An Improved Migrating Birds Optimization Algorithm for a Hybrid Flow Shop Scheduling within Steel Plants

Steelmaking and the continuous-casting (SCC) scheduling problem is a realistic hybrid flow shop scheduling problem with continuous-casting production at the last stage. This study considers the SCC scheduling problem with diverse products, which is a vital and difficult problem in steel plants. To tackle this problem, this study first presents the mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model to minimize the objective of makespan. Then, an improved migrating birds optimization algorithm (IMBO) is proposed to tackle this considered NP-hard problem. In the proposed IMBO, several improvements are employed to achieve the proper balance between exploration and exploitation. Specifically, a two-level decoding procedure is designed to achieve feasible solutions; the simulated annealing-based acceptance criterion is employed to ensure the diversity of the population and help the algorithm to escape from being trapped in local optima; a competitive mechanism is developed to emphasize exploitation capacity by searching around the most promising solution space. The computational experiments demonstrate that the proposed IMBO obtains competing performance and it outperforms seven other implemented algorithms in the comparative study

Development of an NLR-ID Toolkit and Identification of Novel Disease-Resistance Genes in Soybean

The recognition of pathogen effectors through the nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptor (NLR) family is an important component of plant immunity. In addition to typical domains such as TIR, CC, NBS, and LRR, NLR proteins also contain some atypical integrated domains (IDs), the roles of which are rarely investigated. Here, we carefully screened the soybean (Glycine max) genome and identified the IDs that appeared in the soybean TNL-like proteins. Our results show that multiple IDs (36) are widely present in soybean TNL-like proteins. A total of 27 Gm-TNL-ID genes (soybean TNL-like gene encoding ID) were cloned and their antiviral activity towards the soybean mosaic virus (SMV)/tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was verified. Two resistance (R) genes, SRA2 (SMV resistance gene contains AAA_22 domain) and SRZ4 (SMV resistance gene contains zf-RVT domain), were identified to possess broad-spectrum resistance characteristics towards six viruses including SMV, TMV, plum pox virus (PPV), cabbage leaf curl virus (CaLCuV), barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV), and tobacco rattle virus (TRV). The effects of Gm-TNL-IDX (the domain of the Gm-TNL-ID gene after the TN domain) on the antiviral activity of a R protein SRC7TN (we previously reported the TN domain of the soybean broad-spectrum resistance gene SRC7) were validated, and most of Gm-TNL-IDX inhibits antiviral activity mediated by SRC7TN, possibly through intramolecular interactions. Yeast-two-hybrid (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays showed that seven Gm-TNL-IDX interacted with SMV-component proteins. Truncation analysis on a broad-spectrum antiviral protein SRZ4 indicated that SRZ4TIR is sufficient to mediate antiviral activity against SMV. Soybean cDNA library screening on SRZ4 identified 48 interacting proteins. In summary, our results indicate that the integration of IDs in soybean is widespread and frequent. The NLR-ID toolkit we provide is expected to be valuable for elucidating the functions of atypical NLR proteins in the plant immune system and lay the foundation for the development of engineering NLR for plant-disease control in the future

A Field Study Implementing New Monitoring Technology for Roof Caving and Systematic Monitoring for Gob-Side Entry Retaining via Roof Cutting in Underground Coal Mining

The longwall mining method with gob-side entry retaining via roof cutting is a new underground coal mining method which has the characteristics of a high resource recovery ratio and environmental friendliness. Due to the complexity of this method, the research method of case-based dynamic on-site monitoring, analysis, adjustment, and optimization is usually adopted. Based on a roadway retaining via roof cutting project, in addition to the traditional indirect monitoring method of hydraulic support pressure, this study innovatively establishes a direct monitoring method for roof caving by monitoring the gangue pressure in the goaf, which provides data for the roof cutting effect and offers a new method for studying the overlying strata movement. In the project, a comprehensive monitoring and analysis system was established, including gangue pressure, cable bolt stress, bracket pressure, roadway deformation, and roof separation, which was used to dynamically analyze the effect of roof cutting and optimize the support design. The results show that the pressure of the hydraulic support close to the roof cutting is low, indicating that roof cutting is favorable in the roadway retaining mining method. The roadway deformation in the advanced abutment pressure area of the working face is small. The mining-induced stress caused by the collapse and compaction of the overlying strata in the goaf is the dominant factor affecting the effect of roadway retaining, especially in the 50–100 m range behind the working face, where the dynamic load causes high bearing capacity of the support elements, large roadway convergence, and roof separation. Temporary support and supplementary reinforcement should be added when necessary. The monitoring system presented in this study is highly comprehensive, simple, reliable, and low in cost, providing a reference for roof cutting roadway retaining projects and roof caving-related studies

