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Recently, a relaxed formulation of optimal transport for Gaussian mixtures has been proposed, which is based on the explicit formulation between Gaussians. The Gaussian distributions can be viewed as special elliptical contoured distributions generated from exponential function. In literature, there are few research about optimal transport between elliptical contoured distributions generated from different functions. In this paper, we first study optimal transport between radial contoured distributions generated from different functions and show theirWasserstein barycenter is still radial. Then we introduce a relaxed Wasserstein-type distance for mixtures with radial contoured components. We also consider the corresponding barycenter problem and connect it with a multimarginal problem.

Cellular migration is crucial for biological processes including embryonic development, immune response, and wound healing. The myosin-clutch model is a framework that describes how cells control migration through the interactions between myosin, the clutch mechanism, and the substrate. This model is related to how cells regulate adhesion, generate traction forces, and move on compliant substrates. In this study, we present a five-dimensional nonlinear autonomous system to investigate the influences of myosin, clutches, substrate, and external load on the system's stability. Moreover, we analyze the effects of various parameters on fixed points and explore the frequency and amplitude of the limit cycle associated with oscillations. We discovered that the system demonstrates oscillatory behavior when the velocity of the myosin motor is relatively low, or when the ratio of the motor attachment rate to motor detachment rate is relatively high. The external load shares a fraction of the force exerted by myosin motors, thereby diminishing the force endured by the clutches. Within a specific range, an increase in external load not only diminishes and eventually eliminates the region lacking fixed points but also decelerates clutch detachment, enhancing clutch protein adherence., Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures

Myosin II plays a pivotal role in muscle contraction by generating force through the cooperative action of multiple motors on actin filaments. In this study, we integrate the nonlinear elasticity of the neck linker in individual myosin II and comprehensively investigate the evolution of cooperativity and dynamics at {\it microstate} and {\it mesostate} levels using a combined model of single and multiple motors. We find that a substantial proportion of actin-bound motors reside in the {\it mid-} and {\it post-power stroke} states, and our nonlinear model reveals their increased capacity for load sharing. Additionally, we systematically explore the impact of mechanical load and ATP concentration on myosin II motors. Notably, we observe that the average net distance of actin undergoes a transition from a weak load-sensitive regime at low ATP concentrations to a load-sensitive regime at higher ATP concentrations. Furthermore, increasing the load or raising the ATP concentration to saturation can enhance the efficiency and output power of myosin filament. Moreover, the efficiency of the myosin filament increases with the power stroke strength, reaching a maximum at a specific range, and subsequently declining beyond that threshold. Finally, we explore the mean run time/length and mean existence probability of myosin filament, shedding light on its overall behavior., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

Due to the wide applications of X-ray computed tomography (CT) in medical imaging activities, radiation exposure has become a major concern for public health. Sparse-view CT is a promising approach to reduce the radiation dose by down-sampling the total number of acquired projections. However, the CT images reconstructed by this sparse-view imaging approach suffer from severe streaking artifacts and structural information loss. In this work, an end-to-end dual-domain attention-based deep network (DDANet) is proposed to solve such an ill-posed CT image reconstruction problem. The image-domain CT image and the projection-domain sinogram are put into the two parallel sub-networks of the DDANet to independently extract the distinct high-level feature maps. In addition, a specified attention module is introduced to fuse the aforementioned dual-domain feature maps to allow complementary optimizations of removing the streaking artifacts and mitigating the loss of structure. Numerical simulations, anthropomorphic thorax phantom and in vivo pre-clinical experiments are conducted to verify the sparse-view CT imaging performance of the DDANet. Results demonstrate that this newly developed approach is able to robustly remove the streaking artifacts while maintaining the fine structures. As a result, the DDANet provides a promising solution in achieving high quality sparse-view CT imaging.

