3,151 research outputs found
Collective patterns arising out of spatio-temporal chaos
We present a simple mathematical model in which a time averaged pattern
emerges out of spatio-temporal chaos as a result of the collective action of
chaotic fluctuations. Our evolution equation possesses spatial translational
symmetry under a periodic boundary condition. Thus the spatial inhomogeneity of
the statistical state arises through a spontaneous symmetry breaking. The
transition from a state of homogeneous spatio-temporal chaos to one exhibiting
spatial order is explained by introducing a collective viscosity which relates
the averaged pattern with a correlation of the fluctuations.Comment: 11 pages (Revtex) + 5 figures (postscript
Boundary effects in extended dynamical systems
In the framework of spatially extended dynamical systems, we present three
examples in which the presence of walls lead to dynamic behavior qualitatively
different from the one obtained in an infinite domain or under periodic
boundary conditions. For a nonlinear reaction-diffusion model we obtain
boundary-induced spatially chaotic configurations. Nontrivial average patterns
arising from boundaries are shown to appear in spatiotemporally chaotic states
of the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky model. Finally, walls organize novel states in
simulations of the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation.Comment: Proceedigs of LAWNP'99. To be published in Physica A. Uses the Elsart
style. This short paper is intended as a summary of our recent work on
boundary influences in extended dynamical systems, with links to more
detailed papers. Related material at http://www.imedea.uib.es/PhysDept
A global analysis of bird plumage patterns reveals no association between habitat and camouflage
Evidence suggests that animal patterns (motifs) function in camouflage. Irregular mottled patterns can facilitate concealment when stationary in cluttered habitats, whereas regular patterns typically prevent capture during movement in open habitats. Bird plumage patterns have predominantly converged on just four typesāmottled (irregular), scales, bars and spots (regular)āand habitat could be driving convergent evolution in avian patterning. Based on sensory ecology, we therefore predict that irregular patterns would be associated with visually noisy closed habitats and that regular patterns would be associated with open habitats. Regular patterns have also been shown to function in communication for sexually competing males to stand-out and attract females, so we predict that male breeding plumage patterns evolved in both open and closed habitats. Here, taking phylogenetic relatedness into account, we investigate ecological selection for bird plumage patterns across the class Aves. We surveyed plumage patterns in 80% of all avian species worldwide. Of these, 2,756 bird species have regular and irregular plumage patterns as well as habitat information. In this subset, we tested whether adult breeding/non-breeding plumages in each sex, and juvenile plumages, were associated with the habitat types found within the speciesā geographical distributions. We found no evidence for an association between habitat and plumage patterns across the worldās birds and little phylogenetic signal. We also found that species with regular and irregular plumage patterns were distributed randomly across the worldās eco-regions without being affected by habitat type. These results indicate that at the global spatial and taxonomic scale, habitat does not predict convergent evolution in bird plumage patterns, contrary to the camouflage hypothesis.This research was funded by an Entente Cordiale Scholarship to M.S., a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council studentship to K.L.A.M. and the Cambridge Overseas Trust to T-L.G
United in Separation? Lozi Secessionism in Zambia and Namibia
Secessionism perseveres as a complex political phenomenon in Africa, yet often a more in-depth analysis is overshadowed by the aspirational simplicity of pursuing a new state. Using historical and contemporary approaches, this edited volume offers the most exhaustive collection of empirical studies of African secessionism to date. The respected expert contributors put salient and lesser known cases into comparative perspective, covering Biafra, Katanga, Eritrea and South Sudan alongside Barotseland, Cabinda, and the Comoros, among others. Suggesting that African secessionism can be understood through the categories of aspiration, grievance, performance, and disenchantment, the book's analytical framework promises to be a building block for future studies of the topic
Viewing the efficiency of chaos control
This paper aims to cast some new light on controlling chaos using the OGY-
and the Zero-Spectral-Radius methods. In deriving those methods we use a
generalized procedure differing from the usual ones. This procedure allows us
