985 research outputs found
Evolution of Host Defense against Multiple Enemy Populations
Natural and managed populations are embedded within
complex ecological communities, where they face multiple enemies.
Experimental studies have shown that the evolution of host defense
mechanisms to a focal enemy is impacted by the surrounding enemy
community. Theoretically, the evolution of host defenses against a
single enemy population, typically parasites, has been widely studied,
but only recently has the impact of community interactions on
host-parasite evolution been looked at. In this article, we theoretically
examine the evolutionary behavior of a host population that must allocate
defenses between two enemy populations, parasites and predators,
with defense against one enemy constraining defense against the
other. We show that in simpler models the composition of the enemy
community plays the key role in determining the defense strategy of
the hosts, with the hosts building up defenses against the enemy population
posing a larger threat. However, this simple driver is shown to
break down when there is significant recovery and reproduction from
infected hosts. Additionally, we find that most host diversity is likely
to occur when there is a combined high risk of infection and predation,
in common with experimental studies. Our results therefore provide
vital insight into the ecological feedbacks that drive the evolution
of host defense against multiple enemy populations
A new method of observing weak extended x-ray sources with RHESSI
We present a new method, fan-beam modulation, for observing weak extended
x-ray sources with the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager
(RHESSI). This space-based solar x-ray and gamma-ray telescope has much greater
sensitivity than previous experiments in the 3-25 keV range, but is normally
not well suited to detecting extended sources since their signal is not
modulated by RHESSI's rotating grids. When the spacecraft is offpointed from
the target source, however, the fan-beam modulation time-modulates the
transmission by shadowing resulting from exploiting the finite thickness of the
grids. In this paper we detail how the technique is implemented and verify its
consistency with sources with clear known signals that have occurred during
RHESSI offpointing: microflares and the Crab Nebula. In both cases the results
are consistent with previous and complementary measurements. Preliminary work
indicates that this new technique allows RHESSI to observe the integrated hard
x-ray spectrum of weak extended sources on the quiet Sun.Comment: Publishe
Quantum mechanics gives stability to a Nash equilibrium
We consider a slightly modified version of the Rock-Scissors-Paper (RSP) game
from the point of view of evolutionary stability. In its classical version the
game has a mixed Nash equilibrium (NE) not stable against mutants. We find a
quantized version of the RSP game for which the classical mixed NE becomes
stable.Comment: Revised on referee's criticism, submitted to Physical Review
Backwards-induction outcome in a quantum game
In economics duopoly is a market dominated by two firms large enough to
influence the market price. Stackelberg presented a dynamic form of duopoly
that is also called `leader-follower' model. We give a quantum perspective on
Stackelberg duopoly that gives a backwards-induction outcome same as the Nash
equilibrium in static form of duopoly also known as Cournot's duopoly. We find
two qubit quantum pure states required for this purpose.Comment: Revised in the light of referee's comments. Latex, 16 pages, 2
figures, To appear in Phy. Rev.
