Carbon emissions have become a critical concern in the global effort to combat climate change,with each country or region contributing differently based on its economic structures,energy sources,and industrial activit...Carbon emissions have become a critical concern in the global effort to combat climate change,with each country or region contributing differently based on its economic structures,energy sources,and industrial activities.The factors influencing carbon emissions vary across countries and sectors.This study examined the factors influencing CO_(2)emissions in the 7 South American countries including Argentina,Brazil,Chile,Colombia,Ecuador,Peru,and Venezuela.We used the Seemingly Unrelated Regression(SUR)model to analyse the relationship of CO_(2)emissions with gross domestic product(GDP),renewable energy use,urbanization,industrialization,international tourism,agricultural productivity,and forest area based on data from 2000 to 2022.According to the SUR model,we found that GDP and industrialization had a moderate positive effect on CO_(2)emissions,whereas renewable energy use had a moderate negative effect on CO_(2)emissions.International tourism generally had a positive impact on CO_(2)emissions,while forest area tended to decrease CO_(2)emissions.Different variables had different effects on CO_(2)emissions in the 7 South American countries.In Argentina and Venezuela,GDP,international tourism,and agricultural productivity significantly affected CO_(2)emissions.In Colombia,GDP and international tourism had a negative impact on CO_(2)emissions.In Brazil,CO_(2)emissions were primarily driven by GDP,while in Chile,Ecuador,and Peru,international tourism had a negative effect on CO_(2)emissions.Overall,this study highlights the importance of country-specific strategies for reducing CO_(2)emissions and emphasizes the varying roles of these driving factors in shaping environmental quality in the 7 South American countries.展开更多
The hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with unrelated parallel machine is a typical NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem, and it exists widely in chemical, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industry. In this wor...The hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with unrelated parallel machine is a typical NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem, and it exists widely in chemical, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industry. In this work, a novel mathematic model for the hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with unrelated parallel machine(HFSPUPM) was proposed. Additionally, an effective hybrid estimation of distribution algorithm was proposed to solve the HFSPUPM, taking advantage of the features in the mathematic model. In the optimization algorithm, a new individual representation method was adopted. The(EDA) structure was used for global search while the teaching learning based optimization(TLBO) strategy was used for local search. Based on the structure of the HFSPUPM, this work presents a series of discrete operations. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid algorithm compared with other algorithms.展开更多
Synthetic biology promises to simplify the construction of metabolic pathways by assembling the de- tached modules of the whole pathway. This gives new approaches for the microbial production of industrial products su...Synthetic biology promises to simplify the construction of metabolic pathways by assembling the de- tached modules of the whole pathway. This gives new approaches for the microbial production of industrial products such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). In this study, to produce poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) by Pseudomonas stutzeri 1317 from unrelated carbon sources such as glucose, the phaCl-phaZ-phaC2 operon of P. stutzeri 1317 was knocked out to generate the PHA deficient mutant P. stutzeri 1317LF. Then three modules containing phaCahAReBRe, phaCahBReGep and phaCAhPah were introduced into P. stutzeri 1317LF separately The shake flask results indicated that the precursor supply and PHA synthase activity were the vital factors for the PHBHHx accumulation of P. stutzeri 1317LF. Furthermore, the PHBHHx accumulation of the recombinants from different carbon resources were performed. The highest PHBHHx content was 23.7% (by mass) with 58.6% (by mole) 3HB fraction. These results provide basis for further improving the PHBHHx accumulation of P. stutzeri from unrelated carbon sources.展开更多
This paper discusses design and comparison of Simulated Annealing Algorithm and Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) to minimize the makespan in scheduling n single operation independent jobs on m unrel...This paper discusses design and comparison of Simulated Annealing Algorithm and Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) to minimize the makespan in scheduling n single operation independent jobs on m unrelated parallel machines. This problem of minimizing the makespan in single machine scheduling problem with uniform parallel machines is NP hard. Hence, heuristic development for such problem is highly inevitable. In this paper, two different Meta-heuristics to minimize the makespan of the assumed problem are designed and they are compared in terms of their solutions. In the first phase, the simulated annealing algorithm is presented and then GRASP (Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search procedure) is presented to minimize the makespan in the single machine scheduling problem with unrelated parallel machines. It is found that the simulated annealing algorithm performs better than GRASP.展开更多
Multivariate seemingly unrelated regression system is raised first and the two stage estimation and its covariance matrix are given. The results of the literatures[1-5] are extended in this paper.
