This comprehensive textbook presents a self-contained guide to bioinformatics, defined in its broadest sense as the application of information science to biology. Thoroughly updated and greatly expanded, this third edition now includes material on the growing array of "-omics"; covering metagenomics, toxicogenomics, glycomics, lipidomics, microbiomics and phenomics. New chapters have also been added on ecosystems management and the nervous system. Emphasis is placed on providing both a firm grounding in the core concepts and a clear overview of the complete field of bioinformatics. Features: explains the fundamentals of information science relevant to biology; covers both organismal (ontogeny and phylogeny, as well as genome structure) and molecular aspects; examines the most important practical applications of bioinformatics, providing detailed descriptions of both the experimental process and the data analysis; provides a varied selection of problems throughout the book, to stimulate further thinking.

This book discusses geometric and mathematical models that can be used to study fluid and structural mechanics in the cardiovascular system. Where traditional research methodologies in the human cardiovascular system are challenging due to its invasive nature, several recent advances in medical imaging and computational fluid and solid mechanics modelling now provide new and exciting research opportunities. This emerging field of study is multi-disciplinary, involving numerical methods, computational science, fluid and structural mechanics, and biomedical engineering. Certainly any new student or researcher in this field may feel overwhelmed by the wide range of disciplines that need to be understood. This unique book is one of the first to bring together knowledge from multiple disciplines, providing a starting point to each of the individual disciplines involved, attempting to ease the steep learning curve. This book presents elementary knowledge on the physiology of the cardiovascular system; basic knowledge and techniques on reconstructing geometric models from medical imaging; mathematics that describe fluid and structural mechanics, and corresponding numerical/computational methods to solve its equations and problems. Many practical examples and case studies are presented to reinforce best practice guidelines for setting high quality computational models and simulations. These examples contain a large number of images for visualization, to explain cardiovascular physiological functions and disease. The reader is then exposed to some of the latest research activities through a summary of breakthrough research models, findings, and techniques. The book’s approach is aimed at students and researchers entering this field from engineering, applied mathematics, biotechnology or medicine, wishing to engage in this emerging and exciting field of computational hemodynamics modelling.

This volume focuses on Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC), a powerful tool allowing luminescence lifetime measurements to be made with high temporal resolution, even on single molecules. Combining spectrum and lifetime provides a “fingerprint� for identifying such molecules in the presence of a background. Used together with confocal detection, this permits single-molecule spectroscopy and microscopy in addition to ensemble measurements, opening up an enormous range of hot life science applications such as fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) and measurement of Förster Resonant Energy Transfer (FRET) for the investigation of protein folding and interaction. Several technology-related chapters present both the basics and current state-of-the-art, in particular of TCSPC electronics, photon detectors and lasers. The remaining chapters cover a broad range of applications and methodologies for experiments and data analysis, including the life sciences, defect centers in diamonds, super-resolution microscopy, and optical tomography. The chapters detailing new options arising from the combination of classic TCSPC and fluorescence lifetime with methods based on intensity fluctuation represent a particularly unique highlight.

This book reports on advanced theories and methods in three related fields of research: applied physics, system science and computers. It is organized in two main parts, the first of which covers applied physics topics, including lasers and accelerators; condensed matter, soft matter and materials science; nanoscience and quantum engineering; atomic, molecular, optical and plasma physics; as well as nuclear and high-energy particle physics. It also addresses astrophysics, gravitation, earth and environmental science, as well as medical and biological physics. The second part focuses on advances in system science and computers, exploring automatic circuit control, power systems, computer communication, fluid mechanics, simulation and modeling, software engineering, data structures and applications of artificial intelligence among other areas. Offering a collection of contributions presented at the 1st International Conference on Applied Physics, System Science and Computers (APSAC 2016), the book bridges the gap between applied physics and electrical engineering. It not only to presents new methods, but also promotes collaborations between different communities working on related topics at the interface between physics and engineering, with a special focus on communication, data modeling and visualization, quantum information, applied mechanics as well as bio and geophysics.

Cold atmospheric plasma is an auspicious new candidate in cancer treatment. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a partially ionized gas in which the ion temperature is close to room temperature. It contains electrons, charged particles, radicals, various excited molecules and UV photons. These various compositional elements have the potential to inhibit cancer cell activity whilst doing no harm to healthy cells. Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and lethal primary brain tumor in adults; treatment including surgery, radio- and chemotherapy remains palliative for most patients as a cure remains elusive. The successful combination of the standard chemotherapeutic temozolomide (TMZ) and CAP treatment features synergistic effects even in resistant glioma cells. In particular in glioma therapy, CAP could offer an innovative approach allowing specific cancer cell / tumor tissue inhibition without damaging healthy cells. Thus CAP is a promising candidate for combination therapy especially for patients suffering from GBMs showing TMZ resistance.

