User Attraction via Wireless Charging in Cellular Networks

A strong motivation of charging depleted battery can be an enabler for network capacity increase. In this light we propose a spatial attraction cellular network (SAN) consisting of macro cells overlaid with small cell base stations that wirelessly charge user batteries. Such a network makes battery depleting users move toward the vicinity of small cell base stations. With a fine adjustment of charging power, this user spatial attraction (SA) improves in spectral efficiency as well as load balancing. We jointly optimize both enhancements thanks to SA, and derive the corresponding optimal charging power in a closed form by using a stochastic geometric approach.Comment: to be presented in IEEE International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc and Wireless Networks (WiOpt) Workshop on Green Networks (GREENNET) 2016, Arizona, USA (8 pages, 4 figures

THE NATURE OF INFORMAL ROLES IN INTERDEPENDENT SPORT TEAMS

The degree to which athletes understand and execute their formal role responsibilities (i.e., prescribed by coaches) is important for individual and group functioning (Eys, Schinke, Surya, & Benson, 2014). Recent literature suggested that informal roles can emerge within sport teams more naturally without coaches’ explicit assignments (e.g., team comedians, distracters), and have significant influences on team functioning (Cope, Eys, Beauchamp, Schinke, & Bosselut, 2011). This doctoral dissertation examined the nature of informal roles within interdependent sport teams, focusing on their antecedents and outcomes. Three separate projects were conducted. Project One examined athletes’ personality in the big five dimensions (McCrae & Costa, 2010) as antecedents of their informal role occupancy assessed via self- and teammate-identification (N = 535). Project Two examined whether athletes’ personality assessed near the beginning of the competitive season predicted their informal role occupancy at a later point of their season, and whether the presence of informal roles influenced valued outcome perceptions (e.g., group cohesion, athlete satisfaction) assessed closer to the end of the season (N = 286). Projects One and Two demonstrated that team comedians tended to be more extraverted (i.e., more outgoing) and distracters tended to be less conscientious (i.e., less dependable), although several inconsistent associations were also noted between personality and informal role occupancy across the two projects. Project Two further revealed that the presence of several informal roles affected athletes’ perceptions of group cohesion and satisfaction. Project Three employed an instrumental case study design with two sport teams, whereby different types of information (personality and informal role occupancy via questionnaires, athlete behaviours via video-recordings of competitions, interviews with coaches and athletes) were collected to conduct an in-depth examination of informal role emergence. The results revealed that those who occupied important task- and social-oriented informal roles, compared to those who did not, had higher tenure, garnered more playing time, and showed higher levels of activity during competitions. The interview results identified several factors that can influence informal role emergence, which pertained to either the role occupants (e.g., tenure, personal backgrounds) or the context (e.g., coach influence). Overall, this dissertation makes meaningful contributions to the group dynamics literature by highlighting important factors involved in the processes by which informal roles arise in groups, as well as their potential impact. Insight derived from this dissertation provides a foundation to continue this line of inquiry to further advance the understanding of the complex nature of informal roles

High tumor hexokinase-2 expression promotes a pro-tumorigenic immune microenvironment by modulating CD8+/regulatory T-cell infiltration

Background Relationship between cancer cell glycolysis and the landscape of tumor immune microenvironment in human cancers was investigated. Methods Forty-one fresh lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) tissues were analyzed using flow cytometry for comprehensive immunoprofiling. Formalin-fixed tissues were immunostained for hexokinase-2 (HK2) to assess cancer cell glycolysis. For validation, formalin-fixed tissues from 375 lung ADC, 118 lung squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC), 338 colon ADC, and 78 lung cancer patients treated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy were immunostained for HK2, CD8, and FOXP3. Results Based on immunoprofiling of lung ADC, HK2 tumor expression was associated with the composition of lymphoid cells rather than myeloid cells. High HK2 tumor expression was associated with immunosuppressive/pro-tumorigenic features, especially decreased ratio of CD8 + T-cells to Tregs (rho = −0.415, P = 0.012). This correlation was also confirmed in four different cohorts including lung ADC and SqCC, colon ADC, and the immunotherapy cohort (rho = −0.175~-0.335, all P < 0.05). A low CD8 + T-cell to Treg ratio was associated with poor progression-free survival and overall survival in lung SqCC patients, and a shorter overall survival in the immunotherapy cohort (all, P < 0.05). Conclusion An increase in HK2 expression may contribute to shaping the immunosuppressive/pro-tumorigenic tumor microenvironment by modulating the CD8 + T-cell to Treg ratio. Targeting tumor HK2 expression might be a potential strategy for enhancing anti-tumor immunity.This work was supported by the Basic Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) (grant No.: 2020R1A4A1017515)

