Deteriorating job scheduling to minimize the number of late jobs with setup times

Deteriorating jobs scheduling problems have been widely studied recently. However, research on scheduling problems with deteriorating jobs has rarely considered explicit setup times. With the current emphasis on customer service and meeting the promised delivery dates, we consider a single-machine scheduling problem to minimize the number of late jobs with deteriorating jobs and setup times in this paper. We derive some dominance properties, a lower bound, and an initial upper bound by using a heuristic algorithm to speed up the search process of the branch-and-bound algorithm. Computational experiments show that the algorithm can solve instances up to 1000 jobs in a reasonable amount of time.     

具有反馈信息的迭代学习控制律在Lebesgue-p范数意义下的收敛性

针对一类线性时不变系统, 提出了具有反馈信息的PD-型(Proportional-derivative-type)迭代学习控制律, 利用卷积的推广的Young不等式, 分析了控制律在Lebesgue-p范数意义下的单调收敛性. 分析表明, 收敛性不但决定于系统的输入输出矩阵和控制律的微分学习增益, 而且依赖于系统的状态矩阵和控制律的比例学习增益; 进一步, 当适当选取反馈增益时, 反馈信息可加快典型的PD-型迭代学习控制律的单调收敛性. 数值仿真验证了理论分析的正确性和控制律的有效性.     

信息模型驱动的信息系统开发与元信息系统

信息系统开发经历了以计算为中心、数据为中心、对象为中心(数据与处理一体化)和正在发展的以模型为中心的四个阶段。以模型为中心的阶段的出现,使信息系统开发成为一个由信息模型(Information Model)驱动的过程,信息模型将贯穿于信息系统的分析、设计、实现、配置、维护和管理的各个阶段,从而需要一个基于信息模型的、辅助和管理信息系统开发与运行过程的信息系统,即元信息系统。     

Large-area TiO2 nanotube dye-sensitized solar cells using thermal-sprayed Ti layers on stainless steel

This work presents large-scale dye-sensitized solar cells and methods for their manufacture. A dye-sensitized solar cell device contains a photosensitive dye adsorbed on a large surface of the anode, and a transparent conductive cathode disposed opposite the anode, wherein platinum nano-catalytic particles adhere to its surface, and an electrolytic solution is sealed between the anode and the transparent conductive cathode. A titania nanotube film was fabricated by thermo-spraying titanium film on 304 stainless-steel substrate. The photo-current conversion efficiency was tested under an AM 1.5 solar simulator. The dye-sensitized solar cell device has a short current density of 8.22 mA cm^–2, open voltage of 0.71 V, fill factor of 0.59, and conversion efficiency of 3.4%. The internal impedance of the dye-sensitized solar cell was detected and simulated using an electrical impedance spectra technique with inductance, resistance, and capacitance characteristics. The stainless-steel/titania, titania/electrolyte, electrolyte, and electrolyte/(platinum/indium tin oxide) interfaces were simulated using an resistor–capacitor parallel circuit, and bulk materials such as stainless steel, tin doped indium oxide, and conducting wire were simulated by using a series of resistors and inductance.     

Betel Nut Arecoline Induces Different Phases of Growth Arrest between Normal and Cancerous Prostate Cells through the Reactive Oxygen Species Pathway

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a reproductive system cancer in elderly men. We investigated the effects of betel nut arecoline on the growth of normal and cancerous prostate cells. Normal RWPE-1 prostate epithelial cells, androgen-independent PC-3 PCa cells, and androgen-dependent LNCaP PCa cells were used. Arecoline inhibited their growth in dose- and time-dependent manners. Arecoline caused RWPE-1 and PC-3 cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and LNCaP cell arrest in the G0/G1 phase. In RWPE-1 cells, arecoline increased the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-1, p21, and cyclins B1 and D3, decreased the expression of CDK2, and had no effects on CDK4 and cyclin D1 expression. In PC-3 cells, arecoline decreased CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, p21, p27, and cyclin D1 and D3 protein expression and increased cyclin B1 protein expression. In LNCaP cells, arecoline decreased CDK2, CDK4, and cyclin D1 expression; increased p21, p27, and cyclin D3 expression; had no effects on CDK1 and cyclin B1 expression. The antioxidant N-acetylcysteine blocked the arecoline-induced increase in reactive oxygen species production, decreased cell viability, altered the cell cycle, and changed the cell cycle regulatory protein levels. Thus, arecoline oxidant exerts differential effects on the cell cycle through modulations of regulatory proteins.     

