-
Are topological explanations really free of mechanisms? Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2021-01-11 Xin Zhang
Topological explanations in biology have been largely assumed to be free of mechanisms. However, by examining two classic topological explanations in the philosophical literature, this article has identified mechanisms in the corrected and complete formulations of both explanations. This constitutes the major work of this article. The minor work of this article is to address a follow-up question: given
-
On biological individuation Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2021-01-02 Paul-Antoine Miquel, Su-Young Hwang
In this paper, we understand the emergence of life as a pure individuation process. Individuation already occurs in open thermodynamics systems near equilibrium. We understand such open systems, as already recursively characterized (R1) by the relation between their internal properties, and their boundary conditions. Second, global properties emerge in such physical systems. We interpret this change
-
Ingredients for robustness Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-12-02 Nihat Ay
A core property of robust systems is given by the invariance of their function against the removal of some of their structural components. This intuition has been formalised in the context of input–output maps, thereby introducing the notion of exclusion independence. We review work on how this formalisation allows us to derive characterisation theorems that provide a basis for the design of robust
-
Quantifying simultaneous innovations in evolutionary medicine Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-11-25 Deryc T. Painter, Frank van der Wouden, Manfred D. Laubichler, Hyejin Youn
To what extent do simultaneous innovations occur and are independently from each other? In this paper we use a novel persistent keyword framework to systematically identify innovations in a large corpus containing academic papers in evolutionary medicine between 2007 and 2011. We examine whether innovative papers occurring simultaneously are independent from each other by evaluating the citation and
-
Are spliced ncRNA host genes distinct classes of lncRNAs? Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-11-21 Rituparno Sen, Jörg Fallmann, Maria Emília M. T. Walter, Peter F. Stadler
Many small nucleolar RNAs and many of the hairpin precursors of miRNAs are processed from long non-protein-coding host genes. In contrast to their highly conserved and heavily structured payload, the host genes feature poorly conserved sequences. Nevertheless, there is mounting evidence that the host genes have biological functions beyond their primary task of carrying a ncRNA as payload. So far, no
-
Edge-based analysis of networks: curvatures of graphs and hypergraphs Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-11-20 Marzieh Eidi, Amirhossein Farzam, Wilmer Leal, Areejit Samal, Jürgen Jost
The relations, rather than the elements, constitute the structure of networks. We therefore develop a systematic approach to the analysis of networks, modelled as graphs or hypergraphs, that is based on structural properties of (hyper)edges, instead of vertices. For that purpose, we utilize so-called network curvatures. These curvatures quantify the local structural properties of (hyper)edges, that
-
Biological information Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-11-19 Jürgen Jost
In computer science, we can theoretically neatly separate transmission and processing of information, hardware and software, and programs and their inputs. This is much more intricate in biology. Nevertheless, I argue that Shannon’s concept of information is useful in biology, although its application is not as straightforward as many people think. In fact, the recently developed theory of information
-
Scientific traditions in conflict: the Rusconi–von Baer controversy on the embryology of frogs and the development of the cell theory Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-11-03 Margherita Raineri, Erki Tammiksaar
In 1835, the meaning of the cleavage furrows in the division of frog eggs was the cause of a heated argument between the Italian naturalist Mauro Rusconi and Karl Ernst von Baer. These furrows were first described by Prévost and Dumas (Ann Sci Nat 2:100–121, 129–149, 1824b) who did not realize they cut the egg into separate masses. Rusconi (Développement de la grenouille comune depuis le moment de
-
Modelling and optimal control for Chikungunya disease Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-10-31 Miled El Hajji
A generalized model of intra-host CHIKV infection with two routes of infection has been proposed. In a first step, the basic reproduction number \(\mathscr {R}_0\) was calculated using the next-generation matrix method and the local and global stability analyses of the steady states are carried out using the Lyapunov method. It is proven that the CHIKV-free steady state \(\bar{E}\) is globally asymptotically
-
Hypothesis: nucleoid-associated proteins segregate with a parental DNA strand to generate coherent phenotypic diversity Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-10-23 Yoan Konto-Ghiorghi, Vic Norris
The generation of a phenotypic diversity that is coherent across a bacterial population is a fundamental problem. We propose here that the DNA strand-specific segregation of certain nucleoid-associated proteins or NAPs results in these proteins being asymmetrically distributed to the daughter cells. We invoke a variety of mechanisms as responsible for this asymmetrical segregation including those based
