Browsing by Author "Marques-Pita, Manuel"
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- Adaptive developmental plasticity: Compartmentalized responses to environmental cues and to corresponding internal signals provide phenotypic flexibilityPublication . Mateus, Ana; Marques-Pita, Manuel; Oostra, Vicencio; Lafuente, Elvira; Brakefield, Paul M; Zwaan, Bas J; Beldade, PatríciaThe environmental regulation of development can result in the production of distinct phenotypes from the same genotype and provide the means for organisms to cope with environmental heterogeneity. The effect of the environment on developmental outcomes is typically mediated by hormonal signals which convey information about external cues to the developing tissues. While such plasticity is a wide-spread property of development, not all developing tissues are equally plastic. To understand how organisms integrate environmental input into coherent adult phenotypes, we must know how different body parts respond, independently or in concert, to external cues and to the corresponding internal signals.
- Canalization and control in automata networks: body segmentation in Drosophila melanogasterPublication . Marques-Pita, Manuel; Rocha, Luís M.We present schema redescription as a methodology to characterize canalization in automata networks used to model biochemical regulation and signalling. In our formulation, canalization becomes synonymous with redundancy present in the logic of automata. This results in straightforward measures to quantify canalization in an automaton (micro-level), which is in turn integrated into a highly scalable framework to characterize the collective dynamics of large-scale automata networks (macro-level). This way, our approach provides a method to link micro- to macro-level dynamics -- a crux of complexity. Several new results ensue from this methodology: uncovering of dynamical modularity (modules in the dynamics rather than in the structure of networks), identification of minimal conditions and critical nodes to control the convergence to attractors, simulation of dynamical behaviour from incomplete information about initial conditions, and measures of macro-level canalization and robustness to perturbations. We exemplify our methodology with a well-known model of the intra- and inter cellular genetic regulation of body segmentation in Drosophila melanogaster. We use this model to show that our analysis does not contradict any previous findings. But we also obtain new knowledge about its behaviour: a better understanding of the size of its wild-type attractor basin (larger than previously thought), the identification of novel minimal conditions and critical nodes that control wild-type behaviour, and the resilience of these to stochastic interventions. Our methodology is applicable to any complex network that can be modelled using automata, but we focus on biochemical regulation and signalling, towards a better understanding of the (decentralized) control that orchestrates cellular activity -- with the ultimate goal of explaining how do cells and tissues 'compute'.
- Early and Real-Time Detection of Seasonal Influenza OnsetPublication . Won, Miguel; Marques-Pita, Manuel; Louro, Carlota; Gonçalves-Sá, JoanaEvery year, influenza epidemics affect millions of people and place a strong burden on health care services. A timely knowledge of the onset of the epidemic could allow these services to prepare for the peak. We present a method that can reliably identify and signal the influenza outbreak. By combining official Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) incidence rates, searches for ILI-related terms on Google, and an on-call triage phone service, Saúde 24, we were able to identify the beginning of the flu season in 8 European countries, anticipating current official alerts by several weeks. This work shows that it is possible to detect and consistently anticipate the onset of the flu season, in real-time, regardless of the amplitude of the epidemic, with obvious advantages for health care authorities. We also show that the method is not limited to one country, specific region or language, and that it provides a simple and reliable signal that can be used in early detection of other seasonal diseases.