A Diversity-Aware Memetic Algorithm for the Linear Ordering Problem: Improving Best-Known Solutions for Standard Benchmarks

The Linear Ordering Problem (LOP) is a very popular NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem with many practical applications that may require the use of large instances. The Linear Ordering Library (LOLIB) gathers a set of standard benchmarks widely used in the validation of solvers for the LOP. Among them, the xLOLIB2 collects some of the largest and most challenging instances in current literature. In this work, we present new best-known solutions for each of the 200 complex instances that comprises xLOLIB2. Moreover, the proposal devised in this research is able to achieve all current best-known solutions in the rest of instances of LOLIB and improve them in other 93 cases out of 485, meaning that important advances in terms of quality and robustness are attained. This important advance in the field of the LOP has been possible thanks to the development of a novel Memetic Algorithm (MA) that was designed by taking into account some of the weaknesses of state-of-the-art LOP solvers. One of the keys to success is that the novel proposal allows for a gradual shift from exploration to exploitation, which is done by taking into account the stopping criterion and elapsed period of execution to alter the internal decisions taken by the optimizer. The novel diversity-aware proposal is called the Memetic Algorithm with Explicit Diversity Management (MA-EDM) and extensive comparisons against state-of-the-art techniques provide insights into the reasons for the superiority of MA-EDM.

Multi-Criteria Analysis in the Decision-Making Approach for the Linear Ordering of Urban Transport Based on TOPSIS Technique

The effects of urban transport are highly concerning. The rapid urbanization and motorization in smart cities have a huge impact on sustainability. The goal of the paper is to analyse the smart cities selected, in terms of the urban transport. This paper presents an overview of research works published between 1991 and 2020 concerning urban transport and MCDM (multi-criteria decision making). The author highlights the importance of decision-making criteria and their weight, as well as techniques. Seven criteria and forty-four objects were used as the input of the approach. The entropy weight method was used to compute the weight of each criterion. The TOPSIS (Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution) was applied to calculate the assessment and ranking of transport performance for each smart city. Portland was found to be the best location for transport enterprises and projects; Tbilisi was ranked last. The values of the relative closeness coefficient ranged from 0.03504 to 0.921402. Finally, some suggestions for future research are discussed.

An Attempt to Apply Canonical Analysis to Investigate the Dependencies between the Level of Organic Farming Development in Poland and the Chosen Environmental Determinants

Polish organic agriculture has faced rapid growth in the recent two decades. Nevertheless, one may observe considerable discrepancies in organic agriculture development in specific regions of Poland. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize the key conditions for this development and its spatial differentiation. Since the relationship between organic farming and the natural environment has a fundamental meaning in this production system, it is crucial to study the development determinants of environmental characters. Thus the paper aims to identify the level of organic farming development in Polish districts and to investigate multidimensional relations between this level and selected environmental conditions. In order to identify the range and direction of those multidimensional relations between the discussed phenomena, canonical analysis was applied. Within the conducted study, proprietary synthetic measures were constructed (using the TOPSIS—Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), and linear ordering of the objects described by a large number of variables was employed. To define the strength and direction of the dependencies among constructed synthetic indices of the level of organic farming development and environmental conditions, a correlation analysis was performed. All 380 districts in Poland were considered as the investigated objects. Based on the variables describing selected environmental conditions, one may explain nearly 26.7% of the variance of variables related to organic agriculture development.

The level of socio-economic development of regions in Poland

The development of regions within one country is an uneven process. States seek to reduce internal inequalities between particular regions through the implementation of appropriate economic policies, as is the case of Poland. The aim of the study is to evaluate the level of socio-economic development of regions in Poland (voivodships) in the years 2013– 2019. For this purpose, a taxonomic analysis based on Hellwig’s development measure was conducted and the Euclidean distance was applied to assess the difference between the obtained pattern and particular voivodships. On the basis of data provided by the Local Data Bank of Statistics Poland and through linear ordering, two rankings of voivodships were created: one reflecting their socio-economic development excluding environmental protection aspects and the other focusing solely on the issue of environmental protection. Low values of the coefficient of variation relating to a part of the analysed variables indicated that the development level of voivodships in the analysed period is in many respects very similar. The variables crucial for determining the differences between voivodships show that Mazowieckie Voivodship occupies high positions in both rankings (and is the leader in the ranking of socio-economic development excluding environmental protection aspects), while Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodship is characterised by a low level of development illustrated by both rankings.

