This book reviews the synergism between various fields of research that are confronted with networks, such as genetic and metabolic networks, social networks, the Internet and ecological systems. In many cases, the interacting networks manifest so-called emergent properties that are not possessed by any of the individual components. Knowledge gained from the study of complex non-biological systems can be applied to the intricate braided relationships that govern cellular functions.

This volume contains the proceedings of the U.S. Australia workshop on Complex Interconnected Biological Systems held in Albany, Western Australia January 1-5, 1989. The workshop was jointly sponsored by the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce (Australia), and the Na tional Science Foundation (USA) under the US-Australia agreement. Biological systems are typically hard to study mathematically. This is particularly so in the case of systems with strong interconnections, such as ecosystems or networks of neurons. In the past few years there have been substantial improvements in the mathematical tools available for study ing complexity. Theoretical advances include substantially improved un derstanding of the features of nonlinear systems that lead to important behaviour patterns such as chaos. Practical advances include improved modelling techniques, and deeper understanding of complexity indicators such as fractal dimension. Game theory is now playing an increasingly important role in under standing and describing evolutionary processes in interconnected systems. The strategies of individuals which affect each other's fitness may be incor porated into models as parameters. Strategies which have the property of evolutionary stabilty result from particular parameter values which may be the main feature of living determined using game theoretic methods. Since systems is that they evolve, it seems appropriate that any model used to describe such systems should have this feature as well. Evolutionary game theory should lead the way in the development of such methods.

This volume contains the proceedings of the U.S. Australia workshop on Complex Interconnected Biological Systems held in Albany, Western Australia January 1-5, 1989. The workshop was jointly sponsored by the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce (Australia), and the Na tional Science Foundation (USA) under the US-Australia agreement. Biological systems are typically hard to study mathematically. This is particularly so in the case of systems with strong interconnections, such as ecosystems or networks of neurons. In the past few years there have been substantial improvements in the mathematical tools available for study ing complexity. Theoretical advances include substantially improved un derstanding of the features of nonlinear systems that lead to important behaviour patterns such as chaos. Practical advances include improved modelling techniques, and deeper understanding of complexity indicators such as fractal dimension. Game theory is now playing an increasingly important role in under standing and describing evolutionary processes in interconnected systems. The strategies of individuals which affect each other's fitness may be incor porated into models as parameters. Strategies which have the property of evolutionary stabilty result from particular parameter values which may be the main feature of living determined using game theoretic methods. Since systems is that they evolve, it seems appropriate that any model used to describe such systems should have this feature as well. Evolutionary game theory should lead the way in the development of such methods.

This self-contained book systematically explores the statistical dynamics on and of complex networks having relevance across a large number of scientific disciplines. The theories related to complex networks are increasingly being used by researchers for their usefulness in harnessing the most difficult problems of a particular discipline. The book is a collection of surveys and cutting-edge research contributions exploring the interdisciplinary relationship of dynamics on and of complex networks. Topics covered include complex networks found in nature—genetic pathways, ecological networks, linguistic systems, and social systems—as well as man-made systems such as the World Wide Web and peer-to-peer networks. The contributed chapters in this volume are intended to promote cross-fertilization in several research areas, and will be valuable to newcomers in the field, experienced researchers, practitioners, and graduate students interested in systems exhibiting an underlying complex network structure in disciplines such as computer science, biology, statistical physics, nonlinear dynamics, linguistics, and the social sciences.

This book provides an essential understanding of statistical concepts necessary for the analysis of genomic and proteomic data using computational techniques. The author presents both basic and advanced topics, focusing on those that are relevant to the computational analysis of large data sets in biology. Chapters begin with a description of a statistical concept and a current example from biomedical research, followed by more detailed presentation, discussion of limitations, and problems. The book starts with an introduction to probability and statistics for genome-wide data, and moves into topics such as clustering, classification, multi-dimensional visualization, experimental design, statistical resampling, and statistical network analysis. Clearly explains the use of bioinformatics tools in life sciences research without requiring an advanced background in math/statistics Enables biomedical and life sciences researchers to successfully evaluate the validity of their results and make inferences Enables statistical and quantitative researchers to rapidly learn novel statistical concepts and techniques appropriate for large biological data analysis Carefully revisits frequently used statistical approaches and highlights their limitations in large biological data analysis Offers programming examples and datasets Includes chapter problem sets, a glossary, a list of statistical notations, and appendices with references to background mathematical and technical material Features supplementary materials, including datasets, links, and a statistical package available online Statistical Bioinformatics is an ideal textbook for students in medicine, life sciences, and bioengineering, aimed at researchers who utilize computational tools for the analysis of genomic, proteomic, and many other emerging high-throughput molecular data. It may also serve as a rapid introduction to the bioinformatics science for statistical and computational students and audiences who have not experienced such analysis tasks before.