An M-Objective Penalty Function Algorithm Under Big Penalty Parameters

Some classical penalty function algorithms may not always be convergent under big penalty parameters in Matlab software, which makes them impossible to find out an optimal solution to constrained optimization problems. In this paper, a novel penalty function (called M-objective penalty function) with one penalty parameter added to both objective and constrained functions of inequality constrained optimization problems is proposed. Based on the M-objective penalty function, an algorithm is developed to solve an optimal solution to the inequality constrained optimization problems, with its convergence proved under some conditions. Furthermore, numerical results show that the proposed algorithm has a much better convergence than the classical penalty function algorithms under big penalty parameters, and is efficient in choosing a penalty parameter in a large range in Matlab software.     

An improved LP model for energy optimization of the integrated iron and steel plant with a cogeneration system in China

In an integrated iron and steel plant with a cogeneration system, recycled energy is continuously transported into the cogeneration system and the electricity is continuously generated, and both of them could not be stored for a long time. Moreover, the generation and consumption of electricity is irregular, which may bring about more unexpected imbalances. Therefore, it is a crucial issue to schedule the entire energy system by optimizing the operation of energy utilization, which includes the raw energy in the production system, the generation electricity in the cogeneration system and the recycled energy in these two systems. In this paper, an improved Linear Programming model for energy optimization in the integrated iron and steel plant with a cogeneration system is established. The improved model focuses on controlling the whole energy flow and scheduling the whole energy consumption in the entire energy system between the production system and cogeneration system through optimizing all kinds of energy distribution and utilization in an integrated iron and steel plant with a cogeneration system. Case study shows that the improved model offers the optimal operation conditions at the higher energy utilization, lower energy cost and lower pollution emissions.     

Advance selling in the presence of product diffusion effect

Product diffusion refers to the phenomenon that the later demand is dependent on the early sales. To investigate how a firm’s advance selling strategy is affected by the effect of product diffusion, we consider a monopolist seller who sells a fashionable product in a market that comprises of myopic and strategic consumers over two periods (i.e., the advance selling season and the regular selling season). For a linear product diffusion effect we find that, when the effect of product diffusion is positive, the seller may set an extremely high advance selling price to induce the strategic consumers to purchase in the regular selling season, which is counter-intuitive. Moreover, the optimal procurement quantity for the seller may increase in the negative effect of product diffusion and decrease in the amount of strategic consumers. When we extend our model to consider a concave quadratic product diffusion effect, however, the optimal procurement quantity is concave in the amount of strategic consumers. Numerical studies are further presented to discuss the managerial insights.     

Some open problems related to creative telescoping

Creative telescoping is the method of choice for obtaining information about definite sums or integrals. It has been intensively studied since the early 1990s, and can now be considered as a classical technique in computer algebra. At the same time, it is still a subject of ongoing research. This paper presents a selection of open problems in this context. The authors would be curious to hear about any substantial progress on any of these problems.     

The distributed representation for societal risk classification toward BBS posts

The risk classification of BBS posts is important to the evaluation of societal risk level within a period. Using the posts collected from Tianya forum as the data source, the authors adopted the societal risk indicators from socio psychology, and conduct document-level multiple societal risk classification of BBS posts. To effectively capture the semantics and word order of documents, a shallow neural network as Paragraph Vector is applied to realize the distributed vector representations of the posts in the vector space. Based on the document vectors, the authors apply one classification method KNN to identify the societal risk category of the posts. The experimental results reveal that paragraph vector in document-level societal risk classification achieves much faster training speed and at least 10% improvements of F-measures than Bag-of-Words. Furthermore, the performance of paragraph vector is also superior to edit distance and Lucene-based search method. The present work is the first attempt of combining document embedding method with socio psychology research results to public opinions area.     

Immunological properties of oxygen-transport proteins: hemoglobin,hemocyanin and hemerythrin

It is now well documented that peptides with enhanced or alternative functionality (termed cryptides) can be liberated from larger, and sometimes inactive, proteins. A primary example of this phenomenon is the oxygen-transport protein hemoglobin. Aside from respiration, hemoglobin and hemoglobin-derived peptides have been associated with immune modulation, hematopoiesis, signal transduction and microbicidal activities in metazoans. Likewise, the functional equivalents to hemoglobin in invertebrates, namely hemocyanin and hemerythrin, act as potent immune effectors under certain physiological conditions. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the true extent of oxygen-transport protein dynamics in innate immunity, and to impress upon the reader the multi-functionality of these ancient proteins on the basis of their structures. In this context, erythrocyte–pathogen antibiosis and the immune competences of various erythroid cells are compared across diverse taxa.     

Film Use to Promote Understanding in Change and Diffusion of Innovation

The paper explores cinematic films as a pedagogical tool to promote critical thinking and student discussions in a doctoral-level learning, design, and technology seminar course at a major U.S. research university. These discussions focused on systemic change and systemic thinking concepts. The authors offer evidence from the literature that supports films’ power as a visual metaphor and neurocognitive stimulator to promote development of new perspectives in graduate students on case studies through articulation, reflection, and explanation of their thought processes on change and diffusion of innovation. There are theoretical, political, social, and technological issues that create tensions during any systemic change effort. The goal of using film in this seminar is to equip students with the requisite skills, theoretical frameworks, and interpersonal experiences needed to address these issues within organizations and communities. The change expected from systemic thinking is for students to think more deeply about the interconnectedness of systems and the importance of bottom-up change efforts that consider the perspective of all stakeholders.     

Phospholipid flippases attenuate LPS-induced TLR4 signaling by mediating endocytic retrieval of Toll-like receptor 4

P4-ATPases are lipid flippases that catalyze the transport of phospholipids to create membrane phospholipid asymmetry and to initiate the biogenesis of transport vesicles. Here we show, for the first time, that lipid flippases are essential to dampen the inflammatory response and to mediate the endotoxin-induced endocytic retrieval of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in human macrophages. Depletion of CDC50A, the β-subunit that is crucial for the activity of multiple P4-ATPases, resulted in endotoxin-induced hypersecretion of proinflammatory cytokines, enhanced MAP kinase signaling and constitutive NF-κB activation. In addition, CDC50A-depleted THP-1 macrophages displayed reduced tolerance to endotoxin. Moreover, endotoxin-induced internalization of TLR4 was strongly reduced and coincided with impaired endosomal MyD88-independent signaling. The phenotype of CDC50A-depleted cells was also induced by separate knockdown of two P4-ATPases, namely ATP8B1 and ATP11A. We conclude that lipid flippases are novel elements of the innate immune response that are essential to attenuate the inflammatory response, possibly by mediating endotoxin-induced internalization of TLR4.