Circular Bessel field statistics and the pursuit of far-subwavelength resolution

The statistical description of wave propagation in random media is important for many applications. While polarized light in systems with weakly interacting scatterers and sufficient overall scatter has zero-mean circular Gaussian statistics, the underlying assumptions break down in the Anderson localization and weakly scattering regimes. Although probability density functions for wave intensity and amplitude exist beyond Gaussian statistics, suitable statistical descriptions for the field with strong and weak random scatter were unknown. The first analytical probability density function for the field that is effective in both the Anderson localization regime and the weakly scattering regime is derived by modeling the field as a random phasor sum with a random number of contributing terms. This provides a framework for modeling wave propagation in random media, facilitating random media characterization, imaging in and through scatter, and for random laser design. ^ The resolution of far-field imaging systems is diffraction limited. Super resolution techniques that break the diffraction limit are important in the physical, chemical, and biological sciences, and in technology. An imaging method based on object motion with structured illumination and far-field measurement data that results in far-subwavelength image information is proposed. Simulations show that this approach, with generous detector noise, will lead to the ability to distinguish image features on the nanometer scale with visible light. Along different lines, a perfect negative refractive index can act as a superlens, but realistic materials render this approach ineffective. A method to tune the lens material properties is shown to provide enhanced resolution

The chinese financial system at the Dawn of the 21st century: An Overview

Based on a systematic review and summarization of China’s 30 years of financial reform and development, this paper comprehensively analyzes the past, present and future development of China’s financial system and also presents the mechanism for China’s financial development from the view of political economics. Generally, the Chinese financial system is bank-oriented. The property rights structure, led by state-owned banks, is the prominent feature of the Chinese banking system. Equity, bond, money, currency and real estate markets have been developing rapidly; however, the development rate of these markets varies, and institutional construction generally falls behind the market development. China’s financial decision-making authority belongs to the State Council, and the financial supervision system adopts the mode of “separate regulation.” China’s state-driven, progressive financial reforms have promoted the formation of the government-led financial structure, which is composed of three parts: first, monetary policy, balancing both inflation control and economic growth; second, bank credit expansion under the implicit guarantee of the state; and third, the adjustable pegged exchange rate system based on capital controls. The next phase of financial reform in China will mainly focus on the following four key goals: first, to further improve the corporate governance and the mixed operation of financial institutions; second, to construct the institution of a financial market system and improve the effectiveness of the financial markets; third, to re-integrate regulatory resources, combine macro- and micro-prudent views, and establish a comprehensive framework for financial stability; fourth, to promote the liberalization of interest rates, marketization of the exchange rate and the opening of capital accounts based on a progressive approach and to improve the openness of the financial system based on macroeconomic stability.China, Financial System, Bank-oriented, Political Economics

Three-Level Supply Chain Coordination under Disruptions Based on Revenue-Sharing Contract with Price Dependent Demand

Considering the market demand is stochastic and dependent on price, this paper shows that the revenue-sharing contract could coordinate a three-level supply chain consisting of one manufacturer, one distributor, and one retailer under normal environment. However, the original revenue-sharing contract cannot coordinate the supply chain under disruptions in circumstances of certain incidents leading to significant changes in market demand and causing additional deviation costs. To solve the problem, this essay introduces two improved forms of revenue-sharing contract: a mixed contract form based on a quantity discount policy and a pure form, which are characterized by antidisruption ability. The model of improved revenue-sharing contract is optimized when the market demand is in the additive form or in the multiplicative form with price dependent demand. Formulas are given to calculate the optimal contract parameters. Finally, this essay demonstrates the accuracy of the model of improved revenue-sharing contract with the help of numerical examples

Genetic liability between COVID-19 and heart failure: Evidence from a bidirectional mendelian randomization study

Background: Previous studies have observed inconsistent associations between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and heart failure (HF), but these studies were prone to bias based on reverse causality and residual confounding factors. We aimed to investigate genetic liability between COVID-19 and heart failure using a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study. Methods: The causal relationship between COVID-19 (including COVID-19, hospitalized COVID-19 compared with the general population, and severe COVID-19) and HF are determined by using a bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis. We drew on summary statistics from the largest HF genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis on individuals of European ancestry, which included 47,309 HF patients and 930,014 controls. The inverse variance weighted (IVW), an adaption of the Egger regression (MR-Egger), the weighted median, and weighted model were conducted for the Mendelian randomization analysis to estimate a causal effect. To confirm the stability, we performed a “leave-one-out” approach for the sensitivity analysis. Results: Genetically predicted severe COVID-19 was not significantly associated with the risk of HF [odds ratio (OR), 1.003; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.969–1.037; p = 0.867]. The IVW demonstrated that there was no association between genetically hospitalized COVID-19 infection and HF risk [OR, 1.009; 95% CI, 0.939–1.085; p = 0.797]. There was no evidence to support the association between genetically determined COVID-19 and the risk of HF [OR, 1.066; 95% CI, 0.955–1.190; p = 0.253]. In addition, genetically predicted HF was also not causally associated with COVID-19 [OR, 1.162; 95% CI, 0.824–1.639; p = 0.393]. MR-Egger analysis indicated no evidence of directional pleiotropy. Conclusion: The current bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis overcomes the limitations of observational studies. Our findings indicated that there is no causal association between COVID-19 and HF

