629 research outputs found
Musculoskeletal modelling of an ostrich (Struthio camelus) pelvic limb: influence of limb orientation on muscular capacity during locomotion
We developed a three-dimensional, biomechanical computer model of the 36 major pelvic limb muscle groups in an ostrich (Struthio camelus) to investigate muscle function in this, the largest of extant birds and model organism for many studies of locomotor mechanics, body size, anatomy and evolution. Combined with experimental data, we use this model to test two main hypotheses. We first query whether ostriches use limb orientations (joint angles) that optimize the moment-generating capacities of their muscles during walking or running. Next, we test whether ostriches use limb orientations at mid-stance that keep their extensor muscles near maximal, and flexor muscles near minimal, moment arms. Our two hypotheses relate to the control priorities that a large bipedal animal might evolve under biomechanical constraints to achieve more effective static weight support. We find that ostriches do not use limb orientations to optimize the moment-generating capacities or moment arms of their muscles. We infer that dynamic properties of muscles or tendons might be better candidates for locomotor optimization. Regardless, general principles explaining why species choose particular joint orientations during locomotion are lacking, raising the question of whether such general principles exist or if clades evolve different patterns (e.g., weighting of muscle force–length or force–velocity properties in selecting postures). This leaves theoretical studies of muscle moment arms estimated for extinct animals at an impasse until studies of extant taxa answer these questions. Finally, we compare our model’s results against those of two prior studies of ostrich limb muscle moment arms, finding general agreement for many muscles. Some flexor and extensor muscles exhibit self-stabilization patterns (posture-dependent switches between flexor/extensor action) that ostriches may use to coordinate their locomotion. However, some conspicuous areas of disagreement in our results illustrate some cautionary principles. Importantly, tendon-travel empirical measurements of muscle moment arms must be carefully designed to preserve 3D muscle geometry lest their accuracy suffer relative to that of anatomically realistic models. The dearth of accurate experimental measurements of 3D moment arms of muscles in birds leaves uncertainty regarding the relative accuracy of different modelling or experimental datasets such as in ostriches. Our model, however, provides a comprehensive set of 3D estimates of muscle actions in ostriches for the first time, emphasizing that avian limb mechanics are highly three-dimensional and complex, and how no muscles act purely in the sagittal plane. A comparative synthesis of experiments and models such as ours could provide powerful synthesis into how anatomy, mechanics and control interact during locomotion and how these interactions evolve. Such a framework could remove obstacles impeding the analysis of muscle function in extinct taxa
Transport control by coherent zonal flows in the core/edge transitional regime
3D Braginskii turbulence simulations show that the energy flux in the
core/edge transition region of a tokamak is strongly modulated - locally and on
average - by radially propagating, nearly coherent sinusoidal or solitary zonal
flows. The flows are geodesic acoustic modes (GAM), which are primarily driven
by the Stringer-Winsor term. The flow amplitude together with the average
anomalous transport sensitively depend on the GAM frequency and on the magnetic
curvature acting on the flows, which could be influenced in a real tokamak,
e.g., by shaping the plasma cross section. The local modulation of the
turbulence by the flows and the excitation of the flows are due to wave-kinetic
effects, which have been studied for the first time in a turbulence simulation.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR
New results for virial coefficients of hard spheres in D dimensions
We present new results for the virial coefficients B_k with k <= 10 for hard
spheres in dimensions D=2,...,8.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, to appear in conference proceedings of STATPHYS
2004 in Pramana - Journal of Physic
Structure optimization in an off-lattice protein model
We study an off-lattice protein toy model with two species of monomers
interacting through modified Lennard-Jones interactions. Low energy
configurations are optimized using the pruned-enriched-Rosenbluth method
(PERM), hitherto employed to native state searches only for off lattice models.
For 2 dimensions we found states with lower energy than previously proposed
putative ground states, for all chain lengths . This indicates that
PERM has the potential to produce native states also for more realistic protein
models. For , where no published ground states exist, we present some
putative lowest energy states for future comparison with other methods.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
A New Monte Carlo Algorithm for Protein Folding
We demonstrate that the recently proposed pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method
(P. Grassberger, Phys. Rev. E 56 (1997) 3682) leads to extremely efficient
algorithms for the folding of simple model proteins. We test them on several
models for lattice heteropolymers, and compare to published Monte Carlo
studies. In all cases our algorithms are faster than all previous ones, and in
several cases we find new minimal energy states. In addition to ground states,
our algorithms give estimates for the partition sum at finite temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, Latex incl. 3 eps-figs., submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.,
revised version with changes in the tex
Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy in field line diffusion by anisotropic magnetic turbulence
The Kolmogorov-Sinai (KS) entropy in turbulent diffusion of magnetic field
lines is analyzed on the basis of a numerical simulation model and theoretical
investigations. In the parameter range of strongly anisotropic magnetic
turbulence the KS entropy is shown to deviate considerably from the earlier
predicted scaling relations [Rev. Mod. Phys. {\bf 64}, 961 (1992)]. In
particular, a slowing down logarithmic behavior versus the so-called Kubo
number (, where is the ratio of the rms magnetic fluctuation field to the magnetic field
strength, and and are the correlation lengths in respective
dimensions) is found instead of a power-law dependence. These discrepancies are
explained from general principles of Hamiltonian dynamics. We discuss the
implication of Hamiltonian properties in governing the paradigmatic
"percolation" transport, characterized by , associating it with the
concept of pseudochaos (random non-chaotic dynamics with zero Lyapunov
exponents). Applications of this study pertain to both fusion and astrophysical
plasma and by mathematical analogy to problems outside the plasma physics.
