Bayesian Networks (BNs) represent conditional probability relations among a set of random variables (nodes) in the form of a directed acyclic graph (DAG), and have found diverse applications in knowledge discovery. We study the problem of learning the sparse DAG structure of a BN from continuous observational data. The central problem can be modeled as … Read more
Sparse Principal Component Analysis (SPCA) is designed to enhance the interpretability of traditional Principal Component Analysis (PCA) by optimally selecting a subset of features that comprise the first principal component. Given the NP-hard nature of SPCA, most current approaches resort to approximate solutions, typically achieved through tractable semidefinite programs (SDPs) or heuristic methods. To solve SPCA to … Read more
k-means clustering is a classic method of unsupervised learning with the aim of partitioning a given number of measurements into k clusters. In many modern applications, however, this approach suffers from unstructured measurement errors because the k-means clustering result then represents a clustering of the erroneous measurements instead of retrieving the true underlying clustering structure. … Read more
We develop and test linearization and parallelization schemes for convex mixed-integer nonlinear programming. Several linearization approaches are proposed for LP/NLP based branch-and-bound. Some of these approaches strengthen the linear approximation to nonlinear constraints at the root node and some at the other branch-and-bound nodes. Two of the techniques are specifically applicable to commonly found univariate … Read more
This paper addresses a real-life personnel scheduling problem in the context of Covid-19 pandemic, arising in a large Italian pharmaceutical distribution warehouse. In this case study, the challenge is to determine a schedule that attempts to meet the contractual working time of the employees, considering the fact that they must be divided into mutually exclusive … Read more
Sparse principal component analysis (PCA) is a popular dimensionality reduction technique for obtaining principal components which are linear combinations of a small subset of the original features. Existing approaches cannot supply certifiably optimal principal components with more than $p=100s$ of variables. By reformulating sparse PCA as a convex mixed-integer semidefinite optimization problem, we design a … Read more
Multiple interconnected energy production systems are a common solution to satisfy the energy demand of industrial processes. Such energy demand is usually the combination of various energy types such as heat and electricity. This implies the installation of different technologies able to produce one or multiple energy types, to satisfy all energy needs. However, multiple … Read more
In this paper, we study the decision process of assigning elective surgery patients to available surgical blocks in multiple operating rooms (OR) under random surgery durations, random postoperative length-of-stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), and limited capacity of ICU. The probability distributions of random parameters are assumed to be ambiguous, and only the mean … Read more
In this paper, we consider binary quadratically constrained quadratic problems and propose a new approach to generate stronger bounds than the ones obtained using the Semidefinite Programming relaxation. The new relaxation is based on the Boolean Quadric Polytope and is solved via a Dantzig-Wolfe Reformulation in matrix space. For block-decomposable problems, we extend the relaxation … Read more
Potential-based flows constitute a basic model to represent physical behavior in networks. Under natural assumptions, the flow in such networks must be acyclic. The goal of this paper is to exploit this property for the solution of corresponding optimization problems. To this end, we introduce several combinatorial models for acyclic flows, based on binary variables … Read more