Sentence comprehension test for Russian: A tool to assess syntactic competence.

Although all healthy adults have advanced syntactic processing abilities in their native language, psycholinguistic studies report extensive variation among them. However, very few tests were developed to assess this variation, presumably, because when adult native speakers on syntactic processing, by other tasks, they usually reach ceiling performance. We developed a Sentence Comprehension Test for the Russian language aimed to fill this gap.

Generalized quasispecies model on finite metric spaces: isometry groups and spectral properties of evolutionary matrices.

The quasispecies model introduced by Eigen in 1971 has close connections with the isometry group of the space of binary sequences relative to the Hamming distance metric. Generalizing this observation we introduce an abstract quasispecies model on a finite metric space X together with a group of isometries [Formula: see text] acting transitively on X. We show that if the domain of the fitness function has a natural decomposition into the union of tG-orbits, G being a subgroup of [Formula: see text], then the dominant eigenvalue of the evolutionary matrix satisfies an algebraic equation of degree at most [Formula: see text], where R is the orbital ring that is defined in the text.

Origin and Evolution of the Universal Genetic Code.

The standard genetic code (SGC) is virtually universal among extant life forms. Although many deviations from the universal code exist, particularly in organelles and prokaryotes with small genomes, they are limited in scope and obviously secondary. The universality of the code likely results from the combination of a frozen accident, i.

On Eigen's Quasispecies Model, Two-Valued Fitness Landscapes, and Isometry Groups Acting on Finite Metric Spaces.

A two-valued fitness landscape is introduced for the classical Eigen's quasispecies model. This fitness landscape can be considered as a direct generalization of the so-called single- or sharply peaked landscape. A general, non-permutation invariant quasispecies model is studied, and therefore the dimension of the problem is [Formula: see text], where N is the sequence length.

Exact solutions for the selection-mutation equilibrium in the Crow-Kimura evolutionary model.

We reformulate the eigenvalue problem for the selection-mutation equilibrium distribution in the case of a haploid asexually reproduced population in the form of an equation for an unknown probability generating function of this distribution. The special form of this equation in the infinite sequence limit allows us to obtain analytically the steady state distributions for a number of particular cases of the fitness landscape. The general approach is illustrated by examples; theoretical findings are compared with numerical calculations.

On the behavior of the leading eigenvalue of Eigen's evolutionary matrices.

We study general properties of the leading eigenvalue w¯(q) of Eigen's evolutionary matrices depending on the replication fidelity q. This is a linear algebra problem that has various applications in theoretical biology, including such diverse fields as the origin of life, evolution of cancer progression, and virus evolution. We present the exact expressions for w¯(q),w¯(')(q),w¯('')(q) for q = 0, 0.

Linear algebra of the permutation invariant Crow-Kimura model of prebiotic evolution.

A particular case of the famous quasispecies model - the Crow-Kimura model with a permutation invariant fitness landscape - is investigated. Using the fact that the mutation matrix in the case of a permutation invariant fitness landscape has a special tridiagonal form, a change of the basis is suggested such that in the new coordinates a number of analytical results can be obtained. In particular, using the eigenvectors of the mutation matrix as the new basis, we show that the quasispecies distribution approaches a binomial one and give simple estimates for the speed of convergence.

A note on the replicator equation with explicit space and global regulation.

A replicator equation with explicit space and global regulation is considered. This model provides a natural framework to follow frequencies of species that are distributed in the space. For this model, analogues to classical notions of the Nash equilibrium and evolutionary stable state are provided.

Existence and stability of stationary solutions to spatially extended autocatalytic and hypercyclic systems under global regulation and with nonlinear growth rates.

Analytical analysis of spatially extended autocatalytic and hypercyclic systems is presented. It is shown that spatially explicit systems in the form of reaction-diffusion equations with global regulation possess the same major qualitative features as the corresponding local models. In particular, using the introduced notion of the stability in the mean integral sense we prove the competitive exclusion principle for the autocatalytic system and the permanence for the hypercycle system.

On the asymptotic behaviour of the solutions to the replicator equation.

Selection systems and the corresponding replicator equations model the evolution of replicators with a high level of abstraction. In this paper, we apply novel methods of analysis of selection systems to the replicator equations. To be suitable for the suggested algorithm, the interaction matrix of the replicator equation should be transformed; in particular, the standard singular value decomposition allows us to rewrite the replicator equation in a convenient form.