Auto immune pancreatitis (AIP) is an uncommon form of chronic pancreatitis that has been divided into type 1 and type 2 which have distinct histopathology and clinical features. Type 1 AIP seems to be the pancreatic m...Auto immune pancreatitis (AIP) is an uncommon form of chronic pancreatitis that has been divided into type 1 and type 2 which have distinct histopathology and clinical features. Type 1 AIP seems to be the pancreatic manifestation of an IgG4-related systemic disease, characterized by elevated IgG4 serum levels, infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells and extrapancreatic lesions. When manifesting as a focal disease in the pancreas, it can be challenging to differentiate it from pancreatic cancer (PC). Because AIP is typically responsive to steroid therapy without the need for resection, differentiation between these two diseases is critical. We report the case of a 56-year-old man with initial suspect of PC, and final diagnosis of type 1 AIP according to the International Consensus Diagnostic Criteria (ICDC) without elevated levels of serum IgG4 or need for a histology sample. We take a review of literature in order to improve the diagnostic accuracy of AIP and describe clinical and imaging features to differentiate it from PC and avoid unnecessary surgery due to misdiagnosis.展开更多
AIM To compare the outcomes between related and unrelated kidney transplantations.METHODS Literature searches were performed following the Cochrane guidelines. We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis, whi...AIM To compare the outcomes between related and unrelated kidney transplantations.METHODS Literature searches were performed following the Cochrane guidelines. We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis, which included 12 trials that investigated outcomes including the long-term(ten years), midterm(one to five years), and short-term(one year) graft survival rate as well as the acute rejection rate. Metaanalyses were performed using fixed and random-effects models, which included tests for publication bias and heterogeneity.RESULTS No difference in graft survival rate was detected in patients who underwent living related kidney transplantations compared to unrelated(P = 0.44) transplantations after ten years. There were no significant differences between the graft survival rate in living related and unrelated kidney transplantations after a short-and midterm follow-up(P = 0.35, P = 0.46). There were no significant differences between the acute rejection rate in living related and unrelated kidney transplantations(P = 0.06).CONCLUSION The long, mid and short term follow-up of living related and unrelated kidney transplantation showed no significant difference in graft survival rate. Also, acute rejection rate was not significantly different between groups.展开更多
This paper discusses an efficient heuristic to minimize the makespan of scheduling n independent jobs on m unrelated parallel machines. The problem of scheduling the jobs on the unrelated parallel machines is combinat...This paper discusses an efficient heuristic to minimize the makespan of scheduling n independent jobs on m unrelated parallel machines. The problem of scheduling the jobs on the unrelated parallel machines is combinatorial in nature. Hence, the heuristic approach is inevitable for quicker solution. In this paper, a simple and efficient heuristic is designed to minimize the makespan of scheduling n independent jobs on m unrelated parallel machines. A mathematical model is also presented for this problem. A factorial experiment is used to compare the results of the proposed heuristic with that of a mathematical model by taking “Method” (Heuristic and Model) as the first factor and “Problem Size” (No. of machines X No. of Jobs: 2X5, 2X6, ……, 2X9, 3X5, 3X6, ……, 3X9, ……., 5X5, 5X6, …5X9) as the second factor. It is found that there is no significant difference between the results of the proposed heuristic and that of the mathematical model. Further, the mean percent error of the results obtained by the heuristic from the optimal results obtained by the model is 2.336 %. The heuristic gives optimal solution for 76.67 % of the problems.展开更多
For the two seemingly unrelated regression system, this paper proposed a new type of estimator called pre-test principal components estimator (PTPCE) and discussed some properties of PTPCE.
