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Maternal rank and local resource competition do not predict birth sex ratios in wild baboons.

We test two models of adaptive adjustment of birth sex ratios that are expected to apply to Cercopithecine primate species. It has been predicted that when maternal investment differentially influences the reproductive success of male and female offspring, females in good condition will bias investment in favour of the sex that gains the greatest fitness returns from additional investment. This hypothesis was subsequently amended to take into account the effects of local resource competition on maternal investment strategies of primate females. This body of theory has been applied to primates with contradictory results, prompting some to question the conclusion that primate females facultatively adjust birth sex ratios in an adaptive manner. Here, we present a meta-analysis of the relationship between maternal rank, birth sex ratios and local resource competition in 36 groups of wild savannah baboons, Papio cynocephalus. The results do not support predictions derived from either model of facultative sex ratio adjustment, and we conclude that there is currently no evidence that baboon birth sex ratios are adjusted in an adaptive manner.

Adaptation, Biological↗

Stereoisomerism of molecular multipropellers. 1. Static stereochemistry of bis- and tris-triaryl systems.

The static stereoisomerism of bis- and tris-triaryl systems has been analyzed by a systematic stereochemical analysis, and the resulting theoretical predictions have been experimentally confirmed by using reversed-phase HPLC and ESR and (1)H NMR spectroscopies with a family of seven distinct polychlorinated aromatic multipropellers. To analyze the static stereochemistry of these molecules, we have developed a specific procedure that uses a symmetry-adapted symbolic notation, allowing the theoretical prediction of both the number and symmetry of the isomers of the investigated molecules. Due to the steric hindrance introduced by the presence of bulky chlorine substituents, (all) conformational isomers can be characterized experimentally by several independent techniques confirming the theoretical stereochemical predictions. The different propeller moieties that constitute the molecule appear to be nearly independent of each other. Consequently, most of the observed isomers show comparable populations in solution at room temperature.

Journal Article↗

Using adaline neural network for performance improvement of smart antennas in TDD wireless communications.

In time-division-duplex (TDD) mode wireless communications, downlink beamforming performance of a smart antenna system at the base station can be degraded due to variation of spatial signature vectors corresponding to mobile users especially in fast fading scenarios. To mitigate this, downlink beams must be controlled by properly adjusting their weight vectors in response to changing propagation dynamics. This can be achieved by modeling the spatial signature vectors in the uplink period and then predicting them to be used as beamforming weight vectors for the new mobile position in the downlink transmission period. We show that ADAptive LInear NEuron (ADALINE) network modeling based prediction of spatial signatures provides certain level of performance improvement compared to conventional beamforming method that employs spatial signature obtained in previous uplink interval. We compare the performance of ADALINE with autoregressive (AR) modeling based predictions under varying channel propagation (mobile speed, multipath angle spread, and number of multipaths), and filter order/delay conditions. ADALINE modeling outperforms AR modeling in terms of downlink SNR improvement and relative error improvement especially under high mobile speeds, i.e., V = 100 km/h.

Algorithms↗

Three-dimensional structure of a halotolerant algal carbonic anhydrase predicts halotolerance of a mammalian homolog.

Protein molecular adaptation to drastically shifting salinities was studied in dCA II, an alpha-type carbonic anhydrase (EC 4.2.1.1) from the exceptionally salt-tolerant unicellular green alga Dunaliella salina. The salt-inducible, extracellular dCA II is highly salt-tolerant and thus differs from its mesophilic homologs. The crystal structure of dCA II, determined at 1.86-A resolution, is globally similar to other alpha-type carbonic anhydrases except for two extended alpha-helices and an added Na-binding loop. Its unusual electrostatic properties include a uniformly negative surface electrostatic potential of lower magnitude than that observed in the highly acidic halophilic proteins and an exceptionally low positive potential at a site adjoining the catalytic Zn(2+) compared with mesophilic homologs. The halotolerant dCA II also differs from typical halophilic proteins in retaining conformational stability and solubility in low to high salt concentrations. The crucial role of electrostatic features in dCA II halotolerance is strongly supported by the ability to predict the unanticipated halotolerance of the murine CA XIV isozyme, which was confirmed biochemically. A proposal for the functional significance of the halotolerance of CA XIV in the kidney is presented.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Responses of cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus to moving stimuli at various levels of light and dark adaptation.

