Electrostatic forces on charged surfaces of bilayer lipid membranes

Simulating protein-membrane interactions is an important and dynamic area of research. A proper definition of electrostatic forces on membrane surfaces is necessary for developing electromechanical models of protein-membrane interactions. Here we modeled the bilayer membrane as a continuum with general continuous distributions of lipids charges on membrane surfaces. A new electrostatic potential energy functional was then defined for this solvated protein-membrane system. We investigated the geometrical transformation properties of the membrane surfaces under a smooth velocity field. These properties allows us to apply the Hadamard-Zolesio structure theorem, and the electrostatic forces on membrane surfaces can be computed as the shape derivative of the electrostatic energy functional

Multimodal learning for dyslexic musicians: Practical applications for adults

Dyslexia affects 15 to 20% of the population according to the International Dyslexia Association. Multimodal media, such as smartphones and tablets, which are capable of presenting varied modes of information (for example, visual, aural, and kinetic), have been shown to aid learning in dyslexic children. Music has been identified as a useful multisensory tool to help educators improve literacy skills in children. However, little research has been done on the impact of dyslexia on a child or adult’s ability to learn and perform music. Few studies have been undertaken that focus solely on dyslexia’s effect on musical ability in children; even fewer address dyslexia in adult musicians. This study summarises the techniques and suggestions in the literature used by both professional dyslexic musicians and educators of dyslexic children. It is hoped that this summary can inform the creation of a resource that assist musicians and their educators to use in tackling the challenges dyslexia can pose in learning and performing music. A proposed customisable music reading application is described in detail. This application would utilise the multimodal nature of tablet computers and smartphones to suit the learning styles of dyslexic musicians

Net.Sense

Net.sense will server as a proof-of-concept of a new type of network management system, using biological models and statistical principles to address scalability, predictability, and reliability issues associated with managing the highly complex computer systems that we as a society have come to depend on

Sensitivity analysis of the basic reproduction number and other quantities for infectious disease models

2012 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Performing forward sensitivity analysis has been an integral component of mathematical modeling, yet its implementation becomes increasingly difficult with a model's complexity. For infectious disease models in particular, the sensitivity analysis of a parameter known as the basic reproduction number, or R0, has dominated the attention of ecology modelers. While the biological definition of R0 is well established, its mathematical construction is elusive. An index with a concrete mathematical definition that in many cases matches the biological interpretation of R0 is presented. A software package called Sensai that automatically computes this index and its sensitivity analysis is also presented. Other "quantities of interest" that provide similar information to R0 can also be implemented in Sensai and their sensitivities computed. Finally, some example models are presented and analyzed using Sensai

The outline of the philosophy of spiritual being from the Thomistic perspective

From the Thomistic point of view, the outline of philosophy of spiritual being takes into account three basic dimensions of the spirit. The first deals with the existence of independent personal beings, i.e. individual substances: God, angelic beings and human souls. The second is related to the fundamental phenomena of the inner life of a person, that is powers of the soul, their acts and objects. The last form of the spirit deals with personal external activity in the course of which all kinds of extra-mental beings are created. These include, above all, the multiple forms of the so-called spiritual culture, present nowadays mainly in science, art, morals and religion.From the Thomistic point of view, the outline of philosophy of spiritual being takes into account three basic dimensions of the spirit. The first deals with the existence of independent personal beings, i.e. individual substances: God, angelic beings and human souls. The second is related to the fundamental phenomena of the inner life of a person, that is powers of the soul, their acts and objects. The last form of the spirit deals with personal external activity in the course of which all kinds of extra-mental beings are created. These include, above all, the multiple forms of the so-called spiritual culture, present nowadays mainly in science, art, morals and religion

The Host-Pathogen Interactions and Epicellular Lifestyle of Neisseria meningitidis

Neisseria meningitidis is a gram-negative diplococcus and a transient commensal of the human nasopharynx. It shares and competes for this niche with a number of other Neisseria species including N. lactamica, N. cinerea and N. mucosa. Unlike these other members of the genus, N. meningitidis may become invasive, crossing the epithelium of the nasopharynx and entering the bloodstream, where it rapidly proliferates causing a syndrome known as Invasive Meningococcal Disease (IMD). IMD progresses rapidly to cause septic shock and meningitis and is often fatal despite aggressive antibiotic therapy. While many of the ways in which meningococci survive in the host environment have been well studied, recent insights into the interactions between N. meningitidis and the epithelial, serum, and endothelial environments have expanded our understanding of how IMD develops. This review seeks to incorporate recent work into the established model of pathogenesis. In particular, we focus on the competition that N. meningitidis faces in the nasopharynx from other Neisseria species, and how the genetic diversity of the meningococcus contributes to the wide range of inflammatory and pathogenic potentials observed among different lineages

From Molecules to Whole Organisms: Insect Responses to Climate Change

Global atmospheric temperatures are rising at accelerated rates, exposing organisms to novel and potentially unsuitable changes in their environment. In order to survive changes in their thermal environments, organisms can employ physiological plasticity on short time scales or species can adapt over evolutionary time. Species may utilize one or both of these strategies to ensure survival; however, if they are incapable of responding to change, they may face extinction. Insect species may be some of the most vulnerable organisms experiencing climate change-induced alterations in their thermal environments because, as ectotherms, temperature influences nearly all of their physiological processes. By characterizing physiological responses to global change, we can begin to understand how organisms are currently responding to climate change and predict how organisms may respond in the future. My research aims to elucidate how insects respond to changes in their thermal environment by examining multiple physiological responses to winter warming in diapausing Pieris rapae butterflies, and the evolution of transcriptomic responses to heat shock in early Drosophila melanogaster embryos. Winter warming caused P. rapae butterflies to have compromised supercooling points, lowered cryoprotectant abundances, shifted metabolomes, more variable metabolic rates, and switches in energy fuel usage. While heat shock caused thermally sensitive early D. melanogaster embryos to exhibit changes in the abundance of thousands of gene transcripts, regardless of the region of origin. But, D. melanogaster embryos with higher thermal tolerance from tropical populations had higher abundance of key transcripts that encode proteins involved in the oxidative stress response. My results suggest that insects endure a broad suite of physiological consequences when the temperature increases. Will these species survive climate change? My work suggests that diapausing P. rapae may be threatened by winter warming, but also shows that some individuals can recover from winter warming. My work also demonstrates that the evolutionary genetic basis of heat tolerance in early D. melanogaster embryos is mediated at the level of the transcriptome, and suggests that D. melanogaster has the potential for adaptation to heat shock temperatures. However, to what extent these species will be challenged by future warming patterns, and if they will continue to evolve and adapt at a rate suitable for survival, needs to be further studied