A chemically driven fluctuating ratchet model for actomyosin interaction

With reference to the experimental observations by T. Yanagida and his co-workers on actomyosin interaction, a Brownian motor of fluctuating ratchet kind is designed with the aim to describe the interaction between a Myosin II head and a neighboring actin filament. Our motor combines the dynamics of the myosin head with a chemical external system related to the ATP cycle, whose role is to provide the energy supply necessary to bias the motion. Analytical expressions for the duration of the ATP cycle, for the Gibbs free energy and for the net displacement of the myosin head are obtained. Finally, by exploiting a method due to Sekimoto (1997, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., 66, 1234), a formula is worked out for the amount of energy consumed during the ATP cycle.Comment: 15 pages. 1 figur

A stochastic model for the stepwise motion in actomyosin dynamics

A jump-diffusion process is proposed to describe the displacements performed by single myosin heads along actin filaments during the rising phases. The process consists of the superposition of a Wiener and a jump process, with jumps originated by sequences of Poisson-distributed energy-supplying pulses. In a previous paper, the amplitude of the jumps was described by a mixture of two Gaussian distributions. To embody the effects of ATP hydrolysis, we now refine such a model by assuming that the jumps' amplitude is described by a mixture of three Gaussian distributions. This model has been inspired by the experimental data of T. Yanagida and his co-workers concerning observations at single molecule processes level.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Error reporting in the healthcare

Errors are an inescapable part of medical activity. The only way organizations might be aware of errors and learn from them is through error reporting. Error reporting is a discretionary individual behavior that reflects the decision of individuals of communicating and disclosing errors to managers or supervisors, either verbally or through formal error reporting system. In this paper, we use the theoretical framework of behavioral reasoning theory to explore the reasoning processes underlying intentions to report errors in the workplace. We also investigate if the severity of error-related consequences might influence individuals’ formation of intentions. The findings of this study show that reasons, especially ‘reasons against’, are significantly associated with individuals’ intentions to report or not to report errors in the workplace over and above individuals’ attitudes, perceived control, and subjective norms (i.e. global motives). We discuss the implication of this study for theory and practice

On Myosin II dynamics in the presence of external loads

We address the controversial hot question concerning the validity of the loose coupling versus the lever-arm theories in the actomyosin dynamics by re-interpreting and extending the phenomenological washboard potential model proposed by some of us in a previous paper. In this new model a Brownian motion harnessing thermal energy is assumed to co-exist with the deterministic swing of the lever-arm, to yield an excellent fit of the set of data obtained by some of us on the sliding of Myosin II heads on immobilized actin filaments under various load conditions. Our theoretical arguments are complemented by accurate numerical simulations, and the robustness of the model is tested via different choices of parameters and potential profiles.Comment: 6 figures, 8 tables, to appear on Biosystem

The brain: What is critical about it?

We review the recent proposal that the most fascinating brain properties are related to the fact that it always stays close to a second order phase transition. In such conditions, the collective of neuronal groups can reliably generate robust and flexible behavior, because it is known that at the critical point there is the largest abundance of metastable states to choose from. Here we review the motivation, arguments and recent results, as well as further implications of this view of the functioning brain.Comment: Proceedings of BIOCOMP2007 - Collective Dynamics: Topics on Competition and Cooperation in the Biosciences. Vietri sul Mare, Italy (2007

The qT subtraction method: electroweak corrections and power suppressed contributions

Building upon the formulation of transverse-momentum resummation for heavy-quark hadroproduction, we present the first application of the qT subtraction formalism to the computation of electroweak corrections to massive lepton pairs through the Drell–Yan mechanism. We then study the power suppressed contributions to the qT subtraction formula in the parameter rcut, defined as the minimum transverse momentum of the lepton pair normalised to its invariant mass. We analytically compute the leading power correction from initial and final-state radiation to the inclusive cross section. In the case of initial-state radiation the power correction is quadratic in rcut and our analytic result is consistent with results previously obtained in the literature. Final-state radiation produces linear contributions in rcut that may challenge the efficiency of the qT subtraction procedure. We explicitly compute the linear power correction in the case of the inclusive cross section and we discuss the extension of our calculation to differential distributions

Molecular modelling of co-receptor CD8αα and its complex with MHC class I and T-cell receptor in sea bream (Sparus aurata)

T-cells are the main actors of cell-mediated immune defence; they recognize and respond to peptide antigens associated with MHC class I and class II molecules. In this paper, we investigated by molecular modelling methods in the teleost sea bream (Sparus aurata) the interaction among the molecules of the tertiary complex CD8/MHC-I/TCR, which determines the T-cell-mediated immunological response to foreign molecules. First, we predicted the three-dimensional structure of CD8αα dimer and MHC-I, and, successively, we simulated the CD8αα/MHC-I complex. Finally, the 3D structure of the CD8/MHC-I/TCR complex was simulated in order to investigate the possible changes that can influence TCR signalling events.L'articolo è disponibile sul sito dell'editore http://www.sciencedirect.com

Model-based guidance and control for atmospheric guided entry

This paper presents a solution of the translational control for a biconic atmospheric entry capsule using the bank angle as a command. The control algorithm is separated into path planning and reference-path tracking. The path-planning algorithm computes the entry trajectory from the navigated state at the Entry Interface Point until the desired Parachute Deployment Point. The algorithm aims to recover the landing site uncertainty caused by Entry Interface Point dispersions. Atmospheric and aerodynamic dispersions are compensated in real-time following the Embedded Model Control methodology in which parametric uncertainty is estimated and rejected as an external disturbance. A hierarchical control structure is designed for facilitating non-linear dynamic inversion of the altitude/density relation and tuning of noise estimators and control laws. Both path planning and reference-path tracking exploit longitudinal and lateral decomposition of the translational dynamics, as well as state equation linearization around a reference trajectory. The main concepts and solutions of the algorithms are presented without formal proofs of convergence, performance and stability. The results of a Monte Carlo simulation campaign conducted on a high fidelity simulator are provided and discussed