Page 7
Page 7
Modeling of Biological Materials
This interdisciplinary collection of surveys highlights the central role played by the mathematical modeling of mechanical properties having an effect on the biology, chemistry, and physics of living matter. One of the main goals of the book is to present—in a single, self-contained resource—topics that are widely scattered across the literature in a variety of journals having mutually nonintersecting communities of readers, such as applied mathematicians, engineers, biologists, and physicians. Readers coming from diverse backgrounds are provided with basic modeling ideas and tools to address important problems in the medical and health sciences. Presented are appropriate models as well as their implementation through numerical and computer simulations, which may lead to potential technological innovations useful in medicine.
Modeling Excitable Tissue : The EMI Framework
This volume presents a novel computational framework for understanding how collections of excitable cells work. The key approach in the text is to model excitable tissue by representing the individual cells constituting the tissue. This is in stark contrast to the common approach where homogenization is used to develop models where the cells are not explicitly present. The approach allows for very detailed analysis of small collections of excitable cells, but computational challenges limit the applicability in the presence of large collections of cells.
Modeling Communication with Robots and Virtual Humans ; Second ZiF Research Group International Workshop on Embodied Communication in Humans and Machines, Bielefeld, Germany, April 5-8, 2006, Revised Selected Papers
The 17 articles in this state-of-the-art survey address artificial intelligence research on communicative agents and also provide an interdisciplinary perspective from linguistics, behavioral research, theoretical biology, philosophy, communication psychology, and computational neuroscience. The topics include studies on human multimodal communication; the modeling of feedback signals, facial expression, eye contact, and deception; the recognition and comprehension of hand gestures and head movements; communication interfaces for humanoid robots; the evolution of cognition and language; emotion and social appraisal in nonverbal communication; dialogue models and methodologies; theory of mind and intentionality; complex systems, dynamic field theory, and connectionist modeling.
Modeling Chemical Systems using Cellular Automata
The book will be of great value in undergraduate courses in chemistry, physics, biology, applied mathematics, and bioinformatics, and as a supplement for laboratory courses in introductory chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, medicinal chemistry, chemical engineering and other courses dealing with statistical and dynamic systems. It allows the exploration of a wide range of dynamic phenomena, many of which are not normally accessible within conventional laboratory settings due to limitations of time, cost, and experimental equipment. The book is both a textbook on applied Cellular Automata and a lab manual for chemistry (physics, engineering) courses with lab activity. It would supplement other lab work and be an additonal book the students would use in the course.
Modeling biological systems : Principles and applications
This extensively revised second edition of Modeling Biological Systems: Principles and Applications describes the essentials of creating and analyzing mathematical and computer simulation models for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. It offers a comprehensive understanding of the underlying principle, as well as details and equations applicable to a wide variety of biological systems and disciplines. Students will acquire from this text the tools necessary to produce their own models. The text contains two major sections: Principles and Applications. The first section discusses the principles of biological systems with a thorough description of the essential modeling activities of formulation, implementation, validation, and analysis. These activities are illustrated by a set of example models taken from recent and classical literature, chosen for their breadth of coverage and current timeliness. The new edition updates extensively many of these topics, especially quantitative model formulation, validation and model discrimination using information theory measures and Bayesian probability, and stability analysis and non-dimensionalization.
Model Reduction and Coarse-Graining Approaches for Multiscale Phenomena
Model reduction and coarse-graining are important in many areas of science and engineering. How does a system with many degrees of freedom become one with fewer? How can a reversible micro-description be adapted to the dissipative macroscopic model? These crucial questions, as well as many other related problems, are discussed in this book. Specific areas of study include dynamical systems, non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, kinetic theory, hydrodynamics and mechanics of continuous media, (bio)chemical kinetics, nonlinear dynamics, nonlinear control, nonlinear estimation, and particulate systems from various branches of engineering. The generic nature and the power of the pertinent conceptual, analytical and computational frameworks helps eliminate some of the traditional language barriers, which often unnecessarily impede scientific progress and the interaction of researchers between disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology, applied mathematics and engineering. All contributions are authored by experts, whose specialities span a wide range of fields within science and engineering.
Model Based Learning and Instruction in Science
This book describes new, model based teaching methods for science instruction. It presents research that describes these new methods in a very diverse group of settings: middle school biology, high school physics, and college chemistry classrooms. Mental models in these areas such as understanding the structure of the lungs or cells, molecular structures and reaction mechanisms in chemistry, or causes of current flow in electricity are notoriously difficult for many students to learn. Yet these lie at the core of conceptual understanding in these areas. The studies focus on a variety of teaching strategies such as discrepant questioning, analogies, animations, model competition, and hands on activities.
Mitochondria : The Dynamic Organelle
This volume discusses the death pathways that are initiated by the mitochondria. Novel therapeutic interventions are proposed which interfere with the death cascades, thereby rescuing the cell from mitochondria-linked apoptosis and necrotic oncosis.
Migraine
Migraine is a chronic paroxysmal neurological disorder characterised by multiphase attacks of head pain and a myriad of neurological symptoms. The underlying genetic and biological underpinnings and neural networks involved are coming sharply into focus. This progress in the fundamental understanding of migraine has led to novel, mechanism-based and disease-specific therapeutics. In this Seminar, the clinical features and neurobiology of migraine are reviewed, evidence to support available treatment options is provided, and emerging drug, device, and biological therapies are discussed.