WithDrawing: An Investigation into How the Iterative Process of Hand Drawing Can Influence the Design of Buildable Architectural Spaces That Are Responsive to the Contemporary Blurring of Traditional Programs, Typologies, and Contextual Conditions

<p>In the early 21st century environmental, social and cultural changes are confronting the traditional relationship one has with technology, space and subsequently architecture. More specifically the tools of design are becoming integrated, whereby the clarity of tradition is becoming overlapped, becoming blurred. With this in mind the research investigates the opportunities of an iterative hand drawing process to develop architectural responses to movement, time and transformation. Highlighting a future which is inevitably changing, it is important to assess the inherent qualities of our design tools, as they too influence the connection and formation of architectural space. The research explores hand drawing through a design process which firstly, challenges drawn representation techniques and secondly, emphasises movement and transformation as key architectural drivers within the 21st century. Due to the continual developments within technology, construction practices and design materials, there is an opportunity to question and reflect our changing built environment and hence, the role of movement in architecture. With reference to the theorists Catherine Ingraham and Robin Evans, the research develops the position that the practice of architecture has become restricted by linear ordering systems. This is reflective in the orthographic representation of architecture alongside the built edges and boundaries of architectural spaces. Therefore, today's transforming conditions are used to validate and further articulate Ingraham's and Evans's theories, outlining a design response, using Wellington as a case study, built upon overlaying environmental, social and cultural relationships. The architectural outcome connects rather than dissociates itself to transforming conditions, creating multiple rather than singular boundary conditions through architectural blurring. Traditional relationships to spatial boundaries and edges are critiqued through the ambiguities and layers of working within an iterative hand drawing process. The influence of hand drawn qualities has provided a way to insert motion into a construct which is perceptually static, hence introducing a means to negotiate and work within a period of transition.</p>

WithDrawing: An Investigation into How the Iterative Process of Hand Drawing Can Influence the Design of Buildable Architectural Spaces That Are Responsive to the Contemporary Blurring of Traditional Programs, Typologies, and Contextual Conditions

<p>In the early 21st century environmental, social and cultural changes are confronting the traditional relationship one has with technology, space and subsequently architecture. More specifically the tools of design are becoming integrated, whereby the clarity of tradition is becoming overlapped, becoming blurred. With this in mind the research investigates the opportunities of an iterative hand drawing process to develop architectural responses to movement, time and transformation. Highlighting a future which is inevitably changing, it is important to assess the inherent qualities of our design tools, as they too influence the connection and formation of architectural space. The research explores hand drawing through a design process which firstly, challenges drawn representation techniques and secondly, emphasises movement and transformation as key architectural drivers within the 21st century. Due to the continual developments within technology, construction practices and design materials, there is an opportunity to question and reflect our changing built environment and hence, the role of movement in architecture. With reference to the theorists Catherine Ingraham and Robin Evans, the research develops the position that the practice of architecture has become restricted by linear ordering systems. This is reflective in the orthographic representation of architecture alongside the built edges and boundaries of architectural spaces. Therefore, today's transforming conditions are used to validate and further articulate Ingraham's and Evans's theories, outlining a design response, using Wellington as a case study, built upon overlaying environmental, social and cultural relationships. The architectural outcome connects rather than dissociates itself to transforming conditions, creating multiple rather than singular boundary conditions through architectural blurring. Traditional relationships to spatial boundaries and edges are critiqued through the ambiguities and layers of working within an iterative hand drawing process. The influence of hand drawn qualities has provided a way to insert motion into a construct which is perceptually static, hence introducing a means to negotiate and work within a period of transition.</p>

