1,790 research outputs found
PSY43 USE OF PRESCRIPTION PHARMACOTHERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH FIBROMYALGIA : EVIDENCE OF UNMET NEEDS?
Pattern formation of reaction-diffusion system having self-determined flow in the amoeboid organism of Physarum plasmodium
The amoeboid organism, the plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum, behaves on
the basis of spatio-temporal pattern formation by local
contraction-oscillators. This biological system can be regarded as a
reaction-diffusion system which has spatial interaction by active flow of
protoplasmic sol in the cell. Paying attention to the physiological evidence
that the flow is determined by contraction pattern in the plasmodium, a
reaction-diffusion system having self-determined flow arises. Such a coupling
of reaction-diffusion-advection is a characteristic of the biological system,
and is expected to relate with control mechanism of amoeboid behaviours. Hence,
we have studied effects of the self-determined flow on pattern formation of
simple reaction-diffusion systems. By weakly nonlinear analysis near a trivial
solution, the envelope dynamics follows the complex Ginzburg-Landau type
equation just after bifurcation occurs at finite wave number. The flow term
affects the nonlinear term of the equation through the critical wave number
squared. Contrary to this, wave number isn't explicitly effective with lack of
flow or constant flow. Thus, spatial size of pattern is especially important
for regulating pattern formation in the plasmodium. On the other hand, the flow
term is negligible in the vicinity of bifurcation at infinitely small wave
number, and therefore the pattern formation by simple reaction-diffusion will
also hold. A physiological role of pattern formation as above is discussed.Comment: REVTeX, one column, 7 pages, no figur
Gene expression time delays & Turing pattern formation systems
The incorporation of time delays can greatly affect the behaviour of partial differential equations and dynamical systems. In addition, there is evidence that time delays in gene expression due to transcription and translation play an important role in the dynamics of cellular systems. In this paper, we investigate the effects of incorporating gene expression time delays into a one-dimensional putative reaction diffusion pattern formation mechanism on both stationary domains and domains with spatially uniform exponential growth. While oscillatory behaviour is rare, we find that the time taken to initiate and stabilise patterns increases dramatically as the time delay is increased. In addition, we observe that on rapidly growing domains the time delay can induce a failure of the Turing instability which cannot be predicted by a naive linear analysis of the underlying equations about the homogeneous steady state. The dramatic lag in the induction of patterning, or even its complete absence on occasions, highlights the importance of considering explicit gene expression time delays in models for cellular reaction diffusion patterning
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Statistical competencies for medical research learners: What is fundamental?
IntroductionIt is increasingly essential for medical researchers to be literate in statistics, but the requisite degree of literacy is not the same for every statistical competency in translational research. Statistical competency can range from 'fundamental' (necessary for all) to 'specialized' (necessary for only some). In this study, we determine the degree to which each competency is fundamental or specialized.MethodsWe surveyed members of 4 professional organizations, targeting doctorally trained biostatisticians and epidemiologists who taught statistics to medical research learners in the past 5 years. Respondents rated 24 educational competencies on a 5-point Likert scale anchored by 'fundamental' and 'specialized.'ResultsThere were 112 responses. Nineteen of 24 competencies were fundamental. The competencies considered most fundamental were assessing sources of bias and variation (95%), recognizing one's own limits with regard to statistics (93%), identifying the strengths, and limitations of study designs (93%). The least endorsed items were meta-analysis (34%) and stopping rules (18%).ConclusionWe have identified the statistical competencies needed by all medical researchers. These competencies should be considered when designing statistical curricula for medical researchers and should inform which topics are taught in graduate programs and evidence-based medicine courses where learners need to read and understand the medical research literature
An Empirical Model for the Radio Emission from Pulsars
A model for slow radio pulsars is proposed which involves the entire
magnetosphere in the production of the observed radio emission. It is argued
that observations of pulsar profiles suggest that a feedback mechanism exists
between the star surface and the null charge surface, requiring particle flow
in both directions. In their flow to and from the surface the particles execute
an azimuthal drift around the magnetic pole, thereby creating a ring of
discrete `emission nodes' close to the surface. Motion of the nodes is observed
as the well-known subpulse `drift', but is interpreted here as a small residual
component of the real particle drift. The nodes can therefore move in either
direction, or even remain stationary. A precise fit is found for the pulsar
PSR0943+10. Azimuthal interactions between different regions of the
magnetosphere depend on the angle between the magnetic and rotation axes and
influence the conal type, as observed. The requirement of intermittent weak
pair-production in an outergap suggests a natural evolutionary link between
radio and gamma-ray pulsars.Comment: 17 pages 8 figure
Fluctuation theorem for currents and Schnakenberg network theory
A fluctuation theorem is proved for the macroscopic currents of a system in a
nonequilibrium steady state, by using Schnakenberg network theory. The theorem
can be applied, in particular, in reaction systems where the affinities or
thermodynamic forces are defined globally in terms of the cycles of the graph
associated with the stochastic process describing the time evolution.Comment: new version : 16 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Journal of
Statistical Physic
High-Spatial Resolution SED of NGC 1068 from Near-IR to Radio. Disentangling the thermal and non-thermal contributions
We investigate the ideas that a sizable fraction of the interferometrically
unresolved infrared emission of the nucleus of NGC 1068 might originate from
other processes than thermal dust emission from the torus. We examine the
contribution of free-free or synchrotron emissions to the central mid- and
near-IR parsec-scale emitting region of NGC 1068. Each mechanism is constrained
with parsec scale radio data available for NGC 1068 in the 10^9 - 10^11 Hz
regime, and compared to the highest-resolution interferometric data available
in the mid-infrared. It is shown that the unresolved emission in the
interferometric observation (<~1pc) is still dominatedd by dust emission and
not by contributions from synchrotron or free-free emission. As recent studies
suggest, the interferometric observations prefer a clumpy structure of the dust
distribution. Extrapolation of the radio free-free or synchrotron emission to
the IR indicates that their contribution is <20% even for the unresolved
fraction of the interferometric flux. The slope of the available radio data is
consistent with a power law exponent alpha = 0.29 +/- 0.07 which we interprete
in terms of either free-free emission or synchrotron radiation from
quasi-monochromatic electrons. We apply emission models for both mechanisms in
order to obtain physical parameters. (abridged)Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; accepted by A&
Evaluation of adenovirus capsid labeling versus transgene expression
Adenoviral vectors have been utilized for a variety of gene therapy applications. Our group has incorporated bioluminescent, fluorographic reporters, and/or suicide genes within the adenovirus genome for analytical and/or therapeutic purposes. These molecules have also been incorporated as capsid components. Recognizing that incorporations at either locale yield potential advantages and disadvantages, our report evaluates the benefits of transgene incorporation versus capsid incorporation. To this end, we have genetically incorporated firefly luciferase within the early region 3 or at minor capsid protein IX and compared vector functionality by means of reporter readout
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