Positive mood-related gut microbiota in a long-term closed environment: a multiomics study based on the “Lunar Palace 365” experiment

Abstract Background Psychological health risk is one of the most severe and complex risks in manned deep-space exploration and long-term closed environments. Recently, with the in-depth research of the microbiota–gut–brain axis, gut microbiota has been considered a new approach to maintain and improve psychological health. However, the correlation between gut microbiota and psychological changes inside long-term closed environments is still poorly understood. Herein, we used the “Lunar Palace 365” mission, a 1-year-long isolation study in the Lunar Palace 1 (a closed manned Bioregenerative Life Support System facility with excellent performance), to investigate the correlation between gut microbiota and psychological changes, in order to find some new potential psychobiotics to maintain and improve the psychological health of crew members. Results We report some altered gut microbiota that were associated with psychological changes in the long-term closed environment. Four potential psychobiotics (Bacteroides uniformis, Roseburia inulinivorans, Eubacterium rectale, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii) were identified. On the basis of metagenomic, metaproteomic, and metabolomic analyses, the four potential psychobiotics improved mood mainly through three pathways related to nervous system functions: first, by fermenting dietary fibers, they may produce short-chain fatty acids, such as butyric and propionic acids; second, they may regulate amino acid metabolism pathways of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, tryptophan, etc. (e.g., converting glutamic acid to gamma–aminobutyric acid; converting tryptophan to serotonin, kynurenic acid, or tryptamine); and third, they may regulate other pathways, such as taurine and cortisol metabolism. Furthermore, the results of animal experiments confirmed the positive regulatory effect and mechanism of these potential psychobiotics on mood. Conclusions These observations reveal that gut microbiota contributed to a robust effect on the maintenance and improvement of mental health in a long-term closed environment. Our findings represent a key step towards a better understanding the role of the gut microbiome in mammalian mental health during space flight and provide a basis for future efforts to develop microbiota-based countermeasures that mitigate risks to crew mental health during future long-term human space expeditions on the moon or Mars. This study also provides an essential reference for future applications of psychobiotics to neuropsychiatric treatments. Video Abstrac

Gender, age, and concomitant diseases of melanosis coli in China: a multicenter study of 6,090 cases

Backgrounds and Aims Melanosis coli (MC) is a noninflammatory, benign, and reversible colonic disorder, but its detection rates in China are unclear. We therefore aimed to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of MC in China. Methods We assessed the detection rates, associated factors and concomitant diseases of MC in the patients who underwent colonoscopy at eight medical centers across five regions of China between January 2006 and October 2016. All data were procured from the electronic database established at each participating institutions. Results Among the 342,922 included cases, MC was detected in 6,090 cases (detection rate = 1.78%, 95% confidence interval, 1.73%–1.82%) at a mean age of 60 years. The detection rate gradually increased yearly, and along with the increasing age regardless of gender, while a rapid increase presented in the patients ≥60 years of age (0.58% for ≤25 years, 1.22% for 25–59 years, and 3.19% for ≥60 years). The detection rate was higher in females than in males; however, the rate of per-year increase was higher in males than in females at age of ≥60 years, which was 1.85-fold of that in females. Among cancer, polyp, inflammation, and diverticula, polyp was the most common concomitant disease of MC and identified in 41.72% of MC patients. Conclusions MC detection rates were increased annually and elevated in older patients, particularly in male patients. Males in the elderly population of ≥60 years were most likely to have MC. Colonic polyp is the most common concomitant disease of MC