bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Interior-Point Differentiable Path-Following Method to Compute Stationary Equilibria in Stochastic Games
Authors: Dang Chuangyin , Herings P. Jean-Jacques , Li Peixuan
Published: January 2022

The subgame perfect equilibrium in stationary strategies (SSPE) is the most important solution concept in applications of stochastic games, making it imperative to develop efficient methods to compute an SSPE. For this purpose, this paper develops an interior-point differentiable path-following method (IPM), which establishes a connection between an artificial logarithmic barrier game and the stochastic game of interest by adding a homotopy variable. IPM brings several advantages over the existing methods for stochastic games. On the one hand, IPM provides a bridge between differentiable path-following methods and interior-point methods and remedies several issues of an existing homotopy method called the stochastic linear tracing procedure (SLTP). First, the starting stationary strategy profile can be arbitrarily chosen. Second, IPM does not need switching between different systems of equations. Third, the use of a perturbation term makes IPM applicable to all stochastic games rather than generic games only. Moreover, a well-chosen transformation of variables reduces the number of equations and variables by roughly one half. Numerical results show that the proposed method is more than three times as efficient as SLTP. On the other hand, the stochastic game can be reformulated as a mixed complementarity problem and solved by the PATH solver. We employ the proposed IPM and the PATH solver to compute SSPEs. Numerical results evince that for some stochastic games the PATH solver may fail to find an SSPE, whereas IPM is successful in doing so for all stochastic games, which confirms the reliability and stability of the proposed method.

Summary of Contribution: This paper incorporates the interior-point methods into a differentiable path-following method for computing stationary equilibria for stochastic games. This novel method brings excellent computational advantages and remedies several issues with the existing methods for stochastic games. We prove the global convergence of the proposed method and employ this method to solve numerous randomly generated stochastic games with different scales. Numerical results further confirm the high efficiency, stability, and universality of this method for stochastic games.
Information Leakage Around SEC Comment Letters
Authors: Geiger Marshall A. , Johnson Bret , Jones Keith L. , Kumas Abdullah
Published: January 2022

We investigate whether sophisticated investors obtain information about Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) comment letters before the public release date. Specifically, we examine mutual fund trading behavior around dates firms receive a comment letter. We find significant abnormal net selling by mutual funds immediately after a firm receives a comment letter. Additional tests find that abnormal net selling is greater when firms receive a second-round letter, where information leakage is more likely (e.g., firms with high board member connectedness and higher dedicated institutional ownership) and when comment letters address more critical issues (e.g., the need to restate prior results or related party transactions). We also find that funds with high abnormal net selling in the private phase avoid significant future share price declines. In sum, we find consistent evidence that mutual funds appear to trade on information obtained during the private phase of the SEC comment letter process.

This paper was accepted by Brian Bushee, accounting.

Supplemental Material: Data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4259 .
Data-Induced Rationality and Unitary Spaces in Interfirm Collaboration
Authors: Cepa Katharina , Schildt Henri
Published: January 2022

The real-time data transfer between collaborating companies allows them to represent and control activities across firm boundaries, providing new ways to organize collaborative efforts. We conducted an inductive multiple case study of five long-term relationships to examine the effects of data-intensive technologies on the organization and management of collaborative relationships in industrial companies. Our analysis shows how the delegation of digital activities into specialized digital units fostered data-driven mindsets and data-driven interactions that jointly formed a holistic data-induced rationality for managing the relationship. Together, the compartmentalization of digital collaboration and the data-induced rationalities turned these units into “unitary spaces,” organizational enclosures where structural tensions and competing demands were temporarily suspended to foster single-minded pursuit of collaborative short-term benefits for the partner company.

Funding: The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Academy of Finland [Grant 274536].
Wilson’s Disease: First Report of Two Combined Mutational Variants in a Portuguese Patient
Authors: Trindade Miguel , Carvalho Joana , Barosa Mariana , Serôdio João , Oliveira Ricardo , Furtado Ana , Favas Catarina , Delgado Alves José
Published: January 2022

Wilson's disease is a rare autosomal recessive condition. A defect on the copper carrier protein ATP7B prevents the excretion of copper, which then accumulates in several organs. The prognosis of Wilson's disease is favourable if the diagnosis is made early. The Leipzig criteria standardized phenotypic classification and diagnostic criteria, thus simplifying the diagnostic approach. A search for ATP7B mutations is not necessary for diagnostic purposes and studies of genotype–phenotype correlation have not produced any conclusive evidence so far. More information is needed to reliably assess the prognosis for each patient. Here we describe a young patient with a combination of two mutational variants: c.3402del and c.3061-12T>A. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this compound heterozygote genotype.
Curriculum and freedom in planning in the moment
Authors: Ephgrave Sian
Published: January 2022

This article is the second in a series of myth-busters on the topic of planning in the moment. In this piece, I explain how concepts of curriculum and freedom are used within the praxis.
What effect did childcare closures have on children's development?
Authors: Hancock David
Published: January 2022