Dilemma and Quantum Battle of Sexes
We analysed quantum version of the game battle of sexes using a general
initial quantum state. For a particular choice of initial entangled quantum
state it is shown that the classical dilemma of the battle of sexes can be
resolved and a unique solution of the game can be obtained.Comment: Revised, Latex, 9 pages, no figure, corresponding author's email:
[email protected]
A Preliminary Investigation towards the Risk Stratification of Allogeneic Stem Cell Recipients with Respect to the Potential for Development of GVHD via Their Pre-Transplant Plasma Lipid and Metabolic Signature
The clinical outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) may be influenced by the metabolic status of the recipient following conditioning, which in turn may enable risk stratification with respect to the development of transplant-associated complications such as graft vs. host disease (GVHD). To better understand the impact of the metabolic profile of transplant recipients on post-transplant alloreactivity, we investigated the metabolic signature of 14 patients undergoing myeloablative conditioning followed by either human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched related or unrelated donor SCT, or autologous SCT. Blood samples were taken following conditioning and prior to transplant on day 0 and the plasma was comprehensively characterized with respect to its lipidome and metabolome via liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LCMS) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GCMS). A pro-inflammatory metabolic profile was observed in patients who eventually developed GVHD. Five potential pre-transplant biomarkers, 2-aminobutyric acid, 1-monopalmitin, diacylglycerols (DG 38:5, DG 38:6), and fatty acid FA 20:1 demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity towards predicting post-transplant GVHD. The resulting predictive model demonstrated an estimated predictive accuracy of risk stratification of 100%, with area under the curve of the ROC of 0.995. The likelihood ratio of 1-monopalmitin (infinity), DG 38:5 (6.0), and DG 38:6 (6.0) also demonstrated that a patient with a positive test result for these biomarkers following conditioning and prior to transplant will be at risk of developing GVHD. Collectively, the data suggest the possibility that pre-transplant metabolic signature may be used for risk stratification of SCT recipients with respect to development of alloreactivity
An experimental and analytical study of real surface effects on radiant heat transfer
Comparison of experimental data with predictions based on simple and more detailed models for radiation properties of surface
A simple model of mixing and chemical reaction in a turbulent shear layer
Arguments are presented to show that the concept of gradient diffusion is inapplicable to mixing in turbulent shear layers. A new model is proposed for treating molecular mixing and chemical reaction in such flows at high Reynolds number. It is based upon the experimental observations that revealed the presence of coherent structures and that showed that fluid elements from the two streams are distributed unmixed throughout the layer by large-scale inviscid motions. The model incorporates features of the strained flame model and makes use of the Kolmogorov cascade in scales. Several model predictions differ markedly from those of diffusion models and suggest experiments for testing the two approaches
Preprocedural neutrophil count predicts outcome in patients with advanced peripheral vascular disease undergoing percutaneous transluminal angioplasty
BackgroundThe neutrophil count has been associated with adverse cardiovascular events after percutaneous coronary intervention. There are limited data on risk stratification of patients with advanced peripheral vascular disease (PVD) using white blood cell (WBC) subtypes. This study assessed the association of total and differential WBC counts with adverse outcome in patients with advanced PVD undergoing percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA).MethodsIn a retrospective cohort study, consecutive de novo procedures were analyzed for patients with Rutherford category 4 or 5 PVD who underwent successful nonemergency PTA. Cardiovascular risk factors, baseline total and differential WBC counts, and angiographic data were recorded. Primary outcome was a composite of events of target vessel revascularization (repeat PTA or vascular bypass operation) or lower limb amputation.ResultsA total of 101 patients were studied. Their mean age was 76 ± 10 years, 54% had diabetes mellitus, 68% were hypertensive, and 12% had had previous myocardial infarction. We observed 29 events during a median period of 14 months (interquartile range, 4-26). Cox regression analysis found diabetes mellitus (odds ratio [OR], 4.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.35-16.14; P = .02), Rutherford category 5 (OR, 4.18; 95% CI, 1.06-16.51; P = .04), poor tibial runoff (OR, 4.42; 95% CI, 1.16-16.82; P = .03), and preprocedural neutrophil count in the third tertile (OR, 10.77; 95% CI, 2.19-52.91; P = .003) were independent predictors of outcome.ConclusionsThe results suggest that the preprocedural neutrophil count could be used in global risk factor assessment of patients with advanced PVD who are being considered for PTA. The neutrophil count may reflect the burden of atherosclerosis and tissue damage, and so could identify patients who need more aggressive intervention for advanced PVD
NASSAM: a server to search for and annotate tertiary interactions and motifs in three-dimensional structures of complex RNA molecules
Similarities in the 3D patterns of RNA base interactions or arrangements can provide insights into their functions and roles in stabilization of the RNA 3D structure. Nucleic Acids Search for Substructures and Motifs (NASSAM) is a graph theoretical program that can search for 3D patterns of base arrangements by representing the bases as pseudo-atoms. The geometric relationship of the pseudo-atoms to each other as a pattern can be represented as a labeled graph where the pseudo-atoms are the graph's nodes while the edges are the inter-pseudo-atomic distances. The input files for NASSAM are PDB formatted 3D coordinates. This web server can be used to identify matches of base arrangement patterns in a query structure to annotated patterns that have been reported in the literature or that have possible functional and structural stabilization implications. The NASSAM program is freely accessible without any login requirement at http://mfrlab.org/grafss/nassam/
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