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Books in Physical biochemistry

Microbial Bioprocesses
Applications and Perspectives
1st Edition
Pratyoosh Shukla
English
Microbial processes are involved in food, chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, energy, and new-material industries. Over the past 2 decades, new or more efficient industrial processes involving microorganisms have been launched, yielding purer, less expensive products or substances not available using classical chemical methods. Microbial Bioprocesses aims to give an overview of established and successful processes and discusses the trends and perspectives in industrial microbiology which, along with tremendous progress in genetic and metabolic engineering in recent years, are once again becoming an area of innovation and emerging technologies. Microbial Bioprocesses covers the unique areas like microbial volatiles (MVOCs), microbial bioinoculant development, bacterial nanocelluloses production, and processes for remediation by fungi and actinobacteria.
Structural and Chemical Organization of Teeth
1st Edition
A Mills
English
Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry
1st Edition
Volume 18
Gordon Gribble + 1 more
English
The eighteenth annual volume of Progress in Heterocyclic Chemistry, covers the literature published during 2005 on most of the important heterocyclic ring systems. This volume opens with two specialized reviews. The first, by Heui-Yeon Kim and Cheon-Gyu Cho covers 'The Diels-Alder cycloadditions of 3,5-dibromo-2-pyrone and its derivatives'. The second, by Jean-Luc Girardet and Stanley Lang discusses 'Recent developments in the chemistry of nucleosides'. The remaining chapters examine the 2005 literature on the common heterocycles in order of increasing ring size and the heteroatoms present. References are incorporated into the text using the journal codes adopted by Comprehensive Heterocyclic Chemistry, and are listed in full at the end of each chapter. Included in the index are systematic heterocyclic ring system names.
Emergent Collective Properties, Networks and Information in Biology
1st Edition
Volume 40
J. Ricard
English
The concept of network as a mathematical description of a set of states, or events, linked according to a certain topology has been developed recently and has led to a novel approach of real world. This approach is no doubt important in the field of biology. In fact biological systems can be considered networks. Thus, for instance, an enzyme-catalysed reaction is a network that links, according to a certain topology, the various states of the protein and of its complexes with the substrates and products of the chemical reaction. Connections between neurons, social relations in animal and human populations are also examples of networks. Hence there is little doubt that the concept of network transgresses the boundaries between traditional scientific disciplines. This book is aimed at discussing in physical terms these exciting new topics on simple protein model lattices, supramolecular protein edifices, multienzyme and gene networks.
Magnetobiology
Underlying Physical Problems
1st Edition
Vladimir N. Binhi
English
People are immersed in electromagnetic fields from such sources as power lines, domestic appliances, mobile phones, and even electrical storms. All living beings sense electric fields, but the physical origins of the phenomenon are still unclear. Magnetobiology considers the effects of electromagnetic fields on living organisms. It provides a comprehensive review of relevant experimental data and theoretical concepts, and discusses all major modern hypotheses on the physical nature of magnetobiological effects. It also highlights some problems that have yet to be solved and points out new avenues for research. Why do some people feel unwell during a lightning storm? Why is there a correlation between the level of electromagnetic background and the incidence of cancer? Why do so many medical centers use electromagnetic exposures to treat a wide variety of disorders in humans? The international scientific community is extremely interested in a theory of magnetobiology and the answers to these and other questions, as evidenced by the growing number of research associations in the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has named electromagnetic contamination in occupational and residential areas as a stress factor for human beings. This book stands out among recent texts on magnetobiology because it draws on a strong foundation of empirical and theoretical evidence to explain the various effects of magnetic fields on the human body. It contains the first comprehensive collection of experimental data bearing physical information, frequency and amplitude/power spectra, and original research data on how electromagnetic fields interfere with ions and molecules inside the proteins of living organisms.