-
“Cladus” and clade: a taxonomic odyssey Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-10-23 P. Tassy, M. S. Fischer
The fate of “clade,” both as concept and word, is reconstructed here beginning with its first appearance in 1866 as “Cladus,” in Haeckel’s Generelle Morphologie, continuing up to the present. Although central to phylogenetics, the concept of clade is paradoxical since it has been ambiguously understood or even misunderstood by its own promoters. Writings by Ernst Haeckel, Lucien Cuénot, and Julian
-
Aristotle’s lobster: the image in the text Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-10-13 Alexander Fürst von Lieven, Marcel Humar, Gerhard Scholtz
The Anatomai, a lost work written by Aristotle, must have contained a collection of various drawings and figures of species as well as their organs. In his texts (mainly the Historia animalium), Aristotle is often referring to the drawings after the description of species. Our study applies the method of the comparative view (‘Vergleichendes Sehen’) to provide an access to and reconstruction of Aristotle’s
-
Two-species competing population dynamics with the population-dependent environmental capacities under random disturbance. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-08-11 Hidekazu Yoshioka
We propose and analyze a stochastic competing two-species population dynamics model subject to jump and continuous correlated noises. Competing benthic algae population dynamics in river environment, which is an important engineering problem, motivates this new model. The model is a system of stochastic differential equations having a characteristic that the two populations are competing with each
-
Historicity at the heart of biology. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-07-01 Maël Montévil
Most mathematical modeling in biology relies either implicitly or explicitly on the epistemology of physics. The underlying conception is that the historicity of biological objects would not matter to understand a situation here and now, or, at least, historicity would not impact the method of modeling. We analyze that it is not the case with concrete examples. Historicity forces a conceptual reconfiguration
-
A mechanistic model of metabolic symbioses in microbes recapitulates experimental data and identifies a continuum of symbiotic interactions. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-06-06 Matthias M Fischer
Microbial symbioses based on nutrient exchange and interdependence are ubiquitous in nature and biotechnologically promising; however, an in-depth mathematical description of their exact underlying dynamics from first principles is still missing. Hence, in this paper a novel mechanistic mathematical model of such a relationship in a continuous chemostat culture is derived. In contrast to preceding
-
Factorization of joint metacommunity diversity into its marginal components: an alternative to the partitioning of trait diversity. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Hans-Rolf Gregorius
Diversity in metacommunities is traditionally viewed to consist of the diversity within communities (\(\alpha\)) that is complemented by the differences between communities (\(\beta\)) so as to result in the total diversity (\(\gamma\)) of the metacommunity. This perception of the partitioning of diversity, where \(\beta\) is a function of \(\gamma\) and \(\alpha\) (usually \(\beta =\gamma /\alpha\)
-
Mathematical assessment of the spermatozoa transport through couple stress fluid in an asymmetric human cervical canal. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Ahsan Walait,A M Siddiqui,M A Rana
Swimming of spermatozoa through couple stress fluid in an asymmetric human cervical canal is investigated in the present theoretical analysis. A couple of fourth-order partial differential equations arising from the mathematical modelling of the proposed model is solved analytically. Flow variables like pressure gradient, propulsive velocity, mucus velocity and time mean flow rate are analysed for
-
On the problem of biological form. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-05-16 Marta Linde-Medina
Embryonic development, which inspired the first theories of biological form, was eventually excluded from the conceptual framework of the Modern Synthesis as irrelevant. A major question during the last decades has centred on understanding whether new advances in developmental biology are compatible with the standard view or whether they compel a new theory. Here, I argue that the answer to this question
-
A study on the stability behavior of an epidemic model with ratio-dependent incidence and saturated treatment Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-03-30 Abhishek Kumar; Manoj Kumar; Nilam
In the present article, the dynamics of a novel combination of ratio-dependent incidence rate and saturated treatment rate in susceptible-infected-recovered disease compartmental model has been presented. The ratio-dependent incidence rate has been incorporated into the model to monitor the situation when ratio of the number of infectives to that of the susceptibles is getting higher. The saturated
-
The information theory of individuality Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-03-24 David Krakauer; Nils Bertschinger; Eckehard Olbrich; Jessica C. Flack; Nihat Ay
