Image processing algorithms based on the mammalian visual cortex are powerful tools for extraction information and manipulating images. This book reviews the neural theory and translates them into digital models. Applications are given in areas of image recognition, foveation, image fusion and information extraction. The third edition reflects renewed international interest in pulse image processing with updated sections presenting several newly developed applications. This edition also introduces a suite of Python scripts that assist readers in replicating results presented in the text and to further develop their own applications.

This book addresses the possibilities and challenges in mimicking biological membranes and creating membrane-based sensor and separation devices. Recent advances in developing biomimetic membranes for technological applications will be presented with focus on the use of integral membrane protein mediated transport for sensing and separation. It describes the fundamentals of biosensing as well as separation and shows how the two processes are working in a cooperative manner in biological systems. Biomimetics is a truly cross-disciplinary approach and this is exemplified using the process of forward osmosis will be presented as an illustration of how advances in membrane technology may be directly stimulated by an increased understanding of biological membrane transport. In the development of a biomimetic sensor/separation technology, both channels (ion and water channels) and carriers (transporters) are important. An ideal sensor/separation device requires the supporting biomimetic matrix to be virtually impermeable to anything but the solute in question. In practice, however, a biomimetic support matrix will generally have finite permeabilities to water, electrolytes, and non-electrolytes. These non-protein mediated membrane transport contributions will be presented and the implications for biomimetic device construction will be discussed. New developments in our understanding of the reciprocal coupling between the material properties of the biomimetic matrix and the embedded proteins will be presented and strategies for inducing biomimetic matrix stability will be discussed. Once reconstituted in its final host biomimetic matrix the protein stability also needs to be maintained and controlled. Beta-barrel proteins exemplified by the E. Coli outer membrane channels or small peptides are inherently more stable than alpha-helical bundle proteins which may require additional stabilizing modifications. The challenges associated with insertion and stabilization of alpha-helical bundle proteins including many carriers and ligand and voltage gated ion (and water) channels will be discussed and exemplified using the aquaporin protein. Many biomimetic membrane applications require that the final device can be used in the macroscopic realm. Thus a biomimetic separation device must have the ability to process hundred of liters of permeate in hours - effectively demanding square-meter size membranes. Scalability is a general issue for all nano-inspired technology developments and will be addressed here in the context biomimetic membrane array fabrication. Finally a robust working biomimetic device based on membrane transport must be encapsulated and protected yet allowing massive transport though the encapsulation material. This challenge will be discussed using microfluidic design strategies as examples of how to use microfluidic systems to create and encapsulate biomimetic membranes. The book provides an overview of what is known in the field, where additional research is needed, and where the field is heading.

This book reports the majority of lectures given during the NATO Advanced Study Institute ASI-982996, which was held at the European Scientific Institute of Archamps (ESI, Archamps - France) from November 15 to November 27, 2007. The ASI course was structured in two parts: the first was dedicated to what is often called "teletherapy", i. e. radiotherapy with external beams, while the second focused on internal radiotherapy, also called "brachytherapy" or "curietherapy" in honour of Madame Curie who initiated the technique about a century ago. This ASI took place after the European School of Medical Physics, which devoted a 3 week period to medical imaging, a subject complementary to the topics of this book. Courses devoted to nuclear medicine and digital imaging techniques are collected in two volumes of the NATO Science Series entitled "Physics for Medical Imaging Applications" (ISBN 978-1-4020-5650-5) and "Molecular imaging: computer reconstruction and practice" (ISBN 978-1-4020- 8751-6). Every year in autumn ESI organises the European School of Medical Physics, which covers a large spectrum of topics ranging from Medical Imaging to Radiotherapy, over a period of 5 weeks. Thanks to the Cooperative Science and Technology sub-programme of the NATO Science Division, weeks four and five were replaced this year by the ASI course dedicated to "Physics of Modern Radiotherapy & Brachytherapy". This allowed the participation of experts and students from 20 different countries, with diverse cultural background and p- fessional experience.

The book is divided in 4 parts. In the first one, the importance of the analysis of the cardiac dynamics using the ambulatory monitoring technique is presented. The second part contains the description of foundations of impedance cardiography (ICG), the models used to describe the ICG technique and the description of available systems for ambulatory monitoring of cardiac hemodynamics. The third part is devoted to the validation of the ambulatory ICG method, the verification of the quality of long term ICG recordings and the discussion of the limitations of this technique. In the last part, some clinical and research applications of the ICG ambulatory monitoring are presented. The simultaneous recordings of electrocardiogram (ECG) and ICG in the transient cardiac arrhythmia events illustrate the potential applications of that method for quantitative analysis of hemodynamics when the implementation of the stationary methods would be either difficult or not possible to do. The book is followed by references, alphabetical index and appendices containing the technical data of the available systems for portable monitoring of cardiac hemodynamics.

