ALBERT

Notes: Abstract It is observed that a dynamical continuity equation for biomass distribution yields the asymptotic steady-state exponential dependencen=A exp( $$ - m/\bar m$$ ) exhibited by certain fishery data, wherem is the biomass of an individual,n is the number of individuals per unit biomass interval, andA, $$\bar m$$ are positive constants. This dynamical approach to biomass distribution is an alternative to the global maximization principle proposed recently by Lurié and Wagensberg.

Notes: Abstract In order to evaluate the effect of anatomic asymmetries on the gas concentration distribution in the pulmonary airways, a Monte Carlo simulation of combined bulk flow and molecular diffusion was carried out in a realistic distal airway model (Parkeret al., 1971). This airway model, composed of branches distal to the 0.5-ram diameter airways, contained an upper symmetric segment consisting of four generations of conducting airways and a lower asymmetric segment of alveolar ducts and sacs arranged in five transport paths of varying lengths. In accounting for the volume increases of these ducts and sacs occurring during normal respiration, uniform alveolar filling rates and a fixed length-to-diameter ratio of all airways were assumed. For a pulse injection of inert tracer gas, the simulation was employed to determine the longitudinal concentration profiles in the conducting airways. In the alveolated airways, not only were the longitudinal profiles determined along each path, but radial transport from the core to the periphery of the airways was considered. The results of the simulations indicate that geometric asymmetries alone contribute substantially to regional concentration variations in the distal airways. For example, when a gas bolus is injected at mid*inspiration, there are concentration differences as great as 40% between two points along different transport paths located equi-distant from the proximal end of the model. As viewed from the terminal end of the model (acinus), average concentration differences as large as 6-to-1 exist between the longest and shortest transport paths respectively for gas boli introduced near the end of inspiration. The results further indicate because of large radial diffusion rates, no significant concentration differences exist between the periphery a-ld the central core of alveolated airways. Simulation of the expired concentration profiles indicate that boll injected very late during inspiration exhibit a sloping tail, unlike the earlier injected boll whose tails are virtually horizontal. Through the use of superposition teehniqnes, it was found that these sloping tails correspond to an alveolar slope of 1.5 vol% between 750 and 1250 ml expired for a continuous washing of tracer. This result is in disagreement with other transport analyses which did not directly account for the effect of geometric asymmetries.

Notes: Abstract Assuming a spherical geometry for the left ventricle, passive elastic stiffness-stress relations have been obtained on the basis of linear elasticity theory and large deformation theory. Employing pressure-volume aata taken from rat hearts of various age groups, it is shown that young rat heart muscle (1 month) is stiffer than either adult (7 months) or old rat heart muscle (17 months). Although the qualitative results are similar for both elasticity theories, the large deformation theory gave results in closer agreement with those obtained from papillary muscle studies. These results imply that stiffness of muscleper se can be assessed from left ventricular pressure-volume data.

Notes: Abstract Deliberate evaluation of the quantum theory of nerve excitation is made by comparing it with Hill's theory in fitting the experimental data on threshold-frequency relation, optimum frequency (v0) for nerve excitation and strength-duration relation. Decrease of v0 and increase of all the time constants (Hill's λ andk, Wei'sT 2 and spike durationw) with decreasing temperature are interpreted on the basis of the dipole relaxation timeT 2 but inexplicable from Hill's theory or any other existing theory. The closeness ofk,T 2 andw values is explained. A variety of experimental results obtained by others is discussed. Finally, a comparison is made between the Hodgkin-Huxley equations and the quantum theory. Most of the facts (electrical and non-electrical) tend to support the thesis that nerve excitation is a macroscopic expression of quantum transitions of dipoles between energy states.

Notes: Abstract In the periodic Leslie model the asymptotic period of total population is a divisor of the asymptotic period of the population vector. Under reasonable circumstances these periods are identical.

Notes: Abstract A number of biological branching systems, such as the bronchial and pulmonary arterial trees, are being investigated in an ongoing study in order to define their physiological properties. The technique involves the description of branching trees by the use of hierarchical systems of ordering, especially those described by Horsfield and by Strahler. During this work some mathematical properties of branching trees were demonstrated and these are described in this paper.

Notes: Abstract Luteinizing hormone (LH) is secreted continuously from the anterior pituitary gland. The concentration in the blood of this gonadotropic hormone plays a regulatory role in the development of puberty in both sexes, in the induction of ovulation in females, and in the production of testosterone in males. The secretion of LH is in turn controlled by luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) secreted by the hypothalamus. LH and LHRH are removed from the blood by degradation and excretion. This hormonal system is modelled by a system of ordinary differential equations based upon specific physiological and biochemical assumptions current among experimentalists in this field. The one exception is the assumption that LHRH may bind reversibly to a serum protein; an analysis of the data shows that this or a similar mechanism is a crucial specification. Data on the serum levels of LH and LHRH in two human subjects were fitted using the model. The data consist of the transients and subsequent decays created by a bolus intravenous injection of LHRH.

Notes: Abstract A thick-wall incompressible, elastic sphere was used as a model for the diastolic rat left ventricle. A model for myocardial nonhomogeneity was derived assuming that fiber (circumferential) stress was independent of position in the ventricular wall. The theoretical implications of the resulting constitutive relations together with the spherical model were analyzed in the context of large deformation elasticity theory. It was found that muscle stiffness at a given level of uniaxial stress increased monotonically from the endocardium to the epicardium. In addition, fiber stress was found to be essentially a linear function of transmural pressure above a pressure of 6 g/cm2. It was also shown theoretically that neglecting the nonhomogeneity of the myocardium resulted in a state of stress which differed significantly from that predicted by the nonhomogeneous model. For example, at a transmural pressure of 14 g/cm2, fiber stress in the nonhomogenous model was equal to 17 g/cm2 while fiber stress in the homogeneous model varied between 100 g/cm2 at the endocardial surface and 2 g/cm2 at the epicardial surface. The change in muscle stiffness with position which characterized the nonhomogeneous model also tended to linearize the highly curvilinear radial stress distribution predicted by the homogeneous model at a given transmural pressure.

Notes: Abstract The phenomenon of axonal transport has been well documented (Ochs, 971; Lasek, 1970; and Grafstein, 1967). In a previous paper, we showed how diffusion alone could not account for this process. In this report we show that convection or convection with diffusion can account for the observed build-up of material. By including a first-order catabolic sequestration term, we are able to offer an understanding of the several apparent rates of transport with the same underlying velocity and variable sequestration.