Renal transplantation is the treatment of choice for end stage kidney disease.However,despite all the efforts to expand the donor pool,the shortage of donors is increasing and as a consequence,there has been a signifi...Renal transplantation is the treatment of choice for end stage kidney disease.However,despite all the efforts to expand the donor pool,the shortage of donors is increasing and as a consequence,there has been a significant increase in the number of patients on transplant waiting lists globally.Societies worldwide have employed different methods to address this,each with specific ethical concerns surrounding them.Over three decades ago,a governmentally regulated program of kidney transplantation from living unrelated donors was introduced in Iran and since practiced which has been the subject of hot debate in the literature.Nevertheless,despite all these extensive discussions and publications,several key aspects of the program have still not been properly elucidated and addressed.In this article,the author aims to illuminate some dark corners related to this issue that have largely escaped the notice of ethicists.展开更多
In this paper, we propose a multi-criteria machine-schedules decision making method that can be applied to a produc-tion environment involving several unrelated parallel machines and we will focus on three objectives:...In this paper, we propose a multi-criteria machine-schedules decision making method that can be applied to a produc-tion environment involving several unrelated parallel machines and we will focus on three objectives: minimizing makespan, total flow time, and total number of tardy jobs. The decision making method consists of three phases. In the first phase, a mathematical model of a single machine scheduling problem, of which the objective is a weighted sum of the three objectives, is constructed. Such a model will be repeatedly solved by the CPLEX in the proposed Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing (MOSA) algorithm. In the second phase, the MOSA that integrates job clustering method, job group scheduling method, and job group – machine assignment method, is employed to obtain a set of non-dominated group schedules. During this phase, CPLEX software and the bipartite weighted matching algorithm are used repeatedly as parts of the MOSA algorithm. In the last phase, the technique of data envelopment analysis is applied to determine the most preferable schedule. A practical example is then presented in order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed decision making method.展开更多
Scheduling problem is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem.An effective improved estimation of distribution algorithm(IEDA) was proposed for minimizing the makespan of the unrelated parallel machine schedul...Scheduling problem is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem.An effective improved estimation of distribution algorithm(IEDA) was proposed for minimizing the makespan of the unrelated parallel machine scheduling problem(UPMSP).Mathematical description was given for the UPMSP.The IEDA which was combined with variable neighborhood search(IEDA_VNS) was proposed to solve the UPMSP in order to improve local search ability.A new encoding method was designed for representing the feasible solutions of the UPMSP.More knowledge of the UPMSP were taken consideration in IEDA_ VNS for probability matrix which was based the processing time matrix.The simulation results show that the proposed IEDA_VNS can solve the problem effectively.展开更多
In this paper, we consider scheduling problems with general truncated job-dependent learning effect on unrelated parallel-machine. The objective functions are to minimize total machine load, total completion (waiting)...In this paper, we consider scheduling problems with general truncated job-dependent learning effect on unrelated parallel-machine. The objective functions are to minimize total machine load, total completion (waiting) time, total absolute differences in completion (waiting) times respectively. If the number of machines is fixed, these problems can be solved in time respectively, where m is the number of machines and n is the number of jobs.展开更多
To the Editor:Thalassemia major(TM)is a prevalent public health issue in southern China,necessitating allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(allo-HSCT)as a curative treatment.Only a small proportion of TM ...To the Editor:Thalassemia major(TM)is a prevalent public health issue in southern China,necessitating allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(allo-HSCT)as a curative treatment.Only a small proportion of TM patients have a sibling identical donor(SID),therefore alternative donors,including human leukocyte antigen(HLA)matched unrelated donors(MUDs)and haploidentical donors(HIDs),are increasingly being adopted by transplant centers.Several centers have indicated that MUD transplantation does not differ from SID transplantation in terms of overall survival(OS)or event-free survival(EFS)in recent years,although early complications such as graft versus host disease(GVHD)are more common among MUD transplantation.展开更多