Advances in Space Biology and Medicine
1st Edition
Volume 7
S.L. Bonting
English
During the past several years there has been a shortage of flight opportunities for biological and medical projects. And those that were available usually had severe restrictions on instrumentation, number of subjects, duration, time allotted for performing the experiments, a possibility for repetition of experiments. It is our hope and expectation that this will change once the international Space Station is in full operation. The advantages of a permanent space station, already demonstrated by the Russian Mir station, are continuous availability of expert crew and a wide range of equipment, possibility of long-term experiments where this is waranted, increased numbers of subjects through larger laboratory space, proper controls in the large 1-G centrifuge, easier repeatability of experiments when needed.The limited number of flight opportunities during recent years probably explains why it has taken so long to acquire a sufficient number of high quality contributions for this seventh volume of Advances in Space Biology and Medicine. While initially the series wassailed at annually appearing volumes, we are now down to a biannual appearance. Hopefully, it will be possible to return to annual volumes in the future when results from space station experimentation at beginning to pour in.The first three chapters of this volume deal with muscle. Fejtek and Wassersug provide a survey of all studies on muscle of rodents flown in space, and include an interesting demography of this aspect of space research. Riley reviews our current knowledge of the effects of long-term spaceflight and re-entry on skeletal muscle, and considers the questions still to be answered before we can be satisfied that long-term space missions, such as on the space station, can be safely undertaken. Stein reviews our understanding of the nutritional and hormonal aspects of muscle loss in spaceflight, and concludes that the protein loss in space could be deleterious to health during flight and after return. Strollo summarizes our understanding of the major endocrine systems on the ground, then considers what we know about their functioning in space, concluding that there is much to be learned about the changes taking place during spaceflight. The many problems of providing life support (oxygen regeneration and food supply) during extended stay on the Moon, on Mars, or in space by means of plant cultivation are discussed by Salisbury. The challenges of utilizing electrophoresis in microgravity for the separation of cells and proteins are illustrated and explained by Bauer and colleagues. Finally, the chapter on teaching of space life sciences by Schmitt shows that this field of science has come of age, but also that its multidisciplinary character poses interesting challenges to teaching it.
Advances in Space Biology and Medicine
1st Edition
Volume 4
S.L. Bonting
English
This fourth volume in the series, dedicated entirely to the results of the first European study of the effects of long-term confinement and isolation. The volume continues to attempt to fulfill the aim of this series, to bring the findings and accomplishments in the field of space biology and medicine to a wider group of scientists than merely the relatively small group of biologists and physiologists currently involved in space experimentation.The contributions are not only nicely spread geographically with three chapters from the United States, two each from Russia, Europe, and Japan, they also offer a wide range of topics in the field, covering humans, animals , plants, cells, and even potential extraterrestrial beings.As before, not only problems investigated and results obtained are reviewed, but also some of the technical aspects peculiar to this field are treated. An example in this volume is the chapter on virtual environments by Ellis, which is meant to help investigators understand the opportunities that these techniques might offer for future investigations.In view of the limitations on flight opportunities and the constraints still inherent in orbital experimentation, it is also important to consider the information that can be obtained from studies on the ground. In addition to simulation studies like bed rest for human subjects (see the chapter by Edgerton et al. on neuromuscular adaptation), tail suspension of rats, and plants on a clinostat (see the chapter by Masuda et al.), there is the interesting possibility of using gravitropic mutants for studying the effects of weightlessness on plant growth as described by Takahashi and Suge.Two chapters are devoted to a review of the results on rats flown on nine Cosmos biosatellite flights between 1973 and 1989: the chapter by Krasnow deals with the neuromorphological effects of micro- and hypergravity; that by Popova and Grigoriev with the metabolic effects of spaceflight. The effects of weightlessness on heart and lung function in humans are reviewed in detail by Bonde-Petersen and Linnarson.While the study of humans, animals, and plants in spaceflight have taught us much about the effects of the space environment on living organisms, we still have a very limited understanding of the mechanisms operating in these effects. The chapter by Rijken et al. on the effects of gravity on the cellular response to epidermal growth factor demonstrates how, by a judicious use of experiments on the ground and in sounding rockets, the mechanism of a microgravity effect on cell growth could be unravelled.The question whether there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe has intrigued mankind for a long time. In the chapter by Coulter et al. on NASA's High Resolution Microwave Survey the project to search for the existence of such life is described. The postscript to this chapter tells how through an unfortunate decision of the U.S. Congress this project after a successful start is threatened with an untimely ending.
Introduction to Ecological Biochemistry
4th Edition
J. B. Harborne
English
Ecological biochemistry concerns the biochemistry of interactions between animals, plants and the environment, and includes such diverse subjects as plant adaptations to soil pollutants and the effects of plant toxins on herbivores. The intriguing dependence of the Monarch butterfly on its host plants is chosen as an example of plant-animal coevolution in action. The ability to isolate trace amounts of a substance from plant tissues has led to a wealth of new research, and the fourth edition of this well-known text has consequently been extensively revised. New sections have been provided on the cost of chemical defence and on the release of predator-attracting volatiles from plants. New information has been included on cyanogenesis, the protective role of tannins in plants and the phenomenon of induced defence in plant leaves following herbivory. Advanced level students and research workers aloke will find much of value in this comprehensive text, written by an acknowledged expert on this fascinating subject.