Toward an Autonomous-Agents Inspired Economic Analysis

This paper demonstrates the potential role of autonomous agents in economic theory. We first dispatch autonomous agents, built by genetic programming, to double auction markets. We then study the bargaining strategies discovered by them, and from there an autonomous-agent-inspired economic theory with regard to the optimal procrastination is derived.Agent-Based Double Auction Markets, Autonomous Agents, Genetic Programming, Bargaining Strategies, Monopsony, Procrastination Strategy

Hope Under Assault: Understanding the Impact of Sexual Assault on the Relation Between Hope and Suicidal Risk

The present study sought to examine for how hope and sexual assault are involved in suicidal risk in a sample of 325 college students. Specifically, we were interested to examine whether sexual assault may play an additive as well as interactive role in the prediction of suicidal risk (viz., suicidal behaviors & reasons for living) above and beyond hope. Results from regression analyses indicated that hope and sexual assault were important and unique predictors of suicidal risk in students. Moreover, we found support for a Hope × Sexual Assault interaction in predicting both suicidal behaviors and reasons for living. Some important implications of the present findings are discussed.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111887/1/Yu - Project.pdf-

Disparity in Checkpoint Inhibitor Utilization Among Commercially Insured Adult Patients With Metastatic Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of evidence from nationwide samples on the disparity of initiating immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) after metastatic lung cancer diagnosis. METHODS: We identified metastatic lung cancer patients diagnosed between 2015 and 2020 from a large, nationwide commercial claims database. We analyzed the time from metastatic lung cancer diagnosis to ICI therapy using Cox proportional hazard models. Independent variables included county-level measures (quintiles of percentage of racialized population, quintiles of percentage of population below poverty, urbanity, and density of medical oncologists) and patient characteristics (age, sex, Charlson comorbidity index, Medicare Advantage, and year of diagnosis). All tests were 2-sided. RESULTS: A total of 17 022 patients were included. Counties with a larger proportion of racialized population appeared to be more urban, have a greater percentage of its residents in poverty, and have a higher density of medical oncologists. In Cox analysis, the adjusted hazard ratio of the second, third, fourth, and highest quintile of percentage of racialized population were 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.82 to 0.98), 0.85 (95% CI = 0.78 to 0.93), 0.78 (95% CI = 0.71 to 0.86), and 0.71 (95% CI = 0.62 to 0.81), respectively, compared with counties in the lowest quintile. The slower ICI therapy initiation was driven by counties with the highest percentage of Hispanic population and other non-Black racialized groups. CONCLUSIONS: Commercially insured patients with metastatic lung cancer who lived in counties with greater percentage of racialized population had slower initiation of ICI therapy after lung cancer diagnosis, despite greater density of oncologists in their neighborhood

Low-Frequency Noise Spectroscopy of Charge-Density-Wave Phase Transitions in Vertical Quasi-2D Devices

We report results regarding the electron transport in vertical quasi-2D layered 1T-TaS2 charge-density-wave devices. The low-frequency noise spectroscopy was used as a tool to study changes in the cross-plane electrical characteristics of the quasi-2D material below room temperature. The noise spectral density revealed strong peaks - changing by more than an order-of-magnitude - at the temperatures closely matching the electrical resistance steps. Some of the noise peaks appeared below the temperature of the commensurate to nearly-commensurate charge-density-wave transition, possibly indicating the presence of the debated "hidden" phase transitions. These results confirm the potential of the noise spectroscopy for investigations of electron transport and phase transitions in novel materials.Comment: 16 pages; 5 figure

Development of a Virtual Training Program to Reduce Gun Violence Amidst the Covid-19 Era

Firearm deaths and related health issues have increased and disproportionately affected minorities in the COVID-19 era. We developed an accessible virtual training program, including topics on gun violence epidemiology, depression, substance use, intimate partner violence (IPV), intervention resources, safety planning, and COVID-19-related issues. The training program was distributed to participants from the Northeast region, particularly New Jersey, through text, email, and social media. Among the 202 survey responses from the participants, the mean age was 22.6, 50% were male, and 84.4% were minorities. Only 49.5% of participants were familiar with the related topics before the program, with participants having the least knowledge in gun violence epidemiology (9.5%). The mean test score for knowledge on all related topics after the training was 98.0 out of 100. Most participants were satisfied with the training program (92.1%), felt comfortable seeking help (86.1%), and would promote the program (83.7%). The participants were least comfortable seeking help for depression, particularly among non-African and non-Hispanic minority groups. We concluded that brief online interventions can improve community health outreach, knowledge, awareness, and likelihood of help-seeking and treatment. Tailored training programs are needed to target various populations for prevention and intervention

Deformation twinning in magnesium using nano-indentation

This study describes an investigation into nano-indentation induced deformation twinning in pure magnesium. The working objectives of this study were to clarify: 1. Whether deformation twinning is a statistical certainty 2. The positive effects of high stress on deformation twinning 3. Whether deformation twins in magnesium are strain-rate sensitive 4. The role of grain and pre-existing twin boundaries on deformation twinning 5. The efficacy of the Schmid criterion (CRSS) in predicting deformation twinning. Deformation twins induced by nano-indentation using a Berkovich tip on magnesium grains were studied using a combination of optical microscopy, SEM and electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD). All nano-indents made on the magnesium grains in this study induced twinning, mainly of the {101 2} tension twin type. The twins induced were highly reproducible in terms of twin type, size, shape, amount and orientation with respect to the indent. Consistent with findings from other studies, deformation twins were found to react positively to increasing contact pressure. The evidence shows that twin nucleation and growth are both higher for indents made with higher stress. Moreover, deformation twins appear to be insensitive to strain-rate. Whilst pre-existing twin boundaries play no apparent role in promoting further twinning, grain boundaries twins were found to promote twinning in neighbouring grains. Finally, the twin variants formed by indenting in different crystal orientation suggested a break-down of the Schmid criterion, hence invalidates of the CRSS evaluation for deformation twinning in magnesium. These results elucidate existing knowledge gaps in this area