of work, and the well-being of workers. Developing such a model is a necessary task. To plan and manage masonry construction, the contractor has to take into account not only multiple workers with different characteristics but also rules for crew design and makeup and project requirements in terms of personnel needs. Providing an analytical description of all the needs and requirements is challenging. Therefore, to determine labor management practices that indeed maximize production and maximize workers satisfaction, the model needs to realistically represent the realities in masonry construction sites and staffing practices, while remaining computationally manageable such that optimization models can be derived. This dissertation proposes a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable labor management in masonry construction that takes into consideration information on workers and job characteristics with the intention of assisting decision makers in allocating crews. Firstly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with masonry practitioners to gather perspectives on labor requirements, rules for crew design, and drivers for crew makeup. Secondly, a model that incorporates realities was implemented. The model supports masonry contractors and superintendent in the challenging process of managing crews, that is, to determine the composition of each crew and the allocation of crews to maximize productivity and workflow while considering workers’ preferences and well-being. With the DSS, project managers and superintendents are not only able to identify working patterns for each of the workers but also optimal crew formation and investment and labor costs. Data from real case study is used to compare the schedule and allocation on the site with the one proposed by the model. The comparison shows the model can optimize the allocation of crews to reduce the completion time to build the walls while maximizing the utilization of masons and outlining opportunities for concurrent work. It is expected that the DSS will help contractors improve productivity and quality while efficiently managing masonry workers in a more sustainable way. The contributions for the masonry industry are two-fold. Firstly, the proposed model considers a set of rules that masonry practitioners typically use to design crews of masons and analytically captures the realities of masonry construction jobsites when managing labor. Secondly, it attempts to quantify and mathematically model the practices that contractors use for crew makeup and evaluate labor management allocation both in terms of contractor requirements and worker needs. Literature review indicates that the existing models for labor allocation have not taken into consideration masonry site realities. An optimization framework, which combines masonry site realities from the semi-structured interviews is proposed. The framework results in a MIP model that is used to solve a crew scheduling and allocation problem. The model is formulated to determine which masons are in a crew and to assign crews to the different walls in a project. Additionally, it is used to evaluate crew design strategies that maximize productivity.

Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / Doina Caragea / The vast amount of data present on the internet calls for ways to label and organize this data according to specific categories, in order to facilitate search and browsing activities. This can be easily accomplished by making use of folksonomies and user provided tags. However, it can be difficult for users to provide meaningful tags. Tag recommendation systems can guide the users towards informative tags for online resources such as websites, pictures, etc. The aim of this thesis is to build a system for recommending tags to URLs available through a bookmark sharing service, called BibSonomy. We assume that the URLs for which we recommend tags do not have any prior tags assigned to them. Two approaches are proposed to address the tagging problem, both of them based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) Blei et al. [2003]. LDA is a generative and probabilistic topic model which aims to infer the hidden topical structure in a collection of documents. According to LDA, documents can be seen as mixtures of topics, while topics can be seen as mixtures of words (in our case, tags). The first approach that we propose, called topic words based approach, recommends the top words in the top topics representing a resource as tags for that particular resource. The second approach, called topic distance based approach, uses the tags of the most similar training resources (identified using the KL-divergence Kullback and Liebler [1951]) to recommend tags for a test untagged resource. The dataset used in this work was made available through the ECML/PKDD Discovery Challenge 2009. We construct the documents that are provided as input to LDA in two ways, thus producing two different datasets. In the first dataset, we use only the description and the tags (when available) corresponding to a URL. In the second dataset, we crawl the URL content and use it to construct the document. Experimental results show that the LDA approach is not very effective at recommending tags for new untagged resources. However, using the resource content gives better results than using the description only. Furthermore, the topic distance based approach is better than the topic words based approach, when only the descriptions are used to construct documents, while the topic words based approach works better when the contents are used to construct documents.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 18-21, 2004 / Town & Country Resort, San Diego, California / Several algorithms have been proposed for solving constraint satisfaction and the more general constraint optimization problem in a distributed manner. In this paper we apply two such algorithms to the task of dynamic resource allocation in the sensor network domain using appropriate abstractions. The aim is to effectively track multiple targets by making the sensors coordinate with each other in a distributed manner, given a probabilistic representation of tasks (targets). We present simulation results and compare the performance of the DBA and DSA algorithms under varying experimental settings.

Tout comme dans les autres pays, la situation économique québécoise est des plus délicates en ce début de siècle. À la suite de la mondialisation qui s'est déployée à partir des années 1970, nous assistons à la précarisation des emplois et à la diminution du filet social. Plusieurs voies ont été explorées pour trouver des solutions à ces problèmes. D'un côté, certains croient à une relance économique sans effectuer aucun changement au modèle socio-économique. Pour ces derniers, le système économique en place répond bien à la situation et, dans la perspective libérale traditionnelle, on s'en remet à la volonté des individus bien plus qu'aux effets de système. De l'autre côté, ceux qui ont perdu la foi proposent diverses solutions telles que le partage du travail, la subvention du travail faiblement rémunéré, la formation continue ou la réinsertion sociale. Une autre mesure est de plus en plus discutée par les chercheurs sans pour autant retenir toute l'attention qu'elle mérite : l'allocation universelle. Cette mesure de remplacement est celle qui est étudiée dans ce mémoire. Évidemment, l'instauration d'une allocation universelle doit être assujettie à plusieurs éclaircissements. Car un certain nombre de paradoxes et de malentendus ont été notés au fil des discussions sur ce débat. Il faut encore montrer que l'instauration d'une allocation universelle est le meilleur moyen pour contourner la pauvreté des pays occidentaux et particulièrement au Québec. La société québécoise possède plusieurs atouts favorisant l'instauration d'un tel revenu. Ce mémoire de maîtrise tente d'en faire la démonstration.

ITC/USA 2009 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Fifth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 26-29, 2009 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper describes research aimed at investigating how to help decision makers devise optimized frequency scheduling and management strategies, both for advanced planning and real-time metrics adjustment. Part of these investigations include research to (i) define the metrics, objectives, and constraints involved in optimal frequency allocation decision-making; (ii) harmonize competing, orthogonal goals when devising candidate solutions; and (iii) devise an architectural strategy for dynamic spectrum allocation and management.

ITC/USA 2007 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Third Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2007 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Cognitive radio is a reasonably new branch of research aimed at more fully utilizing the RF spectrum. This is accomplished by allowing wireless communication systems to dynamically choose a frequency band, and a modulation technique, based on the current state of the RF spectrum as perceived by the cognitive radio network. This paper will give a brief introduction of cognitive radio networks, and describe a hardware platform designed at the IFT/UMR Telemetry Learning Center. The test-bed will accommodate future research into cognitive networks, by allowing the user to dynamically change both its carrier frequency and modulation technique through software. A general description of the design of the platform is provided.