scholarly journals Agent based models to investigate cooperation between cancer cells

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joao Xavier ◽  
William Chang
Keyword(s):  
Growth Factor ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Solid Tumor ◽  
Kin Selection ◽  
Evolution Of Cooperation ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Chemical Gradients ◽  
Close Proximity

We present a type of agent-based model that uses off-lattice spheres to represent individual cells in a solid tumor. The model calculates chemical gradients and determines the dynamics of the tumor as emergent properties of the interactions between the cells. As an example, we present an investigation of cooperation among cancer cells where cooperators secrete a growth factor that is costly to synthesize. Simulations reveal that cooperation is favored when cancer cells from the same lineage stay in close proximity. The result supports the hypothesis that kin selection, a theory that explains the evolution of cooperation in animals, also applies to cancers.

An Agent-Based Model of Solid Tumor Progression

2009 ◽  
pp. 187-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didier Dréau ◽  
Dimitre Stanimirov ◽  
Ted Carmichael ◽  
Mirsad Hadzikadic
Keyword(s):  
Tumor Progression ◽  
Solid Tumor ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Agent Based

An Agent-Based Model of the Spread of Devil Facial Tumor Disease in an Isolated Population of Tasmanian Devils

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Charles E. Knadler
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Isolated Population ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Disease Mechanism ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Devil Facial Tumor Disease

The Tasmanian devil population is being reduced in the wild at an alarming rate due to an epidemic, which is the result of an unusual disease mechanism. Infected animals “inject” cancer cells into other devils, which then clone the cells, developing tumors. These tumors are invariably fatal. Field observers have developed hypotheses that include a life- history change for the species. It is hypothesized that this change has the potential to improve the population’s survivability. An agent-based model of Tasmanian devils is used to evaluate these hypotheses. The model results suggest that the devils’ intra-gender aggression as well as their aggressive mating practices render the life-history change hypotheses’ correctness improbable.

scholarly journals An Agent-Based Model of monocyte differentiation into Tumour-Associated Macrophages in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Verstraete ◽  
Malvina Marku ◽  
Marcin Domagala ◽  
Julie Bordenave ◽  
H&eacutelène Arduin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia ◽  
Cancer Cells ◽  
Mononuclear Cells ◽  
Lymphocytic Leukemia ◽  
Leukemic Cells ◽  
Patient Specific ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Monocyte Differentiation

Monocyte-derived macrophages are immune cells which help maintain tissue homeostasis and defend the organism against pathogens. In solid tumours, recent studies have uncovered complex macrophage populations, among which tumour-associated macrophages, supporting tumorigenesis through multiple cancer hallmarks such as immunosuppression, angiogenesis or matrix remodelling. In the case of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, these macrophages are known as nurse-like cells and have been shown to protect leukemic cells from spontaneous apoptosis and contribute to their chemoresistance. We propose an agent-based model of monocytes differentiation into nurse-like cells upon contact with leukemic B cells in-vitro. We studied monocyte differentiation and cancer cells survival dynamics depending on diverse hypotheses on monocytes and cancer cells relative proportions, sensitivity to their surrounding environment and cell-cell interactions. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients were cultured and monitored during 13 days to calibrate the model parameters, such as phagocytosis efficiency, death rates or protective effect from the nurse-like cells. Our model is able to reproduce experimental results and predict cancer cells survival dynamics in a patient-specific manner. Our results shed light on important factors at play in cancer cells survival, highlighting a potentially important role of phagocytosis.

scholarly journals Testing the impact of direct and indirect flood warnings on population behaviour using an agent-based model

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 2281-2305
Author(s):  
Thomas O'Shea ◽  
Paul Bates ◽  
Jeffrey Neal
Keyword(s):  
Hydrodynamic Model ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Incident Management ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Hazard Management ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Flood Dynamics ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Bass Diffusion Model