Notes: Abstract It is known that the Lotka-Volterra coupled nonlinear differential equations for a two-species prey-predator ecosystem possess a periodic solution, although its exact form is not yet obtained analytically. The conventional linearization approximation for solving these nonlinear equations leads to a harmonic oscillator whose frequency depends only on the intraspecific coefficients. We propose here a prescription for obtaining nonlinear correction to the linear frequency by using the Hamilton-Jacobi canonical formalism of classical mechanics. It is found that the first-order correction, which also involves interspecific parameters, exhibits the basic qualitative features of the nonlinearity.

Notes: Abstract Environmental safety testing typically requires procedures for extrapolating from the relatively high experimental to the very low use doses of potentially harmful substances. In the present paper, a stochastic mammillary compartmental model for environmental safety testing is proposed and extrapolation procedures based on its dose-response relationship are developed. The proposed model is a direct generalization of one of the basic safety models, the one-hit model, in that a harmful reaction is assumed to occur if at any time any of the peripheral compartments attains a specified threshold of particles. Consideration of a closed model yields an upper bound on the probability of attaining a certain threshold level, thus providing a conservative procedure for extrapolating to a low dose, while a lower bound obtained from a related open model provides a useful monitoring device as to the sharpness of the upper, bound. The extrapolation procedure is illustrated with simulated data and approximations for initial values are developed.

Notes: Abstract By using chromosome images as a framework, algorithms for finding most dissimilar images are presented and illustrated by examples. In terms of angles, a chromosome image consists of two exterior biangles and two interior biangles. Biangles are defined and classified into 180° biangles, 〉180° biangles and 〈180° biangles. The dissimilarity of biangles and its geometric interpretation together with various properties of biangles are also presented. The results may have useful applications in pattern recognition, scene analysis, information storage and retrieval, artificial intelligence and fuzzy set theory.

Notes: Abstract The Volterra equations which represent competitions between two species are utilized to examine the phenomenon of boundary formation between two species of plants. The set of stable stationary points for these equations is determined and is illustrated in a product space of parameters and dynamical variables. The stages of boundary appearance and succession are visualized by considering slow changes of the parameters as functions of time and space.

Notes: Abstract Linear birth and death processes are used to derive simple expressions for sequential extinction times and gene fixation probabilities in asexual populations.

Notes: Abstract We are here concerned with the functionf which assigns to each pointP of an object the numberf(P) which is the shortest distance fromP to the border. This function appears in various guises in diverse biological studies. The functionf(P) is itself a measure of shape—or more precisely, an infinite set of measures, one for each point (and hence, in view of its geometric definition, usually in a form inconvenient for use). Thus in this paper we sought a reasonable representative of this infinite set of measures, namely themean of the numbersf(P) asP ranges over all points of the entity. Computability studies are developed for various classes of shapes. For example, (1) the mean for a lamina bounded by a polygon circumscribable about a circle of radiusr isr/3; (2) the mean for a domain bounded by a polyhedron circumscribable about a sphere of radiusr isr/4. The transition from pointwise to piecewisef(P), especially in the non-convex case, requires working with inequalities.

Notes: Abstract A mathematical model for traveling bands of motile and chemotactic bacteria in the presence of cell growth and death is examined. It is found that asymptotic traveling wave solutions exist in the absence of chemotaxis, due to the balance of growth, death and random motility. Thus random motility confers the ecological advantage of population propagation through migration into nutrient-rich regions. The presence of chemotaxis amplifies this advantage by moving more cells into higher nutrient concentration regions, resulting in larger and faster bands. Therefore there seem to be two types of traveling bands that can be attained by chemotactic bacteria in the presence of growth and death: (1) these growth/death/motility bands; and (2) pure chemotactic ‘Keller-Segel'-type bands. Comparison to experimental observations by Chapman in 1973 indicate that the latter seem to be formed. The relationship between these two types of solution is at present uncertain. The growth/death/motility bands may have relevance on longer time or distance scales characteristic of microbial ecological systems.

Notes: Abstract Based on the principle of minimum power, a mathematical model of the pathological functional state of the oxygen transport system is presented. The model is used to determine the optimal functional parameters of the oxygen transport system in hyperthyroidism, anemia and hypertension. Theoretical results are compared with clinical data.

Notes: Abstract A modified SIRS model is developed as a framework for the study of epizootiological dynamics in an insect-pathogen system. Linearized stability analysis reveals that the system with one immune and one susceptible host class can exhibit stable, periodic or unstable behavior depending on model parameters. In general, high pathogenicity, short pathogen propagule lifespan and high host reproductive rate are stabilizing influences. Pathogen transmissibility and propagule production/host do not influence local stability. The effect of seasonal host reproduction is studied because most insect hosts are seasonal in temperate climates. The basic stability dependence on model parameters holds except as modified by the length of the reproduction interval. The results of this study are compared with the recent work of Anderson and May.

Notes: Abstract The random predator-prey type interactions of the population species in a random varying environment have been investigated. The Fokker-Planck equation for the transition probability, corresponding to the stochastic differential equations established from Lotka-Volterra equations by the introduction of randomness and variability, has been integrated in the form of a path integral. The transition probabilities for extinction or survival of one or several species have been approximately evaluated and investigated.

Notes: Abstract If two microbial populations compete for a single resource in a homogeneous environment with time invariant inputs they cannot coexist indefinitely if the resource competed for is not renewed by biological activity within the system. Mathematical studies have shown that in a predator-prey system, where the resource (prey) is self-renewing, the two competitors (predators) can coexist in a limit cycle. This suggests that if the resource competed for is renewed by biological activity within the system coexistence can occur in any microbial system provided that it exhibits the same features as, but without being, a predator-prey one. A food chain involving commensalism, competition and amensalism is presented here. Two subcases are considered. It is only when maintenance effects are taken into account that coexistence, in limit cycles, can occur for this system. Limit cycle solutions for the system are demonstrated with the help of computer simulations. Some necessary conditions for coexistence are presented, as are some speculations regarding the possible physical explanations of the results.

