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Biomedical subjects

Kai W Wirtz

Publications and source records attributed to Kai W Wirtz.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Consensus oriented fuzzified decision support for oil spill contingency management.

Studies on multi-group multi-criteria decision-making problems for oil spill contingency management are in their infancy. This paper presents a second-order fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) model to resolve decision-making problems in the area of contingency management after environmental disasters such as oil spills. To assess the performance of different oil combat strategies, second-order FCE allows for the utilization of lexical information, the consideration of ecological and socio-economic criteria and the involvement of a variety of stakeholders. On the other hand, the new approach can be validated by using internal and external checks, which refer to sensitivity tests regarding its internal setups and comparisons with other methods, respectively. Through a case study, the Pallas oil spill in the German Bight in 1998, it is demonstrated that this approach can help decision makers who search for an optimal strategy in multi-thread contingency problems and has a wider application potential in the field of integrated coastal zone management.

Decision Support Techniques↗
PubMed2003

Adaptive significance of C partitioning and regulation of specific leaf area in Betula pendula.

Carbon allocation and regulation of specific leaf area (sigma) define key processes underlying the adaptation of plants to varying habitats. In this study, the general principles governing adaptation and a dynamic optimality model of plant adaptation are reviewed. The central new elements of this model are: (i) differential root carbon costs for maintaining a defined nutrient status; (ii) a simple formula for optimal sigma at steady-state as a function of nitrogen (N) status and irradiance; and (iii) generic rules for the time propagation of adapting traits. The model was applied to a large data set compiled by Ingestad et al. (1995) and McDonald et al. (1986a, 1986b) for birch seedlings (Betula pendula Roth) during stationary logarithmic growth and during transient changes in response to a range of irradiances and nutrient supply rates. In the stationary case, large variations in the fraction of leaf dry mass to total dry mass (f(L)), sigma and N concentration were simulated with high accuracy. The independently calibrated model described the temporal response of seedlings following a sharp decrease in N supply, which includes phenomena such as the temporary C accumulation in leaves and damped oscillations in N concentration. Dynamics in sigma were more sensitive to variation in light than in N supply. Nevertheless, adaptive adjustments in f(L), sigma and N concentration were strongly coupled, underlining the relevance of a whole-plant perspective when modeling plant growth and regulation. The high coincidence between model calculations and measured values supports the notion that plant acclimation can be both understood and predicted as a growth-optimizing mechanism.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2002

A generic model for changes in microbial kinetic coefficients.

Acclimation patterns in kinetic coefficients clearly demonstrate the limits of Monod's theory for the mathematical description of microbial growth. Focusing on E. coli grown under variable glucose levels, these patterns turn out to be highly diverse and sometimes even contradictory. Here, a new model based on an optimisation assumption is applied to a spectrum of adaptation phenomena, which are observed at steady-state as well as during transient situations. On the level of apparent kinetic coefficients, rates of adaptation are calculated depending on differential growth benefits. The resulting dynamics is bounded since maximum growth rate and substrate affinity are related by a non-linear trade-off. Long-term effects of phenotypic and genotypic changes under glucose limitation are robustly predicted by the model and explained in terms of their adaptive significance. Equivocal short-term recovery patterns occurring after sudden substrate excess are traced back to differences in the internal physiological state of the cells which in turn can be calculated in dependence on the inoculum history. Metabolic stress is a second determinant of short-term variations in kinetic coefficients which is here quantified in relation to external conditions as well as the internal state of cells. We demonstrate that lag phenomena and oscillations in anabolic activity exercised by E. coli under continuous growth acceleration can be reproduced without formulations being explicit in lag periods, metabolite concentrations or the timing of experimental changes. The overall predictive power of the simple approach indicates that slow as well as fast adjustments in apparent kinetic characteristics are strongly related to a dynamic optimisation strategy.

Adaptation, Psychological↗