1,518 research outputs found
Small-Signal Amplification of Period-Doubling Bifurcations in Smooth Iterated Maps
Various authors have shown that, near the onset of a period-doubling
bifurcation, small perturbations in the control parameter may result in much
larger disturbances in the response of the dynamical system. Such amplification
of small signals can be measured by a gain defined as the magnitude of the
disturbance in the response divided by the perturbation amplitude. In this
paper, the perturbed response is studied using normal forms based on the most
general assumptions of iterated maps. Such an analysis provides a theoretical
footing for previous experimental and numerical observations, such as the
failure of linear analysis and the saturation of the gain. Qualitative as well
as quantitative features of the gain are exhibited using selected models of
cardiac dynamics.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
Confluence of geodesic paths and separating loops in large planar quadrangulations
We consider planar quadrangulations with three marked vertices and discuss
the geometry of triangles made of three geodesic paths joining them. We also
study the geometry of minimal separating loops, i.e. paths of minimal length
among all closed paths passing by one of the three vertices and separating the
two others in the quadrangulation. We concentrate on the universal scaling
limit of large quadrangulations, also known as the Brownian map, where pairs of
geodesic paths or minimal separating loops have common parts of non-zero
macroscopic length. This is the phenomenon of confluence, which distinguishes
the geometry of random quadrangulations from that of smooth surfaces. We
characterize the universal probability distribution for the lengths of these
common parts.Comment: 48 pages, 33 color figures. Final version, with one concluding
paragraph and one reference added, and several other small correction
Modeling mutant phenotypes and oscillatory dynamics in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cAMP-PKA pathway
Background The cyclic AMP-Protein Kinase A (cAMP-PKA) pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signal transduction mechanism that regulates cellular growth and differentiation in animals and fungi. We present a mathematical model that recapitulates the short-term and long-term dynamics of this pathway in the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our model is aimed at recapitulating the dynamics of cAMP signaling for wild-type cells as well as single (pde1Δ and pde2Δ) and double (pde1Δpde2Δ) phosphodiesterase mutants. Results Our model focuses on PKA-mediated negative feedback on the activity of phosphodiesterases and the Ras branch of the cAMP-PKA pathway. We show that both of these types of negative feedback are required to reproduce the wild-type signaling behavior that occurs on both short and long time scales, as well as the the observed responses of phosphodiesterase mutants. A novel feature of our model is that, for a wide range of parameters, it predicts that intracellular cAMP concentrations should exhibit decaying oscillatory dynamics in their approach to steady state following glucose stimulation. Experimental measurements of cAMP levels in two genetic backgrounds of S. cerevisiae confirmed the presence of decaying cAMP oscillations as predicted by the model. Conclusions Our model of the cAMP-PKA pathway provides new insights into how yeast respond to alterations in their nutrient environment. Because the model has both predictive and explanatory power it will serve as a foundation for future mathematical and experimental studies of this important signaling network
Angler‐Caught Piscivore Diets Reflect Fish Community Changes in Lake Huron
Examination of angler‐caught piscivore stomachs revealed that Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush, Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, and Walleyes Sander vitreus altered their diets in response to unprecedented declines in Lake Huron’s main‐basin prey fish community. Diets varied by predator species, season, and location but were nearly always dominated numerically by some combination of Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, Rainbow Smelt Osmerus mordax, Emerald Shiner Notropis atherinoides, Round Goby Neogobius melanostomus, or terrestrial insects. Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (steelhead), Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch, and Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar had varied diets that reflected higher contributions of insects. Compared with an earlier (1983–1986) examination of angler‐caught predator fishes from Lake Huron, the contemporary results showed an increase in consumption of nontraditional prey (including conspecifics), use of smaller prey, and an increase in insects in the diet, suggesting that piscivores were faced with chronic prey limitation during this study. The management of all piscivores in Lake Huron will likely require consideration of the pervasive effects of changes in food webs, especially if prey fish remain at low levels.Received December 19, 2013; accepted June 30, 2014Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141251/1/tafs1419.pd
Rate-dependent propagation of cardiac action potentials in a one-dimensional fiber
Action potential duration (APD) restitution, which relates APD to the
preceding diastolic interval (DI), is a useful tool for predicting the onset of
abnormal cardiac rhythms. However, it is known that different pacing protocols
lead to different APD restitution curves (RCs). This phenomenon, known as APD
rate-dependence, is a consequence of memory in the tissue. In addition to APD
restitution, conduction velocity restitution also plays an important role in
the spatiotemporal dynamics of cardiac tissue. We present new results
concerning rate-dependent restitution in the velocity of propagating action
potentials in a one-dimensional fiber. Our numerical simulations show that,
independent of the amount of memory in the tissue, waveback velocity exhibits
pronounced rate-dependence and the wavefront velocity does not. Moreover, the
discrepancy between waveback velocity RCs is most significant for small DI. We
provide an analytical explanation of these results, using a system of coupled
maps to relate the wavefront and waveback velocities. Our calculations show
that waveback velocity rate-dependence is due to APD restitution, not memory.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure
Force distributions in a triangular lattice of rigid bars
We study the uniformly weighted ensemble of force balanced configurations on
a triangular network of nontensile contact forces. For periodic boundary
conditions corresponding to isotropic compressive stress, we find that the
probability distribution for single-contact forces decays faster than
exponentially. This super-exponential decay persists in lattices diluted to the
rigidity percolation threshold. On the other hand, for anisotropic imposed
stresses, a broader tail emerges in the force distribution, becoming a pure
exponential in the limit of infinite lattice size and infinitely strong
anisotropy.Comment: 11 pages, 17 figures Minor text revisions; added references and
acknowledgmen
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