Notes: Abstract The branching structure of the mammalian arterial tree has been known to be close to that of an optimal conduit system of the minimum work model characterized as the branch system of constant wall shear rate. The physiological mechanism producing such construction was considered to be based on the local response of arterial caliber induced by the wall shear stress (shear rate × blood viscosity) and thereby maintaining this stress constant, which was previously observed at the canine common carotid artery shunted to the external jugular vein. The stress levels at various parts of the arterial system estimated from available data fell within ±50% of the mean (15 dyn/cm2), which was consistent with the value predicted from the model. Theoretical analyses on the cost function of the model indicated that the suspected variation of shear rate levels in the arterial tree due to the anomalous changes in blood viscosity which might bring about 3- to 4-fold differences between the minimum and maximum shear rates would cause less than 10% increase in the total energy cost. It was concluded that a local adaptive response to wall shear stress is the mechanism which effectively optimizes the design of the arterial tree.

Notes: Abstract The structure of the genetic code is related to a Gray code, which is a plausible theoretical model for an amino acid code. The proposed model implies that the most important factor in shaping the code was the effects of mistakes in translation, not effects of mutations. Another possible implication is that the preservation of stiffness and flexibility at appropriate places in a protein chain is as important in protein structure as the appropriate placement of hydrophilic (external) and hydrophobic (internal) residues. Other results are a simple conceptualization of the relationships among the 20 amino acids and their relations to their codons. The detailed relationships are summarized in the following ‘similarity alphabet’: ala, thr, gly, pro, ser; asp, asn, glu, gln, lys; his, arg, trp, tyr, phe; leu, met, ile, val, cys; (ATGPS DNEQK HRWYF LMIVC in the one-letter code). This alphabet falls into four groups of amino acids: small, external, large, internal. The approximate relation of the groups to their codons is expressed as: the first base of a codon controls size—a purine means a small amino acid, a pyrimidine means large; the middle base controls cloisterednes—purine means external, pyrimidine means internal. These relationships express the minimum change principle upon which the code appears to be founded.

Notes: Abstract A theoretical study of the Brusselator model with non-uniform distribution of component A and a concentration-dependent diffusion coefficient has been performed. Numerical simulation reveals that a variable diffusion coefficient alters the bifurcation pattern and the stability properties of the steady-state as well as periodic solutions. A simple approximate method, based on one-point collocation, has been proposed to analyze the bifurcation phenomena for the case of fixed boundary conditions and low system size.

Notes: Abstract In this paper the effects of the occurrence of cut trees in the topological analysis of branching patterns have been studied. It is assumed that branches are removed at random from the trees. We prove that, for both the segmental and terminal growth models, the probability distributions of the cut trees are identical to those of complete trees.

Notes: Abstract The goal of this work is an examination of capillary exchange models as mathematical operators. The concentration function relations for the Krogh cylinder of a single capillary, basic to many organ models, are studied via the theory of operators on the Lebesgue normed spacesL p[0,∞], (1〈-p〈-∞). A discussion is included of theL p -normsvis-à-vis the coefficient of variation currently used in finding capillary parameters and evaluating parameter searches. The capillary model determines two operators on the space of locally integrable functions: O K (relating extravascular concentration to intravascular) and K a, k (relating intravascular concentration to input), wherek is the ratio of permeabilitysurface area (PS) to extravascular volume, and α is the ratio of PS to flow. These operators are shown to induce contractive (‖O K ‖ p 〈-1, ‖K a, k ‖ p 〈-1), isotone, linear operators onL p . The uniform convergence relation $$K_{a,k} = \mathop {\lim _{(p)} }\limits_{N \to \infty } \left( {\sum\limits_{n = 0}^N {P_n (a)O_k^n } } \right)$$ (as operators onL p) is derived, whereP n (a) is the Poisson probabilitye −a a n /n!. For the important special cases ofp=∞, 1, 2 the norms are found (‖Ok‖=‖Ka,k‖p=1). Consideration is also given to the norms and operators when the functions involved are limited to a finite interval of time.

Notes: Abstract One particular kind of structure offers possible explanations, for long-term memory, efficient consolidation of stored information from the environment, clustering of data strings and multimodal functioning. It is a possible model for pieces of neural structure and its use offers a uniform method for both studying and constructing an extensive class of mechanisms.

Notes: Abstract Levenshtein dissimilarity measures are used to compare sequences in application areas including coding theory, computer science and macromolecular biology. In general, they measure sequence dissimilarity by the length of a shortest weighted sequence of insertions, deletions and substitutions required, to transform one sequence into another. Those Levenshtein dissimilarity measures based on insertions and deletions are analyzed by a model involving valuations on a partially ordered set. The model reveals structural relationships among poset, valuation and dissimilarity measure. As a consequence, certain Levenshtein dissimilarity measures are shown to be metrics characterized by betweenness properties and computable in terms of well-known measures of sequence similarity.

Notes: Abstract It is pointed out that the methane flux measured experimentally for certain ponds and swamps is quantitatively consistent with a commensal dependence of Methanobacteria on O2-chemotactic motile aerobic bacteria. The Methano species is thereby shielded from oxygen and provided with carbon dioxide for the anaerobic production of methane.

Notes: Abstract A sufficient condition is given for stochastic boundedness persistence of a top predator in generalized Lotka-Volterra-type stochastic food web models in arbitrary bounded regions of state space. The main result indicates that persistence in the corresponding deterministic system is preserved in the stochastic system if the intensities of the random fluctuations are not too large.

Notes: Abstract One of Bobisud's models for the evolution of cannibalism is reanalyzed by applying the method of finding evolutionarily stable strategies (or ESS's). It is demonstrated that ‘no cannibalism’ never will be an ESS if the initial rate of cannibalism is too large. It is further demonstrated that individual selection may even result in the evolution of cannibalism during food abundance. Some empirical case studies are briefly discussed in relation to this model.

Notes: Abstract A computer algorithm is presented which equiprobably generates any member of the set of all directed trees withk labeled terminal nodes and unlabeled interior nodes. The algorithm requires roughlyk 2 /2 storage locations. The one-time initialization requiresO(k 2 ) time, while generating each tree requiresO(k) time.

Notes: Abstract The comparison of several sequences is central to many problems of molecular biology. Finding consensus patterns that define genetic control regions or that determine structural or functional themes are examples of these problems. Previously proposed methods, such as dynamic programming, are not adequate for solving problems of realistic size. This paper gives a new and practical solution for finding unknown patterns that occur imperfectly above a preset frequency. Algorithms for finding the patterns are given as well as estimates of statistical significance.

