{"title":"Physical mechanism reveals bacterial slowdown above a critical number of flagella.","authors":"Maria Tătulea-Codrean, Eric Lauga","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0283","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0283","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Numerous studies have explored the link between bacterial swimming and the number of flagella, a distinguishing feature of motile multi-flagellated bacteria. We revisit this open question using augmented slender-body theory simulations, in which we resolve the full hydrodynamic interactions within a bundle of helical filaments rotating and translating in synchrony. Unlike previous studies, our model considers the full torque-speed relationship of the bacterial flagellar motor, revealing its significant impact on multi-flagellated swimming. Because the viscous load per motor decreases with the flagellar number, the bacterial flagellar motor transitions from the high-load to the low-load regime at a critical number of filaments, leading to bacterial slowdown as further flagella are added to the bundle. We explain the physical mechanism behind the observed slowdown as an interplay between the load-dependent generation of torque by the motor, and the load-reducing cooperativity between flagella, which consists of both hydrodynamic and non-hydrodynamic components. The theoretically predicted critical number of flagella is remarkably close to the values reported for the model organism <i>Escherichia coli</i>. Our model further predicts that the critical number of flagella increases with viscosity, suggesting that bacteria can enhance their swimming capacity by growing more flagella in more viscous environments, consistent with empirical observations.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"21 220","pages":"20240283"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11539103/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142583727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Seeing the piles of the velvet bending under our finger sliding over a tactile stimulator improves the feeling of the fabric.","authors":"Laurence Mouchnino, Brigitte Camillieri, Jenny Faucheu, Mihaela Juganaru, Alix Moinon, Jean Blouin, Marie-Ange Bueno","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0368","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0368","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Using friction modulation to simulate fabrics with a tactile stimulator (i.e. virtual surface) is not sufficient to render fabric touch and even more so for hairy fabrics. We hypothesized that seeing the pile of the velvet darken or lighten depending on changes in the finger movement direction on the virtual surface should improve the velvet fabric rendering. Participants actively rubbed a tactile device or a velvet fabric looking at a screen that showed a synthesized image of a velvet that either remained static (V-static) or darkening/lightening with the direction of touch (V-moving). We showed that in V-moving condition, the touched surface was always perceived rougher, which is a descriptor of a real velvet (Experiment 1). Using electroencephalography and sources localization analyses, we found increased activity in the occipital and inferior parietal lobes (Experiment 2) when seeing dark and shining traces during back-and-forth finger movements over the virtual surface. This suggests that these two posterior cortical regions work together to evaluate visuo-tactile congruence between the seen and the felt (tactile). The visuo-tactile binding, evidenced by neural synchronization (specifically, theta band (5-7 Hz) oscillation) in the left inferior posterior parietal lobule, is consistent with enhanced integration of information and probably contributed to the emergence of a more realistic velvet representation.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"21 220","pages":"20240368"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11538944/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142583760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Robert M Hazen, Peter C Burns, H James Cleaves Ii, Robert T Downs, Sergey V Krivovichev, Michael L Wong
{"title":"Reply to 'Experimental measurement of assembly indices are required to determine the threshold for life'.","authors":"Robert M Hazen, Peter C Burns, H James Cleaves Ii, Robert T Downs, Sergey V Krivovichev, Michael L Wong","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0622","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0622","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We clarify misunderstandings of Walker et al. (Walker <i>et al.</i> 2024 <i>J. R. Soc. Interface</i> 21, 20240367 (doi:10.1098/rsif.2024.0367)) related to studies of the assembly pathways of molecular subunits in minerals. The finding that these subunits have calculated assembly pathways less than approximately 25 informs a central premise of Assembly Theory-that only life can produce numerous copies of molecules with assembly indices above a threshold value. What that threshold value might be, and whether the same value applies to chemical systems as different as organic and inorganic molecules, are questions deserving of additional study.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"21 220","pages":"20240622"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11576840/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142676026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Vira Raichenko, Nikolai Rosenthal, Michaela Eder, Myfanwy E Evans