Together, the volumes in this series present all of the data needed at various length scales for a multidisciplinary approach to modeling and simulation of flows in the cardiovascular and ventilatory systems, especially multiscale modeling and coupled simulations. The cardiovascular and respiratory systems are tightly coupled, as their primary function is to supply oxygen to and remove carbon dioxide from the body's cells. Because physiological conduits have deformable and reactive walls, macroscopic flow behavior and prediction must be coupled to nano- and microscopic events in a corrector scheme of regulated mechanism. Therefore, investigation of flows of blood and air in anatomical conduits requires an understanding of the biology, chemistry, and physics of these systems together with the mathematical tools to describe their functioning in quantitative terms. The present volume focuses on macroscopic aspects of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems in pathological conditions, i.e., diseases of the cardiac pump, blood vessels, and airways, as well as their treatments. Only diseases that have a mechanical origin or are associated with mechanical disorders are covered. Local flow disturbances can trigger pathophysiological processes or, conversely, result from diseases of conduit walls or their environment. The ability to model these phenomena is essential to the development and manufacturing of medical devices, which incorporate a stage of numerical tests in addition to experimental procedures.

Increasing interest in mitochondrial bioenergetics is being driven by the impact of drug and environmental chemical-induced disturbances of mitochondrial function as well as hereditary deficiencies and the progressive deterioration of bioenergetic performance with age. These initiatives have fostered the investigation of genetic and environmental influences on bioenergetics. In Mitochondrial Bioenergetics: Methods and Protocols, researchers in the field detail the practical principles and assays designed to derive quantitative assessment of each set of parameters that reflect different aspects of mitochondrial bioenergetics. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls Authoritative and practical, Mitochondrial Bioenergetics: Methods and Protocols helps elevate the quality and rate of investigative discoveries regarding disease states associated with environmental or genetic influences on mitochondrial bioenergetics.

This book serves as an introduction to the continuum mechanics and mathematical modeling of complex fluids in living systems. The form and function of living systems are intimately tied to the nature of surrounding fluid environments, which commonly exhibit nonlinear and history dependent responses to forces and displacements. With ever-increasing capabilities in the visualization and manipulation of biological systems, research on the fundamental phenomena, models, measurements, and analysis of complex fluids has taken a number of exciting directions. In this book, many of the world's foremost experts explore key topics such as: Macro- and micro-rheological techniques for measuring the material properties of complex biofluids and the subtleties of data interpretation Experimental observations and rheology of complex biological materials, including mucus, cell membranes, the cytoskeleton, and blood The motility of microorganisms in complex fluids and the dynamics of active suspensions Challenges and solutions in the numerical simulation of biologically relevant complex fluid flows This volume will be accessible to advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in engineering, mathematics, biology, and the physical sciences, but will appeal to anyone interested in the intricate and beautiful nature of complex fluids in the context of living systems.

This book describes the fabrication of a frequency-based electronic tongue using a modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE), opening a new field of applying organic precursors to achieve nanostructure growth. It also presents a new approach to optimizing nanostructures by means of statistical analysis. The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method was utilized to grow vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with various aspect ratios. To increase the graphitic ratio of synthesized CNTs, sequential experimental strategies based on response surface methodology were employed to investigate the crystallinity of CNTs. In the next step, glucose oxidase (GOx) was immobilized on the optimized multiwall carbon nanotubes/gelatin (MWCNTs/Gl) composite using the entrapment technique to achieve enzyme-catalyzed oxidation of glucose at anodic potentials, which was drop-casted onto the GCE. The modified GCE's performance indicates that a GOx/MWCNTs/Gl/GC electrode can be utilized as a glucose biosensor with a high direct electron transfer rate between GOx and MWCNTs/Gl. It was possible to use the fabricated biosensor as an electronic tongue thanks to a frequency-based circuit attached to the electrochemical cell. The results indicate that the modified GCE (with GOx/MWCNTs/Gl) holds promising potential for application in voltammetric electronic tongues.

