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Chen J, Guo X, Charbonneau D, Azizi A, Fewell J, Kang Y. Dynamics of Information Flow and Task Allocation of Social Insect Colonies: Impacts of Spatial Interactions and Task Switching. Bull Math Biol 2024; 86:50. [PMID: 38581473 DOI: 10.1007/s11538-024-01280-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/08/2024]
Abstract
Models of social interaction dynamics have been powerful tools for understanding the efficiency of information spread and the robustness of task allocation in social insect colonies. How workers spatially distribute within the colony, or spatial heterogeneity degree (SHD), plays a vital role in contact dynamics, influencing information spread and task allocation. We used agent-based models to explore factors affecting spatial heterogeneity and information flow, including the number of task groups, variation in spatial arrangements, and levels of task switching, to study: (1) the impact of multiple task groups on SHD, contact dynamics, and information spread, and (2) the impact of task switching on SHD and contact dynamics. Both models show a strong linear relationship between the dynamics of SHD and contact dynamics, which exists for different initial conditions. The multiple-task-group model without task switching reveals the impacts of the number and spatial arrangements of task locations on information transmission. The task-switching model allows task-switching with a probability through contact between individuals. The model indicates that the task-switching mechanism enables a dynamical state of task-related spatial fidelity at the individual level. This spatial fidelity can assist the colony in redistributing their workforce, with consequent effects on the dynamics of spatial heterogeneity degree. The spatial fidelity of a task group is the proportion of workers who perform that task and have preferential walking styles toward their task location. Our analysis shows that the task switching rate between two tasks is an exponentially decreasing function of the spatial fidelity and contact rate. Higher spatial fidelity leads to more agents aggregating to task location, reducing contact between groups, thus making task switching more difficult. Our results provide important insights into the mechanisms that generate spatial heterogeneity and deepen our understanding of how spatial heterogeneity impacts task allocation, social interaction, and information spread.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Chen
- Simon A. Levin Mathematical and Computational Modeling Sciences Center, Arizona State University, 1031 Palm Walk, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
| | - Xiaohui Guo
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
| | | | - Asma Azizi
- Department of Mathematics, Kennesaw State University, Marrieta, GA, 30060, USA
| | - Jennifer Fewell
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
| | - Yun Kang
- Sciences and Mathematics Faculty, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ, 85212, USA.
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Chen J, Rincon JOR, DeGrandi-Hoffman G, Fewell J, Harrison J, Kang Y. Impacts of seasonality and parasitism on honey bee population dynamics. J Math Biol 2023; 87:19. [PMID: 37389742 DOI: 10.1007/s00285-023-01952-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
The honeybee plays an extremely important role in ecosystem stability and diversity and in the production of bee pollinated crops. Honey bees and other pollinators are under threat from the combined effects of nutritional stress, parasitism, pesticides, and climate change that impact the timing, duration, and variability of seasonal events. To understand how parasitism and seasonality influence honey bee colonies separately and interactively, we developed a non-autonomous nonlinear honeybee-parasite interaction differential equation model that incorporates seasonality into the egg-laying rate of the queen. Our theoretical results show that parasitism negatively impacts the honey bee population either by decreasing colony size or destabilizing population dynamics through supercritical or subcritical Hopf-bifurcations depending on conditions. Our bifurcation analysis and simulations suggest that seasonality alone may have positive or negative impacts on the survival of honey bee colonies. More specifically, our study indicates that (1) the timing of the maximum egg-laying rate seems to determine when seasonality has positive or negative impacts; and (2) when the period of seasonality is large it can lead to the colony collapsing. Our study further suggests that the synergistic influences of parasitism and seasonality can lead to complicated dynamics that may positively and negatively impact the honey bee colony's survival. Our work partially uncovers the intrinsic effects of climate change and parasites, which potentially provide essential insights into how best to maintain or improve a honey bee colony's health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Chen
- Simon A. Levin Mathematical and Computational Modeling Sciences Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
| | - Jordy O Rodriguez Rincon
- Simon A. Levin Mathematical and Computational Modeling Sciences Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85281, USA
| | - Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman
- Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA
| | - Jennifer Fewell
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
| | - Jon Harrison
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
| | - Yun Kang
- Sciences and Mathematics Faculty, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ, 85212, USA.
