Exam in Modelling of Physiological Systems

To obtain the grade 12, the student must be able to

Knowledge

• Explain different approaches to modeling

• Understand mathematical/physics concepts (dynamical systems, stability analysis, oscillations, synchronization)

• Understand simple computational algorithms used for modeling

• Explain main models and dynamics of excitable cells

• Explain mechanisms and mathematical description of calcium dynamics

• Understand mechanisms of insulin-glucose regulation and mathematical description of involved feedback loops

• Understand mechanisms and mathematical description of vascular responses and kidney autoregulation

• Understand regulatory mechanisms of circadian rhythms and their simple mathematical models

Skills

• Discuss modeling approachesdepending on the purpose of study

• Apply mathematical/physical concept to particular biomedical problem

• Formulate model of excitable cells and discuss their possible simplifications and dynamics

• Formulate a simple model for calcium oscillations and discuss possible dynamics

• Formulate a model of insulin absorption and insulin-glucose regulation, perform analysis of the observed phenomena and discuss their relevance to diabetes

• Formulate a model for kidney autoregulation, perform analysis of the observed phenomena and discuss their relevance to hypertension

• Discuss applications of chronobiology and formulate a simple model of circadian rhythms

• Reproduce, modify and simulate models from scientific literature

• Improve scientific and academic vocabulary of English language

Competence

• To formulate mechanism-based models and find appropriate methods to investigate them

• To interpret dynamical features of biomedical systems from biological and mathematical points of view

• To integrate fundamental knowledge from physics, mathematics and biology to provide better understanding of regulatory mechanisms