This book is intended as a text for a first course on creating and analyzing computer simulation models of biological systems. The expected audience for this book are students wishing to use dynamic models to interpret real data mueh as they would use standard statistical techniques. It is meant to provide both the essential principles as well as the details and equa tions applicable to a few particular systems and subdisciplines. Biological systems, however, encompass a vast, diverse array of topics and problems. This book discusses only a select number of these that I have found to be useful and interesting to biologists just beginning their appreciation of computer simulation. The examples chosen span classical mathematical models of well-studied systems to state-of-the-art topics such as cellular automata and artificial life. I have stressed the relationship between the models and the biology over mathematical analysis in order to give the reader a sense that mathematical models really are useful to biologists. In this light, I have sought examples that address fundamental and, I think, interesting biological questions. Almost all of the models are directly COIIl pared to quantitative data to provide at least a partial demonstration that some biological models can accurately predict.

This unique text explores the use of innovative modeling techniques in effecting a better understanding of complex diseases such as AIDS and cancer. From a way of representing the computational properties of protein-folding problems to computer simulation of bimodal neurons and networks, Computer Modeling and Simulations of Complex Biological Systems examines several modeling methodologies and integrates them across a variety of disciplines. This interdisciplinary approach suggests new ways to solve complex problems pertaining to biological systems. Written in clear and simple terms appropriate for both the novice and the experienced researcher, the book presents a step-by-step approach to the subject and includes numerous examples that explain the concepts presented in the text.

This Festschrift volume, published in honor of Carolyn Talcott on the occasion of her 70th birthday, contains a collection of papers presented at a symposium held in Menlo Park, California, USA, in November 2011. Carolyn Talcott is a leading researcher and mentor of international renown among computer scientists. She has made key contributions to a number of areas of computer science including: semantics and verification of progamming languages; foundations of actor-based systems; middleware, meta-architectures, and systems; Maude and rewriting logic; and computational biology. The 21 papers presented are organized in topical sections named: Essays on Carolyn Talcott; actors and programming languages; cyberphysical systems; middleware and meta-architectures; formal methods and reasoning tools; and computational biology.

Systems Biology is the systematic study of the interactions between the components of a biological system and studies how these interactions give rise to the function and behavior of the living system. Through this, a life process is to be understood as a whole system rather than the collection of the parts considered separately. Systems Biology is therefore more than just an emerging field: it represents a new way of thinking about biology with a dramatic impact on the way that research is performed. The logical approach provides an intuitive method to provide explanations based on an expressive relational language. This book covers various aspects of logical modeling of biological systems, bringing together 10 recent logic-based approaches to Systems Biology by leading scientists. The chapters cover the biological fields of gene regulatory networks, signaling networks, metabolic pathways, molecular interaction and network dynamics, and show logical methods for these domains based on propositional and first-order logic, logic programming, answer set programming, temporal logic, Boolean networks, Petri nets, process hitting, and abductive and inductive logic programming. It provides an excellent guide for all scientists, biologists, bioinformaticians, and engineers, who are interested in logic-based modeling of biological systems, and the authors hope that new scientists will be encouraged to join this exciting scientific endeavor.

Models help us understand the dynamics of real-world processes by using the computer to mimic the actual forces that are known or assumed to result in a system's behavior. This book does not require a substantial background in mathematics or computer science.

This book describes the evolution of several socio-biological systems using mathematical kinetic theory. Specifically, it deals with modeling and simulations of biological systems whose dynamics follow the rules of mechanics as well as rules governed by their own ability to organize movement and biological functions. It proposes a new biological model focused on the analysis of competition between cells of an aggressive host and cells of a corresponding immune system. Proposed models are related to the generalized Boltzmann equation. The book may be used for advanced graduate courses and seminars in biological systems modeling.

Computational modeling is emerging as a powerful new approach to study and manipulate biological systems. Multiple methods have been developed to model, visualize, and rationally alter systems at various length scales, starting from molecular modeling and design at atomic resolution to cellular pathways modeling and analysis. Higher time and length scale processes, such as molecular evolution, have also greatly benefited from new breeds of computational approaches. This book provides an overview of the established computational methods used for modeling biologically and medically relevant systems.

Automation Theory and Modeling of Biological Systems

This textbook contains the essential knowledge in modeling, simulation, analysis, and applications in dealing with biological cellular control systems. In particular, the book shows how to use the law of mass balance and the law of mass action to derive an enzyme kinetic model - the Michaelis-Menten function or the Hill function, how to use a current-voltage relation, Nernst potential equilibrium equation, and Hodgkin and Huxley's models to model an ionic channel or pump, and how to use the law of mass balance to integrate these enzyme or channel models into a complete feedback control system. The book also illustrates how to use data to estimate parameters in a model, how to use MATLAB to solve a model numerically, how to do computer simulations, and how to provide model predictions. Furthermore, the book demonstrates how to conduct a stability and sensitivity analysis on a model.

This richly illustrated book presents the objectives of, and the latest techniques for, the identifiability analysis and standard and robust regression analysis of complex dynamical models. The book first provides a definition of complexity in dynamic systems by introducing readers to the concepts of system size, density of interactions, stiff dynamics, and hybrid nature of determination. In turn, it presents the mathematical foundations of and algorithmic procedures for model structural and practical identifiability analysis, multilinear and non-linear regression analysis, and best predictor selection. Although the main fields of application discussed in the book are biochemistry and systems biology, the methodologies described can also be employed in other disciplines such as physics and the environmental sciences. Readers will learn how to deal with problems such as determining the identifiability conditions, searching for an identifiable model, and conducting their own regression analysis and diagnostics without supervision. Featuring a wealth of real-world examples, exercises, and codes in R, the book addresses the needs of doctoral students and researchers in bioinformatics, bioengineering, systems biology, biophysics, biochemistry, the environmental sciences and experimental physics. Readers should be familiar with the fundamentals of probability and statistics (as provided in first-year university courses) and a basic grasp of R.