to conveniently treat maps to be controlled bringing the orbit to both various
saddles and to sources with both real and complex eigenvalues. We demonstrate
the procedure and the subsequent control on a variety of maps. We evaluate the
control by examining the basins of attraction of the relevant controlled
systems graphically and in some cases analytically
Stochastic synchronization in globally coupled phase oscillators
Cooperative effects of periodic force and noise in globally Cooperative
effects of periodic force and noise in globally coupled systems are studied
using a nonlinear diffusion equation for the number density. The amplitude of
the order parameter oscillation is enhanced in an intermediate range of noise
strength for a globally coupled bistable system, and the order parameter
oscillation is entrained to the external periodic force in an intermediate
range of noise strength. These enhancement phenomena of the response of the
order parameter in the deterministic equations are interpreted as stochastic
resonance and stochastic synchronization in globally coupled systems.Comment: 5 figure
Epigenetic Gene Promoter Methylation at Birth Is Associated With Childās Later Adiposity
Objective: fixed genomic variation explains only a small proportion of the risk of adiposity. In animal models, maternal diet alters offspring body composition, accompanied by epigenetic changes in metabolic control genes. Little is known about whether such processes operate in humans.Research design and methods: using Sequenom MassARRAY we measured the methylation status of 68 CpGs 5? from five candidate genes in umbilical cord tissue DNA from healthy neonates. Methylation varied greatly at particular CpGs: for 31 CpGs with median methylation ?5% and a 5ā95% range ?10%, we related methylation status to maternal pregnancy diet and to childās adiposity at age 9 years. Replication was sought in a second independent cohort.Results: in cohort 1, retinoid X receptor-? (RXRA) chr9:136355885+ and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) chr7:150315553+ methylation had independent associations with sex-adjusted childhood fat mass (exponentiated regression coefficient [?] 17% per SD change in methylation [95% CI 4ā31], P = 0.009, n = 64, and ? = 20% [9ā32], P < 0.001, n = 66, respectively) and %fat mass (? = 10% [1ā19], P = 0.023, n = 64 and ? =12% [4ā20], P = 0.002, n = 66, respectively). Regression analyses including sex and neonatal epigenetic marks explained >25% of the variance in childhood adiposity. Higher methylation of RXRA chr9:136355885+, but not of eNOS chr7:150315553+, was associated with lower maternal carbohydrate intake in early pregnancy, previously linked with higher neonatal adiposity in this population. In cohort 2, cord eNOS chr7:150315553+ methylation showed no association with adiposity, but RXRA chr9:136355885+ methylation showed similar associations with fat mass and %fat mass (? = 6% [2ā10] and ? = 4% [1ā7], respectively, both P = 0.002, n = 239).Conclusions: our findings suggest a substantial component of metabolic disease risk has a prenatal developmental basis. Perinatal epigenetic analysis may have utility in identifying individual vulnerability to later obesity and metabolic diseas
Fludarabine-Based Reduced Intensity Conditioning for Stem Cell Transplantation of Fanconi Anemia Patients from Fully Matched Related and Unrelated Donors
AbstractReduced intensity conditioning has been suggested as a desirable therapeutic modality for the treatment of patients with malignant and nonmalignant indications, but it seems particularly attractive for patients with Fanconi anemia due to their increased sensitivity to chemoradiotherapy. Between November 1996 and September 2003, 7 patients (1 male and 6 female; age range, 3-31 years; median age, 9.5) were conditioned with a fludarabine-based protocol for stem cell transplantation without radiation. In vivo T-cell depletion was accomplished with anti-thymocytic globulin or Campath-1H (alemtuzumab). Graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis consisted of low-dose cyclosporine alone. Eight transplantations were carried out for 7 patients using bone marrow, peripheral blood, and/or cord blood as sources of stem cells. All patients received transplants from HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DR matched donors, 5 from family members and 2 from matched unrelated donors. One patient did not engraft her first matched unrelated donor and underwent a second transplantation from another matched unrelated donor, after which she engrafted well. All 7 patients are alive and well, fully reconstituted with donor cells, and with 100% performance status. In conclusion, fludarabine-based preparative protocols are well tolerated, facilitate rapid engraftment with minimal toxicity, and should be considered an essential component of choice for patients with Fanconi anemia
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