Economic Development of the European Union in the Relation of Sustainable Development—Taxonomic Analysis

The purpose of this paper is a multidimensional assessment of the diversification of economic development in EU countries in the context of the progress in the implementation of the concept of sustainable development in 2014 and 2019. The issues discussed in this article are topical and important, given that the spatial disparity of economic development in the EU has never been so pronounced as it is today. While there is a wealth of studies on economic development in the literature, research on the comprehensive approach to this problem in the relation of sustainable development appears to be rather scarce. The article emphasizes the role of energy in economic growth. Authors used taxonomic measures. They were constructed on the basis of selected methods of multidimensional comparative analysis. By using the Hellwig method and the TOPSIS method, taxonomic measures were constructed, and linear ordering of the EU countries was carried out. In addition, using the so-called threshold method, the clustering of EU countries was carried out. The analysis involved 27 EU countries. The conducted research revealed significant disproportions between the respective EU countries in terms of the level of economic development in the relation of implementing the concept of sustainable development. It seems justified to take action aimed at eliminating the differences between the countries in the analyzed aspect. It is necessary both to intensify efforts at the level of individual Member States and the EU, oriented towards pro-development activities.

Valuation of copyrights to audiovisual works: transparency practices of the copyright management organizations in the European Union

Motivation: The functioning of the audiovisual sector strongly depends on the use of copyrights and related rights. Problems with their clearing could harm the functioning of companies and might even lead to strong financial problems. The distribution of copyright-protected audiovisual works requires the licensing of rights by different rightsholders. Some of them are represented by Copyright Management Organizations (CMOs), which allow users to clear rights for many works without individual negotiations. Fees paid to CMOs for copyright-protected content constitute a significant part of operating costs for companies like TV stations, cable operators, VoD (Video on Demand) platforms. In case of intellectual properties for audiovisual works, CMOs make the valuation. They have been facing legal challenges due to subjective valuations as a result of being monopolies in the local market of the represented country and lack of transparency. Aim: This work explores the transparency of 21 CMOs in 4 EU countries due to their expected to be an integrated market status as the result of political and economic amalgamation. In addition to the adoption of The European Union Directive on collective management of copyright and multi-territorial licensing of rights, as part of the EU’s Digital Single Market project, this exploratory research, with comparative analysis of CMOs using the linear ordering methods, explains the necessity of an epagogic approach to creating correct institutions besides directives and laws, such as central observation, an ombudsman for conflict management, or an official body to employ these features in one structure to actively govern the market. Results: The conducted analysis allowed us to reflect on the importance of transparency and taxonomic mapping of the audiovisual market landscape will be the guideline to flatten the copyright valuation divergence in the EU and eventually will pave the way for fewer disputes and more innovations.

Marketplace Trade in Large Cities in Poland

Traditional marketplace trade brings many socio-economic benefits: it affects the local labour market, entrepreneurship, and tourism. In many countries, activities are undertaken to support the operation of marketplaces. In recent years, new threats to the development of marketplaces have emerged, such as cheap discount shops, supermarkets, and online shops. The inhabitants of many cities still enjoy shopping at traditional marketplaces. The aim of the research is to assess the development of marketplace trade in large cities in Poland. Eurostat does not provide detailed data on marketplaces in Poland. We decided to fill this gap. Additionally, we assessed the attractiveness of large cities in Poland in terms of the development of marketplace trade in the years 2008–2019 by means of linear ordering of objects (Hellwig’s composite measure of development). In the years 1995–2019, the number of marketplaces in Poland remained at a constant level, but since 2003 their area has decreased. However, the total number of marketplaces has increased compared to 1995. In the whole research period, Kraków and Katowice were the most attractive cities with respect to the development of the marketplace trade, while Gdańsk and Sosnowiec were the least attractive. The high position of Kraków results from the nature of the city and its tourist attractions, while the low position of Sosnowiec is caused by the existence of a large bazaar in nearby city of Będzin.