6MapNet: Representing soccer players from tracking data by a triplet network

Although the values of individual soccer players have become astronomical, subjective judgments still play a big part in the player analysis. Recently, there have been new attempts to quantitatively grasp players' styles using video-based event stream data. However, they have some limitations in scalability due to high annotation costs and sparsity of event stream data. In this paper, we build a triplet network named 6MapNet that can effectively capture the movement styles of players using in-game GPS data. Without any annotation of soccer-specific actions, we use players' locations and velocities to generate two types of heatmaps. Our subnetworks then map these heatmap pairs into feature vectors whose similarity corresponds to the actual similarity of playing styles. The experimental results show that players can be accurately identified with only a small number of matches by our method.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, In 8th Workshop on Machine Learning and Data Mining for Sports Analytics (MLSA21

Ball Trajectory Inference from Multi-Agent Sports Contexts Using Set Transformer and Hierarchical Bi-LSTM

As artificial intelligence spreads out to numerous fields, the application of AI to sports analytics is also in the spotlight. However, one of the major challenges is the difficulty of automated acquisition of continuous movement data during sports matches. In particular, it is a conundrum to reliably track a tiny ball on a wide soccer pitch with obstacles such as occlusion and imitations. Tackling the problem, this paper proposes an inference framework of ball trajectory from player trajectories as a cost-efficient alternative to ball tracking. We combine Set Transformers to get permutation-invariant and equivariant representations of the multi-agent contexts with a hierarchical architecture that intermediately predicts the player ball possession to support the final trajectory inference. Also, we introduce the reality loss term and postprocessing to secure the estimated trajectories to be physically realistic. The experimental results show that our model provides natural and accurate trajectories as well as admissible player ball possession at the same time. Lastly, we suggest several practical applications of our framework including missing trajectory imputation, semi-automated pass annotation, automated zoom-in for match broadcasting, and calculating possession-wise running performance metrics

The Mid-Infrared Fundamental Plane of Early-Type Galaxies

Three observables of early-type galaxies - size ($r_{e}$), surface brightness ($I_{e}$), and velocity dispersion ($\sigma_{0}$) - form a tight planar correlation known as the fundamental plane (FP), which has provided great insights into the galaxy formation and the evolution processes. However, the FP has been found to be tilted against the simple virial expectation, prompting debates on its origin. In order to investigate the contribution of systematic stellar population variation to the FP tilt, we study here the FP relations of early-type galaxies in mid-infrared (MIR) which may represent the stellar mass well. We examined the wavelength dependence of the FP coefficients, $a$ and $b$ in $\log r_{e}= a\log\sigma_{0} + b\log_{e} + c$, using a sample of 56 early-type galaxies for which visible (V-band), near-infrared (K-band), and MIR (Spitzer IRAC, 3.6--8.0$\mu$m) data are available. We find that the coefficient $a$ increases as a function of wavelength as $da/d\lambda=0.11\pm0.04\mu m^{-1}$, while the coefficient $b$ reaches the closest to -1 at 3.6--5.8$\mu$m. When applied to the visible FP coefficients derived from a larger sample of nearby early-type galaxies, we get the FP relation with $(a,b) \simeq$(1.6--1.8,-0.9) at 3.6$\mu$m. Our result suggests that the stellar population effect can explain more than half of the FP tilt, closing the gap between the virial expectation and the optical FP. The reduction in the FP tilt is reflected in the dynamical mass-to-light ratio, $M_{dyn}/L$, dependence on $L$ which decreases toward 3.6--5.8$\mu$m, suggesting that the MIR light better represents mass than the shorter wavelengths.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in ApJ

Stra13/DEC1 and DEC2 inhibit sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c in a hypoxia-inducible factor-dependent mechanism

Sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) is a basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) homodimeric transactivator, which induces itself and several lipogenic enzymes, notably fatty acid synthase (FAS). We demonstrated that hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) represses the SREBP-1c gene by inducing Stimulated with retinoic acid (Stra)13/Differentiated embryo chondrocyte 1(DEC1) and its isoform, DEC2. Stra13/DEC1 and DEC2 are bHLH homodimeric transcription repressors. We found that both Stra13 and DEC2 inhibit SREBP-1c-induced transcription by competing with SREBP-1c for binding to the E-box in the SREBP-1c promoter and/or by interacting with SREBP-1c protein. DEC2 is instantly and temporarily induced in acute hypoxia, while Stra13 is induced in prolonged hypoxia. This expression profile reflects the finding that Stra13 represses DEC2, thus maintains low level of DEC2 in prolonged hypoxia. DEC2-siRNA restores the hypoxic repression but Stra13-siRNA fails to do so, suggesting that DEC2 is the major initiator of hypoxic repression of SREBP-1c, whereas Stra13 substitutes for DEC2 in prolonged hypoxia. Our findings imply that Stra13 and DEC2 are the mediators to repress SREBP-1c gene in response to hypoxia. By doing so, HIF and its targets, Stra13 and DEC2 reduce the ATP consuming anabolic lipogenesis prior to the actual decrease of ATP acting as a feed-forward mechanism

