Explore the vast range of titles available.

The complex problems in the real world, an increase in competition among producers, the advancements in equipment and manufacturing products, the high cost of factory equipment and, etc., have led to the production structure change from a centralized structure to a decentralized one. In recent years, distributed systems have become increasingly important. So in order to adapt to market competition and to respond quickly to changing market demand, there is a need to study this problem. An important aspect of planning in a distributed environment is decentralized production. In such cases, it becomes more important to consider the problem of distributed scheduling. In this regard, this paper provides a systematic literature review on the multi-factory scheduling problems in the past eleven years and report the research gaps. To this end, first, the related research was classified based on the shop environments. Then, after reviewing the existing papers and summarizing them, future researches and emerging research fields of the multi-factory scheduling problem are reported. This review indicates that future research should focus on open shop production environments. The results also show only 4% of the papers focus on the virtual alliance. Therefore, researchers need to consider the virtual alliance in the production network and investigate the participation and competition between the partners in such network. Studying the topic of Industry 4.0 in multi-factory scheduling and subsequently investigating the related topics such as information sharing and real-time data are also the new trends in this field. Considering the complex series–parallel structures in the multi-factory production and defining objective functions related to environmental issues such as reducing pollutants and noise are other suggestions for future studies.

In this paper, a novel mathematical model is developed for the distributed multi-agent network scheduling problem in a dynamic job shop environment with availability constraints and new job arrivals. In a dynamic collaborative-competitive environment, a number of factories with independent ownership are merged to form a multi-agent production network in which each production agent, despite participation, seeks to optimize its own objective function as a primary priority. To minimize the makespan and the total energy consumption, the ε-constraint approach is used. Since the problem is NP-hard, a memetic algorithm based on a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II and local search are proposed. Finally, the proposed algorithm is compared with a hybrid Pareto-based tabu search algorithm (HPTSA). The obtained results show that in large-size instances, our proposed algorithm outperforms the HPTSA.

Multistate models provide important methods of analysis for many life history processes, and this is an area where John Klein made numerous contributions. When individuals in a study group are observed continuously so that all transitions between states, and their times, are known, estimation and model checking is fairly straightforward. However, individuals in many studies are observed intermittently, and only the states occupied at the observation times are known. We review methods of estimation and assessment for Markov models in this situation. Numerical studies that show the effects of inter-observation times are provided, and new methods for assessing fit are given. An illustration involving viral load dynamics for HIV-positive persons is presented.

The article discusses the possibility of using a new digital automated medical hardware complex which ensures health control of energy enterprise personnel. The considered complex consists of separate functional devices. Thanks to their technical characteristics a high reliability of the registered physiological parameters of the examined workers can be obtained. Thus, we get high reliability of personnel health monitoring. The automated complex carries out digital data processing. According to this data the prognostic state of the employee is issued. It plays a key role in improving safety at electric power enterprises, reduces the risk of accidents caused by personnel.

This study deals with the synthesis of vegetable oil (VO)-derived formulated resins with high bio-based content (30–77%) as potential renewable alternatives to conventional fossil-based vinyl ester (VE) and unsaturated polyester (UP) resins. First, epoxy acrylate was synthesized from a commercial epoxy resin via acrylation with acrylic acid. Then, acrylated epoxidized sesame oil (AESSO) and maleated castor oil (MCO) were synthesized and spectrally characterized. Afterward, networks of VE, AESSO, and MCO or their binary blends were prepared. The curing trend of the resins was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. According to thermal and thermomechanical analysis, all of the VO-based networks possessed slightly inferior properties compared to those of VE. However, the adhesion strength of the VO-based alloying systems was higher than that of their petroleum-based counterpart based on T-peel and lap shear tests. Overall, it was concluded that the bio-resourced alloys could be considered as good alternatives to VE and UP resins, and the novel bio-resin formulations may be designed for adhesives, the polymer–matrix composites, and surface coating applications.

