A method for evaluating a biological effect of far infrared (FIR) includes the following. An FIR radiation source is provided to emit FIR. An FIR biological effect index (FBI) of the FIR is measured. A ratio of a blood glucose level change of an experimental group irradiated with the FIR to a blood glucose level change of a control group not irradiated with FIR is defined as the FBI. When the FBI is greater than 1, it is evaluated that the FIR causes a biological effect on an organism.

The present invention relates to a fixation and body temperature maintaining apparatus for fixing a small animal in order to generate a high-resolution micro image of a predetermined tissue of the small animal within a biomicroscope with an object lens, which includes: a plate heater with a heat wire installed therein, on which the small animal is enabled to be directly placed; a glass heater holder fixed to a hole of the plate heater; and a glass heater fixed to the glass heater holder, and located above the tissue of the small animal and maintaining flatness of the tissue, and increasing a temperature of the tissue itself, in which a cover glass serving to adjust a refractive index of the object lens and a heat wire heater are integrally formed. In an embodiment of the present invention, a body temperature of a live small animal which is an object to be observed with a biomicroscope is maintained to be constant.

Apparatus for applying Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to an individual, wherein the apparatus comprises: a head mount for disposition on the head of an individual; and a plurality of magnet assemblies for releasable mounting on the head mount, wherein each of the magnet assemblies comprises a permanent magnet, and at least one of (i) a movement mechanism for moving the permanent magnet and/or (ii) a magnetic shield shutter mechanism, for selectively providing a rapidly changing magnetic field capable of inducing weak electric currents in the brain of an individual so as to modify the natural electrical activity of the brain of the individual; wherein the number of magnet assemblies mounted on the head mount, their individual positioning on the head mount, and their selective provision of a rapidly changing magnetic field is selected so as to allow the spatial, strength and temporal characteristics of the magnetic field to be custom tailored for each individual, whereby to provide individual-specific TMS therapy, to assist in diagnosis or to map out brain function in neuroscience research.

Systems and methods for performing online spike recovery from multi-channel electrophysiological recordings in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are described. One embodiment of a method of performing online spike recovery from multi-channel electrophysiological recordings includes: determining a set of waveform templates; continuously obtaining multi-channel electrophysiological recordings using a multi-channel electrode; and automatically performing online spike recovery from the multi-channel electrophysiological recordings using a processing system that performs a method for sparse signal recovery that continuously adjusts a processing buffer size based upon newly obtained multi-channel electrophysiological recordings.

A contractile tissue-based analysis device is provided, in which a strip of contractile tissue is supported by support structure. The support structure comprises a substantially planar base element, and first and second support pillars extending from said base element. An optical detection device is arranged on the side of the base element opposite to said support pillars, and is arranged to capture image data from at least one of the head portions of the support pillars. The motion of the support pillars induced by the strip of contractile tissue can thus be captured from below, i.e. through the planar base element.

A method of treating CTCL comprising applying a combination of an effective amount of hypericin together with a form of visible light photodynamic therapy. Preferably, the effective amount of hypericin is an ointment comprising less than 1% hypericin. More preferably, the form of photodynamic therapy comprises an administration of escalating doses of visible light. Optionally, the escalating doses of visible light starts at about 5 J/cm.sup.2 and increases to a maximum dose of about 12 J/cm.sup.2.

Systems and methods are disclosed to objectively identify sub-second behavioral modules in the three-dimensional (3D) video data that represents the motion of a subject. Defining behavioral modules based upon structure in the 3D video data itself—rather than using a priori definitions for what should constitute a measurable unit of action—identifies a previously-unexplored sub-second regularity that defines a timescale upon which behavior is organized, yields important information about the components and structure of behavior, offers insight into the nature of behavioral change in the subject, and enables objective discovery of subtle alterations in patterned action. The systems and methods of the invention can be applied to drug or gene therapy classification, drug or gene therapy screening, disease study including early detection of the onset of a disease, toxicology research, side-effect study, learning and memory process study, anxiety study, and analysis in consumer behavior.

The present invention provides a reporter system comprising (i) a gene expression construct for expression in a cell of a reporter gene, said reporter gene encoding a fusion protein comprising a transmembrane domain fused in-frame to a reporter domain, wherein said transmembrane domain upon insertion of the fusion protein into the cell membrane anchors the fusion protein in the cell membrane while expressing the reporter domain at the cell surface, and (ii) a reporter peptide labeled with a radiolabel, wherein said reporter domain comprises the large polypeptide subunit of a split luciferase, and wherein said reporter peptide comprises the small peptide subunit of said split luciferase, wherein both subunits associate by complementation to assemble into a luciferase complex.

The disclosed apparatus, systems and methods relate to devices, systems and methods for the collection of bodily fluids. The collector can make use of microfluidic networks connected to collection sites on the skin of a subject to gather and shuttle blood into a removable cartridge. The collected fluid is supplied to substrate for drying, storage and transport.

The systems and methods can provide continuous, efficient, accurate, non-contact, monitoring of one or more cardiorespiratory and/or behavior parameters associated with a subject in a defined environment using at least non-contact sensor data and provide feedback based on the determined parameters. The system can include one or more sensor modules disposed within defined environment(s). The system may further include one or more sensors disposed at a specific spatial location in the defined environment. The sensor(s) may include non-contact electric field sensor(s) configured to record non-contact sensor data related to one or more periods of stillness and/or movement of the subject. The system may further include one or more processors configured to determine cardiorespiratory respiratory parameters and/or behavior parameters using the non-contact sensor data. Because the systems and methods also allow for continuous collection of measurable variables, they can provide a high-throughput quantifiable record of the subject's physio-behavioral self.