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In the split delivery vehicle routing problem with minimum delivery amounts (SDVRP-MDA), the customer demand can be split among different distribution routes, as long as the quantity delivered to the customer each time remains above the minimum threshold. Despite saving transport cost, the split of customer demand may complicate the order processing and disturb the customer. These problems can be solved satisfactorily by the constraint of the minimum delivery amounts. Therefore, this paper puts forward an adaptive tabu search (ATS) algorithm to solve the SDVRP-MDA. Two new neighbourhood structures are adopted, the adaptive adjustment strategy involving both intensification and diversification search is introduced. The proposed method was tested on 32 standard examples, using 4 different splitting coefficients. On average, the test results only deviated from the current best solution by -0.50~0.22. A total of 94 best solutions were derived and 1 new best solution was obtained. This means our method enjoys good adaptability and robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revealing the relationship between excessive fertilization and soil microorganism diversity plays an important role in improving agricultural economic and ecological benefits. The soil without fertilization, reasonable fertilization and over fertilization for a long time were used as test materials to determine the diversity of microorganism after incubation. Shannon index was used to measure the number of microorganism species and individuals in soil and the evenness of their distribution. Excessive fertilization resulted in an obvious increase in Shannon index, indicating that excessive fertilization would lead to a decrease in the number of microorganisms in soil. The McIntonch index was used to evaluate the index of microorganism homogeneity. Excessive fertilization resulted in a significantly higher McIntonch index, indicating that excessive fertilization would lead to a single microorganism species in the soil. There were significant differences in microorganism diversity in soil with different degrees of fertilization, especially in the case of excessive fertilization, microorganism diversity in soil decreased significantly on the whole. This indicated that excessive fertilization would adversely affect the microorganism diversity in soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the classic split delivery vehicle routing problem, the demands of customers can be split unconditionally into pieces of any size. However, in the real-world distribution system, the customer demands consist of a set of orders on different quantities of goods. During the distribution, demands can be spitted, but orders cannot. This paper considers the vehicle routing problem with split delivery by order. It formulates the problem as an integer linear programming model, creatively applies the binary to the decimal decoder method to represent the solution, proposes a heuristic order-insertion procedure, and develops a tabu search algorithm. Using the developed algorithm, this paper tests 25 benchmark instances. According to the test results, the algorithm proposed has a small gap with the best-known solutions, but has an advantage in computing time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rechargeable Li-S batteries have become attractive for next-generation energy storage technology due to their high specific energy, low cost, and materials earth abundance. However, the Li-S technology has not been successfully commercialized because of several outstanding challenges including fast capacity fading, low Coulombic efficiency, and limited rate capability. Over the past few years, considerable efforts have been devoted to solving the challenges associated with the sulfur cathode. In thismini review, we summarize our recent advances in Li-S cathodes, such as the understanding of the nano-size effect in sulfur materials, the design of polymer functional additives, and the realization of a novel in situ wrapping approach for Li-S cathodes. The current Li-S technology calls for a rational design of the Li-S cathode that can lead to excellent overall performance of Li-S batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early mitotic inhibitor-1 (Emi1) is a key cell-cycle regulator that promotes S-phase and M-phase entry by inhibiting anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) activity. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed in 114 human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) samples, and the data were correlated with clinicopathologic features. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed to determine the prognostic significance of the proteins. Expression of Emi1 correlated directly with the stage of HCC. More importantly, high expression of Emi1 was associated with a poor outcome. Western blot analysis showed that Emi1 was highly expressed in HCC compared with the adjacent noncancerous tissue. In vitro, after the release of HCC cell lines from serum starvation, the expression of Emi1 APC/C substrates (cyclins A, B) and Skp2 was up-regulated, whereas p27Kip1 was down-regulated. In addition, we used small interfering RNA to knock out Emi1 expression and observed its effects on HCC growth in vitro to determine whether loss of Emi1 could inhibit cell proliferation by blocking S-phase and mitotic entry. Western blot analyses indicated that deletion of Emi1 was positively correlated with APC/C substrates (cyclins A, B) and Skp2 but was negatively correlated with p27Kip1. Emi1 inhibits APC/C activity, whereas Skp2 degradation is mediated by APC/C, and degradation of Skp2 can stabilize p27kip1. These results suggested that Emi1 participates in HCC cell proliferation and that progression is controlled by APC/C inhibition, which stabilized Skp2 and enabled p27kip1 degradation. These findings provide a potential therapeutic strategy for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a similar composition but different monomer sequence distributions in the copolymer backbones, two poly(N-isopro-pylacrylamide)-g-poly(ethylene oxide) (PNIPAM-g-PEO) copolymers were synthesized at different temperatures of 29 and 45 °C, in the presence of which Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully prepared by in situ reduction at 25 and 41 °C, respectively. The experimental results show that both the copolymers can effectively stabilize Ag NPs, and the copolymer PNIPAM-g-PEO/45 has a better stabilizing and dispersing effect when the preparation temperature of Ag NPs is 25 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]