We discuss the design, implementation, and results of a collaborative process designed to elucidate the complex systems that drive food behaviors, transport, and health in Latin American cities and to build capacity for systems thinking and community-based system dynamics (CBSD) methods among diverse research team members and stakeholders. During three CBSD workshops, 62 stakeholders from 10 Latin American countries identified 98 variables and a series of feedback loops that shape food behaviors, transportation and health, along with 52 policy levers. Our findings suggest that CBSD can engage local stakeholders, help them view problems through the lens of complex systems and use their insights to prioritize research efforts and identify novel solutions that consider mechanisms of complexity.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.102215 | DOI Listing |
Sci Rep
December 2024
College of Chinese Materia Medica, Yunnan University of Chinese Medicine, Kunming, 650500, China.
Drug-drug co-amorphous systems are a promising approach to improve the aqueous solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs. This study explores the combination of breviscapine (BRE) and matrine (MAT) form an amorphous salt, aiming to synergistically enhance the solubility and dissolution of BRE. In silico analysis of electrostatic potential and local ionization energy were conducted on BRE-MAT complex to predict the intermolecular interactions, and solvent-free energies were calculated using thermodynamic integration and density functional theory.
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December 2024
Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Postbus 513, Eindhoven, 5600 MB, The Netherlands.
Articular cartilage is distinguished by the unique alignment of type II collagen, a feature crucial for its mechanical properties and function. This characteristic organization is established during postnatal development of the tissue, yet the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, a potential mechanism for type II collagen alignment by cartilage-specific growth from within the tissue was investigated.
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December 2024
Innovative Global Program, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokyo, 135-8548, Japan.
This paper presents a novel and comprehensive control framework for the Rotary Inverted Pendulum (RIP), focusing on a hybrid control strategy that addresses the limitations of conventional methods in nonlinear and complex systems. The proposed controller synergistically combines an Optimized Fuzzy Logic Controller (OFLC) with Sliding Mode Control (SMC), leveraging the strengths of both techniques to achieve superior performance. The integration of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) into the OFLC significantly enhances its adaptability and precision, while the SMC law provides robust disturbance rejection and system stability.
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December 2024
Centre for Infectious Diseases Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands.
Understanding the impact of different types of social interactions is key to improving epidemic models. Here, we use extensive registry data-including PCR test results and population-level networks-to investigate the impact of school, family, and other social contacts on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the Netherlands (June 2020-October 2021). We isolate and compare different contexts of potential SARS-CoV-2 transmission by matching pairs of students based on their attendance at the same or different primary school (in 2020) and secondary school (in 2021) and their geographic proximity.
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December 2024
School of Computing, Queen's University, 557 Goodwin Hall, 21-25 Union St, Kingston, K7L 2N8, Ontario, Canada.
Background: Epistasis, the phenomenon where the effect of one gene (or variant) is masked or modified by one or more other genes, significantly contributes to the phenotypic variance of complex traits. Traditionally, epistasis has been modeled using the Cartesian epistatic model, a multiplicative approach based on standard statistical regression. However, a recent study investigating epistasis in obesity-related traits has identified potential limitations of the Cartesian epistatic model, revealing that it likely only detects a fraction of the genetic interactions occurring in natural systems.
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