The casting production process typically involves single jobs and small batches,with multiple constraints in the molding and smelting operations.To address the discrete optimization challenge of casting production sch...The casting production process typically involves single jobs and small batches,with multiple constraints in the molding and smelting operations.To address the discrete optimization challenge of casting production scheduling,this paper presents a multi-objective batch scheduling model for molding and smelting operations on unrelated batch processing machines with incompatible job families and non-identical job sizes.The model aims to minimise the makespan,number of batches,and average vacancy rate of sandboxes.Based on the genetic algorithm,virus optimization algorithm,and two local search strategies,a hybrid algorithm(GA-VOA-BMS)has been designed to solve the model.The GA-VOA-BMS applies a novel Batch First Fit(BFF)heuristic for incompatible job families to improve the quality of the initial population,adopting the batch moving strategy and batch merging strategy to further enhance the quality of the solution and accelerate the convergence of the algorithm.The proposed algorithm was then compared with multi-objective swarm optimization algorithms,namely NSGA-ll,SPEA-l,and PESA-ll,to evaluate its effectiveness.The results of the performance comparison indicate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the others in terms of both qualityand stability.展开更多
Purpose-Over the last decade,African rail sectors have applied hybrid reform models to catch up with the subregion’s lagging rail performance compared to other regions.With this in mind,this paper aims to study the e...Purpose-Over the last decade,African rail sectors have applied hybrid reform models to catch up with the subregion’s lagging rail performance compared to other regions.With this in mind,this paper aims to study the effect of deregulation on rail transport demand.Following an abundant literature on deregulation in Europe and Asia,this study focuses on structural and regulatory reforms.Design/methodology/approach-The investigation methodology is in line with the investigations of Mizutani(2019)and Smith,Benedetto,and Nash(2018).This paper uses a seemingly unrelated model(SURE)for general estimation and a random effect least square model for regional block estimation on a panel of 26 countries for 15 years between 2000 and 2015.Findings-The main results show that structural reforms positively affect passenger transport demand,but negatively affect freight transport demand.The level of competition stimulates demand for freight transport.Privatization of operators positively affects freight transport demand,but has no significant effect on passenger transport demand.The introduction of a regulatory authority has a positive effect on demand for passenger transport,and in certain regional blocs,it affects demand for freight transport,with the existence of corridors shared between several countries.Originality/value-This study is carried out in the sub-Saharan African sub-region.Indeed,the importance of the rail sector and the dilapidated state of many of its infrastructures should prompt a more abundant literature on the subject of the effectiveness of deregulation movements.We also evaluate the effect of vertical or horizontal separation and the introduction of an independent regulator in the rail sector on overall demand for transport service.展开更多
For a seemingly unrelated regression system consisting of m equations, the information contained in all the equations is divided into sample information and additional information, and a new estimate of the regression...For a seemingly unrelated regression system consisting of m equations, the information contained in all the equations is divided into sample information and additional information, and a new estimate of the regression coefficients is proposed by using successive superposition. More precisely, the following three problems are solved: (ⅰ) a statistic summarized the additional information is constructed, (ⅱ) a procedure which superposes the additional information on the sample information and a new estimate of regression coefficients are proposed, (ⅲ) some properties of the new estimate are established.展开更多
