A Game Theory Based Model of Human Driving with Application to Autonomous and Mixed Driving

In this work, I consider the development of a driver model to better understand human drivers’ various behaviors in the upcoming mixed situation of human drivers and autonomous vehicles. For this, my current effort focuses on modeling the driver’s decisions and corresponding driving behaviors. First, I study an individual driver’s reasoning process through game theoretic investigation. The driver decision model is modeled as the Stackelberg game, which is based on the backward information propagation. In the driver decision model, I focus on the drivers’ insensible desires and corresponding unwanted traffic situations. With the comparison of the model and the field data, it is shown that the model reproduces the relationship between the driver’s inattentiveness and collisions in the real world. Next, the driving behavior control is presented. I propose a human-like predictive perception model of potential collision with an adjacent vehicle. The model is based on hybrid systematic approach. In turn, with the predictive perceptions, a driving safety controller is designed based on model predictive control. The model shows adequate predictive responses against the other vehicles with respect to the driver’s rationality. In sum, I present a driver model that corresponds to and predicts traffic situations according to a human driver’s irrationality factor. This model shows a meaningful similarity to the real-world crashes and predictive behaviors according to the driver’s irrationality

Graphene quantum dots as anti-inflammatory therapy for colitis

While graphene and its derivatives have been suggested as a potential nanomedicine in several biomimetic models, their specific roles in immunological disorders still remain elusive. Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) may be suitable for treating intestinal bowel diseases (IBDs) because of their low toxicity in vivo and ease of clearance. Here, GQDs are intraperitoneally injected to dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced chronic and acute colitis model, and its efficacy has been confirmed. In particular, GQDs effectively prevent tissue degeneration and ameliorate intestinal inflammation by inhibiting T(H)1/T(H)17 polarization. Moreover, GQDs switch the polarization of macrophages from classically activated M1 to M2 and enhance intestinal infiltration of regulatory T cells (T-regs). Therefore, GQDs effectively attenuate excessive inflammation by regulating immune cells, indicating that they can be used as promising alternative therapeutic agents for the treatment of autoimmune disorders, including IBDs.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Posttransplant Lymphoproliferative Disorders Following Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Korea

Between 1995 and 2003, seven cases of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) were identified among 1,116 patients who received allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (HSCT) at Catholic HSCT Center (overall incidence 0.6%). Five (71.4%) patients had episodes of acute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) and were treated with steroids. Cervical lymphadenopathy was observed in most cases (71.4%), but clinical symptoms varied depending on the involved sites. Pathologic findings varied: 1 case of plasmacytic hyperplasia, 3 of polymorphic PTLD, 2 of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, 1 of large T-cell lymphoma, which proved to be associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The proportion of EBV-negative PTLD was 33.3%. Five patients demonstrated a good response to treatment (treatment response rate 71.4%). The overall mortality was 42.8%, and one death was directly attributable to PTLD. The incidence of PTLD is expected to increase, based on the rising use of grafts from alternative donors and recent clinical features of PTLD manifested by a disseminated and fulminant nature. It is necessary to have a high level of suspicion when monitoring patients and readily adopt prompt and effective cellular immunotherapy for PTLD

Poplar GTL1 Is a Ca2+/Calmodulin-Binding Transcription Factor that Functions in Plant Water Use Efficiency and Drought Tolerance

Diminishing global fresh water availability has focused research to elucidate mechanisms of water use in poplar, an economically important species. A GT-2 family trihelix transcription factor that is a determinant of water use efficiency (WUE), PtaGTL1 (GT-2 like 1), was identified in Populus tremula × P. alba (clone 717-IB4). Like other GT-2 family members, PtaGTL1 contains both N- and C-terminal trihelix DNA binding domains. PtaGTL1 expression, driven by the Arabidopsis thaliana AtGTL1 promoter, suppressed the higher WUE and drought tolerance phenotypes of an Arabidopsis GTL1 loss-of-function mutation (gtl1-4). Genetic suppression of gtl1-4 was associated with increased stomatal density due to repression of Arabidopsis STOMATAL DENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION1 (AtSDD1), a negative regulator of stomatal development. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) indicated that a PtaGTL1 C-terminal DNA trihelix binding fragment (PtaGTL1-C) interacted with an AtSDD1 promoter fragment containing the GT3 box (GGTAAA), and this GT3 box was necessary for binding. PtaGTL1-C also interacted with a PtaSDD1 promoter fragment via the GT2 box (GGTAAT). PtaSDD1 encodes a protein with 60% primary sequence identity with AtSDD1. In vitro molecular interaction assays were used to determine that Ca2+-loaded calmodulin (CaM) binds to PtaGTL1-C, which was predicted to have a CaM-interaction domain in the first helix of the C-terminal trihelix DNA binding domain. These results indicate that, in Arabidopsis and poplar, GTL1 and SDD1 are fundamental components of stomatal lineage. In addition, PtaGTL1 is a Ca2+-CaM binding protein, which infers a mechanism by which environmental stimuli can induce Ca2+ signatures that would modulate stomatal development and regulate plant water use