Condition diagnosis of multiple bearings system is one of the requirements in industry field, because bearings are used in many equipment and their failure can result in total breakdown. Conditions of bearings commonly are reflected by vibration signals data. In multiple bearing condition diagnosis, it will involve many types of vibration signals data; thus, consequently, it will involve many features extraction to obtain precise condition diagnosis. However, large number of features extraction will increase the complexity of the diagnosis system. Therefore, in this paper, we presented a diagnosis method which is hybridization of adaptive genetic algorithms (AGAs), back propagation neural networks (BPNNs), and grey relational analysis (GRA) to diagnose the condition of multiple bearings system. AGAs are used in the diagnosis algorithm to determine the best initial weights of BPNNs in order to improve the diagnosis accuracy. In addition, GRA is applied to determine and select the dominant features from the vibration signal data which will provide good diagnosis of multiple bearings system in less features extraction. The experiments results show that AGAs-BPNNs with GRA approaches can increase the accuracy of diagnosis in shorter processing time, compared with the AGAs-BPNNs without the GRA.
The quadratic assignment problem (QAP) is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem with a wide variety of applications. Biogeography-based optimization (BBO), a relatively new optimization technique based on the biogeography concept, uses the idea of migration strategy of species to derive algorithm for solving optimization problems. It has been shown that BBO provides performance on a par with other optimization methods. A classical BBO algorithm employs the mutation operator as its diversification strategy. However, this process will often ruin the quality of solutions in QAP. In this paper, we propose a hybrid technique to overcome the weakness of classical BBO algorithm to solve QAP, by replacing the mutation operator with a tabu search procedure. Our experiments using the benchmark instances from QAPLIB show that the proposed hybrid method is able to find good solutions for them within reasonable computational times. Out of 61 benchmark instances tested, the proposed method is able to obtain the best known solutions for 57 of them.
The paper aims to provide an insight into the significance of having a simulation model to forecast the supply of registered nurses for health workforce planning policy using System Dynamics. A model is highly in demand to predict the workforce demand for nurses in the future, which it supports for complete development of a needs-based nurse workforce projection using Malaysia as a case study. The supply model consists of three sub-models to forecast the number of registered nurses for the next 15 years: training model, population model and Full Time Equivalent (FTE) model. In fact, the training model is for predicting the number of newly registered nurses after training is completed. Furthermore, the population model is for indicating the number of registered nurses in the nation and the FTE model is useful for counting the number of registered nurses with direct patient care. Each model is described in detail with the logical connection and mathematical governing equation for accurate forecasting. The supply model is validated using error analysis approach in terms of the root mean square percent error and the Theil inequality statistics, which is mportant for evaluating the simulation results. Moreover, the output of simulation results provides a useful insight for policy makers as a what-if analysis is conducted. Some recommendations are proposed in order to deal with the nursing deficit. It must be noted that the results from the simulation model will be used for the next stage of the Needs-Based Nurse Workforce projection project. The impact of this study is that it provides the ability for greater planning and policy making with better predictions.