Toughening of epoxy thermosets with nano-sized or micron-sized domains of poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(butadiene-co-acrylonitrile)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) triblock copolymers synthesized using room temperature ester coupling reaction

Poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(butadiene-co-acrylonitrile)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-b-PBN-b–PEO) triblock copolymers with three different compositions were synthesized from poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ethers and carboxylic acid-terminated poly(butadiene-co-acrylonitrile) (CTBN) by ester coupling reaction at room temperature. The PEO-b-PBN-b-PEO was incorporated into anhydride cured epoxy thermosets to improve the fracture toughness by the formation of either nano-sized spherical micelles or micron-sized vesicles. The polymer chemical structure was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and gel permeation chromatography. The morphology of PEO-b-PBN-b–PEO within the epoxy thermosets was investigated using a transmission electron microscope, an atomic force microscope, and a scanning electron microscope. Also, we conducted impact testing and plane-strain fracture toughness testing to evaluate the fracture toughness in terms of the impact strength and the critical stress intensity factors (K_IC) for the modified epoxy thermosets. The results revealed that all the PEO-b-PBN-b-PEO triblock copolymers are more effective in the toughening of epoxy thermoset compare to CTBN. We found that the 5 wt% PEO-b-PBN-b-PEO modified epoxy thermoset containing micron-sized vesicles exhibited the highest K_IC, which was 3.23 times as high as the K_IC of pristine epoxy thermoset. Besides, the glass transition temperature remained and the tensile modulus did not reduce remarkably when the amount of PEO-b-PBN-b-PEO added into epoxy was 5 wt%.     

Cluster-Based Saliency-Guided Content-Aware Image Retargeting

Straightforward image resizing operators without considering image contents (e.g., uniform scaling) cannot usually produce satisfactory results, while content-aware image retargeting aims to arbitrarily change image size while preserving visually prominent features. In this paper, a cluster-based saliency-guided seam carving algorithm for content-aware image retargeting is proposed. To cope with the main drawback of the original seam carving algorithm relying on only gradient-based image importance map, we integrate a gradient-based map and a cluster-based saliency map to generate a more reliable importance map, resulting in better single image retargeting results. Experimental results have demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.     

Novel impacts of glycol-modified poly(ethylene terephthalate)(PETG) to crystallization behavior of polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) within stretched miscible blends

For studied blends of amorphous glycol-modified poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PETG) and semicrystalline polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), melt miscibility is understood from the linear variation of a single glass transition temperature (T_g) over the entire composition range. The diluent effect of PETG component severely retarded the crystallization of PEN component within blends. Nevertheless, after being through isothermal stretching at 120 °C, crystallization was able to progress efficiently during heating in a continuous manner. Instead of being thermally relaxed back to amorphous state, parallel sliding motions of stretched PEN segments toward crystallization appear rather dominant. Within stretched blends, the PETG content emerged as a critical factor to the crystallinity increase of PEN fraction and the absence of lattice defect, instead of behaving as a diluent component. Furthermore, as being indicated by in-situ small-angle X-ray experiments, regular lamellar stacking gradually developed within stretched blends through heating, which indicates the involvement of thermally activated self-association of randomly distributed crystalline lamellae. With including a higher fraction of PETG component, these secondary ordering processes including lamellar thickening can be activated at lower temperature. Hence, the accompanied thermal relaxation of flexible PETG segment is inferred able to lubricate the sliding of stretched PEN segments in amorphous regions via lowering encountered frictional hindrance, and thus enhance both primary and secondary ordering processes within stretched blends.     

Effect of red mold rice on blood coagulation and anticoagulation factors in a rat model of hyperlipidemia

The bioactive monacolin K found in red mold rice (RMR) is identical in structure to lovastatin, and has the effect of lowering the cholesterol level in human blood. Statins not only lower atherosclerosis caused by thrombus, but also reduce the death rate from coronary artery disease. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of Monascus purpureus NTU 803 fermented-RMR on blood coagulation and anticoagulation factors in hyperlipidemic rats. Rats were fed a high-lipid diet for 8 weeks to induce hyperlipidemia and fed various doses of RMR. The results showed that RMR prolonged the bleeding time of the rats, inhibited platelet coagulation, lowered the fibrinogen content in the blood, increased the antithrombin III and protein C content in the blood, and reduced lipid plaque in the aorta. RMR was effective for preventing the formation of thrombus and reducing the occurrence of atherosclerosis.