Non-cooperative Manner Research Articles

Stabilization of the Shapley value for cooperative games through level‐induced structures

AbstractTaking into consideration that the Shapley value for cooperative games may not be resistant to potential blocking coalitions, this paper examines the integration of coalition formation and stability in cooperative games. Initially, we establish an endogenous procedure specifically designed for superadditive games. This procedure generates a levels structure and a payoff vector, consequently leading to a modified Shapley value that conforms to the stability notion defined as the levels core. Furthermore, we simulate the procedure in a noncooperative manner and employ the concept of strong Nash equilibrium to demonstrate the stability of the procedure's outcome. Lastly, we propose and delineate a value by applying the same procedural approach to scenarios where the levels structure is predetermined externally.

Crystalline Nanoparticles of Water-Soluble Covalent Basket Cages (CBCs) for Encapsulation of Anticancer Drugs.

We herein describe the preparation, assembly, recognition characteristics, and biocompatibility of novel covalent basket cage CBC-11, composed of four molecular baskets linked to four trivalent aromatic amines through amide groups. The cage is tetrahedral in shape and similar in size to small proteins (Mw =8637 g/mol) with a spacious nonpolar interior for accommodating multiple guests. While 24 carboxylates at the outer surface of CBC-11 render it soluble in aqueous phosphate buffer (PBS) at pH=7.0, the amphiphilic nature prompts its assembly into nanoparticles (d=250 nm, DLS). Cryo-TEM examination of nanoparticles revealed their crystalline nature with wafer-like shapes and hexagonally arranged cages. Nanoparticulate CBC-11 traps anticancer drugs irinotecan and doxorubicin, with each cage binding up to four drug molecules in a non-cooperative manner. The inclusion complexation resulted in nanoparticles growing in size and precipitating. In media containing mammalian cells (HCT 116, human colon carcinoma), the IC50 value of CBC-11 was above 100 μM. While this work presents the first example of a large covalent organic cage operating in water at the physiological pH and forming crystalline nanoparticles, it also demonstrates its biocompatibility and potential to act as a polyvalent binder of drugs for their sequestration or delivery.

Converting a cysteine-rich natively noncatalytic protein to an artificial hydrogenase.

An artificial hydrogenase is constructed when the natively noncatalytic α-domain of the Cys-rich protein metallothionein (MT) is assembled with NiII. αMT binds four eq. of NiII in a non-cooperative manner where the addition of the 1st NiII eq. affords the most catalytically active species with little effect on photocatalytic H2 production during subsequent metal addition. The critical role of protonated Cys residue(s) in H-H bond formation is demonstrated.

Biophysical Characterization of the C-Terminal Tail of T. rubrum PacC Reveals an Inherent Intrinsically Disordered Structure with pH-Induced Structural Plasticity.

PacC is a key transcriptional regulator of human pathogenic fungus Trichophyton rubrum with pivotal roles in pH homeostasis and virulence. We report the first biophysical characterization of the C-terminal inhibitory tail of PacC, pertinent to its physiological role in maintaining the inactive state of PacC at acidic pH which undergoes conformational changes for its proteolytic removal and activation, at alkaline pH. To gain insights into the structural features of PacC that enable the required conformational flexibility, we performed gel filtration chromatography, dynamic light scattering, circular dichroism, and 1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate binding and showed that the tail exhibits properties similar to intrinsically disordered proteins, as also predicted by bioinformatics tools. We demonstrate that the C-terminal tail is conformationally flexible and attains a molten globule-like state at extremely acidic pH and undergoes biphasic GdmCl-induced unfolding in a noncooperative manner with an intermediate X state. We hypothesize that the conformational plasticity of the C-terminal tail of PacC may play a significant role in modulating its pH-dependent transcriptional activation.

A game-theoretic approach for pollution control initiatives

There are numerous regional, national, and international efforts to establish mechanisms to curb pollution and emissions. In this paper, we mainly focus on emissions trading systems. Using a static Cournot oligopoly game, we investigate a multi-product multi-pollutant market in which several supply chains compete in a non-cooperative manner in their product markets. This study characterizes conditions under which an efficient solution procedure converges to the unique Nash equilibrium of the oligopoly. Meanwhile, its partners establish a cooperative triopoly game within each supply chain in a nonsuperadditive characteristic function form. Drawing on the cooperative game theory literature, we provide a closed-form solution for a rational distribution of joint rewards between the supply chain’s partners.

