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Static Data (static + data)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	80%

Selected Abstracts

Projecting 2D gene expression data into 3D and 4D space

DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS, Issue 4 2007
Victor E. Gerth
Abstract Video games typically generate virtual 3D objects by texture mapping an image onto a 3D polygonal frame. The feeling of movement is then achieved by mathematically simulating camera movement relative to the polygonal frame. We have built customized scripts that adapt video game authoring software to texture mapping images of gene expression data onto b-spline based embryo models. This approach, known as UV mapping, associates two-dimensional (U and V) coordinates within images to the three dimensions (X, Y, and Z) of a b-spline model. B-spline model frameworks were built either from confocal data or de novo extracted from 2D images, once again using video game authoring approaches. This system was then used to build 3D models of 182 genes expressed in developing Xenopus embryos and to implement these in a web-accessible database. Models can be viewed via simple Internet browsers and utilize openGL hardware acceleration via a Shockwave plugin. Not only does this database display static data in a dynamic and scalable manner, the UV mapping system also serves as a method to align different images to a common framework, an approach that may make high-throughput automated comparisons of gene expression patterns possible. Finally, video game systems also have elegant methods for handling movement, allowing biomechanical algorithms to drive the animation of models. With further development, these biomechanical techniques offer practical methods for generating virtual embryos that recapitulate morphogenesis. Developmental Dynamics 236:1036,1043, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Spatial analysis of an invasion front of Acer platanoides: dynamic inferences from static data

ECOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2005
Wei Fang
It is an open question whether the invading tree species Acer platanoides is invading and displacing native trees within pre-existing forest stands, or merely preferentially occupying new stands of secondary forest growth at the edges of existing forests. Several threads of spatial pattern analyses were used to assess the invasibility of A. platanoides, and to link the invasion to the structure of a plant community in the deciduous forest of the northeastern United States. The analyses were based on maps of a contiguous 100×50 m area along an A. platanoides infestation gradient. The distribution of A. platanoides was highly aggregated and the population importance value increased from 28.1 to 38.5% according to mortality estimated from standing dead trees, while the distribution of native tree species was close to random and importance value of Quercus spp. decreased from 33.4 to 26.9% over time. The size distributions of each tree species across distance indicated that A. platanoides was progressively invading the interior of the forest while the native species (including A. rubrum) were not spreading back towards the A. platanoides monospecific patch. The null hypothesis of no invasibility was rejected based on quantile regressions. There were negative correlations between A. platanoides density and the densities of native species in different functional groups, and negative correlation of A. platanoides density and the species diversity in forest understory. The null hypothesis that A. platanoides invasion did not suppress native trees or understory was rejected based on Dutilleul's modified t-test for correlation, consistent with experimental results in the same study site. The combination of multiple spatial analyses of static data can be used to infer historical dynamical processes that shape a plant community structure. The concept of "envelop effects" was discussed and further developed. [source]

Resilience of tropical rain forests: tree community reassembly in secondary forests

ECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 5 2009
Natalia Norden
Abstract Understanding the recovery dynamics of ecosystems presents a major challenge in the human-impacted tropics. We tested whether secondary forests follow equilibrium or non-equilibrium dynamics by evaluating community reassembly over time, across different successional stages, and among multiple life stages. Based on long-term and static data from six 1-ha plots in NE Costa Rica, we show that secondary forests are undergoing reassembly of canopy tree and palm species composition through the successful recruitment of seedlings, saplings, and young trees of mature forest species. Such patterns were observed over time within sites and across successional stages. Floristic reassembly in secondary forests showed a clear convergence with mature forest community composition, supporting an equilibrium model. This resilience stems from three key factors co-occurring locally: high abundance of generalist species in the regional flora, high levels of seed dispersal, and local presence of old-growth forest remnants. [source]

The dynamic behavior of magnetic colloids in suspension

JOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 2007
Tina Autenrieth
The dynamic behavior of magnetic colloidal particles in suspension is investigated. The particles of the core,shell colloid consist of a cobalt ferrite core embedded in a silica shell and are stabilized by surface charges. As the suspension is strongly opaque to visible light, it can not be probed by dynamic light scattering techniques as a result of strong multiple scattering as well as absorption effects. Therefore, the static and dynamic behavior is probed with small-angle X-ray scattering and X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS), respectively. Using XPCS, we are able to study the diffusion coefficient of an opaque colloidal system as a function of the scattering vector. In this paper, we report on the behavior of the colloidal system in the absence of an external magnetic field, meaning that the magnetic moments of the particles are oriented randomly. We find no evidence for magnetic interactions in the static data, while the dynamic XPCS data deviate very significantly from the predictions of model calculations. [source]