Kinesin-1 is an ATP-driven, two-headed motor protein that transports intracellular cargoes along microtubule. Based on recent experimental observations, we formulate a mechanochemical model for it, in which forward/backward/futile cycle of kinesin-1 can be realized through multiple biochemical pathways. Our results show that both forward and futile cycles consist of two biochemical pathways, while backward cycle may be realized through six possible pathways. Backward motion of kinesin-1 is mainly through backward sliding along microtubule when it is in semi-detach state, and usually coupled with ATP hydrolysis. Under low external load, about 80\% of ATP is wasted by kinesin-1, and this proportion of waste is almost independent of ATP concentration. At high ATP concentration or under high external load, both heads of kinesin are always in ATP or ADP$\cdot$Pi binding state and bind to microtubule tightly. But at low ATP concentration and low load, kinesin mainly stays at the one head bound state. In contrast to mean run length, the mean run time of kinesin-1 along microtubule decreases with ATP concentration. Unless external load is near the stall force, the motion of kinesin-1 is almost deterministic, not as predicted by usual Browian ratchet models.

With nontrivial entropy production, first passage process is one of the most common nonequilibrium process in stochastic thermodynamics. Using one dimensional birth and death precess as a model framework, approximated expressions of mean first passage time (FPT), mean total number of jumps (TNJ), and their coefficients of variation (CV), are obtained for the case far from equilibrium. Consequently, uncertainty relations for FPT and TNJ are presented. Generally, mean FPT decreases exponentially with entropy production, while mean TNJ decreases exponentially first and then tends to a starting site dependent limit. For forward biased process, the CV of TNJ decreases exponentially with entropy production, while that of FPT decreases exponentially first and then tends to a starting site dependent limit. For backward biased process, both CVs of FPT and TNJ tend to one for large absolute values of entropy production. Related properties about the case of equilibrium are also addressed briefly for comparison.

We consider a randomly flashing ratchet, where the potential acting can be switched to another at random. Using coupled Fokker-Planck equations, we formulate the expressions of quantities measuring dynamics and thermodynamics. Extended numerical calculations present how the potential landscapes and the transitions affect the motility and energetics. Load-dependent velocity and energetic efficiency of motor proteins, kinesin and dynein, further exemplify the randomly flashing ratchet model. We also discuss the system with two shifted sawtooth potentials.

In recent letter [Phys.~Rev.~Lett {\bf 123}, 110602 (2019)], Y.~Hasegawa and T.~V.~Vu derived a thermodynamic uncertainty relation. But the bound of their relation is loose. In this comment, through minor changes, an improved bound is obtained. This improved bound is the same as the one obtained in [Phys.~Rev.~Lett {\bf 123}, 090604 (2019)] by A.~M.~Timpanaro {\it et. al.}, but the derivation here is straightforward.

We study the existence and uniqueness of solution of a evolutionary partial differential equation originating from the continuum limit of a coupled process of totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP) and Langmuir kinetics (LK). In the fields of physics and biology, the TASEP-LK coupled process has been extensively studied by Monte Carlo simulations, numerical computations, and detailed experiments. However, no rigorous mathematical analysis so far has been given for the corresponding differential equations, especially the existence and uniqueness of their solutions. In this paper, we prove the existence of the $C^\infty[0,1]$ steady-state solution by the method of upper and lower solution, and the uniqueness in both $W^{1,2}(0,1)$ and $L^\infty(0,1)$ by a generalized maximum principle. We further prove the global existence and uniqueness of the time-dependent solution in $C([0,1]\times [0,+\infty))\cap C^{2,1}([0,1]\times (0,+\infty))$, which, for any continuous initial value, converges to the steady-state solution in $C[0,1]$ (global attractivity). Our results support the numerical calculations and Monte Carlo simulations, and provide theoretical foundations for the TASEP-LK coupled process, especially the most important phase diagram of particle density along the travel track under different model parameters, which is difficult because the boundary layers (at one or both boundaries) and domain wall (separating high and low particle densities) may appear as the length of the travel track tends to infinity. The methods used in this paper may be instructive for studies of the more general cases of the TASEP-LK process, such as the one with multiple travel tracks and/or multiple particle species., Comment: 38 pages, 5 figures