Clinicopathological findings of pediatric NTRK fusion mesenchymal tumors

Background While ETV6- NTRK3 fusion is common in infantile fibrosarcoma, NTRK1/3 fusion in pediatric tumors is scarce and, consequently, not well known. Herein, we evaluated for the presence of NTRK1/3 fusion in pediatric mesenchymal tumors, clinicopathologically and immunophenotypically. Methods We reviewed nine NTRK fusion-positive pediatric sarcomas confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization and/or next-generation sequencing from Seoul National University Hospital between 2002 and 2020. Results One case of TPR-NTRK1 fusion-positive intracranial, extra-axial, high-grade undifferentiated sarcoma (12-year-old boy), one case of LMNA-NTRK1 fusion-positive low-grade infantile fibrosarcoma of the forehead (3-year-old boy), one case of ETV6-NTRK3 fusion-positive inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) (3-months-old girl), and six cases of ETV6-NTRK3 fusion-positive infantile fibrosarcoma (median age: 2.6 months, range: 1.6–5.6 months, M: F = 5:1) were reviewed. The Trk immunopositivity patterns were distinct, depending on what fusion genes were present. We observed nuclear positivity in TPR-NTRK1 fusion-positive sarcoma, nuclear membrane positivity in LMNA-NTRK1 fusion-positive sarcoma, and both cytoplasmic and nuclear positivity in ETV6-NTRK3 fusion-positive IMT and infantile fibrosarcomas. Also, the TPR-NTRK1 fusion-positive sarcoma showed robust positivity for CD34/nestin, and also showed high mitotic rate. The LMNA-NTRK1 fusion-positive sarcoma revealed CD34/S100 protein/nestin/CD10 coexpression, and a low mitotic rate. The IMT with ETV6-NTRK3 fusion expressed SMA. Six infantile fibrosarcomas with ETV6-NTRK3 fusion showed variable coexpression of nestin (6/6)/CD10 (4/5)/ S100 protein (3/6). Conclusions All cases of NTRK1 and NTRK3 fusion-positive pediatric tumors robustly expressed the Trk protein. A Trk immunopositive pattern and CD34/S100/nestin/CD10/SMA immunohistochemical expression may suggest the presence of NTRK fusion partner genes. LMNA-NTRK1 fusion sarcoma might be a low-grade subtype of infantile fibrosarcoma. Interestingly, more than half of the infantile fibrosarcoma cases were positive for S100 protein and CD10. The follow-up period of TPR-NTRK1 and LMNA-NTRK1 fusion-positive tumors are not enough to predict prognosis. However, ETV6-NTRK3 fusion-positive infantile fibrosarcomas showed an excellent prognosis with no evidence of disease for an average of 11.7 years, after gross total resection of the tumor.This work was supported by the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Promotion (IITP) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIP) (No.2019–0567, Development of Intelligent SW systems for uncovering genetic variation and developing personalized medicine for cancer patients with unknown molecular genetic mechanisms)

Intercollegiate coaches' experiences and strategies for coaching first-year athletes