A Novel, Blind, Wideband Spectrum Detection under Non-Flat Spectrum and Fading Scenarios

In the field of radio surveillance and cognitive radio, the reception of a signal is usually made in a non-cooperative manner, which means there exists little prior information to detect the signals reliably via a traditional method. At the same time, the prevalent wideband acquisition mode will receive multiple subband signals from homogeneous or heterogeneous systems, leading to deteriorated detection performance under a non-flat spectrum and fading channel. In view of the above concerns, a novel detection algorithm based on the Gaussian hidden Markov model (HMM) is proposed so as to separate the individual sub-band signal from the wideband spectrum accurately in a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The simulated communication signals with spectral fluctuation and multipath fading indicate the superiority and applicability of the proposed algorithm as compared with other detection algorithms. Our algorithm can achieve a 94% detection probability at −10 dB SNR under an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel and has a nearly ideal receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. When faced with a Rayleigh fading channel, it still outperforms other algorithms. The acquired real data also very its practical application with moderate computation complexity and a more stable carrier-frequency estimation.

Trade-offs in the landside operations of air cargo hubs: Horizontal cooperation and shipment consolidation policies considering capacitated nodes

Landside operations in air cargo terminals consist of many freight forwarders (FFWs) delivering and picking up cargo at the capacity-constrained loading docks at the airport's ground handlers' (GHs) facilities. To improve the operations of the terminal and take advantage of their geographical proximity a small set of FFWs can build a coalition to consolidate stochastically-arriving shipments and share truck fleet capacity while other FFWs continue bringing cargo to the terminal in a non-cooperative manner. Results from a detailed discrete-event simulation model of the cargo landside operations in Amsterdam Aiport showed that all operational policies had trade-offs in terms of the average shipment cycle time of coalition FFWs, the average shipment cycle time of non-coalition FFWs, and the total distance traveled by the coalition fleet, suggesting that horizontal cooperation in this context was not always beneficial, contrary to what previous studies on horizontal cooperation have found. Since dock capacity constitutes a significant constraint on operations in air cargo hubs, this paper also investigates the effect of dock capacity utilization and horizontal cooperation on the performance of consolidation policies implemented by the coalition. Thus, we built a general model of the air cargo terminal to analyze the effects caused by dock capacity utilization without the added complexity of landside operations at Amsterdam Airport to investigate whether the results hold for more general scenarios. Results from the general simulation model suggest that, in scenarios where dock and truck capacity become serious constraints, the average shipment cycle times of non-coalition FFWs are reduced at the expense of an increase in the cycle times of FFWs who constitute the coalition. A good balance among all the performance measures considered in this study is reached by following a policy that takes advantage of consolidating shipments based on individual visits to GH.

Coalition Formation Resource Sharing Games in Networks

Cooperative game theory deals with systems where players want to cooperate to improve their payoffs. But players may choose coalitions in a non-cooperative manner, leading to a coalition-formation game. We consider such a game with several players (willing to cooperate) and a possible adamant player (unwilling to cooperate) involved in resource-sharing. Here, the strategy of a player is the set of players with whom it wants to form a coalition. Given a strategy profile, an appropriate partition of coalitions is formed; players in each coalition maximize their collective utilities leading to a non-cooperative resource-sharing game among the coalitions, the (unique) utilities at the resulting equilibrium are shared via Shapley-value; these shares define the utilities of players for the given strategy profile in the coalition-formation game. We also consider the utilitarian solution to derive the price of anarchy.

