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A much-needed work that provides an authoritative overview of the fundamental biological facts, theoretical models, and current experimental developments in this fascinating area. Cell motility is fundamentally important to a number of biological and pathological processes. The main challenge in the field of cell motility is to develop a complete physical description on how and why cells move. For this purpose new ways of modeling the properties of biological cells have to be found – and this volume is a major stepping-stone along the way.
This new edition of the classic text incorporates the many advances in knowledge about liquid crystals that have taken place since its initial publication in 1974. Entirely new chapters describe the types and properties of liquid crystals in terms of both recently discovered phases and current insight into the nature of local order and isotropic-to-nematic transition. There is an extensive discussion of the symmetrical, macroscopic, dynamic, and defective properties of smectics and columnar phases, with emphasis on order-of-magnitude considerations, all illustrated with numerous descriptions of experimental arrangements. The final chapter is devoted to phase transitions in smectics, including the celebrated analogy between smectic A and superconductors. This new version's topicality and breadth of coverage will ensure that it remains an indispensable guide for researchers and graduate students in mechanics and engineering, and in chemical, solid state, and statistical physics.
Solitons are a well-known and intriguing aspect of nonlinear behavior in a continuous system such as a fluid: a wave propagates through the medium without distortion. Liquid crystals are highly ordered systems without a rigid, long-range structure. Solitons in liquid crystals (sometimes referred to as "walls") have a wide variety of remarkable properties that are becoming important for practical applications such as electroluminescent display. This book, the first review of the subject to be published, contains not only surveys of the existing literature, but presents new results as well.
The book contains articles from leading experts in different areas of biological physics. Topics ranging from cell dynamics to the evolution of multicellularity to conscious versus non-conscious evidence accumulation are reviewed and discussed, both from a theoretical and an experimental perspective. Furthermore, current developments of practical applications like magnetic tweezers for the study of DNA replication and brain imaging are presented.
Voltage-sensitive ion channels are macromolecules embedded in the membranes of nerve and muscle fibers of animals. Despite decades of intensive research under the traditional approach of gated structural pores, the relation between the structure of these molecules and their function remains enigmatic. This book examines physically oriented approaches not covered in other ion-channel books, and it develops a new physics-based approach to the problem of molecular excitability.
"In July 2009, many experts in the mathematical modeling of biological sciences gathered in Les Houches for a 4-week summer school on the mechanics and physics of biological systems. The goal of the school was to present to students and researchers an integrated view of new trends and challenges in physical and mathematical aspects of biomechanics. While the scope for such a topic is very wide, they focused on problems where solid and fluid mechanics play a central role. The school covered both the general mathematical theory of mechanical biology in the context of continuum mechanics but also the specific modeling of particular systems in the biology of the cell, plants, microbes, and in physiology. These lecture notes are organized (as was the school) around five different main topics all connected by the common theme of continuum modeling for biological systems: Bio-fluidics, Bio-gels, Bio-mechanics, Bio-membranes, and Morphogenesis. These notes are not meant as a journal review of the topic but rather as a gentle tutorial introduction to the readers who want to understand the basic problematic in modeling biological systems from a mechanics perspective"--
In July 2009, many experts in the mathematical modelling of biological sciences gathered in Les Houches for a 4-week summer school on the mechanics and physics of biological systems. The goal of the school was to present to students and researchers an integrated view of new trends and challenges in physical and mathematical aspects of biomechanics. While the scope for such a topic is very wide, we focused on problems where solid and fluid mechanics play a central role. The school covered both the general mathematical theory of mechanical biology in the context of continuum mechanics but also the specific modelling of particular systems in the biology of the cell, plants, microbes, and in physiology. These lecture notes are organised (as was the school) around five different main topics all connected by the common theme of continuum modelling for biological systems: Bio-fluidics, Bio-gels, Bio-mechanics, Bio-membranes, and Morphogenesis. These notes are not meant as a journal review of the topic but rather as a gentle tutorial introduction to the readers who want to understand the basic problematic in modelling biological systems from a mechanics perspective.
This volume provides an introduction to the state-of-the-art of controlled nanoscale motion in biological and artificial systems. Coverage includes the control and function of protein motors, the physics of non-equilibrium Brownian motion, and the physics and fabrication of synthetic molecular motors. The chapters in this book are based on selected contributions on the 2005 Nobel Symposium on Controlled Nanoscale Motion.