This research article is dedicated to the memory of Professor George M.
ZaslavskyComment: 15 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication on Plasma Physics and
Controlled Fusio
Finite temperature effects on cosmological baryon diffusion and inhomogeneous Big-Bang nucleosynthesis
We have studied finite temperature corrections to the baryon transport cross
sections and diffusion coefficients. These corrections are based upon the
recently computed renormalized electron mass and the modified state density due
to the background thermal bath in the early universe. It is found that the
optimum nucleosynthesis yields computed using our diffusion coefficients shift
to longer distance scales by a factor of about 3. We also find that the minimum
value of abundance decreases by while and
increase. Effects of these results on constraints from primordial
nucleosynthesis are discussed. In particular, we find that a large baryonic
contribution to the closure density (\Omega_b h_{50}^{2} \lsim 0.4) may be
allowed in inhomogeneous models corrected for finite temperature.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Scaling of Star Polymers with one to 80 Arms
We present large statistics simulations of 3-dimensional star polymers with
up to arms, and with up to 4000 monomers per arm for small values of
. They were done for the Domb-Joyce model on the simple cubic lattice. This
is a model with soft core exclusion which allows multiple occupancy of sites
but punishes each same-site pair of monomers with a Boltzmann factor . We
use this to allow all arms to be attached at the central site, and we use the
`magic' value to minimize corrections to scaling. The simulations are
made with a very efficient chain growth algorithm with resampling, PERM,
modified to allow simultaneous growth of all arms. This allows us to measure
not only the swelling (as observed from the center-to-end distances), but also
the partition sum. The latter gives very precise estimates of the critical
exponents . For completeness we made also extensive simulations of
linear (unbranched) polymers which give the best estimates for the exponent
.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Corrections to scaling in 2--dimensional polymer statistics
Writing for the mean
square end--to--end length of a self--avoiding polymer chain of
links, we have calculated for the two--dimensional {\em continuum}
case from a new {\em finite} perturbation method based on the ground state of
Edwards self consistent solution which predicts the (exact) exponent.
This calculation yields . A finite size scaling analysis of data
generated for the continuum using a biased sampling Monte Carlo algorithm
supports this value, as does a re--analysis of exact data for two--dimensional
lattices.Comment: 10 pages of RevTex, 5 Postscript figures. Accepted for publication in
Phys. Rev. B. Brief Reports. Also submitted to J. Phys.
Simulations of lattice animals and trees
The scaling behaviour of randomly branched polymers in a good solvent is
studied in two to nine dimensions, using as microscopic models lattice animals
and lattice trees on simple hypercubic lattices. As a stochastic sampling
method we use a biased sequential sampling algorithm with re-sampling, similar
to the pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method (PERM) used extensively for linear
polymers. Essentially we start simulating percolation clusters (either site or
bond), re-weigh them according to the animal (tree) ensemble, and prune or
branch the further growth according to a heuristic fitness function. In
contrast to previous applications of PERM, this fitness function is {\it not}
the weight with which the actual configuration would contribute to the
partition sum, but is closely related to it. We obtain high statistics of
animals with up to several thousand sites in all dimension 2 <= d <= 9. In
addition to the partition sum (number of different animals) we estimate
gyration radii and numbers of perimeter sites. In all dimensions we verify the
Parisi-Sourlas prediction, and we verify all exactly known critical exponents
in dimensions 2, 3, 4, and >= 8. In addition, we present the hitherto most
precise estimates for growth constants in d >= 3. For clusters with one site
attached to an attractive surface, we verify the superuniversality of the
cross-over exponent at the adsorption transition predicted by Janssen and
Lyssy. Finally, we discuss the collapse of animals and trees, arguing that our
present version of the algorithm is also efficient for some of the models
studied in this context, but showing that it is {\it not} very efficient for
the `classical' model for collapsing animals.Comment: 17 pages RevTeX, 29 figures include
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