Social and individual learning in the Minority Game

We study the roles of social and individual learning on outcomes of the Minority Game model of a financial market. Social learning occurs via agents adopting the strategies of their neighbours within a social network, while individual learning results in agents changing their strategies without input from other agents. In particular, we show how social learning can undermine efficiency of the market due to negative frequency dependent selection and loss of strategy diversity. The latter of which can lock the population into a maximally inefficient state. We show how individual learning can rescue a population engaged in social learning from such inefficiencies

Task-Offloading and Resource Allocation Strategy in Multidomain Cooperation for IIoT

This study proposes a task-offloading and resource allocation strategy in multidomain cooperation (TARMC) for the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to resolve the problem of the non-uniform distribution of task computation among various cluster domain networks in the IIoT and the solidification of traditional industrial wireless network architecture, which produces low efficiency of static resource allocation and high delay in closed-loop data processing. Based on the closed-loop process of task interaction of intelligent terminals in wireless networks, the proposed strategy constructs a network model of multidomain collaborative task-offloading and resource allocation in IIoT for flexible and dynamic resource allocation among intelligent terminals, edge servers, and cluster networks. Considering the partial offloading mechanism, various tasks were segmented into multiple subtasks marked at bit-level per demand, which enabled local and edge servers to process all subtasks in parallel. Moreover, this study established a utility function for the closed-loop delay and terminal energy consumption of task processing, which transformed the process of multidomain collaborative task-offloading and resource allocation into the problem of task computing revenue. Furthermore, an improved Cuckoo Search algorithm was developed to derive the optimal offloading position and resource allocation decision through an alternating iterative method. The simulation results revealed that TARMC performed better than strategies

Identification of protein-ligand binding sites by the level-set variational implicit-solvent approach.

Protein–ligand binding is a key biological process at the molecular level. The identification and characterization of small-molecule binding sites on therapeutically relevant proteins have tremendous implications for target evaluation and rational drug design. In this work, we used the recently developed level-set variational implicit-solvent model (VISM) with the Coulomb field approximation (CFA) to locate and characterize potential protein–small-molecule binding sites. We applied our method to a data set of 515 protein–ligand complexes and found that 96.9% of the cocrystallized ligands bind to the VISM-CFA-identified pockets and that 71.8% of the identified pockets are occupied by cocrystallized ligands. For 228 tight-binding protein–ligand complexes (i.e, complexes with experimental pKd values larger than 6), 99.1% of the cocrystallized ligands are in the VISM-CFA-identified pockets. In addition, it was found that the ligand binding orientations are consistent with the hydrophilic and hydrophobic descriptions provided by VISM. Quantitative characterization of binding pockets with topological and physicochemical parameters was used to assess the “ligandability” of the pockets. The results illustrate the key interactions between ligands and receptors and can be very informative for rational drug design

Identification of protein-ligand binding sites by the level-set variational implicit-solvent approach.

Protein–ligand binding is a key biological process at the molecular level. The identification and characterization of small-molecule binding sites on therapeutically relevant proteins have tremendous implications for target evaluation and rational drug design. In this work, we used the recently developed level-set variational implicit-solvent model (VISM) with the Coulomb field approximation (CFA) to locate and characterize potential protein–small-molecule binding sites. We applied our method to a data set of 515 protein–ligand complexes and found that 96.9% of the cocrystallized ligands bind to the VISM-CFA-identified pockets and that 71.8% of the identified pockets are occupied by cocrystallized ligands. For 228 tight-binding protein–ligand complexes (i.e, complexes with experimental pKd values larger than 6), 99.1% of the cocrystallized ligands are in the VISM-CFA-identified pockets. In addition, it was found that the ligand binding orientations are consistent with the hydrophilic and hydrophobic descriptions provided by VISM. Quantitative characterization of binding pockets with topological and physicochemical parameters was used to assess the “ligandability” of the pockets. The results illustrate the key interactions between ligands and receptors and can be very informative for rational drug design

A 211-to-263-GHz Dual- LC -Tank-Based Broadband Power Amplifier With 14.7-dBm P SAT and 16.4-dB Peak Gain in 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS

