We study, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the surface of KTaO3 (KTO), a wide-gap insulator with strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC). We find that this 2DEG is a genuinely different physical state with respect to the bulk: the orbital symmetries of its subbands are entirely reconstructed and their masses are renormalized. This occurs because the values of the SOC, the Fermi energy, and the subband splittings become comparable in the 2DEG. Additionally, we identify an F-center-like heavy band resulting from the polar nature of the KTO surface

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We describe the MaxFlux algorithm for the computation of likely pathways for global macromolecular conformational transitions. The algorithm assumes an overdamped diffusive dynamics for the biomolecule, appropriate to large scale conformational changes. As an application of the MaxFlux method, we explore conformational transitions between alpha-helical, collapsed coil, and beta-sheet conformations of an amyloid Abeta-peptide. The resulting transition pathways are analyzed in terms of the mechanism of conformational transition and the progression of the peptide energetics in both an aqueous and a membrane-mimicking nonpolar solvent.