Dynamics of Advantageous Mutant Spread in Spatial Death-Birth and Birth-Death Moran Models

The spread of an advantageous mutation through a population is of fundamental interest in population genetics. While the classical Moran model is formulated for a well-mixed population, it has long been recognized that in real-world applications, the population usually has an explicit spatial structure which can significantly influence the dynamics. In the context of cancer initiation in epithelial tissue, several recent works have analyzed the dynamics of advantageous mutant spread on integer lattices, using the biased voter model from particle systems theory. In this spatial version of the Moran model, individuals first reproduce according to their fitness and then replace a neighboring individual. From a biological standpoint, the opposite dynamics, where individuals first die and are then replaced by a neighboring individual according to its fitness, are equally relevant. Here, we investigate this death-birth analogue of the biased voter model. We construct the process mathematically, derive the associated dual process, establish bounds on the survival probability of a single mutant, and prove that the process has an asymptotic shape. We also briefly discuss alternative birth-death and death-birth dynamics, depending on how the mutant fitness advantage affects the dynamics. We show that birth-death and death-birth formulations of the biased voter model are equivalent when fitness affects the former event of each update of the model, whereas the birth-death model is fundamentally different from the death-birth model when fitness affects the latter event.

Geographical mapping and Bayesian spatial modeling of malaria incidence in Sistan and Baluchistan province,Iran

ObjectiveTo present the geographical map of malaria and identify some of the important environmental factors of this disease in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iran.MethodsWe used the registered malaria data to compute the standard incidence rates (SIRs) of malaria in different areas of Sistan and Baluchistan province for a nine-year period (from 2001 to 2009). Statistical analyses consisted of two different parts: geographical mapping of malaria incidence rates, and modeling the environmental factors. The empirical Bayesian estimates of malaria SIRs were utilized for geographical mapping of malaria and a Poisson random effects model was used for assessing the effect of environmental factors on malaria SIRs.ResultsIn general, 64 926 new cases of malaria were registered in Sistan and Baluchistan Province from 2001 to 2009. Among them, 42 695 patients (65.8%) were male and 22 231 patients (34.2%) were female. Modeling the environmental factors showed that malaria incidence rates had positive relationship with humidity, elevation, average minimum temperature and average maximum temperature, while rainfall had negative effect on malaria SIRs in this province.ConclusionsThe results of the present study reveals that malaria is still a serious health problem in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iran. Geographical map and related environmental factors of malaria can help the health policy makers to intervene in high risk areas more efficiently and allocate the resources in a proper manner.

BIG HANKEL OPERATORS ON HARDY SPACES OF STRONGLY PSEUDOCONVEX DOMAINS

In this article,we investigate the(big) Hankel operator H_(f) on the Hardy spaces of bounded strongly pseudoconvex domains Ω in C^(n).We observe that H_(f ) is bounded on H~p(Ω)(1 <p <∞) if f belongs to BMO and we obtain some characterizations for Hf on H^(2)(Ω) of other pseudoconvex domains.In these arguments,Amar's L^(p)-estimations and Berndtsson's L^(2)-estimations for solutions of the ■_(b)-equation play a crucial role.In addition,we solve Gleason's problem for Hardy spaces H^(p)(Ω)(1 ≤p≤∞) of bounded strongly pseudoconvex domains.

Mechanochemical model for myosinⅡdimer that can explain the spontaneous oscillatory contraction of muscle

The spontaneous oscillatory contraction（SPOC） of myofibrils is the essential property inherent to the contractile system of muscle. Muscle contraction results from cyclic interactions between actin filament and myosin II which is a dimeric motor protein with two heads. Taking the two heads of myosin II as an indivisible element and considering the effects of cooperative behavior between the two heads on rate constants in the mechanochemical cycle, the present work proposes the tenstate mechanochemical cycle model for myosin II dimer. The simulations of this model show that the proportion of myosin II in different states periodically changes with time, which results in the sustained oscillations of contractive tension, and serves as the primary factor for SPOC. The good fit of this model to experimental results suggests that the cooperative interaction between the two heads of myosin II dimer may be one of the underlying mechanisms for muscle contraction.

