1,095 research outputs found
Ward's Hierarchical Clustering Method: Clustering Criterion and Agglomerative Algorithm
The Ward error sum of squares hierarchical clustering method has been very
widely used since its first description by Ward in a 1963 publication. It has
also been generalized in various ways. However there are different
interpretations in the literature and there are different implementations of
the Ward agglomerative algorithm in commonly used software systems, including
differing expressions of the agglomerative criterion. Our survey work and case
studies will be useful for all those involved in developing software for data
analysis using Ward's hierarchical clustering method.Comment: 20 pages, 21 citations, 4 figure
Updating known distribution models for forecasting climate change impact on endangered species
To plan endangered species conservation and to design adequate management programmes, it is necessary to predict their
distributional response to climate change, especially under the current situation of rapid change. However, these
predictions are customarily done by relating de novo the distribution of the species with climatic conditions with no regard
of previously available knowledge about the factors affecting the species distribution. We propose to take advantage of
known species distribution models, but proceeding to update them with the variables yielded by climatic models before
projecting them to the future. To exemplify our proposal, the availability of suitable habitat across Spain for the endangered
Bonelliâs Eagle (Aquila fasciata) was modelled by updating a pre-existing model based on current climate and topography to
a combination of different general circulation models and Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. Our results suggested that
the main threat for this endangered species would not be climate change, since all forecasting models show that its
distribution will be maintained and increased in mainland Spain for all the XXI century. We remark on the importance of
linking conservation biology with distribution modelling by updating existing models, frequently available for endangered
species, considering all the known factors conditioning the speciesâ distribution, instead of building new models that are
based on climate change variables only.Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciĂłn and FEDER (project CGL2009-11316/BOS
AxPcoords & parallel AxParafit: statistical co-phylogenetic analyses on thousands of taxa
Background
Current tools for Co-phylogenetic analyses are not able to cope with the continuous accumulation of phylogenetic data. The sophisticated statistical test for host-parasite co-phylogenetic analyses implemented in Parafit does not allow it to handle large datasets in reasonable times. The Parafit and DistPCoA programs are the by far most compute-intensive components of the Parafit analysis pipeline. We present AxParafit and AxPcoords (Ax stands for Accelerated) which are highly optimized versions of Parafit and DistPCoA respectively.
Results
Both programs have been entirely re-written in C. Via optimization of the algorithm and the C code as well as integration of highly tuned BLAS and LAPACK methods AxParafit runs 5â61 times faster than Parafit with a lower memory footprint (up to 35% reduction) while the performance benefit increases with growing dataset size. The MPI-based parallel implementation of AxParafit shows good scalability on up to 128 processors, even on medium-sized datasets. The parallel analysis with AxParafit on 128 CPUs for a medium-sized dataset with an 512 by 512 association matrix is more than 1,200/128 times faster per processor than the sequential Parafit run. AxPcoords is 8â26 times faster than DistPCoA and numerically stable on large datasets. We outline the substantial benefits of using parallel AxParafit by example of a large-scale empirical study on smut fungi and their host plants. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the largest co-phylogenetic analysis to date.
Conclusion
The highly efficient AxPcoords and AxParafit programs allow for large-scale co-phylogenetic analyses on several thousands of taxa for the first time. In addition, AxParafit and AxPcoords have been integrated into the easy-to-use CopyCat tool
Giant capsids from lattice self-assembly of cyclodextrin complexes
Proteins can readily assemble into rigid, crystalline and functional structures such as viral capsids and bacterial compartments. Despite ongoing advances, it is still a fundamental challenge to design and synthesize protein-mimetic molecules to form crystalline structures. Here we report the lattice self-assembly of cyclodextrin complexes into a variety of capsidlike structures such as lamellae, helical tubes and hollow rhombic dodecahedra. The dodecahedral morphology has not hitherto been observed in self-assembly systems. The tubes can spontaneously encapsulate colloidal particles and liposomes. The dodecahedra and tubes are respectively comparable to and much larger than the largest known virus. In particular, the resemblance to protein assemblies is not limited to morphology but extends to structural rigidity and crystallinity-a well-defined, 2D rhombic lattice of molecular arrangement is strikingly universal for all the observed structures. We propose a simple design rule for the current lattice self-assembly, potentially opening doors for new protein-mimetic materials