{"title":"Cocoon microstructures through the lens of topological persistence.","authors":"Vira Raichenko, Nikolai Rosenthal, Michaela Eder, Myfanwy E Evans","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0218","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0218","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biological materials display a wide array of functionality, often dictated by complicated microstructures. New geometric and topological strategies allow one to describe the microstructures in a precise and systematic way. This article describes the application of topological persistence and other geometric methods to the microstructural analysis of three-dimensional X-ray micro-computed tomography scans of the <i>Bombyx mori</i> silkworm cocoons. These methods allow conclusions to be drawn about pore space gradients, silk fibre thickness gradients and fibre alignment within the cocoon. The study demonstrates the applicability of these topological and geometric methods to quantify and characterize fibrous materials.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"21 220","pages":"20240218"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11557229/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142623194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Personalized <i>in silico</i> model for radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis.","authors":"Eleftherios Ioannou, Myrianthi Hadjicharalambous, Anastasia Malai, Elisavet Papageorgiou, Antri Peraticou, Nicos Katodritis, Dimitrios Vomvas, Vasileios Vavourakis","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0525","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0525","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis (RIPF) is a severe late-stage complication of radiotherapy (RT) to the chest area, typically used in lung cancer treatment. This condition is characterized by the gradual and irreversible replacement of healthy lung tissue with fibrous scar tissue, leading to decreased lung function, reduced oxygen exchange and critical respiratory deficiencies. Currently, predicting and managing lung fibrosis post-RT remains challenging, with limited preventive and treatment options. Accurate prediction of fibrosis onset and progression is therefore clinically crucial. We present a personalized <i>in silico</i> model for pulmonary fibrosis that encompasses tumour regression, fibrosis development and lung tissue remodelling post-radiation. Our continuum-based model was developed using data from 12 RT-treated lung cancer patients and integrates computed tomography (CT) and dosimetry data to simulate the spatio-temporal evolution of fibrosis. We demonstrate the ability of the <i>in silico</i> model to capture the extent of fibrosis in the entire cohort with a less than 1% deviation from clinical observations, in addition to providing quantitative metrics of spatial similarity. These findings underscore the potential of the model to improve treatment planning and risk assessment, paving the way for more personalized and effective management of RIPF.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"21 220","pages":"20240525"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11557242/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142623215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cooperative control of environmental extremes by artificial intelligent agents.","authors":"Martí Sánchez-Fibla, Clément Moulin-Frier, Ricard Solé","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0344","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0344","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Humans have been able to tackle biosphere complexities by acting as ecosystem engineers, profoundly changing the flows of matter, energy and information. This includes major innovations that allowed to reduce and control the impact of extreme events. Modelling the evolution of such adaptive dynamics can be challenging, given the potentially large number of individual and environmental variables involved. This article shows how to address this problem by using fire as the source of extreme events. We implement a simulated environment where fire propagates on a spatial landscape, and a group of artificial agents learn how to harvest and exploit trees while avoiding the damaging effects of fire spreading. The agents need to solve a conflict to reach a group-level optimal state: while tree harvesting reduces the propagation of fires, it also reduces the availability of resources provided by trees. It is shown that the system displays two major evolutionary innovations that end up in an ecological engineering strategy that favours high biomass along with the suppression of large fires. The implications for potential artificial intelligence management of complex ecosystems are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"21 220","pages":"20240344"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11538903/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142583742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sara I Walker, Cole Mathis, Stuart Marshall, Leroy Cronin
{"title":"Experimentally measured assembly indices are required to determine the threshold for life.","authors":"Sara I Walker, Cole Mathis, Stuart Marshall, Leroy Cronin","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0367","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0367","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Assembly theory (AT) aims to distinguish living from non-living systems by explaining and quantifying selection and evolution. The theory proposes that the degree of assembly depends on the number of complex objects, with complexity measured using a combination of the object's assembly index (AI) and its abundance. We previously provided experimental evidence supporting AT's predictive power, finding that abiotic systems do not randomly produce organic molecules with an AI greater than approximately 15 in detectable amounts. Hazen <i>et al</i>. (Hazen <i>et al</i>. 2024 <i>J. R. Soc. Interface</i> <b>21</b>, 20230632. (doi:10.1098/rsif.2023.0632)) proposed inorganic molecules that theoretically have AIs greater than 15, suggesting similar complexity to biological molecules. However, our AIs are experimentally measured for organic, covalently bonded molecules, whereas Hazen's are theoretical, derived from crystal structures of charged units that are not isolable in solution. This distinction underscores the challenge in experimentally validating theoretical AIs.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"21 220","pages":"20240367"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11576842/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142676009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Konstantin K Avilov, Qiong Li, Lixin Lin, Haydar Demirhan, Lewi Stone, Daihai He
