The Influence of Stochastic Parameters on Calcium Waves in a Heart Cell

Thumbnail Image

Files

BrewsterThesis2014.pdf (6.64 MB)

Links to Files

https://userpages.umbc.edu/~gobbert/papers/BrewsterThesis2014.pdf

Permanent Link

http://hdl.handle.net/11603/11741

Collections

UMBC Mathematics and Statistics Department
UMBC Student Collection

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2013

Type of Work

senior thesis
Text

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Rights

This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.

Subjects

Stochastic Parameters
Calcium Waves
Heart Cell
contraction of muscles
enzyme
UMBC High Performance Computing Facility (HPCF)

Abstract

Calcium is a critical component in many cellular functions. It serves many important functions such as signal transduction, contraction of muscles, enzyme function, and maintaining potential difference across excitable membranes. In this study we examine calcium waves in a heart cell and how they diffuse. Calcium sparks are intracellular release events which are important in converting electrical stimuli into mechanical responses. We investigate the effects of a stochastic spatially uniform ux density term as well as of a stochastic spatially varying ux density term. We hypothesize that having a stochastic ux density term is more physiologically accurate. We use an array of statistical techniques as well as parallel computing to facilitate the large number of simulation runs.