Complex dynamics of defective interfering baculoviruses during serial passage in insect cells
Defective interfering (DI) viruses are thought to cause oscillations in virus levels, known as the 'Von Magnus effect'. Interference by DI viruses has been proposed to underlie these dynamics, although experimental tests of this idea have not been forthcoming. For the baculoviruses, insect viruses commonly used for the expression of heterologous proteins in insect cells, the molecular mechanisms underlying DI generation have been investigated. However, the dynamics of baculovirus populations harboring DIs have not been studied in detail. In order to address this issue, we used quantitative real-time PCR to determine the levels of helper and DI viruses during 50 serial passages of Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) in Sf21 cells. Unexpectedly, the helper and DI viruses changed levels largely in phase, and oscillations were highly irregular, suggesting the presence of chaos. We therefore developed a simple mathematical model of baculovirus-DI dynamics. This theoretical model reproduced patterns qualitatively similar to the experimental data. Although we cannot exclude that experimental variation (noise) plays an important role in generating the observed patterns, the presence of chaos in the model dynamics was confirmed with the computation of the maximal Lyapunov exponent, and a Ruelle-Takens-Newhouse route to chaos was identified at decreasing production of DI viruses, using mutation as a control parameter. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of DI baculoviruses, and suggest that changes in virus levels over passages may exhibit chaos.The authors thank Javier Carrera, Just Vlak and Lia Hemerik for helpful discussion. MPZ was supported by a Rubicon Grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, www.nwo.nl) and a 'Juan de la Cierva' postdoctoral contract (JCI-2011-10379) from the Spanish 'Secretaria de Estado de Investigacion, Desarrollo e Innovacion'. JS was supported by the Botin Foundation. SFE was supported by grant BFU2012-30805, also from the Spanish 'Secretaria de Estado de Investigacion, Desarrollo e Innovacion'.Zwart, MP.; Pijlman, G.; Sardanyes Cayuela, J.; Duarte, J.; Januario, C.; Elena Fito, SF. (2013). Complex dynamics of defective interfering baculoviruses during serial passage in insect cells. Journal of Biological Physics. 39(2):327-342. doi:10.1007/s10867-013-9317-9S327342392Von Magnus, P.: Incomplete forms of influenza virus. Adv. Virus. Res. 2, 59â79 (1954)Huang, A.S.: Defective interfering viruses. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 27, 101â117 (1973)Kool, M., Voncken, J.W., Vanlier, F.L.J., Tramper, J., Vlak, J.M.: Detection and analysis of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis-virus mutants with defective interfering properties. 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Virology 202, 418â429 (1994)Pijlman, G.P., Dortmans, J., Vermeesch, A.M.G., Yang, K., Martens, D.E., Goldbach, R.W., Vlak, J.M.: Pivotal role of the non-hr origin of DNA replication in the genesis of defective interfering baculoviruses. J. Virol. 76, 5605â5611 (2002)Pijlman, G.P., van Schijndel, J.E., Vlak, J.M.: Spontaneous excision of BAC vector sequences from bacmid-derived baculovirus expression vectors upon passage in insect cells. J. Gen. Virol. 84, 2669â2678 (2003)Pijlman, G.P., Vermeesch, A.M.G., Vlak, J.M.: Cell line-specific accumulation of the baculovirus non-hr origin of DNA replication in infected insect cells. J. Invertebr. Pathol. 84, 214â219 (2003)Roux, L., Simon, A.E., Holland, J.J.: Effects of defective interfering viruses on virus-replication and pathogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Adv. Virus. Res. 40, 181â211 (1991)Grabau, E.A., Holland, J.J.: Analysis of viral and defective-interfering nucleocapsids in acute and persistent infection by Rhadoviruses. J. Gen. 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Virology 179, 821â826 (1990)Kirkwood, T.B.L., Bangham, C.R.M.: Cycles, chaos, and evolution in virus cultures â a model of defective interfering particles. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91, 8685â8689 (1994)De Gooijer, C.D., Koken, R.H.M., van Lier, F.L.J., Kool, M., Vlak, J.M., Tramper, J.: A structured dynamic model for the baculovirus infection process in insect-cell reactor configurations. Biotech. Bioeng. 40, 537â548 (1992)Van Lier, F.L.J., van der Meijs, W.C.J., Grobben, N.G., Olie, R.A., Vlak, J.M., Tramper, J.: Continuous beta-galactosidase production with a recombinant baculovirus insect-cell system in bioreactors. J. Biotechnol. 22, 291â298 (1992)Van Lier, F.L.J., van den Hombergh, J., de Gooijer, C.D., den Boer, M.M., Vlak, J.M., Tramper, J.: Long-term semi-continuous production of recombinant baculovirus protein in a repeated (fed-)batch two-stage reactor system. Enzyme Microb. Technol. 18, 460â466 (1996)Zwart, M.P., Erro, E., van Oers, M.M., de Visser, J.A.G.M., Vlak, J.M.: Low multiplicity of infection in vivo results in purifying selection against baculovirus deletion mutants. J. Gen. Virol. 89, 1220â1224 (2008)Luckow, V.A., Lee, S.C., Barry, G.F., Olins, P.O.: Efficient generation of infectious recombinant baculoviruses by site-specific transposon-mediated insertion of foreign genes into a baculovirus genome propagated in Escherichia coli. J. Virol. 