484 research outputs found
Regulatory networks and connected components of the neutral space
The functioning of a living cell is largely determined by the structure of
its regulatory network, comprising non-linear interactions between regulatory
genes. An important factor for the stability and evolvability of such
regulatory systems is neutrality - typically a large number of alternative
network structures give rise to the necessary dynamics. Here we study the
discretized regulatory dynamics of the yeast cell cycle [Li et al., PNAS, 2004]
and the set of networks capable of reproducing it, which we call functional.
Among these, the empirical yeast wildtype network is close to optimal with
respect to sparse wiring. Under point mutations, which establish or delete
single interactions, the neutral space of functional networks is fragmented
into 4.7 * 10^8 components. One of the smaller ones contains the wildtype
network. On average, functional networks reachable from the wildtype by
mutations are sparser, have higher noise resilience and fewer fixed point
attractors as compared with networks outside of this wildtype component.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Linear Complexity Lossy Compressor for Binary Redundant Memoryless Sources
A lossy compression algorithm for binary redundant memoryless sources is
presented. The proposed scheme is based on sparse graph codes. By introducing a
nonlinear function, redundant memoryless sequences can be compressed. We
propose a linear complexity compressor based on the extended belief
propagation, into which an inertia term is heuristically introduced, and show
that it has near-optimal performance for moderate block lengths.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Material Availability: A Study of Academic Library Performance
This article reports the findings of a study modeled after Saracevic, Shaw, and Kantor\u27s efforts to identify and quantify the causes of users\u27 failures to identify and locate library materials. The researchers analyzed patron-reported and librarian-observed subject and known-item searches and found an overall success rate of only 54 percent. The problems that led to the 46 percent failure rate were analyzed by source and type of failure, and subjective observations concerning problems encountered by patrons were recorded. Recommendations are made for reducing library malfunctions and circulation, patron, and acquisition errors
On the origin of the Boson peak in globular proteins
We study the Boson Peak phenomenology experimentally observed in globular
proteins by means of elastic network models. These models are suitable for an
analytic treatment in the framework of Euclidean Random Matrix theory, whose
predictions can be numerically tested on real proteins structures. We find that
the emergence of the Boson Peak is strictly related to an intrinsic mechanical
instability of the protein, in close similarity to what is thought to happen in
glasses. The biological implications of this conclusion are also discussed by
focusing on a representative case study.Comment: Proceedings of the X International Workshop on Disordered Systems,
Molveno (2006
Experiences of patients with Poland syndrome of diagnosis and care in Italy: A pilot survey
Background: Poland Syndrome (PS) is a rare congenital malformation involving functional and aesthetic impairments. Early diagnosis and timely therapeutic approaches play an important role in improving the quality of life of patients and kindred. This study aims to explore healthcare experiences of the diagnosis of patients affected by PS and to investigate the factors associated with diagnostic delay in Italy. Results: Seventy-two patients affected by PS were asked to fill in a self-administered questionnaire on: a) diagnostic path; b) perceived quality of care received after diagnosis; c) knowledge of the rights and the socio-economic hardships related to their disease; d) evaluation of the integration of various professional skills involved in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach; e) perception of the social support provided by the Italian Association of Poland Syndrome (AISP). The average age at diagnosis was around 14 years; diagnosis was made at birth in only 31.58% of cases. Although typical symptomatology had appeared on average at an early age (4 months), only 23 patients (40.35%) received an early diagnosis (within the first year of life). Just over half of the patients (n = 30) were diagnosed in their region of origin, while 27 were diagnosed elsewhere. Furthermore, 12.28% were self-diagnoses. Among the patients who were diagnosed outside their region, 15 (88.24%) stated they had foregone some visits or treatments owing to costs and/or organizational issues. Conclusions: An analysis of the patients' experiences highlights several gaps and a lack of homogeneity in the diagnostic and therapeutic follow-up of PS patients in Italy. A specific national diagnostic and therapeutic path is essential to guarantee patients complete and appropriate health services, compliant with the ethical principles of non-discrimination, justice and empathy. Implementation of an effective information and research network and empowerment of patients' associations are necessary conditions to encourage clinical collaboration and improve the quality of life of people living with rare diseases
Study of MicroPattern Gaseous detectors with novel nanodiamond based photocathodes for single photon detection in EIC RICH
Identification of high momentum hadrons at the future EIC is crucial, gaseous
RICH detectors are therefore viable option. Compact collider setups impose to
construct RICHes with small radiator length, hence significantly limiting the
number of detected photons. More photons can be detected in the far UV region,
using a windowless RICH approach. QE of CsI degrades under strong irradiation
and air contamination. Nanodiamond based photocathodes (PCs) are being
developed as an alternative to CsI. Recent development of layers of
hydrogenated nanodiamond powders as an alternative photosensitive material and
their performance, when coupled to the THick Gaseous Electron Multipliers
(THGEM)-based detectors, are the objects of an ongoing R\&D. We report about
the initial phase of our studies.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures, RICH2018 conference proceedin
The effect of scale-free topology on the robustness and evolvability of genetic regulatory networks
We investigate how scale-free (SF) and Erdos-Renyi (ER) topologies affect the
interplay between evolvability and robustness of model gene regulatory networks
with Boolean threshold dynamics. In agreement with Oikonomou and Cluzel (2006)
we find that networks with SFin topologies, that is SF topology for incoming
nodes and ER topology for outgoing nodes, are significantly more evolvable
towards specific oscillatory targets than networks with ER topology for both
incoming and outgoing nodes. Similar results are found for networks with SFboth
and SFout topologies. The functionality of the SFout topology, which most
closely resembles the structure of biological gene networks (Babu et al.,
2004), is compared to the ER topology in further detail through an extension to
multiple target outputs, with either an oscillatory or a non-oscillatory
nature. For multiple oscillatory targets of the same length, the differences
between SFout and ER networks are enhanced, but for non-oscillatory targets
both types of networks show fairly similar evolvability. We find that SF
networks generate oscillations much more easily than ER networks do, and this
may explain why SF networks are more evolvable than ER networks are for
oscillatory phenotypes. In spite of their greater evolvability, we find that
networks with SFout topologies are also more robust to mutations than ER
networks. Furthermore, the SFout topologies are more robust to changes in
initial conditions (environmental robustness). For both topologies, we find
that once a population of networks has reached the target state, further
neutral evolution can lead to an increase in both the mutational robustness and
the environmental robustness to changes in initial conditions.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figure
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