21,924 research outputs found
Statistical distributions in the folding of elastic structures
The behaviour of elastic structures undergoing large deformations is the
result of the competition between confining conditions, self-avoidance and
elasticity. This combination of multiple phenomena creates a geometrical
frustration that leads to complex fold patterns. By studying the case of a rod
confined isotropically into a disk, we show that the emergence of the
complexity is associated with a well defined underlying statistical measure
that determines the energy distribution of sub-elements,``branches'', of the
rod. This result suggests that branches act as the ``microscopic'' degrees of
freedom laying the foundations for a statistical mechanical theory of this
athermal and amorphous system
Digraphs and cycle polynomials for free-by-cyclic groups
Let \phi \in \mbox{Out}(F_n) be a free group outer automorphism that can be
represented by an expanding, irreducible train-track map. The automorphism
determines a free-by-cyclic group
and a homomorphism . By work of Neumann,
Bieri-Neumann-Strebel and Dowdall-Kapovich-Leininger, has an open cone
neighborhood in whose integral points
correspond to other fibrations of whose associated outer automorphisms
are themselves representable by expanding irreducible train-track maps. In this
paper, we define an analog of McMullen's Teichm\"uller polynomial that computes
the dilatations of all outer automorphism in .Comment: 41 pages, 20 figure
Effects of inherited structures on inversion tectonics: Examples from the Asturian Basin (NW Iberian Peninsula) interpreted in a Computer Assisted Virtual Environment (CAVE)
Map shows mid-nineteenth century Texas counties, major cities, towns, roads, railroads, and areas of Native American habitation. Includes detailed notes on map. Insets: "Plan of Sabine Lake," "Plan of the Northern Part of Texas," and "Plan of Galveston Bay." Relief shown by hachures. Depths shown by soundings on inset. Scales [ca. 1:2,350,000], [ca. 1: 529,000], [ca. 1:3,800,000], and [ca. 1:887,000]
The Energy Landscape, Folding Pathways and the Kinetics of a Knotted Protein
The folding pathway and rate coefficients of the folding of a knotted protein
are calculated for a potential energy function with minimal energetic
frustration. A kinetic transition network is constructed using the discrete
path sampling approach, and the resulting potential energy surface is
visualized by constructing disconnectivity graphs. Owing to topological
constraints, the low-lying portion of the landscape consists of three distinct
regions, corresponding to the native knotted state and to configurations where
either the N- or C-terminus is not yet folded into the knot. The fastest
folding pathways from denatured states exhibit early formation of the
N-terminus portion of the knot and a rate-determining step where the C-terminus
is incorporated. The low-lying minima with the N-terminus knotted and the
C-terminus free therefore constitute an off-pathway intermediate for this
model. The insertion of both the N- and C-termini into the knot occur late in
the folding process, creating large energy barriers that are the rate limiting
steps in the folding process. When compared to other protein folding proteins
of a similar length, this system folds over six orders of magnitude more
slowly.Comment: 19 page
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