Mitochondrial DNA Profiling by Fractal Lacunarity to Characterize the Senescent Phenotype as Normal Aging or Pathological Aging

Biocomplexity, chaos, and fractality can explain the heterogeneity of aging individuals by regarding longevity as a "secondary product" of the evolution of a dynamic nonlinear system. Genetic-environmental interactions drive the individual senescent phenotype toward normal, pathological, or successful aging. Mitochondrial dysfunctions and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations represent a possible mechanism shared by disease(s) and the aging process. This study aims to characterize the senescent phenotype and discriminate between normal (nA) and pathological (pA) aging by mtDNA mutation profiling. MtDNA sequences from hospitalized and non-hospitalized subjects (age-range: 65-89 years) were analyzed and compared to the revised Cambridge Reference Sequence (rCRS). Fractal properties of mtDNA sequences were displayed by chaos game representation (CGR) method, previously modified to deal with heteroplasmy. Fractal lacunarity analysis was applied to characterize the senescent phenotype on the basis of mtDNA sequence mutations. Lacunarity parameter beta, from our hyperbola model function, was statistically different (p < 0.01) between the nA and pA groups. Parameter beta cut-off value at 1.26 x 10(-3) identifies 78% nA and 80% pA subjects. This also agrees with the presence of MT-CO gene variants, peculiar to nA (C9546m, 83%) and pA (T9900w, 80%) mtDNA, respectively. Fractal lacunarity can discriminate the senescent phenotype evolving as normal or pathological aging by individual mtDNA mutation profile

An inventory of biophilic design attributes within child life play spaces

A review of the literature in architecture and interior design revealed health benefits from exposure to natural conditions. This was not particularly surprising given work related to biophilic theory, which posits an innate human affiliation to nature. The positive effects of interaction with our environment were also found in literature related to child development which revealed the importance of nature and play for enriching children's development. This project intended to quantify the variety of biophilic design attributes present within existing play spaces that are used to support children's health and well-being in healthcare settings within Child Life, a program that aims to help children and their families cope with the healthcare experience. The project used photography to document 24 inpatient play spaces in North Carolina health care facilities that employ Child Life. Features of the spaces identified in the photographs were recorded using a Biophilic Interior Design Matrix, which was developed to inventory the range of biophilia through design elements and their subset attributes (Kellert, 2008) to provide a quantitative score. It was developed and pre-tested in order to use the instrument to quantify the play room attributes and used inter-rater reliability testing to further define the instrument's accuracy and dependability. The results from the matrix was an average total biophilic attribute score of 21.5 out of 52 total points or a 41% average inclusion with a statistical range of 25. The average for all of the room's element sub-scores was averaged among each other with a 3.7 score of attribute inclusion per element among all of the play rooms. The element with the highest presence was Natural Shapes and Forms, the representation or simulation of the natural world, and the lowest was Place-Based Relationships, connecting culture with ecology and the geographical context. These results offer initial findings as to what levels the biophilia attributes are found in the interior, and specifically in Child Life play spaces. An online survey of the eight Child Life facilities staff was conducted regarding their play space preferences, where they use these rooms to work with hospitalized children. The four open-ended question's responses showed the most common topic was a desire for a spacious environment with 54% of play rooms either requesting more space or appreciating a large space. The human desire for spaciousness was found to be greatly desired in interior play rooms for its ability to help patients move throughout the space easily and have access to choices of activities alongside of other patients. Secondly, around 30% specifically wanted or appreciated having nature-based design features. Also, the surveys resounded with support for the play space as a tool used by Child Life in its endeavors for supporting their pediatric patients and its effectiveness. The survey results were incorporated with the matrix findings to create 24 case studies of the play spaces. The lowest effectiveness ratings from the survey responses were found in spaces scoring on the lowest end of the matrix results and further support a link between an environment with a higher variety of biophilic attributes and an effective Child Life play space. These case studies showed that biophilic features were found in varying amounts and some were specifically indicated as being desirable. Further research on the individual attributes and wider application of the matrix may add to this initial quantification of biophilia. The matrix is easily adapted for additional applications and was aimed at assisting interior designers with aiding biophilia incorporation. The case studies provide support for future biophilia design decisions, as well as informing additional research involving Child Life play spaces

Agent Street: An Environment for Exploring Agent-Based Models in Second Life

Urban models can be seen on a continuum between iconic and symbolic. Generally speaking, iconic models are physical versions of the real world at some scaled down representation, while symbolic models represent the system in terms of the way they function replacing the physical or material system by some logical and/or mathematical formulae. Traditionally iconic and symbolic models were distinct classes of model but due to the rise of digital computing the distinction between the two is becoming blurred, with symbolic models being embedded into iconic models. However, such models tend to be single user. This paper demonstrates how 3D symbolic models in the form of agent-based simulations can be embedded into iconic models using the multi-user virtual world of Second Life. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates Second Life\'s potential for social science simulation. To demonstrate this, we first introduce Second Life and provide two exemplar models; Conway\'s Game of Life, and Schelling\'s Segregation Model which highlight how symbolic models can be viewed in an iconic environment. We then present a simple pedestrian evacuation model which merges the iconic and symbolic together and extends the model to directly incorporate avatars and agents in the same environment illustrating how \'real\' participants can influence simulation outcomes. Such examples demonstrate the potential for creating highly visual, immersive, interactive agent-based models for social scientists in multi-user real time virtual worlds. The paper concludes with some final comments on problems with representing models in current virtual worlds and future avenues of research.Agent-Based Modelling, Pedestrian Evacuation, Segregation, Virtual Worlds, Second Life