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Development of automated structural analysis platform for data-driven prediction on structural responses
No full textTwo distinct modes of dopaminergic modulation on striatopallidal synaptic transmission
No full textDopamine (DA) and its GPCR receptor control willed movement through D1-direct pathway and D2-indirectpathway within basal ganglia. Although striatopallidal synapses function as a critical gateway of indirect pathway,the physiological functions of dopamine on striatopallidal synapses remain unclear. Here, we seek to understandhow DA through nigropallidal pathway modulates striatopallidal synaptic transmission. We revealed that DA isdirectly released onto the GPe and there is a marked regional heterogeneity of dopaminergic innervation to theGPe. In addition, we found that dopamine D2-like receptors modulate striatopallidal synaptic transmission via twodistinct modes, canonical and non-canonical modes. As potential mechanisms behind distinct modes ofdopaminergic modulation, we further found that D2 and D4 receptors in GPe subregions differentially regulatestriatopallidal synaptic transmission through their differences in subcellular expression and sensitivity. To sum up,these results demonstrate that synaptic information conveyed by indirect pathway can be regulated by DA viatwo distinct modes, which seem to be determined by anatomical locations of striatopallidal synapses in the GPe.Since structural and functional organization of basal ganglia circuits is critical to understanding both DA-relatedbehaviors, our findings will provide new insights into the overlooked role of dopaminergic modulation onstriatopallidal synapses and globus pallidus
Household financial health: a machine learning approach for data-driven diagnosis and prescription
No full textHousehold finances are being threatened by unprecedented social and economic upheavals, including an aging society and slow economic growth. Numerous researchers and practitioners have provided guidelines for improving the financial status of households; however, the challenge of handling heterogeneous households remains nontrivial. In this study, we propose a new data-driven framework for the financial health of households to address the needs for diagnosing and improving financial health. This research extends the concept of healthcare to household finance. We develop a novel deep learning-based diagnostic model for estimating household financial health risk scores from real-world household balance sheet data. The proposed model can successfully manage the heterogeneity of households by extracting useful latent representations of household balance sheet data while incorporating the risk information of each variable. That is, we guide the model to generate higher latent values for households with risky balance sheets. We also show that the gradient of the model can be utilized for prescribing recommendations for improving household financial health. The robustness and validity of the new framework are demonstrated using empirical analyses
Optimal portfolio choice of couples with tax-deferred accounts and survival-contingent products
No full textFinancial products for retirement planning generally have complex taxation structures and death conditions. In particular, tax-deferred accounts (TDAs) can provide tax-sheltered wealth accumulation by deferring taxes, even with the same financial products. Additionally, various survival-contingent products (SCPs), such as annuity products and life insurance contracts, have different payouts for policyholders. In this study, considering both the TDA and SCPs, we formulate and solve a couple???s lifetime portfolio choice problem using a multistage stochastic programming model. Owing to its high-dimensional state space and lifelong planning periods, stochastic dual dynamic programming (SDDP) was used to solve this problem. We find some interesting results; when both the TDA and SCPs are available, the portfolio is less concentrated in annuity holdings than when the TDA is unavailable. Moreover, the couple ends their contribution to the TA earlier than when SCPs are unavailable
Rigidity-Mediated Afterglow Tuning of Small Molecules in Polymer Matrix through Photoinitiated Solvent-Free Copolymerization
No full textThe ability to tune afterglow attributes of organic materials can largely extend their utility in the field of lifetime-encoded security applications. Herein, the tuning of afterglow intensity and lifetime of molecule emitters after being doped into copolymer by photoinitiated solvent-free copolymerization are reported. The molar ratio adjustment of 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate in copolymerization allows systematic tuning of the rigidity of the resultant copolymers by occupying the free volume through methyl groups, enabling controlled stabilization of the in situ generated triplet excitons of the doped molecule emitters via effectively decreasing vibrational energy dissipation. With the use of this strategy, the green afterglow for 2,3-naphthalenedicarboxylic anhydride can be tuned with a lifetime from 170.1 to 1258.6 ms, accompanied by a 76-fold intensity enhancement. Furthermore, this strategy can be extended to tune multicolor afterglow materials through the choice of molecule dopants. When combined with digital light processing printing, the strategy allows for the facile fabrication of lifetime-encoded complex 3D objects with high precisions for security applications
Comparative evaluation of VAE-based monitoring statistics for real-time anomaly detection in AIS data
No full textSupramolecular Senolytics via Intracellular Oligomerization of Peptides in Response to Elevated Reactive Oxygen Species Levels in Aging Cells
No full textSenolytics, which eliminate senescent cells from tissues, represent an emerging therapeutic strategy for various age-related diseases. Most senolytics target antiapoptotic proteins, which are overexpressed in senescent cells, limiting specificity and inducing severe side effects. To overcome these limitations, we constructed self-assembling senolytics targeting senescent cells with an intracellular oligomerization system. Intracellular aryldithiol-containing peptide oligomerization occurred only inside the mitochondria of senescent cells due to selective localization of the peptides by RGD-mediated cellular uptake into integrin alpha(v)beta(3)-overexpressed senescent cells and elevated levels of reactive oxygen species, which can be used as a chemical fuel for disulfide formation. This oligomerization results in an artificial protein-like nanoassembly with a stable alpha-helix secondary structure, which can disrupt the mitochondrial membrane via multivalent interactions because the mitochondrial membrane of senescent cells has weaker integrity than that of normal cells. These three specificities (integrin alpha(v)beta(3), high ROS, and weak mitochondrial membrane integrity) of senescent cells work in combination; therefore, this intramitochondrial oligomerization system can selectively induce apoptosis of senescent cells without side effects on normal cells. Significant reductions in key senescence markers and amelioration of retinal degeneration were observed after elimination of the senescent retinal pigment epithelium by this peptide senolytic in an age-related macular degeneration mouse model and in aged mice, and this effect was accompanied by improved visual function. This system provides a strategy for the treatment of age-related diseases using supramolecular senolytics
Strain versus Tunable Terahertz Nanogap Width: A Simple Formula and a Trench below
No full textA flexible zerogap metallic structure is periodically formed, healing metal cracks on a flexible substrate. Zerogap is continuously tunable from nearly zero to one hundred nanometers by applying compressive strains on the flexible substrate. However, there have been few studies on how the gap width is related to the strain and periodicity, nor the mechanism of tunability itself. Here, based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements, we found that 200 nm-deep nano-trenches are periodically generated on the polymer substrate below the zerogap owing to the strain singularities extant between the first and the second metallic deposition layers. Terahertz and visible transmission properties are consistent with this picture whereby the outer-bending polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate controls the gap size linearly with the inverse of the radius of the curvature