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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Fuzzy modeling and control of biological processes.

Fuzzy modeling and control based on the fuzzy sets theory have been used in the biotechnology field for the last two decades. Recent studies on fuzzy modeling and control of various biological processes are reviewed. In addition, five applications of fuzzy control to industrial biological processes are summarized, compared and discussed in terms of the system features, control purpose, input and output variables, development of fuzzy rules and effectiveness. Fuzzy modeling and control are regarded as promising methods for automating the bioprocesses in which experienced operators play significant roles in their successful operation.

Journal Article↗

Population dynamics of clock-controlled biological species: models and why circadian rhythms are circadian.

Conventional models of population dynamics of biological species do not take into account the fact that activity of most living organisms is under control of biological clocks, which are oscillators with periods near 1 day, 1 year, and so on. Here proposed are new categories of population dynamics models which are combinations of Lotka-Volterra type of equations (as a simplest example; in fact, an arbitrary type may be used) and equations of the biological oscillators. Such models may be particularly useful in addressing to those problems which are inaccessible with conventional models. A simple example of such models with distributed clock periods is proposed and studied numerically and analytically to consider why periods of biological rhythms are not precisely one day or one year, etc., as is often questioned. For this purpose, a notion of survival index is introduced to measure the degree of success in survival. It turns out that clock periods equal or close to that of the milieu are not necessarily advantageous for survival and can even lead to extinction; survival is then most successful at the edge of entrainment. This may provide a clue to answer the question. It is also found that survival is difficult for those species which cannot be entrained by the environmental cycle.

Animals↗

Modeling biological motor control for human locomotion with functional electrical stimulation.

This paper develops a novel control system for functional electrical stimulation (FES) locomotion, which aims to generate normal locomotion for paraplegics via FES. It explores the possibility of applying ideas from biology to engineering. The neural control mechanism of the biological motor system, the central pattern generator, has been adopted in the control system design. Some artificial control techniques such as neural network control, fuzzy logic, control and impedance control are incorporated to refine the control performance. Several types of sensory feedback are integrated to endow this control system with an adaptive ability. A musculoskeletal model with 7 segments and 18 muscles is constructed for the simulation study. Satisfactory simulation results are achieved under this FES control system, which indicates a promising technique for the potential application of FES locomotion in future.

Electric Stimulation Therapy↗

Biological adaptive control model: a mechanical analogue of multi-factorial bone density adaptation.

The mechanism of how bone adapts to every day demands needs to be better understood to gain insight into situations in which the musculoskeletal system is perturbed. This paper offers a novel multi-factorial mathematical model of bone density adaptation which combines previous single-factor models in a single adaptation system as a means of gaining this insight. Unique aspects of the model include provision for interaction between factors and an estimation of the relative contribution of each factor. This interacting system is considered analogous to a Newtonian mechanical system and the governing response equation is derived as a linear version of the adaptation process. The transient solution to sudden environmental change is found to be exponential or oscillatory depending on the balance between cellular activation and deactivation frequencies.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Recent developments in the monitoring, modeling and control of biological production systems.

Current trends in the development of methods for monitoring, modeling and controlling biological production systems are reviewed from a bioengineering perspective. The ability to measure intracellular conditions in bioprocesses using genomics and other bioinformatics tools is addressed. Devices provided via micromachining techniques and new real-time optical technology are other novel methods that may facilitate biosystem engineering. Mathematical modeling of data obtained from bioinformatics or real-time monitoring methods are necessary in order to handle the dense flows of data that are generated. Furthermore, control methods must be able to cope with these data flows in efficient ways that can be implemented in plant-wide computer communication systems.

Animals↗

The role of prey taxis in biological control: a spatial theoretical model.