During the Covid-19 pandemic, early years providers closed temporarily or permanently – and new research has revealed how children have been affected. Dave Hancock explains
Are health visitors valued after all?
Authors: Hanley Jane
Published: January 2022

As we approach the end of the second year of the pandemic, there is hope that 2022 will mark a return to normal life. Perhaps when the community is virus free, health visitors will be recognised for the valuable work they do, says Jane Hanley
Negative pressure wound therapy, artificial skin and autogenous skin implantation in diabetic foot ulcers
Authors: Chia-Jui Hu , Yu Lai , Jiang Yu-qing , Tan Wen , Gao Gong-ming , Li Hai-bo , Han Long
Published: January 2022

Objective:

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are one of the most serious diabetic consequences, leading to amputations. Various therapies have been used to treat DFUs; however, a combination of negative pressure suction, artificial skin and autogenous skin implantation have never been investigated. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel three-step therapy protocol using negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), artificial skin and autogenous skin implantation in patients with DFUs.

Method:

At a single tertiary university hospital between 2015 and 2018, the three-step therapy protocol was applied to patients with DFUs and its safety and efficacy was investigated.

Results:

A total of 21 patients took part in the study. The majority of the patients were female (62%), with a mean age of 65 years and a mean body mass index of 21kg/m2. A third (n=7) of operative sites experienced minor complications, with two requiring re-operation. At a median follow up of 24 months, the average time of complete wound healing was 46 days, and the wound healing rate was 71%. The first-stage wound healing rate was 90%. All patients had achieved remission without any further recurrence of disease.

Conclusion:

This comprehensive surgical technique for managing DFUs achieved a high local cure rate, minimal functional morbidity, and acceptable wound complication rates. The three-step therapy protocol has the potential to promote the healing process of DFUs, which is expected to serve as a new method for the treatment and cure of DFUs.
Full-thickness skin grafts to reinforce the abdominal wall: a cross-sectional histological study comparing intra- and extraperitoneal onlay positions in mice
Authors: Winsnes Annika , Falk Peter , Gunnarsson Ulf , Strigård Karin
Published: January 2022

Introduction:

In the repair of complex abdominal wall hernia, there can be a strong preference to avoid synthetic or biological implants as reinforcement material. Autologous full-thickness skin grafts (FTSG) have shown promising results. However, there are few clinical data on the use of FTSG in an intraperitoneal position and rudimentary knowledge about postoperative histological appearance of tissue remodelling and repair.

Objective:

To investigate the histological appearance of FTSG in the intraperitoneal onlay mesh (IPOM) position.

Methods:

Isogeneic FTSG was positioned in the IPOM (10 mice) and the onlay position (10 mice). After eight weeks, tissues were harvested for histological analysis. Tissue structure, inflammation and cell survival were investigated with histological and immunohistochemical staining.

Results:

Morphology was similar in both positions. Luciferase staining indicated both onlay and IPOM graft cell survival, with microvascular networks present. In both positions, FTSG showed ongoing tissue remodelling processes and cystic formations containing hair and epidermis. Low-grade acute phase and chronic inflammation were present. Integration was observed in 50% of the mice with similar appearances in IPOM and onlay grafts.

Conclusion:

FTSG is tolerated, with comparable results either inside or outside the abdominal cavity, and in line with historic histological evaluations. The results suggest further research on FTSG as a potential future reinforcement material in selected cases of complex abdominal wall hernia repair.
The role of the perioperative prone position in the low recurrence of pressure injuries in the pelvic region
Authors: Fagotti de Almeida Carlos Eduardo , Cirino dos Santos Ana Paula Bertole , Biaziolo Cintia Fernandes Baccarin , Mateus de Vasconcelos Elaine Cristine Lemes , Oliveira Flavio Vasconi , Jorge João Luís Gil , Ferreira Marcus Castro , Coltro Pedro Soler , Junior Jayme Adriano Farina
Published: January 2022

Objective:

A pressure injury (PI) is a localised area of damage to the skin and/or underlying soft tissue as a result of a sustained mechanical loading. There are three key aetiological mechanisms to PI formation—direct cell deformation, inflammatory oedema and ischaemic damage—which are typically activated sequentially to drive a spiral of injury. This article discusses the role of the perioperative prone position as a rational approach to reducing the recurrence of pelvic PI after reconstructive surgery.

Method:

Patients with deep PI in the pelvic region, who were operated on from 2011 to 2019, were retrospectively evaluated. The protocol of care included training in the prone position, followed by maintenance of the prone position for 4–6 weeks postoperatively. The reconstruction was performed with fasciocutaneous and myocutaneous local or regional flaps.

Results:

The study evaluated a total of 26 patients. The rate of recurrence of PIs was 15.4% (4/26) in the mean follow-up of 54 months. Regarding postoperative complications, four cases of partial dehiscence of the suture occurred.

