A minimal model of learning: quantifying the cost and benefit of learning in changing environments.

Many organisms have the ability to learn, but the costs and benefits of learning are difficult to quantify. We construct a minimal mathematical model of learning in which a forager attempts to maximize the amount of resources (food) it collects in a changing environment. Our model has two learning parameters: , corresponding to the duration of the forager's memory, and [Formula: see text], corresponding to how much the forager explores the environment to learn more about it.

Strategy maps: Generalised giving-up densities for optimal foraging.

Finding a common currency for benefits and hazards is a major challenge in optimal foraging theory, often requiring complex computational methods. We present a new analytic approach that builds on the Marginal Value Theorem and giving-up densities while incorporating the nonlinear effect of predation risk. We map the space of all possible environments into strategy regions, each corresponding to a discrete optimal strategy.

Coordinated Strategy for a Model-Based Decision Support Tool for Coronavirus Disease, Utah, USA.

The coronavirus disease pandemic has highlighted the key role epidemiologic models play in supporting public health decision-making. In particular, these models provide estimates of outbreak potential when data are scarce and decision-making is critical and urgent. We document the integrated modeling response used in the US state of Utah early in the coronavirus disease pandemic, which brought together a diverse set of technical experts and public health and healthcare officials and led to an evidence-based response to the pandemic.

Novel E815K knock-in mouse model of alternating hemiplegia of childhood.

De novo mutations causing dysfunction of the ATP1A3 gene, which encodes the α3 subunit of Na/K-ATPase pump expressed in neurons, result in alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC). AHC manifests as paroxysmal episodes of hemiplegia, dystonia, behavioral abnormalities, and seizures. The first aim of this study was to characterize a novel knock-in mouse model (Atp1a3, Matoub, Matb) containing the E815K mutation of the Atp1a3 gene recognized as causing the most severe and second most common phenotype of AHC with increased morbidity and mortality as compared to other mutations.

Epilepsy in neurofibromatosis type 1.

Objectives: To describe the characteristics of epilepsy in patients with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).

Methods: Analysis of a cohort of consecutive NF1 patients seen in our NF1 clinic during a three-year period.

Results: Of the 184 NF1 patients seen during that period, 26 had epilepsy and three had febrile seizures.