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Medical Physics Oct 2023
Topics: Physics; Health Physics
PubMed: 37819174
DOI: 10.1002/mp.16766 -
Development, Growth & Differentiation Jun 2023Mechanosensing, the active responses of cells to the mechanics on multiple scales, plays an indispensable role in regulating cell behaviors and determining the fate of... (Review)
Review
Mechanosensing, the active responses of cells to the mechanics on multiple scales, plays an indispensable role in regulating cell behaviors and determining the fate of biological entities such as tissues and organs. Here, I aim to give a pedagogical illustration of the fundamental concepts of soft matter physics that aid in understanding biomechanical phenomena from the scale of tissues to proteins. Examples of up-to-date research are introduced to elaborate these concepts. Challenges in applying physics models to biology have also been discussed for biologists and physicists to meet in the field of mechanobiology.
Topics: Physics; Biophysics; Biomechanical Phenomena
PubMed: 37126437
DOI: 10.1111/dgd.12853 -
Bio Systems Jun 2022Evolution is a universal phenomenon of nature, bio, and non-bio. Evolution belongs in physics and general education. This step clarifies and enhances the transmission...
Evolution is a universal phenomenon of nature, bio, and non-bio. Evolution belongs in physics and general education. This step clarifies and enhances the transmission and retention of knowledge. Teaching and learning are the mental activity of grasping a new subject as something familiar, like an older and wider body of knowledge. The new subject is evolution, and the older and wider is physics. The older is accepted because it is based on morphing images available for observation and testing during a human lifetime (e.g., dendrites of river basins, lightning, snowflakes). Physical images can be predicted, tested, confirmed, and condensed into principles with the power to predict directionality and future evolution. The teaching of this method is illustrated with examples from animal locomotion and vehicle configuration, speed, and path.
Topics: Animals; Knowledge; Physics
PubMed: 35306050
DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2022.104663 -
The Kaohsiung Journal of Medical... Feb 2012We describe and analyze the statistics of general physics and laboratory courses in the medical schools of Taiwan. We explore the development of the general physics... (Review)
Review
We describe and analyze the statistics of general physics and laboratory courses in the medical schools of Taiwan. We explore the development of the general physics curriculum for medical students of Taiwan. Also, an approach to designing a general physics course in combination with its application to medical sciences is proposed. We hope this preliminary study can provide a useful reference for physics colleagues in the medical schools of Taiwan to revolutionize the dynamics of teaching physics to the medical students of Taiwan.
Topics: Curriculum; Education, Medical; Humans; Physics; Quality Improvement; Schools, Medical; Students, Medical; Taiwan
PubMed: 22301011
DOI: 10.1016/j.kjms.2011.08.006 -
International Journal of Radiation... Jul 2023
Topics: Humans; Ghana; Educational Status; Curriculum; Physics; Health Physics; Education, Medical
PubMed: 37355308
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2023.01.053 -
The British Journal of Radiology Oct 2012In 2011, the Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group (CTRad) of the National Cancer Research Institute brought together UK radiotherapy physics...
In 2011, the Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group (CTRad) of the National Cancer Research Institute brought together UK radiotherapy physics leaders for a think tank meeting. Following a format that CTRad had previously and successfully used with clinical oncologists, 23 departments were asked to complete a pre-meeting evaluation of their radiotherapy physics research infrastructure and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats within their own centre. These departments were brought together with the CTRad Executive Group and research funders to discuss the current state of radiotherapy physics research, perceived barriers and possible solutions. In this Commentary, we summarise the submitted materials, presentations and discussions from the meeting and propose an action plan. It is clear that there are challenges in both funding and staffing of radiotherapy physics research. Programme and project funding streams sometimes struggle to cater for physics-led work, and increased representation on research funding bodies would be valuable. Career paths for academic radiotherapy physicists need to be examined and an academic training route identified within Modernising Scientific Careers; the introduction of formal job plans may allow greater protection of research time, and should be considered. Improved access to research facilities, including research linear accelerators, would enhance research activity and pass on developments to patients more quickly; research infrastructure could be benchmarked against centres in the UK and abroad. UK National Health Service departments wishing to undertake radiotherapy research, with its attendant added value for patients, need to develop a strategy with their partner higher education institution, and collaboration between departments may provide enhanced opportunities for funded research.
Topics: Biomedical Research; Career Mobility; Clinical Trials as Topic; Health Physics; Physics; Radiation Oncology; Radiotherapy; Research Support as Topic; Technology, Radiologic; United Kingdom
PubMed: 22972972
DOI: 10.1259/bjr/61530686 -
Annals of the New York Academy of... Dec 2015The holy grail of physics has been to merge each of its fundamental branches into a unified "theory of everything" that would explain the functioning and existence of... (Review)
Review
The holy grail of physics has been to merge each of its fundamental branches into a unified "theory of everything" that would explain the functioning and existence of the universe. The last step toward this goal is to reconcile general relativity with the principles of quantum mechanics, a quest that has thus far eluded physicists. Will physics ever be able to develop an all-encompassing theory, or should we simply acknowledge that science will always have inherent limitations as to what can be known? Should new theories be validated solely on the basis of calculations that can never be empirically tested? Can we ever truly grasp the implications of modern physics when the basic laws of nature do not always operate according to our standard paradigms? These and other questions are discussed in this paper.
Topics: Astronomical Phenomena; Humans; Mechanics; Physics; Quantum Theory
PubMed: 26359791
DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12860 -
Medical Physics Feb 2021
Topics: Health Physics; Physics
PubMed: 33616261
DOI: 10.1002/mp.14725 -
Bio Systems 2001Evolution requires the genotype-phenotype distinction, a primeval epistemic cut that separates energy-degenerate, rate-independent genetic symbols from the... (Review)
Review
Evolution requires the genotype-phenotype distinction, a primeval epistemic cut that separates energy-degenerate, rate-independent genetic symbols from the rate-dependent dynamics of construction that they control. This symbol-matter or subject-object distinction occurs at all higher levels where symbols are related to a referent by an arbitrary code. The converse of control is measurement in which a rate-dependent dynamical state is coded into quiescent symbols. Non-integrable constraints are one necessary condition for bridging the epistemic cut by measurement, control, and coding. Additional properties of heteropolymer constraints are necessary for biological evolution.
Topics: Biological Evolution; Genotype; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; Models, Theoretical; Origin of Life; Phenotype; Physics; Robotics
PubMed: 11325500
DOI: 10.1016/s0303-2647(01)00104-6 -
Annals of the New York Academy of... Oct 2014This paper investigates the mathematical representation of time in physics. In existing theories, time is represented by the real numbers, hence their formal properties... (Review)
Review
This paper investigates the mathematical representation of time in physics. In existing theories, time is represented by the real numbers, hence their formal properties represent properties of time: these are surveyed. The central question of the paper is whether the existing representation of time is adequate, or whether it can or should be supplemented: especially, do we need a physics incorporating some kind of "dynamical passage" of time? The paper argues that the existing mathematical framework is resistant to such changes, and might have to be rejected by anyone seeking a physics of passage. Then it rebuts two common arguments for incorporating passage into physics, especially the claim that it is an element of experience. Finally, the paper investigates whether, as has been claimed, causal set theory provides a physics of passage.
Topics: Humans; Models, Theoretical; Physics; Time
PubMed: 25183288
DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12514