Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2014.55.93
The resonance phenomenon in population persistence: can the same theory guide both national security policies and personalized medicine?
Zvia Agur
; Institute for Medical BioMathemetics (IMBM), Bene Ataroth, Israel
Abstract
Abstract The theory of resonance in population persistence
proposes that the survival of a population that
is exposed to externally inflicted loss processes (disturbances)
during part of its life cycle is dependent on the
relation between the average period of the disturbances
and the average generation time of the population. This
suggests that the size of a population can be controlled
by manipulating the period between external disturbances.
This theory, first formalized in a study of intertidal Red
Sea mollusks exposed to periodic storms, has been found
to apply to such seemingly disparate phenomena as the
spread of a pathogen among susceptible individuals and
the response of malignant cancer cells to chemotherapy.
The current article provides a brief review of the evolution
of the resonance theory into a tool that can be applied to
designing vaccination policies – specifically, in preparedness
for bio-terrorism attacks – and in personalized medicine.
A personalized protocol based on the resonance theory
was applied to a cancer patient, stabilizing his tumor
progression, relieving his hematopoietic toxicity, and extending
his survival
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
127275
URI
Publication date:
15.4.2014.
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