Despite the near universal assumption of individuality in biology, there is little agreement about what individuals are and few rigorous quantitative methods for their identification. Here, we propose that individuals are aggregates that preserve a measure of temporal integrity, i.e., “propagate” information from their past into their futures. We formalize this idea using information theory and graphical
-
Hominid sexual nature Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-03-13 Christopher Mogielnicki; Katherine Pearl
The aim of the paper is to identify psychosomatic evolutionary adaptations of hominids, which direct them at maximizing their reproductive success, and on the basis of which their various social structures are built. Selected features of the hominid last common ancestor were extracted; by reducing the influence of the social structure, they were defined as the hominid “sexual nature”; these considerations
-
Gene-mating dynamic evolution theory II: global stability of N-gender-mating polyploid systems. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-02-13 Juven C Wang
Extending the previous 2-gender dioecious diploid gene-mating evolution model, we attempt to answer “whether the Hardy–Weinberg global stability and the exact analytic dynamical solutions can be found in the generalized N-gender N-polyploid gene-mating system with arbitrary number of alleles?” For a 2-gender gene-mating evolution model, a pair of male and female determines the trait of their offspring
-
Correction to: From nest site lottery to host lottery: continuous model of growth suppression driven by the availability of nest sites for newborns or hosts for parasites and its impact on the selection of life history strategies. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Krzysztof Argasinski,Ryszard Rudnicki
Unfortunately, part of the article title was updated as subtitle which in turn resulted with complete title not appearing on website and in the bibliographic data. The complete version of title is updated here.
-
Gene-mating dynamic evolution theory: fundamental assumptions, exactly solvable models and analytic solutions. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-02-07 Juven C Wang,Jiunn-Wei Chen
Fundamental properties of macroscopic gene-mating dynamic evolutionary systems are investigated. A model is studied to describe a large class of systems within population genetics. We focus on a single locus, any number of alleles in a two-gender dioecious population. Our governing equations are time-dependent continuous differential equations labeled by a set of parameters, where each parameter stands
-
From nest site lottery to host lottery: continuous model of growth suppression driven by the availability of nest sites for newborns or hosts for parasites and its impact on the selection of life history strategies Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2020-01-04 Krzysztof Argasinski; Ryszard Rudnicki
The idea that selection works in different ways during free population growth and at the equilibrium population size has been present in theoretical biology for a long time. It was first expressed as an r and K selection concept and later clarified in the debate on fitness measures in life history theory. The latest discussion related to this topic is focused on the nest site lottery mechanism and
-
Correction to: Some theoretical insights into the hologenome theory of evolution and the role of microbes in speciation. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2018-09-22 Adrian Stencel,Dominika M Wloch-Salamon
The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake.
-
Addition to "Special Issue in Commemoration of Olaf Breidbach-Part II". Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2017-10-01 Sabine Schwarz
-
Introduction to the second special issue in commemoration of Olaf Breidbach. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2017-05-21 Jürgen Jost
-
Introduction to the special issue in commemoration of Olaf Breidbach. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2016-09-07 Jürgen Jost
-
Connected pretopology in recombination space. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-10-31 Chandra Kanta Phukan
Topological features evolved from genetic operators in the recombination space play a crucial role in the course of evolution. Different crossover models generated in a recombination space can be structured by pretopological space. This paper deals with several types of connectedness properties of recombination space in three different cases of unequal crossover of recombination space structured as
-
Acute hepatitis B virus infection model within the host incorporating immune cells and cytokine responses. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-10-24 Edna Chilenje Manda,Faraimunashe Chirove
We formulate and analyze a within-host hepatitis B viral mathematical model for hepatitis B in the acute phase of infection. The model incorporates hepatocytes, hepatitis B virus, immune system cells and cytokine dynamics using a system of ordinary differential equations. We use the model to demonstrate the trends of the hepatitis B infection qualitatively without the effects of immune cells and cytokines
-
When few survive to tell the tale: thymus and gonad as auditioning organs: historical overview. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-10-18 Donald R Forsdyke
