How the Dimension of Space Affects the Products of Pre-Biotic Evolution: The Spatial Population Dynamics of Structural Complexity and The Emergence of Membranes

We show that autocatalytic networks of epsilon-machines and their population dynamics differ substantially between spatial (geographically distributed) and nonspatial (panmixia) populations. Generally, regions of spacetime-invariant autocatalytic networks---or domains---emerge in geographically distributed populations. These are separated by functional membranes of complementary epsilon-machines that actively translate between the domains and are responsible for their growth and stability. We analyze both spatial and nonspatial populations, determining the algebraic properties of the autocatalytic networks that allow for space to affect the dynamics and so generate autocatalytic domains and membranes. In addition, we analyze populations of intermediate spatial architecture, delineating the thresholds at which spatial memory (information storage) begins to determine the character of the emergent auto-catalytic organization.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables; http://cse.ucdavis.edu/~cmg/compmech/pubs/ss.ht

Guidelines for analysis and reporting of clinical trials in oncology.

When analyzing and reporting the results of clinical trials, investigators should follow a simple approach. The purpose of a trial is to estimate an effect or treatment difference, which if present would have clinical utility when treating new patients. Procedures or methods that do not facilitate precisely and impartially estimating and reporting the treatment effect are likely to mislead investigators. Most often in clinical trials, investigators are interested in estimates of risk ratios (specifically odds or hazard ratios) between the treatment groups or levels of a prognostic factor. These simple ideas suggest that the most useful results from clinical trials will be estimated risk ratios and their confidence limits. Especially in cancer, where disease progression, recurrence, and death are common events following treatment, estimates of risk difference are very relevant. Hypothesis tests and associated P-values, although often (or exclusively) reported, are of lesser utility because they do not fully summarize the data. These recommendations may be seen by some investigators to be contrary to accepted practice. It is true that they are somewhat contrary to common practice but their general acceptance is evident in many journals and presentations by clinical trial methodologists. Despite some disagreement among statisticians regarding the need for adjustment of analyses for imbalanced prognostic factors, it is helpful to see if treatment effects change after accounting for imbalances. When this occurs, it may be of clinical interest. Although we discourage analyses that exclude any patients who meet the eligibility criteria, some circumstances will require that this be done (e.g., when a patient refuses to participate after randomization). Investigators should report, and emphasize as primary, those analyses that include all eligible patients. It is our hope and belief that analysis and reporting of trial results along the guidelines suggested here will result in impartial and useful information for journal readers

Effects of Australian Economic Activities on Waste Generation and Treatment

Understanding the relationships between the Australian economic system and waste generation from intermediate sectors and households is a prerequisite for planning and implementing waste management strategies at a national scale. Data of waste generation accounts link to those of national economic accounts. However, in Australia, some years’ data are absent and so these links cannot be made. To rectify this data gap, this paper interpolates and extrapolates the Australian input-output table (IOT) of 2010–2011. Waste input-output (WIO) analysis is then used to assess the effects of the Australian economy on waste generation and treatment between 2009–2010 and 2010–2011. Analysis indicated that the result of interpolation was more reasonable than that of extrapolation, and the interpolation of the Australian IOT of 2010–2011 can be applicable. This comparative analysis of the time series data in WIO model has identified that: (1) per million $AUD of output of the Construction sector generated the most amount of direct and total waste during the period; (2) the relationships between the development of Australian economy and waste generation illustrate that the Australian economy is currently a traditional linear economy; (3) the effectiveness of waste-related policies are shown by the growth of the sums of direct and total effects of intermediate sectors on the Recovery sector; and (4) the amount of waste generated by households increased sharply over the two years. The physical flows of waste footprint show details of waste generation and treatment in the Australian economic system. The information provided in this paper is beneficial to formulate tailor-made policies for waste management in Australia

You Mean All That And More To Me

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/2798/thumbnail.jp

I\u27d Still Believe In You

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/1745/thumbnail.jp

Send Me Away With A Smile

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/2429/thumbnail.jp

That Italian rag : (a slow drag)

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/5600/thumbnail.jp

Dreamy Italian Waltz : Introducing : In All My Dreams I Dream of You

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/2696/thumbnail.jp

Translational examination of the orbitofrontal cortex and striatum in obsessive compulsive disorder

For decades a causal role for orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and striatal dysfunction in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) has been hypothesized. Structural as well as functional MRI studies have implicated these regions and their interconnections in OCD pathogenesis, though their precise roles in encoding obsessive or compulsive symptoms are still an area of active investigation. Several lingering questions therefore remain. First, what are the molecular adaptations in the OFC and striatum that give rise to these structural and functional deficits in OCD? Second, how do activity patterns in these regions give rise to compulsive behavior, and how do treatments that reduce compulsive behavior affect these activity patterns? Using a translational approach, we have investigated each of these questions for the first time. In Chapter 1, we have performed the first post-mortem analysis of OCD tissue looking at gene expression in the OFC and striatum. Targeting our analysis only to genes implicated in previous clinical and preclinical studies, we found that many genes critical for excitatory synapse function were reduced in the OFC of individuals with OCD. Several transcripts were also reduced across OFC and striatal brain regions, including DLGAP3 (also known as SAPAP3), which has been previously linked to OCD via preclinical studies showing that Sapap3-knockout mice display a compulsive behavioral phenotype and cortico-striatal alterations. In Chapter 2, we examine the functional consequences of reduced cortico-striatal Sapap3 expression on activity patterns of large groups of neurons in the OFC and central striatum using Sapap3-knockout (KO) mice and in vivo calcium imaging. Finally, in Chapter 3 we examine the role of genetically distinct striatal cell types in producing compulsive behavior. These data directly test several long-standing hypotheses regarding OCD pathogenesis and shed new light on how compulsive behavior may be generated in the brain