For a system of two seemingly unrelated regression equations given by (?)(y_1 is an m×1 vector and y_2 is an n×1 vector,m≠n),employ- ing the covariance adjusted technique,we propose the parametric Bayes and...For a system of two seemingly unrelated regression equations given by (?)(y_1 is an m×1 vector and y_2 is an n×1 vector,m≠n),employ- ing the covariance adjusted technique,we propose the parametric Bayes and empirical Bayes iteration estimator sequences for regression coefficients.We prove that both the covariance matrices converge monotonically and the Bayes iteration estimator squence is consistent as well.Based on the mean square error (MSE) criterion,we elaborate the su- periority of empirical Bayes iteration estimator over the Bayes estimator of single equation when the covariance matrix of errors is unknown.The results obtained in this paper further show the power of the covariance adiusted approach.展开更多
Umbilical-cord blood (UCB) is a source of hematopoietic stem cells that has been successfully used for transplantation, primarily in children. But the low cell dose severely limits the application of unrelated umbilic...Umbilical-cord blood (UCB) is a source of hematopoietic stem cells that has been successfully used for transplantation, primarily in children. But the low cell dose severely limits the application of unrelated umbilical-cord blood transplantation (UCBT) in adult patients, particularly in those with high body weight. We hypothesized that the combined transplantation of two partially matched UCB units would improve engraftment without crossed immunological rejection. Since May 2000, six adult patients with high risk leukemia have been transplanted in this study.展开更多
文摘Carbon emissions have become a critical concern in the global effort to combat climate change,with each country or region contributing differently based on its economic structures,energy sources,and industrial activities.The factors influencing carbon emissions vary across countries and sectors.This study examined the factors influencing CO_(2)emissions in the 7 South American countries including Argentina,Brazil,Chile,Colombia,Ecuador,Peru,and Venezuela.We used the Seemingly Unrelated Regression(SUR)model to analyse the relationship of CO_(2)emissions with gross domestic product(GDP),renewable energy use,urbanization,industrialization,international tourism,agricultural productivity,and forest area based on data from 2000 to 2022.According to the SUR model,we found that GDP and industrialization had a moderate positive effect on CO_(2)emissions,whereas renewable energy use had a moderate negative effect on CO_(2)emissions.International tourism generally had a positive impact on CO_(2)emissions,while forest area tended to decrease CO_(2)emissions.Different variables had different effects on CO_(2)emissions in the 7 South American countries.In Argentina and Venezuela,GDP,international tourism,and agricultural productivity significantly affected CO_(2)emissions.In Colombia,GDP and international tourism had a negative impact on CO_(2)emissions.In Brazil,CO_(2)emissions were primarily driven by GDP,while in Chile,Ecuador,and Peru,international tourism had a negative effect on CO_(2)emissions.Overall,this study highlights the importance of country-specific strategies for reducing CO_(2)emissions and emphasizes the varying roles of these driving factors in shaping environmental quality in the 7 South American countries.
基金Projects(61573144,61773165,61673175,61174040)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(222201717006)supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,China
文摘The hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with unrelated parallel machine is a typical NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem, and it exists widely in chemical, manufacturing and pharmaceutical industry. In this work, a novel mathematic model for the hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with unrelated parallel machine(HFSPUPM) was proposed. Additionally, an effective hybrid estimation of distribution algorithm was proposed to solve the HFSPUPM, taking advantage of the features in the mathematic model. In the optimization algorithm, a new individual representation method was adopted. The(EDA) structure was used for global search while the teaching learning based optimization(TLBO) strategy was used for local search. Based on the structure of the HFSPUPM, this work presents a series of discrete operations. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid algorithm compared with other algorithms.
基金Supported by the National lqatural Science Foundation of China (31260015), Natural Science Foundation of Qinghai Province (2012-Z-919Q), the Extramural Project from State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology (2012SKLAB06-5) and the Research Funds for Young Project of Qinghal University (2011-QYY-1).