67, 4566â4579 (1993)Vaughn, J.L., Goodwin, R.H., Tompkins, G.J., McCawley, P.: Establishment of 2 cell lines from insect Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). In Vitro 13, 213â217 (1977)Zwart, M.P., van Oers, M.M., Cory, J.S., van Lent, J.W.M., van der Werf, W., Vlak, J.M.: Development of a quantitative real-time PCR for determination of genotype frequencies for studies in baculovirus population biology. J. Virol. Meth. 148, 146â154 (2008)Zwart, M.P., Hemerik, L., Cory, J.S., de Visser, J.A.G.M., Bianchi, F.J.J.A., van Oers, M.M., Vlak, J.M., Hoekstra, R.F., van der Werf, W.: An experimental test of the independent action hypothesis in virus-insect pathosystems. Proc. R. Soc. B 276, 2233â2242 (2009)Olkin, I., Gleser, L.J., Derman, C.: Probability Models and Applications. Macmillan, New York (1994)Parker, T., Chua, L.: Practical Numerical Algorithms for Chaotic Systems. Springer-Verlag, Berlin (1989)Dieci, L., van Vleck, E.S.: Computation of a few Lyapunov exponents for continuous and discrete dynamical systems. J. Appl. Numer. Math. 17, 275â291 (1995)Matsumoto, T., Chua, L.O., Komuro, M.: The double scroll. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. 32, 797â818 (1985)Chua, L.O., Komuro, M., Matsumoto, T.: The double scroll family: rigorous proof of chaos. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. 33, 1072â1097 (1986)Ramasubramanian, K., Sriram, M.S.: A comparative study of computation of Lyapunov spectra with different algorithms. Phys. D: Nonlin. Phenom. 139, 72â86 (2000)Lee, H.Y., Krell, P.J.: Generation and analysis of defective genomes of Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus. J. Virol. 66, 4339â4347 (1992)Kovacs, G.R., Choi, J., Guarino, L.A., Summers MD: Functional dissection of the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus immediate early 1 transcriptional regulatory protein. J. Virol. 66, 7429â7437 (1992)Legendre, P., Legendre, L.: Numerical Ecology. Elsevier, Amsterdam (1998)Schuster, H.G.: Deterministic Chaos: An Introduction. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Wienheim (2005)Strogatz, S.H.: Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: With Applications to Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Engineering. Westview Press, Cambridge (1994)Dennis, B., Desharnais, R.A., Cushing, J.M., Henson, S.M., Constantino, R.F.: Can noise induce chaos? 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Search for rare quark-annihilation decays, B --> Ds(*) Phi
We report on searches for B- --> Ds- Phi and B- --> Ds*- Phi. In the context
of the Standard Model, these decays are expected to be highly suppressed since
they proceed through annihilation of the b and u-bar quarks in the B- meson.
Our results are based on 234 million Upsilon(4S) --> B Bbar decays collected
with the BABAR detector at SLAC. We find no evidence for these decays, and we
set Bayesian 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions BF(B-
--> Ds- Phi) Ds*- Phi)<1.2x10^(-5). These results
are consistent with Standard Model expectations.Comment: 8 pages, 3 postscript figues, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid
Communications
Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV
The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of âs = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pTâ„20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60â€pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2â€{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration
Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector
The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets
containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass
energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The
measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1.
The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary
decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from
the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is
used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive
b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the
range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet
cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the
range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets
and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are
compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed
between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG +
Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet
cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive
cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse
momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final
version published in European Physical Journal
Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in âsNN=5.02ââTeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector
Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (ÎÏ) and pseudorapidity (Îη) are measured in âsNN=5.02ââTeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1ââÎŒb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ÎŁETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Îη|<5) ânear-sideâ (ÎÏâŒ0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ÎŁETPb. A long-range âaway-sideâ (ÎÏâŒÏ) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ÎŁETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Îη and ÎÏ) and ÎŁETPb dependence. The resultant ÎÏ correlation is approximately symmetric about Ï/2, and is consistent with a dominant cosâĄ2ÎÏ modulation for all ÎŁETPb ranges and particle pT
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