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In any other year, 'The Salesman (2016)' would have been the story of the 89th Academy Awards. The film, from acclaimed Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It was the second win in the category for Farhadi, making him the sixth director to win the award more than once (alongside legends like Vittorio De Sica, Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa) and the first director to do so in the twenty-first century. Farhadi's stature in Iran made this win even more significant; with his 2011 film, 'A Separation', having been the first Iranian film to win an Academy Award in any category, he was already a legend in his home country.

In any other year, 'The Salesman (2016)' would have been the story of the 89th Academy Awards. The film, from acclaimed Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It was the second win in the category for Farhadi, making him the sixth director to win the award more than once (alongside legends like Vittorio De Sica, Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa) and the first director to do so in the twenty-first century. Farhadi's stature in Iran made this win even more significant; with his 2011 film, 'A Separation', having been the first Iranian film to win an Academy Award in any category, he was already a legend in his home country.

Energy-based models (EBMs) can bridge physics, machine learning, and statistics. EBMs provide a unified and powerful platform to describe, learn, and optimize complex systems. In this paper, we propose a neuromorphic implementation of EBMs using a network of stochastic magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) that can perform energy minimization and solve optimization problems. Our implementation builds on the Object Oriented MicroMagnetic Framework (OOMMF). We derive the different energy terms and map them to the micromagnetic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation. We then develop a C +  + module for EBMs which integrates seamlessly with OOMMF. We demonstrate our implementation on a full set of logic gates using stochastic MTJs networks. Our method offers several advantages, including fast modeling of EBMs with spintronic devices and design insights for stochastic MTJ-based neuromorphic circuits.

The key research question in this study is how to cut pieces in irregular plate remainders, because there are many irregular plate leftovers created during the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) process. This will increase material utilization and allow plate leftovers to be reused. One of the issues being researched is how to arrange plate remainders on the surface of the CNC machine; this issue is known as combination layout optimization. The other issue being researched is combination cutting-path optimization of plate remainders, which aims to determine the cutting path of parts of plate remainders. A genetic algorithm based on the gravity-center NFP (No-Fit Polygon) method was applied to optimize the layout pattern, and then the geometric coordinates of a part included in one plate remainder after packing were obtained by geometric transformation with the help of a three-layer graphic data correlation model, which quickly identified the inside and outside contours of parts. A colony algorithm based on the mathematical model of cutting-path optimization was used to optimize the cutting path of the parts in the plate remainders. Finally, some simulation tests were performed to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. The results of the algorithm for packing irregular shapes for some instances show that our algorithm outperforms the other algorithms. On most instances, the average plate utilization ratio using our algorithm, after running 20 times, is improved by 1% to 9% in comparison to the best plate utilization ratio using the tree search algorithm. The best idle travel of an example achieved by the algorithm in this paper is 7632 mm after running the cutting-path optimization algorithm 20 times, while that of the traditional equivalent TSP (Traveling Salesman Problem) algorithm is 11,625 mm, which significantly demonstrates the efficiency of the algorithm.

Measurement data based on current and voltage of photovoltaic (PV) systems and the establishment of more accurate and stable solar system models are of typical significance for the design, control, evaluation and optimization of PV systems. Accurate and stable parameter evaluation for PV systems needs to be based on more efficient optimization techniques to achieve efficient energy conversion from solar energy. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel and efficient optimization technique enhanced colony predation algorithm to solve the complex PV parameter identification problem named ECPA. By fusing extremal optimization strategy and Nelder–Mead simplex method enables ECPA to further develop in the neighborhood of potential optimal solutions while improving the position of inferior agent candidates, and finally has the ability to search globally beyond the local optimum. To verify the optimization efficiency of ECPA, the first part verifies the efficiency of ECPA in solving complex high‐dimensional and multimodal problems by conducting competitive comparison experiments at the IEEE CEC 2020 benchmark case. In the second part, ECPA is compared with nine similar published state‐of‐the‐art algorithms, and competitive tests for PV parameter identification under single diode model, double diode model, triple diode model and PV module model (PV) are conducted. Finally, we focused on three different commercial PV models (thin film ST40, monocrystalline SM55, and multicrystalline KC200GT) to test the accuracy of ECPA in evaluating PV parameters. The test results show that ECPA is able to maintain a high level of accuracy and stability when dealing with commercial PV models in complex environments. The experimental results demonstrate that ECPA outperforms other algorithms in terms of data fitting, stability, convergence speed and convergence accuracy. All the competitive experimental results show that ECPA can be a novel technique with the best performance for identifying the parameters to be determined in solar PV systems. An enhanced colony predation algorithm (ECPA) algorithm is proposed to evaluate the parameters of the solar photovoltaic (PV) model. The performance of ECPA was compared with 10 algorithms on the IEEE CEC 2020 function set. Comparison of parameter extraction of three PV models with six advanced algorithms. The proposed ECPA algorithm has better stability and optimization performance than other competing algorithms

Welding induced distortion causes dimensional inaccuracies in parts being produced and assembly fit-up problems during manufacturing. In this study, a framework is proposed to mitigate weld distortion at the design stage. A sequential approach is adopted to optimize the welding process. In the first phase, welding process parameters are optimized through the response surface method. The effect of these parameters on the overall distortion of the welded part is observed by a simulation of the welding process. In the second phase, the weld sequence is optimized using the optimum weld parameters. A reinforcement learning-based Q-learning technique is used to select the optimum welding path by sequential observation of weld distortion at each segment being welded. The optimum process parameters and weld path sequence have been selected for 3 mm steel plates having a lap joint configuration and a 2 mm vent panel with a butt joint configuration. It is concluded that the combination of the optimum welding parameters and welding sequence yields minimum distortion. By applying this framework, a reduction of 19% is observed in overall welding induced distortion.

This paper deals with “The Enchanted Journey,” which is a daily event tour booked by Bollywood-film fans. During the tour, the participants visit original sites of famous Bollywood films at various locations in Switzerland; moreover, the tour includes stops for lunch and shopping. Each day, up to five buses operate the tour. For operational reasons, however, two or more buses cannot stay at the same location simultaneously. Further operative constraints include time windows for all activities and precedence constraints between some activities. The planning problem is how to compute a feasible schedule for each bus. We implement a two-step hierarchical approach. In the first step, we minimize the total waiting time; in the second step, we minimize the total travel time of all buses. We present a basic formulation of this problem as a mixed-integer linear program. We enhance this basic formulation by symmetry-breaking constraints, which reduces the search space without loss of generality. We report on computational results obtained with the Gurobi Solver. Our numerical results show that all relevant problem instances can be solved using the basic formulation within reasonable CPU time, and that the symmetry-breaking constraints reduce that CPU time considerably.