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Establishment of Larval Zebrafish as an Animal Model to Investigate Trypanosoma cruzi Motility In Vivo
Published on: September 30, 2017
Invasion speed in cellular automaton models for T. cruzi vector migration
Britnee A Crawford1, Christopher M Kribs-Zaleta, Gaik Ambartsoumian
1University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA. britnee18@msn.com
Bulletin of Mathematical Biology
|June 19, 2013
Summary
This study models Trypanosoma cruzi invasion using a cellular automaton. Invasion speed is significantly influenced by landscape factors and vector migration rates, increasing with migration.
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Computational Biology
- Parasitology
Background:
- Chagas' disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, spreads through triatomine insect vectors.
- Sylvatic transmission cycles of T. cruzi in the Americas are interconnected by insect vector migration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a cellular automaton (CA) model to simulate T. cruzi invasion in northern Mexico and the southeastern US.
- To analyze invasion speed and direction as functions of vector migration rates and landscape characteristics.
Main Methods:
- A deterministic cellular automaton (CA) model, functioning as a large metapopulation model with 9,376 equations.
- Estimation of vector migration rates by quantifying boundary crossing proportions.
- Development of two methods to calculate invasion speed: orthogonal local velocity and overall velocity vector computation.
Main Results:
- Invasion speed is significantly impacted by both physical and epidemiological landscapes.
- A power-law relationship indicates invasion speed increases with migration rate, approaching a square root dependency.
- Vector migration rates and directional preferences are key determinants of invasion dynamics.
Conclusions:
- Cellular automaton modeling provides insights into parasite invasion dynamics.
- Landscape and vector behavior are critical factors in the spread of Trypanosoma cruzi.
- Understanding these factors is crucial for predicting and managing Chagas' disease transmission.
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