Key Structural Features of Microvascular Networks Leading to the Formation of Multiple Equilibria.

We analyse mathematical models of blood flow in two simple vascular networks in order to identify structural features that lead to the formation of multiple equilibria. Our models are based on existing rules for blood rheology and haematocrit splitting. By performing bifurcation analysis on these simple network flow models, we identify a link between the changing flow direction in key vessels and the existence of multiple equilibria.

Stokes flows in a two-dimensional bifurcation.

The flow network model is an established approach to approximate pressure-flow relationships in a bifurcating network, and has been widely used in many contexts. Existing models typically assume unidirectional flow and exploit Poiseuille's law, and thus neglect the impact of bifurcation geometry and finite-sized objects on the flow. We determine the impact of bifurcation geometry and objects by computing Stokes flows in a two-dimensional (2D) bifurcation using the Lightning-AAA Rational Stokes algorithm, a novel mesh-free algorithm for solving 2D Stokes flow problems utilizing an applied complex analysis approach based on rational approximation of the Goursat functions.

Idempotents and homology of diagram algebras.

This paper provides a systematization of some recent results in homology of algebras. Our main theorem gives criteria under which the homology of a diagram algebra is isomorphic to the homology of the subalgebra on diagrams having the maximum number of left-to-right connections. From this theorem, we deduce the 'invertible-parameter' cases of the Temperley-Lieb and Brauer results of Boyd-Hepworth and Boyd-Hepworth-Patzt.

How cells align to structured collagen fibrils: a hybrid cellular Potts and molecular dynamics model with dynamic mechanosensitive focal adhesions.

Many mammalian cells, including endothelial cells and fibroblasts, align and elongate along the orientation of extracellular matrix (ECM) fibers in a gel when cultured . During cell elongation, clusters of focal adhesions (FAs) form near the poles of the elongating cells. FAs are mechanosensitive clusters of adhesions that grow under mechanical tension exerted by the cells' pulling on the ECM and shrink when the tension is released.

Tidal Deformation and Dissipation Processes in Icy Worlds.

Tidal interactions play a key role in the dynamics and evolution of icy worlds. The intense tectonic activity of Europa and the eruption activity on Enceladus are clear examples of the manifestation of tidal deformation and associated dissipation. While tidal heating has long been recognized as a major driver in the activity of these icy worlds, the mechanism controlling how tidal forces deform the different internal layers and produce heat by tidal friction still remains poorly constrained.

Pandemic driven preoperative moderate hypofractionated radiotherapy for soft tissue sarcomas.

Purpose: Moderate hypofractionation was adopted to reduce hospital visits during the COVID-19 pandemic aiming to maintain treatment efficacy for soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients, shifting preoperative schedules from 25 fractions of 2 Gy to 14-15 fractions of 3 Gy. This study evaluates the clinical implications and outcomes of this schedule, focusing on wound complications, radiation toxicity, local tumour control, and distant metastases.

Patients And Methods: Data was collected from patients treated between 01 and 01-2020 and 31-12-2023.

Understanding the Mechanism of Electrochemical CO Capture by Supercapacitive Swing Adsorption.

Carbon dioxide capture underpins an important range of technologies that can help to mitigate climate change. Improved carbon capture technologies that are driven by electrochemistry are under active development, and it was recently found that supercapacitor energy storage devices can reversibly capture and release carbon dioxide. So-called supercapacitive swing adsorption (SSA) has several advantages over traditional carbon dioxide capture technologies such as lower energy consumption and the use of nontoxic materials.

Long-term survival of participants in the PASART-1 and PASART-2 trials of neo-adjuvant pazopanib and radiotherapy in soft tissue sarcoma.

Objective: This study aims to assess the long-term safety and efficacy of adding pazopanib to neo-adjuvant radiotherapy followed by surgery in patients with high-risk non-metastatic soft tissue sarcoma of the trunk and extremities treated in the PASART-1 and PASART-2 trials, as well as to compare the PASART cohorts to a control cohort receiving standard treatment during the same time period from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (IKNL) to investigate if adding pazopanib improves Overall Survival (OS).

