Opinion modeling on social media and marketing aspects

We introduce and discuss kinetic models of opinion formation on social networks in which the distribution function depends on both the opinion and the connectivity of the agents. The opinion formation model is subsequently coupled with a kinetic model describing the spreading of popularity of a product on the web through a social network. Numerical experiments on the underlying kinetic models show a good qualitative agreement with some measured trends of hashtags on social media websites and illustrate how companies can take advantage of the network structure to obtain at best the advertisement of their products

On the dynamics of social conflicts: looking for the Black Swan

This paper deals with the modeling of social competition, possibly resulting in the onset of extreme conflicts. More precisely, we discuss models describing the interplay between individual competition for wealth distribution that, when coupled with political stances coming from support or opposition to a government, may give rise to strongly self-enhanced effects. The latter may be thought of as the early stages of massive, unpredictable events known as Black Swans, although no analysis of any fully-developed Black Swan is provided here. Our approach makes use of the framework of the kinetic theory for active particles, where nonlinear interactions among subjects are modeled according to game-theoretical tools.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure

Fundamental diagrams in traffic flow: the case of heterogeneous kinetic models

Experimental studies on vehicular traffic provide data on quantities like density, flux, and mean speed of the vehicles. However, the diagrams relating these variables (the fundamental and speed diagrams) show some peculiarities not yet fully reproduced nor explained by mathematical models. In this paper, resting on the methods of kinetic theory, we introduce a new traffic model which takes into account the heterogeneous nature of the flow of vehicles along a road. In more detail, the model considers traffic as a mixture of two or more populations of vehicles (e.g., cars and trucks) with different microscopic characteristics, in particular different lengths and/or maximum speeds. With this approach we gain some insights into the scattering of the data in the regime of congested traffic clearly shown by actual measurements

Initial/boundary-value problems of tumor growth within a host tissue

This paper concerns multiphase models of tumor growth in interaction with a surrounding tissue, taking into account also the interplay with diffusible nutrients feeding the cells. Models specialize in nonlinear systems of possibly degenerate parabolic equations, which include phenomenological terms related to specific cell functions. The paper discusses general modeling guidelines for such terms, as well as for initial and boundary conditions, aiming at both biological consistency and mathematical robustness of the resulting problems. Particularly, it addresses some qualitative properties such as a priori nonnegativity, boundedness, and uniqueness of the solutions. Existence of the solutions is studied in the one-dimensional time-independent case.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figure

Exploiting protein family and protein network data to identify novel drug targets for bladder cancer

Bladder cancer remains one of the most common forms of cancer and yet there are limited small molecule targeted therapies. Here, we present a computational platform to identify new potential targets for bladder cancer therapy. Our method initially exploited a set of known driver genes for bladder cancer combined with predicted bladder cancer genes from mutationally enriched protein domain families. We enriched this initial set of genes using protein network data to identify a comprehensive set of 323 putative bladder cancer targets. Pathway and cancer hallmarks analyses highlighted putative mechanisms in agreement with those previously reported for this cancer and revealed protein network modules highly enriched in potential drivers likely to be good targets for targeted therapies. 21 of our potential drug targets are targeted by FDA approved drugs for other diseases - some of them are known drivers or are already being targeted for bladder cancer (FGFR3, ERBB3, HDAC3, EGFR). A further 4 potential drug targets were identified by inheriting drug mappings across our in-house CATH domain functional families (FunFams). Our FunFam data also allowed us to identify drug targets in families that are less prone to side effects i.e., where structurally similar protein domain relatives are less dispersed across the human protein network. We provide information on our novel potential cancer driver genes, together with information on pathways, network modules and hallmarks associated with the predicted and known bladder cancer drivers and we highlight those drivers we predict to be likely drug targets

Changes in antioxidant status associated with haemodialysis in chronic kidney disease

Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis, progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and development of cardiovascular complications. Hemodialysis (HD) has also been described to contribute significantly to oxidative stress in CKD patients, though reports are conflicting.Objective: We evaluated the effects of one session of HD on the antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation in CKD patients.Method: Thirty-six CKD patients requiring HD were recruited into this study. Participants were naïve to HD and each completed a session of three hours using polysulfone membrane dialyzers. Blood samples were collected before and after dialysis. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was measured by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) while malondialdehyde (MDA) was measured using thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS). Comparison was made between pre-HD and post-HD values of TAC and MDA respectively, p value of <0.05 was taken as significant.Result: Mean age and estimated glomerular filtration rate of subjects were 45 ±15 years and 6.3± 4.7mls/1.73m2 respectively. There was significant decrease in the mean TAC from 1232.2 ± 495.6 μmol Trolox equiv/ to 832.4 ±325.7 μmol Trolox equiv/L post-dialysis (p< 0.001) while MDA values were similar before and after HD (11.8 ± 1.8 vs 11.8 ± 2.331)μmol/L (p> 0.05). There was no significant association between changes in antioxidant status following HD with blood flow rate, ultrafiltration volume nor dialyzer per size.Conclusion: A session of HD in patients with CKD is associated with significant reduction of the total antioxidants capacity; and no effect on MDA levels.Funding: No external funding receivedKeywords: oxidative stress, antioxidants capacity, hemodialysis, chronic kidney diseas

Care, Connection, and Social Distancing:The challenges of baby loss during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand

Problem: The COVID-19 pandemic hindered access to routine healthcare globally,prompting concerns about possible increases in pregnancy loss and perinatal death.Background: PUDDLES is an international collaboration exploring the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic on parents who experience pregnancy loss and perinatal death in seven countries, including Aotearoa New Zealand.Aim: To explore parents’ experiences of access to healthcare services and supportfollowing baby loss during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand.Methods: We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 26 bereavedparents, including 20 birthing mothers, and six non-birthing parents (one mother and five fathers). Types of loss included 15 stillbirths, four late miscarriages, and oneneonatal death. Participant ethnicities were broadly representative of Aotearoa NewZealand’s multi-ethnic society. Data were analysed using Template Analysis.Findings: Analysis revealed five themes relating to pandemic impact on bereavedparent’s experiences. These were: ‘Distanced and Impersonal care’; ‘NavigatingHospital Rules’; Exclusion of Non-birthing Parents; ‘Hindered Access to SocialSupport’; and ‘Continuity of Relational Care’.Discussion: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated isolation of bereaved parentsthrough perceived impersonal care by healthcare professionals and restrictions onmovement hindered access to social and cultural support. Compassionate bending ofthe rules by healthcare professionals and community postnatal visits by continuity ofcare midwives following the bereavement appeared to be mitigating factors.Conclusion: Social isolation is an added challenge for parents experiencing baby lossduring a pandemic, which may be mitigated by flexible and compassionate care fromhealthcare professionals, especially continuity of care midwives

Technological Innovations in Land Administration System (LAS): Concern on Level of Awareness in Nigeria

The study examined the level of awareness of technological innovations in land administration among stakeholders comprising academics and officials charged with the responsibility of administering and managing land in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. The study sampled 114 land experts and employed multi-layer non-probabilistic sampling, i.e. cluster, convenience and snowballing techniques. Descriptive statistics of mean score of weighted options (5-point Likert scale), cross tabulation and Kruskal-Wallis test were deployed to analyse the data. The mean score (MS) showed a very low level of awareness of technological innovations among the respondents. The result revealed that, the respondents have a fair knowledge of Geodata Cadastral Database and Land Resource Manager. The compare mean score analysis of the level of awareness against the respondents’ background information revealed that field personnel, GIS experts, HND holders and experienced land administrators were relatively familiar with the technologies in their categories. Kruskal-Wallis was used to test if there is a significant difference in the opinions of the respondents considering variation in their background profiles. The test result showed that there is no statistical significant difference in the opinions of the land experts. The findings signaled that the operation of land administration in the country is still at a basic level, manual and labour intensive. The study therefore advocated for scaling up of sensitisation and awareness campaigns on the technological innovations, synergy between field and academic land experts, training and re-training of personnel and adoption of strong institutional framework that will enhance LAS in the country