This volume is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the recent explosion of experimental tools in neuroscience that now make it possible to manipulate, record, and understand neuronal activity within the intact brain, and which are helping us learn how the many neurons that comprise a network act together to control behavior. Leaders in the field discuss the latest developments in optogenetics, functional imaging, circuit mapping, and the application of these tools to complex biological problems.

This authoritative volume explores advances in the techniques used to measure percutaneous penetration of drugs and chemicals to assess bioavailability and bioequivalence and discusses how they have been used in clinical and scientific investigations. Seven comprehensive sections examine topics including in vitro drug release, topical drugs products, clinical studies, and guidelines and workshop reports, among others. The book also describes how targeted transdermal drug delivery and more sophisticated mathematical modelling can aid in understanding the bioavailability of transdermal drugs. The first edition of this book was an important reference guide for researchers working to define the effectiveness and safety of drugs and chemicals that penetrated the skin. This second edition contains cutting-edge advances in the field and is a key resource to those seeking to define the bioavailability and bioequivalence of percutaneously active compounds to improve scientific and clinical investigation and regulation.

This book outlines a unified theory of embryonic development, assuming morphogenesis to be a multi-level process including self-organizing steps while also obeying general laws. It is shown how molecular mechanisms generate mechanical forces, which in the long run lead to morphological changes. Questions such as how stress-mediated feedback acts at the cellular and supra-cellular levels and how executive and regulatory mechanisms are mutually dependent are addressed, while aspects of collective cell behavior and the morphogenesis of plants are also discussed. The morphomechanical approach employed in the book is based on the general principles of self-organization theory.

This thesis describes the use of biophysical and biochemical methods to prove that calcium has a positive feedback effect on amplifying and sustaining CD3 phosphorylation and should enhance T-cell sensitivity to foreign antigens. The study presented shows that calcium can regulate the signal pathway in cells not only as a secondary messenger but also through direct interactions with the phospholipid bilayer. The approach used in the thesis also represents an important advance, as it couples the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to the analysis of signaling phenomena in living cells. Moreover, the thesis optimizes the Nanodisc assembly protocol, which can broaden its range of applications in membrane protein studies. A preliminary study on the structure of dengue virus NS2B-NS3p in complex with aprotinin, which may help to develop new drugs against the dengue virus, is also included.

Bringing together nanoscience with stem cell and bacterial cell biology, this thesis is truly interdisciplinary in scope. It shows that the creation of superparamagnetic nanoparticles inside a protein coat, followed by chemical functionalisation of the protein surface, provides a novel methodology for cell magnetisation using incubation times as short as one minute. Crucially, stem cell proliferation and multi-lineage differentiation capacity is not impaired after labelling. Due to the unspecific labelling mechanism, this thesis also shows that the same magnetic protein nanoparticles can be used for rapid bacterial magnetisation. Thus, it is possible to magnetically capture and concentrate pathogens from clinical samples quickly and highly efficiently.

Computational modeling can provide a wealth of insight into how energy flow in proteins mediates protein function. Computational methods can also address fundamental questions related to molecular signaling and energy flow in proteins. Proteins: Energy, Heat and Signal Flow presents state-of-the-art computational strategies for studying energy redistribution, signaling, and heat transport in proteins and other molecular machines. The first of four sections of the book address the transport of energy in molecular motors, which function through a combination of chemically driven large-scale conformational changes and charge transport. Focusing on vibrational energy flow in proteins and nanostructures, the next two sections discuss approaches based on molecular dynamics simulations and harmonic analysis. By exploring the flow of free energy in proteins, the last section examines the conformational changes involved in allosteric transitions and the role of coupled protein-solvent dynamics in conformational changes. It also presents computational approaches developed to locate pathways between protein structures. The integrated presentation of this comprehensive, up-to-date volume emphasizes the interrelations between disparate computational approaches that have contributed to our understanding of energy flow in proteins and its role in protein function. By defining the forefront of research in this area, the book delineates the current challenges and opportunities in developing novel methods and applications for the evolving study of energy flow in molecular machines and nanomaterials.

After an insightful introductory part on recent developments in the thermodynamics of small systems, the author presents his contribution to a long-standing problem, namely the connection between irreversibility and dissipation. He develops a method based on recent results on fluctuation theorems that is able to estimate dissipation using only information acquired in a single, sufficiently long, trajectory of a stationary nonequilibrium process. This part ends with a remarkable application of the method to the analysis of biological data, in this case, the fluctuations of a hair bundle. The third part studies the energetics of systems that undergo symmetry breaking transitions. These theoretical ideas lead to, among other things, an experimental realization of a Szilard engine using manipulated colloids. This work has the potential for important applications ranging from the analysis of biological media to the design of novel artificial nano-machines.