Spectroscopic observations of β-eudesmol binding to human cytochrome P450 isoforms 3A4 and 1A2, but not to isoforms 2C9, 2C19, and 2D6

β-Eudesmol (BEU) is a sesquiterpenoid component of Atractylodes lancea with cytotoxic activity against cholangiocarcinoma. Its lipophilic nature makes BEU a likely substrate of human cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes. Using ligand-binding difference spectroscopy, the affinities of this compound to recombinant CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4 were investigated in Escherichia coli membrane preparations. CYP3A4 showed a type I spectral change, with a binding constant Ks of 77 ± 23 (mean ± SD) μM at 0.5 μM P450 (Ks/[P450] ≈ 155). The reference substrate testosterone (TES) and the inhibitor fluconazole bound to the enzyme with apparent affinities of 86 ± 4 μM (type I) and 21 μM (type II), respectively. BEU was bound by CYP3A4 in a non-cooperative manner (Hill coefficient n ≈ 0.8). CYP1A2 showed reverse type I difference spectra with either BEU or caffeine (CAF). The CYP1A2 affinity for BEU was higher (0.23 mM) than for CAF (0.37 mM) but lower than for phenacetin (0.11 mM, type I). BEU did not bind significantly to CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP2D6. Confirmation of metabolic activity and studies on the involvement of other human P450 isoforms are required. Double-beam spectrometry is needed to validate Ks measurements made with a microplate reader.

Coalition formation resource sharing games in networks

Cooperative game theory deals with systems where players want to cooperate to improve their payoffs. But players may choose coalitions in a non-cooperative manner, leading to a coalition-formation game. We consider such a game with several players (willing to cooperate) and a possible adamant player (unwilling to cooperate) involved in resource-sharing. Here, the strategy of a player is the set of players with whom it wants to form a coalition. Given a strategy profile, an appropriate partition of coalitions is formed; players in each coalition maximize their collective utilities leading to a non-cooperative resource-sharing game among the coalitions, the (unique) utilities at the resulting equilibrium are shared via Shapley-value; these shares define the utilities of players for the given strategy profile in the coalition-formation game. We also consider the utilitarian solution to derive the price of anarchy. With a sufficient number of almost similar players, no collaborative (players working together) partition emerges at equilibrium. But the scenario reverses when the players are significantly different: the system is in a ‘lethargic state’ where almost all partitions are stable against unilateral deviations. In the intermediate cases, the higher and lower influential players have more affinity to form successful collaborations. Grand coalition is the utilitarian solution and is also stable against coalitional deviations under certain conditions. The price of anarchy increases as the number of significant players increases or as the relative strength of adamant player increases/decreases.

Topology tracking of dynamic UAV wireless networks

Wireless network is the communication foundation that supports the intelligentization of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) swarm. The topology of UAV communication network is the key to understanding and analyzing the behavior of UAV swarm, thus supporting the further prediction of UAV operations. However, the UAV swarm network topology varies over time due to the high mobility and diversified mission requirements of UAVs. Therefore, it is important but challenging to research dynamic topology inference for tracking the topology changes of the UAV network, especially in non-cooperative manner. In this paper, we study the problem of inferring UAV swarm network topology based on external observations, and propose a dynamic topology inference method. First, we establish a sensing framework for acquiring the communication behavior of the target network over time. Then, we expand the multi-dimensional dynamic Hawkes process to model the communication event sequence in a dynamic wireless network. Finally, combining the sliding time window mechanism, the maximum weighted likelihood estimation is applied to inferring the network topology. Extensive simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A game-based power optimization for 5G femtocell networks

Spectrum sharing deployment of femtocells brings interferences which dramatically degrade network performance. Hence, interference control is a crucial challenge for femtocell networks. In this paper, we propose a power optimization approach for 5G femtocell networks consisting of macrocell and underlying femtocells to manage the interference. Firstly, we formulate the problem based on a non-cooperative game to analyze the competition among the users to access shared spectrum. We then design a pricing mechanism in the utility function to guarantee quality of service (QoS) requirements of macro users. The mechanism lets the macro users experience lower interference and achieve the minimum required data rate. As a result, QoS requirements of both macro and femto users are fulfilled in a non-cooperative manner. We also design a minimax decision rule to optimize the worst-case performance and find an optimal transmission power for each user. By adjusting the optimal power for each user, the maximum aggregate interference is minimized, and the network throughput is maximized. Finally, we develop an iterative learning-based algorithm to implement the proposed scheme and achieve the game equilibrium. Theoretical analysis and simulation results verifies the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism in terms of throughput maximization, QoS assurance and interference mitigation.

