This book is an introduction to the mechanical properties, the force generating capacity, and the sensitivity to mechanical cues of the biological system. To understand how these qualities govern many essential biological processes, we also discuss how to measure them. However, before delving into the details and the techniques, we will first learn the operational definitions in mechanics, such as force, stress, elasticity, viscosity and so on. This book will explore the mechanics at three different length scales - molecular, cellular, and tissue levels - sequentially, and discuss the measurement techniques to quantify the intrinsic mechanical properties, force generating capacity, mechanoresponsive processes in the biological systems, and rupture forces.

Model Ecosystems in Extreme Environments, Second Edition examines ecosystems at the most extreme habitats and their interaction with the environment, providing a key element in our understanding of the role and function of microorganisms in nature. The book highlights current topics in the field, such as biodiversity and the structure of microbial communities in extreme environments, the effects of extreme environmental conditions on microbial ecosystems, and ecological and evolutionary interactions in extreme environments, among other topics. It will be a valuable text for faculty and students working with extremophiles and/or microbial ecology and researchers, including astrobiologists, biologists, evolutionary scientists, astronomers, geochemists and oceanographers.

Nanomedicine is a developing field, which includes different disciplines such as material science, chemistry, engineering and medicine devoted to the design, synthesis and construction of high-tech nanostructures. The ability of these structures to have their chemical and physical properties tuned by structural modification, has allowed their use in drug delivery systems, gene therapy delivery, and various types of theranostic approaches. Colloidal noble metal nanoparticles and other nanostructures have many therapeutic and diagnostic applications. The concept of drug targeting as a magic bullet has led to much research in chemical modification to design and optimize the binding to targeted receptors. It is important to understand the precise relationship between the drug and the carrier and its ability to target specific tissues, and pathogens to make an efficient drug delivery system. This book covers advances based on different drug delivery systems: polymeric and hyper branched nanomaterials, carbon-based nanomaterials, nature-inspired nanomaterials, and pathogen-based carriers.

This book is based on a set of 18 class-tested lectures delivered to fourth-year physics undergraduates at Grifi th University in Brisbane, and the book presents new discoveries by the Nobel-prize winning LIGO collaboration. The author begins with a review of special relativity and tensors and then develops the basic elements of general relativity (a beautiful theory that unifies special relativity and gravitation via geometry) with applications to the gravitational deflection of light, global positioning systems, black holes, gravitational waves, and cosmology. The book provides readers with a solid understanding of the underlying physical concepts; an ability to appreciate and in many cases derive important applications of the theory; and a solid grounding for those wishing to pursue their studies further. General Relativity: An Introduction to Black Holes, Gravitational Waves, and Cosmology also connects general relativity with broader topics. There is no doubt that general relativity is an active and exciting field of physics, and this book successfully transmits that excitement to readers.

Advances in Nano and Biochemistry: Environmental and Biomedical Applications gives insights into this advanced interdisciplinary science that encompasses the principles of physics and physical chemistry for the investigation of various processes and problems in biological systems. The book is a concise culmination of biophysical chemistry knowledge acquired through core concepts and advanced technologies for addressing emerging challenges in environmental and biomedical applications. Sections cover early diagnostic techniques and accurate treatment strategies using bioinspired, sustainable technologies, including nanomaterials, nanoenzymes, biopolymers, electrochemical biomolecule sensors, biocompatible magnetic nanomaterials, quantum dots and hybrid structures, and DNA nanotechnology. Other sections discuss advanced technologies for sensing and remedying environmental pollutants, including but not limited to, photocatalytic oxidations, gum polysaccharides based nanostructured materials, bio-inspired and biocompatible nanomaterials, hydrogel nanocomposites, and contemporary enzymes and nanozymes basedtechnologies. Ultimately, the state-of-the-art chapters in this book will empower researchers to combine two complementary elements - chemical analysis use and biomedical applications.

The author is ready to assert that practically none of the readers of this book will ever happen to deal with large doses of radiation. But the author, without a shadow of a doubt, claims that any readers of this book, regardless of gender, age, financial situation, type of professional activity, and habits, are actually exposed to low doses of radiation throughout their life. This book is devoted to the effect of small doses on the body. To understand the basic effects of radiation on humans, the book contains the necessary information from an atomic, molecular and nuclear physics, as well as from biochemistry and biology. Special attention is paid to the issues that are either not considered or discussed very briefly in existing literature. Examples include the ionization of inner atomic shells that play an essential role in radiological processes, and the questions of transformation of the energy of ionizing radiation in matter. The benefits of ionizing radiation to mankind is reflected in a wide range of radiation technologies used in science, industry, agriculture, culture, art, forensics, and, what is the most important application, medicine. Radiation: Fundamentals, Applications, Risks and Safety provides information on the use of radiation in modern life, its usefulness and indispensability. Experiments on the effects of small doses on bacteria, fungi, algae, insects, plants and animals are described. Human medical experiments are inhuman and ethically flawed. However, during the familiarity of mankind with ionizing radiation, a large number of population groups were subject to accumulation, exposed to radiation at doses of small but exceeding the natural background radiation. This book analyzes existing, real-life radiation results from survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Chernobyl and Fukushima, and examines studies of radiation effect on patients, radiologists, crews of long-distant flights and astronauts, on miners of uranium copies, on workers of nuclear industry and on militaries, exposed to ionizing radiation on a professional basis, and on the population of the various countries receiving environmental exposure. The author hopes that this book can mitigate the impact of radiation phobia, which prevails in the public consciousness over the last half century.