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Guo X, Chen J, Azizi A, Fewell J, Kang Y. Dynamics of social interactions, in the flow of information and disease spreading in social insects colonies: Effects of environmental events and spatial heterogeneity. J Theor Biol 2020; 492:110191. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2020.110191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2019] [Revised: 12/08/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Helmkampf M, Mikheyev AS, Kang Y, Fewell J, Gadau J. Gene expression and variation in social aggression by queens of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus. Mol Ecol 2016; 25:3716-30. [PMID: 27178446 DOI: 10.1111/mec.13700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2016] [Revised: 04/14/2016] [Accepted: 05/02/2016] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
A key requirement for social cooperation is the mitigation and/or social regulation of aggression towards other group members. Populations of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus show the alternate social phenotypes of queens founding nests alone (haplometrosis) or in groups of unrelated yet cooperative individuals (pleometrosis). Pleometrotic queens display an associated reduction in aggression. To understand the proximate drivers behind this variation, we placed foundresses of the two populations into social environments with queens from the same or the alternate population, and measured their behaviour and head gene expression profiles. A proportion of queens from both populations behaved aggressively, but haplometrotic queens were significantly more likely to perform aggressive acts, and conflict escalated more frequently in pairs of haplometrotic queens. Whole-head RNA sequencing revealed variation in gene expression patterns, with the two populations showing moderate differentiation in overall transcriptional profile, suggesting that genetic differences underlie the two founding strategies. The largest detected difference, however, was associated with aggression, regardless of queen founding type. Several modules of coregulated genes, involved in metabolism, immune system and neuronal function, were found to be upregulated in highly aggressive queens. Conversely, nonaggressive queens exhibited a striking pattern of upregulation in chemosensory genes. Our results highlight that the social phenotypes of cooperative vs. solitary nest founding tap into a set of gene regulatory networks that seem to govern aggression level. We also present a number of highly connected hub genes associated with aggression, providing opportunity to further study the genetic underpinnings of social conflict and tolerance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Helmkampf
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, 427 East Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
| | - Alexander S Mikheyev
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Kunigami-gun, 904-0495, Japan
| | - Yun Kang
- College of Letters and Sciences, Arizona State University, 7001 E. Williams Field Road, Mesa, AZ, 85212, USA
| | - Jennifer Fewell
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, 427 East Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
| | - Jürgen Gadau
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, 427 East Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
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Pinter-Wollman N, Hobson EA, Smith JE, Edelman AJ, Shizuka D, de Silva S, Waters JS, Prager SD, Sasaki T, Wittemyer G, Fewell J, McDonald DB. Response to comments on the dynamics of network dynamics. Behav Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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Pinter-Wollman N, Hobson EA, Smith JE, Edelman AJ, Shizuka D, de Silva S, Waters JS, Prager SD, Sasaki T, Wittemyer G, Fewell J, McDonald DB. The dynamics of animal social networks: analytical, conceptual, and theoretical advances. Behav Ecol 2013. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/art047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 278] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Alvarez R, Anwar K, Barnes M, Fewell J. A phase I study of a novel lipopolymer-based interleukin-12 gene therapeutic in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer. Gynecol Oncol 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2010.12.078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Anwar K, Barnes MN, Kelly FJ, Chu C, Cutter K, Fewell J, Alvarez RD. Safety and tolerability of a novel IL-12 gene therapeutic administered in combination with carboplatin/docetaxel in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. J Clin Oncol 2010. [DOI: 10.1200/jco.2010.28.15_suppl.5045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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Anwer K, Barnes MN, Fewell J, Lewis DH, Alvarez RD. Phase-I clinical trial of IL-12 plasmid/lipopolymer complexes for the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer. Gene Ther 2009; 17:360-9. [PMID: 20033066 DOI: 10.1038/gt.2009.159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
A phase-I trial to assess the safety and tolerability of human interleukin-12 (IL-12) plasmid (phIL-12) formulated with a synthetic lipopolymer, polyethyleneglycol-polyethyleneimine-cholesterol (PPC), was conducted on women with chemotherapy-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer. A total of 13 patients were enrolled in four dose-escalating cohorts and treated with 0.6, 3, 12 or 24 mg m(-2) of the formulated plasmid once every week for 4 weeks. Administration of phIL-12/PPC was generally safe and well-tolerated. Common side effects included low-grade fever and abdominal pain. Stable disease and reduction in serum CA-125 levels were clinically observed in some patients. Measurable levels of IL-12 plasmid were detectable in PF samples collected throughout the course of phIL-12/PPC treatment. In comparison, serum samples either did not contain detectable amounts of plasmid DNA or contained <1% of the amount found in the corresponding PF samples. Treatment-related increases in IFN-gamma levels were observed in PF but not in serum. These data demonstrate that IL-12 gene delivery with a synthetic delivery system is feasible for ovarian cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Anwer
- EGEN Inc, Huntsville, AL 35806, USA
