Synchronization in periodically driven and coupled stochastic systems-A discrete state approach

Wir untersuchen das Verhalten von stochastischen bistabilen und erregbaren Systemen auf der Basis einer Modellierung mit diskreten Zuständen. In Ergänzung zum bekannten Markovschen Zwei-Zustandsmodell bistabiler stochastischer Dynamik stellen wir ein nicht Markovsches Drei-Zustandsmodell für erregbare Systeme vor. Seine relative Einfachheit, verglichen mit stochastischen Modellen erregbarer Dynamik mit kontinuierlichem Phasenraum, ermöglicht eine teilweise analytische Auswertung in verschiedenen Zusammenhängen. Zunächst untersuchen wir den gemeinsamen Einfluß eines periodischen Treibens und Rauschens. Dieser wird entweder mit Hilfe spektraler Größen oder durch Synchronisation des Systems mit dem treibenden Signal charakterisiert. Wir leiten analytische Ausdrücke für die spektrale Leistungsverstärkung und das Signal-zu-Rauschen Verhältnis für periodisch getriebene Renewal-Prozesse her und wenden diese auf das diskrete Modell für erregbare Dynamik an. Stochastische Synchronization des Systems mit dem treibenden Signal wird auf der Basis der Diffusionseigenschaften der Übergangsereignisse zwischen den diskreten Zuständen untersucht. Wir leiten allgemeine Formeln her, um die mittlere Häufigkeit dieser Ereignisse sowie deren effektiven Diffusionskoeffizienten zu berechnen. Über die konkrete Anwendung auf die untersuchten diskreten Modelle hinaus stellen diese Ergebnisse ein neues Werkzeug für die Untersuchung periodischer Renewal-Prozesse dar. Schließlich betrachten wir noch das Verhalten global gekoppelter bistabiler und erregbarer Systeme. Im Gegensatz zu bistabilen System können erregbare Systeme synchronisiert werden und zeigen kohärente Oszillationen. Alle Untersuchungen des nicht Markovschen Drei-Zustandsmodells werden mit dem prototypischen Modell für erregbare Dynamik, dem FitzHugh-Nagumo System, verglichen und zeigen eine gute Übereinstimmung.We investigate the behavior of stochastic bistable and excitable dynamics based on a discrete state modeling. In addition to the well known Markovian two state model for bistable dynamics we introduce a non Markovian three state model for excitable systems. Its relative simplicity compared to stochastic models of excitable dynamics with continuous phase space allows to obtain analytical results in different contexts. First, we study the joint influence of periodic signals and noise, both based on a characterization in terms of spectral quantities and in terms of synchronization with the periodic driving. We present expressions for the spectral power amplification and signal to noise ratio for renewal processes driven by periodic signals and apply these results to the discrete model for excitable systems. Stochastic synchronization of the system to the driving signal is investigated based on diffusion properties of the transition events between the discrete states. We derive general results for the mean frequency and effective diffusion coefficient which, beyond the application to the discrete models considered in this work, provide a new tool in the study of periodically driven renewal processes. Finally the behavior of globally coupled excitable and bistable units is investigated based on the discrete state description. In contrast to the bistable systems, the excitable system exhibits synchronization and thus coherent oscillations. All investigations of the non Markovian three state model are compared with the prototypical continuous model for excitable dynamics, the FitzHugh-Nagumo system, revealing a good agreement between both models

Factors Influencing Non Government Organizations’ Participation in Environmental Conservation

Prevalence and diversity of non government organizations (NGOs) is indicative of social and political maturity in any given society. Nowadays, an important concern of NGOs is their efforts in how to attract people’s participation in conserving the environment. To promote the participation of these organizations in the environmental conservation, need arises as to determine the factors influencing their participation. Considering this in mind, this study conducted.Using data collected from 100 members of the board of directors of 20 NGOs (active in environmental conservation) from Tehran province of Iran, this study analyzed NGOs participation. Results showed that, there should be a relationship between a numbers of factors, such as, age, precedence in environmental activities and level of education and Participation. Regarding gender, there was no significant difference in participation between the respondents. The regression analysis also revealed that the level of education, experience in environmental activities, information-related variables, as well as social related variables were best predictors of their participation. According to these results some recommendation suggested to accelerate NGOs participation in conserving environment

The natural metabolite 4-cresol improves glucose homeostasis and enhances beta-cell function

Exposure to natural metabolites contributes to the risk of cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs). Through metabolome profiling, we identify the inverse correlation between serum concentrations of 4-cresol and type 2 diabetes. The chronic administration of non-toxic doses of 4-cresol in complementary preclinical models of CMD reduces adiposity, glucose intolerance, and liver triglycerides, enhances insulin secretion in vivo, stimulates islet density and size, and pancreatic β-cell proliferation, and increases vascularization, suggesting activated islet enlargement. In vivo insulin sensitivity is not affected by 4-cresol. The incubation of mouse isolated islets with 4-cresol results in enhanced insulin secretion, insulin content, and β-cell proliferation of a magnitude similar to that induced by GLP-1. In both CMD models and isolated islets, 4-cresol is associated with the downregulated expression of the kinase DYRK1A, which may mediate its biological effects. Our findings identify 4-cresol as an effective regulator of β-cell function, which opens up perspectives for therapeutic applications in syndromes of insulin deficiency

Fuzzy logic selection as a new reliable tool to identify molecular grade signatures in breast cancer – the INNODIAG study

International audienceBackground : Personalized medicine has become a priority in breast cancer patient management. In addition to the routinely used clinicopathological characteristics, clinicians will have to face an increasing amount of data derived from tumor molecular profiling. The aims of this study were to develop a new gene selection method based on a fuzzy logic selection and classification algorithm, and to validate the gene signatures obtained on breast cancer patient cohorts.Methods : We analyzed data from four published gene expression datasets for breast carcinomas. We identified the best discriminating genes by comparing molecular expression profiles between histologic grade 1 and 3 tumors for each of the training datasets. The most pertinent probes were selected and used to define fuzzy molecular grade 1-like (good prognosis) and fuzzy molecular grade 3-like (poor prognosis) profiles. To evaluate the prognostic performance of the fuzzy grade signatures in breast cancer tumors, a Kaplan-Meier analysis was conducted to compare the relapse-free survival deduced from histologic grade and fuzzy molecular grade classification.Results : We applied the fuzzy logic selection on breast cancer databases and obtained four new gene signatures. Analysis in the training public sets showed good performance of these gene signatures for grade (sensitivity from 90% to 95%, specificity 67% to 93%). To validate these gene signatures, we designed probes on custom microarrays and tested them on 150 invasive breast carcinomas. Good performance was obtained with an error rate of less than 10%. For one gene signature, among 74 histologic grade 3 and 18 grade 1 tumors, 88 cases (96%) were correctly assigned. Interestingly histologic grade 2 tumors (n = 58) were split in these two molecular grade categories. Conclusion : We confirmed the use of fuzzy logic selection as a new tool to identify gene signatures with good reliability and increased classification power. This method based on artificial intelligence algorithms was successfully applied to breast cancers molecular grade classification allowing histologic grade 2 classification into grade 1 and grade 2 like to improve patients prognosis. It opens the way to further development for identification of new biomarker combinations in other applications such as prediction of treatment response