文摘Synthetic biology promises to simplify the construction of metabolic pathways by assembling the de- tached modules of the whole pathway. This gives new approaches for the microbial production of industrial products such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). In this study, to produce poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) by Pseudomonas stutzeri 1317 from unrelated carbon sources such as glucose, the phaCl-phaZ-phaC2 operon of P. stutzeri 1317 was knocked out to generate the PHA deficient mutant P. stutzeri 1317LF. Then three modules containing phaCahAReBRe, phaCahBReGep and phaCAhPah were introduced into P. stutzeri 1317LF separately The shake flask results indicated that the precursor supply and PHA synthase activity were the vital factors for the PHBHHx accumulation of P. stutzeri 1317LF. Furthermore, the PHBHHx accumulation of the recombinants from different carbon resources were performed. The highest PHBHHx content was 23.7% (by mass) with 58.6% (by mole) 3HB fraction. These results provide basis for further improving the PHBHHx accumulation of P. stutzeri from unrelated carbon sources.
文摘This paper discusses design and comparison of Simulated Annealing Algorithm and Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) to minimize the makespan in scheduling n single operation independent jobs on m unrelated parallel machines. This problem of minimizing the makespan in single machine scheduling problem with uniform parallel machines is NP hard. Hence, heuristic development for such problem is highly inevitable. In this paper, two different Meta-heuristics to minimize the makespan of the assumed problem are designed and they are compared in terms of their solutions. In the first phase, the simulated annealing algorithm is presented and then GRASP (Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search procedure) is presented to minimize the makespan in the single machine scheduling problem with unrelated parallel machines. It is found that the simulated annealing algorithm performs better than GRASP.
基金Supported by the NSF of Henan Province(0611052600)
文摘Multivariate seemingly unrelated regression system is raised first and the two stage estimation and its covariance matrix are given. The results of the literatures[1-5] are extended in this paper.
文摘Auto immune pancreatitis (AIP) is an uncommon form of chronic pancreatitis that has been divided into type 1 and type 2 which have distinct histopathology and clinical features. Type 1 AIP seems to be the pancreatic manifestation of an IgG4-related systemic disease, characterized by elevated IgG4 serum levels, infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells and extrapancreatic lesions. When manifesting as a focal disease in the pancreas, it can be challenging to differentiate it from pancreatic cancer (PC). Because AIP is typically responsive to steroid therapy without the need for resection, differentiation between these two diseases is critical. We report the case of a 56-year-old man with initial suspect of PC, and final diagnosis of type 1 AIP according to the International Consensus Diagnostic Criteria (ICDC) without elevated levels of serum IgG4 or need for a histology sample. We take a review of literature in order to improve the diagnostic accuracy of AIP and describe clinical and imaging features to differentiate it from PC and avoid unnecessary surgery due to misdiagnosis.
文摘AIM To compare the outcomes between related and unrelated kidney transplantations.METHODS Literature searches were performed following the Cochrane guidelines. We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis, which included 12 trials that investigated outcomes including the long-term(ten years), midterm(one to five years), and short-term(one year) graft survival rate as well as the acute rejection rate. Metaanalyses were performed using fixed and random-effects models, which included tests for publication bias and heterogeneity.RESULTS No difference in graft survival rate was detected in patients who underwent living related kidney transplantations compared to unrelated(P = 0.44) transplantations after ten years. There were no significant differences between the graft survival rate in living related and unrelated kidney transplantations after a short-and midterm follow-up(P = 0.35, P = 0.46). There were no significant differences between the acute rejection rate in living related and unrelated kidney transplantations(P = 0.06).CONCLUSION The long, mid and short term follow-up of living related and unrelated kidney transplantation showed no significant difference in graft survival rate. Also, acute rejection rate was not significantly different between groups.
文摘This paper discusses an efficient heuristic to minimize the makespan of scheduling n independent jobs on m unrelated parallel machines. The problem of scheduling the jobs on the unrelated parallel machines is combinatorial in nature. Hence, the heuristic approach is inevitable for quicker solution. In this paper, a simple and efficient heuristic is designed to minimize the makespan of scheduling n independent jobs on m unrelated parallel machines. A mathematical model is also presented for this problem. A factorial experiment is used to compare the results of the proposed heuristic with that of a mathematical model by taking “Method” (Heuristic and Model) as the first factor and “Problem Size” (No. of machines X No. of Jobs: 2X5, 2X6, ……, 2X9, 3X5, 3X6, ……, 3X9, ……., 5X5, 5X6, …5X9) as the second factor. It is found that there is no significant difference between the results of the proposed heuristic and that of the mathematical model. Further, the mean percent error of the results obtained by the heuristic from the optimal results obtained by the model is 2.336 %. The heuristic gives optimal solution for 76.67 % of the problems.