The world of single-board computing puts powerful coding tools in the palm of your hand. The portable Raspberry Pi computing platform with the power of Linux yields an exciting exploratory tool for beginning scientific computing. Science and Computing with Raspberry Pi takes the enterprising researcher, student, or hobbyist through explorations in a variety of computing exercises with the physical sciences. The book has tutorials and exercises for a wide range of scientific computing problems while guiding the user through: Configuring your Raspberry Pi and Linux operating system Understanding the software requirements while using the Pi for scientific computing Computing exercises in physics, astronomy, chaos theory, and machine learning

This book begins with the history and fundamentals of optical fiber communications. Then, briefly introduces existing optical multiplexing techniques and finally focuses on spatial domain multiplexing (SDM), aka space division multiplexing, and orbital angular momentum of photon based multiplexing. These are two emerging multiplexing techniques that have added two new degrees of photon freedom to optical fibers.

Parameter Estimation and Inverse Problems, Third Edition, is structured around a course at New Mexico Tech and is designed to be accessible to typical graduate students in the physical sciences who do not have an extensive mathematical background. The book is complemented by a companion website that includes MATLAB codes that correspond to examples that are illustrated with simple, easy to follow problems that illuminate the details of particular numerical methods. Updates to the new edition include more discussions of Laplacian smoothing, an expansion of basis function exercises, the addition of stochastic descent, an improved presentation of Fourier methods and exercises, and more.

The Nutritional Biochemistry of Chromium(III), Second Edition, reviews the fields of chromium biochemistry and nutrition and how they have dramatically changed in the last decade. Editor John Vincent has lead much of the research that has resulted in new discoveries and reversals of previously held beliefs, such as health concerns surrounding the toxicity of chromium(III). New sections include a review of new evidence showing why chromium may not be an essential element, why national recommendations may need updating, and new data on the use of chromium supplementation in animal feeds. Discussions on the controversial topic of the role of chromium(III) at the molecular level in insulin signaling and information on cell cultures and in vitro assays of chromium toxicity are also covered.

Coastal Wetlands, Second Edition: An Integrated and Ecosystem Approach provides an understanding of the functioning of coastal ecosystems and the ecological services that they provide. As coastal wetlands are under a great deal of pressure from the dual forces of rising sea levels and the intervention of human populations, both along the estuary and in the river catchment, this book covers important issues, such as the destruction or degradation of wetlands from land reclamation and infrastructures, impacts from the discharge of pollutants, changes in river flows and sediment supplies, land clearing, and dam operations.

Primitive Meteorites and Asteroids: Physical, Chemical, and Spectroscopic Observations Paving the Way to Exploration covers the physical, chemical and spectroscopic aspects of asteroids, providing important data and research on carbonaceous chondrites and primitive meteorites. This information is crucial to the success of missions to parent bodies, thus contributing to an understanding of the early solar system. The book offers an interdisciplinary perspective relevant to many fields of planetary science, as well as cosmochemistry, planetary astronomy, astrobiology, geology and space engineering. Including contributions from planetary and missions scientists worldwide, the book collects the fundamental knowledge and cutting-edge research on carbonaceous chondrites and their parent bodies into one accessible resource, thus contributing to the future of space exploration.

In the field of astrophysics, modern developments of practice are emerging in order to further understand the spectral information derived from cosmic sources. Radio telescopes are a current mode of practice used to observe these occurrences. Despite the various accommodations that this technology offers, physicists around the globe need a better understanding of the underlying physics and operational components of radio telescopes as well as an explanation of the cosmic objects that are being detected. Analyzing the Physics of Radio Telescopes and Radio Astronomy is an essential reference source that discusses the principles of the astronomical instruments involved in the construction of radio telescopes and the analysis of cosmic sources and celestial objects detected by this machinery. Featuring research on topics such as electromagnetic theory, antenna design, and geometrical optics, this book is ideally designed for astrophysicists, engineers, researchers, astronomers, students, and educators seeking coverage on the operational methods of radio telescopes and understanding the physical processes of radio astronomy.

