Search results for "quantitative"
showing 10 items of 2409 documents
The Strategic Reference Gene: an organismal theory of inclusive fitness
2019
How to define and use the concept of inclusive fitness is a contentious topic in evolutionary theory. Inclusive fitness can be used to calculate selection on a focal gene, but it is also applied to whole organisms. Individuals are then predicted to appear designed as if to maximise their inclusive fitness, provided that certain conditions are met (formally when interactions between individuals are 'additive'). Here we argue that applying the concept of inclusive fitness to organisms is justified under far broader conditions than previously shown, but only if it is appropriately defined. Specifically, we propose that organisms should maximise the sum of their offspring (including any accrued…
Plasmonic nanosensors reveal a height dependence of MinDE protein oscillations on membrane features
2018
6 p.-4 fig.
District heating networks: enhancement of the efficiency
2019
International audience; During the decades the district heating's (DH) advantages (more cost-efficient heat generation and reduced air pollution) overcompensated the additional costs of transmission and distribution of the centrally produced thermal energy to consumers. Rapid increase in the efficiency of low-power heaters, development of separated low heat density areas in cities reduce the competitiveness of the large centralized DH systems in comparison with the distributed cluster-size networks and even local heating. Reduction of transmission costs, enhancement of the network efficiency by optimization of the design of the DH networks become a critical issue. The methodology for determ…
Extreme Learning Machines for Data Classification Tuning by Improved Bat Algorithm
2018
Single hidden layer feed forward neural networks are widely used for various practical problems. However, the training process for determining synaptic weights of such neural networks can be computationally very expensive. In this paper we propose a new learning algorithm for learning the synaptic weights of the single hidden layer feedforward neural networks in order to reduce the learning time. We propose combining the upgraded bat algorithm with the extreme learning machine. The proposed approach reduces the number of evaluations needed to train a neural network and efficiently finds optimal input weights and the hidden biases. The proposed algorithm was tested on standard benchmark clas…
Graph-theoretical derivation of brain structural connectivity
2020
Brain connectivity at the single neuron level can provide fundamental insights into how information is integrated and propagated within and between brain regions. However, it is almost impossible to adequately study this problem experimentally and, despite intense efforts in the field, no mathematical description has been obtained so far. Here, we present a mathematical framework based on a graph-theoretical approach that, starting from experimental data obtained from a few small subsets of neurons, can quantitatively explain and predict the corresponding full network properties. This model also changes the paradigm with which large-scale model networks can be built, from using probabilisti…
Creating a questionnaire for a scientific study
2016
Using questionnaires has become a permanent part of collecting data in scientific studies within the sphere of human sciences as well as other disciplines. It has been utilized already for nearly a century in collecting data. The first questionnaires were carried out on paper but nowadays there are e-questionnaires alongside it which can be carried out through e-mail or published on a social media platform (for example, Facebook). An often used method is also a survey which is carried out with a research project's own web page, association or company etc. A questionnaire has been considered as an actual scientific method of data collection since 1930s. However, it was already used a little …
The organization of the defense support system: an economic geography perspective
2017
In the context of restricted budgetary resources and the growing cost of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activities, a major issue for modern armed forces is to sustain defense platforms. A possible method consists of realizing economies of scale through the concentration of maintenance activities, which involves the spatial reorganization of existing industrial sites dedicated to MRO. This article provides a formalized framework to discuss the optimal organization for the MRO of defense platforms in space. The public planner organizes the maintenance of defense platforms with only two possible spatial configurations. In the dispersed configuration, two industrial production units i…
Analysis of Activity States of Local Neuronal Microcircuits in Mouse Brain
2018
Time series of neuronal activity corresponding to different activity states in mouse brain are analyzed in the time domain and the time-frequency domain. The signals are associated with either a slow wave brain state or a persistent brain state. For both states, characteristic spectral features are identified and a simple detector is proposed that is able to identify the brain state with low latency and high accuracy. In practice, being able to monitor the brain state online and in real time is crucial for improved in vivoexperiments and, ultimately, for a causal understanding of brain dynamics.
QSPR Prediction of Retention Times of Methylxanthines and Cotinine by Bioplastic Evolution
2018
High-performance liquid-chromatographic retention times of methylxanthines and cotinine in human plasma and urine are modelled by structure–property relationships. Bioplastic evolution is an evolutionary perspective conjugating the effect of acquired characters, and relations that emerge among the principles of evolutionary indeterminacy, morphological determination and natural selection. It is applied to design co-ordination index, which is used to characterize retentions of methylxanthines, etc. Parameters used to calculate co-ordination index are formation enthalpy, molecular weight and surface area. Morphological and co-ordination indices provide strong correlations. Effect of different…
Genomic characterization of a local epidemic Pseudomonas aeruginosa reveals specific features of the widespread clone ST395
2017
International audience; Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous opportunistic pathogen with several clones being frequently associated with outbreaks in hospital settings. ST395 is among these so-called 'international' clones. We aimed here to define the biological features that could have helped the implantation and spread of the clone ST395 in hospital settings. The complete genome of a multidrug resistant index isolate (DHS01) of a large hospital outbreak was analysed. We identified DHS01-specific genetic elements, among which were identified those shared with a panel of six independent ST395 isolates responsible for outbreaks in other hospitals. DHS01 has the fifth largest chromosome of …