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A Mathematical Model to Describe the Melanoma Dynamics Under Effects of Macrophage Inhibition and CAR T-cell Therapy

Melanoma is considered one of the most aggressive types of cancer due to its high propensy for metastasis, which significantly reduces survival chances when detected late. Moreover, melanoma exhibits strong immunogenic characteristics, complicating its treatment, increasing the need to develop more effective techniques of therapy. In the field of oncology, mathematical modeling enables the analysis and distinction of the various mechanisms involved in tumor progression. This allows the analysis of numer-ous scenarios, which would be impractical experimentally. The main objective of this study is to develop a mathematical model that describes melanoma dynamics in the presence of Tumor-Associated Macrophages (TAM) and Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy. The goal is to assess why this therapy often falls short in erradicating solid tumors like melanoma and to understand the role of TAM in this failure. This research encompasses stability analysis of the equilibrium points of the model, sensitivity analysis of its parameters, and the examination of numerical solutions. Our results showed that immunosuppression caused by TAM has a negative impact on the effectiveness of the dose and varying the cytotoxicity of CART-cells together with dose. Adjusting CAR T-cell cytotoxicity and treatment dosage may enhance tumor control, with the initial tumor burden playing a crucial role in treatment effectiveness.

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Evaluating the Interplay between Transmissibility and Virulence of SARS-CoV-2 by Mathematical Modeling

During the first months of 2020 SARS-CoV-2 spread to all continents, virtually reaching all countries. In the subsequent months, new variants emerged in different regions of the world. A mathematical model based on the Covid-19 natural history encompassing the age-dependent fatality was applied to evaluate SARS-CoV-2 transmissibility and virulence. Transmissibility was assessed by calculating the basic reproduction number R0 and virulence by counting the proportion of severe Covid-19 cases and deaths. The model parameters were adjusted against the data observed in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, considering two different levels of virulence. The severe Covid-19 cases and deaths were three times higher and R0 was 25% lower when the more virulent SARS-CoV-2 variant was compared to the less virulent variant. However, under the high-virulence scenario the number of transmitting individuals is 25% lower, mainly due to the isolation of symptomatic individuals. The corollary that transmission increases in the low virulence scenario is also true. The estimated parameters, using data from São Paulo up to May 13, 2020, showed that the Covid-19 epidemic predicted with low virulence SARS-CoV-2 transmission matched the observed data just before the beginning of the relaxation, which occurred by mid-June 2020. The assessment of the interplay between transmissibility can be applied to explain in somehow the appearance of gamma and omicron variants of concern in São Paulo.

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A Multiobjective Optimization Application to Control the Aedes Aegypti Mosquito using a Two-Dimensional Diffusion-Reaction Model

Aedes aegypti is the main vector of multiple diseases, such as dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and chikungunya. Diseases associated with mosquitoes have been growing in recent years, with more than one-third of the world population at risk. Control techniques have been studied to prevent the spread of the Aedes aegypti, such that new formula and how to use adulticides and larvicides, among others. This paper proposes a novel approach in the field of partial differential equations and optimization. We consider a two-dimensional diffusion-reaction model that describes the interaction between aquatic and adult female stages spreading across a domain with parameters dependent on rainfall and temperature. We also formulate a mono-objective and multiobjective optimization problem to minimize the Aedes aegypti populations and the control, considering the application of adulticides and larvicides, using actual data from the city of Lavras/Brazil. The operator splitting technique is used to solve the diffusion-reaction system, coupling finite difference and the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method and optimal solutions were searched by using the Real-Biased Genetic Algorithm and Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm -II. Numerical results show significant reduction of the Aedes aegypti population.

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