In this research, Lagrangian relaxation algorithms are proposed for Hybrid Flow-Shop (HFS) scheduling problems. Conventional HFS consists of a series of production stages, each of which has several identical parallel machines and no buffer spaces are considered. Jobs are processed through all stages in the same direction. In the previous researches, they are assumed that the capacity of buffer ...

The episodic buffer has been described as a structure of working memory capable of maintaining multimodal information in an integrated format. Although the role of the episodic buffer in binding features into objects has received considerable attention, several of its characteristics have remained rather underexplored. This is the case for its maintenance capacity limits and its separability fr...

This review highlights the use of analytical tools, recently developed in the comparative method of evolutionary biology, for the study of haemoglobin (Hb) adaptation. It focuses on the functional consequences of a previously largely ignored structural feature of Hb, namely the degree and positional specificity of histidine (His) substitution in Hb chains. The importance of His side chains for ...

Maximizing the lifetime of energy constrained wireless sensor networks is a very challenging issue. It has been demonstrated that the use of a mobile sink can significantly increase the network lifetime by balancing the load among nodes. However, in existing solutions, nodes either send their data through multihop towards the sink or store the data until the sink comes at the node’s vicinity, w...

Echinacea purpurea, commonly referred to as the purple coneflower, is native to the United States and was first discovered by Native American Indians as a medicinal herb. Liquid extracts of Echinacea purpurea were evaluated for the capacity to stimulate total immunoglobulin immune responses in male CD1 (Charles River Laboratory) mice infected with an antigen of SRBC (sheep red blood cells). A c...

Whole blood oxygen equilibrium curves (O2 ECs), blood buffer lines, and several hematologic properties were determined for adult guinea pigs exposed to 700 ppm methyl isocyanate (MIC) for 15 min. MIC inhalation effected a significant reduction of blood O2 affinity; the half-saturation pressure (P50) at 38 degrees C increased from the control (untreated) level of 22.8 +/- 0.1 mm Hg to values ran...

background and objectives: a sudden jump in blood demand during natural disasters may have strong negative impact on the performance of blood supply chain. appropriate response to the emergency situations, requires predictive approach to determining the optimal allocation of blood supply chain resources for various disaster scenarios. the present study, thus, presents an optimization model aime...