文摘For the two seemingly unrelated regression system, this paper proposed a new type of estimator called pre-test principal components estimator (PTPCE) and discussed some properties of PTPCE.
文摘Renal transplantation is the treatment of choice for end stage kidney disease.However,despite all the efforts to expand the donor pool,the shortage of donors is increasing and as a consequence,there has been a significant increase in the number of patients on transplant waiting lists globally.Societies worldwide have employed different methods to address this,each with specific ethical concerns surrounding them.Over three decades ago,a governmentally regulated program of kidney transplantation from living unrelated donors was introduced in Iran and since practiced which has been the subject of hot debate in the literature.Nevertheless,despite all these extensive discussions and publications,several key aspects of the program have still not been properly elucidated and addressed.In this article,the author aims to illuminate some dark corners related to this issue that have largely escaped the notice of ethicists.
文摘In this paper, we propose a multi-criteria machine-schedules decision making method that can be applied to a produc-tion environment involving several unrelated parallel machines and we will focus on three objectives: minimizing makespan, total flow time, and total number of tardy jobs. The decision making method consists of three phases. In the first phase, a mathematical model of a single machine scheduling problem, of which the objective is a weighted sum of the three objectives, is constructed. Such a model will be repeatedly solved by the CPLEX in the proposed Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing (MOSA) algorithm. In the second phase, the MOSA that integrates job clustering method, job group scheduling method, and job group – machine assignment method, is employed to obtain a set of non-dominated group schedules. During this phase, CPLEX software and the bipartite weighted matching algorithm are used repeatedly as parts of the MOSA algorithm. In the last phase, the technique of data envelopment analysis is applied to determine the most preferable schedule. A practical example is then presented in order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed decision making method.
基金National Natural Science Foundations of China(Nos.61573144,61174040)
文摘Scheduling problem is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem.An effective improved estimation of distribution algorithm(IEDA) was proposed for minimizing the makespan of the unrelated parallel machine scheduling problem(UPMSP).Mathematical description was given for the UPMSP.The IEDA which was combined with variable neighborhood search(IEDA_VNS) was proposed to solve the UPMSP in order to improve local search ability.A new encoding method was designed for representing the feasible solutions of the UPMSP.More knowledge of the UPMSP were taken consideration in IEDA_ VNS for probability matrix which was based the processing time matrix.The simulation results show that the proposed IEDA_VNS can solve the problem effectively.
文摘In this paper, we consider scheduling problems with general truncated job-dependent learning effect on unrelated parallel-machine. The objective functions are to minimize total machine load, total completion (waiting) time, total absolute differences in completion (waiting) times respectively. If the number of machines is fixed, these problems can be solved in time respectively, where m is the number of machines and n is the number of jobs.
基金supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.82200236)Basic Research and Basic Applied Research Project of Guangzhou Science and Technology Bureau(No.202201011378)Doctoral Initiation Foundation of Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center(No.2020BS010).
文摘To the Editor:Thalassemia major(TM)is a prevalent public health issue in southern China,necessitating allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(allo-HSCT)as a curative treatment.Only a small proportion of TM patients have a sibling identical donor(SID),therefore alternative donors,including human leukocyte antigen(HLA)matched unrelated donors(MUDs)and haploidentical donors(HIDs),are increasingly being adopted by transplant centers.Several centers have indicated that MUD transplantation does not differ from SID transplantation in terms of overall survival(OS)or event-free survival(EFS)in recent years,although early complications such as graft versus host disease(GVHD)are more common among MUD transplantation.