In this study, the minimum amount of work needed to drive a thermodynamic system from one initial distribution to another in a given time duration is discussed. Equivalently, for given amount of work, the minimum time duration required to complete such a transition is obtained. Results show that the minimum amount of work is used to achieve the following three objectives, to increase the internal energy of the system, to decrease the system entropy, to change the mean position of the system, and with other nonzero part dissipated into environment. To illustrate the results, an example with explicit solutions is presented.

The study of stochastic thermodynamic machines is one of the main topics in nonequilibrium thermodynamics. In this study, within the framework of Fokker-Planck equation, and using the method of characteristics of partial differential equation as well as the variational method, performance of stochastic thermodynamic machines is optimized according to the external potential, with the irreversible work $W_{irr}$, or the total entropy production $\Delta S_{\rm tot}$ equivalently, reaching its lower bound. Properties of the optimal thermodynamic machines are discussed, with explicit expressions of upper bounds of work output $W$, power $P$, and energy efficiency $\eta$ are presented. To illustrate the results obtained, typical examples with optimal protocols (external potentials) are also presented.

Chaperone-assisted translocation through a nanopore embedded in membrane holds a prominent role in the transport of biopolymers. Inspired by classical Brownian ratchet, we develop a theoretical framework characterizing such translocation process through a master equation approach. In this framework, the polymer chain, provided with reversible binding of chaperones, undergoes forward/backward diffusion, which is rectified by chaperones. We drop the assumption of timescale separation and keep the length of a polymer chain finite, both of which happen to be the key points in most of the previous studies. Our framework makes it accessible to derive analytical expressions for mean translocation velocity and effective diffusion constant in stationary state, which is the basis of a comprehensive understanding towards the dynamics of such process. Generally, the translocation of polymer chain across membrane consists of three subprocesses: initiation, termination, and translocation of the main body part of a polymer chain, where the translocation of the main body part depends on the binding/unbinding kinetics of chaperones. That is the main concern of this study. Our results show that the increase of forward/backward diffusion rate of a polymer chain and the binding/unbinding ratio of chaperones both raise the mean translocation velocity of a polymer chain, and roughly speaking, the dependence of effective diffusion constant on these two factors achieves similar behavior.

In recent letter [Phys. Rev. Lett {\bf 121}, 070601 (2018), arXiv:1802.06554], the speed limit for classical stochastic Markov processes is considered, and a trade-off inequality between the speed of the state transformation and the entropy production is given. In this comment, a more accurate inequality will be presented.

Transcription is the first step of gene expression, in which a particular segment of DNA is copied to RNA by the enzyme RNA polymerase (RNAP). Despite many details of the complex interactions between DNA and RNA synthesis disclosed experimentally, much of physical behavior of transcription remains largely unknown. Understanding torsional mechanics of DNA and RNAP together with its nascent RNA and RNA-bound proteins in transcription maybe the first step towards deciphering the mechanism of gene expression. In this study, based on the balance between viscous drag on RNA synthesis and torque resulted from untranscribed supercoiled DNA template, a simple model is presented to describe mechanical properties of transcription. With this model, the rotation and supercoiling density of the untranscribed DNA template are discussed in detail. Two particular cases of transcription are considered, transcription with constant velocity and transcription with torque dependent velocity. Our results show that, during the initial stage of transcription, rotation originated from the transcribed part of DNA template is mainly released by the rotation of RNAP synthesis. During the intermediate stage, the rotation is usually released by both the supercoiling of the untranscribed part of DNA template and the rotation of RNAP synthesis, with proportion depending on the friction coefficient in environment and the length of nascent RNA. However, with the approaching to the upper limit of twisting of the untranscribed DNA template, the rotation resulted from transcription will then be mainly released by the rotation of RNAP synthesis.

