AN ANALYTIC APPROACH TO MEASURE INFORMATION AGGREGATION AND EVALUATE THE STABILITY OF INFORMATIONAL CASCADES UNDER INCOMPLETE INFORMATION SETTINGS

Informational cascades describe a situation in which people observe the actions of others and then make the same choice, regardless of their own information. Behavioral conformity prevents information aggregation (Bikhchandani et al., 1992). However, under incomplete information settings, individual’s information is a sample of the whole information pool as we are facing information more than we can handle in daily business routine. As we can rule out the possibility that predecessors get enough information to shatter a cascade if cascade continues, it is reasonable to consider there is information injected into cascade even when decision-maker follows predecessor’s behavior. Taking this belief into consideration, we analyze the threshold point of convergence /deviation, and propose a model to measure Information aggregation and evaluate the stability of informational cascades under incomplete information settings. This model helps to optimize sequential decision-making process by utilizing the statistical aspects of informational cascades

Linear arboricity of degenerate graphs

A linear forest is a union of vertex-disjoint paths, and the linear arboricity of a graph $G$, denoted by $\operatorname{la}(G)$, is the minimum number of linear forests needed to partition the edge set of $G$. Clearly, $\operatorname{la}(G) \ge \lceil\Delta(G)/2\rceil$ for a graph $G$ with maximum degree $\Delta(G)$. On the other hand, the Linear Arboricity Conjecture due to Akiyama, Exoo, and Harary from 1981 asserts that $\operatorname{la}(G) \leq \lceil(\Delta(G)+1) / 2\rceil$ for every graph $G$. This conjecture has been verified for planar graphs and graphs whose maximum degree is at most $6$, or is equal to $8$ or $10$. Given a positive integer $k$, a graph $G$ is $k$-degenerate if it can be reduced to a trivial graph by successive removal of vertices with degree at most $k$. We prove that for any $k$-degenerate graph $G$, $\operatorname{la}(G) = \lceil\Delta(G)/2 \rceil$ provided $\Delta(G) \ge 2k^2 -k$.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur

Bounded Rationality, Social Learning and Collective Behavior: Decisional Analysis in a Nested World

People are usually brought together in a social network to make synergetic decisions. This decision making process often involves information acquisition and social learning, which are essential to overcome individuals’ bounded rationality. The performance of a society thus depends on the collective behavior of individuals. Besides information attributes, organizational properties often influenced such a decision process. In this article, we introduce a paradigm -- nested world -- that treats social network as a symbolic system. Based on this paradigm, we developed a research model to investigate how information attributes, social parameters, and their interactions influenced the performance of a social network. This research model was subsequently converted to a computational model for analysis and validation. Our findings suggested that informativeness, network density, social influence, and their interactions had significant influence on the performance of whole society. Besides these findigns, many interesting phenomenon were also observed, including significant social learning curve, U-shape decision speed, threshold of network density, and interchangeability between network density and social influence

Decreasing the mean subtree order by adding kk edges

The mean subtree order of a given graph $G$, denoted $\mu(G)$, is the average number of vertices in a subtree of $G$. Let $G$ be a connected graph. Chin, Gordon, MacPhee, and Vincent [J. Graph Theory, 89(4): 413-438, 2018] conjectured that if $H$ is a proper spanning supergraph of $G$, then $\mu(H) > \mu(G)$. Cameron and Mol [J. Graph Theory, 96(3): 403-413, 2021] disproved this conjecture by showing that there are infinitely many pairs of graphs $H$ and $G$ with $H\supset G$, $V(H)=V(G)$ and $|E(H)|= |E(G)|+1$ such that $\mu(H) < \mu(G)$. They also conjectured that for every positive integer $k$, there exists a pair of graphs $G$ and $H$ with $H\supset G$, $V(H)=V(G)$ and $|E(H)| = |E(G)| +k$ such that $\mu(H) < \mu(G)$. Furthermore, they proposed that $\mu(K_m+nK_1) < \mu(K_{m, n})$ provided $n\gg m$. In this note, we confirm these two conjectures.Comment: 11 Pages, 5 Figures Paper identical to JGT submissio

Litter Gender Composition and Sex Affect Maternal Behavior and DNA Methylation Levels of the Oprm1 Gene in Rat Offspring

