Structural and immunogenicity analysis of reconstructed ancestral and consensus P48/45 for cross-species anti malaria transmission-blocking vaccine

The development of the anti-malaria vaccine holds a promising future in malaria control. One of the anti-malaria vaccine strategies known as the transmission-blocking vaccine (TBV) is to inhibit the parasite transmission between humans and mosquitoes by targeting the parasite gametocyte. Previously, we found that P48/45 included in the 6-Cysteine protein family shared by Plasmodium sp. We also detected vaccine properties possessed by all human-infecting Plasmodium and could be used as a cross-species anti-malaria vaccine. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of P48/45 through the ancestral and consensus reconstruction approach. P48/45 phylogenetic and time tree analysis was done by RAXML and BEAST2. GRASP server and Ugene software were used to reconstruct ancestral and consensus sequences, respectively. The protein structural prediction was made by using a psipred and Rosetta program. Each protein characteristic of P48/45 was analyzed by assessing hydrophobicity and Post-Translational Modification sites. Meanwhile, the Epitope sequence for B-cell, T-cell, and HLA was determined using an immunoinformatics approach. Lastly, molecular docking simulation was done to determine native binding interactions of P48/45-P230. The result showed a distinct protein characteristic of ancestral and consensus sequences. The immunogenicity analysis revealed the number of epitopes in the ancestral sequence is greater than the consensus sequence. The study also found a conserved epitope located in the binding site and consists of specific Post-Translational Modification sites. Hence, our research provides detailed insight into ancestral and consensus P48/45 efficacy for the cross-species anti-malaria vaccine.     

Leader‐following consensus problem of heterogeneous multi‐agent systems with nonlinear dynamics using fuzzy disturbance observer

This article considers the leader‐following consensus problem of heterogeneous multi‐agent systems. The proposed multi‐agent system is consisted of heterogeneous agents where each agents have their own nonlinear dynamic behavior. To overcome difficulty from heterogeneous nonlinear intrinsic dynamics of agents, a fuzzy disturbance observer is adopted. In addition, based on the Lyapunov stability theory, an adaptive control method is used to compensate the observation error caused by the difference between the unknown factor and estimated values. Two numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 19: 20–31, 2014     

不确定环境下多自主体系统的分布式估计与控制

多自主体系统是当前系统控制界研究的热点问题. 在实际中, 自主体系统通常并不是在理想的环境下执行任务, 而是面临多源头、多层次和多变化的各类不确定性因素的影响. 它们通过在微观层面上影响各自主体决策的正确性, 从而在宏观上对自主体系统的整体行为产生显著影响. 不确定性因素和多自主体系统分布式信息架构交互耦合, 给系统的设计与分析带来本质性困难. 本文围绕分布式估计与分布式控制问题, 研究在随机通信噪声、数据丢失、量化和系统未知结构参数等不确定因素影响下, 如何为各自主体设计更加鲁棒、更加有效的分布式估计算法及分布式控制律, 以实现全局估计与控制目标, 并对闭环系统性能进行系统分析.     

Short communication on the discrete deffuant and alternative models in one dimension

The discrete Deffuant model and its alternatives is a family of stochastic spatial models for the dynamics of binary opinions on f issues. Another parameter is also incorporated that prevents interaction between two agents whenever their opinion profiles are at a Hamming distance greater than the confidence threshold θ. By numerical simulations, it was conjectured in (Adamopoulos and Scarlatos, Complexity 2012, 17, 43) that one‐dimensional models exhibit a phase transition at a critical value . We report on recent mathematical results on this problem that originates from the community of complex systems. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 437–439, 2016     

制度和文化感知与煤炭企业愿景认同——基于同煤集团调查数据的实证分析

探讨煤矿企业愿景认同的影响因素,对提高企业凝聚力,实现煤矿企业可持续发展具有重要意义.基于大同煤矿集团有限责任公司下属3矿矿工的问卷调查,通过建立二元Logistic回归模型,分析了影响企业愿景认同的关键因素.在得出教育程度的高低对愿景认同度具有正向作用,但月收入的高低无显著影响;制度保障对愿景认同度具有正向作用,尤其是工作考核的合理性与选拔人才的公正性对愿景认同的影响显著,但食住保障满意度对愿景认同无显著影响两个结论的同时,进一步认证了"支持型文化对愿景认同度具有显著的正向作用,但科层型文化影响不显著"研究成果.     

基于专家动态权重的群组AHP交互式决策方法

为了能在群组决策中得到更为客观和准确的决策结果,在把专家权重划分为静态权重和动态权重的基础上,研究了在交互式决策中专家动态权重的确定方法,给出了共识度的一个定义.在此基础上,研究了群组AHP交互式决策方法中的一致性和相容性检验,给出了基于专家动态权重的群组AHP交互式决策方法流程,最后用一个示例说明了该方法的应用步骤.     

基于对偶四元数的卫星信息一致性控制

为了解决航天器控制信息一致性问题,提出了利用对偶四元数来描述对象的位置及姿态信息,实现位置与姿态的统一表述。同时利用信息一致性理论,通过设计航天器间的信息传递模型来解决分布式航天器间的状态同步问题。采用对偶四元数及信息一致性理论为工具,分别给出了位姿同步及跟踪两种控制方法并针对两种信息拓扑模型,以空间交会对接问题进行仿真实验,实验结果表明,在500s以内,卫星的位置及姿态实现了同步及跟踪控制。     

Stability analysis of a class of uncertain switched systems on time scale using Lyapunov functions

This paper deals with the stability analysis of a class of uncertain switched systems on non-uniform time domains. The considered class consists of dynamical systems which commute between an uncertain continuous-time subsystem and an uncertain discrete-time subsystem during a certain period of time. The theory of dynamic equations on time scale is used to study the stability of these systems on non-uniform time domains formed by a union of disjoint intervals with variable length and variable gap. Using the concept of common Lyapunov function, sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the asymptotic stability of this class of systems on time scale with bounded graininess function. The proposed scheme is used to study the leader–follower consensus problem under intermittent information transmissions.     

Resilient self/event-triggered consensus based on ternary control

This paper considers the problem of multi-agent consensus in the presence of adversarial agents. Such adversaries may try to introduce undesired influence on the coordination of the regular agents and to even prevent them from reaching consensus. To our setting, we extend the so-called mean subsequence reduced algorithms with the aim to reduce the use of computation and communication resources of the agents. In particular, by employing self- and event-triggered communication, the frequencies of state updates as well as data transmissions are kept low. Moreover, the control inputs of the agents take the form of ternary signals, allowing them to further reduce the amount of information at each transmission. We will observe that in hostile environments with adversaries, the self-triggered approach can bring certain advantages over the event-triggered counterpart. Moreover, a novel switching scheme is introduced to mix the two protocols to further enhance the performance of the agents.     

A Generalized Markov Sampler

A recent development of the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique is the emergence of MCMC samplers that allow transitions between different models. Such samplers make possible a range of computational tasks involving models, including model selection, model evaluation, model averaging and hypothesis testing. An example of this type of sampler is the reversible jump MCMC sampler, which is a generalization of the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm. Here, we present a new MCMC sampler of this type. The new sampler is a generalization of the Gibbs sampler, but somewhat surprisingly, it also turns out to encompass as particular cases all of the well-known MCMC samplers, including those of Metropolis, Barker, and Hastings. Moreover, the new sampler generalizes the reversible jump MCMC. It therefore appears to be a very general framework for MCMC sampling. This paper describes the new sampler and illustrates its use in three applications in Computational Biology, specifically determination of consensus sequences, phylogenetic inference and delineation of isochores via multiple change-point analysis.