A Computational View on Natural Evolution: On the Rigorous Analysis of the Speed of Adaptation

Inspired by Darwin’s ideas, Turing (1948) proposed an evolutionary search as an automated problem solving approach. Mimicking natural evolution, evolutionary algorithms evolve a set of solutions through the repeated application of the evolutionary operators (mutation, recombination and selection). Evolutionary algorithms belong to the family of black box algorithms which are general purpose optimisation tools. They are typically used when no good specific algorithm is known for the problem at hand and they have been reported to be surprisingly effective (Eiben and Smith, 2015; Sarker et al., 2002). Interestingly, although evolutionary algorithms are heavily inspired by natural evolution, their study has deviated from the study of evolution by the population genetics community. We believe that this is a missed opportunity and that both fields can benefit from an interdisciplinary collaboration. The question of how long it takes for a natural population to evolve complex adaptations has fascinated researchers for decades. We will argue that this is an equivalent research question to the runtime analysis of algorithms. By making use of the methods and techniques used in both fields, we will derive plenty of meaningful results for both communities, proving that this interdisciplinary approach is effective and relevant. We will apply the tools used in the theoretical analysis of evolutionary algorithms to quantify the complexity of adaptive walks on many landscapes, illustrating how the structure of the fitness landscape and the parameter conditions can impose limits to adaptation. Furthermore, as geneticists use diffusion theory to track the change in the allele frequencies of a population, we will develop a brand new model to analyse the dynamics of evolutionary algorithms. Our model, based on stochastic differential equations, will allow to describe not only the expected behaviour, but also to measure how much the process might deviate from that expectation

Three Risky Decades: A Time for Econophysics?

Our Special Issue we publish at a turning point, which we have not dealt with since World War II. The interconnected long-term global shocks such as the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and catastrophic climate change have imposed significant humanitary, socio-economic, political, and environmental restrictions on the globalization process and all aspects of economic and social life including the existence of individual people. The planet is trapped—the current situation seems to be the prelude to an apocalypse whose long-term effects we will have for decades. Therefore, it urgently requires a concept of the planet's survival to be built—only on this basis can the conditions for its development be created. The Special Issue gives evidence of the state of econophysics before the current situation. Therefore, it can provide excellent econophysics or an inter-and cross-disciplinary starting point of a rational approach to a new era

Metapopulation Modelling and Spatial Analysis for HEG Technology in the Control of Malaria

The success of any vector control strategy can be enhanced by onsite analysis and investigation. Combatting malaria, a global disease carried by the vector Anopheles gambiae, has led to the development of novel genetic technologies such as the use of HEG; homing endonuclease genes. This thesis explored the age and stage elements of the vector, building upon current biological understanding and using fitting algorithms with metapopulation matrices to create cohort orientated survival and transition. The environmental forces were analysed alongside this with emphasis on sub-model creation and tool design, employing an array of methods from RBF to satellite classification to couple the local environment and vector. When added, the four potential genetic strategies all demonstrated the ability to suppress a wild type population and even eradicate it, although reinvasion and hotspot population phenomena were reoccurring observations. The movement of the vector was an important factor in control efficiency, which was investigated as a series of different assumptions using wind driven movement and host attraction. Lastly, practical factors such as monitoring and resource distribution within a control project were assessed, which required routing solutions and landscape trapping assessments. This was explored within a framework of Mark-Release-Recapture experiment design that could provide critical information for efficient HEG release strategies.Open Acces

Physical models for uptake processes at the cell membrane

All biological cells are enclosed by a fluid membrane and have to continuously transport information and material across this interface. Cells have developed multiple strategies by which they take up small particles. In this thesis, I use theoretical models from statistical physics and computer simulations to investigate two of these strategies, namely receptor-mediated endocytosis driven by adhesion energy and clathrin-mediated endocytosis driven by the polymerisation energy of supramolecular assembly. For receptor-mediated uptake, I focus on systems with sizes in the order of 10 − 300 nm, few tens of cell surface receptors and address stochastic effects. We show how the stochastic dynamics of uptake is influenced by particle geometry and compare theoretically predicted adhesion energies to experimental data. For clathrin-mediated endocytosis we demonstrate by combining different experimental data sets with physical models how clathrin triskelia assemble and rearrange during endocytosis. Using computer simulations we show that flat clathrin lattices grow sparsely and that an increasing clathrin density could drive a flat-to-curved transition of clathrin lattices. Together, these results demonstrate how physical models can help to understand the complex biological process of cellular uptake

A Holmes and Doyle Bibliography, Volume 9: All Formats—Combined Alphabetical Listing

This bibliography is a work in progress. It attempts to update Ronald B. De Waal’s comprehensive bibliography, The Universal Sherlock Holmes, but does not claim to be exhaustive in content. New works are continually discovered and added to this bibliography. Readers and researchers are invited to suggest additional content. This volume contains all listings in all formats, arranged alphabetically by author or main entry. In other words, it combines the listings from Volume 1 (Monograph and Serial Titles), Volume 3 (Periodical Articles), and Volume 7 (Audio/Visual Materials) into a comprehensive bibliography. (There may be additional materials included in this list, e.g. duplicate items and items not yet fully edited.) As in the other volumes, coverage of this material begins around 1994, the final year covered by De Waal's bibliography, but may not yet be totally up-to-date (given the ongoing nature of this bibliography). It is hoped that other titles will be added at a later date. At present, this bibliography includes 12,594 items