This paper introduces a multiscale analysis based on optimal piecewise linear approximations of time series. An optimality criterion is formulated and on its base a computationally effective algorithm is constructed for decomposition of a time series into a hierarchy of trends (local linear approximations) at different scales. The top of the hierarchy is the global linear approximation over the...

The study of cardiovascular disease has increased both in its scope and pace during the last decade. Included amongst the circumstances which have contributed to these changes are the recruitment to the specialty of younger workers on leaving the Fighting Services, the provision of greater facilities for research work, and the addition of newer instruments and equipment in the investigation of ...

The letter written by Heinze (1) has serious shortcomings. Heinze wrote that There is not a single study of healthy men from any fertility center or sperm bank that has reported a decline in sperm counts in the United States. This is not true. A number of such studies exist. Leto and Frensilli (2) documented a decline in sperm counts in potential sperm donors from all over the United States in ...

William K. Gregory was one of the most influential authors defending the existence of an evolutionary trend in vertebrates from a higher degree of polyisomerism (more polyisomeric or 'serial' anatomical structures arranged along any body axis) to cases of anisomerism (specialization or loss of at least some original polyisomeric structures). Anisomerism was the subject of much interest during t...

Staphylococcus aureus can undergo phenotypic switching between a normal colony phenotype (NCP) and a small colony variant (SCV). The SCV phenotype confers increased antibiotic resistance and the capacity to persist within human tissues and cells, and because these cells can revert back to the NCP they cause chronic and/or recurrent infections that are very difficult to treat. A complete picture...

Non-genetic phenotypic variations play a critical role in the adaption to environmental changes in microbial organisms. Candida albicans, a major human fungal pathogen, can switch between several morphological phenotypes. This ability is critical for its commensal lifestyle and for its ability to cause infections. Here, we report the discovery of a novel morphological form in C. albicans, refer...

The human fungal pathogen Candida albicans undergoes white-opaque phenotypic switching, which enhances its adaptation to host niches. Switching is controlled by a transcriptional regulatory network of interlocking feedback loops acting on the transcription of WOR1, the master regulator of white-opaque switching, but regulation of the network on the translational level is not yet explored. Here,...

The disease cryptococcosis, caused by the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans, is acquired directly from environmental exposure rather than transmitted person-to-person. One explanation for the pathogenicity of this species is that interactions with environmental predators select for virulence. However, co-incubation of C. neoformans with amoeba can cause a "switch" from the normal yeast morphology ...