Optical screening of excessive and potentially harmful solar radiation is an important photoprotective mechanism, though it has received much less attention in comparison with other systems preventing photooxidative damage to photoautotrophic organisms. This photoprotection in the form of screening appears to be especially important for juvenile and senescing plants as well as under environmental stresses-i.e. in situations where the efficiency of enzymatic ROS elimination, DNA repair and other classical' photoprotective systems could be impaired. This book represents an attempt to develop an integral view of optical screening-based photoprotection in microalgae and higher plants. Towards this end, the key groups of pigments involved in the screening of ultraviolet and visible components of solar radiation in microalgae and higher plants, and the patterns of their accumulation and distribution within plant cells and tissues, are described. Special attention is paid to the manifestations of screening pigment accumulation in the optical spectra of plants. It is also demonstrated that understanding these effects and their relationships to screening pigments' makeup and spectroscopy in plants provides valuable insights into the state of plants' long-term photoacclimation, as well as ample opportunities for the non-destructive quantification of screening pigments and the assessment of the efficiency of photoprotection providing by these pigments in situ.

This book covers topics on mechanosensing, mechanotransduction, and actin cytoskeletal dynamics in cell motility. It will contribute to a better understanding of how cells functionally adapt to their mechanical environment as well as highlighting fundamental concepts for designing material niches for cell manipulation. With topics from multidisciplinary fields of the life sciences, medicine and engineering, the book is the first of its kind, providing comprehensive, integrated coverage of innovative approaches to cell biomechanics. It provides a valuable resource for seniors and graduate students studying cell biomechanics and is also suitable for researchers interested in the application of methods and strategies in connection with the innovative approaches discussed. Each section of the book has been supplemented with concrete examples and illustrations to facilitate understanding even for readers unfamiliar with cell biomechanics.

In this thesis single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) spectroscopy was used to study the folding of a protein that belongs to the large and important family of repeat proteins. Cohen shows that the dynamics of the expanded conformations is likely to be very fast, suggesting a spring-like motion of the whole chain. The findings shed new light on the elasticity of structure in repeat proteins, which is related to their function in binding multiple and disparate partners. This concise research summary provides useful insights for students beginning a PhD in this or a related area, and researchers entering this field.

"Mechanobiology of Cell-Matrix Interactions" focuses on characterization and modeling of interactions between cells and their local extracellular environment, exploring how these interactions may mediate cell behavior. Studies of cell-matrix interactions rely on integrating engineering, (molecular and cellular) biology, and imaging disciplines. Recent advances in the field have begun to unravel our understanding of how cells gather information from their surrounding environment, and how they interrogate such information during the cell fate decision making process. Topics include adhesive and integrin-ligand interactions; extracellular influences on cell biology and behavior; cooperative mechanisms of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions; the mechanobiology of pathological processes; (multi-scale) modeling approaches to describe the complexity or cell-matrix interactions; and quantitative methods required for such experimental and modeling studies.

This interdisciplinary thesis introduces a systems biology approach to study the cell fate decision mediated by autophagy. A mathematical model of interaction between Autophagy and Apoptosis in mammalian cells is proposed. In this dynamic model autophagy acts as a gradual response to stress (Rheostat) that delays the initiation of bistable switch of apoptosis to give the cells an opportunity to survive. The author shows that his dynamical model is consistent with existing quantitative measurements of time courses of autophagic responses to cisplatin treatment. To understand the function of this response in cancer cells, he has provided a systems biology experimental framework to study quantitative and dynamical aspects of autophagy in single cancer cells using live-cell imaging and quantitative fluorescence microscopy. This framework can provide new insights on function of autophagic response in cancer cells.

This volume and its companion, Volume 351, are specifically designed to meet the needs of graduate students and postdoctoral students as well as researchers, by providing all the up-to-date methods necessary to study genes in yeast. Procedures are included that enable newcomers to set up a yeast laboratory and to master basic manipulations. Relevant background and reference information given for procedures can be used as a guide to developing protocols in a number of disciplines. Specific topics addressed in this book include basic techniques, making mutants, genomics, and proteomics.

Computational Biomechanics for Medicine: Solid and fluid mechanics for the benefit of patients contributions and papers from the MICCAI Computational Biomechanics for Medicine Workshop help in conjunction with Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention conference (MICCAI 2020) in Lima, Peru. The content is dedicated to research in the field of methods and applications of computational biomechanics to medical image analysis, image-guided surgery, surgical simulation, surgical intervention planning, disease prognosis and diagnostics, analysis of injury mechanisms, implant and prostheses design, as well as artificial organ design and medical robotics. This book appeals to researchers, students and professionals in the field.

