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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Application of chaos theory to biology and medicine.

The application of "chaos theory" to the physical and chemical sciences has resolved some long-standing problems, such as how to calculate a turbulent event in fluid dynamics or how to quantify the pathway of a molecule during Brownian motion. Biology and medicine also have unresolved problems, such as how to predict the occurrence of lethal arrhythmias or epileptic seizures. The quantification of a chaotic system, such as the nervous system, can occur by calculating the correlation dimension (D2) of a sample of the data that the system generates. For biological systems, the point correlation dimension (PD2) has an advantage in that it does not presume stationarity of the data, as the D2 algorithm must, and thus can track the transient non-stationarities that occur when the systems changes state. Such non-stationarities arise during normal functioning (e.g., during an event-related potential) or in pathology (e.g., in epilepsy or cardiac arrhythmogenesis). When stochastic analyses, such as the standard deviation or power spectrum, are performed on the same data they often have a reduced sensitivity and specificity compared to the dimensional measures. For example, a reduced standard deviation of heartbeat intervals can predict increased mortality in a group of cardiac subjects, each of which has a reduced standard deviation, but it cannot specify which individuals will or will not manifest lethal arrhythmogenesis; in contrast, the PD2 of the very same data can specify which patients will manifest sudden death. The explanation for the greater sensitivity and specificity of the dimensional measures is that they are deterministic, and thus are more accurate in quantifying the time-series. This accuracy appears to be significant in detecting pathology in biological systems, and thus the use of deterministic measures may lead to breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of some medical disorders.

Animals

Volume-based geometric modeling for radiation transport calculations.

Accurate theoretical characterization of radiation fields is a valuable tool in the design of complex systems, such as linac heads and intracavitary applicators, and for generation of basic dose calculation data that is inaccessible to experimental measurement. Both Monte Carlo and deterministic solutions to such problems require a system for accurately modeling complex 3-D geometries that supports ray tracing, point and segment classification, and 2-D graphical representation. Previous combinatorial approaches to solid modeling, which involve describing complex structures as set-theoretic combinations of simple objects, are limited in their ease of use and place unrealistic constraints on the geometric relations between objects such as excluding common boundaries. A new approach to volume-based solid modeling has been developed which is based upon topologically consistent definitions of boundary, interior, and exterior of a region. From these definitions, FORTRAN union, intersection, and difference routines have been developed that allow involuted and deeply nested structures to be described as set-theoretic combinations of ellipsoids, elliptic cylinders, prisms, cones, and planes that accommodate shared boundaries. Line segments between adjacent intersections on a trajectory are assigned to the appropriate region by a novel sorting algorithm that generalizes upon Siddon's approach. Two 2-D graphic display tools are developed to help the debugging of a given geometric model. In this paper, the mathematical basis of our system is described, it is contrasted to other approaches, and examples are discussed.

Algorithms

Reframing Proteomics Measurement: Super Mass Spectrometry Framework and the Role of Delayed Electrospray Ionization Technique.

Dynamic range, repeatability, and reproducibility remain the central limitations of data-independent acquisition (DIA) proteomics. Current workflows emphasize protein group identification counts and throughput, but these metrics mask the fundamental measurement challenge: generating a repeatable, reproducible, high-fidelity, and relatively complete digital representation of complex proteomes. In particular, plasma proteomics spans more than 10 orders of magnitude in protein abundance, far exceeding the capacity and dynamic range of any single mass spectrometer. Incremental advances have not closed this gap. In this Perspectives article, I introduce the Super Mass Spectrometry framework and then highlight the Delayed Electrospray Ionization (Delayed-ESI) technique, as a practical approach to address these limitations. By producing compositionally identical but temporally staggered ion beams, the Delayed-ESI technique enables deterministic remeasurement of the same analyte profile, supporting various novel strategies to improve analytical figures of merit. While recent implementations of the Delayed-ESI technique have emphasized throughput, I argue that the broader value of the Delayed-ESI technique lies in extending dynamic range and improving repeatability and reproducibility─objectives that should take precedence if proteomics is to evolve into a robust measurement science capable of supporting population-scale proteomics studies.

Proteomics

Complexity transmission during replication.