Conclusion:

This perioperative protocol of maintaining a prone position seems to be safe for the patient, and it can be used to prevent or reduce the recurrence of deep PIs on the pelvic region after reconstructive surgery.
Association Between Suggestive Symptom of Restless Legs Syndrome and COVID-19 Vaccination: A Pilot Study
Authors: Seok Jin Myoung , Na Eun Jin , Kim Seul Gi , Park Jongkyu , Park Eunkyeong , Song Pamela , Yang Kwang Ik
Published: January 2022

Objectives: Various sensory symptoms have been recognized after COVID-19 vaccination. Here, we aimed to explore the association between the suggestive symptom of restless legs syndrome (RLSss) and COVID-19 vaccination using an online survey.Methods: We prospectively studied participants who were working in our hospital after at least the first dose of the ChAdOx1 or BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. The participants were invited via smartphone messages and voluntarily filled out an online questionnaire that included adverse events after vaccination. We considered the participants as having RLSss if they reported that they had three or more symptoms in the restless legs syndrome (RLS) diagnostic criteria.Results: A total of 628 participants (506 female; mean age, 37.7±12.4 years) responded fully to our online survey. 588 participants (93.6%) received the first dose of the ChAdOx1 vaccine (BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine for 40 participants). A total of 44 out of the 628 participants (7.0%) reported that they had RLSss. Myalgia was more common in participants with RLSss than in those without RLSss (97.7% vs. 67.3%, p<0.001). Multivariate testing showed that age (odds ratio, 1.037 per 1 year increase; 95% CI, 1.004–1.071) and the presence of myalgia (odds ratio, 20.479; 95% CI, 4.266–368.206) were associated with the presence of RLSss.Conclusions: This pilot study explored RLSss after COVID-19 vaccination and the results suggested that RLS might be one of the causes of adverse symptoms after COVID-19 vaccination. Further studies are required to confirm the relationship between RLS and COVID-19 vaccination.
Neuro-Evolution of Continuous-Time Dynamic Process Controllers
Authors: Sekaj Ivan , Kénický Ivan , Zúbek Filip
Published: January 2022

Artificial neural networks are means which are, among several other approaches, effectively usable for modelling and control of non-linear dynamic systems. In case of modelling systems input and output signals are a-priori known, supervised learning methods can be used. But in case of controller design of dynamic systems the required (optimal) controller output is a-priori unknown, supervised learning cannot be used. In such case we only can define some criterion function, which represents the required control performance of the closed-loop system. We present a neuro-evolution design for control of a continuous-time controller of non-linear dynamic systems. The controller is represented by an MLP-type artificial neural network. The learning algorithm of the neural network is based on an evolutionary approach with genetic algorithm. An integral-type performance index representing control quality, which is based on closed-loop simulation, is minimised. The results are demonstrated on selected experiments with controller reference value changes as well as with noisy system outputs.
Relation of Neighborhood Size and Diversity Loss Rate in Particle Swarm Optimization With Ring Topology
Authors: Pluháček Michal , Kazikova Anezka , Kadavy Tomas , Viktorin Adam , Senkerik Roman
Published: January 2022

Measuring the population diversity in metaheuristics has become a common practice for adaptive approaches, aiming mainly to address the issue of premature convergence. Understanding the processes leading to a diversity loss in a metaheuristic algorithm is crucial for designing successful adaptive approaches. In this study, we focus on the relation of the neighborhood size and the rate of diversity loss in the Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm with local topology (also known as LPSO). We argue that the neighborhood size is an important input to consider when designing any adaptive approach based on the change of population diversity. We used the extensive benchmark suite of the IEEE CEC 2014 competition for experiments.
Generation of non-iterative phase-only hologram based on a hybrid phase mask
Authors: Shen Chuan , Qi Yifei , Lv Shiqi , Wang Bin , Wei Sui
Published: January 2022

The random phase method and quadratic phase method are most widely used in the generation of non-iterative phase holograms. However, the former leads to the reconstruction being severely disturbed by speckle noise, with serious loss of detailed information, and the latter leads to the reconstruction being contaminated with ringing artifacts. To solve these problems, we present a novel, to the best of our knowledge, method capable of generating non-iterative phase holograms, hereafter referred to as hybrid-phase-only holograms (HPOHs). Our proposal is to use a weight factor to combine the random phase and quadratic phase to generate a hybrid phase mask. The hybrid phase mask is then superimposed on the target image to obtain a complex hologram by simple Fourier transform. Followed by retaining the phase of the complex hologram, we can generate the corresponding HPOH. The effects of different weight factors on the holographic reconstructions are discussed. Numerical simulations of reconstruction quality associated with the proposed method, random phase method, and quadratic phase method are presented for comparison purposes. Optical experiments based on liquid crystal on silicon also demonstrate the validity of the method.
Introduction to optical coherence elastography: tutorial
Authors: Singh Manmohan , Zvietcovich Fernando , Larin Kirill V.
Published: January 2022

