This work contains the proceedings of an International Astronomical Symposium devoted to the interactions between physics and dynamics in the solar system, especially with regard to the small bodies (asteroids, comets, meteors). These two topics were traditionally considered as almost independent, but their interactions are increasingly being reviewed as the key to an understanding of the formation and evolution of the solar system. For instance, the rotational dynamics of planets have a profound influence on their climate. On the other hand, a good understanding of the complicated dynamics of asteroids and the identification of families of bodies born from the break-up of a parent body may tell us much about the formation and the evolution of the solar system. All these, and several related questions are discussed in these proceedings, which should be of interest to both physicists and dynamicists.

This book contains a collection of papers that were presented at the IUTAM Symposium on "Computer Models in Biomechanics: From Nano to Macro" held at Stanford University, California, USA, from August 29 to September 2, 2011. It contains state-of-the-art papers on: - Protein and Cell Mechanics: coarse-grained model for unfolded proteins, collagen-proteoglycan structural interactions in the cornea, simulations of cell behavior on substrates - Muscle Mechanics: modeling approaches for Ca2+-regulated smooth muscle contraction, smooth muscle modeling using continuum thermodynamical frameworks, cross-bridge model describing the mechanoenergetics of actomyosin interaction, multiscale skeletal muscle modeling - Cardiovascular Mechanics: multiscale modeling of arterial adaptations by incorporating molecular mechanisms, cardiovascular tissue damage, dissection properties of aortic aneurysms, intracranial aneurysms, electromechanics of the heart, hemodynamic alterations associated with arterial remodeling following aortic coarctation, patient-specific surgery planning for the Fontan procedure - Multiphasic Models: solutes in hydrated biological tissues, reformulation of mixture theory-based poroelasticity for interstitial tissue growth, tumor therapies of brain tissue, remodeling of microcirculation in liver lobes, reactions, mass transport and mechanics of tumor growth, water transport modeling in the brain, crack modeling of swelling porous media - Morphogenesis, Biological Tissues and Organs: mechanisms of brain morphogenesis, micromechanical modeling of anterior cruciate ligaments, mechanical characterization of the human liver, in vivo validation of predictive models for bone remodeling and mechanobiology, bridging scales in respiratory mechanics

While structure-function relationships of proteins have been studied for a long time, structural studies of RNA face additional challenges. Nevertheless, with the continuous discovery of novel RNA molecules with key cellular functions and of novel pathways and interaction networks, the need for structural information of RNA is still increasing. This volume provides an introduction into techniques to assess structure and folding of RNA. Each chapter explains the theoretical background of one technique, and illustrates possibilities and limitations in selected application examples.

It is over a quarter of a century since the discovery of out?ows from young stars. The intervening years have led to remarkable advances in our understanding of this phenomenon. Much of the progress can be attributed to advances in facilities and technologies, including not only larger telescopes but also improved instrument and detector performance. In addition protostellar out?ows have now been imaged from the ground and space at high spatial resolution, e. g. with HST, and at a wide - riety of wavelengths from X-rays to radio waves, revealing more and more about their physics. This veritable revolution in observation has been accompanied by an exponential growth in our ability to numerically simulate the launching and pro- gation of jets. Codes continue to improve: they now incorporate more physics and are increasingly ef?cient through, for example, techniques such as adaptive mesh re?nement and the use of parallel processing in cluster environments. Simulating the launching and propagation of a jet all the way from the vicinity of the star up to 4 several thousand AU (a size range of10 ) is now much closer. In more recent times, developments in observation, theory and numerical s- ulation have been joined by laboratory jet experiments reproducing, on centimetre scales, that which is seen in astrophysics to stretch for several parsecs.

More profound understanding of the nature of light and light-matter interactions in biology has enabled many applications in the biology and medical fields. So a new discipline is born, namely biophotonics.

The aim of this book is to review the current state-of-the-art of the field by means of authoritative chapters written by the world leaders of the respective fields. This book will be useful not only to professionals, but also to graduate students interested in this field.