Notes: Abstract A new development is introduced here in the use of dynamic programming in finding pattern similarities in genetic sequences, as was first done by Needleman and Wunsch (1969). A condition of pattern similarity is defined and an algorithm is given which scans any set of similarities and screens out those which fail to meet the condition. When the set to be scanned contains every pair of segments, one from each of two given sequences of lengthsm andn (i.e. every possible location for a pattern similarity), then it completes the scan in a number of computational steps proportional tom·n, leaving those pairs of segments which satisfy the similarity condition. The algorithm is based on the concept of match density, as suggested by Goad and Kanehisa (1982).

Notes: Abstract This paper concerns sequences of letters in which certain “distinguished” words are of interest. Such sequences arise as data in numerous fields including genetics and neuroscience. A probability distribution is given for the number of occurrences of a chosen word in a randomized sequence of letters. Such words are considered “favored” if they occur more than expected at random. Favored words have been discovered in nerve impulse trains and may reflect a neural coding scheme.

Notes: Abstract As the volume of protein sequence data grows, rapid methods for searching the protein sequence database become of primary importance. Rigorous comparison of sequences is obtained with the well-known dynamic programming algorithms. However, these algorithms are not rapid enough to use for routinely searching the entire database. In this paper we discuss some methods that can be used for rapid searches.

Notes: Abstract We give algorithms for computing the extent of similarity between two or three sequences of letters. The similarity measures we consider include a penalty for inserting gaps within the sequence in order to enhance similarity. The magnitude of the penalty for gaps is assumed to be independent of their size in order to accommodate certain biological applications. Our algorithm for three sequence comparisons, which is based on solving a system of recursive equations, improves upon the efficiency of existing methods. Although the system of recursive equations utilized by the algorithm is quite complicated as it stands, it has none the less been simplified by appeal to combinatorial considerations.

Notes: Abstract Well-known dynamic programming algorithms exist for comparing two finite sequences inO(N 2) time and storage, whereN is the common sequence length. Extensions to the comparison ofM finite sequences requireO((2N) M) time and storage, making such algorithms difficult even forM=3. A simple generalization of the sequences makes it possible to obtain some results about the geometry of sequence alignments. These ideas suggest heuristic approaches to problems of comparing several sequences. IfM sequences are known to be related by a binary tree, they can be aligned inO(MN 2) time andO(N 2+NM) storage.

Notes: Abstract Protein sequences of the Dayhoff databank of 1984 have been analyzed to evaluate the occurrences of the 400 dipeptides and 8000 tripeptides. Expected values and standard deviations for the di- and tripeptides were determined by Monte Carlo and binomial approximation. A condensed format containing this information, labeled a uniqueness diagram, is presented and made available in the form of a microfiche.

Notes: Abstract In two-state sliding filament models of muscle contraction a partial differential equation must be solved to find the cross-bridge distribution functionn(x, t). In this paper the analytical form of this function is obtained by integration along the characteristic line and special cases are presented in which the explicit expression forn(x, t) can be completely determined. These analytical solutions provide a direct mathematical connection between the microscopic contraction parameters contained in the kinetic theories and macroscopic muscle dynamics and are thus used to investigate what parameters influence the transient contractile tension in typical experimental conditions. The results of this investigation are consistent with relevant aspects of muscle physiology.

Notes: Abstract Experiments on random binary, ternary, etc. (P=2, 3,…, 10) switching nets are reported. Behavioral cycle lengths are examined as functions of output variety,P, input connectance,K, and net size,N. Overall, output variety appears an influential, well-behaved net property. Strong, but well-behaved interactions appear among net variables. In high connectance nets, median cycle length grows approx. asP N/2. Other factors constant, one-connected nets show the shortest cycles, and connectance effects appear to converge asymptotically aroundN. Data for cycle length as a function of net size suggest a concavity not compatible with the Kauffman “square root law” (Kauffman, 1969). Evidence of a positive relationship between cycle length and run-in length is found in two-input nets; weaker evidence is obtained that in higher connectance nets this relationship becomes negative in sign. The “modular complexity” ofP〉2 nets is examined briefly.

Notes: Abstract The influence of topographical situation on the spread of infection is studied. The investigation is based on a multigroup model. The population under consideration is thought to be divided into subpopulations living in regions that are separated from each other by natural barriers (mountains). Infection is carried from one region to another by migrating infectives. Migration is possible only along the river system so that the structure of the epidemiological network is that of a symmetric tree. The results allow comparison of the velocity of propagation of the epidemic for different geographical situations and allow quantification of the “channel-effect”, according to which mountainous regions are channels rather than barriers to the spread of an epidemic.

Notes: Abstract A method, based on symmetry, is suggested for determining the information content of systems. A comparison has been made between the information for symmetry, topology, and chemical composition. The new information measure increases when the asymmetry of the molecules and the number of atoms in the latter increases. It can distinguish between different molecular conformations, and give a linear correlation with the absolute entropy for homologous series of chemical compounds.

Notes: Abstract The micromorphic theory of Eringen is applied to study the tube flow of blood. The blood is considered to be a deformable suspension, with constitutive relations of the form of those of simple microfluids. By means of energy consideration, a relation is established between the local concentration parameter and the measure of rotationality involving both macro-and micromotions. The tube flow problem is then solved with some analyses on viscosity coefficients and boundary conditions. The results obtained indicate an integrated explanation of various important physical phenomena associated with blood flow, such as the tube size dependence of the apparent viscosity and the non-uniform concentration distribution over a tube cross section.

Notes: Abstract By observing that the n-tuple of rate functionsQ(c) is orthogonal to the c-space gradients of each of the (n - 1) constants of the motion Φ v (c), a generic canonical expression for the rate functions is given in terms of the exterior product of the gradients of the (n - 1) Φ v 's. For models withQ so prescribed from the outset, an analytical general solution is obtainable directly for the system of autonomous ordinary differential equations dc/dt =Q(c). Thus, the generic canonical expression for the rate functions can be utilized to construct analytically solvable models for interacting biological species, as ilIus~rated by examples here.

