The minimization of non-lower semicontinuous functions is a difficult topic that has been minimally studied. Among such functions is a Heaviside composite function that is the composition of a Heaviside function with a possibly nonsmooth multivariate function. Unifying a statistical estimation problem with hierarchical selection of variables and a sample average approximation of composite chance … Read more
Second-order necessary or sufficient optimality conditions for nonlinear programming are usually defined by means of the positive (semi-)definiteness of a quadratic form, or a maximum of quadratic forms, over the critical cone. However, algorithms for finding such second-order stationary points are currently unknown. Typically, an algorithm with a second-order property approximates a primal-dual point such … Read more
Derivative-free optimization (DFO) consists in finding the best value of an objective function without relying on derivatives. To tackle such problems, one may build approximate derivatives, using for instance finite-difference estimates. One may also design algorithmic strategies that perform space exploration and seek improvement over the current point. The first type of strategy often provides … Read more
This literature review sought to identify the role of Operations Research and Management (OR-and-OM) in the Healthcare Systems (HS) decision/policy making processes that have undergone a remarkable transformation when faced with pandemics, especially during the COVID-19 era. In this study, we investigate OR models and OM techniques that facilitate clinical decision-making with short- and long-term … Read more