No abstract

We have carried out spectral analysis of measles notifications in several communities in Denmark, UK and USA. The results confirm that each power spectral density (PSD) shows exponential characteristics, which are universally observed in the PSD for time series generated from nonlinear dynamical system. The exponential gradient increases with the population size. For almost all communities, many spectral lines observed in each PSD can be fully assigned to linear combinations of several fundamental periods, suggesting that the measles data are substantially noise-free. The optimum least squares fitting curve calculated using these fundamental periods essentially reproduces an underlying variation of the measles data, and an extension of the curve can be used to predict measles epidemics. For the communities with large population sizes, some PSD patterns obtained from segment time series analysis show a close resemblance to the PSD patterns at the initial stages of a period-doubling bifurcation process for the so-called susceptible/exposed/infectious/recovered (SEIR) model with seasonal forcing. The meaning of the relationship between the exponential gradient and the population size is discussed.

The effect of dc magnetic fields of the order of 0-4000 G on the oscillating peroxidase-oxidase (PO) reaction was studied. Specifically the effects of magnetic fields on the amplitude of simple periodic oscillations and on complex dynamic states were investigated. Magnetic fields induce a biphasic change in oscillation amplitude: At field strengths up to 1500 G, the amplitude decreases gradually by 11%. At higher field strengths the decrease in amplitude is less, and it vanishes at field strengths of 4000 G and higher. The effect of magnetic fields on complex dynamics is generally to shift the dynamics from one state to a neighboring state. Numerical simulations of a detailed model of the PO reaction support the hypothesis that the magnetosensitive step is the reduction of compound II to ferric peroxidase or the reduction of compound I to compound II or both.

No abstract

Metabolic heterogeneity, the occurrence of different metabolic phenotypes among cells, represents a key challenge in health and biotechnology. To unravel its molecular basis, tools probing metabolism of single cells are needed. While RNA devices harbor huge potential for the development of such tools, until today, it is challenging to create in vivo-functional sensors for any given metabolite. Here, we developed from scratch an RNA-based sensor for fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FBP), a doubly phosphorylated intermediate of glycolysis. Starting from in vitro selection of an RNA aptamer and its structural analyses, we developed libraries of RNA-based regulatory devices with this aptamer and the hammerhead ribozyme as an actuator. Through FACS-seq-based high-throughput screening in yeast, we identified in vivo-functional FBP-sensing devices that generate fluorescent readout dependent on intracellular FBP concentration. As FBP reports the flux through glycolysis, the developed RNA device can be used to sense the glycolytic rate in single cells, offering unprecedented possibilities to investigate the causes of metabolic heterogeneity.