The transmission of complexity during DNA replication has been investigated to clarify the significance of this molecular property in a deterministic process. Complexity was equated with the amount of randomness within an ordered molecular structure and measured by the entropy of a posteriori probabilities for discrete (monomer sequences, atomic bonds) and continuous (torsion angle sequences) structural parameters in polynucleotides, proteins, and ligand molecules. A theoretical analysis revealed that sequence complexity decreases during transmission from DNA to protein. It was also found that sequence complexity limits the attainable complexity in the folding of a polypeptide chain and that a protein cannot interact with a ligand moiety of higher complexity. The analysis indicated, furthermore, that in any deterministic molecular process a cause possesses more complexity than its effect. This outcome broadly complies with Curie's symmetry principle. Results from an analysis of an extensive set of experimental data are presented; they corroborate these findings. It is suggested, therefore, that complexity governs the direction of order-order molecular transformations. Two biological implications are (i) replication of DNA in a stepwise, repetitive manner by a polymerase appears to be a necessary consequence of structural constraints imposed by complexity, and (ii) during evolution, increases in complexity had to involve a nondeterministic mechanism. This latter requirement apparently applied also to development of the first replicating system on earth.

Base Sequence

Surveys for amoebiasis; interpretation of data and their implications.

In survey work, stool microscopy for cysts and serology are the only really practicable measures of amoebic infection. The diagnostic sensitivity of stool microscopy should be estimated. Using a simple deterministic mathematical model, the rates of gain and loss of infection and seropositivity may be estimated from survey data. The low value of the constants creates difficulties but they can be estimated from: (1) cumulative data from frequently sampled cohorts; (2) analysis of the curves of age prevalence; (3) analysis of curves of long-term follow-up studies. The second method is the simplest and normally gives valid results. Appropriate epidemiological studies can give useful information about protective immunity, incubation period, superinfection, and interactions between amoebic infection and various host factors, including other disease states. Knowledge of the rate constants of infection allows predictions to be made about the likely effect of control measures.

Age Factors

Computer simulation of the effectiveness of male-linked translocations for the control of Anopheles albimanus Wiedemann.

A deterministic simulation model was used to establish the potential value of releasing male-linked translocation heterozygotes as a control measure for Anopheles albimanus Wiedemann. Theoretical population reductions exceeding 90% were obtained within 90 and 120 days after releases at initial ratios of 5 translocation males (TM): 1 normal male (NM) and 1 TM: 1 NM, respectively. Additional simulations emphasized the importance of the need for a method that would eliminate females from the release material. Releases containing 15% females were less effective than those with none. When a malaria subroutine was included in the model, the calculations showed that all the theoretical releases greatly reduced the number of malaria-infective females and therefore would have a profound effect on transmission of the disease. The number of malaria-infective females present was eliminated completely when only translocation males were released; however, a small number were present when the releases contained 15% females. Male-linked translocation males required longer periods of time to bring about population control than males that were completely sterile.

Animals

Cytophotometric analysis of basic nuclear proteins during gametogenesis in the free-living nematode Panagrellus silusiae.

The cytochemical staining characteristics of basic nuclear proteins during gametogenesis in both sexes of the free-living nematode Panagrellus silusiae were monitored by absorption microspectrophotometry. During spermatogenesis, the levels of both of the nuclear-bound Sakaguchi and 1-fluoro-2, 4-dinitrobenzene (FDNB) reagents per Feulgen-DNA content increase prior to meiosis and subsequently drop off during spermiogenesis. During oogenesis, the amount of Sakaguchi-protein to DNA ratio rises slightly whereas the FDNB-protein to DNA ratio undergoes a meagre decline. Since the oocyte of Panagrellus accumulates DNA in excess of a 4C DNA equivalent, the relative constancy of the ratio of basic nuclear protein content to DNA amount during oogenesis signifies that these proteins are being continously produced during oocyte maturation. After treatment with alkaline fast green (pH 8.1) the cytoplasmic and nuclear regions of the gonocytes of both sexes yield such an intense reaction that microspectrophotometric measurements could not be taken. The basis of the cytoplasmic staining reaction to the fast green (pH 8.1) dye was not determined. The rapid, highly deterministic programme of embryogenesis in Panagrellus may require a substantial stockpiling of basic nuclear proteins during oogenesis.

Animals

Computerized electrocardiogram diagnosis: fuzzy approach.

This paper investigates the computerized analysis of electrocardiographic signals. The biological variability, the lack of standards in the definition of measurements and of diagnostic criteria make the classification problem a complex task. Two basic methods of the diagnostic process are described: the statistical model and the deterministic approach. In particular, a model for ECG classification will be illustrated where the imprecise knowledge of the state of cardiac system and the vague definition of the pathological classes are taken care of by means of the fuzzy set formalism.

Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted

The scalp distribution of the fractal dimension of the EEG and its variation with mental tasks.

