This is the fourth of a series of workshops organized by IMPA aiming at
bringing together a multidisciplinary group of scientists to study
problems in the biophysical sciences upon which mathematics may have an
impact.
This year's main topics are:
- Evolutionary Dynamics
- Structured Population Dynamics
- Kinetic Models
- Modeling of Complex Phenomena
- Protein and DNA Modeling
Organizing Committee
International Participant List
Introductory Course (Jan-Feb 2006):
Minicourses:
Structured Population Dynamics.
Tuesday and Thursday (Jan. 15
and 17) from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Abstract: This minicourse will be divided into three lectures aimed
atgraduate student level (Master/Phd). The first one will be "From
differential systems to structured populations" The second one will be
"Population balance laws" The third one will be "The generalized
entropy method"
References:
1. Michel, P., Mischler, S., Perthame, B.; General relative entropy
inequality: an illustration on growth models. J. Math. Pures Appl. 84
(2005) 1235 - 1260
2. Metz, J.A.J., Diekmann, O.; The dynamics of physiologically
structured populations. Lecture Notes in Biomath., vol. 68,
Springer-Verlag.
3. Perthame, B., Ryzhik, L.; Exponential decay for the fragmentation or
cell-division equation. preprint ENS DMA - 03 - 17.
Julie
Mitchell, University of Wisconsin
Abstract: Protein interactions are at the heart of most biological
processes.
Interactions can be studied at many levels, from the molecular to
cellular level and beyond. The short course will address two important
aspects of modeling protein interactions: protein docking and
biological pathways.
At the molecular level, proteins bind to other proteins based on
biophysical properties. The characteristics that allow two proteins to
bind include surface geometry and charge distribution. Techniques for
understanding protein biophysics are most accurate at the particle
level (quantum mechanics), but various approximations can make
calculations more tractable. Through the use of partial differential
equations, optimization and Fourier analysis, the approximate protein
binding geometry between two proteins can be predicted.
At the systems level, networks of proteins interact within biological
pathways. Most important physiological processes are controlled not by
a single interaction between molecules, but rather by a cascade of
interactions. At the structural level, one is concerned with the
binding geometry between a pair of molecules. At the systems level, the
frequency of such events is of primary interest. Each class of molecule
becomes a variable in a system of coupled nonlinear differential
equations. Understanding the behavior of these dynamical systems has a
multitude of uses within medical science.
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