This book gives physical chemists a broader view of potential biological applications of their techniques for the study of nucleic acids in the gas phase. It provides organic chemists, biophysicists, and pharmacologists with an introduction to new techniques they can use to find the answers to yet unsolved questions. Laboratory sciences have bloomed with a variety of techniques to decipher the properties of the molecules of life. This volume introduces techniques used to investigate the properties of nucleic acids in the absence of solvent. It highlights the specificities pertaining to the studies of nucleic acids, although some of the techniques can similarly be applied to the study of other biomolecules, like proteins. The first part of the book introduces the techniques, from the transfer of nucleic acids to the gas-phase, to their detailed physico-chemical investigation. Each chapter is devoted to a specific molecular property, and illustrates how various approaches (experimental and theoretical) can be combined for the interpretation. The second part of the book is devoted to applying the gas-phase approaches to solve specific questions related to the biophysics, biochemistry or pharmacology of nucleic acids.

This book presents the general concepts of self-organized spatio-temporal ordering processes. These concepts are demonstrated via prototypical examples of recent advances in materials science. Particular emphasis is on nano scale soft matter in physics, chemistry, biology and biomedicine. The questions addressed embrace a broad spectrum of complex nonlinear phenomena, ranging from self-assembling near the thermodynamical equilibrium to dissipative structure formation far from equilibrium. Their mutual interplay gives rise to increasing degrees of hierarchical order. Analogues are pointed out, differences characterized and efforts are made to reveal common features in the mechanistic description of those phenomena.

This book provides ample coverage of theoretical and experimental state-of-the-art work as well as new trends and directions in the biometrics field. It offers students and software engineers a thorough understanding of how some core low-level building blocks of a multi-biometric system are implemented. While this book covers a range of biometric traits, its main emphasis is placed on multi-sensory and multi-modal face biometrics algorithms and systems.

This thesis presents a highly innovative study of the ultrafast structural and vibrational dynamics of hydrated phospholipids, the basic constituents of cell membranes. As a novel approach to the water-phospholipid interface, the author studies phosphate vibrations using the most advanced methods of nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy, including femtosecond two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy. He shows for the first time that the structure of interfacial water undergoes very limited fluctuations on a 300 fs time scale and that the lifetimes of hydrogen bonds with the phospholipid are typically longer than 10 ps. Such properties originate from the steric hindrance of water fluctuations at the interface and the orienting action of strong electric fields from the phospholipid head group dipoles. In an extensive series of additional experiments, the vibrational lifetimes of the different vibrations and the processes of energy dissipation are elucidated in detail.

This book covers recent developments in the non-standard asymptotics of the mathematical narrow escape problem in stochastic theory, as well as applications of the narrow escape problem in cell biology. The first part of the book concentrates on mathematical methods, including advanced asymptotic methods in partial equations, and is aimed primarily at applied mathematicians and theoretical physicists who are interested in biological applications. The second part of the book is intended for computational biologists, theoretical chemists, biochemists, biophysicists, and physiologists. It includes a summary of output formulas from the mathematical portion of the book and concentrates on their applications in modeling specific problems in theoretical molecular and cellular biology. Critical biological processes, such as synaptic plasticity and transmission, activation of genes by transcription factors, or double-strained DNA break repair, are controlled by diffusion in structures that have both large and small spatial scales. These may be small binding sites inside or on the surface of the cell, or narrow passages between subcellular compartments. The great disparity in spatial scales is the key to controlling cell function by structure. This volume reports recent progress on resolving analytical and numerical difficulties in extracting properties from experimental data, biophysical models, and from Brownian dynamics simulations of diffusion in multi-scale structures.

This thesis addresses fundamental scientific questions such as: How are complex natural products synthesized in vivo? Can we replicate these conditions in a laboratory environment? What is the biological function of such secondary metabolites? What are the biological origins of chirality? These issues are explored in an accessible manner using a multidisciplinary approach spanning chemistry, biology and physics to investigate an interesting family of complex natural products isolated from marine molluscs - the tridachiahydropyrones. The work has achieved: Elegant biomimetic syntheses of a number of the tridachiahydropyrone compounds in vitro using organic synthesis techniques The characterization of the interactions between these compounds and a range of model membrane systems using a series of fluorescence spectroscopic studies The investigation of the antioxidant and photoprotective properties of the compounds by means of biophysical assay techniques The synthesis of tridachiahydropyrone utilizing the model membrane systems as biomimetic reaction media.

