Biological functions are causes, not effects: A critique of selected effects theories.

The theory of Selected Effects (SE) is currently the most widely accepted etiological account of function in biology. It argues that the function of any trait is the effect that past traits of that type produced that contributed to its current existence. Its proper or etiological function is whatever effect was favoured by natural selection irrespective of the trait's current effects.

A thermodynamic basis for teleological causality.

We show how distinct terminally disposed self-organizing processes can be linked together so that they collectively suppress each other's self-undermining tendency despite also potentiating it to occur in a restricted way. In this way, each process produces the supportive and limiting boundary conditions for the other. The production of boundary conditions requires dynamical processes that decrease local entropy and increase local constraints.

Multifaceted Analysis of Cerebrospinal Fluid and Serum from Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Patients: Potential Role of Vitamin C and Metal Ion Imbalance in the Divergence of Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis.

The progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) primary progressive MS (PPMS) and secondary progressive MS (SPMS) are clinically distinguished by the rate at which symptoms worsen. Little is however known about the pathological mechanisms underlying the differential rate of accumulation of pathological changes. In this study, H NMR spectroscopy was used to measure low-molecular-weight metabolites in paired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of PPMS, SPMS, and control patients, as well as to determine lipoproteins and glycoproteins in serum samples.

Multiple evoked and induced alpha modulations in a visual attention task: Latency, amplitude and topographical profiles.

Alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD) has been widely applied to understand the psychophysiological role of this band in cognition. In particular, a considerable number of publications have described spectral alterations in several pathologies using this time-frequency approach. However, ERD is not capable of specifically showing nonphase (induced) activity related to the presentation of stimuli.