Scheduling of Large-scale Virtualized Infrastructures

Presents a comprehensive treatment of issues related to the inception, design, implementation and reporting of large-scale education assessments. In recent years many countries have decided to become involved in international educational assessments to allow them to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of their student populations. Assessments such as the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the IEA's Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy (PIRLS) have provided opportunities for comparison between students of different countries on a common international scale. This book is designed to give researchers, policy makers and practitioners a well-grounded knowledge in the design, implementation, analysis and reporting of international assessments. Readers will be able to gain a more detailed insight into the scientific principles employed in such studies allowing them to make better use of the results. The book will also give readers an understanding of the resources needed to undertake and improve the design of educational assessments in their own countries and regions. Implementation of Large-Scale Education Assessments: Brings together the editors’ extensive experience in creating, designing, implementing, analysing and reporting results on a wide range of assessments. Emphasizes methods for implementing international studies of student achievement and obtaining highquality data from cognitive tests and contextual questionnaires. Discusses the methods of sampling, weighting, and variance estimation that are commonly encountered in international large-scale assessments. Provides direction and stimulus for improving global educational assessment and student learning Is written by experts in the field, with an international perspective. Survey researchers, market researchers and practitioners engaged in comparative projects will all benefit from the unparalleled breadth of knowledge and experience in large-scale educational assessments gathered in this one volume.

An up-to-date and comprehensive treatment of the fundamentals of scheduling theory, including recent advances and state-of-the-art topics Principles of Sequencing and Scheduling strikes a unique balance between theory and practice, providing an accessible introduction to the concepts, methods, and results of scheduling theory and its core topics. With real-world examples and up-to-date modeling techniques, the book equips readers with the basic knowledge needed for understanding scheduling theory and delving into its applications. The authors begin with an introduction and overview of sequencing and scheduling, including single-machine sequencing, optimization and heuristic solution methods, and models with earliness and tardiness penalties. The most current material on stochastic scheduling, including correct scheduling of safety time and the use of simulation for optimization, is then presented and integrated with deterministic models. Additional topical coverage includes: Extensions of the basic model Parallel-machine models Flow shop scheduling Scheduling groups of jobs The job shop problem Simulation models for the dynamic job shop Network methods for project scheduling Resource-constrained project scheduling Stochastic and safe scheduling Extensive end-of-chapter exercises are provided, some of which are spreadsheet-oriented, and link scheduling theory to the most popular analytic platform among today's students and practitioners—the Microsoft Office Excel® spreadsheet. Extensive references direct readers to additional literature, and the book's related Web site houses material that reinforces the book's concepts, including research notes, data sets, and examples from the text. Principles of Sequencing and Scheduling is an excellent book for courses on sequencing and scheduling at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners in the fields of statistics, computer science, operations research, and engineering.

This book focuses on computational methods for large-scale statistical inverse problems and provides an introduction to statistical Bayesian and frequentist methodologies. Recent research advances for approximation methods are discussed, along with Kalman filtering methods and optimization-based approaches to solving inverse problems. The aim is to cross-fertilize the perspectives of researchers in the areas of data assimilation, statistics, large-scale optimization, applied and computational mathematics, high performance computing, and cutting-edge applications. The solution to large-scale inverse problems critically depends on methods to reduce computational cost. Recent research approaches tackle this challenge in a variety of different ways. Many of the computational frameworks highlighted in this book build upon state-of-the-art methods for simulation of the forward problem, such as, fast Partial Differential Equation (PDE) solvers, reduced-order models and emulators of the forward problem, stochastic spectral approximations, and ensemble-based approximations, as well as exploiting the machinery for large-scale deterministic optimization through adjoint and other sensitivity analysis methods. Key Features: • Brings together the perspectives of researchers in areas of inverse problems and data assimilation. • Assesses the current state-of-the-art and identify needs and opportunities for future research. • Focuses on the computational methods used to analyze and simulate inverse problems. • Written by leading experts of inverse problems and uncertainty quantification. Graduate students and researchers working in statistics, mathematics and engineering will benefit from this book.

This book offers an insight into how to create aesthetically pleasing, environmentally integrated, multi-functional developments in the ocean or on the coastline.

Eco-design of Marine Infrastructures provides practical and realistic solutions for delivering projects that strive to minimize negative environmental impacts.

