Circadian synchrony in networks of protein rhythm driven neurons

The interaction between gene activation and cellular activity has recently emerged as a critical aspect of brain behavior, but the dynamics of networks incorporating these interactions are poorly understood. An interesting phenomena arises when the genetic activation oscillates endogenously and a network of such cells synchronize to a coherent rhythm, such as is the case with the suprachiasmatic nucleus. To explain this synchronization, we propose a model in which a mRNA/protein expression cycle drives neurons electrical activity, and synaptic activation shifts the phase of the protein rhythm. Using lattice networks, we demonstrate that these interactions are sufficient to generate coherent oscillation. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 12: 67–72, 2006     

Noise-induced synchronous stochastic oscillations small scale cultured heart-cell networks

This paper reports that the synchronous integer multiple oscillations of heart-cell networks or clusters are observed in the biology experiment. The behaviour of the integer multiple rhythm is a transition between super- and sub- threshold oscillations, the stochastic mechanism of the transition is identified. The similar synchronized oscillations are theoretically reproduced in the stochastic network composed of heterogeneous cells whose behaviours are chosen as excitable or oscillatory states near a Hopf bifurcation point. The parameter regions of coupling strength and noise density that the complex oscillatory rhythms can be simulated are identified. The results show that the rhythm results from a simple stochastic alternating process between super- and sub-threshold oscillations. Studies on single heart cells forming these clusters reveal excitable or oscillatory state nearby a Hopf bifurcation point underpinning the stochastic alternation. In discussion, the results are related to some abnormal heartbeat rhythms such as the sinus arrest.     

Turgorins,Hormones of the Endogeneous Daily Rhythms of Higher Organized Plants—Detection,Isolation, Structure,Synthesis, and Activity

Probably the most fascinating biological phenomenon is the movement which is so impressively observed in higher organized plants when, e.g., in a sort of “quick retreat”, the sensitive plant apparently vanishes on touching, or when all the pinnules of an acacia fold together pairwise at dusk, as though the whole tree were going to “sleep”. Such plants and trees do not possess muscles for the movement of their organs; instead of the contraction of a “still primitive” actomyosin system in this movement the hydrostatic internal pressure of the vacuoles—the turgor—in the parenchymal cells of the motile organs is often drastically and unilaterally reduced. After preception of an external stimulus there follows a gradual or sudden change in the semipermeability of the boundry plasma layers, and, mediated by a stimulus conduction, also of all the symplasts of a multicellular plant organism. The phytohormones which form the molecular basis of the physiology of movement discussed here have now been isolated and structurally elucidated. The chemical agonists of phytodynamics, referred to as turgorins, elicit leaf movement; moreover, they very probably also regulate—perhaps together with other phytohormones—the mechanism of change of aperture in stomatal transpiration. Hence, the turgorins facilitate not only a regulation of temperature, but even their own transport in the sap of the whole plant body.     

三基色白光LED的司辰节律因子研究

采用司辰节律因子模型,通过计算三基色白光LED光源在不同工作电流下的司辰节律因子,对可调色温的三基色白光LED光源进行非视觉效应研究。为了获取与自然光非视觉效应类似的LED白光,建立了司辰节律因子和相关色温分别相对于工作电流的关系模型,从而已知自然光的司辰节律因子和相关色温,就可以确定三基色LED的工作电流。通过测试一天内不同时刻的自然光光谱,根据上述模型推算出了三基色LED的工作电流。在所推算的三基色电流下,测试了白光LED光谱参数并计算了相应的司辰节律因子。与自然光司辰节律因子的对比结果表明,理论值和实验值的误差在1.1%以内,证实该方法具有可行性。本文所呈现的方法对于利用三基色白光LED模拟自然光具有一定的指导意义。     

Noise Analysis of Duplicated Data on Microarrays Using Mixture Distribution Modeling

We propose a technique for estimating gene expression values for duplicated data on cDNA microarrays. In the scatter plots, the distribution is constructed from a mixture of normal two-dimensional distributions, which represent fluctuations in gene expression values due to noise. An expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is used for estimating the modeling parameters. The probability that duplicated data is shifted by noise is calculated using Bayesian estimation. Six data sets of rice cDNA microarray assays were used to test the proposed technique. Genes in the data sets were subjected to clustering based on probability of true value. Clustering successfully identified candidate genes regulated by circadian rhythms in rice.     

