Speaker
Haewoon Kwak

Description The online relationship in Twitter, known as follow, is directed. People can follow any other person without an approval. In this talk I show novel aspects of Twitter that come from the directionality in relationships: topological characteristics of the directed network, word-of-mouth information spreading via retweet, and online relationship dissolution.

Description

Mark your calendars. NetSci 2013 will take place on June 3-7, 2013 at the Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark. On June 3-4 we’ll have the NetSci School and Satellites, and the main conference will take place on June 5-7. The conference universities are the Niels Bohr Institute (University of Copenhagen) and the Technical University of Denmark.

Speaker
Thomas Perkins

Description Single molecule force spectroscopy is a powerful tool to measure the dynamics of individual bio-molecules. My talk will focus on several distinct results based on a common assay, pulling on single molecules using two different measurement platforms, optical tweezers and atomic force microscopy. First, we studied the dynamics of overstretching DNA and thereby provided insight into the mechanism of overstretching, a 16 year old controversy. Next, we studied the dynamics of a pair of canonical DNA intercalators and learned that binding/unbinding and intercalation/de-intercalation are distinct processes that can occur on very different time scales. By using a state of the art optically stabilized AFM, we studied the folding and unfolding of a model membrane protein. Finally, I will highlight a recent 10-fold improvement in force precision of AFM for biological application.

Speaker
Francesc Font Clos

Speaker
Fabian Spill

Description We will discuss several approaches to the mathematical modelling of tumour growth. A particular focus is one of the critical hallmarks of cancer, which is the capability of the tumour to adapt existing and form new blood vessels. This process, called angiogenesis, is vital for tumours to become vascularised and escape from the constraints imposed on them by diffusion-limited, avascular growth. Interest in understanding tumour angiogenesis is motivated in part by attempts to develop new treatment strategies that cause tumour regression either by inhibiting angiogenesis, or,counterintuitively, by transiently enhancing the blood supply to poorly perfused tumour regions so that they become more responsive to chemotherapy. Most existing continuum models of angiogenesis assume that angiogenesis is driven by the directed movement of capillary tip cells up spatial gradients in angiogenic factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor, which are produced by the tumour cells when nutrient levels are low. As the capillary tips migrate, endothelial cells behind the tips proliferate at a rate which matches the flux of tips cells. This process leads to the formation of new vessels. In this talk we will discuss a new stochastic, mesoscopic model of capillary tip movement and vessel production and establish conditions under which existing continuum models of angiogenesis can be recovered and others which give rise to alternative continuum descriptions.