Abstract. This paper uses a coupled hydrodynamic agent-based model (HABM) to investigate the effect of direct or indirect warnings in flood incident response. This model uses the LISFLOOD-FP hydrodynamic model and the NetLogo agent-based framework and is applied to the 2005 flood event in Carlisle, UK. The hydrodynamic model provides a realistic simulation of detailed flood dynamics through the event, whilst the agent-based model component enables simulation and analysis of the complex, in-event social response. NetLogo enables alternative probabilistic daily routine and agent choice scenarios for the individuals of Carlisle to be simulated in a coupled fashion with the flood inundation. Specifically, experiments are conducted using a novel “enhanced social modelling component” based on the Bass diffusion model. From the analysis of these simulations, management stress points (predictable or otherwise) can be presented to those responsible for hazard management and post-event recovery. The results within this paper suggest that these stress points can be present, or amplified, due to a lack of preparedness or a lack of phased evacuation measures. Furthermore, the methods outlined here have the potential for application elsewhere to reduce the complexity and improve the effectiveness of flood incident management. The paper demonstrates the influence that emergent properties have on systematic vulnerability and risk from natural hazards in coupled socio-environmental systems.

scholarly journals An agent-based model of multi-dimensional opinion dynamics and opinion alignment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Schweighofer ◽  
David Garcia ◽  
Frank Schweitzer
Keyword(s):  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Dimensional Space ◽  
Opinion Dynamics ◽  
Emergent Properties ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Ideological Dimension ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Dissonance Theory ◽  
Proximity Voting

It is known that individual opinions on different policy issues often align to a dominant ideological dimension (e.g. ``left'' vs. ``right'') and become increasingly polarized. We provide an agent-based model that reproduces these two stylized facts as emergent properties of an opinion dynamics in a multi-dimensional space of continuous opinions. The mechanisms for the change of agents' opinions in this multi-dimensional space are derived from cognitive dissonance theory and structural balance theory. We test assumptions from proximity voting and from directional voting regarding their ability to reproduce the expected emerging properties. We further study how the emotional involvement of agents, i.e. their individual resistance to change opinions, impacts the dynamics. We identify two regimes for the global and the individual alignment of opinions. If the affective involvement is high and shows a large variance across agents, this fosters the emergence of a dominant ideological dimension. Agents align their opinions along this dimension in opposite directions, i.e. create a state of polarization.

scholarly journals Negative Niche Construction Favors the Evolution of Cooperation

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D Connelly ◽  
Katherine J Dickinson ◽  
Sarah P Hammarlund ◽  
Benjamin Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Evolution Of Cooperation ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Agent Based Model ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
The Many

By benefitting others at a cost to themselves, cooperators face an ever present threat from defectors---individuals that avail themselves of the cooperative benefit without contributing. A longstanding challenge to evolutionary biology is to understand the mechanisms that support the many instances of cooperation that nevertheless exist. Hammarlund et al. recently demonstrated that cooperation can persist by hitchhiking along with beneficial non-social adaptations. Importantly, cooperators play an active role in this process. In spatially-structured environments, clustered cooperator populations reach greater densities, which creates more mutational opportunities to gain beneficial non-social adaptations. Cooperation rises in abundance by association with these adaptations. However, once adaptive opportunities have been exhausted, the ride abruptly ends as cooperators are displaced by adapted defectors. Using an agent-based model, we demonstrate that the selective feedback that is created as populations construct their local niches can maintain cooperation indefinitely. This cooperator success depends specifically on negative niche construction, which acts as a perpetual source of adaptive opportunities. As populations adapt, they alter their environment in ways that reveal additional opportunities for adaptation. Despite being independent of niche construction in our model, cooperation feeds this cycle. By reaching larger densities, populations of cooperators are better able to adapt to changes in their constructed niche and successfully respond to the constant threat posed by defectors. We relate these findings to previous studies from the niche construction literature and discuss how this model could be extended to provide a greater understanding of how cooperation evolves in the complex environments in which it is found.

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