Unlike other organs, the thymus and gonads generate nonuniform cell populations, many members of which perish, and a few survive. While it is recognized that thymic cells are “audited” to optimize an organism’s immune repertoire, whether gametogenesis could be orchestrated similarly to favor high-quality gametes is uncertain. Ideally, such quality would be affirmed at early stages before the commitment
-
Information theory unveils the evolution of tRNA identity elements in the three domains of life. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-09-18 Gabriel S Zamudio,Miryam Palacios-Pérez,Marco V José
We determined the identity elements of each tRNA isoacceptor for the three domains of life: Eubacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. Our analyses encompass the most updated and curated available databases using an information theory approach. We obtained a collection of identity clusters for each of the isoacceptors of the 20 canonical amino acids for the three major domains of life. The identity clusters
-
A deterministic time-delayed SIR epidemic model: mathematical modeling and analysis. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-09-06 Abhishek Kumar,Kanica Goel,Nilam
In this paper, a deterministic model for transmission of an epidemic has been proposed by dividing the total population into three subclasses, namely susceptible, infectious and recovered. The incidence rate of infection is taken as a nonlinear functional along with time delay, and treatment rate of infected is considered as Holling type III functional. We have structured a deterministic transmission
-
Dynamics of a non-smooth epidemic model with three thresholds. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-08-07 Aili Wang,Yanni Xiao,Robert Smith
A non-smooth epidemic model with piecewise incidence rate dependent on the derivative of the case number is proposed for the transmission dynamics of an infectious disease with media coverage, enhanced vaccination and treatment policy. This is an implicitly defined system, which is converted into an explicit system with three thresholds by employing the properties of the Lambert W function. We first
-
Self-organization of self-clearing beating patterns in an array of locally interacting ciliated cells formulated as an adaptive Boolean network. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-07-26 Martin Schneiter,Jaroslav Rička,Martin Frenz
The observed spatiotemporal ciliary beat patterns leading to proper mucociliary clearance on multiciliated epithelia are suspected to be the result of self-organizing processes on various levels. Here, we present a simplified pluricellular epithelium model, which intends to make the self-organization of ciliary beating patterns as well as of the associated fluid transport across the airway epithelium
-
Bifurcation analysis in a delay model of IVGTT glucose-insulin interaction. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-07-22 Fateme Mohabati,MohammadReza Molaei
In this paper, a delayed differential model based on the intravenous glucose tolerance test is considered. The conditions to determine stability or instability of the model’s steady state are obtained. We obtain the necessary conditions for the appearance of a bifurcation, and we investigate the direction and stability of the local bifurcation. For this purpose, the normal form theory is used. In addition
-
Average Fitness Differences on NK Landscapes. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-06-18 Wim Hordijk,Stuart A Kauffman,Peter F Stadler
The average fitness difference between adjacent sites in a fitness landscape is an important descriptor that impacts in particular the dynamics of selection/mutation processes on the landscape. Of particular interest is its connection to the error threshold phenomenon. We show here that this parameter is intimately tied to the ruggedness through the landscape’s amplitude spectrum. For the NK model
-
Do cells use passwords in cell-state transitions? Is cell signaling sometimes encrypted? Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-06-07 Alex Root
Organisms must maintain proper regulation including defense and healing. Life-threatening problems may be caused by pathogens or by a multicellular organism’s own cells through cancer or autoimmune disorders. Life evolved solutions to these problems that can be conceptualized through the lens of information security, which is a well-developed field in computer science. Here I argue that taking an information
-
Evolutionary transitions in heritability and individuality. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-05-07 Pierrick Bourrat
With a few exceptions, the literature on evolutionary transitions in individuality (ETIs) has mostly focused on the relationships between lower-level (particle-level) and higher-level (collective-level) selection, leaving aside the question of the relationship between particle-level and collective-level inheritance. Yet, without an account of this relationship, our hope to fully understand the evolutionary
-
A stochastic differential game approach toward animal migration. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-04-11 Hidekazu Yoshioka
A stochastic differential game model for animal migration between two habitats under uncertain environment, a new population dynamics model, is formulated. Its novelty is the use of an impulse control formalism to naturally describe migrations with different timings and magnitudes that the conventional models could not handle. Uncertainty of the environment that the population faces with is formulated
-
Fixation properties of multiple cooperator configurations on regular graphs. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-21 Hendrik Richter
