Understanding the Values of Live Game Streaming: a Value-Focused Thinking Approach

Today, along with the development of information communication technology, live streaming is getting more and more popular in China. It has established an integrated industrial chain. There are a large number of users watching different live streams (e.g., games. sports, live shows) through personal computers and mobile devices. In this paper, we aim to investigate the values of live game streaming using the Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) approach. We analyze the values of live game streaming from the perspectives of both streamers and spectators. The identified values are represented in the form of a means-ends objective network. The means-ends objective network derived from this research can serve as a conceptual foundation for future studies and provide useful guidelines for practitioners to better operate live game streaming applications

Chromosomal mapping, differential origin and evolution of the S100 gene family

S100 proteins are calcium-binding proteins, which exist only in vertebrates and which constitute a large protein family. The origin and evolution of the S100 family in vertebrate lineages remain a challenge. Here, we examined the synteny conservation of mammalian S100A genes by analysing the sequence of available vertebrate S100 genes in databases. Five S100A gene members, unknown previously, were identified by chromosome mapping analysis. Mammalian S100A genes are duplicated and clustered on a single chromosome while two S100A gene clusters are found on separate chromosomes in teleost fish, suggesting that S100A genes existed in fish before the fish-specific genome duplication took place. During speciation, tandem gene duplication events within the cluster of S100A genes of a given chromosome have probably led to the multiple members of the S100A gene family. These duplicated genes have been retained in the genome either by neofunctionalisation and/or subfunctionalisation or have evolved into non-coding sequences. However in vertebrate genomes, other S100 genes are also present i.e. S100P, S100B, S100G and S100Z, which exist as single copy genes distributed on different chromosomes, suggesting that they could have evolved from an ancestor different to that of the S100A genes

Automatic verification of multi-threaded programs by inference of rely-guarantee specifications

Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier 2; National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapor

Distributed Training Large-Scale Deep Architectures

Scale of data and scale of computation infrastructures together enable the current deep learning renaissance. However, training large-scale deep architectures demands both algorithmic improvement and careful system configuration. In this paper, we focus on employing the system approach to speed up large-scale training. Via lessons learned from our routine benchmarking effort, we first identify bottlenecks and overheads that hinter data parallelism. We then devise guidelines that help practitioners to configure an effective system and fine-tune parameters to achieve desired speedup. Specifically, we develop a procedure for setting minibatch size and choosing computation algorithms. We also derive lemmas for determining the quantity of key components such as the number of GPUs and parameter servers. Experiments and examples show that these guidelines help effectively speed up large-scale deep learning training

Impact of metformin on melanoma: a meta-analysis and systematic review

BackgroundThere is evidence of a modest reduction in skin cancer risk among metformin users. However, no studies have further examined the effects of metformin on melanoma survival and safety outcomes. This study aimed to quantitatively summarize any influence of metformin on the overall survival (OS) and immune-related adverse effects (irAEs) in melanoma patients.MethodsSelection criteria: The inclusion criteria were designed based on the PICOS principles. Information sources: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched for relevant literature published from the inception of these databases until November 2023 using ‘Melanoma’ and ‘Metformin’ as keywords. Survival outcomes were OS, progression-free survival (PFS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and mortality; the safety outcome was irAEs. Risk of bias and data Synthesis: The Cochrane tool for assessing the risk of bias in randomized trial 2 (RoB2) and methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS) were selected to assess the risk of bias. The Cochrane Q and I2 statistics based on Stata 15.1 SE were used to test the heterogeneity among all studies. Funnel plot, Egger regression, and Begg tests were used to evaluate publication bias. The leave-one-out method was selected as the sensitivity analysis tool.ResultsA total of 12 studies were included, involving 111,036 melanoma patients. The pooled HR for OS was 0.64 (95% CI [0.42, 1.00], p = 0.004, I2 = 73.7%), HR for PFS was 0.89 (95% CI [0.70, 1.12], p = 0.163, I2 = 41.4%), HR for RFS was 0.62 (95% CI [0.26, 1.48], p = 0.085, I2 = 66.3%), and HR for mortality was 0.53 (95% CI [0.46, 0.63], p = 0.775, I2 = 0.0%). There was no significant difference in irAEs incidence (OR = 1.01; 95% CI [0.42, 2.41]; p = 0.642) between metformin and no metformin groups.DiscussionThe improvement in overall survival of melanoma patients with metformin may indirectly result from its diverse biological targets and beneficial effects on multiple systemic diseases. While we could not demonstrate a specific improvement in the survival of melanoma patients, the combined benefits and safety of metformin for patients taking the drug are worthy of recognition.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42024518182