Mechanobiology: From Molecular Sensing to Disease will provide a review of the current state of understanding of mechanobiology and its role in health and disease. It covers: Current understanding of the main molecular pathways by which cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli, A review of diseases that with known or purported mechanobiological underpinnings; The role of mechanobiology in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine; Experimental methods to capture mechanobiological phenomena; Computational models in mechanobiology.

Recent advances witness the potential to employ nanomedicine and game-changing methods to deliver drug molecules directly to diseased sites. To optimize and then enhance the efficacy and specificity, the control and guidance of drug carriers in vasculature has become crucial. Current bottlenecks in the optimal design of drug carrying particles are the lack of knowledge about the transport of particles, adhesion on endothelium wall and subsequent internalization into diseased cells. To study the transport and adhesion of particle in vasculature, the authors have made great efforts to numerically investigate the dynamic and adhesive motions of particles in the blood flow. This book discusses the recent achievements from the establishment of fundamental physical problem to development of multiscale model, and finally large scale simulations for understanding transport of particle-based drug carriers in blood flow.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Structure and Intrinsic Disorder in Enzymology offers a direct, yet comprehensive presentation of the fundamental concepts, characteristics and functions of intrinsically disordered enzymes, along with valuable notes and technical insights powering new research in this emerging field. Here, more than twenty international experts examine protein flexibility and cryo-enzymology, hierarchies of intrinsic disorder, methods for measurement of disorder in proteins, bioinformatics tools for predictions of structure, disorder and function, protein promiscuity, protein moonlighting, globular enzymes, intrinsic disorder and allosteric regulation, protein crowding, intrinsic disorder in post-translational, and much more. Chapters also review methods for study, as well as evolving technology to support new research across academic, industrial and pharmaceutical labs.

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.

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.

The new field of physical biology fuses biology and physics. New technologies have allowed researchers to observe the inner workings of the living cell, one cell at a time. With an abundance of new data collected on individual cells, including observations of individual molecules and their interactions, researchers are developing a quantitative, physics-based understanding of life at the molecular level. They are building detailed models of how cells use molecular circuits to gather and process information, signal to each other, manage noise and variability, and adapt to their environment. This book narrows down the scope of physical biology by focusing on the microbial cell. It explores the physical phenomena of noise, feedback, and variability that arise in the cellular information-processing circuits used by bacteria. It looks at the microbe from a physics perspective, to ask how the cell optimizes its function to live within the constraints of physics. It introduces a physical and information based -- as opposed to microbiological -- perspective on communication and signaling between microbes. The book is aimed at non-expert scientists who wish to understand some of the most important emerging themes of physical biology, and to see how they help us to understand the most basic forms of life.

The arena of sport is filled with marvelous performances and feats that, at times, seem almost beyond belief. As curious onlookers, we often wonder whether or not athletes will reach certain peaks and what determines their limits of athletic performance. Science, with its emphasis on theoretical development and experimental results, is uniquely equipped to answer these kinds of questions. Over the past two decades, I have been asked innumerable questions related to how science can provide these kinds of insights. Science in the Arena is written as an outgrowth of those interactions with the primary goal of communicating useful and understandable scientific explanations of athletic performance.

This bestselling reference bridges the gap between the introductory and highly specialized books dealing with aspects of food biochemistry for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and professionals in the fi elds of food science, horticulture, animal science, dairy science and cereal chemistry. Now fully revised and updated, with contributing authors from around the world, the third edition of Biochemistry of Foods once again presents the most current science available. The first section addresses the biochemical changes involved in the development of raw foods such as cereals, legumes, fruits and vegetables, milk, and eggs. Section II reviews the processing of foods such as brewing, cheese and yogurt, oilseed processing as well as the role of non-enzymatic browning. Section III on spoilage includes a comprehensive review of enzymatic browning, lipid oxidation and milk off-flavors. The final section covers the new and rapidly expanding area of rDNA technologies. This book provides transitional coverage that moves the reader from concept to application.

The World of Nano-Biomechanics, Second Edition, focuses on the remarkable progress in the application of force spectroscopy to molecular and cellular biology that has occurred since the book's first edition in 2008. The initial excitement of seeing and touching a single molecule of protein/DNA is now culminating in the development of various ways to manipulate molecules and cells almost at our fingertips, enabling live cell operations. Topics include the development of molecular biosensors, mechanical diagnosis, cellular-level wound healing, and a look into the advances that have been made in our understanding of the significance of mechanical rigidity/flexibility of protein/DNA structure for the manifestation of biological activities. The book begins with a summary of the results of basic mechanics to help readers who are unfamiliar with engineering mechanics. Then, representative results obtained on biological macromolecules and structures, such as proteins, DNA, RNA, polysaccharides, lipid membranes, subcellular organelles, and live cells are discussed. New to this second edition are recent developments in three important applications, i.e., advanced AFM-data analysis, high-resolution mechanical biosensing, and the use of cell mechanics for medical diagnosis.