The insights gained by the concept of deterministic chaos for the EEG is that this seemingly disordered process may be governed by relatively few simple laws which could be determined. One of the quantitative measures of a complex dynamical system is that of its dimension. The term 'dimension' refers to the ability of a space to contain a set of points. We estimated the correlational dimension of the EEG and compared the outcome to traditional Fourier analyses. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that the EEG can be described as filtered noise. Data from 15 electrode sites and 31 subjects are reported in the present study. We have utilized a variety of tasks that cut across sensory modalities including touch, vision, and imagery which reflect neuropsychological processes that differentially engage areas of the cortex in the first part of the study. In the second part, the differences between the perception of an object and the imagination of the same object were evaluated. The outcome shows variations between scalp sites for all measures and also variations between tasks in terms of dimensionality of the EEG. The hypothesis of a higher dimensionality ("complexity") of imagery compared to actual perceptual processing was confirmed. A statistical comparison between the maps generated by means of the various measures shows that different informations are extracted when using the different measures. There is also statistical evidence that the EEG cannot completely be described by the model of filtered noise.

Adult

Chaotic dynamics in autonomic nervous system activity of a patient during a psychotherapy session.

Chaos theory and nonlinear dynamical modeling have been applied successfully in a variety of scientific fields ranging from the physical sciences to population biology. More recently, investigators have modeled long-term psychological processes by applying this paradigm to subjective measures. Yet, mathematically rigorous dynamical modeling of transient psychodynamic processes remains uncharted. Human behaviors and intrapsychic processes often defy prediction, yet psychodynamic theory views these as fundamentally deterministic. We postulate that a nonlinear dynamical analysis of mental states and mental control processes may help reconcile the paradox that seemingly random mental states are thought ultimately to result from deterministic, rather than stochastic, psychological processes. As an initial empirical approach, we examined spontaneously occurring autonomic activity of a patient during 1 hr of psychotherapy and illustrate that cardiac responses associated with psychologically meaningful events possess nonlinear characteristics indicative of chaos. Such nonlinear analyses may shed light on fundamental issues of psychological functioning.

Adult

A statistical analysis of the ECG measurements used in computerized interpretation of acute anterior myocardial infarction with applications to interpretive criteria development.

Computerized interpretation of the electrocardiogram (ECG) for detection of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has been an area of active investigation for the past few years. Advances in the development of criteria for increased accuracy have resulted through the use of clinically correlated databases. Previously, using such databases, the sensitivity for interpretation of AMI in the Marquette 12SL ECG analysis program has increased from 21% to 65% with specificity remaining unchanged (99%). This study attempted to find measurements of the QRS and ST-segment from 7 of the 12 standard ECG leads to increase the sensitivity of detection of anterior AMI to the level of a trained physician while maintaining the current level of specificity. Regression analyses were performed on the measurements to see which ones could improve sensitivity and what effect they had on specificity. There was no clear separation of the individual measurements between the normal database or the true positive and true negative anterior AMI databases for maintaining high specificity. In a parallel study of the same data, deterministic criteria combining both ST and T wave information increased the sensitivity of the 12SL analysis program for detection of anterior AMI to 71% on a clinically correlated anterior AMI database and 75% on a physician interpreted anterior AMI database while maintaining the specificity at 99%.

Adult

Dimensional analysis of the human EEG and intelligence.

The purpose of this study was the determination of the relationship between the dimensional complexity of the electroencephalogam (EEG) and the level of intelligence in humans. In two experiments 34 male subjects were divided into two groups, with high and low levels of intelligence (as measured by the intelligence quotient (IQ)). During a resting phase and various mental imagery conditions the EEG was recorded from several scalp sites. Nonlinear analysis, based on the theory of deterministic chaos, revealed that subjects with high IQs demonstrate higher dimensional complexity of the EEG attractors than subjects with low IQs only during resting conditions. During performance of the imagery tasks the less intelligent subjects increase the complexity of electrical brain dynamics such that IQ-dependency vanishes. The gross (mass) neuronal manifestation of general intelligence seems to depend on task conditions and may be related to the individual brain dynamics only when no specific task is present.

Adult

Induction mechanism of a single gene molecule: stochastic or deterministic?

A new field of gene expression regulation research is emerging that has previously been overlooked. This new area is concerned with distinguishing the expression of a single gene from the averaged expression of many gene copies within the cell population. This paper reviews research focused on individual genes in inducible gene expression systems. The main experimental strategy is to measure the gene expression level of a single cell containing a single reporter gene molecule. In contrast to the commonly held belief, gene induction is found to be stochastic under certain conditions. The possible mechanisms and implications are discussed.

Gene Expression Regulation

Analyzing the dynamics of hand tremor time series.