Exceptional error minimization in putative primordial genetic codes.

Background: The standard genetic code is redundant and has a highly non-random structure. Codons for the same amino acids typically differ only by the nucleotide in the third position, whereas similar amino acids are encoded, mostly, by codon series that differ by a single base substitution in the third or the first position. As a result, the code is highly albeit not optimally robust to errors of translation, a property that has been interpreted either as a product of selection directed at the minimization of errors or as a non-adaptive by-product of evolution of the code driven by other forces.

Origin and evolution of the genetic code: the universal enigma.

The genetic code is nearly universal, and the arrangement of the codons in the standard codon table is highly nonrandom. The three main concepts on the origin and evolution of the code are the stereochemical theory, according to which codon assignments are dictated by physicochemical affinity between amino acids and the cognate codons (anticodons); the coevolution theory, which posits that the code structure coevolved with amino acid biosynthesis pathways; and the error minimization theory under which selection to minimize the adverse effect of point mutations and translation errors was the principal factor of the code's evolution. These theories are not mutually exclusive and are also compatible with the frozen accident hypothesis, that is, the notion that the standard code might have no special properties but was fixed simply because all extant life forms share a common ancestor, with subsequent changes to the code, mostly, precluded by the deleterious effect of codon reassignment.

On the spread of epidemics in a closed heterogeneous population.

Heterogeneity is an important property of any population experiencing a disease. Here we apply general methods of the theory of heterogeneous populations to the simplest mathematical models in epidemiology. In particular, an SIR (susceptible-infective-removed) model is formulated and analyzed when susceptibility to or infectivity of a particular disease is distributed.

Evolution of the genetic code: partial optimization of a random code for robustness to translation error in a rugged fitness landscape.

Background: The standard genetic code table has a distinctly non-random structure, with similar amino acids often encoded by codons series that differ by a single nucleotide substitution, typically, in the third or the first position of the codon. It has been repeatedly argued that this structure of the code results from selective optimization for robustness to translation errors such that translational misreading has the minimal adverse effect. Indeed, it has been shown in several studies that the standard code is more robust than a substantial majority of random codes.

Population models with singular equilibrium.

A class of models of biological population and communities with a singular equilibrium at the origin is analyzed; it is shown that these models can possess a dynamical regime of deterministic extinction, which is crucially important from the biological standpoint. This regime corresponds to the presence of a family of homoclinics to the origin, so-called elliptic sector. The complete analysis of possible topological structures in a neighborhood of the origin, as well as asymptotics to orbits tending to this point, is given.

Mathematical modeling of tumor therapy with oncolytic viruses: effects of parametric heterogeneity on cell dynamics.

Background: One of the mechanisms that ensure cancer robustness is tumor heterogeneity, and its effects on tumor cells dynamics have to be taken into account when studying cancer progression. There is no unifying theoretical framework in mathematical modeling of carcinogenesis that would account for parametric heterogeneity.

Results: Here we formulate a modeling approach that naturally takes stock of inherent cancer cell heterogeneity and illustrate it with a model of interaction between a tumor and an oncolytic virus.

Biological applications of the theory of birth-and-death processes.

In this review, we discuss applications of the theory of birth-and-death processes to problems in biology, primarily, those of evolutionary genomics. The mathematical principles of the theory of these processes are briefly described. Birth-and-death processes, with some straightforward additions such as innovation, are a simple, natural and formal framework for modeling a vast variety of biological processes such as population dynamics, speciation, genome evolution, including growth of paralogous gene families and horizontal gene transfer and somatic evolution of cancers.

Mathematical modeling of tumor therapy with oncolytic viruses: regimes with complete tumor elimination within the framework of deterministic models.

Background: Oncolytic viruses that specifically target tumor cells are promising anti-cancer therapeutic agents. The interaction between an oncolytic virus and tumor cells is amenable to mathematical modeling using adaptations of techniques employed previously for modeling other types of virus-cell interaction.

Results: A complete parametric analysis of dynamic regimes of a conceptual model of anti-tumor virus therapy is presented.

Mathematical modeling of evolution of horizontally transferred genes.

We describe a stochastic birth-and-death model of evolution of horizontally transferred genes in microbial populations. The model is a generalization of the stochastic model described by Berg and Kurland and includes five parameters: the rate of mutational inactivation, selection coefficient, invasion rate (i.e.