Existence of positive periodic solution of a hepatitis B virus infection model

In this paper, a periodic model for hepatitis B virus infection is proposed. The model describes the breeding of the infected cells and the periodic variation of the environment. On the basis of the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory, a condition for the existence of a positive periodic solution to the model is established. The result can be used to explain the wave phenomenon on the density of the pathogens in patients blood and the occurrence of superinfection in hepatitis B virus infections. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Entrainment Versus Chaos in a Model for a Circadian Oscillator Driven by Light-Dark Cycles

Circadian rhythms occur in nearly all living organisms with a period close to 24 h. These rhythms constitute an important class of biological oscillators which present the characteristic of being naturally subjected to forcing by light-dark (LD) cycles. In order to investigate the conditions in which such a forcing might lead to chaos, we consider a model for a circadian limit cycle oscillator and assess its dynamic behavior when a light-sensitive parameter is periodically forced by LD cycles. We determine as a function of the forcing period and of the amplitude of the light-induced changes in the light-sensitive parameter the occurrence of various modes of dynamic behavior such as quasi-periodicity, entrainment, period-doubling and chaos. The type of oscillatory behavior markedly depends on the forcing waveform; thus the domain of entrainment grows at the expense of the domain of chaos as the forcing function progressively goes from a square wave to a sine wave. Also studied is the dependence of the phase of periodic or aperiodic oscillations on the amplitude of the light-induced changes in the control parameter. The results are discussed with respect to the main physiological role of circadian rhythms which is to allow organisms to adapt to their periodically varying environment by entrainment to the natural LD cycle.     

Behavioral fractality in marine copepods: Endogenous rhythms versus exogenous stressors

The presence of endogenous rhythms in the swimming behavior of five common species of copepods (i.e. minute marine crustaceans) was investigated through comparisons of the scaling properties of their three-dimensional trajectories and cumulative probability distribution functions of move lengths recorded during the day and at night. Beside clear inter-specific differences in their behavioral scaling properties, the five species exhibited an increase in path tortuosity at night, consistent with an increase in food foraging activity. Given the absence of food under all experimental conditions, this suggests the presence of an endogenous swimming rhythm consistent with the widely reported pattern of ascent at dusk resulting in copepods entering the food-rich surface layer at night. The impact of the stress exerted on swimming behavior by changes in the light regime (i.e. light and dark conditions respectively experienced at night and during the day) and the related copepod behavioral adaptivity was also investigated. The low and high fractal dimensions respectively observed during daytime in the dark and during night-time under conditions of simulated daytime indicate that these organisms have the ability to adjust the complexity of their swimming path depending on exogenous factors, independent of their actual endogenous rhythms. The scaling exponents of the cumulative probability distribution function of move lengths exhibit a significant decrease during daylight hours under simulated night-time conditions and during the night under simulated daytime conditions, suggesting an increase in the stress levels experienced by the five species considered. It is finally shown that the stress exerted on endogenous behavioral diel variability by exogenous cues has a species-specific effect on copepods.     

Noise-induced synchronous stochastic oscillations in small scale cultured heart-cell networks

This paper reports that the synchronous integer multiple oscillations of heart-cell networks or clusters are observed in the biology experiment.The behaviour of the integer multiple rhythm is a transition between super-and subthreshold oscillations,the stochastic mechanism of the transition is identified.The similar synchronized oscillations are theoretically reproduced in the stochastic network composed of heterogeneous cells whose behaviours are chosen as excitable or oscillatory states near a Hopf bifurcation point.The parameter regions of coupling strength and noise density that the complex oscillatory rhythms can be simulated are identified.The results show that the rhythm results from a simple stochastic alternating process between super-and sub-threshold oscillations.Studies on single heart cells forming these clusters reveal excitable or oscillatory state nearby a Hopf bifurcation point underpinning the stochastic alternation.In discussion,the results are related to some abnormal heartbeat rhythms such as the sinus arrest.     

Modeling the complexity of genetic networks: Understanding multigenic and pleiotropic regulation

Molecular genetics presents an increasingly complex picture of the genome and biological function. Evidence is mounting for distributed function, redundancy, and combinatorial coding in the regulation of genes. Satisfactory explanation will require the concept of a parallel processing signaling network. Here we provide an introduction to Boolean networks and their relevance to present-day experimental research. Boolean network models exhibit global complex behavior, self-organization, stability, redundancy and periodicity, properties that deeply characterize biological systems. While the life sciences must inevitably face the issue of complexity, we may well look to cybernetics for a modeling language such as Boolean networks which can manageably describe parallel processing biological systems and provide a framework for the growing accumulation of data. We finally discuss experimental strategies and database systems that will enable mapping of genetic networks. The synthesis of these approaches holds an immense potential for new discoveries on the intimate nature of genetic networks, bringing us closer to an understanding of complex molecular physiological processes like brain development, and intractable medical problems of immediate importance, such as neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and a variety of genetic diseases.