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As the only low‐latitude connection along the return branch of the Great Conveyor Belt, the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) plays an important role in the large‐scale ocean–atmosphere interaction in the tropical region. However, the heat transport processes of the ITF along the outflow pathway in the eastern Indian Ocean over the recent geologic period is still debated. In this study, by using Mg/Ca ratios of the surface‐dwelling and thermocline‐dwelling planktonic foraminifera Globigerinoides ruber and Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, we reconstruct sea surface temperature and thermocline water temperature (TWT), and thermocline structure at two sites in the main outflow path of the ITF in the eastern Indian Ocean for the last 160 Kyr, and compare these new data with those from two cores in the central Indo‐Pacific Warm Pool. Our results show that, on the orbital time scale, the thermocline structure changes above the equatorial 90°E Ridge mimic those of the eastern Timor Sea, indicating that the ITF vertical structure remained unchanged during its penetration into the Indian Ocean. The TWT in the equatorial western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean presents similar change trend, suggesting that the ITF is likely to be an important route for thermocline water transport into the Indian Ocean. However, the vertical structure of the ITF varied through time, reflecting the effects of sea level and orbitally‐driven monsoonal activity. This impacted heat transport processes, resulting in changes in the surface water temperature along the outflow pathway in the eastern Indian Ocean. Key Points: Sea surface and thermocline water temperatures and vertical structure of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) outflow for the last 160 Kyr were reconstructedVertical structure of the ITF remained unchanged during its penetration into the Indian OceanVariation of the ITF through time impacted the heat transport processes along the outflow pathway in the eastern Indian Ocean [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiobjective weapon-target assignment is a type of NP-complete problem, and the reasonable assignment of weapons is beneficial to attack and defense. In order to simulate a real battlefield environment, we introduce a new objective—the value of fighter combat on the basis of the original two-objective model. The new three-objective model includes maximizing the expected damage of the enemy, minimizing the cost of missiles, and maximizing the value of fighter combat. To solve the problem with complex constraints, an improved nondominated sorting algorithm III is proposed in this paper. In the proposed algorithm, a series of reference points with good performances in convergence and distribution are continuously generated according to the current population to guide the evolution; otherwise, useless reference points are eliminated. Moreover, an online operator selection mechanism is incorporated into the NSGA-III framework to autonomously select the most suitable operator while solving the problem. Finally, the proposed algorithm is applied to a typical instance and compared with other algorithms to verify its feasibility and effectiveness. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is successfully applied to the multiobjective weapon-target assignment problem, which effectively improves the performance of the traditional NSGA-III and can produce better solutions than the two multiobjective optimization algorithms NSGA-II and MPACO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weapon-target assignment (WTA) problem, known as an NP-complete problem, aims at seeking a proper assignment of weapons to targets. The biobjective WTA (BOWTA) optimization model which maximizes the expected damage of the enemy and minimizes the cost of missiles is designed in this paper. A modified Pareto ant colony optimization (MPACO) algorithm is used to solve the BOWTA problem. In order to avoid defects in traditional optimization algorithms and obtain a set of Pareto solutions efficiently, MPACO algorithm based on new designed operators is proposed, including a dynamic heuristic information calculation approach, an improved movement probability rule, a dynamic evaporation rate strategy, a global updating rule of pheromone, and a boundary symmetric mutation strategy. In order to simulate real air combat, the pilot operation factor is introduced into the BOWTA model. Finally, we apply the MPACO algorithm and other algorithms to the model and compare the data. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is successfully applied in the field of WTA which improves the performance of the traditional P-ACO algorithm effectively and produces better solutions than the two well-known multiobjective optimization algorithms NSGA-II and SPEA-II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]