3,441 research outputs found
Distributed Adaptive Networks: A Graphical Evolutionary Game-Theoretic View
Distributed adaptive filtering has been considered as an effective approach
for data processing and estimation over distributed networks. Most existing
distributed adaptive filtering algorithms focus on designing different
information diffusion rules, regardless of the nature evolutionary
characteristic of a distributed network. In this paper, we study the adaptive
network from the game theoretic perspective and formulate the distributed
adaptive filtering problem as a graphical evolutionary game. With the proposed
formulation, the nodes in the network are regarded as players and the local
combiner of estimation information from different neighbors is regarded as
different strategies selection. We show that this graphical evolutionary game
framework is very general and can unify the existing adaptive network
algorithms. Based on this framework, as examples, we further propose two
error-aware adaptive filtering algorithms. Moreover, we use graphical
evolutionary game theory to analyze the information diffusion process over the
adaptive networks and evolutionarily stable strategy of the system. Finally,
simulation results are shown to verify the effectiveness of our analysis and
proposed methods.Comment: Accepted by IEEE Transactions on Signal Processin
Molecular recognition on acoustic wave devices
Microporous thin films composed either of zeolite crystals embedded in sol-gel derived
glass or of a molecular coupling layer, zeolite crystals and a porous silica overlayer, were
formed on the gold electrodes of Quartz Crystal Microbalances (QCM). The microporosity of
the thin films was characterized by in situ nitrogen and vapor sorption isotherms. Both
preparation methods result in thin films with substantial microporosity. Selective adsorption
based on molecular size exclusion from the microporous films could be achieved
Deep H-band Galaxy Counts and Half-light Radii from HST/NICMOS Parallel Observations
We present deep galaxy counts and half-light radii from F160W
() images obtained with NICMOS on HST. Nearly 9 arcmin
have been imaged with camera 3, with depths ranging from H = 24.3 to
25.5 in a 0.6 diameter aperture. The slope of the counts fainter than H~ is 0.31, and the integrated surface density to H is galaxies per square degree. The half-light radii of the galaxies declines
steeply with apparent magnitude. At H~ we are limited by both the
delivered FWHM and the detection threshold of the images.Comment: 8 pages. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Inhibition of sulfur mustard-induced cytotoxicity and inflammation by the macrolide antibiotic roxithromycin in human respiratory epithelial cells
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sulfur mustard (SM) is a potent chemical vesicant warfare agent that remains a significant military and civilian threat. Inhalation of SM gas causes airway inflammation and injury. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence of the effectiveness of macrolide antibiotics in treating chronic airway inflammatory diseases. In this study, the anti-cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory effects of a representative macrolide antibiotic, roxithromycin, were tested <it>in vitro </it>using SM-exposed normal human small airway epithelial (SAE) cells and bronchial/tracheal epithelial (BTE) cells. Cell viability, expression of proinflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were examined, since these proinflammatory cytokines/mediators are import indicators of tissue inflammatory responses. We suggest that the influence of roxithromycin on SM-induced inflammatory reaction could play an important therapeutic role in the cytotoxicity exerted by this toxicant.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MTS assay and Calcein AM/ethidium homodimer (EthD-1) fluorescence staining showed that roxithromycin decreased SM cytotoxicity in both SAE and BTE cells. Also, roxithromycin inhibited the SM-stimulated overproduction of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF at both the protein level and the mRNA level, as measured by either enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or real-time RT-PCR. In addition, roxithromycin inhibited the SM-induced overexpression of iNOS, as revealed by immunocytochemical analysis using quantum dots as the fluorophore.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The present study demonstrates that roxithromycin has inhibitory effects on the cytotoxicity and inflammation provoked by SM in human respiratory epithelial cells. The decreased cytotoxicity in roxithromycin-treated cells likely depends on the ability of the macrolide to down-regulate the production of proinflammatory cytokines and/or mediators. The results obtained in this study suggest that macrolide antibiotics may serve as potential vesicant respiratory therapeutics through mechanisms independent of their antibacterial activity.</p
- …