Search results for "biological systems"
showing 10 items of 14 documents
Light-induced structural changes in a monomeric bacteriophytochrome
2016
International audience; Phytochromes sense red light in plants and various microorganism. Light absorption causes structural changes within the protein, which alter its biochemical activity. Bacterial phytochromes are dimeric proteins, but the functional relevance of this arrangement remains unclear. Here, we use time-resolved X-ray scattering to reveal the solution structural change of a monomeric variant of the photosensory core module of the phytochrome from Deinococcus radiodurans. The data reveal two motions, a bend and a twist of the PHY domain with respect to the chromophore-binding domains. Infrared spectroscopy shows the refolding of the PHY tongue. We conclude that a monomer of th…
LA MICROSCOPIA ELETTRONICA (SEM, CLSM) PER L’ANALISI DI MICROSISTEMI BIOLOGICI CHE COLONIZZANO I BENI CULTURALI
2012
RIASSUNTO - Il degrado dei materiali con cui sono realizzate le opere d’arte, è spesso causato dall’attività di macro e micro organismi (piante, insetti, licheni, alghe, batteri, attinomiceti etc.), denominati biodeteriogeni. Presenti in tutti gli habitat terrestri, costituiscono un serio problema per la conservazione sia in siti outdoor sia confinati, come biblioteche, archivi, istituti mussali, depositi e, comunque, in tutti quei luoghi dove si attua la conservazione/fruizione dei manufatti. In genere, non vi è luogo di conservazione che non mostri tracce di parziali o estese infestazioni/colonizzazioni che comportano alterazioni più o meno consistenti dei manufatti presenti. Le alterazio…
COVARIANCE AND CORRELATION ESTIMATORS IN BIPARTITE SYSTEMS
2017
We present a weighted estimator of the covariance and correlation in bipartite complex systems with a double layer of heterogeneity. The advantage provided by the weighted estimators lies in the fact that the unweighted sample covariance and correlation can be shown to possess a bias. Indeed, such a bias affects real bipartite systems, and, for example, we report its effects on two empirical systems, one social and the other biological. On the contrary, our newly proposed weighted estimators remove the bias and are better suited to describe such systems.
Pathway network inference from gene expression data
2014
[EN] Background: The development of high-throughput omics technologies enabled genome-wide measurements of the activity of cellular elements and provides the analytical resources for the progress of the Systems Biology discipline. Analysis and interpretation of gene expression data has evolved from the gene to the pathway and interaction level, i.e. from the detection of differentially expressed genes, to the establishment of gene interaction networks and the identification of enriched functional categories. Still, the understanding of biological systems requires a further level of analysis that addresses the characterization of the interaction between functional modules. Results: We presen…
Environmental Noise and Nonlinear Relaxation in Biological Systems
2012
We analyse the effects of environmental noise in three different biological systems: (i) mating behaviour of individuals of 'Nezara viridula' (L.) (Heteroptera Pentatomidae); (ii) polymer translocation in crowded solution; (iii) an ecosystem described by a Verhulst model with a multiplicative Lèvy noise. Specifically, we report on experiments on the behavioural response of 'N. viridula' individuals to sub-threshold deterministic signals in the presence of noise. We analyse the insect response by directionality tests performed on a group of male individuals at different noise intensities. The percentage of insects which react to the sub-threshold signal shows a non-monotonic behavior, charac…
The Importance of Lipidomic Approach for Mapping and Exploring the Molecular Networks Underlying Physical Exercise: A Systematic Review
2021
Maintaining appropriate levels of physical exercise is an optimal way for keeping a good state of health. At the same time, optimal exercise performance necessitates an integrated organ system response. In this respect, physical exercise has numerous repercussions on metabolism and function of different organs and tissues by enhancing whole-body metabolic homeostasis in response to different exercise-related adaptations. Specifically, both prolonged and intensive physical exercise produce vast changes in multiple and different lipid-related metabolites. Lipidomic technologies allow these changes and adaptations to be clarified, by using a biological system approach they provide scientific u…
Monte Carlo analysis of polymer translocation with deterministic and noisy electric fields
2012
AbstractPolymer translocation through the nanochannel is studied by means of a Monte Carlo approach, in the presence of a static or oscillating external electric voltage. The polymer is described as a chain molecule according to the two-dimensional “bond fluctuation model”. It moves through a piecewise linear channel, which mimics a nanopore in a biological membrane. The monomers of the chain interact with the walls of the channel, modelled as a reflecting barrier. We analyze the polymer dynamics, concentrating on the translocation time through the channel, when an external electric field is applied. By introducing a source of coloured noise, we analyze the effect of correlated random fluct…
A supramolecular system that strictly follows the binding mechanism of conformational selection
2020
Induced fit and conformational selection are two dominant binding mechanisms in biology. Although induced fit has been widely accepted by supramolecular chemists, conformational selection is rarely studied with synthetic systems. In the present research, we report a macrocyclic host whose binding mechanism is unambiguously assigned to conformational selection. The kinetic and thermodynamic aspects of this system are studied in great detail. It reveals that the kinetic equation commonly used for conformational selection is strictly followed here. In addition, two mathematical models are developed to determine the association constants of the same guest to the two host conformations. A “confo…
Predator population depending on lemming cycles
2016
In this paper, a Langevin equation for predator population with multiplicative correlated noise is analyzed. The noise source, which is a nonnegative random pulse noise with regulated periodicity, corresponds to the prey population cycling. The increase of periodicity of noise affects the average predator density at the stationary state.
Modelling Bacterial Dynamics in Food Products: Role of Environmental Noise and Interspecific Competition
2013
In this paper we review some results obtained within the context of the predictive microbiology, which is a specific field of the population dynamics. In particular we discuss three models, which exploit tools of statistical mechanics, for bacterial dynamics in food of animal origin. In the first model, the random fluctuating behaviour, experimentally measured, of the temperature is considered. In the second model stochastic differential equations are introduced to take into account the influence of physical and chemical variables, such as temperature, pH and activity water, subject to deterministic and random variations. The third model, which is an extended version of the second one, negl…