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Integrins (ITGs) are transmembrane heterodimer receptors with ITGα subunit and ITGβ subunit, participating in various physiological processes, including immunity. At present, systematic research on ITGs in teleost is scarce, especially in half-smooth tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis). In this study, a set of 28 ITG genes in half-smooth tongue sole have been identified and characterized. The phylogenetic analysis showed that ITGα and ITGβ subunits were respectively classified into five and two clusters, consistent with previous studies. The selection pressure analysis indicated that most of ITG genes were under purifying selection, except for ITGα11b and ITGαL with positive selection. The expression profiles of eight selected ITG genes, including ITGα1 , ITGα5 , ITGα8 , ITGα11 , ITGβ1 , ITGβ2 , ITGβ3 , and ITGβ8 , were analyzed in healthy tissues and after infection with Vibrio anguillarum , revealed their implications in immune response. The study provided a comprehensive characterization and expression analysis of ITG genes in half-smooth tongue sole, setting a solid foundation for further functional studies and promising potential in disease control. [Display omitted] • A total of 28 integrin genes of half-smooth tongue sole were identified and characterized. • Integrins were widely expressed in various tissues, with distinct levels. • Integrins were differentially expressed after infection with Vibrio anguillarum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies an unrelated parallel machine scheduling problem with deteriorating maintenance activities, parallel-batching processing, and deteriorating jobs. Practically, deteriorating maintenance activities mean that durations of maintenance activities will increase with their starting time. The objective is to make the joint decisions on jobs assignments, the maintenance arrangements, jobs batching, and batches sequencing on each machine to minimize the makespan. Firstly, we formulate a mixed integer programming model for the problem. Then, we analyze a special case where all jobs have been assigned to machines and provide polynomial time optimal algorithms. Furthermore, since the studied problem is NP-hard, we develop a hybrid ABC-TS algorithm combining artificial bee colony (ABC) and Tabu Search (TS) to solve the problem in a reasonable time. Extensive computational experiments are conducted and the results validate the effectiveness and robustness of our proposed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-end equipment manufacture has features of intensive technology, uncertain process, and large scale. Hence, the scheduling of the High-end equipment manufacture is challenging. Large ships are a type of High-end equipment that is tied to national maritime security. In this paper, we study a stochastic hierarchical scheduling problem with serial-batch processing machines and the deterioration effect in ship manufacture. In the studied problem, the job processing time is uncertain and follows a normal probability distribution. Under the deterioration effect, the actual processing time of jobs is formulated as a function of the start time. The first objective is to maximize the robustness of the manufacturing system. The second objective is to minimize the total inventory cost subjected to the optimization of the first objective. The robustness of the manufacturing system is measured by the worst level of completion probability. The total inventory cost is measured by the difference between the job delivery time and the job completion time. The mathematical model for the studied problem is formulated. Some structural properties are derived to solve the problem. Based on the properties, the optimal sequence for the first objective can be obtained and a heuristic algorithm is designed to optimize the second objective. The considered problem is NP-hard involving several non-linearities. Hence, a variable neighborhood search (VNS) algorithm is developed to solve the problem in a reasonable time, which is integrated with three local search strategies and a heuristic algorithm. Various problem instances are generated and extensive computational experiments verify that the proposed VNS algorithm outperforms other compared algorithms and has strong robustness. • We model a bicriterion scheduling problem with the deterioration effect and stochastic processing time. • A schedule rule is presented to identify the optimal sequences under the first objective (robustness maximizing). • A heuristic is developed based on structural properties to reduce the total inventory cost. • A variable neighborhood search algorithm is constructed by combining heuristics and three local search algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green tide outbreaks caused by overgrowth of Ulva prolifera in the Yellow Sea of China can cause serious ecological stress with concomitant economic hardships, especially to marine fisheries. In this study, short-term effects (14 days) were evaluated using fresh algae U. prolifera (FU), and a 7-day assessment of the effects of decomposing U. prolifera (DU) algal effluent was conducted to determine the effects on the environmental and intestinal microbiota, intestinal transcriptome and mortality of the commercial marine benthic fish, Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus). The results revealed that algal degradation altered the microbial community structure of fish farm water and fish intestines and increased the relative abundance of the pathogens Flavobacteriaceae in water and Vibrio in fish intestines. Fish intestinal tissue structure appeared to be damaged, as indicated in pathological sections, and transcriptome analysis showed intestinal inflammation after exposure, which may have caused an increase in fish mortality. The degradation of U. prolifera led to a bloom of potential pathogenic bacteria and the inflammation of fish intestines, which resulted in disease in the flounder population that reduced fish harvests and might pose a potential health threat. [Display omitted] • U. prolifera decomposition affected the microbiota in the water and fish intestines. • Potential pathogens Flavobacteriaceae in water significantly increased. • The conditional pathogen Vibrio increased significantly in the intestine of Japanese flounder. • U. prolifera exposure damaged fish intestinal structure and increased mortality. • DEGs related to immunity and inflammation in the intestine changed significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-mode and multi-skill project scheduling problems widely exist in the real-world industry. Many efforts have been devoted to the multi-mode project scheduling problem and the multi-skill project scheduling problem. However, the integrated multi-mode and multi-skill project scheduling problem was seldom considered. This paper studies the resource-constrained multi-project scheduling problem in the development of high-end equipment and develops an integrated multi-mode and multi-skill scheduling model with different employee abilities. Based on the characteristics of high-end equipment development, we propose several optimal properties and design an effective heuristic algorithm. Since the resource-constrained project scheduling problem is NP-hard, three neighborhoods for the problem are constructed and a Variable Neighborhood Search Algorithm (VNS) is developed to solve the problem in a reasonable time. Finally, computational experiments are carried out to validate the performance of the proposed algorithm. • Proposing an integrated MRCMPSP-MS model with different ability levels of employees. • Presenting a heuristic algorithm AC based on some optimal properties we proposed. • Developing a VNS algorithm combined with the heuristic AC for the studied problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate a specialized two-stage hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with parallel batching machines considering a job-dependent deteriorating effect and non-identical job sizes simultaneously. A novel concept of three-dimensional wasted volume based on the job normal processing time, job size, and job deteriorating rate is first proposed. Some structural properties, as well as a heuristic algorithm, are developed to solve the single parallel batching machine scheduling problem. Since the two-stage hybrid flow shop scheduling problem is NP-hard, a hybrid EDA-DE algorithm combining estimation of distribution algorithm (EDA) and differential evolution (DE) algorithm is proposed to tackle the studied problem. In addition, the Taguchi method of design of experiments (DOE) is implemented to tune the parameters of the EDA-DE. Finally, a series of computational experiments are carried out to compare the performance of the proposed hybrid EDA-DE algorithm and some recent existing algorithms from the literature, and the comparative results validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. • The coordinated two-stage hybrid flow shop scheduling on parallel batching machines considering the job-dependent deteriorating effect and non-identical job sizes is first investigated in this paper. • For the single parallel batching problem, we first propose a three-dimensional wasted volume based on the job normal processing time, size, and deteriorating rate. A heuristic algorithm is derived to batch all the jobs to minimize the makespan. • We develop an effective hybrid EDA-DE which combines EDA and DE to solve the two-stage hybrid flow shop problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]