The responses of neurones in laminae A and A1 of the cat lateral geniculate nucleus to moving stimuli were investigated at different background luminances. Moving bright slits, dark bars and edges were employed; the contrast of stimuli against the background was held constant. Background intensities varied from 10(-3) to 10(2) td. Responses as stimuli passed across the centres of LGN receptive fields became stronger with increasing levels of light adaptation up to 10(-1)-10(1) td and then remained constant. Responses as stimuli passed through surround regions altered qualitatively with adaptation level, generally increasing in strength and complexity with background luminance. As a bright slit for on-centre cells or dark bar for off-centre cells left the surround, in almost all units a strong secondary peak could be elicited by an appropriate selection of the adaptation conditions. Many features of the responses to moving stimuli could not be predicted from the responses to stationary stimuli under different adaptation conditions described in the previous paper.

Animals↗

Psychosocial versus nicotine-only self-report measures for predicting follow-up smoking status.

The most popular measure of tobacco dependence, the Fagerstrom Tolerance Questionnaire (FTQ), measures only tobacco-specific behaviors. In contrast, the most popular assessment of addiction among polydrug users is the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). Most of the subscales comprising the ASI are psychosocial measures, not drug-specific measures. A study was undertaken to compare the predictive utility of these two contrasting measures. The NAS (adapted from the FTQ) and the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) were used to predict future smoking status in a cohort of polydrug users followed annually for 3 years. The baseline NAS score explained more of the variance in Time 2 and Time 3 smoking status than did the ASI subscales. When previous smoking status was included as a covariate, however, the NAS no longer predicted future smoking status, whereas the ASI Subscales continued to explain significant variance in future smoking status. Results suggest that when past smoking behavior is known, a respondent's legal status and alcohol use may be more useful than a measure of tobacco dependence for predicting future smoking status.

Adult↗

Probability of biodegradation, a novel concept for improving chemical classification and risk assessment.

In this article biodegradability is considered as a combination of an inherent substance property, defined as the maximum specific growth rate, mumax and a condition of the environment defined as a specific fraction (fs) of the total viable biomass. By proper analysis of test results it is possible to quantify both parameters by one single standard test. Calculations with literature data indicate that for the majority of the degradable substances, mumax may vary between 0.5 and 10 per day. The specific fractions, however, may vary 5 or 6 orders of magnitude and can be as low as 10(-8). This concept gives a valuable tool in environmental risk assessment. As the results will be less influenced by test conditions, data will be more reproducible and can be more predictive for a specific environment. The results allow predicting the time needed to achieve adaptation in a treatment plant and, in particular, the behavior under conditions with discontinuous discharge. By using threshold criteria for mumax, fs, and percentage mineralization, a new classification scheme with eight different classes for biodegradability is proposed. Compared to the currently used system with two classes, the prediction of biodegradation will be more sophisticated. The proposed system differentiates for six types of inherently degradable substances and identifies those substances with an abnormal growth curve, due to inhibition or toxicity, poor water solubility, or incomplete mineralization. For these classes the proposed equations are not directly applicable and more research will be required to predict their behavior.

Animals↗

A hidden Markov model approach for determining expression from genomic tiling micro arrays.

BACKGROUND: Genomic tiling micro arrays have great potential for identifying previously undiscovered coding as well as non-coding transcription. To-date, however, analyses of these data have been performed in an ad hoc fashion. RESULTS: We present a probabilistic procedure, ExpressHMM, that adaptively models tiling data prior to predicting expression on genomic sequence. A hidden Markov model (HMM) is used to model the distributions of tiling array probe scores in expressed and non-expressed regions. The HMM is trained on sets of probes mapped to regions of annotated expression and non-expression. Subsequently, prediction of transcribed fragments is made on tiled genomic sequence. The prediction is accompanied by an expression probability curve for visual inspection of the supporting evidence. We test ExpressHMM on data from the Cheng et al. (2005) tiling array experiments on ten Human chromosomes. Results can be downloaded and viewed from our web site. CONCLUSION: The value of adaptive modelling of fluorescence scores prior to categorisation into expressed and non-expressed probes is demonstrated. Our results indicate that our adaptive approach is superior to the previous analysis in terms of nucleotide sensitivity and transfrag specificity.

