933 research outputs found
Dynamical description of vesicle growth and shape change
We systematize and extend the description of vesicle growth and shape change
using linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics. By restricting the study to shape
changes from spheres to axisymmetric ellipsoids, we are able to give a
consistent formulation which includes the lateral tension of the vesicle
membrane. This allows us to generalize and correct a previous calculation. Our
present calculations suggest that, for small growing vesicles, a prolate
ellipsoidal shape should be favored over oblate ellipsoids, whereas for large
growing vesicles oblates should be favored over prolates. The validity of this
prediction is examined in the light of the various assumptions made in its
derivation.Comment: 6 page
A spatial model of autocatalytic reactions
Biological cells with all of their surface structure and complex interior
stripped away are essentially vesicles - membranes composed of lipid bilayers
which form closed sacs. Vesicles are thought to be relevant as models of
primitive protocells, and they could have provided the ideal environment for
pre-biotic reactions to occur. In this paper, we investigate the stochastic
dynamics of a set of autocatalytic reactions, within a spatially bounded
domain, so as to mimic a primordial cell. The discreteness of the constituents
of the autocatalytic reactions gives rise to large sustained oscillations, even
when the number of constituents is quite large. These oscillations are
spatio-temporal in nature, unlike those found in previous studies, which
consisted only of temporal oscillations. We speculate that these oscillations
may have a role in seeding membrane instabilities which lead to vesicle
division. In this way synchronization could be achieved between protocell
growth and the reproduction rate of the constituents (the protogenetic
material) in simple protocells.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
On RAF Sets and Autocatalytic Cycles in Random Reaction Networks
The emergence of autocatalytic sets of molecules seems to have played an
important role in the origin of life context. Although the possibility to
reproduce this emergence in laboratory has received considerable attention,
this is still far from being achieved. In order to unravel some key properties
enabling the emergence of structures potentially able to sustain their own
existence and growth, in this work we investigate the probability to observe
them in ensembles of random catalytic reaction networks characterized by
different structural properties. From the point of view of network topology, an
autocatalytic set have been defined either in term of strongly connected
components (SCCs) or as reflexively autocatalytic and food-generated sets
(RAFs). We observe that the average level of catalysis differently affects the
probability to observe a SCC or a RAF, highlighting the existence of a region
where the former can be observed, whereas the latter cannot. This parameter
also affects the composition of the RAF, which can be further characterized
into linear structures, autocatalysis or SCCs. Interestingly, we show that the
different network topology (uniform as opposed to power-law catalysis systems)
does not have a significantly divergent impact on SCCs and RAFs appearance,
whereas the proportion between cleavages and condensations seems instead to
play a role. A major factor that limits the probability of RAF appearance and
that may explain some of the difficulties encountered in laboratory seems to be
the presence of molecules which can accumulate without being substrate or
catalyst of any reaction.Comment: pp 113-12
Diet and primary prevention of stroke: Systematic review and dietary recommendations by the ad hoc Working Group of the Italian Society of Human Nutrition
Abstract Background and aims To systematically review the latest evidence on established and emerging nutrition-related risk factors for incidence of and mortality from total, ischemic and haemorrhagic strokes. The present review was conducted in the framework of the work carried out through 2015 and 2016 for the preparation of the Italian Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Stroke, 8th Edition, by ISO-SPREAD (Italian Stroke Organization and the Stroke Prevention and Educational Awareness Diffusion). Methods and results Systematic review of articles focused on primary prevention of stroke published between January 2013 to May 2016 through an extensive search of the literature using MEDLINE/PUBMED, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library. Articles were ranked according to the SIGN methodology while the GRADE system was used to establish the strength of recommendations. As a result of our literature search, we examined 87 meta-analyses overall (mainly of prospective studies), a few isolated more recent prospective studies not included in the meta-analyses, and a smaller number of available randomized controlled trials and case–control studies. Based on the analysis of the above articles, 36 Syntheses of the available evidence and 