Optical coherence elastography (OCE) has seen rapid growth since its introduction in 1998. The past few decades have seen tremendous advancements in the development of OCE technology and a wide range of applications, including the first clinical applications. This tutorial introduces the basics of solid mechanics, which form the foundation of all elastography methods. We then describe how OCE measurements of tissue motion can be used to quantify tissue biomechanical parameters. We also detail various types of excitation methods, imaging systems, acquisition schemes, and data processing algorithms and how various parameters associated with each step of OCE imaging can affect the final quantitation of biomechanical properties. Finally, we discuss the future of OCE, its potential, and the next steps required for OCE to become an established medical imaging technology.
Efficient channel modeling of structured light in turbulence using generative adversarial networks
Authors: Briantcev Dmitrii , Cox Mitchell A. , Trichili Abderrahmen , Drozdov Alice V. , Ooi Boon S. , Alouini Mohamed-Slim
Published: January 2022

We present a fast and efficient simulation method of structured light free space optics (FSO) channel effects from propagation through a turbulent atmosphere. In a system that makes use of multiple higher order modes (structured light), turbulence causes crosstalk between modes. This crosstalk can be described by a channel matrix, which usually requires a complete physical simulation or an experiment. Current simulation techniques based on the phase-screen approximation method are very computationally intensive and are limited by the accuracy of the underlying models. In this work, we propose to circumvent these limitations by using a data-driven approach for the decomposition matrix simulation with a conditional generative adversarial network (CGAN) synthetic simulator.
Silicon photonic arrayed waveguide grating with 64 channels for the 2 µm spectral range
Authors: Liu Yingjie , Wang Xi , Yao Yong , Du Jiangbing , Song Qinghai , Xu Ke
Published: January 2022

Driven by the demand to extend optical fiber communications wavelengths beyond the C + L band, the 2 µm wave band has proven to be a promising candidate. Extensive efforts have been directed into developing high-performance and functional photonic devices. Here we report an integrated silicon photonic arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) fabricated in a commercial foundry. The device has 64 channels with a spacing of approximately 50 GHz (0.7 nm), covering the bandwidth from 1967 nm to 2012 nm. The on-chip insertion loss of the AWG is measured to be approximately 5 dB. By implementing a TiN metal layer, the AWG spectrum can be thermally tuned with an efficiency of 0.27 GHz/mW. The device has a very compact configuration with a footprint of 2.3 mm × 2 mm. The demonstrated AWG can potentially be used for dense wavelength division multiplexing in the 2 µm spectral band.
Tip-enhanced four-wave mixing internally illuminated by an ultrafast vector light field
Authors: Meng Chao , Xie Zhonglin , Li Weijian , Xu Lei , Gao Feng , Zhang Wending , Mei Ting , Zhao Jianlin
Published: January 2022

A tip nanofocusing light field, with high electric-field intensity and nanoscale mode volume, can significantly improve nonlinear light scattering efficiency, thereby greatly promoting the development of strong-field nano-optics. Here, tip-enhanced four-wave mixing (FWM) is theoretically analyzed through two ultrafast radial vector beams internally illuminating an Ag-coated silica tip (ACST). Two femtosecond pulses, with radial electric vectors and pulse width of 100 fs, are adopted as excitation sources to illuminate the ACST. Degenerate tip-enhanced FWM (ωFWM = 2ω1−ω2) with a nonlinear conversion efficiency of ∼10−5 is achieved. The peak electric-field amplitude of the two pump pulses is 5 × 107 V/m, which is two orders of magnitude lower than that of the external excitation method. Further theoretical analysis shows that the conversion efficiency of the tip-enhanced FWM has strict frequency detuning dependence characteristics, and is closely related to the frequency response of the tip nanofocusing light field. This plasmonic tip provides an approach for enhancing nonlinear nano-optics, and may be used in the field of tip-based FWM nanoscopy.
Reduction of power consumption for autostereoscopic display based on time-division multiplexing parallax barrier
Authors: Mitomi Hayato , Kakeya Hideki
Published: January 2022

In this paper, we propose a time-division multiplexing parallax barrier system with reduced power consumption by using a lenticular lens to generate active barrier slits. In the conventional study, the ratio of luminance to power consumption is low because of the usage of two LCD panels with limited transmittance. In the proposed system, a fine slit pattern is generated by projecting LED striped light through a lenticular lens, where active change of slit pattern is realized by changing the positions of LED emission. We measure and confirm reduction of power consumption in the proposed method. We also compare the effects of time division on crosstalk in the conventional and the proposed methods.
Frequency measurement and amplification of lidar echo signal based on optomechanical effects
Authors: Wen Jun , Dan Youquan , Ma Xuecong , Xu LuoPeng , Sun Peiyu
Published: January 2022

