Design Principles for the Immune System and Other Distributed Autonomous Systems

by Segel, Lee A.; Cohen, Irun R.

• ISBN13: 9780195136999
• ISBN10: 0195136993
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-06-14
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Design Principles for the Immune System and Other Distributed Autonomous Systems is the first book to examine the inner workings of such a variety of distributed autonomous systems--from insect colonies to high level computer programs to the immune system. It offers insight into the fascinating world of these systems that emerge from the interactions of seemingly autonomous components and brings us up-to-date on the state of research in these areas. Using the immune system and certain aspects of its functions as a primary model, this book examines many of the most interesting and troubling questions posed by complex systems. How do systems choose the right set of agents to perform appropriate actions with appropriate intensities at appropriate times? How in the immune system, ant colonies and metabolic networks does the diffusion and binding of a large variety of chemicals to their receptors permit coordination of system action? What advantages drive the various systems to complexity, and by what mechanisms do the systems cope with the tendency toward unwieldiness and randomness of large complex systems?

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Lee A. Segel
Irun R. Cohen
PART I: AN OVERVIEW OF IMMUNOLOGY
Introduction to the Immune System	3	(26)
Steven A. Hofmeyr
PART II: CASE STUDIES IN IMMUNE COMPLEXITY: EXPERIMENTS
Cytokines: A Common Signaling System for Cell Growth, Inflammation, Immunity, and Differentiation	29	(50)
Thomas N. Denny
Th1/Th2 Effector Choice in the Immune System: A Developmental Program Influenced by Cytokine Signals	79	(16)
Dragana Jankovic
Alan Sher
Oral Tolerance	95	(30)
Howard L. Weiner
PART III: DESIGN PRINCIPLES FOR THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
An Introduction to Immuno-ecology and Immuno-informatics	125	(26)
Charles G. Orosz
The Creation of Immune Specificity	151	(10)
Irun R. Cohen
Diversity in the Immune System	161	(24)
Jose A. M. Borghans
Rob J. De Boer
T Cells Obey the Tenets of Signal Detection Theory	185	(18)
Andre J. Noest
Diffuse Feedback from a Diffuse Informational Network: In the Immune System and Other Distributed Autonomous Systems	203	(24)
Lee A. Segel
Multistep Navigtation and the Combinatorial Control of Cell Positioning: A General Model for Generation of Living Structure Based on Studies of Immune Cell Trafficking	227	(14)
Eugene C. Butcher
Ellen F. Foxman
Junliang Pan
Eric J. Kunkel
Distributed, Anarchic Immune Organization: Semi-autonomous Golems at Work	241	(20)
Eli E. Sercarz
PART IV: BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMS
New Approaches to Complex Chemical Reaction Mechanisms	261	(20)
John Ross
Marcel O. Vlad
PART V: SOCIAL INSECTS
Control Mechanisms for Distributed Autonomous Systems: Insights from the Social Insects	281	(12)
Eric Bonabeau
Task Allocation in Ant Colonies	293	(12)
Deborah M. Gordon
PART VI: APPLICATIONS TO COMPUTER SCIENCE
Biologically Motivated Distributed Designs for Adaptive Knowledge Management	305	(30)
Luis M. Rocha
Johan Bollen
Analogy Making as a Complex Adaptive System	335	(26)
Melanie Mitchell
Immunology as Information Processing	361	(28)
Stephanie Forrest
Steven A. Hofmeyr
Index	389