Microphysiological system design: simplicity is elegance

Design and demonstration of a pumpless 14 compartment microphysiological system.

We describe a human "Body-on-a-chip" device (or microphysiological system) that could be used to emulate drug distribution, metabolism, and action in the body. It is based upon a physiologically based pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PBPK-PD) model, where multiple chambers representing different organs are connected with fluidic channels to mimic multi-organ interactions within the body. Here w...

A perspective on radiosurgery: creativity, elegance, simplicity, and flexibility to change.

R adiosurgery is aminimally invasive technique designed by Lars Leksell to deliver a destructive amount of radiation to intracranial lesions that may be inaccessible or unsuitable for open surgery. Undoubtedly, the experiences of delivering ether anesthesia to neurosurgical patients for Dr. Olivecrona motivated Leksell to develop a techniquewith fewer complications than open surgery. A passage ...

Human Vascular Microphysiological System for in vitro Drug Screening.

In vitro human tissue engineered human blood vessels (TEBV) that exhibit vasoactivity can be used to test human toxicity of pharmaceutical drug candidates prior to pre-clinical animal studies. TEBVs with 400-800 μM diameters were made by embedding human neonatal dermal fibroblasts or human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in dense collagen gel. TEBVs were mechanically strong enough to...

Simplicity in the tax system

Simplicity is Not Truth-Indicative

In this paper I will argue that, in general, where the evidence supports two theories equally, the simpler theory is not more likely to be true and is not likely to be nearer the truth. In other words simplicity does not tell us anything about model bias. Our preference for simpler theories (apart from their obvious pragmatic advantages) can be explained by the facts that humans are known to el...