13,741 research outputs found
Length control of microtubules by depolymerizing motor proteins
In many intracellular processes, the length distribution of microtubules is
controlled by depolymerizing motor proteins. Experiments have shown that,
following non-specific binding to the surface of a microtubule, depolymerizers
are transported to the microtubule tip(s) by diffusion or directed walk and,
then, depolymerize the microtubule from the tip(s) after accumulating there. We
develop a quantitative model to study the depolymerizing action of such a
generic motor protein, and its possible effects on the length distribution of
microtubules. We show that, when the motor protein concentration in solution
exceeds a critical value, a steady state is reached where the length
distribution is, in general, non-monotonic with a single peak. However, for
highly processive motors and large motor densities, this distribution
effectively becomes an exponential decay. Our findings suggest that such motor
proteins may be selectively used by the cell to ensure precise control of MT
lengths. The model is also used to analyze experimental observations of
motor-induced depolymerization.Comment: Added section with figures and significantly expanded text, current
version to appear in Europhys. Let
Collective traffic-like movement of ants on a trail: dynamical phases and phase transitions
The traffic-like collective movement of ants on a trail can be described by a
stochastic cellular automaton model. We have earlier investigated its unusual
flow-density relation by using various mean field approximations and computer
simulations. In this paper, we study the model following an alternative
approach based on the analogy with the zero range process, which is one of the
few known exactly solvable stochastic dynamical models. We show that our theory
can quantitatively account for the unusual non-monotonic dependence of the
average speed of the ants on their density for finite lattices with periodic
boundary conditions. Moreover, we argue that the model exhibits a continuous
phase transition at the critial density only in a limiting case. Furthermore,
we investigate the phase diagram of the model by replacing the periodic
boundary conditions by open boundary conditions.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Cluster formation and anomalous fundamental diagram in an ant trail model
A recently proposed stochastic cellular automaton model ({\it J. Phys. A 35,
L573 (2002)}), motivated by the motions of ants in a trail, is investigated in
detail in this paper. The flux of ants in this model is sensitive to the
probability of evaporation of pheromone, and the average speed of the ants
varies non-monotonically with their density. This remarkable property is
analyzed here using phenomenological and microscopic approximations thereby
elucidating the nature of the spatio-temporal organization of the ants. We find
that the observations can be understood by the formation of loose clusters,
i.e. space regions of enhanced, but not maximal, density.Comment: 11 pages, REVTEX, with 11 embedded EPS file
Grand Challenges of Traceability: The Next Ten Years
In 2007, the software and systems traceability community met at the first
Natural Bridge symposium on the Grand Challenges of Traceability to establish
and address research goals for achieving effective, trustworthy, and ubiquitous
traceability. Ten years later, in 2017, the community came together to evaluate
a decade of progress towards achieving these goals. These proceedings document
some of that progress. They include a series of short position papers,
representing current work in the community organized across four process axes
of traceability practice. The sessions covered topics from Trace Strategizing,
Trace Link Creation and Evolution, Trace Link Usage, real-world applications of
Traceability, and Traceability Datasets and benchmarks. Two breakout groups
focused on the importance of creating and sharing traceability datasets within
the research community, and discussed challenges related to the adoption of
tracing techniques in industrial practice. Members of the research community
are engaged in many active, ongoing, and impactful research projects. Our hope
is that ten years from now we will be able to look back at a productive decade
of research and claim that we have achieved the overarching Grand Challenge of
Traceability, which seeks for traceability to be always present, built into the
engineering process, and for it to have "effectively disappeared without a
trace". We hope that others will see the potential that traceability has for
empowering software and systems engineers to develop higher-quality products at
increasing levels of complexity and scale, and that they will join the active
community of Software and Systems traceability researchers as we move forward
into the next decade of research
Flow properties of driven-diffusive lattice gases: theory and computer simulation
We develop n-cluster mean-field theories (0 < n < 5) for calculating the flow
properties of the non-equilibrium steady-states of the Katz-Lebowitz-Spohn
model of the driven diffusive lattice gas, with attractive and repulsive
inter-particle interactions, in both one and two dimensions for arbitrary
particle densities, temperature as well as the driving field. We compare our
theoretical results with the corresponding numerical data we have obtained from
the computer simulations to demonstrate the level of accuracy of our
theoretical predictions. We also compare our results with those for some other
prototype models, notably particle-hopping models of vehicular traffic, to
demonstrate the novel qualitative features we have observed in the
Katz-Lebowitz-Spohn model, emphasizing, in particular, the consequences of
repulsive inter-particle interactions.Comment: 12 RevTex page
Optimizing Traffic Lights in a Cellular Automaton Model for City Traffic
We study the impact of global traffic light control strategies in a recently
proposed cellular automaton model for vehicular traffic in city networks. The
model combines basic ideas of the Biham-Middleton-Levine model for city traffic
and the Nagel-Schreckenberg model for highway traffic. The city network has a
simple square lattice geometry. All streets and intersections are treated
equally, i.e., there are no dominant streets. Starting from a simple
synchronized strategy we show that the capacity of the network strongly depends
on the cycle times of the traffic lights. Moreover we point out that the
optimal time periods are determined by the geometric characteristics of the
network, i.e., the distance between the intersections. In the case of
synchronized traffic lights the derivation of the optimal cycle times in the
network can be reduced to a simpler problem, the flow optimization of a single
street with one traffic light operating as a bottleneck. In order to obtain an
enhanced throughput in the model improved global strategies are tested, e.g.,
green wave and random switching strategies, which lead to surprising results.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure
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