Notes: Abstract A model for the extraocular plant of the human visual eye tracking mechanisms is discussed. Its sensitivity to variation of controller signal nervous activity is studied in order to determine the type of activity that yields realistic simulations characteristic of typical saccadic eye movements.

Notes: Abstract Mathematical models of predator-prey systems in which the prey species has a three-stage life cycle are studied. Certain stages of the prey life history are allowed to use younger stages as food. It is shown that sufficiently restricted cannibalism can result in an increase in the numbers of adult prey on a sustained basis when cannibalism decreases the vulnerability of a stage subject to predation or increases overall productivity.

Notes: Abstract A general analysis is presented for the thermal behavior of a biological tissue. Energy transport by the circulatory system is assumed to be represented by a modified Fick's law. General boundary conditions are assumed for the two-dimensional model and solutions are obtained for rectangular, cylindrical, and spherical geometries. The effects of blood perfusion rate, metabolic rate, arterial temperature and heat exchange with the environment are considered. Results indicate a region of almost constant temperature in the deeper layers of the tissue and reaffirm the important role which blood flow plays in maintaining homeostasis.

Notes: Abstract The oscillatory aspect in a system having two steady states is studied theoretically using a model of excitable nerve membrane. The condition for the occurrence of oscillatory instability is discussed on the basis of the kinetic picture of nerve excitation in consideration of the non-Markoffian effect caused by ion transport in the system. Small oscillations around a steady state as well as a giant fluctuation between two states are obtained. Results are compared with experiments carried out with squid giant axons perfused intracellularly.

Notes: Abstract An expression for the variance in birth volumes during balanced growth of a cell population is derived. The requirement of this expression being positive and finite allows a discussion of some of the requirements imposed on the mechanisms of growth and division.

Notes: Abstract The phenomenon of axonal transport of material has been well documented (Ochs, 1971; Lasek, 1970; and Grafstein, 1967). This report seeks to establish the role of diffusion—if any—in such a transport process. We report that diffusion cannot account for the observed build-up of material as reported in the literature.

Notes: Abstract The question of how to fit a general cubic model of a multicomponent, interactive growth system to observed data is addressed. A multidimensional-polynomial type of regression analysis is used, with a least-squares criterion. By testing the scheme on a problem with known solution, the way in which the accuracy of the results varies with the number of datum points used is investigated in an heuristic manner.

Notes: Abstract The describing function method is used as a guide to the behaviour of the solutions of the equations of Danziger and Elmergreen, proposed as a model of periodic catatonia. The method suggests that whenever the equilibrium point is unstable it is surrounded by a stable closed periodic orbit. This is confirmed in specific cases by computation.

Notes: Abstract A theory of ambiguous pattern perception is formulated. This theory proposes a feature selector (field of attention) based on the time-sequential discrete property of the attention, a short-term memory for storage of the selected features, and a displayer (perception) to display the consecutively stored features. Since the selected features continuously enter, and since the features can only be stored in the short-term memory for a short period, the features which can be displayed in the displayer vary with time. When all the essential features belonging to one pattern happen to be in the displayer, the picture is perceived to be that pattern; when all the essential features belonging to another pattern happen to be in the displayer, then the picture is perceived to be the other pattern. Thus the picture appears to vary with time and alternate between two patterns. A numerical calculation is presented.

Notes: Abstract The thermodynamics of irreversible processes is derived from the principles of dynamical field theory independently of all elements of thermostatics, in particular the assumption of local equilibrium. Field thermodynamics proceeds from the premise that all driving forces experienced by the molecules in a continuum are conservative and arise from scalar potential functions. Dynamically the temperature potentialT is no different from the pressure potentialp. A field is converted to a force upon multiplication by a scale factor. A potential is converted to potential energy by the same scale factor. To scale the field −∇p to the force per mole of molecular speciesk, the partial molar, volume $$\bar V_k $$ is the scale factor. Similarly the partial molar entropy, $$\bar S_k $$ , scales the temperature field. The transition from the scale factors (which are physical parameters) to the systemic variables, for example $$\bar S_k \to s\left( {x,y,z;t} \right)$$ , is not trivial. From the dynamics and the structure of the derived potential energy function are inducted the conjugate variables such as (p, V I) and (T, s). The meta-mechanical properties of the thermal variables (T, s) are discovered via the local First Law of Thermodynamics, which relates internal energy, thermal flux, and work, and from the local Second Law, which prescribes, the possible partitions of internal energy between kinetic, potential, and thermal energies. From the form of the potential energy come Maxwell's relationships. From the energy partition comes the equation of continuity for entropy, with its important source term. In contrast to earlier theories of irreversible thermodynamics, the dissipation function does not include the stress tensor, a constitutive parameter.

Notes: Abstract The transfer of solute through a membrane separating two aqueous solutions is studied with the time-dependent diffusion equation for composite media. By introducing new independent and dependent variables it is shown that the differential equations and boundary conditions can be transformed into a dimensionless form which does not explicitly depend on the diffusivities of the media. Laplace transforms are used to derive explicit solutions for the solute concentration as a function of position and time. It is shown that at large time the concentration approaches the equilibrium distribution exponentially. Explicit results are given for the decay time as a function of the parameters of the system. In addition, an accurate and simplified expression is derived for the decay time for the case of small membrane permeability. The accuracy of the analytic solutions for the concentration profiles is tested by comparing them with numerical results obtained by solving the diffusion equations by the method of finite differences. Excellent agreement is found.

Notes: Abstract Physiological systems are often modelled by a set of compartments. Alternatively they can be described by the diffusion-convection-reaction equations governing distributed systems. The problem considered here is that of identifying a continuously changing input of some metabolite )tracee), endogenous to the system and hence inaccessible, when a nonlinear or time-varying component is also introduced into the loss parameter, as for example through feedback mechanisms. A tracer is used to determine the steady-state impulse response under time-invariant, linear conditions. A known input of tracer is also administered when the system is driven out of steady state. The integral equations developed utilize the predetermined impulse response, the measured concentrations of both tracer and tracee (output) in some region of the system to estimate the changing loss parameter and the unknown input in a continuous fashion.

Notes: Abstract The equilibrium distribution for a generalQth-order multivariate reaction system is studied. The state transition intensity matrix is developed and examples are given for small numbers of reaction components. A closed-form expression for the equilibrium distribution for systems which are symmetric with respect to the order of component reactions is presented. Numerical examples for three component systems are discussed.