This volume is a collection of articles from the ISSBMR 7th Course: Structure and Biophysics - New Technologies for Current Challenges in Biology and Beyond. This NATO Advanced Institute (ASI) was held at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Sicily. The ASI brought together a diverse group of experts in the fields of Structural Biology, Biophysics and Physics. Prominent lecturers, from seven different countries, and students from around the world participated. The session addressed the treatment and detection of bioterrorism agents, and focused on critical partner country priorities in biotechnology, materials and drug discovery. The range of topics represents the diversity of critical problems between structural biology, biochemistry and biophysics, in which lies the fertile ground of drug development, biotechnology and new materials.

This book describes how biologically available free energy sources (ATP, chemical potential, and membrane potentials, among others) can be used to drive synthetic reactions, signaling in cells, and various types of motion such as membrane traffic, active transport, and cell locomotion. As such, it approaches the concept of the energy cycle of life on Earth from a physical point of view, covering topics ranging from an introduction to chemical evolution, to an examination of the catalytic activity of enzymes associated with the genome in Darwinian evolution. The author introduces the relationship between functions and physical properties in biomembranes, explaining the methods and equipment used in biophysics research to help researchers unravel the still-unsolved mysteries of life. The physical principles needed to understand the cellular functions are provided; these functions are associated with biomembranes and regulated by physical properties of the lipid bilayer such as membrane fluidity, phase transition, and phase separation, as shown in lipid rafts. Other key dynamic aspects of life (cell locomotion, cytoskeletal dynamics, and sensitivities of the cell to physical stimuli such as external forces and temperature) are also discussed. Lastly, readers will learn how life on Earth and its ecological system are maintained by solar energy, and be provided further information on the problems accompanying global warming.

This thesis sheds new light on the worldwide first electrical manipulation of a single nuclear spin. Over the last four decades, the size of a bit, the smallest logical unit in a computer, has decreased by more than two orders of magnitude and will soon reach a limit where quantum phenomena become important. Inspired by the power of quantum mechanics, researchers have already identified pure quantum systems, having, analog to a classical bit, two controllable and readable states. In this regard, the inherent spin of electrons or nuclei with its two eigenstates, spin up and spin down, is a promising candidate. Using expertise in the field of single-molecule magnets, the author developed a molecular transistor, which allows quantum information to be written onto a single nuclear spin by means of an electric field only, and, in addition, enables the electronic read-out of this quantum state. This novel approach opens a path to addressing and manipulating individual nuclear spins within a very confined space (a single molecule), at high speed. Thus, the author was able to show that single molecule magnets are promising candidates for quantum information processing, which is triggering a new field of research towards molecular quantum electronics.

Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder with cardinal motor signs of resting tremor, bradykinesia and lead-pipe rigidity. In addition, many patients display non-motor symptoms, including a diminished sensation of smell, gastrointestinal problems, various disorders of sleep and some cognitive impairment. These clinical features - particularly the motor signs - manifest after a progressive death of many dopaminergic neurones in the brain. Although currently available, conventional therapies can reduce the signs of the disease, the progression of this neuronal death has proved difficult to slow or stop, and the condition is relentlessly progressive. Hence, there is a real need to develop a treatment that is neuroprotective, one that slows the pathology of the disease effectively. At present, there are several neuroprotective therapies in the experimental pipeline, but these are for the patients of tomorrow. This book focuses on two therapies that are readily available for the patients of today. They involve the use of exercise and light (i.e. photobiomodulation, the use of red to infrared light therapy ( =600-1070nm) on body tissues). The two therapies are tied together in several ways. First, in animal models of Parkinson's disease, they each have been shown to offer the key feature of neuroprotection, stimulating a series of built-in protective mechanisms within the neurones, that helps their survival, to self-protect and/or self-repair. There are also some promising indications of neuroprotection and many beneficial outcomes in parkinsonian patients. Further, both exercise and light therapies are similar in that they are non-invasive and safe to use, with no known adverse side-effects, making their combination with the conventional therapies, such as dopamine replacement drug therapy and deep brain stimulation, all the more feasible. Given the heterogeneity of Parkinson's disease in humans, tackling the condition from a range of different angles - with a number of different therapies - would only serve to enhance the positive outcomes. This book considers the use of exercise and light therapies, proposing that they have the potential to make a powerful "dynamic duo", offering a most effective neuroprotective treatment option to patients.