One of the major challenges in tissue engineering is the translation of biological knowledge on complex cell and tissue behavior into a predictive and robust engineering process. Mastering this complexity is an essential step towards clinical applications of tissue engineering. This volume discusses computational modeling tools that allow studying the biological complexity in a more quantitative way. More specifically, computational tools can help in: (i) quantifying and optimizing the tissue engineering product, e.g. by adapting scaffold design to optimize micro-environmental signals or by adapting selection criteria to improve homogeneity of the selected cell population; (ii) quantifying and optimizing the tissue engineering process, e.g. by adapting bioreactor design to improve quality and quantity of the final product; and (iii) assessing the influence of the in vivo environment on the behavior of the tissue engineering product, e.g. by investigating vascular ingrowth. The book presents examples of each of the above mentioned areas of computational modeling. The underlying tissue engineering applications will vary from blood vessels over trachea to cartilage and bone. For the chapters describing examples of the first two areas, the main focus is on (the optimization of) mechanical signals, mass transport and fluid flow encountered by the cells in scaffolds and bioreactors as well as on the optimization of the cell population itself. In the chapters describing modeling contributions in the third area, the focus will shift towards the biology, the complex interactions between biology and the micro-environmental signals and the ways in which modeling might be able to assist in investigating and mastering this complexity. The chapters cover issues related to (multiscale/multiphysics) model building, training and validation, but also discuss recent advances in scientific computing techniques that are needed to implement these models as well as new tools that can be used to experimentally validate the computational results.

Lightning represents a natural phenomenon of substantial interest. Due to its complex nature, research continues in many countries and reveals amazing results. Lightning is actively observed because of its relevance to Earth climate and air composition in addition to the classical aspects of related human fatalities and damage to forests, buildings, power lines, aircraft, structures and electronic devices. In this volume, the most important contemporary questions on lightning are addressed and analyzed under many experimental and theoretical aspects. Lightning detection techniques using ground-based and space-borne methods are described, along with network engineering and statistical analysis. Contributions detail research on atmospheric electricity, cloud physics, lightning physics, modeling of electrical storms and middle atmospheric events. Special phenomena such as triggered lightning and sprite observations are examined. Lightning-induced nitrogen oxides and their effects on atmospheric chemistry and climate are discussed. Each topic is presented by international experts in the field. Topics include: * air chemistry * convective storms * infrasound from lightning * lightning and climate change * lightning and precipitation * lightning and radiation * lightning and supercells * lightning and thunderstorms * lightning detection * lightning from space * lighting protection * lightning return strokes * observations and interpretations * spatial distribution and frequency * triggered lightning * weather extremes

This short monograph presents the theory of electromagnetic pulses in a simple and physical way. All pulses discussed are exact solutions of the Maxwell equations, and have finite energy, momentum and angular momentum. There are five chapters: on Fundamentals, Solutions of the Wave Equation, Electromagnetic Pulses, Angular Momentum, and Lorentz Transformations. Nine Appendices cover mathematical or associated aspects, such as chiral measures of electromagnetic fields. The subject matter is restricted to free-space classical electrodynamics, but contact is made with quantum theory in proofs that causal pulses are equivalent to superpositions of photons.

This book focuses on the application of fluorescence to study motor proteins (myosins, kinesins, DNA helicases and RNA polymerases). It is intended for a large community of biochemists, biophysicists and cell biologists who study a diverse collection of motor proteins. It can be used by researchers to gain an insight into their first experiments, or by experienced researchers who are looking to expand their research to new areas. Each chapter provides valuable advice for executing the experiments, along with detailed background knowledge in order to develop own experiments.

The critically acclaimed serialized review journal for nearly fifty years, Advances in Geophysics is a highly respected publication in the field of geophysics. Since 1952, each volume has been eagerly awaited, frequently consulted, and praised by researchers and reviewers alike. Now with over 45 volumes, the Serial contains much material still relevant today-truly an essential publication for researchers in all fields of geophysics.

This book focuses on essential theories, methods and techniques in the field of environmental and engineering geophysics that can contribute to resource detection and environmental protection. Geophysics has been playing an important role in exploring the earth, locating vital resources and promoting the development of society. This book covers a range of topics including the exploration of modern resources, such as ore deposits, coal mines, shale gas and geothermal power, and the monitoring of geological disasters, including the rock-soil body, ground deformation, mines, specific rock-soil engineering disasters, desertification of land and environmental abnormalities. This book not only offers a valuable resource for geophysical researchers; it also demonstrates how geophysics theories and methods can be practically implemented to protect our environment and promote the development of human society.

This book offers a collection of papers presented in the International Conference on Geomagnetism, Paleomagnetism and Rock Magnetism held in Kazan (Russia) in October 2017. Papers in this book are dedicated to the study of the geomagnetic field through most of the Earth's history as well as planetary and meteorite magnetism, and magnetic signatures of terrestrial impact craters. Recent studies, summaries, and reviews include: 1 - theory of the geomagnetic field, its generation and variations; 2 - experimental data on the geomagnetic field changes; 3 - studies of rock magnetism; 4 - paleotectonic reconstructions and paleoceanography; 5 - magnetostratigraphy; 6 - extraterrestrial magnetism. Summary reports and reviews will be presented by the world's leading experts in the field of geomagnetic studies. Such workshops held by Academic Council have become traditional. They are always attended by leading professionals from Russia, CIS and non-CIS countries. In addition to discussion sessions focused on recent studies and findings, lectures on some basic concepts of geomagnetism will be delivered by leading Russian and foreign scientists

Physical Oceanography of the Dying Aral Sea describes the background, present crisis state, and possible future of this peculiar inland water body from the physical oceanographic standpoint. Based on a wide range of material, a large part of which was published in Russian and has not been previously available to the international reader, the book first provides an historical overview of this unique system, which possesses both lake and sea properties.

