Mean Field Games systems under displacement monotonicity

In this note we prove the uniqueness of solutions to a class of Mean Field Games systems subject to possibly degenerate individual noise. Our results hold true for arbitrary long time horizons and for general non-separable Hamiltonians that satisfy a so-called $displacement\ monotonicity$ condition. This monotonicity condition that we propose for non-separable Hamiltonians is sharper and more general than the one proposed in our earlier work written jointly with Gangbo and Zhang. The displacement monotonicity assumptions imposed on the data provide actually not only uniqueness, but also the existence and regularity of the solutions. Our analysis uses elementary arguments and does not rely on the well-posedness of the corresponding master equations.Comment: to appear in SIAM J. Math. Ana

Mean Field Games Systems under Displacement Monotonicity

In this note we prove the uniqueness of solutions to a class of mean field games systems subject to possibly degenerate individual noise. Our results hold true for arbitrary long time horizons and for general nonseparable Hamiltonians that satisfy a so-called displacement mono-tonicity condition. This monotonicity condition that we propose for nonseparable Hamiltonians is sharper and more general than the one proposed in the work [W. Gangbo et al., Ann. Probab., 50 (2022), pp. 2178-2217]. The displacement monotonicity assumptions imposed on the data actually provide not only uniqueness, but also the existence and regularity of the solutions. Our analysis uses elementary arguments and does not rely on the well-posedness of the corresponding master equations

Vehicle-to-vehicle charging system fundamental and design comparison

The popularisation of the Electric Vehicle (EV) is restrained by the stagnation of energy storage technology and inadequate plug-in charging stations. This paper proposes a new vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) charging technology platform, that can achieve wireless charging working in harmony with plug-in charging technology, or operate independently. V2V charging technology can effectively solve the problem of the limited number of plug-in stations. Moreover, it can charge the car any-time, anywhere, like a power bank. V2V charging system design requires a number of technical challenges to be overcome including the power balancing between vehicles and charging circuit design to maximizing the power transfer efficiency. In this paper, the schematic of V2V charging system is proposed, and we also propose the fundamentals of calculating the power capacity and the cost of EV energy when an EV is a power source in a V2V charging system. The hardware circuit design is presented and a detailed comparison of different coil shapes/ combinations and compensation circuit topologies is provided using the simulation tool ANSYS

Characterization of Plp, a phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase and hemolysin of Vibrio anguillarum

Background: Vibrio anguillarum is the causative agent of vibriosis in fish. Several extracellular proteins secreted by V. anguillarum have been shown to contribute to virulence. While two hemolysin gene clusters, vah1-plp and rtxACHBDE, have been previously identified and described, the activities of the protein encoded by the plp gene were not known. Here we describe the biochemical activities of the plp-encoded protein and its role in pathogenesis. Results: The plp gene, one of the components in vah1 cluster, encodes a 416-amino-acid protein (Plp), which has homology to lipolytic enzymes containing the catalytic site amino acid signature SGNH. Hemolytic activity of the plp mutant increased 2-3-fold on sheep blood agar indicating that plp represses vah1; however, hemolytic activity of the plp mutant decreased by 2-3-fold on fish blood agar suggesting that Plp has different effects against erythrocytes from different species. His6-tagged recombinant Plp protein (rPlp) was over-expressed in E. coli. Purified and re-folded active rPlp exhibited phospholipase A2 activity against phosphatidylcholine and no activity against phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylethanolamine, or sphingomyelin. Characterization of rPlp revealed broad optimal activities at pH 5–9 and at temperatures of 30-64°C. Divalent cations and metal chelators did not affect activity of rPlp. We also demonstrated that Plp was secreted using thin layer chromatography and immunoblot analysis. Additionally, rPlp had strong hemolytic activity towards rainbow trout erythrocytes, but not to sheep erythrocytes suggesting that rPlp is optimized for lysis of phosphatidylcholine-rich fish erythrocytes. Further, only the loss of the plp gene had a significant effect on hemolytic activity of culture supernatant on fish erythrocytes, while the loss of rtxA and/or vah1 had little effect. However, V. anguillarum strains with mutations in plp or in plp and vah1 exhibited no significant reduction in virulence compared to the wild type strain when used to infect rainbow trout. Conclusion: The plp gene of V. anguillarum encoding a phospholipase with A2 activity is specific for phosphatidylcholine and, therefore, able to lyse fish erythrocytes, but not sheep erythrocytes. Mutation of plp does not affect the virulence of V. anguillarum in rainbow trout

