Digital Transformation and the New Normal in China: How Can Enterprises Use Digital Technologies to Respond to COVID-19?

The COVID-19 pandemic, a worldwide health and humanitarian crisis, has created unique challenges for citizens, governments, and organizations alike. Business leaders ask ‘what is the new normal, post-pandemic?’ while industries become more complex and uncertain. Premises sit empty, employees work remotely, and customers possess less disposable income. However bleak, opportunities do exist. Organizations will, however, need to transform. Technology will need to be used to respond to the pandemic, and organizations must re-structure to better function. This paper examines the role that digital technologies can play in responding to pandemics and outlines four classifications of digital technologies for pandemic response. An as-is/to-be pathway analysis is presented using case studies from Chinese enterprises to provide trajectory guidance for moving forward to the new normal. After analysis from an incorporated technology-centric and business model-based framework perspective, six fundamental enterprise strategies are presented that are derived from literature and empirical observations.</jats:p

Mapping of land use and geomorphology in the APAPORE project area by LANDSAT satellite data, volume 1

The results of a land use and geomorphological mapping of the so-called Projeto APAPORE area, at Mato Grosso do Sul State are presented. The study was carried out using multispectral scanner (MSS) and return beam vidicon LANDSAT images (channels 5 and 7 for the MSS) at the scale of 1:250,000 from 1980 through visual interpretation. The results indicate that pastureland is the most widespead class and that the agricultural areas re concentrated in the north of the area under study. The area covered with cerradao (arboreous savanna type) has a great areal extention, thus permitting the advance of the agricultural frontier. The geomorphological mapping can be useful to regional planning of future land use within the studied area

Volumetry of the dominant intraprostatic tumour lesion: intersequence and interobserver differences on multiparametric MRI.

Objective To establish the interobserver reproducibility of tumour volumetry on individual multiparametric (mp) prostate MRI sequences, validate measurements with histology and determine whether functional to morphological volume ratios reflect Gleason score.Methods 41 males with prostate cancer treated with prostatectomy (Cohort 1) or radical radiotherapy (Cohort 2), who had pre-treatment mpMRI [T2 weighted (T2W) MRI, diffusion-weighted (DW)-MRI and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI], were studied retrospectively. Dominant intraprostatic lesions (DIPLs) were manually delineated on each sequence and volumes were compared between observers (n = 40 analyzable) and with radical prostatectomy (n = 20). Volume ratios of DW-MRI and DCE-MRI to T2W MRI were documented and compared between Gleason grade 3 + 3, 3 + 4 and 4 + 3 or greater categories.Results Limits of agreement of DIPL volumes between observers were: T2W MRI 0.9, -1.1 cm3, DW-MRI 1.3, -1.7 cm3 and DCE-MRI 0.74, -0.89 cm3. In Cohort 1, T2W volumes overestimated fixed specimen histological volumes (+33% Observer 1, +16% Observer 2); DW- and DCE-MRI underestimated histological volume, the latter markedly so (-32% Observer 1, -79% Observer 2). Differences between T2W, DW- and DCE-MRI volumes were significant (p -8). The ratio of DW-MRI volume (73.9 ± 18.1% Observer 1, 72.5 ± 21.9% Observer 2) and DCE-MRI volume (42.6 ± 24.6% Observer 1, 34.3 ± 24.9% Observer 2) to T2W volume was significantly different (p -8), but these volume ratios did not differ between the Gleason grades.Conclusion The low variability of the DIPL volume on T2W MRI between Observers and agreement with histology indicates its suitability for delineation of gross tumour volume for radiotherapy planning. The volume of cellular tumour represented by DW-MRI is greater than the vascular (DCE) abnormality; ratios of both to T2W volume are independent of Gleason score. Advances in knowledge: (1) Manual volume measurement of tumour is reproducible within 1 cm3 between observers on all sequences, confirming suitability across observers for radiotherapy planning. (2) Volumes derived on T2W MRI most accurately represent in vivo lesion volumes. (3) The proportion of cellular (DW-MRI) or vascular (DCE-MRI) volume to morphological (T2W MRI) volume is not affected by Gleason score

Searching for the Nuclear Liquid-Gas Phase Transition in Au + Au Collisions at 35 MeV/nucleon

Within the framework of Classical Molecular Dynamics, we study the collision Au + Au at an incident energy of 35 MeV/nucleon. It is found that the system shows a critical behaviour at peripheral impact parameters, revealed through the analysis of conditional moments of charge distributions, Campi Scatter Plot, and the occurrence of large fluctuations in the region of the Campi plot where this critical behaviour is expected. When applying the experimental filters of the MULTICS-MINIBALL apparatus, it is found that criticality signals can be hidden due to the inefficiency of the experimental apparatus. The signals are then recovered by identifying semi-peripheral and peripheral collisions looking to the velocity distribution of the largest fragment, then by selecting the most complete events.Comment: RevTex file, 21 pages + 19 figures available upon request from [email protected]

Circumstantial Evidence for a Critical Behavior in Peripheral Au + Au Collisions at 35 MeV/nucleon

The fragmentation resulting from peripheral Au + Au collisions at an incident energy of E = 35 MeV/nucleon is investigated. A power-law charge distribution, $A^{-\tau}$ with $\tau \approx 2.2$, and an intermittency signal are observed for events selected in the region of the Campi scatter plot where "critical" behavior is expected.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex file, 4 postscript figures available upon request from [email protected]