This article presents a broadband sub-terahertz (THz) power amplifier (PA) with a low-loss four-way power combiner. The proposed power combiner consists of an improved zero-degree combiner (ZDC) and a three-conductor Marchand balun simultaneously achieving broadband matching and power combining. The proposed three-conductor Marchand balun adopts a dual- $LC$ tank technique by merging two resonators, and it can be equivalent to a transformer-based multi-resonating network. The power distribution is realized by one input power splitter generating two pairs of differential signals and two parallel 1-to-2 active power splitters. This hybrid distribution driving network further enhances efficiency and power gain. Based on these improvements, a high-output-power sub-THz PA with superior efficiency has been fabricated in the 130-nm SiGe bipolar complementary metal oxide silicon field effect transistor (BiCMOS) technology. The three-stage PA achieves a peak power gain of 16.4 dB, 3-dB small-signal gain bandwidth of 52 GHz from 211 to 263 GHz, a measured maximum saturated output power of 14.7 dBm at 224 GHz, and a peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 3.13% at 220 GHz. The folded input splitter and extremely compact power combining methodology lead to a core area of 770 $\mu$ m $\times$ 280 $\mu$ m

Synthesis of silver particles on copper substrates using ethanol-based solution for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

The displacement reaction of AgNO3 and copper metal is an effective and economical way to fabricate Ag-Cu surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. Aqueous solutions of AgNO3 are usually used for substrate preparation. In this work, a new method for Ag-Cu SERS substrate preparation is proposed, which uses an ethanol solution rather than an aqueous AgNO3 solution. Analysis of the surface morphologies of sample substrates by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) showed that the silver nanoparticles prepared by this new method were more regular than those prepared in the traditional aqueous solution. The SERS spectra of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) adsorbed on these Ag-Cu substrates were then investigated and compared. It was found that the Ag-Cu substrates prepared by this method provide significant improvements in Raman signal sensitivity and large-area uniformity. The enhancement factor of this new substrate is about 330 times higher than that prepared using an aqueous AgNO3 solution under identical experimental conditions. It was also found that 70% of the original sensitivity of the substrate remains after 15 days of exposure to air

Clinical assessment.

<p>Representative images of legs from group NC, HI, HD and HID on day 28 post-surgery. Necrosis was invisible in group NC (A) and group HI (the right leg, B), but it was present in group HD (the right leg, C) and group HID (the right leg, D). Necrosis was even worse in group HID than group HD. The clinical assessment was evaluated as an appearance score (E). * <i>p</i><0.05, *** <i>p</i><0.001.</p

Boosting ATM activity alleviates aging and extends lifespan in a mouse model of progeria

DNA damage accumulates with age (Lombard et al., 2005). However, whether and how robust DNA repair machinery promotes longevity is elusive. Here, we demonstrate that ATM-centered DNA damage response (DDR) progressively declines with senescence and age, while low dose of chloroquine (CQ) activates ATM, promotes DNA damage clearance, rescues age-related metabolic shift, and prolongs replicative lifespan. Molecularly, ATM phosphorylates SIRT6 deacetylase and thus prevents MDM2-mediated ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. Extra copies of Sirt6 extend lifespan in Atm-/- mice, with restored metabolic homeostasis. Moreover, the treatment with CQ remarkably extends lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans, but not the ATM-1 mutants. In a progeria mouse model with low DNA repair capacity, long-term administration of CQ ameliorates premature aging features and extends lifespan. Thus, our data highlights a prolongevity role of ATM, for the first time establishing direct causal links between robust DNA repair machinery and longevity, and providing therapeutic strategy for progeria and age-related metabolic diseases

IL20Rb aggravates pulmonary fibrosis through enhancing bone marrow derived profibrotic macrophage activation

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is one of the most fatal chronic interstitial lung diseases with unknown pathogenesis, current treatments cannot truly reverse the progression of the disease. Pulmonary macrophages, especially bone marrow derived pro-fibrotic macrophages, secrete multiple kinds of profibrotic mediators (SPP1, CD206, CD163, IL-10, CCL18…), thus further promote myofibroblast activation and fibrosis procession. IL20Rb is a cell-surface receptor that belongs to IL-20 family. The role of IL20Rb in macrophage activation and pulmonary fibrosis remains unclear. In this study, we established a bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis model, used IL4/13-inducing THP1 cells to induce profibrotic macrophage (M2-like phenotype) polarization models. We found that IL20Rb is upregulated in the progression of pulmonary fibrosis, and its absence can alleviate the progression of pulmonary fibrosis. In addition, we demonstrated that IL20Rb promote the activation of bone marrow derived profibrotic macrophages by regulating the Jak2/Stat3 and Pi3k/Akt signaling pathways. In terms of therapeutic strategy, we used IL20Rb neutralizing antibodies for animal administration, which was found to alleviate the progression of IPF. Our results suggest that IL20Rb plays a profibrotic role by promoting profibrotic macrophage polarization, and IL20Rb may become a potential therapeutic target for IPF. Neutralizing antibodies against IL20Rb may become a potential drug for the clinical treatment of IPF