This book focuses primarily on the role of interfacial forces in understanding biological phenomena at the molecular scale. By providing a suitable statistical mechanical apparatus to handle the biomolecular interface, the book becomes uniquely positioned to address core problems in molecular biophysics. It highlights the importance of interfacial tension in delineating a solution to the protein folding problem, in unravelling the physico-chemical basis of enzyme catalysis and protein associations, and in rationally designing molecular targeted therapies. Thus grounded in fundamental science, the book develops a powerful technological platform for drug discovery, while it is set to inspire scientists at any level in their careers determined to address the major challenges in molecular biophysics. The acknowledgment of how exquisitely the structure and dynamics of proteins and their aqueous environment are related attests to the overdue recognition that biomolecular phenomena cannot be effectively understood without dealing with interfacial behaviour. There is an urge to grasp how biologically relevant behaviour is shaped by the structuring of biomolecular interfaces and how interfacial tension affects the molecular events that take place in the cell. This book squarely addresses these needs from a physicist perspective. The book may serve as a monograph for practitioners and, alternatively, as an advanced textbook. Fruitful reading requires a background in physical chemistry and some basics in biophysics. The selected problems at the end of the chapters and the progression in conceptual difficulty make it a suitable textbook for a graduate level course or an elective course for seniors majoring in chemistry, physics, biomedical engineering or related disciplines.

Nanoneuroscience is the study of computationally relevant biomolecules found inside neurons. Because of recent technological advances at the nanometer scale, scientists have at their disposal increasingly better ways to study the brain and the biophysics of its molecules. This book describes how biomolecules contribute to the operations of synapses and perform other computationally relevant functions inside dendrites. These biomolecular operations considerably expand the brain-computer analogy - endowing each neuron with the processing power of a silicon-based multiprocessor. Amazingly, the brain contains hundreds of billions of neurons.

The model-based investigation of motions of anthropomorphic systems is an important interdisciplinary research topic involving specialists from many fields such as Robotics, Biomechanics, Physiology, Orthopedics, Psychology, Neurosciences, Sports, Computer Graphics and Applied Mathematics. This book presents a study of basic locomotion forms such as walking and running is of particular interest due to the high demand on dynamic coordination, actuator efficiency and balance control. Mathematical models and numerical simulation and optimization techniques are explained, in combination with experimental data, which can help to better understand the basic underlying mechanisms of these motions and to improve them. Example topics treated in this book are * Modeling techniques for anthropomorphic bipedal walking systems * Optimized walking motions for different objective functions * Identification of objective functions from measurements * Simulation and optimization approaches for humanoid robots * Biologically inspired control algorithms for bipedal walking * Generation and deformation of natural walking in computer graphics * Imitation of human motions on humanoids * Emotional body language during walking * Simulation of biologically inspired actuators for bipedal walking machines * Modeling and simulation techniques for the development of prostheses * Functional electrical stimulation of walking.

DNA replication is arguably the most crucial process at work in living cells. It is the mechanism by which organisms pass their genetic information from one generation to the next and life on Earth would be unthinkable without it. Despite the discovery of DNA structure in the 1950s, the mechanism of its replication remains rather elusive. This work makes important contributions to this line of research. In particular, it addresses two key questions in the area of DNA replication: which evolutionary forces drive the positioning of replication origins in the chromosome and how is the spatial organization of replication factories achieved inside the nucleus of a cell?. A cross-disciplinary approach uniting physics and biology is at the heart of this research. Along with experimental support, statistical physics theory produces optimal origin positions and provides a model for replication fork assembly in yeast. Advances made here can potentially further our understanding of disease mechanisms such as the abnormal replication in cancer.

The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it. BenjaminDisraeli Cryobiologyisatruemultidisciplinaryscienceinvolvingconceptsfrombiology, medicine, and physics. Its ?eld comprises the study of any biologicalobject or system (e. g. , proteins, cells, tissues, organs, or organisms) under the temp- atures below the normal (ranging from hypothermic conditions to cryogenic temperatures): cold-adaptation of organisms; cryoconservation of biological objects; conservation of organs under hypothermic conditions; lyophilization; cryosurgery. Origins of cryobiology could be traced down to ancient Eg- tians; probably the ?rst scienti?c account of this science is the monograph by Sir Robert Boyle "New Experiments and Observations Touching Cold" (London, 1683). Twentieth century witnessed a rapid development of cryo- ologyrelatedtotheprogressofthecryogenicequipment(closedsystemsbased on liquid nitrogen, Joule-Tohomson cooling with mixed gases, etc. ), devel- ments of monitoring techniques, extension of the list of diseases that have been successfully treated by cryomedicine, and consolidation of research by foundation (simultaneously in 1964) of two major scienti?c societies in this ? eld - The Society for Cryobiology and The Society for Low Temperature Biology. There are a lot of good books on cryobiologythat can be divided into two groups: (1) the ones that treat the whole ?eld of cryobiology - these ones are somewhatout-of-dateand(2)thebooksonspeci?capplicationsofcryobiology such as cryosurgery or cryoconservation.