Stochastic Block Coordinate Frank-Wolfe Algorithm for Large-Scale Biological Network Alignment

With increasingly "big" data available in biomedical research, deriving accurate and reproducible biology knowledge from such big data imposes enormous computational challenges. In this paper, motivated by recently developed stochastic block coordinate algorithms, we propose a highly scalable randomized block coordinate Frank-Wolfe algorithm for convex optimization with general compact convex constraints, which has diverse applications in analyzing biomedical data for better understanding cellular and disease mechanisms. We focus on implementing the derived stochastic block coordinate algorithm to align protein-protein interaction networks for identifying conserved functional pathways based on the IsoRank framework. Our derived stochastic block coordinate Frank-Wolfe (SBCFW) algorithm has the convergence guarantee and naturally leads to the decreased computational cost (time and space) for each iteration. Our experiments for querying conserved functional protein complexes in yeast networks confirm the effectiveness of this technique for analyzing large-scale biological networks

The effect of environmental regulation on firm productivity: evidence from pulp and paper industry in China

The relationship between environmental regulation and firm productivity has been widely debated but inconsistencies in findings across different studies. Using detailed firm-level micro-data from 2000 to 2007, this paper employs difference-in-difference combined with matching based on entropy balancing method to explore the effect of environmental regulation on firm total factor productivity (TFP) in pulp and paper industry in China. Our main findings are as following: Firstly, stricter environmental regulation, as represented by the Wastewater Discharge Standards for Pulp and Paper Industry in Shandong province, increases firm TFP significantly. Moreover, the coefficients of interest are robust to multiple robustness checks. Secondly, dynamic effects estimates reveal that when faced with this phase-in environmental regulation, firms take the foreseeably increasing strictness into account from the very beginning and prefer to take one-step adjustment to reach full compliance. Thirdly, potential mechanism analysis finds that the positive effect mainly comes from the improvement of resource allocation efficiency within firms. Fourthly, the heterogeneity test indicates that the effect of environmental regulation on firm TFP is heterogeneous across firms with different sizes, ages, ownerships, capital intensity, and export status. Finally, this paper provides convincing and insightful evidence that environmental regulation has the potential to achieve the dual goals of environmental sustainability and economic growth and is thus of broader significance for understanding the enforcement of environmental regulation in developing countries

Sorption of Cellulases in Biofilm Enhances Cellulose Degradation by \u3ci\u3eBacillus subtilis\u3c/i\u3e

Biofilm commonly forms on the surfaces of cellulosic biomass but its roles in cellulose degradation remain largely unexplored. We used Bacillus subtilis to study possible mechanisms and the contributions of two major biofilm components, extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) and TasA protein, to submerged biofilm formation on cellulose and its degradation. We found that biofilm produced by B. subtilis is able to absorb exogenous cellulase added to the culture medium and also retain self-produced cellulase within the biofilm matrix. The bacteria that produced more biofilm degraded more cellulose compared to strains that produced less biofilm. Knockout strains that lacked both EPS and TasA formed a smaller amount of submerged biofilm on cellulose than the wild-type strain and also degraded less cellulose. Imaging of biofilm on cellulose suggests that bacteria, cellulose, and cellulases form cellulolytic biofilm complexes that facilitate synergistic cellulose degradation. This study brings additional insight into the important functions of biofilm in cellulose degradation and could potentiate the development of biofilm-based technology to enhance biomass degradation for biofuel production

Family-peer incongruence in cultural socialization and adolescent adjustment

textUsing a sample of 8th graders, the current study explored cultural socialization practices by families and peers, and investigated the link between family-peer incongruence in cultural socialization and adolescent adjustment. On average, peers engaged in less heritage cultural socialization but similar levels of mainstream cultural socialization than did youth's families. Incongruence in family and peer cultural socialization was associated with poor socioemotional and academic adjustment only when peers performed greater cultural socialization (either the heritage or mainstream culture) than their parents. The link between incongruence and socioemotional stress can be explained in part by adolescents' feelings of being caught between their families and peers. The detriments of feelings of being caught on school outcomes were buffered by adolescents' active coping and withdrawal, peer support, and similar feelings of being caught shared in the peer network.Human Development and Family Science

Dynamic Portfolio Management with Reinforcement Learning

Dynamic Portfolio Management is a domain that concerns the continuous redistribution of assets within a portfolio to maximize the total return in a given period of time. With the recent advancement in machine learning and artificial intelligence, many efforts have been put in designing and discovering efficient algorithmic ways to manage the portfolio. This paper presents two different reinforcement learning agents, policy gradient actor-critic and evolution strategy. The performance of the two agents is compared during backtesting. We also discuss the problem set up from state space design, to state value function approximator and policy control design. We include the short position to give the agent more flexibility during assets redistribution and a constant trading cost of 0.25%. The agent is able to achieve 5% return in 10 days daily trading despite 0.25% trading cost