Aggregated α-synuclein in Lewy bodies is one of the hallmarks of Parkinson's disease (PD). Earlier observations of α-synuclein aggregates in neurons grafted into brains of PD patients suggested cell-to-cell transfer of α-synuclein and a prion-like mechanism. This prompted the current investigation of whether α-synuclein passes over model phospholipid bilayers. We generated giant unilamellar ves...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the temporal relationship between habituation to a palate covered by a prosthesis and swallowing function. Materials and methods: Ten healthy adults were selected as subjects. Tongue pressure on an experimental palatal plate with four pressure sensors was recorded simultaneously with surface electromyography measurements of suprahyoid muscles ...

The performance of the MAX -MIN ant system (MMAS) in dynamic optimization problems (DOPs) is sensitive to the colony size. In particular, a large colony size may waste computational resources whereas a small colony size may restrict the searching capabilities of the algorithm. There is a trade off in the behaviour of the algorithm between the early and later stages of the optimization process. ...

Recent studies in this laboratory have shown that one lobe of the lung may be used as a tonom-eter to measure pressure variations within the human thorax (1). These studies demonstrated that negative pressure swings were greater in the intrapleural "space" about the lower lobe than about the upper lobe, and the pressure swings about the upper lobe were in turn greater than those surrounding an ...