Whether or not cooperation is favored in evolutionary games on graphs depends on the population structure and spatial properties of the interaction network. The population structure can be expressed as configurations. Such configurations extend scenarios with a single cooperator among defectors to any number of cooperators and any arrangement of cooperators and defectors on the network. For interaction
-
Stability and dynamics of a fractional-order three-species predator-prey model. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-20 Prabir Panja
In this paper, a fractional-order predator–prey mathematical model has been developed considering Holling type II functional response. Here, we have investigated the interaction dynamics of prey, middle predator and top predator. We assume that the middle predator consumes only the prey, and the top predator consumes only the middle predator. Here, the logistic growth of prey has been considered. Then
-
Art Forms in Nature: radiolaria from Haeckel and Blaschka to 3D nanotomography, quantitative image analysis, evolution, and contemporary art. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-13 John R Jungck,Roger Wagner,Denis van Loo,Bathsheba Grossman,Noppadon Khiripet,Jutarat Khiripet,Wongarnet Khantuwan,Margeurita Hagan
The illustrations of the late nineteenth-/twentieth-century scientist/artist Ernst Haeckel, as depicted in his book Art Forms in Nature (originally in German as Kunstformen der Natur, 1898–1904), have been at the intersection of art, biology, and mathematics for over a century. Haeckel’s images of radiolaria (microscopic protozoans described as amoeba in glass houses) have influenced various artists
-
Haeckel and du Bois-Reymond: rival German Darwinists. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-13 Gabriel Finkelstein
Ernst Haeckel and Emil du Bois-Reymond were the most prominent champions of Darwin in Germany. This essay compares their contributions to popularizing the theory of evolution, drawing special attention to the neglected figure of du Bois-Reymond as a spokesman for a world devoid of natural purpose. It suggests that the historiography of the German reception of Darwin’s theory needs to be reassessed
-
Ernst Haeckel's contribution to Evo-Devo and scientific debate: a re-evaluation of Haeckel's controversial illustrations in US textbooks in response to creationist accusations. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-13 Elizabeth Watts,Georgy S Levit,Uwe Hossfeld
As Blackwell (Am Biol Teach 69:135–136, 2007) pointed out, multiple authors have attempted to discredit Haeckel, stating that modern embryological studies have shown that Haeckel’s drawings are stylized or embellished. More importantly, though, it has been shown that the discussion within the scientific community concerning Haeckel’s drawings and the question of whether embryonic similarities are convergent
-
Ernst Haeckel's "ecology" in Russia of the first half of the twentieth century. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-13 Alexandra L Rizhinashvili
The vast scientific heritage of Ernst Haeckel, evolutionist and thinker, comprises ecology as well. It is well known that it was he in 1866 introduced the term “ecology” for the science on interaction of the organisms and the environment. Haeckel built his system of the biological science (to be more precise, of the zoological science), including ecology, on the basis of Charles Darwin’s evolutionary
-
Russian editions of E. Haeckel's works and the evolution of their perception. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-13 Eduard I Kolchinsky
The article aims to clarify the dynamics of the publication of E. Haeckel’s works in Russia, and the evolution of their perception by the authorities, various social groups and scientists in a rapidly changing sociocultural context and in relation to the various stages of the evolutionary synthesis. It is shown that his works were reprinted nearly 50 times. Until the beginning of twentieth century
-
Ernst Haeckel and the philosophy of sponges. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-13 Andrew S Reynolds
Nearly 150 years ago, Ernst Haeckel published a three volume monograph on the calcareous sponges. These volumes contained the results of his extensive investigation of the anatomy, reproduction, and development of these marine invertebrate organisms. This paper discusses how Haeckel’s contribution to spongiology was so distinct from that of earlier writers on the natural history of sponges, by focusing
-
The break-up between Darwin and Haeckel. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-13 Nicolaas Rupke
In the course of the second half of the nineteenth century, following the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859) and Haeckel’s Generelle Morphologie der Organismen (1866) (General Morphology of Organisms), the two men interacted like comrades in arms, leading the theory of evolution to victory in the international arena. This relationship broke up during the early decades of the twentieth
-
Evolutionary ethics and Haeckelian monism: the case of Heinrich Schmidt's Harmonie (1931). Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-13 Ian G Stewart,Uwe Hossfeld,Georgy S Levit
