The effects of immortalization on the N-glycome and proteome of CDK4-transformed lung cancer cells.

Biological experiments are often conducted in vitro using immortalized cells due to their accessibility and ease of propagation compared to primary cells and live animals. However, immortalized cells may present different proteomic and glycoproteomic characteristics from the primary cell source due to the introduction of genes that enhance proliferation (e.g.

Measuring the unmeasurable multidimensional poverty for economic development: Datasets, algorithms, and models from the poorest region of Luzon, Philippines.

Poverty is the oldest social problem that ever existed and is difficult to reverse. It is multidimensional and unmeasurable. Thus, measuring by decomposing rural multidimensional poverty is critical.

Integrating Computational Methods in Network Pharmacology and Screening to Uncover Multi-targeting Phytochemicals against Aberrant Protein Glycosylation in Lung Cancer.

Glycoproteins are an underexploited drug target for cancer therapeutics. In this work, we integrated computational methods in network pharmacology and docking approaches to identify phytochemical compounds that could potentially interact with several cancer-associated glycoproteins. We first created a database of phytochemicals from selected plant species, (sapodilla/chico), (mango), (soursop/guyabano), (jackfruit/langka), (langsat/lanzones), and (bignay), and performed pharmacokinetic analysis to determine their drug-likeness properties.

On Spatiotemporal Overdispersion and Macroparasite Accumulation in Hosts Leading to Aggregation: A Quantitative Framework.

In many host-parasite systems, overdispersion in the distribution of macroparasites leads to parasite aggregation in the host population. This overdispersed distribution is often characterized by the negative binomial or by the power law. The aggregation is shown by a clustering of parasites in certain hosts, while other hosts have few or none.

-Glycan and Glycopeptide Serum Biomarkers in Philippine Lung Cancer Patients Identified Using Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

Aberrant glycosylation has been extensively reported in cancer, with fundamental changes in the glycosylation patterns of cell-surface and secreted proteins largely occurring during cancer progression. As such, serum glycan and glycopeptide biomarkers have been discovered using mass spectrometry and proposed for cancer detection. Here, we report for the first time potential serum -glycan and glycopeptide biomarkers for Philippine lung cancer patients.

An Integrated Mass Spectrometry-Based Glycomics-Driven Glycoproteomics Analytical Platform to Functionally Characterize Glycosylation Inhibitors.

Cancer progression is linked to aberrant protein glycosylation due to the overexpression of several glycosylation enzymes. These enzymes are underexploited as potential anticancer drug targets and the development of rapid-screening methods and identification of glycosylation inhibitors are highly sought. An integrated bioinformatics and mass spectrometry-based glycomics-driven glycoproteomics analysis pipeline was performed to identify an N-glycan inhibitor against lung cancer cells.

Optimal strategies and cost-benefit analysis of the [Formula: see text]-player weightlifting game.

The study of cooperation has been extensively studied in game theory. Especially, two-player two-strategy games have been categorized according to their equilibrium strategies and fully analysed. Recently, a grand unified game covering all types of two-player two-strategy games, i.

screening-based discovery of inhibitors against glycosylation proteins dysregulated in cancer.

Targeting enzymes associated with the biosynthesis of aberrant glycans is an under-utilized strategy in discovering potential inhibitors or drugs against cancer. The formation of cancer-associated glycans is mainly due to the dysregulated expression of glycosyltransferases and glycosidases, which play crucial roles in maintaining cellular structure and function. We screened a database of more than 14,000 compounds consisting of natural products and drugs for inhibition against four glycosylation enzymes - Alpha1-6FucT, ST6Gal1, ERMan1, and GlcNAcT-V.

Local government responses for COVID-19 management in the Philippines.

Background: Responses of subnational government units are crucial in the containment of the spread of pathogens in a country. To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippine national government through its Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases outlined different quarantine measures wherein each level has a corresponding degree of rigidity from keeping only the essential businesses open to allowing all establishments to operate at a certain capacity. Other measures also involve prohibiting individuals at a certain age bracket from going outside of their homes.

Using Constrained Optimization for the Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccines in the Philippines.

Background: Vaccine allocation is a national concern especially for countries such as the Philippines that have limited resources in acquiring COVID-19 vaccines. As such, certain groups are suggested to be prioritized for vaccination to protect the most vulnerable before vaccinating others.

Objective: The study aims to determine an optimal and equitable allocation of COVID-19 vaccines in the Philippines that will minimize the projected number of additional COVID-19 deaths while satisfying the priority groups for immediate vaccination.

Exaggerated evolution of male armaments via male-male competition.

Males usually compete to gain access to prospective mates. Through this male-male competition, superior males have a higher chance of passing on their traits to the next generation of male offspring. One category of male traits is armaments, which are weapons used during competition, for example, the chelae of fiddler crabs and the antlers of deer.

Improving environment drives dynamical change in social game structure.

