AbstractsTransportation

A multi-objective sequential stochastic assignment problem for Ebola entry screening

by Ge Yu




Institution: University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
Department:
Year: 2016
Keywords: sequential stochastic assignment; multi-objective optimization; Ebola entry screening
Posted: 02/05/2017
Record ID: 2127235
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90467


Abstract

The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa prompted a need to assess how deplaning passengers from West Africa should be managed. A 21-day quarantine requirement for deplaning passengers, based on their risk factors, was implemented at five international airports in the United States in late 2014. This thesis formulates the multi-objective sequential stochastic assignment problem (MOSSAP) to improve the process for managing such quarantine assignments. In MOSSAP, each passenger is assessed with a two-dimensional risk vector, revealed upon entering the United States, which is used to make the quarantine assignment. The objective is to maximize the expected number of passengers assigned to the correct level of monitoring (quarantine, self-monitoring), subject to quarantine capacity constraint. The weighted sum method is used to generate Pareto optimal policies for MOSSAP. Statistics available from Ebola entry screening and related public health sources are used to illustrate how such a policy would operate in practice.