2,668 research outputs found
Entropy driven key-lock assembly
The effective interaction between a sphere with an open cavity (lock) and a
spherical macroparticle (key), both immersed in a hard sphere fluid, is studied
by means of Monte Carlo simulations. As a result, a 2d map of the key-lock
effective interaction potential is constructed, which leads to the proposal of
a self-assembling mechanism: there exists trajectories through which the
key-lock pair could assemble avoiding trespassing potential barriers. Hence,
solely the entropic contribution can induce their self-assembling even in the
absence of attractive forces. This study points out the solvent contribution
within the underlying mechanisms of substrate-protein assembly/disassembly
processes, which are important steps of the enzyme catalysis and protein
mediated transport
Living on the edge of chaos: minimally nonlinear models of genetic regulatory dynamics
Linearized catalytic reaction equations modeling e.g. the dynamics of genetic
regulatory networks under the constraint that expression levels, i.e. molecular
concentrations of nucleic material are positive, exhibit nontrivial dynamical
properties, which depend on the average connectivity of the reaction network.
In these systems the inflation of the edge of chaos and multi-stability have
been demonstrated to exist. The positivity constraint introduces a nonlinearity
which makes chaotic dynamics possible. Despite the simplicity of such minimally
nonlinear systems, their basic properties allow to understand fundamental
dynamical properties of complex biological reaction networks. We analyze the
Lyapunov spectrum, determine the probability to find stationary oscillating
solutions, demonstrate the effect of the nonlinearity on the effective in- and
out-degree of the active interaction network and study how the frequency
distributions of oscillatory modes of such system depend on the average
connectivity.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Stub model for dephasing in a quantum dot
As an alternative to Buttiker's dephasing lead model, we examine a dephasing
stub. Both models are phenomenological ways to introduce decoherence in chaotic
scattering by a quantum dot. The difference is that the dephasing lead opens up
the quantum dot by connecting it to an electron reservoir, while the dephasing
stub is closed at one end. Voltage fluctuations in the stub take over the
dephasing role from the reservoir. Because the quantum dot with dephasing lead
is an open system, only expectation values of the current can be forced to
vanish at low frequencies, while the outcome of an individual measurement is
not so constrained. The quantum dot with dephasing stub, in contrast, remains a
closed system with a vanishing low-frequency current at each and every
measurement. This difference is a crucial one in the context of quantum
algorithms, which are based on the outcome of individual measurements rather
than on expectation values. We demonstrate that the dephasing stub model has a
parameter range in which the voltage fluctuations are sufficiently strong to
suppress quantum interference effects, while still being sufficiently weak that
classical current fluctuations can be neglected relative to the nonequilibrium
shot noise.Comment: 8 pages with 1 figure; contribution for the special issue of J.Phys.A
on "Trends in Quantum Chaotic Scattering
Scale-Free topologies and Activatory-Inhibitory interactions
A simple model of activatory-inhibitory interactions controlling the activity
of agents (substrates) through a "saturated response" dynamical rule in a
scale-free network is thoroughly studied. After discussing the most remarkable
dynamical features of the model, namely fragmentation and multistability, we
present a characterization of the temporal (periodic and chaotic) fluctuations
of the quasi-stasis asymptotic states of network activity. The double (both
structural and dynamical) source of entangled complexity of the system temporal
fluctuations, as an important partial aspect of the Correlation
Structure-Function problem, is further discussed to the light of the numerical
results, with a view on potential applications of these general results.Comment: Revtex style, 12 pages and 12 figures. Enlarged manuscript with major
revision and new results incorporated. To appear in Chaos (2006
Geometric Universality of Currents
We discuss a non-equilibrium statistical system on a graph or network.