36 Recommendations were eventually prepared. The present document was developed by organizing the available evidence into three individual areas (nutrients, food groups and dietary patterns) to provide a systematic and user-friendly overview of the available evidence on the relationship between nutrition and primary prevention of stroke. Yet analysis of foods and food patterns allowed translating the information about nutrients in a tool more amenable to use in daily life also in the light of the argument that people eat foods rather than nutrients. Conclusions The present literature review and dietary recommendations provide healthcare professionals and all interested readers with a useful overview for the reduction of the risk of total, ischemic and haemorrhagic stroke through dietary modifications
Stability of growing vesicles
We investigate the stability of growing vesicles using the formalism of
nonequilibrium thermodynamics. The vesicles are growing due to the accretion of
lipids to the bilayer which forms the vesicle membrane. The thermodynamic
description is based on the hydrodynamics of a water{/}lipid mixture together
with a model of the vesicle as a discontinuous system in the sense of linear
nonequilibrium thermodynamics. This formulation allows the forces and fluxes
relevant to the dynamic stability of the vesicle to be identified. The method
is used to analyze the stability of a spherical vesicle against arbitrary
axisymmetric perturbations. It is found that there are generically two critical
radii at which changes of stability occur. In the case where the perturbation
takes the form of a single zonal harmonic, only one of these radii is physical
and is given by the ratio , where is the hydraulic
conductivity and is the Onsager coefficient related to changes in
membrane area due to lipid accretion. The stability of such perturbations is
related to the value of corresponding to the particular zonal harmonic:
those with lower are more unstable than those with higher . Possible
extensions of the current work and the need for experimental input are
discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure
Computing, Design, Art: Reflections on an Innovative Moment in History
The paper is concerned with the role of art and design in the history and philosophy of computing. It offers insights arising from research into a period in the 1960s and 70s, particularly in the UK, when computing became more available to artists and designers, focusing on John Lansdown (1929-1999) and Bruce Archer (1922-2005) in London. Models of computing interacted with conceptualisations of art, design and related creative activities in important ways
Coupled Growth and Division of Model Protocell Membranes
The generation of synthetic forms of cellular life requires solutions to the problem of how biological processes such as cyclic growth and division could emerge from purely physical and chemical systems. Small unilamellar fatty acid vesicles grow when fed with fatty acid micelles and can be forced to divide by extrusion, but this artificial division process results in significant loss of protocell contents during each division cycle. Here we describe a simple and efficient pathway for model protocell membrane growth and division. The growth of large multilamellar fatty acid vesicles fed with fatty acid micelles, in a solution where solute permeation across the membranes is slow, results in the transformation of initially spherical vesicles into long thread-like vesicles, a process driven by the transient imbalance between surface area and volume growth. Modest shear forces are then sufficient to cause the thread-like vesicles to divide into multiple daughter vesicles without loss of internal contents. In an environment of gentle shear, protocell growth and division are thus coupled processes. We show that model protocells can proceed through multiple cycles of reproduction. Encapsulated RNA molecules, representing a primitive genome, are distributed to the daughter vesicles. Our observations bring us closer to the laboratory synthesis of a complete protocell consisting of a self-replicating genome and a self-replicating membrane compartment. In addition, the robustness and simplicity of this pathway suggests that similar processes might have occurred under the prebiotic conditions of the early Earth.Exobiology Program (U.S.) (Grant EXB02- 0031-0018)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Exobiology Program) (Grant EXB02-0031-0018)Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Investigator
Study of the Decay phi --> eta pi0 gamma with the KLOE detector
In a sample of 5.3x10^7 phi-decays observed with the KLOE detector at the
Frascati phi-factory Dafne we find 605 eta pi0 gamma events with eta -->
gamma\gamma and 197 eta pi0 gamma events with eta --> pi+ pi- pi0. The decay
phi --> eta pi0 gamma is dominated by the process phi --> a0 gamma. From a fit
to the eta pi0 mass spectrum we find BR(phi --> ao(980) gamma)= (7.4 +-
0.7)x10^-5.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys.Lett.
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