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Kendrick JE, Matthews KS, Straughn JM, Barnes MN, Fewell J, Anwer K, Alvarez RD. A phase I trial of intraperitoneal EGEN-001, a novel IL-12 gene therapeutic, administered alone or in combination with chemotherapy in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. J Clin Oncol 2008. [DOI: 10.1200/jco.2008.26.15_suppl.5572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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Abstract
The functional significance of the actin binding region at the amino terminus of the cardiac essential myosin light chain (ELC) remains obscure. Previous experiments carried out in vitro indicated that modulation of residues 5-14 could induce an inotropic effect, increasing maximal ATPase activity at submaximal Ca(2+) concentrations (Rarick, H. M., Opgenorth, T. J., von Geldern, T. W., Wu-Wong, J. R., and Solaro, R. J. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 27039-27043). Using transgenesis, we effected a cardiac-specific replacement of ELC with a protein containing a 10-amino acid deletion at positions 5-14. Both the ventricular (ELC1vDelta5-14) and atrial (ELC1aDelta5-14) isoforms lacking this peptide were stably incorporated into the sarcomere at high efficiencies. Surprisingly when the kinetics of skinned fibers isolated from the ELC1vDelta5-14 or ELC1aDelta5-14 mice were examined, no alterations in either unloaded shortening or maximum shortening velocities were apparent. Myofibrillar Mg(2+)-ATPase activity was also unchanged in these preparations. No significant changes in the fiber kinetics in the cognate compartments were observed when either deletion-containing protein replaced endogenous ELC1v or ELC1a. The data indicate that the previously postulated importance of this region in mediating critical protein interactions between the cardiac ELCs and the carboxyl-terminal residues of actin in vivo should be reassessed.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Sanbe
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Molecular Cardiovascular Biology, The Children's Hospital Research Foundation, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3039, USA
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Abstract
The structure-function relationships of the sarcomeric proteins in the mammalian cardiac compartment remain ill-defined because of the lack of a suitable model in which they can be readily manipulated or exchanged in vivo. To establish the validity of the transgenic paradigm for remodeling the mammalian heart, the murine alpha -cardiac myosin heavy chain gene promoter was used to express a ventricular myosin light chain-2 transgene (MLC2v) in both the atria and ventricles of the adult animal. Expression resulted in high levels of the transgene's transcript in both compartments. In the ventricle, the transgene was expressed against the background expression of the normal isoform. In the atrium, the transgene's expression would be ectopic, in that normally, MLC2v expression is restricted to the ventricle. Ectopic expression of the transgene in the atria resulted in a complete replacement of the atrial myosin light chain-2 protein isoform, although the endogenous isoform's steady state transcript levels were unchanged. In contrast, ventricular expression of the transgene had no effect at the protein level, despite an eightfold increase in MLC2v transcript levels. The data show that sarcomeric protein stoichiometry is maintained rigorously via posttransciptional regulation and that protein replacement can be achieved through a single transgenic manipulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Palermo
- Children's Hospital Research Foundation, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
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Feenstra A, Fewell J, Lueders K, Kuff E. In vitro methylation inhibits the promotor activity of a cloned intracisternal A-particle LTR. Nucleic Acids Res 1986; 14:4343-52. [PMID: 2423967 PMCID: PMC339865 DOI: 10.1093/nar/14.10.4343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
We studied the relation between LTR methylation and expression of the family of endogenous retrovirus-like elements related to mouse intracisternal A-particles (IAP). Comparative HpaII/MspI and HhaI restriction analysis of genomic DNA's showed that in cells and tissues with a low level of IAP gene expression, HpaII and HhaI sites within the 5' LTR were heavily methylated, while in cells abundantly expressing IAP's 20 to 30% of the 5' LTRs were demethylated at these sites. The effects of methylation on the promoter activity of a cloned IAP 5' LTR was studied directly, using the plasmid pMIA5' L-cat in which this LTR was linked to the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene. In vitro methylation of three HhaI sites located between -137 and -205 bp from the RNA start site of this LTR completely inactivated the promoter activity of pMIA5' L-cat transfected into COS7 cells. Methylation of a HpaII site located 94 bp downstream from the RNA start site reduced the promoter activity by 75%. The results show that methylation at sites both upstream and downstream from the RNA start site profoundly effects the promoter activity of this LTR and suggest that methylation within the 5' LTR can serve to regulate IAP gene expression in vivo.
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Fewell J, Arrington R, Seibert J. The effect of head position and angle of tracheal bifurcation on bronchus catheterization in the intubated neonate. Pediatrics 1979; 64:318-20. [PMID: 481975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The effect of head position and angle of tracheal bifurcation on bronchus catheterization was studied in newborn infants. Frequency of bronchus catheterization following appropriate head positioning was evaluated radiographically after passage of a No. 5 French feeding tube in eight intubated neonates within 30 minutes post mortem. Positioning the infants head to the right in preparation for a suctioning procedure may facilitate but not assure catheterization of the left main stem bronchus (LMSB). Positioning the infant's head straight or rotating to the left appears to be equally effective in catheterization of the right main stem bronchus (RMSB). The predominance of RMSB catheterization in infants with their head in the straight position may be explained by the different angles of mainstem bronchi divergence which we determined using radiographs. The angles of divergence of the LMSB and the RMSB from the trachea averaged 44.4 degrees and 24.1 degrees, respectively.
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