Periodical cicadas: A minimal automaton model

The Magicicada spp. life cycles with its prime periods and highly synchronized emergence have defied reasonable scientific explanation since its discovery. During the last decade several models and explanations for this phenomenon appeared in the literature along with a great deal of discussion. Despite this considerable effort, there is no final conclusion about this long standing biological problem. Here, we construct a minimal automaton model without predation/parasitism which reproduces some of these aspects. Our results point towards competition between different strains with limited dispersal threshold as the main factor leading to the emergence of prime numbered life cycles.     

Cellular instabilities of expanding hydrogen/propane spherical flames at elevated pressures: theory and experiment

An experimental and theoretical investigation of the onset of cellular instabilities on spherically expanding flames in mixtures of hydrogen and propane in air at elevated pressures was conducted. Critical conditions for the onset of instability were measured and mapped out over a range of pressures and mixture compositions. An asymptotic theory of hydrodynamic and diffusional-thermal cell development on flames in mixtures comprised of two scarce fuels burning in air was also formulated. Predicted values of Peclet number, defined as the flame radius at the onset of instability normalized by the flame thickness, were shown to compare favorably with the experimentally measured values.     

Critical points of two-dimensional bootstrap percolation-like cellular automata

Cellular automata in two dimensions that generalize the bootstrap percolation dynamics are considered, focusing on the thresholdp _c of the initial density for convergence to total occupancy to occur; these models are classified according top _c being 0, 1, or strictly between these extreme values. Explicit upper and lower bounds are provided in the third case.     

Probabilistic properties of neuron spiking time-series obtained in vivo

Probabilistic properties of spiking time-series obtained in vivo from singular neurons belonging to Red Nucleus of brain are analyzed for two groups of rats: genetically defined rat model of depression (Flinders Sensitive Rat Line - FSL) and a control (healthy) group. The FSL group shows a distribution of interspike intervals with a much longer tail than that found for normal rats. The former distribution (for the FSL group) indicates a power-law with exponent α = - 1±0.1. A simple thermodynamic (noise) model is elaborated to explain obtained results. Received 13 May 2001 and Received in final form 20 September 2001     

New insight into phase change memories

The switching mechanism in phase change memories was described on the basis of minimum switching unit: the commuton. A commuton is a minimum cluster of atoms that supports a reversible phase change from high to low electrical conduction state and back under the influence of an external signal. The switching process in a phase change chalcogenide film was modeled using two dimensional cellular automata approach. A system of 50 × 50 cells, each cell containing a commuton, was simulated. In the particular case of Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (investigated here) this system corresponds to a 30 × 30 nm area. The formation of the percolation path as a function of phase change induced in commutons explains the switching phenomenon. The influence of the percent of defects in the material on the percolation threshold has been studied.     

Stability in cellular neural networks with a piecewise constant argument

In this paper, by using the concept of differential equations with piecewise constant arguments of generalized type [1], [2], [3] and [4], a model of cellular neural networks (CNNs) [5] and [6] is developed. The Lyapunov-Razumikhin technique is applied to find sufficient conditions for the uniform asymptotic stability of equilibria. Global exponential stability is investigated by means of Lyapunov functions. An example with numerical simulations is worked out to illustrate the results.     

Solving a minimum-power covering problem with overlap constraint for cellular network design

We consider a type of covering problem in cellular networks. Given the locations of base stations, the problem amounts to determining cell coverage at minimum cost in terms of the power usage. Overlap between adjacent cells is required in order to support handover. The problem we consider is NP-hard. We present integer linear models and study the strengths of their continuous relaxations. Preprocessing is used to reduce problem size and tighten the models. Moreover, we design a tabu search algorithm for finding near-optimal solutions effectively and time-efficiently. We report computational results for both synthesized instances and networks originating from real planning scenarios. The results show that one of the integer models leads to tight bounds, and the tabu search algorithm generates high-quality solutions for large instances in short computing time.     

Molecular and functional diversity of vascular endothelial growth factors

Summary Members of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family are crucial regulators of neovascularization and are classified as cystine knot growth factors that specifically bind cellular receptor tyrosine kinases VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, and VEGFR-3 with high but variable affinity and selectivity. The VEGF family has recently been expanded and currently comprises seven members: VEGF-A, VEGF-B, placenta growth factor (PlGF), VEGF-C, VEGF-D, viral VEGF (also known as VEGF-E), and snake venom VEGF (also known as VEGF-F). Although all members are structurally homologous, there is molecular diversity among the subtypes, and several isoforms, such as VEGF-A, VEGF-B, and PlGF, are generated by alternative exon splicing. These splicing isoforms exhibit differing properties, particularly in binding to co-receptor neuropilins and heparin. VEGF family proteins play multiple physiological roles, such as angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, while exogenous members (viral and snake venom VEGFs) display activities that are unique in physiology and function. This review will highlight the molecular and functional diversity of VEGF family proteins.     

A Monte Carlo study of ant traffic in a uni-directional trail

In this study, we aim to investigate ant traffic in the uni-directional ant trail. We consider two types of ants moving in the trail: one of which smells well and the other does not. The theoretical base of the study is similar to that of the Nagel–Schreckenberg (NaSch) model, but we do not use the exclusion rule, the asymmetrical exclusion rule is employed instead. Ants are placed on the trail as mixed. By keeping the number of ‘poor-smelling ants’ constant, the traffic in the trail is studied as a function of the number of “good-smelling” ants and the evaporation rate probability of pheromone f$f$. The fundamental physical quantities, i.e., mean speed V$V$ and flux F$F$, interestingly show non-monotonic density dependence for some values of f$f$ at some densities.     

Simulation model of speed–density characteristics for mixed bicycle flow—Comparison between cellular automata model and gas dynamics model

The mixed bicycle flow refers to the bicycle flow containing electric bicycles. The traffic characteristics data of the mixed bicycle flow was collected by the virtual coil method in Nanjing and Ningbo, China. And the speed–density characteristics of the mixed bicycle flow with different proportions of electric bicycles were obtained. The results show that the overall speed of the mixed bicycle flow containing electric bicycles is higher than that of pure bicycle flow when the density is relatively low. The speed decreases when the density is higher than 0.08 bic/m²; the speed–density characteristics of the bicycles and the electric bicycles tend to be the same when the density is higher than 0.25 bic/m². And when the density reaches 0.58 bic/m², the mixed bicycle flow becomes blocked and the speed is zero. The cellular automata model and gas dynamics model were also adopted to simulate the speed–density characteristics of the mixed bicycle flow. The simulation results of the cellular automata model are effectively consistent with the actual survey data when the density is lower than 0.225 bic/m²; the simulation results of the gas dynamics model are effectively consistent with the actual survey data when the density is higher than 0.300 bic/m²; but both of the two types of simulation models are inapplicable when the density is between 0.225 and 0.300 bic/m². These results will be used in the management of mixed bicycles and the research of vehicle–bicycle conflict and so on.