We investigate the dynamics of two models of biological networks with purely suppressive interactions between the units; species interacting via niche competition and neurons via inhibitory synaptic coupling. In both of these cases, power-law scaling of the density of states with probability arises without any fine-tuning of the model parameters. These results argue against the increasingly pop...

In the recent years Living Labs have manage to draw a significant amount of attention to both their methodologies and organizations. Because of that, a significant amount of effort has been diverted to its understanding. However, very little in assessing its contribution and comparing it to existing methodologies. This work aims to cover that gap by summarizing the most common European Living L...

Synthetic biology is an emerging research field, in which engineering principles are applied to natural, living systems. A major goal of synthetic biology is to harness the inherent “biological nanotechnology” of living cells for the purposes of computation, production, or diagnosis. As the field evolves, it is gradually developing from a singlecell approach (akin to using standalone computers)...

Homeorhesis is a necessary feature of any living system. If a system does not perform homeorhesis, it is nonliving. The present work develops the sufficient conditions for the ODE model to describe homeorhesis and suggests the structure of the model. The proposed homeorhesis model is fairly general. It treats homeorhesis as piecewise homeostasis. The model can be specified in different ways dep...

J. Anim. Sci. Vol. 88, E-Suppl. 2/J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 93, E-Suppl. 1/Poult. Sci. Vol. 89, E-Suppl. 1 951 Wooden vat to produce PDO Ragusano cheese is a living system. G. Licitra*1,2, L. Tuminello2, N. Fucà2, P. Campo2, S. Lortal3, and S. Carpino2, 1D.A.C.P.A. University of Catania, Catania, Italy, 2CoRFiLaC, Regione Siciliana, Ragusa, Italy, 3UMR Science et Technologie du Lait et de l’Oeuf, Renn...

It is not obvious what fraction of all the potential information residing in the molecules and structures of living systems is significant or meaningful to the system. Sets of random sequences or identically repeated sequences, for example, would be expected to contribute little or no useful information to a cell. This issue of quantitation of information is important since the ebb and flow of ...

The plan to engineer “empathic agents” is very ambitious, specifically because many researchers resist attributing such ability to any animal other than humans. Thus it seems to be paradoxical to have emphatic agents but no empathic animals. This review suggests that affective computing may be boosting force for developing a unified approach to the evolution in empathic behaviour in living syst...

Demographic change in regard to an aging population with an increasing amount of diabetes patients will put a strain on health care rentability in all modern societies. Electronic living assistants for diabetes patients might help lift the burden on taxpayers, if they are usable for the heterogeneous user group. Research has shown that correct mental models of device menu structures might help ...

The population of elderly people keeps increasing rapidly, which becomes a predominant aspect of our societies. As such, solutions both efficacious and cost-effective need to be sought. Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is a new approach which promises to address the needs from elderly people. In this paper, we claim that human participation is a key ingredient towards effective AAL systems, which ...

Lawrence Hunter " Computers are to biology what mathematics is to physics. " — Harold Morowitz One of the major challenges for computer scientists who wish to work in the domain of molecular biology is becoming conversant with the daunting intricacies of existing biological knowledge and its extensive technical vocabulary. Questions about the origin, function, and structure of living systems ha...