This book examines the most novel and state-of-the-art applications of biomaterials, with chapters that exemplify approaches with targeted drug delivery, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases and cranioplasty implants. Expert contributors analyze biomaterials such as calcium phosphate, sol-gel and quenched glasses, metallic and polymer implants, bioactive glass, and polymer composites while also covering important areas such as the soft tissue replacement, apatites, bone regeneration and cell encapsulation. This book is appropriate for biomedical engineers, materials scientists, and clinicians who are seeking to implement the most advanced approaches and technologies with their patients.

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.

In the never-ending quest for miniaturization, optically controlled particle trapping has opened up new possibilities for handling microscopic matter non-invasively. This thesis presents the application of photorefractive crystals as active substrate materials for optoelectronic tweezers. In these tweezers, flexible optical patterns are transformed into electrical forces by a photoconductive material, making it possible to handle matter with very high forces and high throughput. Potential substrate materials’ properties are investigated and ways to tune their figures-of-merit are demonstrated. A large part of the thesis is devoted to potential applications in the field of optofluidics, where photorefractive optoelectronic tweezers are used to trap, sort and guide droplets or particles in microfluidic channels, or to shape liquid polymers into optical elements prior to their solidification. Furthermore, a new surface discharge model is employed to discuss the experimental conditions needed for photorefractive optoelectronic tweezers.

The proceeding is a collection of research papers presented at the International Colloquium on Sports Science, Exercise, Engineering and Technology (ICoSSEET2014), a conference dedicated to address the challenges in the areas of sports science, exercise, sports engineering and technology including other areas of sports, thereby presenting a consolidated view to the interested researchers in the aforesaid fields. The goal of this conference was to bring together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to focus on the scope of the conference and establishing new collaborations in these areas. The topics of interest are as follows but are not limited to:1. Sports and Exercise Science * Sports Nutrition * Sports Biomechanics * Strength and Conditioning * Motor Learning and Control * Sports Psychology * Sports Coaching * Sports and Exercise Physiology * Sports Medicine and Athletic Trainer * Fitness and Wellness * Exercise Rehabilitation * Adapted Physical Activity / Disability Sport * Physical Education * Dance, Games and Play 2. Sports Engineering and Technology Application * Sports Equipment Mechanics * Athlete Analysis and Measurement * Instrumentation and Measurement in Sports * Fluid Dynamics in Sports * Computational Modeling in Sports 3. Sports Industry and Management * Sports Event * Sports Management * Sports Tourism * Sports Marketing * Sports Ethics and Law * Sports Sociology * Outdoor and Recreation Management * Inclusive Recreation * Leisure

This book gives detailed information about the fabrication, properties and applications of nanoporous alumina. Nanoporous anodic alumina prepared by low-cost, simple and scalable electrochemical anodization process due to its unique structure and properties have attracted several thousand publications across many disciplines including nanotechnology, materials science, engineering, optics, electronics and medicine. The book incorporates several themes starting from the understanding fundamental principles of the formation nanopores and theoretical models of the pore growth. The book then focuses on describing soft and hard modification techniques for surface and structural modification of pore structures to tailor specific sensing, transport and optical properties of nano porous alumina required for diverse applications. These broad applications including optical biosensing, electrochemical DNA biosensing, molecular separation, optofluidics and drug delivery are reviewed in separated book chapters. The book appeals to researchers, industry professionals and high-level students.

The present book provides recent developments in various in vivo imaging and sensing techniques such as photo acoustics (PA) imaging and microscopy, ultrasound-PA combined modalities, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and micro OCT, Raman and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLI) techniques and nanoparticle enabled endoscopy etc. There is also a contributing chapter from leading medical instrumentation company on their view of optical imaging techniques in clinical laparoscopic surgery. The UN proclaimed 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies, emphasizing achievements in the optical sciences and their importance to human beings. In this context, this book focusses on the recent advances in biophotonics techniques primarily focused towards translational medicine contributed by thought leaders who have made cutting edge developments in various photonics techniques.

These proceedings comprise invited and contributed papers presented at PLMMP-2014, addressing modern problems in the fields of liquids, solutions and confined systems, critical phenomena, as well as colloidal and biological systems. The book focuses on state-of-the-art developments in contemporary physics of liquid matter. The papers presented here are organized into four parts: (i) structure of liquids in confined systems, (ii) phase transitions, supercritical liquids and glasses, (iii) colloids, and (iv) medical and biological aspects and cover the most recent developments in the broader field of liquid state including interdisciplinary problems.