Methods: Updated follow-up data on disease control, survival and long-term toxicities of the PASART-trials were extracted from electronic patient records. The effect of adding pazopanib to neo-adjuvant radiotherapy on OS was investigated by comparing the combined PASART cohorts to the IKNL cohort via direct comparison and exact matching analysis.

Criticality is Associated with Future Psychotherapy Response in Patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-A Pilot Study.

Background: Trauma-focused psychotherapy is treatment of choice for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, about half of patients do not respond. Recently, there is increased interest in brain criticality, which assesses the phase transition between order and disorder in brain activity.

Random walk models in the life sciences: including births, deaths and local interactions.

Random walks and related spatial stochastic models have been used in a range of application areas, including animal and plant ecology, infectious disease epidemiology, developmental biology, wound healing and oncology. Classical random walk models assume that all individuals in a population behave independently, ignoring local physical and biological interactions. This assumption simplifies the mathematical description of the population considerably, enabling continuum-limit descriptions to be derived and used in model analysis and fitting.

Prognostic Value of Molecular Aberrations in Low- or Intermediate-Risk Neuroblastomas: A Systematic Review.

Background: The 5-year prognosis of non-high-risk neuroblastomas is generally good (>90%). However, a proportion of patients show progression and succumb to their disease. We aimed to identify molecular aberrations (not incorporated in the current risk stratification) associated with overall survival (OS) and/or event-free survival (EFS) in patients diagnosed with non-high-risk neuroblastoma.

Conserved patterns of transcriptional dysregulation, heterogeneity, and cell states in clear cell kidney cancer.

Clear cell kidney cancers are characterized both by conserved oncogenic driver events and by marked intratumor genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity, which help drive tumor progression, metastasis, and resistance to therapy. How these are reflected in transcriptional programs within the cancer and stromal cell components remains an important question with the potential to drive novel therapeutic approaches to treating cancer. To better understand these programs, we perform single-cell transcriptomics on 75 multi-regional biopsies from kidney tumors and normal kidney.

Towards Context-Rich Automated Biodiversity Assessments: Deriving AI-Powered Insights from Camera Trap Data.

Camera traps offer enormous new opportunities in ecological studies, but current automated image analysis methods often lack the contextual richness needed to support impactful conservation outcomes. Integrating vision-language models into these workflows could address this gap by providing enhanced contextual understanding and enabling advanced queries across temporal and spatial dimensions. Here, we present an integrated approach that combines deep learning-based vision and language models to improve ecological reporting using data from camera traps.

Control of Overfitting with Physics.

While there are many works on the applications of machine learning, not so many of them are trying to understand the theoretical justifications to explain their efficiency. In this work, overfitting control (or generalization property) in machine learning is explained using analogies from physics and biology. For stochastic gradient Langevin dynamics, we show that the Eyring formula of kinetic theory allows to control overfitting in the algorithmic stability approach-when wide minima of the risk function with low free energy correspond to low overfitting.

Effectiveness and tolerability of lactic acid vaginal gel compared to oral metronidazole in the treatment of acute symptomatic bacterial vaginosis: a multicenter, randomized-controlled, head-to-head pilot study.

Background: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a prevalent vaginal condition among reproductive-age women, characterized by off-white, thin vaginal discharge with a fishy odor. It increases susceptibility to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). BV involves a shift in vaginal microbiota, with reduced lactobacilli and increased anaerobic bacteria.

A Dynamical Analysis of the Alignment Mechanism Between Two Interacting Cells.

In this work we analytically investigate the alignment mechanism of self-propelled ellipse-shaped cells in two spatial dimensions interacting via overlap avoidance. By considering a two-cell system and imposing certain symmetries, we obtain an analytically tractable dynamical system, which we mathematically analyse in detail. We find that for elongated cells there is a half-stable steady state corresponding to perfect alignment between the cells.

