Optimizing Covertimes with Constraints
Date of Award
2006
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Natural Sciences
First Advisor
McDonald, Patrick
Keywords
Probability, Microtubules, Computational Biology
Area of Concentration
Mathematics
Abstract
Microtubules are long rigid polymers found in nearly all eukaryotic cells. They are an essential part of the cytoskeleton and are responsible for a variety of intracellular processes. Microtubules locate objects in intracellular space by changing their length through the process of dynamic instability. In this thesis we develop and study both a discrete and a continuous model for microtubule growth. We associate to our discrete model a random variable, the covertime, which models the minimal time required for a microtubule network to locate a pair of positions. We perform a Monte Carlo simulation in order to obtain numerical data on what values the parameters which regulate our discrete model must satisfy in order to minimize the expected value of the covertime. We demonstrate special cases where our continuous model can be realized as the continuum limit of our discrete model.
Recommended Citation
Compton, Ryan, "Optimizing Covertimes with Constraints" (2006). Theses & ETDs. 3626.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/3626
Rights
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