Characterization of Plp, a phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase and hemolysin of Vibrio anguillarum

Background: Vibrio anguillarum is the causative agent of vibriosis in fish. Several extracellular proteins secreted by V. anguillarum have been shown to contribute to virulence. While two hemolysin gene clusters, vah1-plp and rtxACHBDE, have been previously identified and described, the activities of the protein encoded by the plp gene were not known. Here we describe the biochemical activities of the plp-encoded protein and its role in pathogenesis. Results: The plp gene, one of the components in vah1 cluster, encodes a 416-amino-acid protein (Plp), which has homology to lipolytic enzymes containing the catalytic site amino acid signature SGNH. Hemolytic activity of the plp mutant increased 2-3-fold on sheep blood agar indicating that plp represses vah1; however, hemolytic activity of the plp mutant decreased by 2-3-fold on fish blood agar suggesting that Plp has different effects against erythrocytes from different species. His6-tagged recombinant Plp protein (rPlp) was over-expressed in E. coli. Purified and re-folded active rPlp exhibited phospholipase A2 activity against phosphatidylcholine and no activity against phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylethanolamine, or sphingomyelin. Characterization of rPlp revealed broad optimal activities at pH 5–9 and at temperatures of 30-64°C. Divalent cations and metal chelators did not affect activity of rPlp. We also demonstrated that Plp was secreted using thin layer chromatography and immunoblot analysis. Additionally, rPlp had strong hemolytic activity towards rainbow trout erythrocytes, but not to sheep erythrocytes suggesting that rPlp is optimized for lysis of phosphatidylcholine-rich fish erythrocytes. Further, only the loss of the plp gene had a significant effect on hemolytic activity of culture supernatant on fish erythrocytes, while the loss of rtxA and/or vah1 had little effect. However, V. anguillarum strains with mutations in plp or in plp and vah1 exhibited no significant reduction in virulence compared to the wild type strain when used to infect rainbow trout. Conclusion: The plp gene of V. anguillarum encoding a phospholipase with A2 activity is specific for phosphatidylcholine and, therefore, able to lyse fish erythrocytes, but not sheep erythrocytes. Mutation of plp does not affect the virulence of V. anguillarum in rainbow trout

HlyU Is a Positive Regulator of Hemolysin Expression in \u3cem\u3eVibrio anguillarum\u3c/em\u3e

The two hemolysin gene clusters previously identified in Vibrio anguillarum, the vah1 cluster and the rtxACHBDE cluster, are responsible for the hemolytic and cytotoxic activities of V. anguillarum in fish. In this study, we used degenerate PCR to identify a positive hemolysin regulatory gene, hlyU, from the unsequenced V. anguillarum genome. The hlyU gene of V. anguillarum encodes a 92-amino-acid protein and is highly homologous to other bacterial HlyU proteins. An hlyU mutant was constructed, which exhibited an ∼5-fold decrease in hemolytic activity on sheep blood agar with no statistically significant decrease in cytotoxicity of the wild-type strain. Complementation of the hlyU mutation restored both hemolytic activity and cytotoxic activity. Both semiquantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) were used to examine expression of the hemolysin genes under exponential and stationary-phase conditions in wild-type, hlyU mutant, and hlyU complemented strains. Compared to the wild-type strain, expression of rtx genes decreased in the hlyU mutant, while expression of vah1 and plp was not affected in the hlyU mutant. Complementation of the hlyU mutation restored expression of the rtx genes and increased vah1 and plp expression to levels higher than those in the wild type. The transcriptional start sites in both the vah1-plp and rtxH-rtxB genes\u27 intergenic regions were determined using 5′ random amplification of cDNA ends (5′-RACE), and the binding sites for purified HlyU were discovered using DNA gel mobility shift experiments and DNase protection assays

OUTDOOR RECREATION TRENDS AND MARKET OPPORTUNITIES IN THE UNITED STATES

In 1994 and 1995, the National Survey of Recreation and Environment (NSRE) was accomplished by interviewing approximately 17,000 Americans over age 15 in random-digit-dialing telephone samplings. The primary purpose was to learn about the outdoor recreation activities of people over age 15 in the United States. They were asked about their participation in 62 specific recreation activities.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Nonperiodic Orbit Sums in Weyl's Expansion for Billiards

Weyl's expansion for the asymptotic mode density of billiards consists of the area, length, curvature and corner terms. The area term has been associated with the so-called zero-length orbits. Here closed nonperiodic paths corresponding to the length and corner terms are constructed.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure