Bio papers — 2026-10-24

The Morning Preprint — this day as one edition: the day's papers, the five things worth knowing, and the episodes behind them.

Today's work centers on how biological systems manage information flow under constraints, particularly looking at the neuromuscular junction and cardiovascular modeling. The paper on predictions for and lack of maximal information transmission in the neuromuscular junction explores whether the way neurotransmitter concentration is transformed into current at both cholinergic and glutamatergic NMJs maximizes information transfer. Experimental results showed little agreement with theoretical predictions in this area. This contrasts with structural explorations, such as those concerning distance-bounded phylogenetic reconciliation, which investigate how to map parasite trees onto host trees by studying cycles in the reconciliation process Structural properties of distance-bounded phylogenetic reconciliation.

Moving toward dynamical systems, the work on lattice Brownian bees with cooperative reproduction examines population dynamics in a model where birth events involve removing the farthest particle from the origin Lattice Brownian bees with cooperative reproduction: steady states, collapse, and spreading. This analysis shows that for certain reproduction rates, the population can either spread diffusively or undergo a finite-time collapse to the origin. This behavior depends on whether the rate is above or below a critical point. This concept of regime switching is related to how other models exhibit different behaviors based on parameter tuning.

In terms of physical modeling, there are significant efforts in simulating complex biological structures and processes. One study presents a mathematical model for pulsatile hemodynamics that incorporates the entire pulmonary circulation, explicitly linking everything from large arteries down to venules Multiscale hemodynamics model for the pulmonary arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules and veins. This modeling showed that including capillary structure significantly alters hemodynamic predictions by introducing damping effects in both healthy controls and patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Another modeling effort focuses on pediatric hemodynamics. This combines a lumped parameter cardiovascular system with size-dependent resistance and age-dependent scaling to understand how ventricular septal defects affect blood flow Mathematical simulations of pediatric hemodynamics in isolated ventricular septal defect.

Finally, there is work touching upon the limits of physicalist theories regarding consciousness. This includes a formalizable proof that suggests physicalist theories describing self-aware systems must be internally inconsistent A Formalizable Proof of the No-Supervenience Theorem: A Diagonal Limitation on the Viability of Physicalist Theories of Consciousness. This work establishes a diagonal limitation based on predicate modal logic to show that physicalist theories cannot fully account for consciousness.

Today's papers

The papers

Important terms

Neuromuscular Junction (NMJ) Information Transfer
This research investigates how biological systems manage information flow at the NMJ, specifically testing if transforming neurotransmitter concentration into current maximizes data transmission. Experimental results showed this doesn't match theoretical predictions.
Lattice Brownian Bees Dynamics
This model studies population dynamics where reproduction involves removing the farthest particle. It shows that population spread can be diffusive or lead to a finite-time collapse depending on the reproduction rate relative to a critical point.
Multiscale Hemodynamics Model
This mathematical model simulates blood flow through the entire pulmonary circulation, from large arteries down to venules. Including capillary structure significantly changes predictions for both healthy and hypertensive patients.
Pediatric Hemodynamics Modeling
This work combines a lumped parameter cardiovascular system with size-dependent resistance to understand how defects like ventricular septal defects affect blood flow in children.