The Pathologic and Genetic Characteristics of Extranodal NK/T-Cell Lymphoma

Extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma is a neoplasm of NK cells or cytotoxic T cells presenting in extranodal sites, most often in the nasal cavity. The typical immunophenotypes are cCD3+, sCD3−, CD4−, CD5−, CD8−, CD16−, and CD56+ with the expression of cytotoxic molecules. Tumor subsets express NK cell receptors, CD95/CD95L, CD30, MYC, and PDL1. Virtually all the tumor cells harbor the EBV genome, which plays a key role in lymphomagenesis as an epigenetic driver. EBV-encoded oncoproteins modulate the host-cell epigenetic machinery, reprogramming the viral and host epigenomes using host epigenetic modifiers. NGS analysis revealed the mutational landscape of ENKTL, predominantly involving the JAK–STAT pathway, epigenetic modifications, the RNA helicase family, the RAS/MAP kinase pathway, and tumor suppressors, which indicate an important role of these pathways and this group of genes in the lymphomagenesis of ENKTL. Recently, three molecular subtypes were proposed, the tumor-suppressor/immune-modulator (TSIM), MGA-BRDT (MB), and HDAC9-EP300-ARID1A (HEA) subtypes, and they are well-correlated with the cell of origin, EBV pattern, genomic alterations, and clinical outcomes. A future investigation into the function and interaction of discovered genes would be very helpful for better understanding the molecular pathogenesis of ENKTL and establishing better treatment strategies

Effect of Joint Characteristics and Geometries on Tunnel-Type Anchorage for Suspension Bridge

In this study, the pull-out behavior of a tunnel-type anchorage was examined by considering both geometric and rock joint characteristics. Three-dimensional finite element analyses were performed with reference to the tunnel-type anchorage cases designed and constructed in Korea. The factors influencing the anchorage response were analyzed: the enlarged part, anchorage spacing, joint orientation, spacing, and the shear strength of the rock joints. According to the numerical studies, the size of the enlarged part influenced the failure shape of the tunnel-type anchorage. It was found that the anchorage spacing, the relationship between the tunnel-type anchorage, and the joint orientation and spacing greatly influenced the pull-out behavior of the anchorage. Additionally, the friction angle had a larger impact on the anchorage’s pull-out resistance than the cohesion between the rock joints

Stability Numbers for Unsupported Conical Excavations in Multi-Layered Cohesive Soils

This paper presents the results of a numerical analysis into undrained stability of conical excavation in multi-layered clays. Stability predictions for a wide range of geometric and material combinations are calculated by finite element analyses. The results from the present analysis are expressed in the familiar form of stability numbers reflecting the effect of (1) angle of inclination, (2) depth ratio, which is relative top layer thickness to excavation depth, (3) strength difference between two layers on the rigid base, (4) width ratio, which is excavation height to radius at the bottom of excavation, and (5) thickness ratio, which is the ratio of the excavation height to thickness of soil 1 layers. The obtained stability numbers are compared with existing solutions published in the literature. The failure mechanism in multi-layered clays are also discussed in terms of the displacement pattern

Synthesis of Nanograined ZnO Nanowires and Their Enhanced Gas Sensing Properties

Polycrystalline ZnO nanowires with grain sizes ranging from 20 to 100 nm were synthesized using a newly designed two-step process: (first step) synthesis of ZnSe nanowires by vapor transportation of a mixture of ZnSe powders; and (second step) thermal oxidation of the ZnSe nanowires at 650 °C. Compared to the single-crystal ZnO nanowire gas sensors and other nanomaterial gas sensors reported previously, the multiple networked nanowire gas sensors fabricated from the nanograined ZnO nanowires showed substantially enhanced electrical responses to NO₂ gas at 300 °C. The NO₂ gas sensing properties of the nanograined ZnO nanowires increased dramatically with increasing NO₂ concentration. The multiple-networked nanograined ZnO nanowire sensor showed a response value of 237,263% at 10 ppm NO₂ and 300 °C, whereas the single-crystal ZnO nanowire sensors showed a response of only 6.5% under the same conditions. The recovery time of the nanograined ZnO nanowire sensor was much shorter than that of the normal ZnO nanowire sensor over the NO₂ concentration range of 1–10 ppm, even though the response time of the former was somewhat longer than that of the latter. The origin of the enhanced NO₂ gas sensing properties of the nanograined ZnO nanowire sensor is discussed

CD47 Expression in Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers and Its Clinicopathological Implications

CD47 is a cell surface molecule and regulates diverse cellular responses. CD47 is highly expressed in cancer cells and has potential as a therapeutic target and prognostic factor in cancer patients. The expression patterns of CD47 in basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and its precursor lesions, and its clinicopathological significance were investigated. CD47 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in 152 cases of BCC and 71 cases of SCC. For comparison of CD47 expression, actinic keratosis (AK), squamous cell carcinoma in situ (SCCIS), keratoacanthoma (KA), and normal skin (NS) tissue were used. CD47 expression in BCC was significantly lower than that of SCC (p < 0.001). CD47 expression levels in SCC and KA were significantly higher than those of NS and AK (p < 0.05). High CD47 expression was significantly associated with the presence of ulceration (p = 0.005) and a deeper level of invasion (p = 0.011) in BCC. In addition, high CD47 expression was significantly associated with the presence of ulceration (p = 0.019) and larger tumor size (p = 0.004) in SCC. CD47 expression was associated with tumorigenesis and tumor progression in non-melanoma skin cancers