Notes: Abstract The model recently proposed by Dreitlein and Smoes for oscillatory kinetic systems is studied. Diffusion of the oscillating species is taken into account, and bounds on the total number of individuals of each species are determined for both two- and three-dimensional finite regions with various boundary conditons applied. It is found that in general the effect of diffusion on the system behavior is to reduce the maximum possible radius of limit cycles. In particular, in some cases global limit cycle behavior is precluded.

Notes: Abstract The Kedem-Katchalsky equations for fluid flux across membranes may not be adequate for large solvent flows. In particular, for an example of two membranes in series, it is argued that they would predict physically unreasonable behavior. An alternate equation for solute flow is proposed for a simple sieving membrane. For the same example, this equation predicts more physically reasonable results.

Notes: Abstract Pipeline techniques have been successfully applied to speeding up processing in both general- and special-purpose digital computers. Application of these techniques to nonrecursive (FIR) filters has been suggested and is quite straightforward. Application to recursive (IIR) filters has not previously been shown. In this paper, the technique for applying pipeline techniques to recursive filters is shown and the advantages and disadvantages of the technique are discussed. Using these techniques, recursive digital filters operating at hitherto impossibly high rates can be designed.

Notes: Abstract The long-standing problem of reconstructing a function from its samples is considered again. Assuming a sequence of oversampled values, a set of appropriate idealized reconstruction filters can be defined, which do not suffer from instability or slow convergence. The realization — a cascade of a nonrecursive digital filter, D/A-converter, and a fixed/analog smoothing filter — demands the design of the digital filter for the increase of the sampling rate. The design of this nonrecursive filter is the purpose of this paper. Approximations in the frequency as well as in the time domain are presented.

Notes: Abstract In this paper we formulate power systems as nonlinear nearly Hamiltonian systems. Using the invariance principle for ordinary differential equations, necessary and sufficient conditions for asymptotic stability are established and a new method of estimating the domain of attraction of the stable equilibrium point is developed. The present results constitute a novel approach to stability analysis and involve the following three steps: a. Given a system with dissipation, the stability of its equilibrium is ascertained by determining the stability of the associated conservative system. b. Attractivity of the stable equilibrium of the entire system (with dissipation) is determined from the system topology. c. An estimate of the domain of attraction of the asymptotically stable equilibrium is obtained by making use of results obtained in (a) and (b). The stability criterion developed in this paper sheds new light on the mechanism of instability in power systems and it provides analytical verification to the concept of the potential-energy boundary surface (PEBS). The PEBS is a hypersurface which makes up a part of the boundary of the domain of attraction of the stable equilibrium in a power system. The existence and properties of the PEBS have thus far been deduced primarily via simulations and heuristic methods.

Notes: Abstract In conventional television systems, picture scanning in vertical and temporal directions is usually very defective with regard to the sampling theorem. In this paper some deficiencies such as aliasing, line-structure distortion, line flickering, and large-area flickering are investigated with regard to their dependence on the inter-lacedpicture-scanning process. The three-dimensional reconstruction filtering of the sampled picture is especially analyzed with respect of the viewer's perception. Furthermore, it will be shown that in connection with a new concept of picture scanning published earlier [1], [2], a flat-field reproduction without any 25/30-Hz flicker can be achieved by vertical filtering only. This is true even though the final reproduction by the monitor is performed with interlace. The vertical filtering can then be optimized in the sense of maximum picture sharpness and resolution with negligible ringing as well. Practical results are given in this paper.

Notes: Abstract In this paper a new type of “velocity-selecting/rejecting filter” which passes or stops a particular event in a seismic signal is proposed. The velocity-selecting filter is based on a time-space band-pass filter with sharp passband for a particular direction, and similarly, the velocity-rejecting filter is based on a time-space band-stop filter. A technique for designing such filters, in terms of an infinite-impulse-response (IIR) filter, is presented, in which a rotated version of separable filter is used. Finally, numerical examples are included to illustrate the design theory.

Notes: Abstract A special type of factorization for operators defined on partially ordered Hilbert resolution spaces is considered. The main result includes, as a particular case, the classical Schur-Coleski triangular factorization. Connections with stochastic optimization and image-processing problems are established.

Notes: Abstract In a recent paper on nonlocal expansions necessary and sufficient conditions are given under whichf −1 has a generalized power series expansion, whenf is an invertible locally Lipschitz map between certain general subsets of a complex Banach space. Here we establish the validity of a conceptually interesting algorithm for obtaining the expansion. Basically, we show that a certain contraction mapping iteration generates iteratesℐ 1,ℐ 2,... such that eachℐ k yields all of the terms of the generalized power series expansion off −1 up to order (k + 1), assuming merely that the expansion off −1 exists. An earlier different result along related lines is mentioned.

Notes: Abstract The representation of functions in a basis function expansionz(t)= ∑k=1/∞=,a k〉 x k (t) is straightforward when the basis functionsx k (t) are orthogonal. There has been very little work up to this time in determining how to use nonorthogonal bases in signal representation. On the other hand, applications in data compression and signal synthesis often require using specific tailor-made bases. Presented here is a method for constructing very general nonorthogonal bases. Orthogonality has often been used to show that a basis spans the set of functions of interest and to calculate the coefficients of the representation. In this paper, both of these fundamental aspects are addressed for nonorthogonal bases. A new basis {y k (t)} is obtained by performing a linear transformation on a known existing basis {x k (t)}. This transformation is constructed such that the coefficients of signal representation on the new basis are readily found. Then, a useful and sufficient condition is placed upon the new basis such that representations converge. The fundamental methods are applied to the standard examples of signal representation. The complex sinusoids, the Rademacher functions, the orthogonal polynomials, and the decaying exponentials are used as the original basis {x k (t)} from which a new basis {y k (t)} is generated. Two examples are given to illustrate general applications: one in signal synthesis and one in signal analysis.

Notes: Abstract The paper introduces a basic mathematical form, which is characteristic of a number of linear one-dimensional diffusion equations with coefficients being represented as simple polynomials in the spatial coordinate. A number of particular diffusion equations are introduced and their corresponding exact mathematical solutions are obtained.

