A computer model for learning processes and the role of the cerebral commissures

A computer model of the two brain hemispheres is constructed of discrete populations of neurons, and it is shown to exhibit the characteristics of the great cerebral commissures, as has been pointed out by Sperry and others. For the range of parameters used we find that such systems respond in a specific manner to specific stimuli, and furthermore, whatever memory is transferred to one simulated hemisphere is also transferred to the other. However, this behavior changes when the two hemispheres are separated. We find that memory is not transferred from one hemisphere to the other when the interconnecting commissures are severed. The above findings verify Sperry's experimental observation that the split brain behaves as if it were indeed two separate brains, each performing concurrently and simultaneously diametrically opposite tasks.     

Fistula from left main coronary artery to pulmonary trunk

Netherlands Heart Journal -     

Pleiotropic effects of ribosomal mutations for cycloheximide resistance in a double-resistant homocaryon of Neurospora crassa.

Pleiotropic effects of two ribosomal mutations for cycloheximide resistance were studied in a double-resistant homocaryon. The results obtained indicated that the combination of the two ribosomal mutations results in: (i) morphological abnormalities which suggest a severe distortion in the extension of cell walls and membranes; (ii) disturbance in the normal 60S-40S subunit ratio; (iii) decreased rate of cell mass production not necessarily associated with inbalance in the 60S-40S ratio; and (iv) cold sensitivity which does not interfere with mycelial mass production.     

Michaelis-Menten kinetics under spatially constrained conditions: application to mibefradil pharmacokinetics

Two different approaches were used to study the kinetics of the enzymatic reaction under heterogeneous conditions to interpret the unusual nonlinear pharmacokinetics of mibefradil. Firstly, a detailed model based on the kinetic differential equations is proposed to study the enzymatic reaction under spatial constraints and in vivo conditions. Secondly, Monte Carlo simulations of the enzyme reaction in a two-dimensional square lattice, placing special emphasis on the input and output of the substrate were applied to mimic in vivo conditions. Both the mathematical model and the Monte Carlo simulations for the enzymatic reaction reproduced the classical Michaelis-Menten (MM) kinetics in homogeneous media and unusual kinetics in fractal media. Based on these findings, a time-dependent version of the classic MM equation was developed for the rate of change of the substrate concentration in disordered media and was successfully used to describe the experimental plasma concentration-time data of mibefradil and derive estimates for the model parameters. The unusual nonlinear pharmacokinetics of mibefradil originates from the heterogeneous conditions in the reaction space of the enzymatic reaction. The modified MM equation can describe the pharmacokinetics of mibefradil as it is able to capture the heterogeneity of the enzymatic reaction in disordered media.     

Exciton percolation III. Stochastic and coherent migration in binary and ternary random lattices

We develop a method for calculating energy migration in random heterogeneous aggregates, with potential application to the primary process in photosynthetic units. A Monte Carlo technique is employed to study several types of random walk motion in a random binary lattice. Our computations include 2 and 3 dimensional lattices of different topology and employ correlated steps with a Gaussian distribution of directional memory. The effects of the characteristics of the motion and its parameters are displayed and discussed. The lower threshold for efficient visitation by the walker is given by the critical percolation concentration. However, a higher threshold is found in the case of coherent motion. This new “turning point” appears to play an important role in the process of exciton transport. The exciton percolation formalism is utilized, giving results for ternary random lattices where the third component is very dilute and acts as a sensor. The results are applied to a system representing the ¹1B_2u, naphthalene exciton dynamics in an isotopic and chemically mixed crystal, which by itself is supposed to mimic the exciton transport in the photosynthetic units of green plants. Physically reasonable parameters, trends and limits are discussed. Also, an analytical solution is derived and tested for a physically reasonable limit of semicoherent motion in a perfect lattice. The ramification of this work on bioexciton transfer is discussed, especially concerning the light harvesting units in green plants. It leads to a simple minded model that rationalized the ratio of antenna to active-center molecules. Our most important result is that incoherent exciton transfer, i.e. simple random walk, is the most efficient process for significantly heterogeneous aggregates.     

A mathematical model for the decay of short-term memory with age

A mathematical neural net model based on our previous studies (Anninos et al, 1970; Anninos, 1972) is proposed here to show that the short-term memory of events decays with man age. In particular, in this work we try to explain why recent memories die out with age before the establishment of permanent memory. As it was shown we lose some connections due to the loss of a large number of neurons with age, and in our model this corresponds to a smaller hysteresis loop which, according to our assumption, represents the short-term memory of an event. Thus we showed that if we decrease the number of connections even further the hysteresis loop will vanish to a single curve which, according to Katchalsky & Oplatka (1969), corresponds to a memory-less system.