Adaptive Stimulations in a Biophysical Network Model of Parkinson's Disease.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS)-through a surgically implanted electrode to the subthalamic nucleus (STN)-has become a widely used therapeutic option for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. The standard conventional high-frequency stimulation (HF) that is currently used has several drawbacks. To overcome the limitations of HF, researchers have been developing closed-loop and demand-controlled, adaptive stimulation protocols wherein the amount of current that is delivered is turned on and off in real-time in accordance with a biophysical signal.

Dutch Protocols for Deliberately Ending the Life of Newborns: A Defence.

The Groningen Protocol, introduced in the Netherlands in 2005 and accompanied by revised guidelines published in a report commissioned by the Royal Dutch Medical Association in 2014, specifies conditions under which the lives of severely ill newborns may be deliberately ended. Its publication came four years after the Netherlands became the first nation to legalize the voluntary active euthanasia of adults, and the Netherlands remains the only country to offer a pathway to protecting physicians who might engage in deliberately ending the life of a newborn (DELN). In this paper, I offer two lines of argument.

Frequency of exogenous hormone therapy impacts spermiation in male Fowler's toad (Bufo fowleri).

Amphibians are experiencing a global extinction crisis and captive assurance colonies, along with reintroduction programs, are necessary to prevent further losses. Assisted reproductive technologies (ART), such as hormone-stimulated gamete collection and in vitro fertlisation (IVF), are conservation methods that can be used to increase reproductive output for breeding and reintroduction programs when animals fail to breed naturally. In order to maximise the production of offspring using ART, it is important to establish the physiological limitations on the frequency that hormone therapy can be used to collect gametes for IVF or assisted breeding.

Bioinformatics education dissemination with an evolutionary problem solving perspective.

Bioinformatics is central to biology education in the 21st century. With the generation of terabytes of data per day, the application of computer-based tools to stored and distributed data is fundamentally changing research and its application to problems in medicine, agriculture, conservation and forensics. In light of this 'information revolution,' undergraduate biology curricula must be redesigned to prepare the next generation of informed citizens as well as those who will pursue careers in the life sciences.

Pilot study for an age- and gender-based nutrient signaling system for weight control.

Nutrient signaling has recently shown how nutraceuticals regulate specific functions of the brain and adipose tissue. In this pilot study to find an effective nutrient signaling system to cause weight loss, a double-blind placebo-controlled trial using leucine, olive oil, and fish oil was conducted on volunteers to signal metabolic and appetite effects to regulate body weight, while controls took only fiber. Men and women aged 18-26 and 39-62 years were given different dosages that they took orally twice daily for 14 days while recording body weight, followed by 2 weeks to check rebound.

Design for a study to determine optimal dosage of ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol in humans.

Some clinical trials of vitamins C and E have neglected important design features. Our objective was to demonstrate a detailed design that includes essential elements for an effective study of these vitamins in vivo. While taking 400 IU (international units) of vitamin E, subjects took different dosages of vitamin C during three distinct periods.

Analytical and numerical models to explain steady rates of spring flow.

Flow from some springs in former glacial lakebeds of the Upper Midwest is extremely steady throughout the year and does not increase significantly after precipitation events or seasonal recharge. Analytical and simplified numerical models of spring systems were used to determine whether preferential ground water flow through high-permeability features in shallow sandstone aquifers could produce typical values of spring discharge and the unusually steady rates of spring flow. The analytical model is based on a one-dimensional solution for periodic ground water flow.