A specific class of stochastic heat engines driven cyclically by time-dependent potential, which is defined in the half-line ($0

In gene expression, various kinds of proteins need to bind to specific locus of DNA. It is still not clear how these proteins find their target locus. In this study, the mean first-passage time (FPT) of protein binding to its target locus on DNA chain is discussed by a chain-space coupled model. Our results show that the 1-dimensional diffusion constant has a critical value, with which the mean time spent by a protein to find its target locus is almost independent of the binding rate of protein to DNA chain and the detachment rate from DNA chain. Which implies that, the frequency of protein binding to DNA and the sliding time on DNA chain have little influence on the search efficiency, and therefore whether or not the 1-dimensional sliding on DNA chain increases the search efficiency depends on the 1-dimensional diffusion constant of the protein on DNA chain. This study also finds that only protein bindings to DNA loci which are close to the target locus help to increase the search efficiency, while bindings to those loci which are far from the target locus might delay the target binding process. As expected, the mean FPT increases with the distance between the initial position of protein in cell space and its target locus on DNA chain. The direct binding probability, which can be regarded as one index to describe if the 1-dimensional sliding along DNA chain is helpful to increase the search efficiency is calculated. Our results show that the influence of 1-dimensional sliding along DNA chain on the search process depends on both diffusion constants of protein in cell space and on the 1-dimensional DNA chain.

In this paper, the existence and uniqueness of solution of a specific differential equation is studied. This equation originates from the description of a coupled process by totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP) and Langmuir kinetics (LK). In the fields of physics and biology, the properties of the TASEP-LK coupled process have been extensively studied by Monte Carlo simulations and numerical calculations, as well as detailed experiments. However, so far, no rigorous mathematical analysis has been given to the corresponding differential equations, especially their existence and uniqueness of solution. In this paper, using the upper and lower solution method, the existence of solution of the steady state equation is obtained. Then using a generalized maximum principle, we show that the solution constructed from the upper and lower solution method is actually the unique solution in C∞ space. Moreover, the existence and uniqueness of solution of the time dependent differential equation are also obtained in one specific space X\b{eta}. Our results imply that the previous results obtained by numerical calculations and Monte Carlo simulations are theoretically correct, especially the most important phase diagram of particle density along the travel track under different model parameters. The study in this paper provides theoretical foundations for the analysis of TASEP-LK coupled process. At the same time, the methods used in this paper may be instructive for studies about the more general cases of the TASEP-LK process, such as the one with multiple travel tracks or the one with multiple particle species., Comment: This paper has a newer version. Because of my mistake, I submit it twice with the new identifier as arXiv:1905.12235

In this short article, we establish a rigidity theorem for pairs of hyperquadrics in a weaker sense, i.e., we impose a condition that minimal rational curves are preserved, which is stronger than inheriting a sub-VMRT structure, a notion raised by Mok & Zhang (2014). This problem has its source in a theorem of Tsai (1993), and the main result of this article can be applied back to give a more intrinsic proof of Tsai's theorem., Comment: 9 pages

Transcription is one of the essential processes for cells to read genetic information encoded in genes, which is initiated by the binding of RNA polymerase to related promoter. Experiments have found that the nucleotide sequence of promoter has great influence on gene expression strength, or promoter activity. In synthetic biology, one interesting question is how we can synthesize a promoter with given activity, and which positions of promoter sequence are important for determining its activity. In this study, based on recent experimental data, correlations between promoter activity and its sequence positions are analyzed by various methods. Our results show that, except nucleotides in the two highly conserved regions, $-35$ box and $-10$ box, influences of nucleotides in other positions are also not neglectable. For example, modifications of nucleotides around position $-19$ in spacing region may change promoter activity in a large scale. The results of this study might be helpful to our understanding of biophysical mechanism of gene transcription, and may also be helpful to the design of synthetic cell factory.