In this book, cancer theranostics applications of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are overviewed in details. Moreover, their synthesis, characterization, multifunctionality, disease targeting, biodistribution, pharmacokinetics and toxicity have been briefly highlighted. Finally, we have mentioned the current examples of clinical trials of magnetic nanoparticles in cancer theranostics along with their future scopes and challenges.

Smart, Resilient and Transition Cities: Emerging Approaches and Tools for Climate-Sensitive Urban Development starts with a presentation of three widespread Urban Metaphors, which are gaining increasing attention from urban planners and decision-makers: Smart City, Resilient City and Transition Towns, being all of them focused on the need for enhancing cities' capacities to cope with the multiple and heterogeneous challenges threatening contemporary cities and their future development and, above all, with climate issues. Then, the Authors provide an overview of current large-scale and urban strategies to counterbalance climate change so far undertaken in different geographical contexts (Europe, United States, China, Africa and Australia), shedding light on the different approaches, on the different weights assigned to mitigation and adaptation issues as well as on the main barriers hindering their effectiveness and translation into measurable outcomes. Opportunities and criticalities arising from the rich, 'sprawled' and 'blurred' landscape of current strategies and initiatives in the face of climate change pave the way to a discussion on the lessons learnt from current initiatives and provide new hints for developing integrated climate strategies, capable to guide planners and decision makers towards a climate sensitive urban development Smart, Resilient and Transition Cities: Emerging Approaches and Tools for Climate-Sensitive Urban Development merges a scientific approach with a pragmatic one. Through a case study approach, the Authors explore strengths and weaknesses of institutional and informal practices to foreshadow innovative paths for an adaptive process of urban governance in the face of climate change. The book guides the reader along new governance paths, characterized by continuous learning and close cooperation and communication among different actors and stakeholders and, in so doing, helps them to overcome current 'siloed' approaches to climate issues.

Atomic Force Microscopy for Nanoscale Biophysics: From Single Molecules to Living Cells summarizes the applications of atomic force microscopy for the investigation of biomolecules and cells. The book discusses the methodology of AFM-based biomedical detection, diverse biological systems, and the combination of AFM with other complementary techniques. These state-of-the-art chapters empower researchers to address biological issues through the application of atomic force microscopy. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a unique, multifunctional tool for investigating the structures and properties of living biological systems under aqueous conditions with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution.

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics "merges two long-running serials--"Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics" and "Advances in Optical and Electron Microscopy."

This series features extended articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
* Contributions from leading international scholars and industry experts
* Discusses hot topic areas and presents current and future research trends
* Invaluable reference and guide for physicists, engineers and mathematicians

Magmas under Pressure: Advances in High-Pressure Experiments on Structure and Properties of Melts summarizes recent advances in experimental technologies for studying magmas at high pressures. In the past decade, new developments in high-pressure experiments, particularly with synchrotron X-ray techniques, have advanced the study of magmas under pressure. These new experiments have revealed significant changes of structure and physical properties of magmas under pressure, which significantly improves our understanding of the behavior of magmas in the earth's interior. This book is an important reference, not only in the earth and planetary sciences, but also in other scientific fields, such as physics, chemistry, material sciences, engineering and in industrial applications, such as glass formation and metallurgical processing.

Biotechnology of Microbial Enzymes: Production, Biocatalysis, and Industrial Applications, Second Edition provides a complete survey of the latest innovations on microbial enzymes, highlighting biotechnological advances in their production and purification along with information on successful applications as biocatalysts in several chemical and industrial processes under mild and green conditions. The application of recombinant DNA technology within industrial fermentation and the production of enzymes over the last three decades have produced a host of useful chemical and biochemical substances. The power of these technologies results in novel transformations, better enzymes, a wide variety of applications, and the unprecedented development of biocatalysts through the ongoing integration of molecular biology methodology, all of which is covered insightfully and in-depth within the book. This fully revised, second edition is updated to address the latest research developments and applications in the field, from microbial enzymes recently applied in drug discovery to penicillin biosynthetic enzymes and penicillin acylase, xylose reductase, and microbial enzymes used in antitubercular drug design. Across the chapters, the use of microbial enzymes in sustainable development and production processes is fully considered, with recent successes and ongoing challenges highlighted.

This book demonstrates Microsoft EXCEL-based Fourier transform of selected physics examples. Spectral density of the auto-regression process is also described in relation to Fourier transform. Rather than offering rigorous mathematics, readers will "try and feel" Fourier transform for themselves through the examples. Readers can also acquire and analyze their own data following the step-by-step procedure explained in this book. A hands-on acoustic spectral analysis can be one of the ideal long-term student projects.