The development of cooperation in human societies is a major unsolved problem in biological and social sciences. Extensive studies in game theory have shown that cooperative behaviour can evolve only under very limited conditions or with additional complexities, such as spatial structure. Non-trivial two-person games are categorized into three types of games, namely, the prisoner's dilemma game, the chicken game and the stag hunt game.

A mathematical model of COVID-19 transmission between frontliners and the general public.

The number of COVID-19 cases is continuously increasing in different countries including the Philippines. It is estimated that the basic reproduction number of COVID-19 is around 1.5-4 (as of May 2020).

Optimal Allocation of COVID-19 Test Kits Among Accredited Testing Centers in the Philippines.

Testing is crucial for early detection, isolation, and treatment of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-infected individuals. However, in resource-constrained countries such as the Philippines, test kits have limited availability. As of 11 April 2020, there are 11 testing centers in the country that have been accredited by the Department of Health (DOH) to conduct testing.

A COVID-19 infection risk model for frontline health care workers.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases admitted in hospitals is continuously increasing in the Philippines. Frontline health care workers are faced with imminent risks of getting infected. In this study, we formulate a theoretical model to calculate the risk of being infected in health care facilities considering the following factors: the average number of encounters with a suspected COVID-19 patient per hour; interaction time for each encounter; work shift duration or exposure time; crowd density, which may depend on the amount of space available in a given location; and availability and effectiveness of protective gears and facilities provided for the frontline health care workers.

Antibiotic-driven escape of host in a parasite-induced Red Queen dynamics.

Winnerless coevolution of hosts and parasites could exhibit Red Queen dynamics, which is characterized by parasite-driven cyclic switching of expressed host phenotypes. We hypothesize that the application of antibiotics to suppress the reproduction of parasites can provide an opportunity for the hosts to escape such winnerless coevolution. Here, we formulate a minimal mathematical model of host-parasite interaction involving multiple host phenotypes that are targeted by adapting parasites.

Modeling Long ncRNA-Mediated Regulation in the Mammalian Cell Cycle.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides that are not translated into proteins. They have recently gained widespread attention due to the finding that tens of thousands of lncRNAs reside in the human genome, and due to an increasing number of lncRNAs that are found to be associated with disease. Some lncRNAs, including disease-associated ones, play different roles in regulating the cell cycle.

Asymptotic stability of a modified Lotka-Volterra model with small immigrations.

Predator-prey systems have been studied intensively for over a hundred years. These studies have demonstrated that the dynamics of Lotka-Volterra (LV) systems are not stable, that is, exhibiting either cyclic oscillation or divergent extinction of one species. Stochastic versions of the deterministic cyclic oscillations also exhibit divergent extinction.

From epigenetic landscape to phenotypic fitness landscape: Evolutionary effect of pathogens on host traits.

The epigenetic landscape illustrates how cells differentiate through the control of gene regulatory networks. Numerous studies have investigated epigenetic gene regulation but there are limited studies on how the epigenetic landscape and the presence of pathogens influence the evolution of host traits. Here, we formulate a multistable decision-switch model involving several phenotypes with the antagonistic influence of parasitism.

Host-parasite Red Queen dynamics with phase-locked rare genotypes.

Interactions between hosts and parasites have been hypothesized to cause winnerless coevolution, called Red Queen dynamics. The canonical Red Queen dynamics assume that all interacting genotypes of hosts and parasites undergo cyclic changes in abundance through negative frequency-dependent selection, which means that any genotype could become frequent at some stage. However, this prediction cannot explain why many rare genotypes stay rare in natural host-parasite systems.

A Mathematical Model of Intra-Colony Spread of American Foulbrood in European Honeybees (Apis mellifera L.).

American foulbrood (AFB) is one of the severe infectious diseases of European honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) and other Apis species. This disease is caused by a gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae.

Microhabitat locality allows multi-species coexistence in terrestrial plant communities.

Most terrestrial plant communities exhibit relatively high species diversity and many competitive species are ubiquitous. Many theoretical studies have been carried out to investigate the coexistence of a few competitive species and in most cases they suggest competitive exclusion. Theoretical studies have revealed that coexistence of even three or four species can be extremely difficult.

Red Queen dynamics in multi-host and multi-parasite interaction system.

In host-parasite systems, dominant host types are expected to be eventually replaced by other hosts due to the elevated potency of their specific parasites. This leads to changes in the abundance of both hosts and parasites exhibiting cycles of alternating dominance called Red Queen dynamics. Host-parasite models with less than three hosts and parasites have been demonstrated to exhibit Red Queen cycles, but natural host-parasite interactions typically involve many host and parasite types resulting in an intractable system with many parameters.

Branching and oscillations in the epigenetic landscape of cell-fate determination.

The well-known Waddington's epigenetic landscape of cell-fate determination is not static but varies because of the dynamic gene regulation during development. However, existing mathematical models with few state variables and fixed parameters are inadequate in characterizing the temporal transformation of the landscape. Here we simulate a decision-switch model of gene regulation with more than two state variables and with time-varying repression among regulatory factors.