The mu-opioid receptor is encoded by the Oprm1 gene and contributes to mother–infant behaviors. Rodent dams lick male pups more than female pups in the anogenital region. This behavior is linked to stress responsivity in the offspring that may be mediated by epigenetic changes. We hypothesized that maternal behavior may affect DNA methylation levels of the Oprm1 gene and show sex differences. To further explore sex differences in mother–pup behaviors and DNA methylation levels, we altered the litter gender composition (LGC) of rats. Litters were culled to eight all male, all female, or four male/four female pups on postnatal (PN) day 1. On PN4, 7, and 10, a dam was placed in a test cage with a pup for a 10-min period. Latency to pup contact was determined as were times spent licking the anogenital and other body regions of the pup. Frequencies of other behaviors were tabulated. On PN35, samples from various brain regions were obtained. DNA methylation at specific CpG sites in the Oprm1 promoter region were measured by direct sequencing of bisulfite-treated DNA. LGC and sex interacted with day for latency to pup contact. Latencies were longest on PN4 for single-sex males and on PN10 for single-sex females. Dams licked male pups more than female pups in both the anogenital and other body areas. Sex differences were seen in other behaviors. LGC altered DNA methylation at specific CpG's of Oprm1 in hippocampus with higher levels in single-sex rats. In nucleus accumbens, single-sex males showed hypermethylation levels, a trend seen in caudate–putamen. Results confirm and extend sex differences in maternal care with modest LGC effects. That both LGC and sex have enduring effects on DNA methylation of the Oprm1 gene in brain regions associated with addiction, stress regulation, motivation, and cognition may suggest one factor that contributes to gender differences in these behaviors

Predicting drug–drug interactions through drug structural similarities and interaction networks incorporating pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics knowledge

Additional file 1. Table S1. Average structural similarity scores for the DDI/non–DDI pairs in the network of each De. Table S2-1. Top 10 predicted drugs with DDIs for warfarin. Table S2-2. Top 10 predicted drugs with DDIs for simvastatin. Table S3. Four-fold cross-validation test results. Text S1. Drugs that show DDI (DrugBank ID). Figure S1. Illustration of construction of training and test set for 4-fold cross validation. Figure S2. ROC curves using the models with score set 1 in a 4-fold validation

Pomolic acid inhibits proliferation of human lung carcinoma cells via induction of apoptosis and suppression of cell migration and invasion

Purpose: To investigate the anti-proliferative effect of pomolic acid on lung cancer cells (A549), and theunderlying mechanism.Methods: The viability of pomolic acid-treated A549 cells was determined by MTT and colony formation assays. Cell colony formation was monitored with acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining. Protein expressions of Bax and Bcl-2 were assayed by western blotting.Results: Pomolic acid suppressed the growth of A549 cells, with an half-maximal inhibitory concentration of (IC50) of 10 μM (p &lt; 0.05). However, the IC50 of pomolic acid for normal BEAS-2B cells was 80 μM. Pomolic acid also decreased colony formation of A549 cells. At 20 μM, the percentage of A549 colonies decreased to 14 % of control. The dose-dependent cytotoxicity of pomolic acid against A549 cells was mediated via induction of apoptosis and oxidative stress. Pomolic acid treatment enhanced the expression of Bax and decreased the expression of Bcl-2 in A549 cells. Moreover, pomolic acid inhibited the migration and invasion in A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner (p &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: These results indicate the potent anticancer effect of pomolic acid against human lung cancer cells. Thus, pomolic acid has promising potential as a lead molecule for the development of chemotherapy

The Role of Microbiome in Insomnia, Circadian Disturbance and Depression

Good sleep and mood are important for health and for keeping active. Numerous studies have suggested that the incidence of insomnia and depressive disorder are linked to biological rhythms, immune function, and nutrient metabolism, but the exact mechanism is not yet clear. There is considerable evidence showing that the gut microbiome not only affects the digestive, metabolic, and immune functions of the host but also regulates host sleep and mental states through the microbiome-gut-brain axis. Preliminary evidence indicates that microorganisms and circadian genes can interact with each other. The characteristics of the gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolism are related to the host's sleep and circadian rhythm. Moreover, emotion and physiological stress can also affect the composition of the gut microorganisms. The gut microbiome and inflammation may be linked to sleep loss, circadian misalignment, affective disorders, and metabolic disease. In this review article, we discuss various functions of the gut microbiome and how its activities interact with the circadian rhythms and emotions of the host. Exploring the effects of the gut microbiome on insomnia and depression will help further our understanding of the pathogenesis of mental disorders. It is therefore important to regulate and maintain a normal gastrointestinal micro-ecological environment in patients when treating mental disorders

Research progress of natural silk fibroin and the application for drug delivery in chemotherapies

Silk fibroin has been widely used in biological fields due to its biocompatibility, mechanical properties, biodegradability, and safety. Recently, silk fibroin as a drug carrier was developed rapidly and achieved remarkable progress in cancer treatment. The silk fibroin-based delivery system could effectively kill tumor cells without significant side effects and drug resistance. However, few studies have been reported on silk fibroin delivery systems for antitumor therapy. The advancement of silk fibroin-based drug delivery systems research and its applications in cancer therapy are highlighted in this study. The properties, applications, private opinions, and future prospects of silk fibroin carriers are discussed to understand better the development of anti-cancer drug delivery systems, which may also contribute to advancing silk fibroin innovation