In this work, we have proposed a new scheme to measure the frequency of lidar echo signals by optomechanically induced transparency or amplification. Our calculation is based on the quantum Langevin equations and the mean-field approximation. The phenomenon that the transmission probabilities of echo signal light of lidar are sensitive to its frequency gives us a method to obtain the probe frequency. The expressions of the external force that keeps the system on the blue or red sidebands are offered, which is the necessary condition for our measurements. For the blue sideband, the process leads to the amplification of the echo signal light if the frequency of the pump field satisfies certain relations. For the red sideband, the echo signal light may be fully absorbed and at this time whose frequency can be obtained by a formula that has been proved in this work. In contrast to the conventional method, our method may have higher accuracy, and cavity optomechanics can amplify the signal under the condition of the blue sideband. Our scheme is based on the quantum theory, which may be easier to associate with quantum Fisher information that can give the highest precision.
Efficient mid-infrared single-photon detection using superconducting NbTiN nanowires with high time resolution in a Gifford-McMahon cryocooler
Authors: Chang Jin , Los Johannes W. N. , Gourgues Ronan , Steinhauer Stephan , Dorenbos S. N. , Pereira Silvania F. , Urbach H. Paul , Zwiller Val , Esmaeil Zadeh Iman
Published: January 2022

Shortly after their inception, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) became the leading quantum light detection technology. With the capability of detecting single-photons with near-unity efficiency, high time resolution, low dark count rate, and fast recovery time, SNSPDs outperform conventional single-photon detection techniques. However, detecting lower energy single photons (

<
0.8
  
eV

) with high efficiency and low timing jitter has remained a challenge. To achieve unity internal efficiency at mid-infrared wavelengths, previous works used amorphous superconducting materials with low energy gaps at the expense of reduced time resolution (close to a nanosecond), and by operating them in complex milliKelvin (mK) dilution refrigerators. In this work, we provide an alternative approach with SNSPDs fabricated from 5 to 9.5 nm thick NbTiN superconducting films and devices operated in conventional Gifford-McMahon cryocoolers. By optimizing the superconducting film deposition process, film thickness, and nanowire design, our fiber-coupled devices achieved

>
70
%

system detection efficiency (SDE) at 2 μm and sub-15 ps timing jitter. Furthermore, detectors from the same batch demonstrated unity internal detection efficiency at 3 μm and 80% internal efficiency at 4 μm, paving the road for an efficient mid-infrared single-photon detection technology with unparalleled time resolution and without mK cooling requirements. We also systematically studied the dark count rates (DCRs) of our detectors coupled to different types of mid-infrared optical fibers and blackbody radiation filters. This offers insight into the trade-off between bandwidth and DCRs for mid-infrared SNSPDs. To conclude, this paper significantly extends the working wavelength range for SNSPDs made from polycrystalline NbTiN to 1.5–4 μm, and we expect quantum optics experiments and applications in the mid-infrared range to benefit from this far-reaching technology.
Superior optical Kerr effects induced by two-dimensional excitons
Authors: Zhou Feng , Nieva Cacere Jelah , Fan Dianyuan , Lu Shunbin , Ji Wei
Published: January 2022

Materials with strong optical Kerr effects (OKEs) are crucial for a broad range of applications, such as all-optical data processing and quantum information. However, the underlying OKE mechanism is not clear in 2D materials. Here, we reveal key insights of the OKE associated with 2D excitons. An admirably succinct formalism is derived for predicting the spectra and the magnitude of the nonlinear refractive index (

n
2

) of 2D materials. The predicted

n
2

spectra are consistent with reported experimental data and exhibit pronounced excitonic resonances, which is distinctively different from bulk semiconductors. The

n
2

value is predicted to be

3
×

10

−
10

  

cm

2

/
W

for a 2D layered perovskite at low temperature as 7 K, which is four orders of magnitude larger than those of bulk semiconductors. The superior OKE induced by 2D excitons would give rise to a narrow refractive index-near-zero region for intense laser light. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the 2D layered perovskite should exhibit the best OKE efficiency (

W

FOM

=
1.02

,

T

FOM

=
0.14

) at 1550 nm, meeting the material requirements for all-optical switching. Our findings deepen the understanding of the OKE of 2D semiconducting materials and pave the way for highly efficient all-optical excitonic devices.
Scoping review of the applications of peptide microarrays on the fight against human infections
Authors: Vengesai Arthur , Kasambala Maritha , Mutandadzi Hamlet , Mduluza-Jokonya Tariro L. , Mduluza Takafira , Naicker Thajasvarie
Published: January 2022

Introduction

This scoping review explores the use of peptide microarrays in the fight against infectious diseases. The research domains explored included the use of peptide microarrays in the mapping of linear B-cell and T cell epitopes, antimicrobial peptide discovery, immunosignature characterisation and disease immunodiagnostics. This review also provides a short overview of peptide microarray synthesis.

Methods

Electronic databases were systematically searched to identify relevant studies. The review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews and data charting was performed using a predefined form. The results were reported by narrative synthesis in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines.