Identical particles are injected, interact with each other, traverse, and leave
the graph in a stochastic manner described in terms of Poisson rates, possibly
dependent on time and instantaneous occupation numbers at the nodes of the
graph. We show that under the assumption of constancy of the relative rates,
the system demonstrates a profound statistical symmetry, resulting in geometric
universality of the statistics of the particle currents. This phenomenon
applies broadly to many man-made and natural open stochastic systems, such as
queuing of packages over the internet, transport of electrons and
quasi-particles in mesoscopic systems, and chains of reactions in bio-chemical
networks. We illustrate the utility of our general approach using two enabling
examples from the two latter disciplines.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Michaelis-Menten dynamics in protein subnetworks
To understand the behaviour of complex systems it is often necessary to use
models that describe the dynamics of subnetworks. It has previously been
established using projection methods that such subnetwork dynamics generically
involves memory of the past, and that the memory functions can be calculated
explicitly for biochemical reaction networks made up of unary and binary
reactions. However, many established network models involve also
Michaelis-Menten kinetics, to describe e.g. enzymatic reactions. We show that
the projection approach to subnetwork dynamics can be extended to such
networks, thus significantly broadening its range of applicability. To derive
the extension we construct a larger network that represents enzymes and enzyme
complexes explicitly, obtain the projected equations, and finally take the
limit of fast enzyme reactions that gives back Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The
crucial point is that this limit can be taken in closed form. The outcome is a
simple procedure that allows one to obtain a description of subnetwork
dynamics, including memory functions, starting directly from any given network
of unary, binary and Michaelis-Menten reactions. Numerical tests show that this
closed form enzyme elimination gives a much more accurate description of the
subnetwork dynamics than the simpler method that represents enzymes explicitly,
and is also more efficient computationally
Patterns and localized structures in bistable semiconductor resonators
We report experiments on spatial switching dynamics and steady state
structures of passive nonlinear semiconductor resonators of large Fresnel
number. Extended patterns and switching front dynamics are observed and
investigated. Evidence of localization of structures is given.Comment: 5 pages with 9 figure
Interactions at the silica-peptide interface: influence of the extent of functionalization on the conformational ensemble
In this contribution, the effect of silica particle size (28 and 210 nm) and surface chemistry (i.e. hydroxyl, methyl or amino groups) on peptide binding response is studied with a specific emphasis on the effect of extent of functionalization on binding. Exhaustive characterization of the silica surfaces was crucial for knowledge of the chemistry and topography of the solid surface under study; and thus, to understand their impact on adsorption and the conformational ensemble of the peptides. The extent of surface functionalization was shown to be particle-size dependent, a higher level of 3-aminopropyl functionality being obtained for smaller particles, while a higher degree of methyl group functionality was found on the larger particles. We demonstrated that peptide interactions at the aqueous interface were not only influenced by the surface chemistry but by the extent of functionalization where a 'switch' of peptide adsorption behavior was observed, while changes in the conformational ensemble revealed by circular dichroism were independent of the extent of functionalization. In addition to electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding driving interaction at the silica-peptide interface the data obtained suggested that stronger interactions such as hydrophobic and/or covalent interactions may moderate interaction. The insights gained from this peptide-mineral study give a more comprehensive view of mechanisms concerning mineral-peptide interactions which may allow for the design and synthesis of novel (nano)materials with properties tailored for specific applications
Coherent population trapping in a dressed two-level atom via a bichromatic field
We show theoretically that by applying a bichromatic electromagnetic field,
the dressed states of a monochromatically driven two-level atom can be pumped
into a coherent superposition termed as dressed-state coherent population
trapping. Such effect can be viewed as a new doorknob to manipulate a two-level
system via its control over dressed-state populations. Application of this
effect in the precision measurement of Rabi frequency, the unexpected
population inversion and lasing without inversion are discussed to demonstrate
such controllability.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Theory of electronic transport through a triple quantum dot in the presence of magnetic field
Theory of electronic transport through a triangular triple quantum dot
subject to a perpendicular magnetic field is developed using a tight binding
model. We show that magnetic field allows to engineer degeneracies in the
triple quantum dot energy spectrum. The degeneracies lead to zero electronic
transmission and sharp dips in the current whenever a pair of degenerate states
lies between the chemical potential of the two leads. These dips can occur with
a periodicity of one flux quantum if only two levels contribute to the current
or with half flux quantum if the three levels of the triple dot contribute. The
effect of strong bias voltage and different lead-to-dot connections on
Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the conductance is also discussed
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