This essay equates Penrose's (1989) Emperor with the scientist engaging in mental (Schrödinger's cat) or real experiments.The simultaneous presence of apparently contradictory phase-spatial symmetry conditions on the various hierarchical levels of biological systems are seen as the result of genetic and neurophysiological information that interferes with the physico-chemical vectors between the structural components of the system, the experimenter being an integral part of this informational causality. Equations pertaining to the lowest structural levels of matter, therefore, may not be extendable over (...) higher levels of biological organization, including human science and technology, which are seen as part and parcel of biology. This situation calls for a formal theoretical biophysics which concentrates on macroscopic processes where life and, above all,Homo sapiens, is involved. (shrink)

The theory is presented that the sexual process is a repair mechanism which maintains redundancy within the sub-structure of hierarchical, self-reproducing organisms. In order to keep the problems within mathematically tractable limits , a simple model is introduced: a wheel with 6 spokes, 3 of them vital and 3 redundant, symbolizes the individual . Random accidents destroy spokes; the wheels replicate at regular cycles and engage periodically in pairing and repair phases during which missing spokes are copy-reproduced along the intact (...) spokes of the partner wheel.The hierarchical structure of such a system is analysed and an ‘autonomous unit’ is defined: this is the unit of minimal hierarchical complexity which is capable of perpetuating autonomously all higher and all lower levels of the hierarchy; this is the central unit of selection.Four basic, physical parameters are isolated which determine the essential features of any eucaryotic life cycle: 1. The number of levels of the hierarchy ; 2. the relation between the phases of replication and repair ; 3. the duration of potential repair ; 4. the position of the sexual partners within the hierarchy .The evaluation of fitness components is considered in relation to trends of reproductive patterns in evolution. (shrink)

Theories of perception and of memory are closely allied. The binding problem (which considers how bits of perception are reassembled by the brain) leads to neurophysiological subjectivism. This could be outflanked by arguing with Bergson that perceiving consciousness is out in the world. Thus the brain would bind only behavioral “maps.” In turn, consciousness would retain our personal pasts. Such personal (episodic) memories both help us to recognize present objects and to perform creative acts. Memory, although retentive, is also creative. (...) This is important in rethinking biological and evolutionary memory. (shrink)

The inanimate world, including Man's wheeled vehicles, follow the classical mechanical laws: trajectories of objects in phase-space are predictable on the basis of the vectors of forces acting on the objects. Animal locomotion does not involve wheels, but relies on antagonistic contractile fibre systems, and defies prediction of trajectories. These features are tied up with the faculty of immediate steering in response to momentaneous physiological and environmental stimuli. Thus, animal motor systems have two relatively independent inputs: the sensory/information system, which (...) is the cause for specific trajectories, and the erfolg system which permits for the execution of the thus instructed motion. The problem of relative energetic magnitudes between the two systems — in that the causative system involves small, yet the executive system large energies — is specially considered in relation to locomotion by antagonistically functioning mechanical elements. (shrink)

The general inorganic nature of traditional selection theory (based on differential growth between any two systems) is pointed out, wherefrom it follows that this theory cannot provide explanations for the characteristics of organic evolution. Specific biophysical aspects enter with the complexity of macro-molecules: vital physical conditions for the perpetuation of the system, irrevocable extinction (= death) and random change leading to novelty, are the result of complexity per se. Further biophysical properties are a direct function of the pathway along which (...) random mutation in nucleic acids is converted into continuous protein — (specifically enzyme) — function, from there into organismic phenotype with fitness components which may, or may not, correspond to identifiable structural units in DNA. The general machine-like properties of enzymes, in that there is no additive relationship between structural (amino acid) composition and functional output, is discussed in more detail. The continuous growth functions of molecular concentrations, directed by enzyme turnover, determine simple laws of growth and morphogenesis in the organic hierarchy and thus of phenotype. Thus, the combined effect of DNA-structure and of environmental parameters (temperature, pressure, pH, etc.) on protein function determines ultimately the actual phenotype and hence, quality and intensity of genotypic selection. (shrink)

Reconsideration of the logistic equation and of its expansion to the special and general Volterra competition equations in terms of mass/energy in phase-space, shows that information on the phase-spatial conditions of resource and consumers determines specific population parameters which, in turn, decide on coexistence and extinction.Thus, introduction ofInformation as a separate and independent biophysical parameter, in analogy, and in addition, to Force in Classical Physics, is necessary. This allows for quantification of informational effects on resource flows and population numbers. As (...) such, different population growth dN/dt during a competitive exclusion process, is theeffect of competition, and not itscause. (shrink)

Analysis of the biophysical conditions for a correct application of the Volterra Competition Equations with resource-independent coefficients reveals the following:The traditional, mathematical formalism with the two equations representing two straight lines at the condition of zero growth applies.

Boltzmann's gas model representing the second law of thermodynamics is based on the improbability of certain molecular distributions in space. Maxwell argued that a hypothetical ‘being’ with the faculty of seeing individual molecules could bring about such improbable distributions, thus violating the law of entropy. However, it appears that to render the molecules visible for any observer would increase the entropy more than the demon could decrease it, hence ‘Maxwell's Demon cannot operate’ . In the study presented here Maxwell's Demon (...) is interpreted in a general way as a biological observer system within systems which can upset thermodynamic probabilities provided that the relative magnitudes between observer system and observed system are appropriate.Maxwell's Demon within Boltzmann's Gas Model thus appears only as a special case of inappropriate, relative magnitude between the two systems. (shrink)

The scientific and practical fields—especially high-performance sports—increasingly request a stronger focus be placed on individual athletes in human movement science research. Machine learning methods have shown efficacy in this context by identifying the unique movement patterns of individuals and distinguishing their intra-individual changes over time. The objective of this investigation is to analyze biomechanically described movement patterns during the fatigue-related accumulation process within a single training session of a high number of repeated executions of a ballistic sports movement—specifically, the frontal (...) foot kick (mae-geri) in karate—in expert athletes. The two leading research questions presented for consideration are (1) Can characteristics of individual movement patterns be observed throughout the entire training session despite continuous changes, i.e., even as fatigue-related processes increase? and (2) How do intra-individual movement patterns change as fatigue-related processes increase throughout a training session? Sixteen expert karatekas performed 606 frontal foot kicks directed toward an imaginary target. The kicks were performed in nine sets at 80% (K-80) of the self-experienced maximal intensity. In addition, six kicks at maximal intensity (K-100) were performed after each of the nine sets. Between the sets, the participants took a 90-s break. Three-dimensional full-body kinematic data of all kicks were recorded with 10 infrared cameras. The normalized waveforms of nine upper- and lower-body joint angles were classified using a supervised machine learning method (support vector machine). The results of the classification revealed a disjunct distinction between the kinematic movement patterns of individual athletes. The identification of unique movement patterns of individual athletes was independent of the intensity and the degree of fatigue-related processes. In other words, even with the accumulation of fatigue-related processes, the unique movement patterns of an individual athlete can be clearly identified. During the training session, changes in intra-individual movement patterns could also be detected, indicating the occurrence of adaptations in individual movement patterns throughout the fatigue-related accumulation process. The results suggest that these adaptations can be modeled in terms of changes in patterns rather than increasing variance. Practical consequences are critically discussed. (shrink)