Results

Ninety-five articles from 103 studies were included in the final data charting process. The majority (92. 0%) of the articles were published during 2010–2020 and were mostly from Europe (44.2%) and North America (34.7%). The findings were from the investigation of viral (45.6%), bacterial (32. 0%), parasitic (23.3%) and fungal (2. 0%) infections. Out of the serological studies, IgG was the most reported antibody type followed by IgM. The largest portion of the studies (77.7%) were related to mapping B-cell linear epitopes, 5.8% were on diagnostics, 5.8% reported on immunosignature characterisation and 8.7% reported on viral and bacterial cell binding assays. Two studies reported on T-cell epitope profiling.

Conclusion

The most important application of peptide microarrays was found to be B-cell epitope mapping or antibody profiling to identify diagnostic and vaccine targets. Immunosignatures identified by random peptide microarrays were found to be applied in the diagnosis of infections and interrogation of vaccine responses. The analysis of the interactions of random peptide microarrays with bacterial and viral cells using binding assays enabled the identification of antimicrobial peptides. Peptide microarray arrays were also used for T-cell linear epitope mapping which may provide more information for the design of peptide-based vaccines and for the development of diagnostic reagents.
3D reconstruction method based on second-order semiglobal stereo matching and fast point positioning Delaunay triangulation
Authors: Xu Yongbing , Liu Kaixiang , Ni Jinyan , Li Qingwu
Published: January 2022

Binocular vision uses the parallax principle of the human eye to obtain 3D information of an object, which is widely used as an important means of acquiring 3D information for 3D reconstruction tasks. To improve the accuracy and efficiency of 3D reconstruction, we propose a 3D reconstruction method that combines second-order semiglobal matching, guided filtering and Delaunay triangulation. First, the existing second-order semiglobal matching method is improved, and the smoothness constraint of multiple angle directions is added to the matching cost to generate a more robust disparity map. Second, the 3D coordinates of all points are calculated by combining camera parameters and disparity maps to obtain the 3D point cloud, which is smoothed by guided filtering to remove noise points and retain details. Finally, a method to quickly locate the insertion point and accelerate Delaunay triangulation is proposed. The surface of the point cloud is reconstructed by Delaunay triangulation based on fast point positioning to improve the visibility of the 3D model. The proposed approach was evaluated using the Middlebury and KITTI datasets. The experimental results show that the proposed second-order semiglobal matching method has higher accuracy than other stereo matching methods and that the proposed Delaunay triangulation method based on fast point location requires less time than the original Delaunay triangulation.
Graphlet eigencentralities capture novel central roles of genes in pathways
Authors: Windels Sam F. L. , Malod-Dognin Noël , Pržulj Nataša
Published: January 2022

Motivation

Graphlet adjacency extends regular node adjacency in a network by considering a pair of nodes being adjacent if they participate in a given graphlet (small, connected, induced subgraph). Graphlet adjacencies captured by different graphlets were shown to contain complementary biological functions and cancer mechanisms. To further investigate the relationships between the topological features of genes participating in molecular networks, as captured by graphlet adjacencies, and their biological functions, we build more descriptive pathway-based approaches.

Contribution

We introduce a new graphlet-based definition of eigencentrality of genes in a pathway, graphlet eigencentrality, to identify pathways and cancer mechanisms described by a given graphlet adjacency. We compute the centrality of genes in a pathway either from the local perspective of the pathway or from the global perspective of the entire network.

Results

We show that in molecular networks of human and yeast, different local graphlet adjacencies describe different pathways (i.e., all the genes that are functionally important in a pathway are also considered topologically important by their local graphlet eigencentrality). Pathways described by the same graphlet adjacency are functionally similar, suggesting that each graphlet adjacency captures different pathway topology and function relationships. Additionally, we show that different graphlet eigencentralities describe different cancer driver genes that play central roles in pathways, or in the crosstalk between them (i.e. we can predict cancer driver genes participating in a pathway by their local or global graphlet eigencentrality). This result suggests that by considering different graphlet eigencentralities, we can capture different functional roles of genes in and between pathways.
P63 targeted deletion under the FOXN1 promoter disrupts pre-and post-natal thymus development, function and maintenance as well as induces severe hair loss
Authors: Stefanski Heather E. , Xing Yan , Nicholls Jemma , Jonart Leslie , Goren Emily , Taylor Patricia A. , Mills Alea A. , Riddle Megan , McGrath John , Tolar Jakub , Hollander Georg A. , Blazar Bruce R.
Published: January 2022