Using case studies and examples, this book presents a toolkit of options, allowing decision makers and planners to see what is possible and to make informed choices about the risks and benefits of eco-design. It is intended for researchers, engineers, students and decision makers, or anyone who is curious to see how nature can be integrated into development.

With the growing maturity of information and communication technologies, systems have been interconnected within growing networks, yielding new services through a combination of the system functionalities. This leads to an increasing complexity that has to be managed in order to take advantage of these system integrations. This book provides key answers as to how such systems of systems can be engineered and how their complexity can be mastered. After reviewing some definitions on systems of systems engineering, the book focuses on concrete applications and offers a survey of the activities and techniques that allow engineering of complex systems and systems of systems. Case studies, ranging from emergency situations such as Hurricane Katrina and its crisis management or a generic scenario of a major traffic accident and its emergency response, to the establishment of a scientific basis in the Antarctic region illustrate key factors of success and traps to avoid in order to cope with such situations.

How to design a solar power plant, from start to finish In Step-by-Step Design of Large-Scale Photovoltaic Power Plants, a team of distinguished engineers delivers a comprehensive reference on PV power plants—and their design—for specialists, experts, and academics. Written in three parts, the book covers the detailed theoretical knowledge required to properly design a PV power plant. It goes on to explore the step-by-step requirements for creating a real-world PV power plant, including parts and components design, mathematical formulations and calculations, analyses, evaluations, and planning. The book concludes with a discussion of a sample solar plant design, as well as tips on how to avoid common design mistakes, and how to handle the operation and maintenance of PV power plants. Step-by-Step Design of Large-Scale Photovoltaic Power Plants also includes: Thorough introductions to the basic requirements of design, economic analyses, and investment revenue Comprehensive explorations of the requirements for feasibility study and grid connection study Introducing solar resource, and determining optimum tilt angle and module inter-row spacing Presenting methodology for design of large-scale PV plant, requirements of engineering document, and optimal design algorithm In-depth examinations for selecting PV module, inverter, string, and DC side equipment Practical discussions of system losses, as well as estimation of yearly electrical energy production, capacity factor, and performance ratio of large-scale PV plant Perfect for professionals in the solar power industry, Step-by-Step Design of Large-Scale Photovoltaic Power Plants will also earn a place in the libraries of equipment manufacturers and university professors seeking a one-stop resource for the design of PV power plants.

The performance of an company depends both on its technological expertise and its managerial and organizational effectiveness. Production management is an important part of the process for manufacturing firms. The organization of production relies in general on the implementation of a certain number of basic functions, among which the scheduling function plays an essential role. This title presents recently developed methods for resolving scheduling issues. The basic concepts and the methods of production scheduling are introduced and advanced techniques are discussed, providing readers with a comprehensive and accessible guide to employing this process.

Master scheduling is an essential planning tool that helps manufacturers synchronize their production cycle with actual market demand. The third edition of this easy-to-follow handbook helps you understand the basic and more advanced concepts of master scheduling, from implementation to capacity planning to final assembly techniques. Packed with handy checklists and examples, Master Scheduling, Third Edition delivers guidelines and techniques for a world-class master schedule.

A highly accessible reference offering a broad range of topics and insights on large scale network-centric distributed systems Evolving from the fields of high-performance computing and networking, large scale network-centric distributed systems continues to grow as one of the most important topics in computing and communication and many interdisciplinary areas. Dealing with both wired and wireless networks, this book focuses on the design and performance issues of such systems. Large Scale Network-Centric Distributed Systems provides in-depth coverage ranging from ground-level hardware issues (such as buffer organization, router delay, and flow control) to the high-level issues immediately concerning application or system users (including parallel programming, middleware, and OS support for such computing systems). Arranged in five parts, it explains and analyzes complex topics to an unprecedented degree: Part 1: Multicore and Many-Core (Mc) Systems-on-Chip Part 2: Pervasive/Ubiquitous Computing and Peer-to-Peer Systems Part 3: Wireless/Mobile Networks Part 4: Grid and Cloud Computing Part 5: Other Topics Related to Network-Centric Computing and Its Applications Large Scale Network-Centric Distributed Systems is an incredibly useful resource for practitioners, postgraduate students, postdocs, and researchers.