Next, the current physical state of the lake is described, partly based on original field research and model experiments, along with the remote sensing data, model results and analyses extracted from recent literature. Next, book attempts to forecast the forthcoming state of the Aral Sea and identify plausible future scenarios. Finally, the book discusses the Aral Sea dessication viewd as a part of the global perspective.

Impact cratering is an important geological process on all solid planetary bodies, and, in the case of Earth, may have had major climatic and biological effects. Most terrestrial impact craters have been erased or modified beyond recognition. However, major impacts throw ejecta over large areas of the Earth's surface. Recognition of these impact ejecta layers can help fill in the gaps in the terrestrial cratering record and at the same time provide direct correlation between major impacts and other geological events, such as climatic changes and mass extinctions. This book provides the first summary of known distal impact ejecta layers

This text comprises selected lectures presented in the 9th course of the International School of Cosmic-Ray Astrophysics held at the Ettore Majorana Centre in Erice, Sicily, May 7-18, 1994. Devoted to problems and prospects in high-energy astrophysics and cosmology, the major areas explored are: gamma- ray, X-ray, and neutrino astronomies; cosmic rays; pulsars and supernova remnants; and cosmology, as well as cosmogony. Among the principal developments in gamma-ray astrophysics are those generated by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. Cosmic neutrinos at MeV energies, i.e. those from the Sun and from Supernova 1987a are discussed, as well as neutrino masses in astrophysics. The source composition of cosmic rays and extensive air shower experiments receive special attention. The early universe according to COBE data, and as viewed by theorists of cosmology, is reviewed.

This work establishes linear-scaling density-functional theory (DFT) as a powerful tool for understanding enzyme catalysis, one that can complement quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) and molecular dynamics simulations. The thesis reviews benchmark studies demonstrating techniques capable of simulating entire enzymes at the ab initio quantum-mechanical level of accuracy. DFT has transformed the physical sciences by allowing researchers to perform parameter-free quantum-mechanical calculations to predict a broad range of physical and chemical properties of materials. In principle, similar methods could be applied to biological problems. However, even the simplest biological systems contain many thousands of atoms and are characterized by extremely complex configuration spaces associated with a vast number of degrees of freedom. The development of linear-scaling density-functional codes makes biological molecules accessible to quantum-mechanical calculation, but has yet to resolve the complexity of the phase space. Furthermore, these calculations on systems containing up to 2,000 atoms can capture contributions to the energy that are not accounted for in QM/MM methods (for which the Nobel prize in Chemistry was awarded in 2013) and the results presented here reveal profound shortcomings in said methods.

Schumann resonance has been studied for more than half a century. The field became popular among researchers of the terrestrial environment using natural sources of electromagnetic radiation-lightning strokes, primarily-and now many Schumann observatories have been established around the world. A huge number of publications can be found in the literature, the most recent collection of which was presented in a special Schumann resonance section of the journal Radio Science in 2007. The massive publications, however, impede finding information about how to organize measurements and start observations of global electromagnetic resonance. Relevant information is scattered throughout many publications, which are not always available. The goal of this book is to collect all necessary data in a single edition in order to describe the demands of the necessary equipment and the field-site as well as the impact of industrial and natural interference, and to demonstrate typical results and obstacles often met in measurements. The authors not only provide representative results but also describe unusual radio signals in the extremely low-frequency (ELF) band and discuss signals in the adjacent frequency ranges.

Mathematically, natural disasters of all types are characterized by heavy tailed distributions. The analysis of such distributions with common methods, such as averages and dispersions, can therefore lead to erroneous conclusions. The statistical methods described in this book avoid such pitfalls. Seismic disasters are studied, primarily thanks to the availability of an ample statistical database. New approaches are presented to seismic risk estimation and forecasting the damage caused by earthquakes, ranging from typical, moderate events to very rare, extreme disasters. Analysis of these latter events is based on the limit theorems of probability and the duality of the generalized Pareto distribution and generalized extreme value distribution. It is shown that the parameter most widely used to estimate seismic risk - Mmax, the maximum possible earthquake value - is potentially non-robust. Robust analogues of this parameter are suggested and calculated for some seismic catalogues. Trends in the costs inferred by damage from natural disasters as related to changing social and economic situations are examined for different regions.