Progressive immune deficiency of aging is characterized by severe thymic atrophy, contracted T cell repertoire, and poor immune function. p63 is critical for the proliferative potential of embryonic and adult stem cells, as well as thymic epithelial cells (TECs). Because p63 null mice experience rapid post-natal lethality due to epidermal and limb morphogenesis defects, studies to define a role for p63 expression in TEC biology focused on embryonic thymus development and in vitro experiments. Since post-natal thymic stromal development and function differs from that of the embryo, we assessed the impact of lineage-restricted p63 loss on pre- and post-natal murine TEC function by generating mice with a loss of p63 function targeted to TEC, termed p63TECko mice. In adult p63TECko mice, severe thymic hypoplasia was observed with a lack in a discernable segregation into medullary and cortical compartments and peripheral T cell lymphopenia. This profound thymic defect was seen in both neonatal as well as embryonic p63TECko mice. In addition to TECs, p63 also plays in important role in the development of stratified epithelium of the skin; lack of p63 results in defects in skin epidermal stratification and differentiation. Interestingly, all adult p63TECko mice lacked hair follicles despite having normal p63 expression in the skin. Together our results show a critical role of TEC p63 in thymic development and maintenance and show that p63 expression is critical for hair follicle formation.
The hot hand in the wild
Authors: Pelechrinis Konstantinos , Winston Wayne
Published: January 2022

Streaks of success have always fascinated people and a lot of research has been conducted to identify whether the “hot hand” effect is real. While sports have provided an appropriate platform for studying this phenomenon, the majority of existing literature examines scenarios in a vacuum with results that might or might not be applicable in the wild. In this study, we build on the existing literature and develop an appropriate framework to quantify the extent to which success can come in streaks—beyond the stroke of chance—in a natural environment. Considering in-game basketball game situations, our analysis provides statistical evidence that individual players do indeed exhibit the hot hand in varying degrees, that is, individual players can consistently get in a streak of successful shots beyond random chance. However, as a whole, the average player exhibits shooting regression, that is, after consecutive makes he tends to perform below expectations. Even though our results are based on a sports setting, we believe that our study provides a path towards thinking of the hot hand beyond a laboratory-like, controlled environment. This is crucial if we want to use similar results to enhance our decision making and better understand short and long term outcomes of repeated decisions.
The possibility of sports industry business model innovation based on blockchain technology: Evaluation of the innovation efficiency of listed sports companies
Authors: Lv Chenchen , Wang Yifeng , Jin Chai
Published: January 2022

The combination of blockchain and the sports industry is bound to be a trend in terms of innovation and the development of sports industry in the near future. Therefore, after analyzing the problems existing in the current business model of the sports industry, this paper takes 200 innovation indicators of 50 listed companies in the sports industry, among which 15 use blockchain and 35 do not use, as research samples and uses a three-stage DEA model to calculate their innovation efficiency. The results show that sports companies that use blockchain have better performance in terms of innovation efficiency than do those that do not, which illustrates the necessity of blockchain-based business model innovation. Then, by focusing on the internal structure and the case of the "vSport blockchain", this work shows that this business model innovation is feasible. The article first proposes a blockchain-based sports industry business model and then uses a combination of empirical and case studies to prove the necessity and feasibility of sports industry business model innovation.
ReportAGE: Automatically extracting the exact age of Twitter users based on self-reports in tweets
Authors: Klein Ari Z. , Magge Arjun , Gonzalez-Hernandez Graciela
Published: January 2022

Advancing the utility of social media data for research applications requires methods for automatically detecting demographic information about social media study populations, including users’ age. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a method that automatically identifies the exact age of users based on self-reports in their tweets. Our end-to-end automatic natural language processing (NLP) pipeline, ReportAGE, includes query patterns to retrieve tweets that potentially mention an age, a classifier to distinguish retrieved tweets that self-report the user’s exact age (“age” tweets) and those that do not (“no age” tweets), and rule-based extraction to identify the age. To develop and evaluate ReportAGE, we manually annotated 11,000 tweets that matched the query patterns. Based on 1000 tweets that were annotated by all five annotators, inter-annotator agreement (Fleiss’ kappa) was 0.80 for distinguishing “age” and “no age” tweets, and 0.95 for identifying the exact age among the “age” tweets on which the annotators agreed. A deep neural network classifier, based on a RoBERTa-Large pretrained transformer model, achieved the highest F1-score of 0.914 (precision = 0.905, recall = 0.942) for the “age” class. When the age extraction was evaluated using the classifier’s predictions, it achieved an F1-score of 0.855 (precision = 0.805, recall = 0.914) for the “age” class. When it was evaluated directly on the held-out test set, it achieved an F1-score of 0.931 (precision = 0.873, recall = 0.998) for the “age” class. We deployed ReportAGE on a collection of more than 1.2 billion tweets, posted by 245,927 users, and predicted ages for 132,637 (54%) of them. Scaling the detection of exact age to this large number of users can advance the utility of social media data for research applications that do not align with the predefined age groupings of extant binary or multi-class classification approaches.
Responses and sensitivities of maize phenology to climate change from 1971 to 2020 in Henan Province, China
Authors: Zhang Ning , Qu Yizhong , Song Zhizhong , Chen Yahui , Jiang Jiang
Published: January 2022