We study a reaction-diffusion-advection model for the dynamics of populations under biological control. A control agent is assumed to be a predator species that has the ability to perceive the heterogeneity of pest distribution. The advection term represents the predator density movement according to a basic prey taxis assumption: acceleration of predators is proportional to the prey density gradient. The prey population reproduces logistically, and the local population interactions follow the Holling Type II trophic function. On the scale of the population, our spatially explicit approach subdivides the predation process into random movement represented by diffusion, directed movement described by prey taxis, local prey encounters, and consumption modeled by the trophic function. Thus, our model allows studying the effects of large-scale predator spatial activity on population dynamics. We show under which conditions spatial patterns are generated by prey taxis and how this affects the predator ability to maintain the pest population below some economic threshold. In particular, intermediate taxis activity can stabilize predator-pest populations at a very low level of pest density, ensuring successful biological control. However, very intensive prey taxis destroys the stability, leading to chaotic dynamics with pronounced outbreaks of pest density.

Animals↗

Modelling and simulation of a schistosomiasis infection with biological control.

A mathematical model is developed for a schistosomiasis infection that involves human and intermediate snail hosts as well as an additional mammalian host and a competitor snail species. The model consists of a system of eight differential equations for the infected and susceptible subpopulations. The deterministic system is generalized to a stochastic system of differential equations to account for the random behavior of demographic changes in the population levels. Values for the parameters in the model are estimated and the populations are computationally simulated under various conditions. Results of the simulations indicate several interesting features such as the rapidity by which an invading competing snail species can change the dynamics of a schistosomiasis infection.

Animals↗

Pseudomonas fluorescens 134 as a biological control agent (BCA) model in cell immobilization technology.

Antifungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani was achieved in vivo through the application of Pseudomonas fluorescens strain 134 encapsulated in sodium alginate beads of different sizes (0.5, 1, and 2 mm). The activity was compared to that obtainable with chemical treatments and bead-derived liquid formulations. The latter was obtained by dissolving alginate beads of 1 and 0.5 mm in 1% Na-citrate solution before application, without any significant (P < 0.05) reduction of bacterial numbers during the dissolution process. The dry bead formulations were applied next to the seeds in plant inoculation experiments, resulting in a reduction of disease symptoms, which were markedly reduced when the liquid formulation was applied. Moreover, the rate of disease symptoms related to liquid formulations from both 1 and 0.5 mm beads was comparable (near to 10%) to that of chemical treatment. Pseudomonas fluorescens strain 134 delivered as both dry and liquid formulations was able to colonize cotton root at a population density of about 10(8) CFU/g fresh root, 15 days after sowing.

Alginates↗

A new quality control model using performance goals based on biological variation in External Quality Assurance Schemes.

A new quality control model using performance goals based on biological variation in External Quality Assurance Schemes (EQAS) is described. The proposed model aims to use assay (analytical) CV(A), bias and total error available from participation in EQAS to describe assay performance using minimum, desirable and optimum quality specifications based on biological variation. The model provides further analysis of EQAS data and should be useful in better management of laboratory quality control, as it provides further information that can facilitate trouble-shooting. Additionally, it can help in evaluating the performance of current and proposed new laboratory methods by applying a unifying system if different EQAS are used to cover a range of analytes.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗

A ratio-dependent food chain model and its applications to biological control.

While biological controls have been successfully and frequently implemented by nature and human, plausible mathematical models are yet to be found to explain the often observed deterministic extinctions of both pest and control agent in such processes. In this paper we study a three trophic level food chain model with ratio-dependent Michaelis-Menten type functional responses. We shall show that this model is rich in boundary dynamics and is capable of generating such extinction dynamics. Two trophic level Michaelis-Menten type ratio-dependent predator-prey system was globally and systematically analyzed in details recently. A distinct and realistic feature of ratio-dependence is its capability of producing the extinction of prey species, and hence the collapse of the system. Another distinctive feature of this model is that its dynamical outcomes may depend on initial populations levels. Theses features, if preserved in a three trophic food chain model, make it appealing for modelling certain biological control processes (where prey is a plant species, middle predator as a pest, and top predator as a biological control agent) where the simultaneous extinctions of pest and control agent is the hallmark of their successes and are usually dependent on the amount of control agent. Our results indicate that this extinction dynamics and sensitivity to initial population levels are not only preserved, but also enriched in the three trophic level food chain model. Specifically, we provide partial answers to questions such as: under what scenarios a potential biological control may be successful, and when it may fail. We also study the questions such as what conditions ensure the coexistence of all the three species in the forms of a stable steady state and limit cycle, respectively. A multiple attractor scenario is found.

