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Full-Text Articles in Chemistry
A Physics-Based Intermolecular Potential For Biomolecular Simulation, Joshua Andrew Rackers
A Physics-Based Intermolecular Potential For Biomolecular Simulation, Joshua Andrew Rackers
Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The grand challenge of biophysics is to use the fundamental laws of physics to predict how biological molecules will move and interact. The atomistic HIPPO (Hydrogen-like Intermolecular Polarizable Potential) force field is meant to address this challenge. It does so by breaking down the intermolecular potential energy function of biomolecular interactions into physically meaningful components (electrostatics, polarization, dispersion, and exchangerepulsion) and using this function to drive molecular dynamics simulations. This force field is able to achieve accuracy within 1 kcal/mol for each component when compared with ab initio Symmetry Adapted Perturbation Theory calculations. HIPPO is capable of this accuracy because …
Fast-Forward Protein Folding And Design: Development, Analysis, And Applications Of The Fast Sampling Algorithm, Maxwell Isaac Zimmerman
Fast-Forward Protein Folding And Design: Development, Analysis, And Applications Of The Fast Sampling Algorithm, Maxwell Isaac Zimmerman
Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Molecular dynamics simulations are a powerful tool to explore conformational landscapes, though limitations in computational hardware commonly thwart observation of biologically relevant events. Since highly specialized or massively parallelized distributed supercomputers are not available to most scientists, there is a strong need for methods that can access long timescale phenomena using commodity hardware. In this thesis, I present the goal-oriented sampling method, Fluctuation Amplification of Specific Traits (FAST), that takes advantage of Markov state models (MSMs) to adaptively explore conformational space using equilibrium-based simulations. This method follows gradients in conformational space to quickly explore relevant conformational transitions with orders of …
Isotopically-Resolved Neutron Cross Sections As Probe Of The Nuclear Optical Potential, Cole Davis Pruitt
Isotopically-Resolved Neutron Cross Sections As Probe Of The Nuclear Optical Potential, Cole Davis Pruitt
Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Neutron scattering experiments provide direct access to the forces experienced by nucleons in the nuclear environment. Due to the experimental difficulty of cross section measurements with neutrons, isotopically-resolved neutron scattering cross sections are sorely needed as inputs for many nuclear models. This dissertation presents the results from a campaign of isotope-specific neutron total cross section measurements on 16,18O, 58,64Ni, 112,124Sn, and 103Rh from 3-450 MeV and elastic scattering differential cross section measurements on 112,nat,124Sn at 11 and 17 MeV. Equipped with these new data and with computational improvements to the Dispersive Optical Model (DOM), we present DOM treatments of 16,18O, …