The results obtained argue for sustainable development, whereas entirely different, incorrect conclusions can be drawn if the specific properties of the heavy-tailed distribution and change in completeness of data on natural hazards are neglected.

This pioneering work is directed at risk assessment specialists in general, seismologists, administrators and all those interested in natural disasters and their impact on society.

Unlike most natural colours that are based on pigment absorption, the striking iridescent and intense colouration of many butterflies, birds or beetles stems from the interaction of light with periodic sub-micrometer surface or volume patterns, so called "photonic structures". These "structural colours" are increasingly well understood, but they are difficult to create artificially and exploit technologically. In this thesis the field of natural structural colours and biomimetic photonic structures is covered in a wide scope, ranging from plant photonics to theoretical optics. It demonstrates diffractive elements on the petal surfaces of many flowering plant species; these form the basis for the study of the role of structural colours in pollinator attraction. Self-assembly techniques, combined with scale able nanofabrication methods, were used to create complex artificial photonic structures inspired by those found in nature. In particular, the colour effect of a Papilio butterfly was mimicked and, by variation of its design motive, enhanced. All photonic effects described here are underpinned by state-of-the-art model calculations.

This book deals with the astrophysics and spectroscopy of the interstellar molecules. In the introduction, overview and history of interstellar observations are described in order to help understanding how the modern astrophysics and molecular spectroscopy have been developed interactively. The recent progress in the study of this field is briefly summarized. Furthermore, the basic knowledge of molecular spectroscopy, which is essential to correctly comprehend the astrophysical observations, is presented in a compact form.

Since the discovery of X-rays and radioactivity, ionizing radiations have been widely applied in medicine both for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The risks associated with radiation exposure and handling led to the parallel development of the field of radiation protection.
Pioneering experiments done by Sanche and co-workers in 2000 showed that low-energy secondary electrons, which are abundantly generated along radiation tracks, are primarily responsible for radiation damage through successive interactions with the molecular constituents of the medium. Apart from ionizing processes, which are usually related to radiation damage, below the ionization level low-energy electrons can induce molecular fragmentation via dissociative processes such as internal excitation and electron attachment. This prompted collaborative projects between different research groups from European countries together with other specialists from Canada, the USA and Australia.
This booksummarizes the advances achieved by these research groups after more than ten years of studies on radiation damage in biomolecular systems.

An extensive Part I deals with recent experimental and theoretical findings on radiation induced damage at the molecular level. It includes many contributions on electron and positroncollisions with biologically relevant molecules. X-ray and ion interactions are also covered. Part II addresses different approaches to radiation damage modelling. In Part III biomedical aspects of radiation effects are treated on different scales. After the physics-oriented focus of the previous parts, there is a gradual transition to biology and medicine with the increasing size of the object studied. Finally, Part IV is dedicated to current trends and novel techniques in radiation reserach and the applications hence arising. It includes new developments in radiotherapy and related cancer therapies, as well as technical optimizations of accelerators and totally new equipment designs, giving a glimpse of the near future of radiation-based medical treatments."

This book begins with the basic terms and definitions and takes a student, step by step, through all areas of medical physics. The book covers radiation therapy, diagnostic radiology, dosimetry, radiation shielding, and nuclear medicine, all at a level suitable for undergraduates. This title not only describes the basics concepts of the field, but also emphasizes numerical and mathematical problems and examples. Students will find An Introduction to Medical Physics to be an indispensible resource in preparations for further graduate studies in the field.

This thesis presents valuable contributions to several aspects of the rapidly growing field of gravitational wave astrophysics. The potential sources of gravitational waves in globular clusters are analyzed using sophisticated dynamics simulations involving intermediate mass black holes and including, for the first time, high-order post-Newtonian corrections to the equations of motion. The thesis further demonstrates our ability to accurately measure the parameters of the sources involved in intermediate-mass-ratio inspirals of stellar-mass compact objects into hundred-solar-mass black holes. Lastly, it proposes new techniques for the computationally efficient inference on gravitational waves. On 14 September 2015, the LIGO observatory reported the first direct detection of gravitational waves from the merger of a pair of black holes. For a brief fraction of a second, the power emitted by this merger exceeded the combined output of all stars in the visible universe. This has since been followed by another confirmed detection and a third candidate binary black hole merger. These detections heralded the birth of an exciting new field: gravitational-wave astrophysics.