Algorithms↗

Spatial associations among algae affect host use in a herbivorous marine amphipod.

Host plant choice by herbivores may be constrained by the spatial arrangement of plants with selection of poor quality hosts being more likely if preferred hosts are locally rare. I tested whether the presence of a herbivorous marine amphipod, Peramphithoe parmerong, on a poor quality host could be explained by the relative abundance and spatial arrangement of alternative brown algal hosts. Amphipods strongly preferred the high quality Sargassum linearifolium over the poor quality Padina crassa in laboratory assays with a higher tendency to select Padina crassa when it was relatively more abundant. In the field, however, adults colonised both hosts to equal densities. Rates of colonisation were independent of host quality but strongly affected by the identity of neighbouring hosts with those algae in close proximity to S. linearifolium receiving far greater densities of amphipods than those surrounded by Padina crassa. There was no evidence that the presence of adult Peramphithoe parmerong on Padina crassa was due to local scarcity of S. linearifolium. In contrast, the distribution and behaviour of juveniles were predictable from differences in food quality, with most inhabiting the high quality S. linearifolium and few emigrating from this host. The success of a simple adaptive model based on food quality to predict juvenile, but not adult, behaviour indicates that the relative importance of food quality varies with age, and that other factors are important determinants of adult movements among hosts.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Classification tree models for the prediction of blood-brain barrier passage of drugs.

The use of classification trees for modeling and predicting the passage of molecules through the blood-brain barrier was evaluated. The models were built and evaluated using a data set of 147 molecules extracted from the literature. In the first step, single classification trees were built and evaluated for their predictive abilities. In the second step, attempts were made to improve the predictive abilities using a set of 150 classification trees in a boosting approach. Two boosting algorithms, discrete and real adaptive boosting, were used and compared. High-predictive classification trees were obtained for the data set used, and the models could be improved with boosting. In the context of this research, discrete adaptive boosting gives slightly better results than real adaptive boosting.

Blood-Brain Barrier↗

[Theroretical aspects of the problem of prognosing the state of the human body during space flight].

The paper presents general principles underlying the construction of mathematical systems used to predict the human health status in space flight. It describes methods of prediction based on the concepts of homeostasis and general adaptation syndrome. The paper discusses applications of methods of statistic approximation and expertise estimates to predict changes in different parameters of the Salyut crewmembers. It gives an evaluation of the accuracy with which variations in the heart rate of the Salyut crewmembers were predicted using a linear model and expertise estimates.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Prediction of segregation tendency occurrence in dry particulate pharmaceutical mixtures: development of a mathematical tool adapted for granular systems application.

Segregation phenomena are of importance in nearly all processes involving dry granular and powder mixtures. The extent of segregation directly influences the eventual rejection of a considerable percentage of the final product in the majority of pharmaceutical processes; among these are those mixtures destined for powder compression processing for the production of tablets. Although the parameters influencing segregation are relatively well-known qualitatively, there are, so far, no widely accepted quantitative prediction tools that permit process improvement and optimization of production as a function of the mixture's composition and the particulars of individual processes (e.g., geometry of the vessels). Thus, within present practice, only general design considerations and the technical expertise of engineers and operators are relied upon to optimize these processes on a case-by-case basis. It is in these circumstances that a study of the tendency towards segregation in free flowing granular materials was conducted, using a simple tool previously developed for the study of the behavior of continuous chemical reactors with classical fluid flows. The measurement of average residence times and their variance is used to calculate the deviation of chemical reactors from the ideal behavior of a perfectly mixed vessel or a plug flow pattern. In this work, these measurements are adapted to evaluate the tendency of a granular mixture to segregate. The method consists of introducing a pulse perturbation (of another material) to the established regular flow of a single granular material or a granular mixture and to then calculate the response of the system in terms of the concentration of the pulsed material at the process outlet. The average granular particle residence time and its standard deviation are then related to the segregation tendency.