Transcriptomics reveal an integrative role for maternal thyroid hormones during zebrafish embryogenesis

Thyroid hormones (THs) are essential for embryonic brain development but the genetic mechanisms involved in the action of maternal THs (MTHs) are still largely unknown. As the basis for understanding the underlying genetic mechanisms of MTHs regulation we used an established zebrafish monocarboxylic acid transporter 8 (MCT8) knock-down model and characterised the transcriptome in 25hpf zebrafish embryos. Subsequent mapping of differentially expressed genes using Reactome pathway analysis together with in situ expression analysis and immunohistochemistry revealed the genetic networks and cells under MTHs regulation during zebrafish embryogenesis. We found 4,343 differentially expressed genes and the Reactome pathway analysis revealed that TH is involved in 1681 of these pathways. MTHs regulated the expression of core developmental pathways, such as NOTCH and WNT in a cell specific context. The cellular distribution of neural MTH-target genes demonstrated their cell specific action on neural stem cells and differentiated neuron classes. Taken together our data show that MTHs have a role in zebrafish neurogenesis and suggest they may be involved in cross talk between key pathways in neural development. Given that the observed MCT8 zebrafish knockdown phenotype resembles the symptoms in human patients with Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome our data open a window into understanding the genetics of this human congenital condition.Portuguese Fundacao para Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) [PTDC/EXPL/MARBIO/0430/2013]; CCMAR FCT Plurianual financing [UID/Multi/04326/2013]; FCT [SFRH/BD/111226/2015, SFRH/BD/108842/2015, SFRH/BPD/89889/2012]; FCT-IF Starting Grant [IF/01274/2014]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reactive direction control for a mobile robot: A locust-like control of escape direction emerges when a bilateral pair of model locust visual neurons are integrated

Locusts possess a bilateral pair of uniquely identifiable visual neurons that respond vigorously to the image of an approaching object. These neurons are called the lobula giant movement detectors (LGMDs). The locust LGMDs have been extensively studied and this has lead to the development of an LGMD model for use as an artificial collision detector in robotic applications. To date, robots have been equipped with only a single, central artificial LGMD sensor, and this triggers a non-directional stop or rotation when a potentially colliding object is detected. Clearly, for a robot to behave autonomously, it must react differently to stimuli approaching from different directions. In this study, we implement a bilateral pair of LGMD models in Khepera robots equipped with normal and panoramic cameras. We integrate the responses of these LGMD models using methodologies inspired by research on escape direction control in cockroaches. Using ‘randomised winner-take-all’ or ‘steering wheel’ algorithms for LGMD model integration, the khepera robots could escape an approaching threat in real time and with a similar distribution of escape directions as real locusts. We also found that by optimising these algorithms, we could use them to integrate the left and right DCMD responses of real jumping locusts offline and reproduce the actual escape directions that the locusts took in a particular trial. Our results significantly advance the development of an artificial collision detection and evasion system based on the locust LGMD by allowing it reactive control over robot behaviour. The success of this approach may also indicate some important areas to be pursued in future biological research

Correlations in Nuclear Arrhenius-Type Plots

Arrhenius-type plots for multifragmentation process, defined as the transverse energy dependence of the single-fragment emission-probability, -ln(p_{b}) vs 1/sqrt(E_{t}), have been studied by examining the relationship of the parameters p_{b} and E_{t} to the intermediate-mass fragment multiplicity . The linearity of these plots reflects the correlation of the fragment multiplicity with the transverse energy. These plots may not provide thermal scaling information about fragment production as previously suggested.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 3 Postscript figures include

Competitive binding of E3 ligases TRIM26 and WWP2 controls SOX2 in glioblastoma

The pluripotency transcription factor SOX2 is essential for the maintenance of glioblastoma stem cells (GSC), which are thought to underlie tumor growth, treatment resistance, and recurrence. To understand how SOX2 is regulated in GSCs, we utilized a proteomic approach and identified the E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM26 as a direct SOX2-interacting protein. Unexpectedly, we found TRIM26 depletion decreased SOX2 protein levels and increased SOX2 polyubiquitination in patient-derived GSCs, suggesting TRIM26 promotes SOX2 protein stability. Accordingly, TRIM26 knockdown disrupted the SOX2 gene network and inhibited both self-renewal capacity as well as in vivo tumorigenicity in multiple GSC lines. Mechanistically, we found TRIM26, via its C-terminal PRYSPRY domain, but independent of its RING domain, stabilizes SOX2 protein by directly inhibiting the interaction of SOX2 with WWP2, which we identify as a bona fide SOX2 E3 ligase in GSCs. Our work identifies E3 ligase competition as a critical mechanism of SOX2 regulation, with functional consequences for GSC identity and maintenance

Sheared Flow As A Stabilizing Mechanism In Astrophysical Jets

It has been hypothesized that the sustained narrowness observed in the asymptotic cylindrical region of bipolar outflows from Young Stellar Objects (YSO) indicates that these jets are magnetically collimated. The j cross B force observed in z-pinch plasmas is a possible explanation for these observations. However, z-pinch plasmas are subject to current driven instabilities (CDI). The interest in using z-pinches for controlled nuclear fusion has lead to an extensive theory of the stability of magnetically confined plasmas. Analytical, numerical, and experimental evidence from this field suggest that sheared flow in magnetized plasmas can reduce the growth rates of the sausage and kink instabilities. Here we propose the hypothesis that sheared helical flow can exert a similar stabilizing influence on CDI in YSO jets.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure