Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Friedrich

Publications and source records attributed to R Friedrich.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Exact solution of a generalized Kramers-Fokker-Planck equation retaining retardation effects.

In order to describe non-Gaussian kinetics in weakly damped systems, the concept of continuous time random walks is extended to particles with finite inertia. One thus obtains a generalized Kramers-Fokker-Planck equation, which retains retardation effects, i.e., nonlocal couplings in time and space. It is shown that despite this complexity, exact solutions of this equation can be given in terms of superpositions of Gaussian distributions with varying variances. In particular, the long-time behavior of the respective low-order moments is calculated.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Anomalous diffusion of inertial, weakly damped particles.

The anomalous (i.e., non-Gaussian) dynamics of particles subject to a deterministic acceleration and a series of "random kicks" is studied. Based on an extension of the concept of continuous time random walks to position-velocity space, a new fractional equation of the Kramers-Fokker-Planck type is derived. The associated collision operator necessarily involves a fractional substantial derivative, representing important nonlocal couplings in time and space. For the force-free case, a closed solution is found and discussed.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

A new Puumala hantavirus subtype in rodents associated with an outbreak of Nephropathia epidemica in South-East Germany in 2004.

A micro-epidemic of hantavirus infections occurred in Lower Bavaria, South-East Germany, starting in April 2004. While only three cases were registered from 2001 to 2003, a dramatically increased number of clinically apparent human hantavirus infections (n=38) was observed in 2004, plus seven additional cases by June 2005. To determine the reservoir responsible for the infections, a total of 43 rodents were trapped in Lower Bavaria. Serological and genetic investigations revealed that Puumala virus (PUUV) is dominant in the local population of bank voles. Partial PUUV S segment nucleotide sequences originating from bank voles at four different trapping sites in Lower Bavaria showed a low divergence (up to 3.1%). This is contrasted by a nucleotide sequence divergence of 14-16% to PUUV strains detected in Belgium, France, Slovakia or North-Western Germany. PUUV sequences from bank voles in Lower Bavaria represent a new PUUV subtype which seems to be responsible for the observed increase of human hantavirus infections in 2004-2005.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Theoretical analysis of destabilization resonances in time-delayed stochastic second-order dynamical systems and some implications for human motor control.

A linear stochastic delay differential equation of second order is studied that can be regarded as a Kramers model with time delay. An analytical expression for the stationary probability density is derived in terms of a Gaussian distribution. In particular, the variance as a function of the time delay is computed analytically for several parameter regimes. Strikingly, in the parameter regime close to the parameter regime in which the deterministic system exhibits Hopf bifurcations, we find that the variance as a function of the time delay exhibits a sequence of pronounced peaks. These peaks are interpreted as delay-induced destabilization resonances arising from oscillatory ghost instabilities. On the basis of the obtained theoretical findings, reinterpretations of previous human motor control studies and predictions for future human motor control studies are provided.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed2005

Joint probability distributions for a class of non-Markovian processes.

We consider joint probability distributions for the class of coupled Langevin equations introduced by Fogedby [H. C. Fogedby, Phys. Rev. E 50, 1657 (1994)]. We generalize well-known results for the single-time probability distributions to the case of N -time joint probability distributions. It is shown that these probability distribution functions can be obtained by an integral transform from distributions of a Markovian process. The integral kernel obeys a partial differential equation with fractional time derivatives reflecting the non-Markovian character of the process.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

The staphylocoagulase family of zymogen activator and adhesion proteins.

Staphylocoagulase (SC) secreted by Staphylococcus aureus is a potent non-proteolytic activator of the blood coagulation zymogen prothrombin and the prototype of a newly established zymogen activator and adhesion protein (ZAAP) family. The conformationally activated SC.prothrombin complex specifically cleaves fibrinogen to fibrin, which propagates the growth of bacteria-fibrin-platelet vegetations in acute bacterial endocarditis. Our recent 2.2 A X-ray crystal structures of an active SC fragment [SC(1-325)] bound to the prothrombin zymogen catalytic domain, prethrombin 2, demonstrated that SC(1-325) represents a new type of non-proteolytic activator with a unique fold. The observed insertion of the SC(1-325) N-terminus into the 'Ile 16' cleft of prethrombin 2, which triggers the activating conformational change, provided the first unambiguous structural evidence for the 'molecular sexuality' mechanism of non-proteolytic zymogen activation. Based on the SC(1-325) fold, a new family of bifunctional zymogen activator and adhesion proteins was identified that possess N-terminal domains homologous to SC(1-325) and C-terminal domains that mediate adhesion to plasma or extracellular matrix proteins. Further investigation of the ZAAP family may lead to new insights into the mechanisms of bacterial factors that hijack zymogens of the human blood coagulation and fibrinolytic systems to promote and disseminate endocarditis and other infectious diseases.

Coagulase↗
PubMed2004

Methylation analysis of the neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) promoter in peripheral nerve sheath tumours.

Peripheral nerve sheath tumours are hallmarks of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Development of plexiform neurofibromas to malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours (MPNST) is common. The NF1 gene promoter harbours a hypomethylated CpG island. Thus, methylation changes may be involved in the development of different types of neurofibromas and malignant transformation. We investigated NF1-associated dermal (n=9) and plexiform neurofibromas (n=7), MPNST (n=5) and non-NF1 leucocyte samples (n=20) for their methylation pattern by bisulphite genomic sequencing. We could not find global hypermethylation in the NF1 promoter in our series. Nevertheless, site-specific methylation, involving transcription factor binding sites for SP1, CRE (-10), and AP-2, was observed. One region of the 5'-UTR (untranslated region) overlapping with a putative AP-2 binding site was methylated at 30-100% in 4/20 control samples. In conclusion, we did not find hypermethylation in NF1-associated tumours. Instead, low level methylation could parallel a global genomic hypomethylation in malignancy.

Antioxidants↗
PubMed2003

Fokker-Planck perspective on stochastic delay systems: exact solutions and data analysis of biological systems.

Stochastic delay systems with additive noise are examined from the perspective of Fokker-Planck equations. For a linear system, the exact stationary probability density is derived by means of a delay Fokker-Planck equation. We show how to determine the delay equation of the linear system from experimental data, and corroborate a fundamental result previously obtained by Küchler and Mensch. We also propose a method to derive delay equations of nonlinear systems from experimental data. To this end, the theory of multivariate Fokker-Planck equations is used. The applicability of this method is demonstrated for stochastic models describing tracking and pointing movements of humans.

Biophysical Phenomena↗
PubMed2003

Noise-covered drift bifurcation of dissipative solitons in a planar gas-discharge system.

The trajectories of propagating self-organized, well-localized solitary patterns (dissipative solitons) in the form of electrical current filaments are experimentally investigated in a planar quasi-two-dimensional dc gas-discharge system with high Ohmic semiconductor barrier. Earlier phenomenological models qualitatively describing the experimental observations in terms of a particle model predict a transition from stationary filaments to filaments traveling with constant finite speed due to an appropriate change of the system parameters. This prediction motivates a search for a drift bifurcation in the experimental system, but a direct comparison of experimentally recorded trajectories with theoretical predictions is impossible due to the strong influence of noise. To solve this problem, the filament dynamics is modeled using an appropriate Langevin equation, allowing for the application of a stochastic data analysis technique to separate deterministic and stochastic parts of the dynamics. Simulations carried out with the particle model demonstrate the efficiency of the method. Applying the technique to the experimentally recorded trajectories yields good agreement with the predictions of the model equations. Finally, the predicted drift bifurcation is found using the semiconductor resistivity as control parameter. In the resulting bifurcation diagram, the square of the equilibrium velocity scales linearly with the control parameter.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Statistics of Lagrangian velocities in turbulent flows.

We present a generalized Fokker-Planck equation for the joint position-velocity probability distribution of a single fluid particle in a turbulent flow. Based on a simple estimate, the diffusion term is related to the two-point two-time Eulerian acceleration-acceleration correlation. Dimensional analysis yields a velocity increment probability distribution with normal scaling v approximately t(1/2). However, the statistics need not be Gaussian.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Universality of small scale turbulence.

The proposed universality of small scale turbulence is investigated for a set of measurements in a cryogenic free jet with a variation of the Reynolds number (Re) from 8500 to 10(6) (max(R(lambda) approximately 1200). The traditional analysis of the statistics of velocity increments by means of structure functions or probability density functions is replaced by a new method which is based on the theory of Markov processes. It gives access to a more complete characterization by means of joint probabilities of finding velocity increments at several scales. Based on this more comprehensive method, our results are very far from a possible universal state, even for R(lambda) above 1000.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Modeling of nonlinear Lévy processes by data analysis.

The paper presents a method to analyze time series of nonlinear Lévy processes. The Lévy stability index as well as the nonlinear deterministic and stochastic parts of the dynamics together with their uncertainties can be calculated numerically. As last step of the analysis the membership of the investigated system to the regarded class of dynamical systems is validated. For demonstration the algorithm is applied to artificially created time series with different Lévy indices.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

Incorporation of beta-selenolo[3,2-b]pyrrolyl-alanine into proteins for phase determination in protein X-ray crystallography.

beta-Selenolo[3,2-b]pyrrolyl-L-alanine that mimics tryptophan with the benzene ring of the indole moiety replaced by selenophene, was incorporated into human annexin V and barstar. This was achieved by fermentation and expression in a Trp-auxotrophic Escherichia coli host strain using the selective pressure incorporation method. The seleno- proteins were obtained in yields comparable to those of the wild-type proteins and exhibit full crystallographic isomorphism to the parent proteins, but expectedly show altered absorbance profiles and quenched tryptophan fluorescence. Since the occurrence of tryptophan residues in proteins is rare, incorporation of the electron-rich selenium-containing tryptophan surrogate into proteins represents a useful supplementation and even a promising novel alternative to selenomethionine for solving the phase problem in protein X-ray crystallography.

Alanine↗
PubMed2000

Ripple formation through an interface instability from moving growth and erosion sources

The propagation of material interfaces is investigated under the action of a localized moving source which deposits or removes material. Among others the latter process applies to beam cutting techniques. We develop a Kuramoto-Sivashinsky-type model and find a new type of ripple forming mechanism. This theory offers a new explanation for the occurrence of striation patterns which often degrade the quality of cutting edges.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

How to quantify deterministic and random influences on the statistics of the foreign exchange market

It is shown that price changes of the U.S. dollar-German mark exchange rates upon different delay times can be regarded as a stochastic Marcovian process. Furthermore, we show how Kramers-Moyal coefficients can be estimated from the empirical data. Finally, we present an explicit Fokker-Planck equation which models very precisely the empirical probability distributions, in particular, their non-Gaussian heavy tails.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Detection of fixed points in spatiotemporal signals by a clustering method.

We present a method to determine fixed points in spatiotemporal signals. The method combines a clustering algorithm and a nonlinear analysis method fitting temporal dynamics. A 144-dimensional simulated signal, similar to a Kueppers-Lortz instability, is analyzed and its fixed points are reconstructed.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2000

Analysis of time series from stochastic processes

Analysis of time series from stochastic processes governed by a Langevin equation is discussed. Several applications for the analysis are proposed based on estimates of drift and diffusion coefficients of the Fokker-Planck equation. The coefficients are estimated directly from a time series. The applications are illustrated by examples employing various synthetic time series and experimental time series from metal cutting.

Journal Article↗