Let G = (V, E) be a simple graph with no isolated vertex. A 2-rainbow dominating function (2RDF) of G is a function f from the vertex set V(G) to the set of all subsets of the set {1,2} such that for any vertex v 2 V(G) with f (v) = 0 the condition ... is fulfilled, where N(v) is the open neighborhood of v. A 2-rainbow dominating function f is called a total 2-rainbow dominating function (T2RDF) if the subgraph of G induced by ... has no isolated vertex. The weight of a T2RDF f is defined as ... The total 2-rainbow domination number, γtr2(G), is the minimum weight of a total 2-rainbow dominating function on G. In this paper, we characterize all graphs G whose total 2-rainbow domination number is equal to their order minus one.

High-quality treatment and recovery of athletes-patients depends on reliable informational diagnosis of injuries and diseases, but also on adequate therapeutic effect. In most cases, the question remains of further predicting the condition of the patient-athlete as a result of the treatment. The article discusses the main biomedical problems in monitoring the therapeutic parameters of exposure and ways to solve them in new devices and systems based on thermometric and optoelectronic methods.

A 2-rainbow dominating function (2RDF) on a graph G=(V,E) is a function f from the vertex set V to the set of all subsets of the set {1,2} such that for any vertex v∈V with f(v)=∅ the condition ⋃u∈N(v)f(u)={1,2} is fulfilled. A 2RDF f is independent (I2RDF) if no two vertices assigned nonempty sets are adjacent. The weight of a 2RDF f is the value ω(f)=∑v∈V|f(v)|. The 2-rainbow domination numberγr2(G) (respectively, the independent 2-rainbow domination number ir2(G)) is the minimum weight of a 2RDF (respectively, I2RDF) on G. We say that γr2(G) is strongly equal to ir2(G) and denote by γr2(G)≡ir2(G), if every 2RDF on G of minimum weight is an I2RDF. In this paper, we provide a constructive characterization of trees T with γr2(T)≡ir2(T).

Background: Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a bilateral, chronic, allergic inflammation of the ocular surface with debilitating ocular signs and symptoms. We compared the efficacies and safeties of 1% tacrolimus eye drops and 1% dexamethasone eye drops in managing unilateral shield ulcers and corneal epitheliopathy secondary to VKC. Methods: We recruited patients with unilateral shield ulcer and corneal epitheliopathy secondary to VKC in a tertiary referral center in southeast Iran during a 12-month period. All eligible patients underwent a detailed eye examination. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either topical tacrolimus 1% or dexamethasone 1% twice daily. We recorded the best-corrected distance visual acuity (BCDVA) in decimal notation, area of the shield ulcer in square millimeters, presence or absence of re-epithelialization, and clinical symptoms of watering, mucus discharge, photophobia, burning, redness, and itching, along with any potential complications at five follow-up visits during a period of four months. Results: Thirty patients (30 eyes) were allocated to each treatment group. The groups had comparable mean ages and sex distributions (both P > 0.05). Both groups experienced a decreasing trend in frequencies of all symptoms, and at most follow-up visits, ocular symptoms were less frequent in the tacrolimus group than in the dexamethasone group, reaching statistically significant differences at some time points (all P < 0.05). No re-epithelialization was detected in either group at the second week post-treatment. However, an increasing trend was observed thereafter in both groups, with significantly more re-epithelialization in tacrolimus-treated eyes at the second and third months post-treatment (P < 0.05). Re-epithelialization remained significantly more frequent in tacrolimus-treated eyes one month after cessation of treatment (P < 0.05). The mean BCDVA was significantly better in tacrolimus-treated eyes than in the dexamethasone group at all follow-up visits (all P < 0.01). The mean shield ulcer size tended to decrease in both groups, with lesser numerical values in tacrolimus-treated eyes at the one-, two-, three-, and four-month follow-up visits. The difference reached statistical significance at the last two follow-up visits (both P < 0.05). Conclusions: Topical tacrolimus is superior to topical dexamethasone with regard to symptoms, visual acuity, shield ulcer size, and corneal epitheliopathy associated with VKC. This suggests that tacrolimus could be administered as monotherapy for managing this debilitating ocular inflammatory condition. Further studies are required to determine the long-term safety and efficacy of this promising treatment modality.