physarum polycephalum

[taban]

hello every one

i am a computer scientist
as in I have done my education in Computer sci
currently I am doing biological simulation with computer
and I need to learn about physarum polycephalum
anyone knows any good simple fast and cheap resources ?

[Darby]

I'm assuming you haven't Googled it - that's the most obvious first step.

It would have been useful to know just what you're simulating, too.

[taban]

[quote="Darby"]I'm assuming you haven't Googled it - that's the most obvious first step.

It would have been useful to know just what you're simulating, too.[/quote
]
dude i think i mentioned my degree is in CS sure i have done it but the sources are either so crappy and simple (for kids) or so sophisticated that i have read ten other books
i am trying to simulate the osciliation in the physarum body basically i need to learn about physarum and its beahavoiure

[Darby]

osciliation?

Some sort of oscillation? For a slime mold, I'm not sure what that would mean.

Something to do with cilia? Do slime molds ever have cilia?

It isn't that we don't want to help people, but the things people need help with need to make a certain kind of sense.

[taban]

osciliation?

Some sort of oscillation? For a slime mold, I'm not sure what that would mean.

Something to do with cilia? Do slime molds ever have cilia?

It isn't that we don't want to help people, but the things people need help with need to make a certain kind of sense.

yes oscillation the contraction in the body of a slime mould follows a oscillatory patern .
the contarction happens when the slime mould tries to move toward food or move away from sun light .
but the mechanism behind the motor ablities of slime mould and other mattres related to slime mould oscillatory behavoiure is unclear to me
this is where i need a bit help on understanding the biology of the slime mould related to oscillation pattern
and PS: Being kind never kills Mammals .

[blcr11]

It's awfully old, but have a look at: http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/81/1/217

Physarum has been used as a system to model all kinds of networks over the years. I suppose its appeal is its relative simplicity as an organism. I don't really follow the field, but I recommend looking over the contents of J Theor Biol, J Exp Biol, and Ann Rev in Biophysics or Ann Rev in Cell and Dev Biol, or possibly Ann Rev in Biomedical Engineering. You're sure to find something--they won't necessrily be simple, but maybe they'll get you pointed more in a direction you want to go.

[Darby]

I've been looking through the literature, and what you're asking is the equivalent of a biologist saying, "I want to simulate Physarum oscillation on the computer, but I don't want to learn any of that technical computer stuff." It's probably possible, but what use would the finished product be? The mechanisms of Physarum locomotion involve interactions and oscillations of the cytoskeleton and membrane channels, all integrated into environmental feedback - you can't properly mimic that unless you understand the flux variations in the systems.

What are you expecting the simulation to do? If it's just to convincingly mimic slime mold movement, then you can probably get by with analyzed and applied input from videos. If it's to predict variations in oscillation, you can't do that knowing code and no biochemistry.

[taban]

I've been looking through the literature, and what you're asking is the equivalent of a biologist saying, "I want to simulate Physarum oscillation on the computer, but I don't want to learn any of that technical computer stuff." It's probably possible, but what use would the finished product be? The mechanisms of Physarum locomotion involve interactions and oscillations of the cytoskeleton and membrane channels, all integrated into environmental feedback - you can't properly mimic that unless you understand the flux variations in the systems.

What are you expecting the simulation to do? If it's just to convincingly mimic slime mold movement, then you can probably get by with analyzed and applied input from videos. If it's to predict variations in oscillation, you can't do that knowing code and no biochemistry.

youare right in a sense , i actually didnt mean i dont want to learn the details i just meant the sources on the internet are assumeing so much background material which some are even redundant when it comes to reall thing i am looking for some source which starts easy and teachs the relevent stuff , if you have any academic research background you would agree with me that time and budget are very short so i rather not learn things that i dont need but as you pointed out i need to learn , then i prefer the source at least provide some direction toward some simple background materials
and "blcr11" thanks for the link was use full