4,707 research outputs found
Continued study of NAVSTAR/GPS for general aviation
A conceptual approach for examining the full potential of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) for the general aviation community is presented. Aspects of an experimental program to demonstrate these concepts are discussed. The report concludes with the observation that the true potential of GPS can only be exploited by utilization in concert with a data link. The capability afforded by the combination of position location and reporting stimulates the concept of GPS providing the auxiliary functions of collision avoidance, and approach and landing guidance. A series of general recommendations for future NASA and civil community efforts in order to continue to support GPS for general aviation are included
Preliminary study of NAVSTAR/GPS for general aviation
The activities conducted as a planning effort to focus attention on the applicability of the global positioning system for general aviation are described. The description of GPS, its impact on economic and functional aspects of general aviation avionics, as well as a declaration of potential extensions of the basic concept have been studied in detail
Microtubule length distributions in the presence of protein-induced severing
Microtubules are highly regulated dynamic elements of the cytoskeleton of
eukaryotic cells. One of the regulation mechanisms observed in living cells is
the severing by the proteins katanin and spastin. We introduce a model for the
dynamics of microtubules in the presence of randomly occurring severing events.
Under the biologically motivated assumption that the newly created plus end
undergoes a catastrophe, we investigate the steady state length distribution.
We show that the presence of severing does not affect the number of
microtubules, regardless of the distribution of severing events. In the special
case in which the microtubules cannot recover from the depolymerizing state (no
rescue events) we derive an analytical expression for the length distribution.
In the general case we transform the problem into a single ODE that is solved
numerically.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Bulletin 9
Extent of potato growing in Alaska -- Importance of early maturing varieties and sprouted seed -- Potato growing in different regions of Alaska -- Summary -- Literature cite
Diffusing proteins on a fluctuating membrane: Analytical theory and simulations
Using analytical calculations and computer simulations we consider both the
lateral diffusion of a membrane protein and the fluctuation spectrum of the
membrane in which the protein is embedded. The membrane protein interacts with
the membrane shape through its spontaneous curvature and bending rigidity. The
lateral motion of the protein may be viewed as diffusion in an effective
potential, hence, the effective mobility is always reduced compared to the case
of free diffusion. Using a rigorous path-integral approach we derive an
analytical expression for the effective diffusion coefficient for small ratios
of temperature and bending rigidity, which is the biologically relevant limit.
Simulations show very good quantitative agreement with our analytical result.
The analysis of the correlation functions contributing to the diffusion
coefficient shows that the correlations between the stochastic force of the
protein and the response in the membrane shape are responsible for the
reduction.
Our quantitative analysis of the membrane height correlation spectrum shows
an influence of the protein-membrane interaction causing a distinctly altered
wave-vector dependence compared to a free membrane. Furthermore, the time
correlations exhibit the two relevant timescales of the system: that of
membrane fluctuations and that of lateral protein diffusion with the latter
typically much longer than the former. We argue that the analysis of the
long-time decay of membrane height correlations can thus provide a new means to
determine the effective diffusion coefficient of proteins in the membrane.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Bubble statistics and positioning in superhelically stressed DNA
We present a general framework to study the thermodynamic denaturation of
double-stranded DNA under superhelical stress. We report calculations of
position- and size-dependent opening probabilities for bubbles along the
sequence. Our results are obtained from transfer-matrix solutions of the
Zimm-Bragg model for unconstrained DNA and of a self-consistent linearization
of the Benham model for superhelical DNA. The numerical efficiency of our
method allows for the analysis of entire genomes and of random sequences of
corresponding length ( base pairs). We show that, at physiological
conditions, opening in superhelical DNA is strongly cooperative with average
bubble sizes of base pairs (bp), and orders of magnitude higher
than in unconstrained DNA. In heterogeneous sequences, the average degree of
base-pair opening is self-averaging, while bubble localization and statistics
are dominated by sequence disorder. Compared to random sequences with identical
GC-content, genomic DNA has a significantly increased probability to open large
bubbles under superhelical stress. These bubbles are frequently located
directly upstream of transcription start sites.Comment: to be appeared in Physical Review
Protein search for multiple targets on DNA
Protein-DNA interactions are crucial for all biological processes. One of the
most important fundamental aspects of these interactions is the process of
protein searching and recognizing specific binding sites on DNA. A large number
of experimental and theoretical investigations have been devoted to uncovering
the molecular description of these phenomena, but many aspects of the
mechanisms of protein search for the targets on DNA remain not well understood.
One of the most intriguing problems is the role of multiple targets in protein
search dynamics. Using a recently developed theoretical framework we analyze
this question in detail. Our method is based on a discrete-state stochastic
approach that takes into account most relevant physical-chemical processes and
leads to fully analytical description of all dynamic properties. Specifically,
systems with two and three targets have been explicitly investigated. It is
found that multiple targets in most cases accelerate the search in comparison
with a single target situation. However, the acceleration is not always
proportional to the number of targets. Surprisingly, there are even situations
when it takes longer to find one of the multiple targets in comparison with the
single target. It depends on the spatial position of the targets, distances
between them, average scanning lengths of protein molecules on DNA, and the
total DNA lengths. Physical-chemical explanations of observed results are
presented. Our predictions are compared with experimental observations as well
as with results from a continuum theory for the protein search. Extensive Monte
Carlo computer simulations fully support our theoretical calculations
Insight into Resonant Activation in Discrete Systems
The resonant activation phenomenon (RAP) in a discrete system is studied
using the master equation formalism. We show that the RAP corresponds to a
non-monotonic behavior of the frequency dependent first passage time
probability density function (pdf). An analytical expression for the resonant
frequency is introduced, which, together with numerical results, helps
understand the RAP behavior in the space spanned by the transition rates for
the case of reflecting and absorbing boundary conditions. The limited range of
system parameters for which the RAP occurs is discussed. We show that a minimum
and a maximum in the mean first passage time (MFPT) can be obtained when both
boundaries are absorbing. Relationships to some biological systems are
suggested.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Phys. Rev. E., in pres
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