Notes: Abstract In this paper we examine a set of nonlinear rate equations (devised by M. Eigen (1971)) which describe the process of selection in a collection of self-reproducing, macromolecular information carriers. We construct exact solutions to the equations for the case of constant rate parameters and constant error distributions. The solutions allow the direct assessment of the effect of mutations on the “selective value” parameters discussed by Eigen as well as the distribution of the molecular species selected in steady state. In addition we show that the selection process may be characterized by an extremal principle.

Notes: Abstract The electromagnetic molecular electronic resonance (EMER) frequencies of the molecular chains of α-chymotrypsin are calculated. The chain length relations and coupling positions suggest a possible energy transfer, at the EMER frequencies, from one chain to the other. Photon enzyme activation data indicate that the energy corresponding to the EMER frequencies of its molecular chains is used by α-chymotrypsin for its enzyme function.

Notes: Abstract Based on Wei's dipole flip-flop model and with the assumption that the dipole is coupled to the membrane matrix, the cathode-make-excitation, the anode-break-excitation and the cathode-gap-excitation can be explained in a systematic way. The istrength-duration relations for these three processes are derived.

Notes: Abstract It is usually stated that only systems with multiple steady states can exhibit hysteresis. For protein conformations, this would violate the idea that, in fixed environments, primary structure uniquely determines tertiary structure. It is shown that hysteresis-like phenomena can be exhibited by systems possessing only a single steady-state configuration. This property is placed in a more general theoretical setting of recognition and classification systems, and some implications for processes such as memory, learning and pattern generation (morphogenesis) are discussed.

Notes: Abstract The natural historical literature contains a considerable body of work which indicates that harvesting (or predation) can alleviate competitive instabilities. In order to arrive at an understanding of this, the appropriate bifurcation structure for a rather general family of two-dimensional competitive systems is here investigated. The results of this analysis suggest that, in more complicated ecosystems with many competing species, (1) there is a good chance that harvesting at moderate rates will increase species diversity if one species is dominant in the unharvested system, while an increase in diversity is not likely to result from harvesting from a system with no dominant species, (2) whenever harvesting does increase species diversity, maximal diversity will occur at moderate harvesting rates, with less diversity at both very high and very low harvesting rates.

Notes: Abstract The Weber-Fechner law (response of an organism is a linear function of log of stimulus) has been widely used for description of physiological and psychological data for many years. It is shown here that the Weber-Fechner law is derivable in a simple way from the Elovich equation (−dx/dt=m exp(nx), which is observed experimentally in numerous physiological and biochemical systems, and which has a simple derivation from solid state charge transport across interfaces in these systems. It therefore seems reasonable to interpret data conforming to the Webner-Fechner law to imply that the observed phenomenon is rate-limited by interfacial charge transport in the cell. By a similar analysis, the Loewenstein equation, which may be considered an exact form of the Weber-Fechner law applicable to data over a wider range of values of the variables, is derived from a more exact form of the Elovich equation.

Notes: Abstract A simple similarity transformation of the Leslie matrix renders certain properties obvious. In particular the characteristic polynomial, characteristic vectors and principal vectors can be explicitly written out. Bounds for the dominant root are given.

Notes: Abstract A mathematical description of the process of adherence to glass of the rat thymus lymphocytes is presented. It is based on the result of previous work in which the process was studied in the course of the flow of the51Cr labelled cell suspension through the glass-bead column. The concentration of cell suspension, flow velocity and medium temperature were constant; the experiments were performed with different lengths of the bead bed. The amount of cells captured on the glass beads' surface was calculated as a function of time. Two approaches to the mathematical description of the process are presented. The first one is based on the linear equation of kinetics of cell retention on the elementary thin layer and on the transport equation of the flow of the suspension through the column. In the second one, the differential equation of the adhesion, derived from the experimental data, is discussed.

Notes: Abstract The temperature regulation in homothermic animals is an example of a negative feedback system. It shows sudden changes of parameter values, and therefore suggests the use of catastrophe theory for its description. This paper reports on work done on the human temperature regulation mechanism to shows that the five-dimensional dual butterfly catastrophe model is sufficient for its description. Nearly all experiments reported in the literature overlook the dynamic multiparametric nature of the process. Use of catastrophe theory, on the other hand, shows that one cannot find a model with fewer than five parameters for such a system. From work by Benzinger and Kitzinger, the exact shape of part of the corresponding bifurcation set is determined.

Notes: Abstract This paper is an analytical study on the pulse wave velocities in the aorta. In conformity to a physiologic state of loading, the distensibility of the vessel wall has been accounted for. The wall material is treated by using the theory of large elastic deformations. The orthotropicity of wall tissues and the effect of the surrounding tissues have been incorporated in the analysis which is based on the use of the strain energy function suggested by Vaishnavet al. Numerical values of the wave velocities of the canine middle descending thoracic aorta are computed by using the derived analytical expressions.

Notes: Abstract The theory of a symmetrical 3-barrier, 4-site, single-filing ionic channel is developed. The model goes beyond earlier models by including additional sites, as well as barriers which need not be symmetrical in the applied field, and contains the earlier models as special cases. It is itself a special case of the most general 4-site model, which has 5 barriers. By considering the barriers at the mouth and middle of the channel to be sufficiently larger than the barriers separating the sites in each channel half, these barriers can be neglected; thus this case reduces to a 3-barrier model where the sites in each channel half can then be assumed to be in equilibrium with each other. The alternative 3-barrier, 4-site case, where the barrier between the sites is considered to be larger than that at the mouth of the channel, is considered elsewhere. Pure cation permeation is considered and only single-salt properties of the system are analyzed, namely occupancy, conductance, flux ratio exponent and current-voltage relation. The concentration dependences of these properties are computed and interrelated and, where possible, also given in analytical form. The mathematical relations are obtained for a channel which is symmetrical around its middle, which is the appropriate assumption for the gramicidin channel. However, the barriers themselves are allowed to be asymmetric with respect to the potential dependence, which has been found to be essential for gramicidin. Mathematically, a straight-forward matrix formulation is used; but a general theoretical method is presented for reducing a complex model (with more than 2 sites) to a simpler cases when equilibrium exists across one or several barriers, as is often the cases. This method is a prototype which makes analytical solutions of complex barrier models possible in many cases.