Parking management of automated vehicles in downtown areas

Automated vehicles (AVs) eliminate the burden of finding a parking spot upon arrival to the destination, because they can park at a strategic location or cruise until summoned by their users. In this study, we investigate the parking choices of privately-owned AVs in a downtown area. Since each user’s choice has impacts on another via cruising-incurred traffic congestion and parking competition, we model the parking choice problem of AVs as a Wardrop equilibrium in which each user cannot further reduce their parking cost by unilaterally changing their choice. The model considers all possible options for parking a private AV, and finds that these parking choices may yield multiple equilibria under which the congestion and social welfare are very different. We further develop an efficient solution algorithm to find all equilibrium solutions. Our analysis shows that even if AVs act in a non-cooperative manner, one possible outcome would involve many AVs choosing to cruise, which creates severe congestion to decrease the cost of cruising. However, this outcome can be avoided by a time-based congestion toll, which discourages AVs from cruising for a long period and increases the social welfare. Our analysis also shows parking pricing and provision may not reduce congestion induced by cruising AVs without the help of a congestion toll.

Protein structural heterogeneity: A hypothesis for the basis of proteolytic recognition by the main protease of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2

The main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 is a key enzyme in viral replication and a promising target for the development of antiviral therapeutics. The understanding of this protein is based on a number of observations derived from earlier x-ray structures, which mostly consider substrates or ligands as the main reason behind modulation of the active site. This lead to the concept of substrate-induced subsite cooperativity as an initial attempt to explain the dual binding specificity of this enzyme in recognizing the cleavage sequences at its N- and C-termini, which are important processing steps in obtaining the mature protease. The presented hypothesis proposes that structural heterogeneity is a property of the enzyme, independent of the presence of a substrate or ligand. Indeed, the analysis of Mpro structures of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 reveals a conformational diversity for the catalytically competent state in ligand-free structures. Variation in the binding site appears to result from flexibility at residues lining the S1 subpocket and segments incorporating methionine 49 and glutamine 189. The structural evidence introduces “structure-based recognition” as a new paradigm in substrate proteolysis by Mpro. In this concept, the binding space in subpockets of the enzyme varies in a non-cooperative manner, causing distinct conformations, which recognize and process different cleavage sites, as the N- and C-termini. Insights into the recognition basis of the protease provide explanation to the ordered processing of cleavage sites. The hypothesis expands the conformational space of the enzyme and consequently opportunities for drug development and repurposing efforts.

Distributed Compressed Sensing Multi-target Positioning Method Based on Wavelet Transform

In the environment of coal mine underground tunnel, it is difficult to establish a unified electromagnetic propagation model because of the factors that multi-path effect and electromagnetic wave propagation loss are numerous and complicated, in addition, the trilateral positioning of electromagnetic wave ranging is very demanding on the hardware system. In order to solve the problems, a multi-target positioning method of distributed compressed sensing based on wavelet transform is proposed, which is on the basis of researching the low power consumption and lightweight design of underground tunnel hardware. The method makes full use of the spatial correlation information of the nodes in the tunnel and transforms the target positioning problem into a joint recovery problem of signal group data. The target positions can be achieved through a non-cooperative manner and a small number of sample values, which effectively reduces the additional energy consumption caused by the exchange of data between nodes. The simulation results show that the proposed method satisfies the application of underground hardware nodes in an energy efficient way.

Mean-Field Transmission Power Control in Dense Networks

We consider uplink power control in wireless communication when a large number of users compete over the channel resources. The CDMA protocol, as a supporting technology of 3G networks accommodating signal from different sources over the code domain, represents the orthogonal multiple access (OMA) techniques. With the development of 5G wireless networks, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is introduced to improve the efficiency of channel allocation. Our goal is to investigate whether the power-domain NOMA protocol can introduce performance improvement when the users interact with each other in a non-cooperative manner. It is compared with the CDMA protocol, where the fierce competition among users jeopardizes the efficiency of channel usage. In this work, we conduct analysis with an aggregative game model, and show the existence and uniqueness of an equilibrium strategy. Next, we adopt the social welfare of the population as the performance metric, which is the average utility achieved by the user population. It is shown that under the corresponding equilibrium strategies, NOMA outperforms CDMA by higher efficiency of channel access for uplink communications.

Cooperative improvement in growth rate, red-colour score and astaxanthin level of white-leg shrimp by Bacillus strains originating from shrimp gut.