Chemistry, Pharmaceutical↗

Mortality prediction using SAPS II: an update for French intensive care units.

INTRODUCTION: The standardized mortality ratio (SMR) is commonly used for benchmarking intensive care units (ICUs). Available mortality prediction models are outdated and must be adapted to current populations of interest. The objective of this study was to improve the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) II for mortality prediction in ICUs, thereby improving SMR estimates. METHOD: A retrospective data base study was conducted in patients hospitalized in 106 French ICUs between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 1999. A total of 77,490 evaluable admissions were split into a training set and a validation set. Calibration and discrimination were determined for the original SAPS II, a customized SAPS II and an expanded SAPS II developed in the training set by adding six admission variables: age, sex, length of pre-ICU hospital stay, patient location before ICU, clinical category and whether drug overdose was present. The training set was used for internal validation and the validation set for external validation. RESULTS: With the original SAPS II calibration was poor, with marked underestimation of observed mortality, whereas discrimination was good (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.858). Customization improved calibration but had poor uniformity of fit; discrimination was unchanged. The expanded SAPS II exhibited good calibration, good uniformity of fit and better discrimination (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.879). The SMR in the validation set was 1.007 (confidence interval 0.985-1.028). Some ICUs had better and others worse performance with the expanded SAPS II than with the customized SAPS II. CONCLUSION: The original SAPS II model did not perform sufficiently well to be useful for benchmarking in France. Customization improved the statistical qualities of the model but gave poor uniformity of fit. Adding simple variables to create an expanded SAPS II model led to better calibration, discrimination and uniformity of fit, producing a tool suitable for benchmarking.

Adult↗

Simulation of adaptive mechanisms in the vestibulo-ocular reflex.

The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), which stabilizes the eyes in space during head movements, can undergo adaptive modification to maintain retinal stability in response to natural or experimental challenges. A number of models and neural sites have been proposed to account for this adaptation but these do not fully explain how the nervous system can detect and correct errors in both gain and phase of the VOR. This paper presents a general error correction algorithm based on the multiplicative combination of three signals (retinal slip velocity, head position, head velocity) directly relevant to processing of the VOR. The algorithm is highly specific, requiring the combination of particular sets of signals to achieve compensation. It is robust, with essentially perfect compensation observed for all gain (0.25X - 4.0X) and phase (-180 degrees - +180 degrees) errors tested. Output of the model closely resembles behavioral data from both gain and phase adaptation experiments in a variety of species. Imposing physiological constraints (no negative activation levels or changes in the sign of unit weights) does not alter the effectiveness of the algorithm. These results suggest that the mechanisms implemented in our model correspond to those implemented in the brain of the behaving organism. Predictions concerning the nature of the adaptive process are specific enough to permit experimental verification using electrophysiological techniques. In addition, the model provides a strategy for adaptive control of any first order mechanical system.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Construction, training and clinical validation of an interpretation system for genotypic HIV-1 drug resistance based on fuzzy rules revised by virological outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether fuzzy operators can be usefully applied to the interpretation of genotypic HIV-1 drug resistance by experts, and to improve the prediction of salvage therapy outcome by adapting interpretation rules of genotypic resistance on the basis of their association with virological response data. METHODS: We used a clinical dataset of 231 patients failing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and starting salvage therapy with baseline resistance genotyping and virological outcomes after 3 and 6 months. A set of rules predicting genotypic resistance was initially derived from an expert (ADL). Rules were implemented using a fuzzy logic approach and the virological outcomes dataset used for the training phase. The resulting algorithm was validated using a separate set of 184 selected patients by correlating the resulting predicted activity with observed virological response at 3 months. For comparison, the expert systems from the drug resistance group of the Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le SIDA (ANRS-AC11) and the algorithm from the Stanford's HIV drug resistance database (Stanford HIVdb) were evaluated on the same set. RESULTS: The starting algorithm had a correlation with virological outcomes of R2=0.06 (P=0.0001). After the training phase the correlation with virological outcomes increased to R2=0.19 (P<0.000001). In the validation set of patients, the activity of the salvage regimen predicted by the fuzzy algorithm was the only variable independently predictive of the 3-month viral load change even after adjusting by the activity predicted by the two expert systems and baseline viral load (for each 10% salvage regimen's activity increase, mean HIV RNA change from baseline: -0.27 log10 copies/ml; 95% CI -0.39, -0.15). CONCLUSION: Using fuzzy operators in a virological outcomes training database to implement a rules-based algorithm for genotypic resistance interpretation, significant improvements of outcomes prediction were obtained. The resulting algorithm showed an independent predictive capability of virological outcomes over that of two rules-based interpretation algorithms made by experts. Although the system was trained and validated on a limited number of cases, the approach deserves further evaluation.