文摘The casting production process typically involves single jobs and small batches,with multiple constraints in the molding and smelting operations.To address the discrete optimization challenge of casting production scheduling,this paper presents a multi-objective batch scheduling model for molding and smelting operations on unrelated batch processing machines with incompatible job families and non-identical job sizes.The model aims to minimise the makespan,number of batches,and average vacancy rate of sandboxes.Based on the genetic algorithm,virus optimization algorithm,and two local search strategies,a hybrid algorithm(GA-VOA-BMS)has been designed to solve the model.The GA-VOA-BMS applies a novel Batch First Fit(BFF)heuristic for incompatible job families to improve the quality of the initial population,adopting the batch moving strategy and batch merging strategy to further enhance the quality of the solution and accelerate the convergence of the algorithm.The proposed algorithm was then compared with multi-objective swarm optimization algorithms,namely NSGA-ll,SPEA-l,and PESA-ll,to evaluate its effectiveness.The results of the performance comparison indicate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the others in terms of both qualityand stability.
文摘Purpose-Over the last decade,African rail sectors have applied hybrid reform models to catch up with the subregion’s lagging rail performance compared to other regions.With this in mind,this paper aims to study the effect of deregulation on rail transport demand.Following an abundant literature on deregulation in Europe and Asia,this study focuses on structural and regulatory reforms.Design/methodology/approach-The investigation methodology is in line with the investigations of Mizutani(2019)and Smith,Benedetto,and Nash(2018).This paper uses a seemingly unrelated model(SURE)for general estimation and a random effect least square model for regional block estimation on a panel of 26 countries for 15 years between 2000 and 2015.Findings-The main results show that structural reforms positively affect passenger transport demand,but negatively affect freight transport demand.The level of competition stimulates demand for freight transport.Privatization of operators positively affects freight transport demand,but has no significant effect on passenger transport demand.The introduction of a regulatory authority has a positive effect on demand for passenger transport,and in certain regional blocs,it affects demand for freight transport,with the existence of corridors shared between several countries.Originality/value-This study is carried out in the sub-Saharan African sub-region.Indeed,the importance of the rail sector and the dilapidated state of many of its infrastructures should prompt a more abundant literature on the subject of the effectiveness of deregulation movements.We also evaluate the effect of vertical or horizontal separation and the introduction of an independent regulator in the rail sector on overall demand for transport service.
基金Project partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and by the Third World Academy of Sciences under grant No. 87-46.
文摘For a seemingly unrelated regression system consisting of m equations, the information contained in all the equations is divided into sample information and additional information, and a new estimate of the regression coefficients is proposed by using successive superposition. More precisely, the following three problems are solved: (ⅰ) a statistic summarized the additional information is constructed, (ⅱ) a procedure which superposes the additional information on the sample information and a new estimate of regression coefficients are proposed, (ⅲ) some properties of the new estimate are established.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.10271001).
文摘For a system of two seemingly unrelated regression equations given by (?)(y_1 is an m×1 vector and y_2 is an n×1 vector,m≠n),employ- ing the covariance adjusted technique,we propose the parametric Bayes and empirical Bayes iteration estimator sequences for regression coefficients.We prove that both the covariance matrices converge monotonically and the Bayes iteration estimator squence is consistent as well.Based on the mean square error (MSE) criterion,we elaborate the su- periority of empirical Bayes iteration estimator over the Bayes estimator of single equation when the covariance matrix of errors is unknown.The results obtained in this paper further show the power of the covariance adiusted approach.
文摘Umbilical-cord blood (UCB) is a source of hematopoietic stem cells that has been successfully used for transplantation, primarily in children. But the low cell dose severely limits the application of unrelated umbilical-cord blood transplantation (UCBT) in adult patients, particularly in those with high body weight. We hypothesized that the combined transplantation of two partially matched UCB units would improve engraftment without crossed immunological rejection. Since May 2000, six adult patients with high risk leukemia have been transplanted in this study.