414 research outputs found
Stochastic timing in gene expression for simple regulatory strategies
Timing is essential for many cellular processes, from cellular responses to
external stimuli to the cell cycle and circadian clocks. Many of these
processes are based on gene expression. For example, an activated gene may be
required to reach in a precise time a threshold level of expression that
triggers a specific downstream process. However, gene expression is subject to
stochastic fluctuations, naturally inducing an uncertainty in this
threshold-crossing time with potential consequences on biological functions and
phenotypes. Here, we consider such "timing fluctuations", and we ask how they
can be controlled. Our analytical estimates and simulations show that, for an
induced gene, timing variability is minimal if the threshold level of
expression is approximately half of the steady-state level. Timing fuctuations
can be reduced by increasing the transcription rate, while they are insensitive
to the translation rate. In presence of self-regulatory strategies, we show
that self-repression reduces timing noise for threshold levels that have to be
reached quickly, while selfactivation is optimal at long times. These results
lay a framework for understanding stochasticity of endogenous systems such as
the cell cycle, as well as for the design of synthetic trigger circuits.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Global dynamics of microbial communities emerge from local interaction rules
Most microbes live in spatially structured communities (e.g., biofilms) in which they interact with their neighbors through the local exchange of diffusible molecules. To understand the functioning of these communities, it is essential to uncover how these local interactions shape community-level properties, such as the community composition, spatial arrangement, and growth rate. Here, we present a mathematical framework to derive community-level properties from the molecular mechanisms underlying the cell-cell interactions for systems consisting of two cell types. Our framework consists of two parts: a biophysical model to derive the local interaction rules (i.e. interaction range and strength) from the molecular parameters underlying the cell-cell interactions and a graph based model to derive the equilibrium properties of the community (i.e. composition, spatial arrangement, and growth rate) from these local interaction rules. Our framework shows that key molecular parameters underlying the cell-cell interactions (e.g., the uptake and leakage rates of molecules) determine community-level properties. We apply our model to mutualistic cross-feeding communities and show that spatial structure can be detrimental for these communities. Moreover, our model can qualitatively recapitulate the properties of an experimental microbial community. Our framework can be extended to a variety of systems of two interacting cell types, within and beyond the microbial world, and contributes to our understanding of how community-level properties emerge from microscopic interactions between cells
Effects of state dependent correlations on nucleon density and momentum distributions
The proton momentum and density distributions of closed shell nuclei are
calculated within a model treating short--range correlations up to first order
in the cluster expansion. The validity of the model is verified by comparing
the results obtained with purely scalar correlations with those produced by
finite nuclei Fermi Hypernetted Chain calculations. State dependent
correlations are used to calculate momentum and density distributions of 12C,
16O, 40Ca, and 48Ca, and the effects of their tensor components are studied.Comment: 16 pages, latex, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Short-range correlations and meson exchange currents in photonucleon emission
One-nucleon emission processes induced by photon absorption are studied by
considering short-range correlations effects. At energies above the giant
resonance region the validity of the direct knock-out model has been tested by
comparison with continuum Random Phase Approximation results. Nucleon
re-scattering effects have been considered by using an optical potential. The
role of the electromagnetic convection, magnetization and meson exchange
currents has been investigated as a function of both excitation energy and
momentum transfer. The short-range correlation effects have been studied by
using various correlation functions. We found that the nucleon photo-emission
cross section is rather sensitive to the presence of short-range correlations
at large values of nucleon emission angle. In this region, however, the effects
of meson exchange currents are even larger than those produced by short-range
correlations.Comment: 37 pages, 20 figures in postscript, Text in LaTe
Stochastic timing in gene expression for simple regulatory strategies
Timing is essential for many cellular processes, from cellular responses to external stimuli to the cell cycle and circadian clocks. Many of these processes are based on gene expression. For example, an activated gene may be required to reach in a precise time a threshold level of expression that triggers a specific downstream process. However, gene expression is subject to stochastic fluctuations, naturally inducing an uncertainty in this threshold-crossing time with potential consequences on biological functions and phenotypes. Here, we consider such \u2018timing fluctuations\u2019 and we ask how they can be controlled. Our analytical estimates and simulations show that, for an induced gene, timing variability is minimal if the threshold level of expression is approximately half of the steady-state level. Timing fluctuations can be reduced by increasing the transcription rate, while they are insensitive to the translation rate. In presence of self-regulatory strategies, we show that self-repression reduces timing noise for threshold levels that have to be reached quickly, while self-activation is optimal at long times. These results lay a framework for understanding stochasticity of endogenous systems such as the cell cycle, as well as for the design of synthetic trigger circuits
Phase field approach to optimal packing problems and related Cheeger clusters
In a fixed domain of we study the asymptotic behaviour of optimal
clusters associated to -Cheeger constants and natural energies like the
sum or maximum: we prove that, as the parameter converges to the
"critical" value , optimal Cheeger clusters
converge to solutions of different packing problems for balls, depending on the
energy under consideration. As well, we propose an efficient phase field
approach based on a multiphase Gamma convergence result of Modica-Mortola type,
in order to compute -Cheeger constants, optimal clusters and, as a
consequence of the asymptotic result, optimal packings. Numerical experiments
are carried over in two and three space dimensions
Antisymmetrized Green's function approach to reactions with a realistic nuclear density
A completely antisymmetrized Green's function approach to the inclusive
quasielastic scattering, including a realistic one-body density, is
presented. The single particle Green's function is expanded in terms of the
eigenfunctions of the nonhermitian optical potential. This allows one to treat
final state interactions consistently in the inclusive and in the exclusive
reactions. Nuclear correlations are included in the one-body density. Numerical
results for the response functions of O and Ca are presented and
discussed.Comment: 45 pages, 3 figure
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