The plateau principle is a mathematical model or scientific law originally developed to explain the time course of drug action (pharmacokinetics).[1] The principle has wide applicability in pharmacology, physiology, nutrition, biochemistry, and system dynamics. It applies whenever a drug or nutrient is infused or ingested at a relatively constant rate and when a constant fraction is eliminated during each time interval. Under these conditions, any change in the rate of infusion leads to an exponential increase or decrease until a new level is achieved. This behavior is also called an approach to steady state because rather than causing an indefinite increase or decrease, a natural balance is achieved when the rate of infusion or production is balanced by the rate of loss.
An especially important use of the plateau principle is to study the renewal of tissue constituents in the human and animal body. In adults, daily synthesis of tissue constituents is nearly constant, and most constituents are removed with a first-order reaction rate. Applicability of the plateau principle was recognized during radioactive tracer studies of protein turnover in the 1940s by Rudolph Schoenheimer[2] and David Rittenberg.[3] Unlike the case with drugs, the initial amount of tissue or tissue protein is not zero because daily synthesis offsets daily elimination. In this case, the model is also said to approach a steady state with exponential or logarithmic kinetics. Constituents that change in this manner are said to have a biological half-life.
A practical application of the plateau principle is that most people have experienced "plateauing" during regimens for weight management or training for sports. After a few weeks of progress, one seems unable to continue gaining in ability or losing weight. This outcome results from the same underlying quantitative model. This entry will describe the popular concepts as well as development of the plateau principle as a scientific, mathematical model.
In the sciences, the broadest application of the plateau principle is creating realistic time signatures for change in kinetic models (see Mathematical model). One example of this principle is the long time required to effectively change human body composition. Theoretical studies have shown that many months of consistent physical training and food restriction are needed to bring about permanent weight stability in people who were previously overweight.[4]
^Goldstein A, Aronow L, and Kalman SM. Principles of Drug Action. The Basis of Pharmacology. Harper and Row, New York, 1968.
^Schoenheimer R. The Dynamic State of Body Constituents. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1942.
^Pietro, Anthony San; Rittenberg, D. (1953). "A Study of the Rate of Protein Synthesis in Humans". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 201: 457–473. doi:10.1016/s0021-9258(18)71388-4.
^Chow, Carson C.; Hall, Kevin D. (2008). "The Dynamics of Human Body Weight Change". PLOS Computational Biology. 4 (3): e1000045. arXiv:0802.3234. Bibcode:2008PLSCB...4E0045C. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000045. PMC 2266991. PMID 18369435.
The plateauprinciple is a mathematical model or scientific law originally developed to explain the time course of drug action (pharmacokinetics). The...
The Peter principle is a concept in management developed by Laurence J. Peter which observes that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective...
loop diagram Comparison of system dynamics software Ecosystem model PlateauPrinciple System archetypes System Dynamics Society Twelve leverage points Wicked...
The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the...
The principle of original horizontality states that layers of sediment are originally deposited horizontally under the action of gravity. It is a relative...
The principle of lateral continuity states that layers of sediment initially extend laterally in all directions; in other words, they are laterally continuous...
value problems for the Laplace equation satisfy the Dirichlet's principle. Plateau's problem requires finding a surface of minimal area that spans a given...
k} given a total of n {\displaystyle n} components, for PCA have a flat plateau, where no data is captured to remove the quasi-static noise, then the curves...
160°23′E / 3.050°S 160.383°E / -3.050; 160.383 An oceanic or submarine plateau is a large, relatively flat elevation that is higher than the surrounding...
called Donglang (Chinese: 洞朗) by China, is an area in Bhutan with a high plateau and a valley, lying between China's Chumbi Valley to the north, Bhutan's...
The Rute Plateau (pronounced [ˈɾuːtɛ]; Slovene: Rutarska planota, also simply Rute) is a karst limestone plateau in Lower Carniola, Slovenia with an area...
The sonority sequencing principle (SSP) or sonority sequencing constraint is a phonotactic principle that aims to explain or predict the structure of a...
variational principle Minimal surface Morse theory Noether's theorem Path integral formulation Plateau's problem Prime geodesic Principle of least action...
The principle of individuation, or principium individuationis, describes the manner in which a thing is identified as distinct from other things. The...
Sphingomonas which has been isolated from soil crusts from the Colorado Plateau in the United States. LPSN lpsn.dsmz.de Straininfo of Sphingomonas mucosissima...
world's best-known radiation detection instruments. The original detection principle was realized in 1908 at the University of Manchester, but it was not until...
the Western Ghats, and the plains, comprising the plains of the Deccan plateau. Karnataka took its present shape in 1956, when the former states of Mysore...
positions of leadership or authority to remain in power, despite reaching a plateau in their careers. Individuals in this position may experience feelings...
or opposite direction. Plateau was inspired by Faraday's additional experiments and continued the research. In July 1832 Plateau sent a letter to Faraday...
because Plateau was almost completely blind by this time. In July 1833, Simon Stampfer described the possibility of using the stroboscope principle in a...
of the family continued to rule over northern China and the Mongolian Plateau into the 17th century, known as the Northern Yuan dynasty. Descendants...
mirror through slits in the disc). In January 1833, Plateau published a paper that introduced the principle of stroboscopic animation with a device that became...
organic-rich soils of the north, and the yellow soils from the central loess plateau. The chapter 繫辭上; Xì Cí shàng; 'The Great Treatise I' in the I Ching (易經;...
row with a succession of different plants (wheat is predominant on the Plateau) cultivated alternately with a long fallow period. From the fallow land...
Global Information