Climate change affects many aspects of the physiological and biochemical processes of growing maize and ultimately its yield. A comprehensive climate suitability model is proposed that quantifies the effects of temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, and wind in different phenological stages of maize. It is calibrated using weather and yield data from China’s Henan Province. The comprehensive suitability model showed the capability of correctly hindcasting observed temporal and spatial changes in maize phenology in response to climatic factors. The predicted yield based on the suitability model can well match the recorded field yield very well from 1971–2020. The results of correlation showed that the yields are more closely related to multi-weather factors, temperature and precipitation than to solar radiation and wind. The sensitivity analysis illustrates that temperature and precipitation are the dominant weather factors affecting yield changes based on a direct differentiation method. The comprehensive suitability model can provide a scientific support and analysis tool for predicting grain production considering climate changes.
Effect of influenza vaccination on the outcomes of hospitalization for kidney disease in a geriatric population: A propensity-score matched study
Authors: Liao Chien-Chang , Tai Ying-Hsuan , Yeh Chun-Chieh , Hsu Yung-Ho , Chen Ta-Liang , Cherng Yih-Giun
Published: January 2022

Background and aims

The effects of influenza vaccination (IV) on the outcomes of patients with kidney disease (KD) are not completely understood. We aimed to evaluate and compare the outcomes during admission of KD between elderly patients who did or did not receive an IV within the previous 12 months.

Methods

We used health insurance research data in Taiwan and conducted a population-based cohort study that included 22,590 older people aged ≥ 65 years who were hospitalized for KD in 2008–2013. We performed propensity score matching (case-control ratio 1:1) to select 4386 eligible IV recipients and 4386 nonrecipient controls for comparison. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of IV associated with complications and mortality during KD admission were calculated using multivariable logistic regression analyses.

Results

During hospitalization for KD, IV was significantly associated with lower risks of 30-day in-hospital mortality (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.39–0.82), septicemia (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.68–0.87), and intensive care (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.75–0.96). Additionally, IV recipients had a shorter length of hospital stay and lower medical expenditure than nonrecipients. Subgroup analyses further showed that the association of IV with reduced adverse events was confined to patients aged ≥ 75 years.

Conclusions

Previous IV was associated with reduced risks of complications and mortality and in elderly patients hospitalized for KD. We raised the possibility and suggested the need to promote IV for this susceptible population of patients with KD.
Pharmacogenetic inhibition of lumbosacral sensory neurons alleviates visceral hypersensitivity in a mouse model of chronic pelvic pain
Authors: Xie Alison Xiaoqiao , Iguchi Nao , Clarkson Taylor C. , Malykhina Anna P.
Published: January 2022

The study investigated the cellular and molecular mechanisms in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) underlying the symptoms of urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome (UCPPS) in mice. This work also aimed to test the feasibility of reversing peripheral sensitization in vivo in alleviating UCPPS symptoms. Intravesical instillation of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) was used to induce UCPPS-like symptoms in mice. Spontaneous voiding spot assays and manual Von Frey tests were used to evaluate the severity of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and visceral hypersensitivity in VEGFA-instilled mice. Bladder smooth muscle strip contractility recordings (BSMSC) were used to identify the potential changes in myogenic and neurogenic detrusor muscle contractility at the tissue-level. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and fluorescent immunohistochemistry were performed to compare the expression levels of VEGF receptors and nociceptors in lumbosacral dorsal root ganglia (DRG) between VEGFA-instilled mice and saline-instilled controls. To manipulate primary afferent activity, Gi-coupled Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (Gi-DREADD) were expressed in lumbosacral DRG neurons of TRPV1-Cre-ZGreen mice via targeted adeno-associated viral vector (AAVs) injections. A small molecule agonist of Gi-DREADD, clozapine-N-oxide (CNO), was injected into the peritoneum (i. p.) in awake animals to silence TRPV1 expressing sensory neurons in vivo during physiological and behavioral recordings of bladder function. Intravesical instillation of VEGFA in the urinary bladders increased visceral mechanical sensitivity and enhanced RTX-sensitive detrusor contractility. Sex differences were identified in the baseline detrusor contractility responses and VEGF-induced visceral hypersensitivity. VEGFA instillations in the urinary bladder led to significant increases in the mRNA and protein expression of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily A member 1 (TRPA1) in lumbosacral DRG, whereas the expression levels of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) and VEGF receptors (VEGFR1 and VEGFR2) remained unchanged when compared to saline-instilled animals. Importantly, the VEGFA-induced visceral hypersensitivity was reversed by Gi-DREADD-mediated neuronal silencing in lumbosacral sensory neurons. Activation of bladder VEGF signaling causes sensory neural plasticity and visceral hypersensitivity in mice, confirming its role of an UCPPS biomarker as identified by the Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain (MAPP) research studies. Pharmacogenetic inhibition of lumbosacral sensory neurons in vivo completely reversed VEGFA-induced pelvic hypersensitivity in mice, suggesting the strong therapeutic potential for decreasing primary afferent activity in the treatment of pain severity in UCPPS patients.