Adolescent↗

Using chaotic interrogation and attractor nonlinear cross-prediction error to detect fastener preload loss in an aluminum frame.

Structural health monitoring is an important field concerned with assessing the current state (or "health") of a structural system or component with regard to its ability to perform its intended function appropriately. One approach to this problem is identifying appropriate features obtained from time series vibration responses of the structure that change as structural degradation occurs. In this work, we present a novel technique adapted from the nonlinear time series prediction community whereby the structure is excited by an applied chaotic waveform, and predictive maps built between structural response attractors are used as the feature space. The structural response is measured at several points on the structure, and pairs of attractors are used to predict each other. As the dynamics of the structure change due to damage, the prediction error rises. This approach is applied to detecting the preload loss in a bolted joint in an aluminum frame structure.

Journal Article↗

Natural killer cells: emerging concepts in immunity to infection and implications for assessment of immunodeficiency.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: As the molecular networks that connect innate and adaptive immunity are untangled, the prominence of natural killer (NK) cells in host defense continues to emerge. Herein we highlight recent findings pertaining to NK cell development, trafficking, and interactions with other innate and adaptive immune cells in the context of predicting how NK cells may be involved in a wider range of clinical immunodeficiency. RECENT FINDINGS: NK cells contribute vital roles in innate and adaptive immunity, especially in collaboration with dendritic cells (DC). Fascinating new details have been reported about cell surface integrins and receptors that regulate NK functions, as well as the cytokine/chemokine networks that provide for NK-DC interactions. Moreover, NK cells appear to play an important role in the attenuation or resolution of an immune response through either action against CD8 T cells or indirect control of certain DC. These findings shed important insights as to how NK cells and DC cooperate to control primary infections and shape the subsequent adaptive immune responses. SUMMARY: Natural killer cells are heterogeneous lymphocytes that provide an essential function in host defense. NK cells respond early to microbial assault and interact with other cells of the innate immune system, but they recognize and intercept pathogenic infections through highly specific mechanisms that are similar to T cells. Thus, NK cells are positioned as a cellular bridge between innate and adaptive immunity. It is imperative, then, to include a careful assessment of NK cell populations and functions in most cases of suspected immunodeficiency.

Animals↗

The consequences of being born small - an adaptive perspective.

Absolute definitions of fetal growth are being replaced by definitions that focus on an optimal life-course trajectory. The fetus makes responses to its environment that are determined by the maternal macro-environment, health and physiology. The processes of maternal constraint create significant variations within the normal range of maternal environments and function, and in the fetal environment, which are reflected in different patterns of growth. Deficient nutrient provision may induce immediate adaptation in the form of fetal growth impairment, but will also induce adaptive responses that have evolved for predictive advantage; that is, for a later phase of the life cycle. This latter class of response, probably mediated by epigenetic processes, explains many outcomes of a less-than-optimal pregnancy, including impaired growth, increased visceral obesity, impaired cognitive development, advanced maturation and a greater risk of metabolic and related disease in later life. While these adaptive processes evolved and were appropriate in the environments of prehistory, they are increasingly mismatched with modern environments. Such considerations suggest different approaches to intervention and prevention in population-specific contexts.

Adaptation, Physiological↗