2,687 research outputs found
Semiconservative quasispecies equations for polysomic genomes: The general case
This paper develops a formulation of the quasispecies equations appropriate
for polysomic, semiconservatively replicating genomes. This paper is an
extension of previous work on the subject, which considered the case of haploid
genomes. Here, we develop a more general formulation of the quasispecies
equations that is applicable to diploid and even polyploid genomes.
Interestingly, with an appropriate classification of population fractions, we
obtain a system of equations that is formally identical to the haploid case. As
with the work for haploid genomes, we consider both random and immortal DNA
strand chromosome segregation mechanisms. However, in contrast to the haploid
case, we have found that an analytical solution for the mean fitness is
considerably more difficult to obtain for the polyploid case. Accordingly,
whereas for the haploid case we obtained expressions for the mean fitness for
the case of an analogue of the single-fitness-peak landscape for arbitrary
lesion repair probabilities (thereby allowing for non-complementary genomes),
here we solve for the mean fitness for the restricted case of perfect lesion
repair.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure
A fundamental test of the Higgs Yukawa coupling at RHIC in A+A collisions
Searches for the intermediate boson, , the heavy quantum of the Weak
Interaction, via its semi-leptonic decay, , in the 1970's instead
discovered unexpectedly large hadron production at high , notably ,
which provided a huge background of from internal and external
conversions. Methods developed at the CERN ISR which led to the discovery of
direct-single- in 1974, later determined to be from the semi-leptonic
decay of charm which had not yet been discovered, were used by PHENIX at RHIC
to make precision measurements of heavy quark production in p-p and Au+Au
collisions, leading to the puzzle of apparent equal suppression of light and
heavy quarks in the QGP. If the Higgs mechanism gives mass to gauge bosons but
not to fermions, then a proposal that all 6 quarks are nearly massless in a
QGP, which would resolve the puzzle, can not be excluded. This proposal can be
tested with future measurements of heavy quark correlations in A+A collisionsComment: 12 pages, 16 figures, 26th Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics, Ocho
Rios, Jamaica WI, January 2-9, 2010. Corrected citation of 1974 direct single
lepton discover
Debye screening in strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma
Using the AdS/CFT correspondence, we examine the behavior of correlators of
Polyakov loops and other operators in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory at
non-zero temperature. The implications for Debye screening in this strongly
coupled non-Abelian plasma, and comparisons with available results for thermal
QCD, are discussed.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, significantly expanded discussion of Polyakov
loop correlator and static quark-antiquark potentia
Asexual and sexual replication in sporulating organisms
This paper develops models describing asexual and sexual replication in
sporulating organisms. Replication via sporulation is the replication strategy
for all multicellular life, and may even be observed in unicellular life (such
as with budding yeast). We consider diploid populations replicating via one of
two possible sporulation mechanisms: (1) Asexual sporulation, whereby adult
organisms produce single-celled diploid spores that grow into adults
themselves. (2) Sexual sporulation, whereby adult organisms produce
single-celled diploid spores that divide into haploid gametes. The haploid
gametes enter a haploid "pool", where they may recombine with other haploids to
form a diploid spore that then grows into an adult. We consider a haploid
fusion rate given by second-order reaction kinetics. We work with a simplified
model where the diploid genome consists of only two chromosomes, each of which
may be rendered defective with a single point mutation of the wild-type. We
find that the asexual strategy is favored when the rate of spore production is
high compared to the characteristic growth rate from a spore to a reproducing
adult. Conversely, the sexual strategy is favored when the rate of spore
production is low compared to the characteristic growth rate from a spore to a
reproducing adult. As the characteristic growth time increases, or as the
population density increases, the critical ratio of spore production rate to
organism growth rate at which the asexual strategy overtakes the sexual one is
pushed to higher values. Therefore, the results of this model suggest that, for
complex multicellular organisms, sexual replication is favored at high
population densities, and low growth and sporulation rates.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, to be submitted to Journal of Theoretical
Biology, figures not included in this submissio
Transverse momentum fluctuations and percolation of strings
The behaviour of the transverse momentum fluctuations with the centrality of
the collision shown by the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider data is naturally
explained by the clustering of color sources. In this framework, elementary
color sources --strings-- overlap forming clusters, so the number of effective
sources is modified. These clusters decay into particles with mean transverse
momentum that depends on the number of elementary sources that conform each
cluster, and the area occupied by the cluster. The transverse momentum
fluctuations in this approach correspond to the fluctuations of the transverse
momentum of these clusters, and they behave essentially as the number of
effective sources.Comment: 16 pages, RevTex, 4 postscript figures. Enhanced version. New figure
PHENIX Highlights
Recent highlights of measurements by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC are
presented.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. Talk at Quark Matter 200
S-nitrosation of proteins relevant to Alzheimer's disease during early stages of neurodegeneration
Protein S-nitrosation (SNO-protein), the nitric oxide-mediated posttranslational modification of cysteine thiols, is an important regulatory mechanism of protein function in both physiological and pathological pathways. A key first step toward elucidating the mechanism by which S-nitrosation modulates a protein's function is identification of the targeted cysteine residues. Here, we present a strategy for the simultaneous identification of SNO-cysteine sites and their cognate proteins to profile the brain of the CK-p25-inducible mouse model of Alzheimer's disease-like neurodegeneration. The approach-SNOTRAP (SNO trapping by triaryl phosphine)-is a direct tagging strategy that uses phosphinebased chemical probes, allowing enrichment of SNO-peptides and their identification by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. SNOTRAP identified 313 endogenous SNO-sites in 251 proteins in the mouse brain, of which 135 SNO-proteins were detected only during neurodegeneration. S-nitrosation in the brain shows regional differences and becomes elevated during early stages of neurodegeneration in the CK-p25 mouse. The SNO-proteome during early neurodegeneration identified increased S-nitrosation of proteins important for synapse function, metabolism, and Alzheimer's disease pathology. In the latter case, proteins related to amyloid precursor protein processing and secretion are S-nitrosated, correlating with increased amyloid formation. Sequence analysis of SNO-cysteine sites identified potential linear motifs that are altered under pathological conditions. Collectively, SNOTRAP is a direct tagging tool for global elucidation of the SNO-proteome, providing functional insights of endogenous SNO proteins in the brain and its dysregulation during neurodegeneration.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant CA26731)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01 NS051874
SRS: A FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING MALLEABLE AND MIGRATABLE PARALLEL APPLICATIONS FOR DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
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