We investigate physiological, essential and parkinsonian hand tremor measured by the acceleration of the stretched hand. Methods from the theory of dynamical systems and from stochastics are used. It turns out that the physiological tremor can be described as a linear stochastic process, and that the parkinsonian tremor is nonlinear and deterministic, even chaotic. The essential tremor adopts a middle position, it is nonlinear and stochastic.

Hand

Verification of the optimal probabilistic basis of aural processing in pitch of complex tones.

Periodicity pitch for complex tones has been quantitatively accounted for by a two-stage process of Fourier-frequency analysis subject to random errors and significant nonlinearities, followed by an harmonic pattern recognizer that makes an optimum probabilistic estimate of the fundamental period of musical and speech sounds. The theory predicts that periodicity pitch is a multimodal probabilistic function of a given stimulus. A clear and empirically supported distinction is made between limitations on the pitch mechanism caused by the stochastic nature of aural frequency representation and by the deterministic resolution bandwidths of aural frequency analysis. This model was developed earlier [J. L. Goldstein, J. Acoust. Soc. Am 54, 1496-1516 (1973)] to account for probabilistic data on pitch errors [A. J. M. Houtsma and J. L. Goldstein, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 51, 520 (1972)] measured with periodic stimuli comprising two successive harmonics. This paper presents new predictions by the theory that were calculated, with computer simulation where needed, for known probabilistic pitch data from stimuli comprising three to six successive harmonics. Predicted pitch errors increase with increasing errors in estimating the frequencies of stimulus harmonics and decrease as more harmonics are added to the stimulus. Optimum processor theory fully accounts for the multicomponent pitch data on the basis of similar errors in estimating component stimulus frequencies as reported earlier, thus providing further evidence for the optimum probabilistic basis of aural signal processing in pitch of complex tones.

Auditory Cortex

[Ergonomical studies about the superposition of control activity and mechanical vibration (author's transl)].

The effects of combined stresses due to control activity and vertical mechanical vibration on man are analysed. In the first part, the processes in the human being at those superposed stresses are shown in a deterministic way, starting from morphological and physiological facts, which leads to a division of the organismic data processing in the fields of information reception, central information processing and information output. Hypothesis of the effects of vibration in the parts of information reception and information output as well as indications to measurable variables at laboratory experiments can be deduced from the model formulation. In the experimental part about factorized laboratory experiments with combined stresses consisting of an ideal-typical compensatory-tracking-task and mechanical vibration is reported, which can be divided into short-time experiments with measurement of the statistical control-factor and perseverance experiments with additional measurements of physiological variables. As established in the first part, influences of vibration in the regions of information reception and information output were found as well as thresholds for the performance-reducing effects of mechanical vibrations. The magnitudes of the thresholds are dependent on the task difficulty.

Ergonomics

The three modes of the science of psychoanalysis.

Three modes of the science of psychoanalysis are identified: (1) the domain mode is established when claim is laid for investigation of a distinctive area of nature for investigation. For psychoanalysis, this territory involves human adaptation, mentation, and communication in the emotional arena. This mode essentially is one in which a scientific spirit is central and gross, qualitative observation the source of data and theory; (2) the statistical mode is characterized by quantification (measurement), prediction, controlled study, and global correlational or probability methods. In general, this mode of science serves to confirm, refute, or revise postulates derived from domain-mode observations. An advanced aspect of this mode is termed stochastics, a form of science that deals with events that are both random and deterministic, and which introduces post hoc mathematical equations that are probabilistic in nature. (3) the formal mode is grounded in moment-to-moment observations (time-series data); its results are defined entirely through mathematical treatments of quantified data. The unique quest in this mode is for laws of nature. Each mode of the science of psychoanalysis is discussed for its actual and potential contributions to the field and for its limitations and pitfalls. Finally, the paper discusses aspects of recent research that has, we believe, established a heretofore absent formal mode of science for the field of psychoanalysis.

Female

Bioeconomic evaluation of embryo transfer in beef production systems: I. Description of a biological model for steer production.

Concepts used to derive a deterministic model for evaluating embryo transfer for commercial steer production taking into consideration genetic merit for growth and mature size, herd feed supply, and recipient maternal environment are discussed. Genetic potential of an embryo is used to derive optimal growth rates that can be sustained by available herd feed per animal per day. Equations are provided for various measures of performance as functions of the feed, genotype of the embryo, and recipient maternal contribution. To assess the value of a particular line of embryos, interactions between genotype and nutrient environment are quantified, so that the benefits of embryos of high genetic merit are evaluated objectively. Product quality and weight are predicted from the model to provide a framework that will allow commercial beef producers to determine marketing strategies likely to result in optimal return.

Animal Feed