Characterizing Tityus discrepans scorpion venom from a fractal perspective: Venom complexity, effects of captivity, sexual dimorphism, differences among species

D’Suze, Gina; Sandoval, Moisés H.; Sevcik, Carlos

doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2015.09.034

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…Such correlations could be used to create institutional (probably wrong) operation policies. Classical statistics is notoriously limited to study fractal processes [ 4 , 5 , 7 , 35 , 36 , 44 ]. Therefor, of our findings regarding statistical evaluation of LFH operational curves are neither new nor surprising.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hidden chaos factors inducing random walks which reduce hospital operative efficiency

Rodríguez-Hernández¹,

Sevcik

2022

PLoS ONE

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Operative parameters of La Fuenfría Hospital such as: hospitalized patients; daily admissions and discharges were studies for the hospital as a whole, and for each hospital’s service unit (henceforth called ‘services’). Conventional statistical analyzes and fractal dimension analyzes were performed on daily In-Patient series. The sequence of daily admissions and patients staying on each service were found to be a kind of random series known as random walks (Rw), sequences where what happens next, depends on what happens now plus a random variable. Rw analyzed with parametric or nonparametric statistics may simulate cycles and drifts which resemble seasonal variations or fake trends which reduce the Hospital’s efficiency. Globally, inpatients Rw s in LFH, were found to be determined by the time elapsed between daily discharges and admissions. The factors determining LFH R were found to be the difference between daily admissions and discharges. The discharges are replaced by admissions with some random delay and the random difference determines LFH Rw s. These findings show that if the daily difference between admissions and discharges is minimized, the number of inpatients would fluctuate less and the number of unoccupied beds would be reduced, thus optimizing the Hospital service.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hidden chaos factors inducing random walks which reduce hospital operative efficiency

Rodríguez-Hernández¹,

Sevcik

2022

PLoS ONE

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“…Sequences were compared with the nonparametric Smirnov [33] test based on Kolmogorov statistics [34]. The procedures to generate random sequences to verify the differences between their fractal dimension were described elsewhere [11,[35][36][37] 2.1.2. Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) and calculating spectral density.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hidden chaos factors inducing random walks which reduce hospital operative efficiency

Rodríguez-Hernández¹,

Sevcik²

2020

Preprint

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La Fuenfría Hospital (LFH) operative parameters such as: hospitalised patients; daily admissions and discharges were studies for the hospital as a whole, and per each Hospital's service unit (just called 'service' here). Data were used to build operative parameter value series and their variations. Conventional statistical analyses and fractal dimension analyses were performed on the series. Statistical analyses indicated that the data did not follow a Gauss (i.e. 'normal') distribution, thus nonparametric statistical analyses were chosen to describe data. The sequence of daily admitted admissions and patients staying on each service were found to be a kind of random series of a kind called random walks (Rw ). Rw, sequences where what happens next, depends on what happens now plus a random variable. Rw analysed with parametric or nonparametric statistics may simulate cycles and drifts which resemble seasonal variations or fake trends which reduce the Hospital's efficiency. Globally, inpatients Rw s in LFH, were found to be determined by the time elapsed between daily discharges and admissions. The factor determining LFH Rw were found to be the difference between daily admissions and discharges. The analysis suggests discharges are replaced by admissions with some random delay and that the random difference determinates LFH Rw s. The daily difference between hospitalised patients follows the same statistical distribution as the daily difference between admissions and discharges. These suggest that if the daily difference between admissions and discharges is minimised, i.e., a patient is admitted without delay when another is discharged, the number of inpatients would fluctuate less and the number of unoccupied beds would be reduced optimising the Hospital service.

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“…Poisons, for example, are toxins that must be ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin to harm their targets, while venoms inflict damage by being injected via a bite or a sting [1,2]. Furthermore, venoms, although implicated in a range of functions from being antimicrobial [3] to aiding in intrasexual combat [4], are typically classified as serving either to increase the feeding efficiency of the venomous animal or in deterring that animal's own enemies; i.e., in the binary roles of predation or defense [5][6][7][8][9]. These dual selection pressures have been compared broadly across taxonomic groups, with predation frequently cited as driving venom evolution and venom variability in cone snails [10,11] and snakes [12][13][14] (but see [15,16]), while predator deterrence is typically invoked to explain the venoms of echinoderms [17], bony fishes, and rays [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defensive Venoms: Is Pain Sufficient for Predator Deterrence?

Niermann

Tate

Suto

et al. 2020

Toxins

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Pain, though unpleasant, is adaptive in calling an animal’s attention to potential tissue damage. A long list of animals representing diverse taxa possess venom-mediated, pain-inducing bites or stings that work by co-opting the pain-sensing pathways of potential enemies. Typically, such venoms include toxins that cause tissue damage or disrupt neuronal activity, rendering painful stings honest indicators of harm. But could pain alone be sufficient for deterring a hungry predator? Some venomologists have argued “no”; predators, in the absence of injury, would “see through” the bluff of a painful but otherwise benign sting or bite. Because most algogenic venoms are also toxic (although not vice versa), it has been difficult to disentangle the relative contributions of each component to predator deterrence. Southern grasshopper mice (Onychomys torridus) are voracious predators of arthropods, feeding on a diversity of scorpion species whose stings vary in painfulness, including painful Arizona bark scorpions (Centruroides sculpturatus) and essentially painless stripe-tailed scorpions (Paravaejovis spinigerus). Moreover, southern grasshopper mice have evolved resistance to the lethal toxins in bark scorpion venom, rendering a sting from these scorpions painful but harmless. Results from a series of laboratory experiments demonstrate that painful stings matter. Grasshopper mice preferred to prey on stripe-tailed scorpions rather than bark scorpions when both species could sting; the preference disappeared when each species had their stingers blocked. A painful sting therefore appears necessary for a scorpion to deter a hungry grasshopper mouse, but it may not always be sufficient: after first attacking and consuming a painless stripe-tailed scorpion, many grasshopper mice went on to attack, kill, and eat a bark scorpion even when the scorpion was capable of stinging. Defensive venoms that result in tissue damage or neurological dysfunction may, thus, be required to condition greater aversion than venoms causing pain alone.

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Characterizing Tityus discrepans scorpion venom from a fractal perspective: Venom complexity, effects of captivity, sexual dimorphism, differences among species

Cited by 14 publications

References 20 publications

Hidden chaos factors inducing random walks which reduce hospital operative efficiency

Hidden chaos factors inducing random walks which reduce hospital operative efficiency

Hidden chaos factors inducing random walks which reduce hospital operative efficiency

Defensive Venoms: Is Pain Sufficient for Predator Deterrence?

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