Average Synchronization and Temporal Order in a Noisy Neuronal Network with Coupling Delay

Average synchronization and temporal order characterized by the rate of firing are studied in a spatially extended network system with the coupling time delay, which is locally modelled by a two-dimensional Rulkov map neuron. It is shown that there exists an optimal noise level, where average synchronization and temporal order are maximum irrespective of the coupling time delay. Furthermore, it is found that temporal order is weakened when the coupling time delay appears. However, the coupling time delay has a twofold effect on average synchronization, one associated with its increase, the other with its decrease. This clearly manifests that random perturbations and time delay play a complementary role in synchronization and temporal order.

Does the Type of Dive Mask Matter to a Shark?

Eye contact with a shark is a crucial element during an interaction with a diver. Different mask frames change the size of a diver’s available field of vision, and so make a person’s eyes unequally visible from different angles, particularly when comparing mirrored to regular glass. This study examined whether it matters to a shark if it can see a diver’s eyes when getting closer. The test-subjects changed masks in a random, timed routine, while the relative distance, the absolute distance between a shark and diver expressed in a fraction of the shark’s body length, between approaching shark and human was tallied. Sharks came significantly closer (p = 0.0139) when a diver’s eyes could not be detected, showing that they orient themselves and approach based on the human’s eyes. Given that human comprehension of sharks is rudimentary, every possible benefit, even a minimal one like choosing the most optimal mask, is recommended whenever approaching sharks are likely to be encountered.

Vibration of Three-Layered FGM Cylindrical Shells with Middle Layer of Isotropic Material for Various Boundary Conditions

In the present study, vibration analysis of a three-layered cylindrical shell is performed whose inner and outer layers are composed of functionally graded materials whereas the middle one is assumed to be of isotropic material. This formation of a cylindrical shell influences stiffness modulii and the resultant material properties. The shell problem is formulated from the constitutive relations of stresses and strains with the displacement deformations and they are taken from Love’s thin shell theory. This problem is transformed into the integral form by evaluating the expressions for the strain and kinetic energies of the shell. Rayleigh-Ritz method is employed to solve the shell dynamic equations. Vibration characteristics of these cylindrical shells are investigated for a number of physical parameters and configurations of the fabrication of shells. The axial modal dependence is approximated by the characteristic beam functions that satisfy the boundary conditions. Results evaluated, show good agreement with the open literature.

Sliding mode synchronization between uncertain Watts-Strogatz small-world spatiotemporal networks

Based on the topological characteristics of small-world networks,a nonlinear sliding mode controller is designed to minimize the effects of internal parameter uncertainties.To qualify the effects of uncertain parameters in the response networks,some effective recognition rates are designed so as to achieve a steady value in the extremely fast simulation time period.Meanwhile,the Fisher-Kolmogorov and Burgers spatiotemporal chaotic systems are selected as the network nodes for constructing a drive and a response network,respectively.The simulation results confirm that the developed sliding mode could realize the effective synchronization problem between the spatiotemporal networks,and the outer synchronization is still achieved timely even when the connection probability of the small-world networks changes.

On Sums of a Prime and Four Prime Squares in Short Intervals

In this paper, we prove that each sufficiently large integer N ≠1（mod 3） can be written as N=p＋p1^2＋p2^2＋p3^2＋p4^2, with｜p-N/5｜≤U,｜pj-√N/5｜≤U,j=1,2,3,4,where U=N^2/20＋c and p,pj are primes.

Finite-time adaptive formation control for multi-agent systems with uncertainties under collision avoidance and connectivity maintenance

In this paper,the problem of adaptive finite time formation control is investigated for double integrator multi-agent systems with uncertainties.Firstly,considering the multi-agent systems with uncertain dynamic reference and external bounded disturbance,a distributed adaptive estimator control algorithm is designed to realize formation tracking control in finite-time.It is important that the collision avoidance and maintaining connectivity of the multi-agent systems are realized by constructing an effective potential function based on distance constraints.On the other hand,the problem of formation production control for the double integrator systems is discussed with desired formation shape in finite-time.Achieving four control objectives is the main contributions in all the phases,including the estimation of uncertainties,collision avoidance,connectivity maintenance,and finite-time convergence.Finally,an application example of the formation production control is presented to verify accuracy of the proposed theoretical method.

The Exceptional Set in the Two Prime Squares and a Prime Problem

In this paper we prove that, with at most O（N^5/12＋ε） exceptions, all positive odd integers n ≤ N with n ≡ 0 or 1（mod 3） can be written as a sum of a prime and two squares of primes.