Long Term and Short Term Effects of Perturbations in a Immune Network Model

In this paper we review the trajectory of a model proposed by Stauffer and Weisbuch in 1992 to describe the evolution of the immune repertoire and present new results about its dynamical behavior. Ten years later this model, which is based on the ideas of the immune network as proposed by Jerne, has been able to describe a multi-connected network and could be used to reproduce immunization and aging experiments performed with mice. Besides its biological implications, the physical aspects of the complex dynamics of this network is very interesting {\it per se}. The immunization protocol is simulated by introducing small and large perturbations (damages), and in this work we discuss the role of both. In a very recent paper we studied the aging effects by using auto-correlation functions, and the results obtained apparently indicated that the small perturbations would be more important than the large ones, since their cumulative effects may change the attractor of the dynamics. However our new results indicate that both types of perturbations are important. It is the cooperative effects between both that lead to the complex behavior which allows to reproduce experimental results.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Diversity improves performance in excitable networks

As few real systems comprise indistinguishable units, diversity is a hallmark of nature. Diversity among interacting units shapes properties of collective behavior such as synchronization and information transmission. However, the benefits of diversity on information processing at the edge of a phase transition, ordinarily assumed to emerge from identical elements, remain largely unexplored. Analyzing a general model of excitable systems with heterogeneous excitability, we find that diversity can greatly enhance optimal performance (by two orders of magnitude) when distinguishing incoming inputs. Heterogeneous systems possess a subset of specialized elements whose capability greatly exceeds that of the nonspecialized elements. Nonetheless, the behavior of the whole network can outperform all subgroups. We also find that diversity can yield multiple percolation, with performance optimized at tricriticality. Our results are robust in specific and more realistic neuronal systems comprising a combination of excitatory and inhibitory units, and indicate that diversity-induced amplification can be harnessed by neuronal systems for evaluating stimulus intensities.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Alien Registration- Copelli, Gregorio (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/25415/thumbnail.jp