Notes: Abstract A chain-like arrangement of four urns (a catenary system) into which different color balls (white, corresponding to radio atoms, and black, corresponding to stable atoms) are being transferred is used to simulate the transport of atoms down the GI tract of man and animals. Into the first urn (stomach) are placedw o white balls andr black balls while in the 2nd (small intestines) and 3rd (large intestines) urn, onlyr blacks are put in, with no whites. A sample of sizer is transferred from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd urns to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th (infinite universe) urns. From the random variable difference equations the first and second moments for the distribution of the number of radio atoms present in each urn are obtained. The variance of the contents of radioatoms in the excretion urn is

Notes: Abstract A power series solution is presented which describes the steady-state concentration profiles for substrate and product molecules in immobilized enzyme systems. Diffusional effects and product inhibition are incorporated into this model. The kinetic consequences of diffusion limitation and product inhibition for immobilized enzymes are discussed and are compared to kinetic behavior characteristic of other types of effects, such as substrate inhibition and substrate activation.

Notes: Abstract The use of spheroids as a tumor model has become commonplace since it was discovered that many cell lines can form spheroids when grown on a surface to which the cells cannot attach. This culture system complicates experiments which depend on oxygen supply because the oxygen concentration in the vicinity of a stationary spheroid has not been well defined. We present in this paper solutions to the oxygen diffusion equation for simple geometries: a spheroid in an infinite stationary medium and in a finite spherical stationary medium. Comparison of these solutions provides an estimate of the oxygen supply to a spheroid in a Petri dish. We show that typical spheroids can be expected to cause a substantial depletion of the oxygen in the nearby medium. Any disturbance of the medium or the spheroids will temporarily increase the oxygen supply. We provide a method for estimating the rate of return to equilibrium in the finite cases. These results indicate that the oxygen supply to stationary spheroids can be altered temporarily by small movements or changes in temperature which cause convection currents, or permanently by changes in the depth of the medium.

Notes: Abstract Alternative sufficient conditions are derived that guarantee the stability of spatially heterogenous steady-state distributions of motile aerobic bacterial populations attracted chemotactically by oxygen, motile anaerobic populations repelled by oxygen, and the oxygen concentration itself through a stationary aqueous medium. In particular, it follows from the latter criteria that the heterogeneous steady-state distributions for cylindrical regions with arbitrary cross-sections, uniform depth and mixed Dirichlet-Neumann boundary conditions on the oxygen concentration (appropriate to certain still-water bodies in nature) are stable with respect to arbitrary perturbations in the bacteria cell and the oxygen distributions.

Notes: Abstract Closed positive feedback loops of catalytic reactions between macromolecules, or hypercycles, provide a kinetic mechanism whereby each Species serves to catalyze selfreproduction of its successor in the loop. Hypercycles of five members or more evolve into limit cycles characteristic of a biochemical clock. Computer study of the coupled non-linear differential equations which describe these systems shows that the periodT n of then-species limit cycle is given byT n=nτn, where τn is an elemental repeat period reflecting translational time invariance. Analytic solutions of the equations are developed so that the time evolution of elementaryn-hypercycles can be traced in dynamical detail. It is shown that the magnitude of τn is, to good approximation, a linear function ofn. For a givenn, τn is a very sensitive function of the relative concentration a given member of the loop has at the time its predecessor dominates the state of the hypercycle. These concentrations decrease with increasingn. Aroundn=15 they become so small that elementary hypercycles become unstable against disruptive concentration fluctuations. Species concentrations for more realistic hypercycles tend not to be as small, so that the present estimate of a maximum number of components is a lower bound.

Notes: Abstract The technique of the probability generating function is used to derive the stochastic differential equations for a nonlinear model based on Eigen and Schuster's theory of biomolecular selection and evolution. The stabilities of various steady states are analyzed by using the linear stability approximation. The instability of a small starting population is investigated numerically. The minimum starting populations required for steady-state survival are then estimated for a wide range of parameters.

Notes: Abstract Some morphological features of the human bronchial tree were simulated by computergenerated trees. The trees were ordered by the methods of Horsfield and Strahler. Delta, the difference between the Horsfield orders of the two branches at a bifurcation, was determined by pseudorandom numbers generated according to a distribution of probabilities defined on input. By trial and error a distribution was found which resulted in trees being generated with average Strahler order branching ratios of 2.82, similar to a real bronchial tree. Branching angles and length ratio could also be defined on input. By varying these input parameters it was found that the form of the tree was quite sensitive to them, and that by a suitable choice the intrasegmental part of the bronchial tree could be simulated. It is concluded that branching ratio, length ratio, mean branching angles and distribution of delta are controlled within tight limits in the bronchial tree, and this may support the concept of optimal design.

Notes: Abstract In this paper perturbation methods are used for the mathematical analysis of coupled relaxation oscillators. This study covers entrainment by an external periodic stimulus as well as mutual entrainment of coupled oscillators with different limit cycles. The oscillators are of a type one meets in the modeling of biological oscillators by chemical reactions and electronic circuits. Special attention is given to entrainment different from 1∶1. The results relate to phenomena occurring in physiological experiments, such as the periodic stimulation of neural and cardiac cells, and in the non-regular functioning of organs and organisms, such as the AV-block in the heart.

Notes: Abstract A new, more realistic model of the action of ionizing radiation on mammalian cells growingin vitro is presented. Although this model requires a large number of parameters, these are linked to biologically observable quantities rather than being abstract sensitivities, as had previously been the case. Three different stochastic processes are required: {X(t);t ∈ [0, τ]}, representing damage alterations during irradiation; {(X(t), S(t));t ∈ [τ, τ+T D]}, representing changes in both damageX(t) and cell cycle positionS(t) during the post-irradiation cell cycle; and {N x(t);t ∈ [0,T G]}, representing the subsequent colony growth process conditioned on the value ofX(τ+T D). The assumptions used to define these processes extend a previous model of short term DNA damage formation and repair (Nelson S. J. 1982,Radiat. Res. 92, 120–145) to include the influence of cell cycle progression on damage in the irradiated cell and the effect of permanent inherited damage on the daughter cells' colony growth pattern. Expressions corresponding to commonly measured radiation effects are derived from the model and compared with predictions from previous models. It is found that these previous models oversimplified the mechanism of radiation action because they did not adequately represent repair during irradiation, the influence of radiation-induced cycle delays and damage inheritance by any daughter cells. Suggestions are then made for ways in which the new model can be used to test the importance of these effects.