Animals↗

Development of a biologically-based controlled growth and differentiation model for developmental toxicology.

Amathematical model is developed with a highly controlled birth and death process for precursor cells. This model is both biologically- and statistically-based. The controlled growth and differentiation (CGD) model limits the number of replications allowed in the development of a tissue or organ and thus, more closely reflects the presence of a true stem cell population. Leroux et al. (1996) presented a biologically-based dose-response model for developmental toxicology that was derived from a partial differential equation for the generating function. This formulation limits further expansion into more realistic models of mammalian development. The same formulae for the probability of a defect (a system of ordinary differential equations) can be derived through the Kolmogorov forward equations due to the nature of this Markov process. This modified approach is easily amenable to the expansion of more complicated models of the developmental process such as the one presented here. Comparisons between the Leroux et al. (1996) model and the controlled growth and differentiation (CGD) model as developed in this paper are also discussed.

Animals↗

Development of a sampling plan in winter wheat that estimates cereal aphid parasitism levels and predicts population suppression.

From 1998 to 2001, the relationship between the proportion of tillers with >0 mummified aphids (Ptm) and the proportion of cereal aphids parasitized (Pp) was estimated on 57 occasions in fields of hard red winter wheat located in central and western Oklahoma. Both original (57 fields) and validation data (34 fields; 2001-2002) revealed weak relationships between Ptm and Pp, however, when Ptm > 0.1, Pp always exceeded the recommended parasitism natural enemy threshold of 0.2. Based on the relationship between Ptm and Pp, upper (Ptm1) and lower (Ptm0) decision threshold proportions were set at 0.1 and 0.02, respectively. We monitored cereal aphid populations in 16-25 winter wheat fields over time, and based on the upper and lower decision threshold proportions (Ptm1 = 0.1, Ptm0 = 0.02), predicted whether aphid intensities (# per tiller) would increase above or be maintained below selected economic thresholds (3, 9, and 15 aphids per tiller). Results of this validation study revealed that aphid intensity exceeded an economic threshold in only one field when predicted to remain below Ptm > 0.1, but aphid intensity reached a maximum of only four aphids per tiller. The sampling plan developed during this study allowed us to quickly classify Ptm, and independent of initial cereal aphid intensities, very accurately predict suppression of populations by parasitoids. Sequential sampling stop lines based on sequential probability ratio tests for classifying proportions were calculated for Ptm1 = 0.1 and Ptm0 = 0.02. A minimum of 26 tiller samples are required to classify Ptm as above 0.1 or below 0.02. Based on the results of this study, we believe that simultaneous use of aphid and parasitoid sampling plans will be efficient and useful tools for consultants and producers in the southern plains and decrease the number of unnecessary insecticide applications.

Animals↗

Use of animal testing for evaluating glycoconjugate vaccine immunogenicity.

Most animal species respond with high antibody levels to polysaccharide antigens after they have been covalently linked to a protein carrier, converting a T-cell independent to a T-cell dependent antigen. This chemical modification has enabled the development of glycoconjugate vaccines for Haemophilus influenzae type b, Neisseria meningitidis, and multivalent Streptococcus pneumoniae. This new generation of vaccines can be well characterized physically and chemically to ensure consistent vaccine manufacture. Such analytical tests provide an alternative to animal models for Quality Control Laboratories; biological models can be difficult and costly to develop and use on a routine basis. If animal tests are used, they need to be refined, defined, and validated for their intended purpose.

Animal Testing Alternatives↗