Prevalence and determinants of metabolic syndrome in 2338 childhood cancer survivors: A Dutch Childhood Cancer Survivor LATER 2 study.

Background: Because the occurrence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) might contribute to childhood cancer survivor's excess risk of cardiovascular disease, the authors assessed the prevalence and determinants of MetS in the Dutch Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (DCCSS-LATER2) cohort.

Methods: In total, 2338 adult childhood cancer survivors (CCS) were cross-sectionally assessed for the prevalence of MetS, using the Lifelines cohort (N = 132,226 adults without a history of cancer) as references. The prevalence of MetS was clinically assessed using existing classifications, as well as an alternative method using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry fat% instead of waist circumference to define abdominal adiposity.

Direct specification of lymphatic endothelium from mesenchymal progenitors.

During embryogenesis, endothelial cells (ECs) are generally described to arise from a common pool of progenitors termed angioblasts, which diversify through iterative steps of differentiation to form functionally distinct subtypes of ECs. A key example is the formation of lymphatic ECs (LECs), which are thought to arise largely through transdifferentiation from venous endothelium. Opposing this model, here we show that the initial expansion of mammalian LECs is primarily driven by the in situ differentiation of mesenchymal progenitors and does not require transition through an intermediate venous state.

Sensitive liquid biopsy monitoring correlates with outcome in the prospective international GPOH-DCOG high-risk neuroblastoma RT-qPCR validation study.

Background: Liquid biopsies offer less burdensome sensitive disease monitoring. Bone marrow (BM) metastases, common in various cancers including neuroblastoma, is associated with poor outcomes. In pediatric high-risk neuroblastoma most patients initially respond to treatment, but in the majority the disease recurs with only 40% long-term survivors, stressing the need for more sensitive detection of disseminated disease during therapy.

The impact of cognitive bias about infectious diseases on social well-being.

Introduction: We investigate the relationship between bias, that is, cognitive distortions about the severity of infectious disease and social well-being.

Materials And Methods: First, we establish empirically the existence of bias and analyze some of its causes; specifically, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, we derive an integrated economic-epidemiological differential equation model from an agent-based model that combines myopic rational choice with infectious disease dynamics.

Scaling limit of domino tilings on a pentagonal domain.

We consider the six-vertex model at its free-fermion point with domain wall boundary conditions, which is equivalent to random domino tilings of the Aztec diamond. We compute the scaling limit of a particular nonlocal correlation function, essentially equivalent to the partition function for the domino tilings of a pentagon-shaped domain, obtained by cutting away a triangular region from a corner of the initial Aztec diamond. We observe a third-order phase transition when the geometric parameters of the obtained pentagonal domain are tuned to have the fifth side exactly tangent to the arctic ellipse of the corresponding initial model.

Impact of a Clinical Decision Support System on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Performing Medication Reviews in Community Pharmacies: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) already support community pharmacists in conducting medication reviews (MRs) by identifying important information on interactions and suggesting clinical solutions. However, their impact in terms of quality and time savings is widely unexplored. The aim of our study was to investigate whether MRs are performed faster and better with or without using a CDSS.

Rethinking the physiological cross-sectional area of skeletal muscle reveals the mechanical advantage of pennation.

The shape of skeletal muscle varies remarkably-with important implications for locomotor performance. In many muscles, the fibres are arranged at an angle relative to the tendons' line of action, termed the pennation angle. These pennate muscles allow more sarcomeres to be packed side by side, enabling the muscle to generate higher maximum forces for a given muscle size.

The impact of natural climate variability on the global distribution of Aedes aegypti: a mathematical modelling study.

Background: Aedes aegypti spread pathogens affecting humans, including dengue, Zika, and yellow fever viruses. Anthropogenic climate change is altering the spatial distribution of Ae aegypti and therefore the locations at risk of vector-borne disease. In addition to climate change, natural climate variability, resulting from internal atmospheric processes and interactions between climate system components (eg, atmosphere-land and atmosphere-ocean interactions), determines climate outcomes.