This paper offers the first ever published discussion of the ethical treatise Harmonie: Versuch einer monistischen Ethik [Harmony: an attempt at a monistic ethics] by Heinrich Schmidt (1874–1935), one of the leading figures in the circle of Ernst Haeckel. Published near the end of Schmidt’s life (1931), it constituted a kind of summation of decades of intense involvement in the “project” of German
-
The reception of Haeckel in pre-revolutionary Russia and his impact on evolutionary theory. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-03-07 Eduard Kolchinsky,Georgy S Levit
The “German Darwin” Ernst Haeckel was influential not only in Germany, but in non-German-speaking countries as well. Due to the widespread use of German as a language of science in the Russian Empire along with growing Russian–German links in various scientific fields, Haeckel directly and indirectly influenced Russian intellectual landscape. The objective of the present paper is to investigate Haeckel’s
-
The concept of the 'organic individual' in Haeckel's writings. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-02-27 Olivier Rieppel
Biological individuality was a hotly debated concept in nineteenth-century German biology, both in botany and in zoology. Much discussion centered on a comparison of higher plants with colonial organisms that are subject to polymorphism and exhibit division of labor among their parts. Building on the work of Matthias Jakob Schleiden, Johannes Müller, Rudolf Leuckart, and especially the botanist Alexander
-
Plasmodial slime molds and the evolution of microbial husbandry. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-02-27 Ulrich Kutschera,Thomas Hoppe
Detailed analyses into the life cycle of the soil-dwelling microbe Dictyostelium discoideum led to the conclusion that this “social amoeba” practices some form of “non-monoculture farming” via the transfer of bacteria to novel environments. Herein, we show that in myxomycetes (plasmodial slime molds or myxogastrids) a similar “farming symbiosis” has evolved. Based on laboratory studies of two representative
-
Ernst Haeckel's embryology in biology textbooks in the German Democratic Republic, 1951-1988. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-02-24 Uwe Hossfeld,Karl Porges,Georgy S Levit,Lennart Olsson,Elizabeth Watts
In our era of computers and computer models, the importance of physical or graphical models for both research and education in developmental biology (embryology) is often forgotten or at least underappreciated. Still, one important aspect of embryology is the (evolutionary) developmental anatomy of both human and animal embryos. Here, we present a short history of the visualization of Ernst Haeckel’s
-
The Haeckel reception in Sweden. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-02-24 Lennart Olsson,Uwe Hossfeld
The Haeckel reception in different European countries has received some attention from historians of biology, but the reception in Scandinavia remains relatively unknown. We have found letters to and from Haeckel to Swedish scientists and students in the Ernst Haeckel House in Jena and in the archives of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (RSAS) in Stockholm. Here we present correspondence with
-
Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919): The German Darwin and his impact on modern biology. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-02-24 Ulrich Kutschera,Georgy S Levit,Uwe Hossfeld
The year 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Ernst Haeckel, a German zoologist, artist, and philosopher of science, who defended and supplemented Charles Darwin’s system of theories regarding the mechanisms of biological evolution. We briefly recapitulate Haeckel’s remarkable career and reproduce the Laudatio read by the President of the Linnean Society of London (1 July 1908), when Haeckel
-
A mathematical solution to Peto's paradox using Polya's urn model: implications for the aetiology of cancer in general. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-02-15 Anastasio Salazar-Bañuelos
Ageing is the leading risk factor for the emergence of cancer in humans. Accumulation of pro-carcinogenic events throughout life is believed to explain this observation; however, the lack of direct correlation between the number of cells in an organism and cancer incidence, known as Peto’s Paradox, is at odds with this assumption. Finding the events responsible for this discrepancy can unveil mechanisms
-
Mathematical modeling of dengue epidemic: control methods and vaccination strategies. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-02-10 Sylvestre Aureliano Carvalho,Stella Olivia da Silva,Iraziet da Cunha Charret
Dengue is, in terms of death and economic cost, one of the most important infectious diseases in the world. So, its mathematical modeling can be a valuable tool to help us to understand the dynamics of the disease and to infer about its spreading by the proposition of control methods. In this paper, control strategies, which aim to eliminate the Aedes aegypti mosquito, as well as proposals for the
-
The effect of ramet mortality on clonal plant growth. Theory Biosci. (IF 1.303) Pub Date : 2019-02-08 Veronika Benedek,Péter Englert
Clonal plants grow horizontally by producing multiple physiological individuals (ramets). We studied clonal growth in a homogeneous environment using a dynamic spatial model based on a stochastic cellular automaton. We investigated different growth forms from the aspect of ramet mortality. Non-steady-state and quasi-steady-state cases were defined, and we determined the number of steps suitable for
Contents have been reproduced by permission of the publishers.