Mid-Infrared Coherent Sources and Applications
Coherent sources of mid-infrared (mid-IR) radiation are of great interest for a wide range of scienti?c and technological applications from spectroscopy and frequency metrology to information technology, industrial process control, pho- chemistry, photobiology and photomedicine. The mid-IR spectrum, which may be de?ned as wavelengths beyond ?2µm, covers important atmospheric windows, and numerous molecular gases, toxic agents, air, water, and soil pollutants, c- ponents of human breath, and several explosive agents have strong absorption ?ngerprints in this region. The development of practical coherent solid-state sources in the mid-IR can thus provide indispensable tools for a variety of - plications in environmental monitoring and pollution control, detection of water and soil contaminants, food quality control, agriculture and life sciences, and n- invasive disease diagnosis and therapy through breath analysis.
Microscopy Techniques
Light Microscopy has returned to fashion through the synergy of green fluorescent protein and a clutch of techniques involving some permutation of lasers, mathematics and acronyms, which offer the prospect of watching biological molecules at work inside living cells. This volume provides an introduction to these techniques … . this volume will be a longer-term reference for anyone who wants to understand how these methods actually work. In this respect it is excellent.
Micropropagation methods in temporary immersion systems
Presents vital techniques for the commercial micropropagation of plants. It explores numerous micropropagation protocols in different types of temporary immersion systems for plant species with agricultural, medicinal, ornamental, and forestry interest, detailing the type of bioreactor and the optimal parameters necessary to guarantee obtaining the largest number of commercial propagules. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step and readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.
Microorganisms in the deterioration and preservation of cultural heritage
This book offers a comprehensive overview of the role and potential of microorganisms in the degradation and preservation of cultural materials (e.g. stone, metals, graphic documents, textiles, paintings, glass, etc.).
Microorganisms in soils : Roles in genesis and functions
The following key topics are covered: Microorganisms in bioerosion, humification, mineralization and soil aggregation; Microbial energetics and microbes in biogeochemical processes such as carbon and nitrogen cycles and phosphorus bio-availability; Interactions in the mycorrhizosphere, e.g. between mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria; Impact of microbes on plant nutrient cycling and the possible effects of transgenic rhizospheres on soil fungi; Functions of microbes in specific soil compartments such as soil surface or toxic metal polluted soils; Regulation of microbial activities in functional domains that are influenced by biotic or abiotic factors; Use of marker genes and isotopes as examples for modern techniques in soil microbiology.
Microorganisms in Foods 6 : Microbial Ecology of Food Commodities
The second edition of Microorganisms in Foods 6: Microbial Ecology of Food Commodities is intended for those primarily in applied aspects of food microbiology. For 17 commodity areas it describes the initial microbial flora and the prevalence of pathogens, the microbiological consequences of processing, typical spoilage patterns, episodes implicating those commodities with foodborne illness, and measures to control pathogens and limit spoilage. The control measures are presented in a standardized format in line with international developments in risk management. A comprehensive index has also been added.
Micrometeorites and the Mysteries of Our Origins
This book relates an attempt to decrypt the still-obscure first billion years of history of the young Earth, during a cataclysmic period during which our planet was heavily bombarded by bodies ranging in size from that of Mars to 0.1 mm sized tiny micrometeorites. It was thus found that micrometeorites played an essential role in the formation of the post-lunar atmosphere. They also provided a surprisingly large diversity of reactions in the organic prebiotic chemistry required for the birth of life on our blue planet. The author presents a wide-ranging review of the type of knowledge required to decrypt this history, which provides extensive background information from astronomy, planetary dynamics, planetology, astrobiology and earth sciences. This book will appeal to both the scientist and the general reader. It will be a source of material for lectures, and possibly new investigations, in these fields.
Micromechanics of Heterogeneous Materials
The micromechanics of random structure heterogeneous materials is a burgeoning multidisciplinary research area which overlaps the scientific branches of materials science, mechanical engineering, applied mathematics, technical physics, geophysics, and biology. Micromechanics of Heterogeneous Materials features rigorous theoretical methods of applied mathematics and statistical physics in materials science of microheterogeneous media. The prediction of the behavior of heterogeneous materials by the use of properties of constituents and their microstructures is a central issue of micromechanics. This book is the first in micromechanics to provide a useful and effective demonstration of the systematic and fundamental research of the microstructure of the wide class of heterogeneous materials of natural and synthetic nature.
Micromammals and Macroparasites : From Evolutionary Ecology to Management
Small mammals are among the most ubiquitous and important components of terrestrial ecosystems. They have coevolved, and now coexist, with a diverse array of parasites, such that not only are all aspects of their biology influenced by parasitism but they also play key roles in the transmission and maintenance of parasitic diseases. This book provides a comprehensive survey of the diversity and biology of metazoan parasites affecting small mammals, of their impact on host individuals and populations, and of the management implications of these parasites for conservation biology and human welfare. Designed for a broad, multidisciplinary audience, it will be an essential resource for researchers, students, and practitioners alike in the fields of parasitology, evolutionary ecology, wildlife management, and conservation biology.
Microfluidics diagnostics : Methods and protocols
Explores a wide range of microfluidic-based approaches that exploit the unique features of microfluidic devices, which hold significant potential in the field of diagnosis. Beginning with a section on microchips for sample preparation, including cell-free DNA, exosomes, and cells, the book continues by covering protein marker analysis and detection, single-cell analysis, analysis of bacteria and viruses, as well as human cell-based culture and analysis. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step and readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.
Microcirculation in Cardiovascular Diseases
This book offers an extensive review of the most recent data on the pathophysiological role of structural and functional alterations in the microcirculation, particularly focusing on hypertension and diabetes. It covers several relevant and innovative aspects, including the possible mechanisms involved in the development of microvascular remodeling and rarefaction, the technical approaches available for the detection of microvascular alterations, including non-invasive evaluations, the prognostic role of changes in small resistance artery structure, the possibility of preventing or regressing such alterations with appropriate treatment, and the potential clinical advantages of such intervention.
