{"title":"Mechanical causes and implications of repetitive DNA motifs.","authors":"Paul Torrillo, David Swigon","doi":"10.1016/j.mbs.2024.109343","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mbs.2024.109343","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Experimental research suggests that local patterns in DNA sequences can result in stiffer or more curved structures, potentially impacting chromatin formation, transcription regulation, and other processes. However, the effect of sequence variation on DNA geometry and mechanics remains relatively underexplored. Using rigid base pair models to aid rapid computation, we investigated the sample space of 100 bp DNA sequences to identify mechanical extrema based on metrics such as static persistence length, global bend, or angular deviation. Our results show that repetitive DNA motifs are overrepresented in these extrema. We identified specific extremal motifs and demonstrated that their geometric and mechanical properties significantly differ from standard DNA through hierarchical clustering. We provide a mathematical argument supporting the presence of DNA repeats in extremizing sequences. Finally, we find that repetitive DNA motifs with extreme mechanical properties are prevalent in genetic databases and hypothesize that their unique mechanical properties could contribute to this abundance.</p>","PeriodicalId":94129,"journal":{"name":"Mathematical biosciences","volume":" ","pages":"109343"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142690160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of fish-human transmission and different life stages of fish on Clonorchiasis: A novel mathematical model.","authors":"Wei Wang, Xiaohui Huang, Hao Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.mbs.2024.109209","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mbs.2024.109209","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Clonorchiasis is a zoonotic disease mainly caused by eating raw fish and shrimp, and there is no vaccine to prevent it. More than 30 million people are infected worldwide, of which China alone accounts for about half, and is one of the countries most seriously affected by Clonorchiasis. In this work, we formulate a novel Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) model to discuss the biological attributes of fish within authentic ecosystems and the complex lifecycle of Clonorchis sinensis. This model includes larval fish, adult fish, infected fish, humans, and cercariae. We derive the basic reproduction number and perform a rigorous stability analysis of the proposed model. Numerically, we use data from 2016 to 2021 in Guangxi, China, to discuss outbreaks of Clonorchiasis and obtain the basic reproduction number R<sub>0</sub>=1.4764. The fitted curve appropriately reflects the overall trend and replicates a low peak in the case number of Clonorchiasis. By reducing the release rate of cercariae in 2018, the fitted values of Clonorchiasis cases dropped rapidly and almost disappeared. If we decrease the transmission rate from infected fish to humans, Clonorchiasis can be controlled. Our studies also suggest that strengthening publicity education and cleaning water quality can effectively control the transmission of Clonorchiasis in Guangxi, China.</p>","PeriodicalId":94129,"journal":{"name":"Mathematical biosciences","volume":" ","pages":"109209"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140961248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mathematical modeling of brain metastases growth and response to therapies: A review.","authors":"B. Ocaña-Tienda, Víctor M. Pérez-García","doi":"10.1016/j.mbs.2024.109207","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mbs.2024.109207","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94129,"journal":{"name":"Mathematical biosciences","volume":"54 5","pages":"109207"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140975910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}