Biophotonic diagnostics/biomedical spectroscopy can revolutionise the medical environment by providing a responsive and objective diagnostic environment. This book aims to explain the fundamentals of the physical techniques used combined with the particular requirements of analysing medical/clinical samples as a resource for any interested party. In addition, it will show the potential of this field for the future of medical science and act as a driver for translation across many different biological problems/questions.

NMR spectroscopy has found a wide range of applications in life sciences over recent decades. Providing a comprehensive amalgamation of the scattered knowledge of how to apply high-resolution NMR techniques to biomolecular systems, this book will break down the conventional stereotypes in the use of NMR for structural studies. The major focus is on novel approaches in NMR which deal with the functional interface of either protein-protein interactions or protein-lipid interactions. Bridging the gaps between structural and functional studies, the Editors believe a thorough compilation of these studies will open an entirely new dimension of understanding of crucial functional motifs. This in turn will be helpful for future applications into drug design or better understanding of systems. The book will appeal to NMR practitioners in industry and academia who are looking for a comprehensive understanding of the possibilities of applying high-resolution NMR spectroscopic techniques in probing biomolecular interactions.

Combined Quantum Mechanical and Molecular Mechanical Modelling of Biomolecular Interactions continues the tradition of the Advances in Protein Chemistry and Structural Biology series has been the essential resource for protein chemists. Each volume brings forth new information about protocols and analysis of proteins, with each thematically organized volume guest edited by leading experts in a broad range of protein-related topics.

Written in the perspective of an experimental chemist, this book puts together some fundamentals from chemistry, solid state physics and quantum chemistry, to help with understanding and predicting the electronic and optical properties of organic semiconductors, both polymers and small molecules. The text is intended to assist graduate students and researchers in the field of organic electronics to use theory to design more efficient materials for organic electronic devices such as organic solar cells, light emitting diodes and field effect transistors. After addressing some basic topics in solid state physics, a comprehensive introduction to molecular orbitals and band theory leads to a description of computational methods based on Hartree-Fock and density functional theory (DFT), for predicting geometry conformations, frontier levels and energy band structures. Topological defects and transport and optical properties are then addressed, and one of the most commonly used transparent conducting polymers, PEDOT:PSS, is described in some detail as a case study.

Plants offer some of the most elegant applications of soft matter principles in Nature. Understanding the interplay between chemistry, physics, biology, and fluid mechanics is critical to forecast plant behaviour, which is necessary for agriculture and disease management. It also provides inspiration for novel engineering applications. Starting with fundamental concepts around plant biology, physics of soft matter and viscous fluids, readers of this book will be given a cross-disciplinary and expert grounding to the field. The book covers local scale aspects, such as cell and tissue mechanics, to regional scale matters covering movement, tropism, roots, through to global scale topics around fluid transport. Focussed chapters on water stress, networks, and biomimetics provide the user with a concise and complete introduction. Edited by internationally recognised leading experts in this field with contributions from key investigators worldwide, this book is the first introduction to the subject matter and will be suitable for both physical and life science readers.

The Elsevier book-series "Advances in Planar Lipid Bilayers and Liposomes' (APLBL) provides a global platform for a broad community of experimental and theoretical researchers studying cell membranes, lipid model membranes and lipid self-assemblies from the micro- to the nanoscale. Planar lipid bilayers are widely studied due to their ubiquity in nature and find their application in the formulation of biomimetic model membranes and in the design of artificial dispersion of liposomes. Moreover, lipids self-assemble into a wide range of other structures including micelles and the liquid crystalline hexagonal and cubic phases. Consensus has been reached that curved membrane phases do play an important role in nature as well, especially in dynamic processes such as vesicles fusion and cell communication. Self-assembled lipid structures have enormous potential as dynamic materials ranging from artificial lipid membranes to cell membranes, from biosensing to controlled drug delivery, from pharmaceutical formulations to novel food products to mention a few. An assortment of chapters in APLBL represents both an original research as well as comprehensives reviews written by world leading experts and young researchers.

Two new volumes of Methods in Enzymology continue the legacy of this premier serial with quality chapters authored by leaders in the field. Circadian Rhythms and Biological Clocks Part A and Part B is an exceptional resource for anybody interested in the general area of circadian rhythms. As key elements of timekeeping are conserved in organisms across the phylogenetic tree, and our understanding of circadian biology has benefited tremendously from work done in many species, the volume provides a wide range of assays for different biological systems. Protocols are provided to assess clock function, entrainment of the clock to stimuli such as light and food, and output rhythms of behavior and physiology. This volume also delves into the impact of circadian disruption on human health. Contributions are from leaders in the field who have made major discoveries using the methods presented here.