38,676 research outputs found
Why are probabilistic laws governing quantum mechanics and neurobiology?
We address the question: Why are dynamical laws governing in quantum
mechanics and in neuroscience of probabilistic nature instead of being
deterministic? We discuss some ideas showing that the probabilistic option
offers advantages over the deterministic one.Comment: 40 pages, 8 fig
Noise Processing by MicroRNA-Mediated Circuits: the Incoherent Feed-Forward Loop, Revisited
The intrinsic stochasticity of gene expression is usually mitigated in higher
eukaryotes by post-transcriptional regulation channels that stabilise the
output layer, most notably protein levels. The discovery of small non-coding
RNAs (miRNAs) in specific motifs of the genetic regulatory network has led to
identifying noise buffering as the possible key function they exert in
regulation. Recent in vitro} and in silico studies have corroborated this
hypothesis. It is however also known that miRNA-mediated noise reduction is
hampered by transcriptional bursting in simple topologies. Here, using
stochastic simulations validated by analytical calculations based on van
Kampen's expansion, we revisit the noise-buffering capacity of the
miRNA-mediated Incoherent Feed Forward Loop (IFFL), a small module that is
widespread in the gene regulatory networks of higher eukaryotes, in order to
account for the effects of intermittency in the transcriptional activity of the
modulator gene. We show that bursting considerably alters the circuit's ability
to control static protein noise. By comparing with other regulatory
architectures, we find that direct transcriptional regulation significantly
outperforms the IFFL in a broad range of kinetic parameters. This suggests
that, under pulsatile inputs, static noise reduction may be less important than
dynamical aspects of noise and information processing in characterising the
performance of regulatory elements.Comment: 25 pages (Main Text and Supplementary Information), 5 figure
Noise processing by microRNA-mediated circuits: The Incoherent Feed-Forward Loop, revisited
The intrinsic stochasticity of gene expression is usually mitigated in higher eukaryotes by post-transcriptional regulation channels that stabilise the output layer, most notably protein levels. The discovery of small non-coding RNAs (miRNAs) in specific motifs of the genetic regulatory network has led to identifying noise buffering as the possible key function they exert in regulation. Recent in vitro and in silico studies have corroborated this hypothesis. It is however also known that miRNA-mediated noise reduction is hampered by transcriptional bursting in simple topologies. Here, using stochastic simulations validated by analytical calculations based on van Kampen's expansion, we revisit the noise-buffering capacity of the miRNA-mediated Incoherent Feed Forward Loop (IFFL), a small module that is widespread in the gene regulatory networks of higher eukaryotes, in order to account for the effects of intermittency in the transcriptional activity of the modulator gene. We show that bursting considerably alters the circuit's ability to control static protein noise. By comparing with other regulatory architectures, we find that direct transcriptional regulation significantly outperforms the IFFL in a broad range of kinetic parameters. This suggests that, under pulsatile inputs, static noise reduction may be less important than dynamical aspects of noise and information processing in characterising the performance of regulatory elements
Fluctuation scaling in complex systems: Taylor's law and beyond
Complex systems consist of many interacting elements which participate in
some dynamical process. The activity of various elements is often different and
the fluctuation in the activity of an element grows monotonically with the
average activity. This relationship is often of the form "", where the exponent is predominantly in
the range . This power law has been observed in a very wide range of
disciplines, ranging from population dynamics through the Internet to the stock
market and it is often treated under the names \emph{Taylor's law} or
\emph{fluctuation scaling}. This review attempts to show how general the above
scaling relationship is by surveying the literature, as well as by reporting
some new empirical data and model calculations. We also show some basic
principles that can underlie the generality of the phenomenon. This is followed
by a mean-field framework based on sums of random variables. In this context
the emergence of fluctuation scaling is equivalent to some corresponding limit
theorems. In certain physical systems fluctuation scaling can be related to
finite size scaling.Comment: 33 pages, 20 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Advances in Physic
Background derivation and image flattening: getimages
Modern high-resolution images obtained with space observatories display
extremely strong intensity variations across images on all spatial scales.
Source extraction in such images with methods based on global thresholding may
bring unacceptably large numbers of spurious sources in bright areas while
failing to detect sources in low-background or low-noise areas. It would be
highly beneficial to subtract background and equalize the levels of small-scale
fluctuations in the images before extracting sources or filaments. This paper
describes getimages, a new method of background derivation and image
flattening. It is based on median filtering with sliding windows that
correspond to a range of spatial scales from the observational beam size up to
a maximum structure width . The latter is a single free parameter
of getimages that can be evaluated manually from the observed image
. The median filtering algorithm provides a background
image for structures of all widths below
. The same median filtering procedure applied to an image of
standard deviations derived from a
background-subtracted image results in a
flattening image . Finally, a flattened
detection image
is computed, whose standard deviations are uniform outside sources and
filaments. Detecting sources in such greatly simplified images results in much
cleaner extractions that are more complete and reliable. As a bonus, getimages
reduces various observational and map-making artifacts and equalizes noise
levels between independent tiles of mosaicked images.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures (main text + 3 appendices), accepted by
Astronomy & Astrophysics; fixed Metadata abstract (typesetting
From Knowledge, Knowability and the Search for Objective Randomness to a New Vision of Complexity
Herein we consider various concepts of entropy as measures of the complexity
of phenomena and in so doing encounter a fundamental problem in physics that
affects how we understand the nature of reality. In essence the difficulty has
to do with our understanding of randomness, irreversibility and
unpredictability using physical theory, and these in turn undermine our
certainty regarding what we can and what we cannot know about complex phenomena
in general. The sources of complexity examined herein appear to be channels for
the amplification of naturally occurring randomness in the physical world. Our
analysis suggests that when the conditions for the renormalization group apply,
this spontaneous randomness, which is not a reflection of our limited
knowledge, but a genuine property of nature, does not realize the conventional
thermodynamic state, and a new condition, intermediate between the dynamic and
the thermodynamic state, emerges. We argue that with this vision of complexity,
life, which with ordinary statistical mechanics seems to be foreign to physics,
becomes a natural consequence of dynamical processes.Comment: Phylosophica
Mechanisms in Dynamically Complex Systems
In recent debates mechanisms are often discussed in the context of âcomplex systemsâ which are understood as having a complicated compositional structure. I want to draw the attention to another, radically different kind of complex system, in fact one that many scientists regard as the only genuine kind of complex system. Instead of being compositionally complex these systems rather exhibit highly non-trivial dynamical patterns on the basis of structurally simple arrangements of large numbers of non-linearly interacting constituents. The characteristic dynamical patterns in what I call âdynamically complex systemsâ arise from the interaction of the systemâs parts largely irrespective of many properties of these parts. Dynamically complex systems can exhibit surprising statistical characteristics, the robustness of which calls for an explanation in terms of underlying generating mechanisms. However, I want to argue, dynamically complex systems are not sufficiently covered by the available conceptions of mechanisms. I will explore how the notion of a mechanism has to be modified to accommodate this case. Moreover, I will show under which conditions the widespread, if not inflationary talk about mechanisms in (dynamically) complex systems stretches the notion of mechanisms beyond its reasonable limits and is no longer legitimate
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