University student-athletes have reported difficulties balancing the rigors of academics, athletics, and their personal lives (Heller, Bloom, Neil, & Salmela, 2005). These challenges may be exacerbated for first-year athletes who are transitioning from high school and often living away from home for the first time. Given that coaches significantly influence their athletes’ experiences (Bloom, Falcão, & Caron, 2014), their coaching styles and support may ease this transition process. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to investigate university coaches’ perceptions, experiences, and strategies used with first-year university student-athletes. Eight highly successful and experienced Canadian university coaches were individually interviewed. The interview data was analyzed with thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The results revealed that coaches’ ultimate goal of helping their athletes succeed in life after university influenced their coaching practices throughout the athletes’ entire university experience from first year to graduation. Coaching first-year athletes started with recruiting individuals who were highly skilled and who would fit in with the other athletes on their team both on and off the field. Once selected, coaches began building trusting relationships with their first-year athletes that were supported by the leadership skills of their senior athletes and by incorporating team building activities into training. Coaches developed their first-year athletes’ athletic skills by creating training programs that addressed each players’ weaknesses. At the same time, coaches ensured their academic success by monitoring their progress and encouraging the use of academic resources that were available from their university. The coaches also attended to their athletes’ personal needs which resulted from coaching individuals who were living away from home for the first time and who were susceptible to social opportunities that could distract them from their academic and athletic responsibilities if not carefully monitored by the coaches. In sum, this study adds to the body of literature of effective coaching practices for university coaches by providing one of the first empirical accounts of coaching first-year student-athletes. The current results benefit both coaches and athletes by highlighting the common challenges of a first-year university athlete, as well as by offering useful strategies that can help resolve such challenges and ease this transition process.Les étudiants-athlètes universitaires ont de la difficulté à équilibrer les rigueurs associées aux études, aux sports et à leurs vies personnelles (Heller, Bloom, Neil, & Salmela, 2005). Ces défis peuvent être exacerbés pour les étudiants-athlètes de première année qui sont en transition du secondaire à l’université et qui vivent souvent loin de leur domicile pour la première fois. Étant donné que les entraîneurs influencent l’expérience de leurs athlètes (Bloom, Falcão, & Caron, 2014), leurs styles d’entraînement et de soutien pourraient faciliter cette transition. Cette étude visait à identifier et à expliquer les perspectives, les stratégies ainsi que les expériences des entraîneurs universitaires à l’égard des étudiants-athlètes universitaires de première année. Des entrevues semi-structurées et ouvertes ont été menées avec huit entraîneurs à succès provenant du circuit universitaire canadien. La démarche de Braun et Clarke (2006) a été sollicitée afin d’analyser et d’interpréter les données. Les résultats ont révélé que le but ultime des entraîneurs universitaires, soit d’aider leurs athlètes à avoir du succès dans la vie après leurs années universitaires, a influencé leurs pratiques d’entraînement à travers la carrière universitaire de leurs athlètes de la première année jusqu’à la remise des diplômes. L’entraînement des étudiants-athlètes de première année a débuté avec le recrutement d’individuels doués et pouvant s’adapter aux autres joueurs de l’équipe à l’extérieur et sur le terrain de jeu. Une fois sélectionnés, les entraîneurs ont commencé à établir des relations de confiance avec leurs athlètes de première année qui étaient appuyées par les compétences en leadership de leurs athlètes seniors et par les activités d’esprit d’équipe intégrées dans les entraînements d’équipe. Les entraîneurs ont développé les aptitudes athlétiques de leurs athlètes de première année en créant des programmes d’entraînement qui adressaient les faiblesses de chaque joueur. En même temps, les entraîneurs s’assuraient de leur succès académique en surveillant leur progression et en encourageant l’utilisation des ressources scolaires disponibles à leur université. Les entraîneurs s’occupaient aussi de leurs besoins personnels qui découlaient du fait qu’ils entraînaient des individuels qui vivaient loin de leur domicile pour la première fois et qui étaient susceptible aux occasions sociales qui pourraient les distraire de leurs responsabilités scolaires et athlétiques si elles n’étaient pas suivies attentivement par leurs entraîneurs. En résumé, cette étude ajoute à la littérature concernant les pratiques d’entraînement efficaces pour les entraîneurs universitaires en fournissant l’un des premiers portraits empiriques de l’entraînement des étudiants-athlètes de première année. Ces résultats bénéficient aux entraîneurs et aux athlètes en surlignant les défis communs des étudiants-athlètes universitaires de première année ainsi qu’en offrant des stratégies qui peuvent aider à résoudre ces enjeux et faciliter cette transition