Tertiary lymphoid structures in cancer: maturation and induction

Tertiary lymphoid structure (TLS) is an ectopic lymphocyte aggregate formed in peripheral non-lymphoid tissues, including inflamed or cancerous tissue. Tumor-associated TLS serves as a prominent center of antigen presentation and adaptive immune activation within the periphery, which has exhibited positive prognostic value in various cancers. In recent years, the concept of maturity regarding TLS has been proposed and mature TLS, characterized by well-developed germinal centers, exhibits a more potent tumor-suppressive capacity with stronger significance. Meanwhile, more and more evidence showed that TLS can be induced by therapeutic interventions during cancer treatments. Thus, the evaluation of TLS maturity and the therapeutic interventions that induce its formation are critical issues in current TLS research. In this review, we aim to provide a comprehensive summary of the existing classifications for TLS maturity and therapeutic strategies capable of inducing its formation in tumors

No casual relationship between T2DM and the risk of infectious diseases: A two-sample mendelian randomization study

Background: In epidemiological studies, it has been proven that the occurrence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is related to an increased risk of infectious diseases. However, it is still unclear whether the relationship is casual. Methods: We employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to clarify the causal effect of T2DM on high-frequency infectious diseases: sepsis, skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs), urinary tract infections (UTIs), pneumonia, and genito-urinary infection (GUI) in pregnancy. And then, we analyzed the genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of European-descent individuals and conducted T2DM-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables (IVs) that were associated with genome-wide significance (p \u3c 5 × 10–8). MR estimates were obtained using the inverse variance-weighted (IVW), the MR-Egger regression, the simple mode (SM), weighted median, and weighted mode. Results: The UK Biobank (UKB) cohort (n \u3e 500,000) provided data for GWASs on infectious diseases. MR analysis showed little evidence of a causal relationship of T2DM with five mentioned infections’ (sepsis, SSTI, UTI, pneumonia, and GUI in pregnancy) susceptibility [odds ratio (OR) = 0.99999, p = 0.916; OR = 0.99986, p = 0.233; OR = 0.99973, p = 0.224; OR = 0.99997, p = 0.686; OR, 1.00002, p = 0.766]. Sensitivity analysis showed similar results, indicating the robustness of causality. There were no heterogeneity and pleiotropic bias. Conclusion: T2DM would not be causally associated with high-frequency infectious diseases (including sepsis, SSTI, UTI, pneumonia, and GUI in pregnancy)

Coordinating Three-Level Supply Chain by Revenue-Sharing Contract with Sales Effort Dependent Demand

Revenue-sharing contract is a kind of mechanism to improve performance or to achieve perfect coordination of supply chain. Considering a three-level supply chain consisting of a manufacturer, a distributor, and a retailer who faces a stochastic and sales effort dependent demand, the paper analyzes the impact of sales effort on supply chain coordination and expounds the reasons why traditional revenue-sharing contract cannot coordinate supply chain in this condition. Given three cases: only the retailer bears the sales effort cost, only the manufacturer bears the sales effort cost, and the retailer bears the sales effort cost with the manufacturer, the paper proposes an improved revenue-sharing contract based on quantity discount policy to coordinate the supply chain. It illustrates that improved revenue sharing contract can coordinate supply chain by implementing it in one transaction or two transactions of three-level supply chain. The model of improved revenue-sharing contract is optimized, respectively, by addition form and multiplication form with sales effort dependent demand. Formulas are given to determine the optimal contract parameters. Finally, numerical experiments are given to test the accuracy of the model of improved revenue-sharing contract

The chinese financial system at the Dawn of the 21st century: An Overview

Based on a systematic review and summarization of China’s 30 years of financial reform and development, this paper comprehensively analyzes the past, present and future development of China’s financial system and also presents the mechanism for China’s financial development from the view of political economics. Generally, the Chinese financial system is bank-oriented. The property rights structure, led by state-owned banks, is the prominent feature of the Chinese banking system. Equity, bond, money, currency and real estate markets have been developing rapidly; however, the development rate of these markets varies, and institutional construction generally falls behind the market development. China’s financial decision-making authority belongs to the State Council, and the financial supervision system adopts the mode of “separate regulation.” China’s state-driven, progressive financial reforms have promoted the formation of the government-led financial structure, which is composed of three parts: first, monetary policy, balancing both inflation control and economic growth; second, bank credit expansion under the implicit guarantee of the state; and third, the adjustable pegged exchange rate system based on capital controls. The next phase of financial reform in China will mainly focus on the following four key goals: first, to further improve the corporate governance and the mixed operation of financial institutions; second, to construct the institution of a financial market system and improve the effectiveness of the financial markets; third, to re-integrate regulatory resources, combine macro- and micro-prudent views, and establish a comprehensive framework for financial stability; fourth, to promote the liberalization of interest rates, marketization of the exchange rate and the opening of capital accounts based on a progressive approach and to improve the openness of the financial system based on macroeconomic stability