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The geographical dispersion of collaborative factories can provide cost-saving potential for manufacturers and lead them to easier fit the global markets. On the other hand, in such networks of factories, coordination is especially important for the just-in-time delivery of orders. This study investigates a new configuration of factories in a network of collaborative manufacturing. In the first stage, some independent suppliers produce and deliver the different components of the final products to the assembly factory. Each supplier can produce a particular component of a final product. In the assembly factory, the final products are assembled. The objective is to determine the optimal schedule of the jobs in each factory to minimize the sum of earliness and tardiness. A mixed-integer formulation for this problem is proposed, which can find the optimal solution for the small-size instances. The iterated local search methods are also developed to cope with larger instances. Computational experiments show that the iterated local search methods outperform the well-known iterated greedy method in literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: The purpose of the present study was to review the studies regarding serological and salivary oxidant / antioxidant status in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). Materials and Methods: The literature was searched using key words RAS, Antioxidants, Saliva, Hematinic (s) and Hematinic Acid in the last 10 years, particularly the recent 3 years (2010-2013). At total of 37 clinical trials, 18 case-control articles were selected and evaluated; fulfilling the requirements as the RAS patients having at least 3 oral aphthous attack per year. The exclusion criteria included systemic as well as periodontal diseases, iron deficiency associated anemia, medication usage and smoking. Conclusion: Almost all lipid-peroxidation studies in serum and saliva were manifested by an increase of malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in RAS patients compared with controls. This would indicate the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the etiology of the disease. Serum trace elements (Zn, Se) were reduced and Cu was increased in RAS patients in comparison with control individuals. A decreased serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) and an increased salivary SOD were observed in all RAS patients. Catalase (CAT) and uric acid (UA) analyses were non-inclusive. Levels of paraoxonase and arylesterase as well as antioxidant vitamins (A, E, C) were lower in RAS patients than that of controls.

This study investigates the integrated production-distribution scheduling in a workshop which utilizes the non-identical parallel machines in production line. The objective is to schedule the jobs on machines and forming them into the batches so as to minimize the sum of tardiness and delivery costs. First, a mixed integer linear programming model is proposed which can solve the small-size instances in a reasonable time. To deal with large-size instances, a genetic algorithm (GA) and the improved genetic algorithm (IGA) equipped with optimal properties mechanism is developed. Areal life instance in bedroom furniture manufacturing is also presented that indicates the algorithm can reach the optimal solution for this problem. In order to evaluate the performance of the algorithms, 150 small size instances and more than 800 large size instances are generated which is conducted from benchmarks. The results indicate that IGA outperforms GA with respect to relative percentage deviations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, CoxZn1−xO (X = 0, 0.06, 0.18, 0.36, 0.54, and 1) nanoparticles were synthesized by one‐step solution combustion synthesis method. The critical role of X values and fuel (glycine)‐to‐oxidizer (F/O) ratios (0.75, 1, and 1.25) were investigated on the physicochemical properties of synthesized particles. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) results showed that by increasing the X molar fraction, up to 0.36 mol. %, at the F/O ratios of 0.75, 1, and 1.25, crystallite size decreases from 31 to 26, 39 to 31, and 64 to 43 nm, respectively. ZnO‐Co3O4 mixed oxide nanopowders were directly crystallized at X = 0.54 in all F/O ratios. Semi‐quantification evaluations of XRD results showed that the F/O ratio had a direct effect on the quantities of the crystallized and the content of the amorphous phases. According to the vibrating sample magnetometer analysis results (VSM), the greatest magnetization saturation (Ms) value of 30 emu/g was obtained at X = 1 and F/O ratio of 1.25. Calorimetry analysis revealed that by increasing the content of the doping agent, ie, cobalt ion, up to the molar fraction of 0.18, dark green color is observed in the specimens, and the deepest green color was obtained at F/O = 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MtDNA insertions have been detected in the nuclear genome of many eukaryotes, including mammals.[1] These mtDNA-related regions (called nuclear DNA sequences of mitochondrial origin or NUMTs) are pseudogenes derived from mtDNA fragments that have been integrated into the nuclear genome through horizontal transfer mechanisms.[2] NUMTs are considered sequence fossils that have contributed to shaping of the genome architecture and evolution of the nuclear genomes. In this study, we obtained a detailed genome map of NUMTs in the I Bos taurus i genome and compared their distribution between the latest assembled versions, UMD3.1 and ARS-UCD1.2. Fig. reports the distribution of the identified NUMTs in the two genome versions over the modern cattle mtDNA genome and the distribution of the level of identity between NUMTs and the corresponding mitochondrial regions. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, known as TMDs, are significant public health problems and may result in pain and disability. In order to determine the prevalence of clinical/subjective TMD in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we used the research diagnostic criteria (RDC)/TMD axes. We assessed the anti-cyclic citrullinated protein (anti-CCP)-related TMD in RA for the first time. Materials and Methods: Fifty-two RA patients were compared to 47 healthy controls with regard to complete blood count (CBC), serology, acute phase reactants (APR), and TMJ dysfunction. Results: The anti-CCP antibody showed a significant correlation with the development of clinical TMD (P=0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI)=12.4%–35.6%). A prevalence of 50% was calculated through the RDC/TMD for such disorders. In RA patients, statistically significant differences were observed between the groups with and without clinical TMD regarding psychological depression and physical symptoms. Conclusions: According to the results, a significant correlation was found between the anti-CCP antibody and TMD. Therefore, when this antibody is detected in the blood serum, the treatment must be initiated. The RDC/TMD used in this study assessed the prevalence of TMJ dysfunction in conformity with RA-associated TMJ findings previously obtained through other conventional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]