Optimal control of agent-based models via surrogate modeling.

This paper describes and validates an algorithm to solve optimal control problems for agent-based models (ABMs). For a given ABM and a given optimal control problem, the algorithm derives a surrogate model, typically lower-dimensional, in the form of a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs), solves the control problem for the surrogate model, and then transfers it back to the original ABM. It applies to quite general ABMs and offers several options for the ODE structure, depending on what information about the ABM is to be used.

Personalizing computational models to construct medical digital twins.

Digital twin technology, pioneered for engineering applications, is being adapted to biomedicine and healthcare; however, several problems need to be solved in the process. One major problem is that of dynamically calibrating a computational model to an individual patient, using data collected from that patient over time. This kind of calibration is crucial for improving model-based forecasts and realizing personalized medicine.

Essential role of Hepcidin in host resistance to disseminated candidiasis.

is a leading cause of life-threatening invasive infections with up to 40% mortality rates in hospitalized individuals despite antifungal therapy. Patients with chronic liver disease are at an increased risk of candidemia, but the mechanisms underlying this susceptibility are incompletely defined. One consequence of chronic liver disease is attenuated ability to produce hepcidin and maintain organismal control of iron homeostasis.

Toxicity of microplastic fibers containing azobenzene disperse dyes to human lung epithelial cells cultured at an air-liquid interface.

There is growing concern surrounding the human health effects following inhalation exposure to microplastic fibers (MPFs). MPFs can harbor chemical additives, such as azobenzene disperse dyes (ADDs), that may contribute to their toxicity. The goal of this study was to determine the acute biological effects of dyed polyethylene terephthalate MPFs to fully differentiated normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells cultured at an air-liquid interface.

Circulating fibrocyte levels correlate with left ventricular mass in middle-aged healthy adults without hypertension.

Background: Fibrocytes, circulating bone-marrow derived cells that differentiate into fibroblasts and myofibroblasts, are a major source of hypertensive arterial fibrosis and correlate with left ventricular (LV) mass in subjects with hypertension. We tested whether circulating fibrocytes levels correlate with LV mass in middle-aged adults without hypertension.

Methods: We measured peripheral blood fibrocyte levels and their activated phenotypes in 13 middle-aged, non-hypertensive adults and performed cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to assess LV mass.