We investigated the potential cooperative effects of carotenoid-producing Bacillus aquimaris SH6 and nonpigmented Bacillus subtilis SH23 on white-leg shrimp growth and health. SH6, SH23 and a combination of both spores (1×106 CFU per g pellet) were administered in shrimp. The growth rate (2·36% day-1 ), red-colour score (25) and astaxanthin concentration (3·5µgg-1 shrimp) were maximum in two-spore-administered shrimp. Immune-related Rho mRNA expression level and phenoloxidase and superoxidase dismutase activities were higher in two-spore-administered shrimp than in control shrimp, with Rho mRNA expression level being 55-fold higher in two-spore-administered shrimp than in SH6-administered shrimp and phenoloxidase activity being 1·2-fold higher in two-spore-administered shrimp than in SH23-administered shrimp. Although live SH6 count was 2·7-fold lower, SH6 germination level was 3·5-fold higher in the combination group than in SH6 group. When both SH6 and SH23 spores were administered, SH6 spore germination was enhanced and cooperative improvement was seen in growth, astaxanthin level and red-colour score of white-leg shrimp; however, immune-related parameters were induced in a noncooperative manner. This is the first report showing the cooperative probiotic activities of Bacillus strains and their possible mechanisms in a shrimp model.

A differential game model for closed-loop supply chain participants under carbon emission permits

In the low carbon economy background, supply chain participants need to make their investment and production decisions under the carbon emission consideration. In this study, we propose a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) network including multiple manufacturing/remanufacturing plants and multiple distribution/collection centers. From a long-term horizon and dynamic perspective, we analyze the optimality conditions of CLSC participants, who compete in a non-cooperative manner under carbon emission permits. We develop a differential game model for the CLSC network based on differential variational inequality, and illustrate that the differential variational inequality is equivalent to the nonlinear complementary problem. A successive linearization algorithm is proposed. In addition, we analyze the impact of subsidy and remanufacturing ratio on the equilibrium results. The results indicate that, under carbon permits, receiving subsidy can motivate plants to input more investment into carbon emission abatement technologies to reduce the carbon emission, which results in the reduction of the total carbon stocks and the increase of the total profits for the plants and the whole CLSC network. In addition, plants should enhance their remanufacturing capability, which brings more profits and a higher sustainability level for the whole supply chain. Our study provides implications for companies in the CLSC to enhance their profits through reducing carbon emissions by increasing technology investment and enhancing remanufacturing capabilities.

Molecular interaction of fibrinogen with zeolite nanoparticles

Fibrinogen is one of the key proteins that participate in the protein corona composition of many types of nanoparticles (NPs), and its conformational changes are crucial for activation of immune systems. Recently, we demonstrated that the fibrinogen highly contributed in the protein corona composition at the surface of zeolite nanoparticles. Therefore, understanding the interaction of fibrinogen with zeolite nanoparticles in more details could shed light of their safe applications in medicine. Thus, we probed the molecular interactions between fibrinogen and zeolite nanoparticles using both experimental and simulation approaches. The results indicated that fibrinogen has a strong and thermodynamically favorable interaction with zeolite nanoparticles in a non-cooperative manner. Additionally, fibrinogen experienced a substantial conformational change in the presence of zeolite nanoparticles through a concentration-dependent manner. Simulation results showed that both E- and D-domain of fibrinogen are bound to the EMT zeolite NPs via strong electrostatic interactions, and undergo structural changes leading to exposing normally buried sequences. D-domain has more contribution in this interaction and the C-terminus of γ chain (γ377–394), located in D-domain, showed the highest level of exposure compared to other sequences/residues.

Hydration and Counterion Binding of an Aminomethylated Resorcin[4]arene.

Supramolecular chemistry based on host-guest complexes is a rapidly evolving research field with numerous potential applications. However, up to date investigations mainly focused on molecular recognition and self-assembly in nonpolar media where hydrogen-bond formation could be used for selective host-guest binding. Obviously, in aqueous solutions hydration will compete, hampering supramolecular chemistry to go green. As practically no information on host hydration is available yet, we study in this contribution the competition of hydration and counterion binding for the aminomethylated resorcin[4]arene hydrochloride, TAM·(HCl)4, using dielectric spectroscopy. We find that TAM·(HCl)4 is strongly hydrated but binds Cl- ions only weakly in a noncooperative manner.