{"title":"The 1978 English boarding school influenza outbreak: where the classic SEIR model fails.","authors":"Konstantin K Avilov, Qiong Li, Lixin Lin, Haydar Demirhan, Lewi Stone, Daihai He","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0394","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0394","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Previous work has failed to fit classic SEIR epidemic models satisfactorily to the prevalence data of the famous English boarding school 1978 influenza A/H1N1 outbreak during the children's pandemic. It is still an open question whether a biologically plausible model can fit the prevalence time series and the attack rate correctly. To construct the final model, we first used an intentionally very flexible and overfitted discrete-time epidemiologic model to learn the epidemiological features from the data. The final model was a susceptible (<i>S</i>) - exposed (<i>E</i>) - infectious (<i>I</i>) - confined-to-bed (<i>B</i>) - convalescent (<i>C</i>) - recovered (<i>R</i>) model with time delay (constant residence time) in <i>E</i> and <i>I</i> compartments and multi-stage (Erlang-distributed residence time) in <i>B</i> and <i>C</i> compartments. We simultaneously fitted the reported <i>B</i> and <i>C</i> prevalence curves as well as the attack rate (proportion of children infected during the outbreak). The non-exponential residence times were crucial for good fits. The estimates of the generation time and the basic reproductive number ([Formula: see text]) were biologically reasonable. A simplified discrete-time model was built and fitted using the Bayesian procedure. Our work not only provided an answer to the open question, but also demonstrated an approach to constructive model generation.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"21 220","pages":"20240394"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11576841/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142676029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kailun Zhu, Songtao Peng, Jiaqi Nie, Zhongyuan Ruan, Shanqing Yu, Qi Xuan
{"title":"Exploring agent interaction patterns in the comment sections of fake and real news.","authors":"Kailun Zhu, Songtao Peng, Jiaqi Nie, Zhongyuan Ruan, Shanqing Yu, Qi Xuan","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0483","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0483","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>User comments on social media have been recognized as a crucial factor in distinguishing between fake and real news, with many studies focusing on the textual content of user reactions. However, the interactions among agents in the comment sections for fake and real news have not been fully explored. In this study, we analyse a dataset comprising both fake and real news from Reddit to investigate agent interaction patterns, considering both the network structure and the sentiment of the nodes. Our main findings reveal that, compared with fake news, where users generate more negative sentiment, real news tends to elicit more neutral and positive sentiments. Additionally, nodes with similar sentiments cluster together more tightly than anticipated. From a dynamic perspective, we found that the sentiment distribution among nodes stabilizes early and remains stable over time. These findings have both theoretical and practical implications, particularly for the early detection of real and fake news within social networks.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"21 220","pages":"20240483"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11597403/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142729639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Quantifying social media predictors of violence during the 6 January US Capitol insurrection using Granger causality.","authors":"Qinghua Li, Brayden G King, Brian Uzzi","doi":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0314","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rsif.2024.0314","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Protests involving brute force are growing in number and are viewed as a likely source of increased collective violence in industrialized nations. Yet, our scientific understanding of how violent protests are related to a leader's social media communications during protests remains nascent. Here, we analyse new data from the 6 January 'march on the US Capitol' to quantify the links between leadership, social media and levels of violence. Using data on thousands of live footage videos, Trump's tweets and rally speech, other rally speeches and #StopTheSteal tweets, we apply Granger regression methods to analyse the links between former President Trump's tweets, #StopTheSteal tweets, rally speeches and the severity and duration of outbreaks of violence and weapons use during the riot. We find that Trump's tweets predict bursts in rioters' levels and duration of violence and weapons use. Trump's tweets also predict changes in the volume and sentiments of #StopTheSteal tweets, which in turn explain additional variance in levels of violence and weapons use over the course of the riot. Our findings reveal new patterns of behaviour that link an authority figure's online behaviour during a protest and the shift from peaceful protesting to violence.</p>","PeriodicalId":17488,"journal":{"name":"Journal of The Royal Society Interface","volume":"21 220","pages":"20240314"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11538902/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142583759","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}