Complexity in Biological and Physical Systems PDF Download

Author: Ricardo Lopez-Ruiz
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 1789230500
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 204

View

Book Description
Modeling and simulating biological and physical systems are nowadays active branches of science. The diversity and complexity of behaviors and patterns present in the natural world have their reciprocity in life systems. Bifurcations, solitons and fractals are some of these ubiquitous structures that can be indistinctively identified in many models with the most diverse applications, from microtubules with an essential role in the maintenance and the shaping of cells, to the nano/microscale structure in disordered systems determined with small-angle scattering techniques. This book collects several works in this direction, giving an overview of some models and theories, which are useful for the study and analysis of complex biological and physical systems. It can provide a good guidance for physicists with interest in biology, applied research scientists and postgraduate students.

Author: Saverio E. Spagnolie
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1493920650
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 449

View

Book Description
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.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309147514
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 122

View

Book Description
Traditionally, the natural sciences have been divided into two branches: the biological sciences and the physical sciences. Today, an increasing number of scientists are addressing problems lying at the intersection of the two. These problems are most often biological in nature, but examining them through the lens of the physical sciences can yield exciting results and opportunities. For example, one area producing effective cross-discipline research opportunities centers on the dynamics of systems. Equilibrium, multistability, and stochastic behavior-concepts familiar to physicists and chemists-are now being used to tackle issues associated with living systems such as adaptation, feedback, and emergent behavior. Research at the Intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences discusses how some of the most important scientific and societal challenges can be addressed, at least in part, by collaborative research that lies at the intersection of traditional disciplines, including biology, chemistry, and physics. This book describes how some of the mysteries of the biological world are being addressed using tools and techniques developed in the physical sciences, and identifies five areas of potentially transformative research. Work in these areas would have significant impact in both research and society at large by expanding our understanding of the physical world and by revealing new opportunities for advancing public health, technology, and stewardship of the environment. This book recommends several ways to accelerate such cross-discipline research. Many of these recommendations are directed toward those administering the faculties and resources of our great research institutions-and the stewards of our research funders, making this book an excellent resource for academic and research institutions, scientists, universities, and federal and private funding agencies.

Author: J. Ricard
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080860958
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 369

View

Book Description
The aim of this book is to show how supramolecular complexity of cell organization can dramatically alter the functions of individual macromolecules within a cell. The emergence of new functions which appear as a consequence of supramolecular complexity, is explained in terms of physical chemistry. The book is interdisciplinary, at the border between cell biochemistry, physics and physical chemistry. This interdisciplinarity does not result in the use of physical techniques but from the use of physical concepts to study biological problems. In the domain of complexity studies, most works are purely theoretical or based on computer simulation. The present book is partly theoretical, partly experimental and theory is always based on experimental results. Moreover, the book encompasses in a unified manner the dynamic aspects of many different biological fields ranging from dynamics to pattern emergence in a young embryo. The volume puts emphasis on dynamic physical studies of biological events. It also develops, in a unified perspective, this new interdisciplinary approach of various important problems of cell biology and chemistry, ranging from enzyme dynamics to pattern formation during embryo development, thus paving the way to what may become a central issue of future biology.

Author: Derek Bolton
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030118991
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 157

View

Book Description
This open access book is a systematic update of the philosophical and scientific foundations of the biopsychosocial model of health, disease and healthcare. First proposed by George Engel 40 years ago, the Biopsychosocial Model is much cited in healthcare settings worldwide, but has been increasingly criticised for being vague, lacking in content, and in need of reworking in the light of recent developments. The book confronts the rapid changes to psychological science, neuroscience, healthcare, and philosophy that have occurred since the model was first proposed and addresses key issues such as the model’s scientific basis, clinical utility, and philosophical coherence. The authors conceptualise biology and the psychosocial as in the same ontological space, interlinked by systems of communication-based regulatory control which constitute a new kind of causation. These are distinguished from physical and chemical laws, most clearly because they can break down, thus providing the basis for difference between health and disease. This work offers an urgent update to the model’s scientific and philosophical foundations, providing a new and coherent account of causal interactions between the biological, the psychological and social.

Author: Scott Camazine
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691212929
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 548

View

Book Description
The synchronized flashing of fireflies at night. The spiraling patterns of an aggregating slime mold. The anastomosing network of army-ant trails. The coordinated movements of a school of fish. Researchers are finding in such patterns--phenomena that have fascinated naturalists for centuries--a fertile new approach to understanding biological systems: the study of self-organization. This book, a primer on self-organization in biological systems for students and other enthusiasts, introduces readers to the basic concepts and tools for studying self-organization and then examines numerous examples of self-organization in the natural world. Self-organization refers to diverse pattern formation processes in the physical and biological world, from sand grains assembling into rippled dunes to cells combining to create highly structured tissues to individual insects working to create sophisticated societies. What these diverse systems hold in common is the proximate means by which they acquire order and structure. In self-organizing systems, pattern at the global level emerges solely from interactions among lower-level components. Remarkably, even very complex structures result from the iteration of surprisingly simple behaviors performed by individuals relying on only local information. This striking conclusion suggests important lines of inquiry: To what degree is environmental rather than individual complexity responsible for group complexity? To what extent have widely differing organisms adopted similar, convergent strategies of pattern formation? How, specifically, has natural selection determined the rules governing interactions within biological systems? Broad in scope, thorough yet accessible, this book is a self-contained introduction to self-organization and complexity in biology--a field of study at the forefront of life sciences research.

Author: James Ladyman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300251106
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 182

View

Book Description
A clear, concise introduction to the quickly growing field of complexity science that explains its conceptual and mathematical foundations What is a complex system? Although "complexity science" is used to understand phenomena as diverse as the behavior of honeybees, the economic markets, the human brain, and the climate, there is no agreement about its foundations. In this introduction for students, academics, and general readers, philosopher of science James Ladyman and physicist Karoline Wiesner develop an account of complexity that brings the different concepts and mathematical measures applied to complex systems into a single framework. They introduce the different features of complex systems, discuss different conceptions of complexity, and develop their own account. They explain why complexity science is so important in today's world.

Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309073421
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 203

View

Book Description
Physics at the beginning of the twenty-first century has reached new levels of accomplishment and impact in a society and nation that are changing rapidly. Accomplishments have led us into the information age and fueled broad technological and economic development. The pace of discovery is quickening and stronger links with other fields such as the biological sciences are being developed. The intellectual reach has never been greater, and the questions being asked are more ambitious than ever before. Physics in a New Era is the final report of the NRC's six-volume decadal physics survey. The book reviews the frontiers of physics research, examines the role of physics in our society, and makes recommendations designed to strengthen physics and its ability to serve important needs such as national security, the economy, information technology, and education.

Author: Jan Walleczek
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139427598
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 444

View

Book Description
The growing impact of nonlinear science on biology and medicine is fundamentally changing our view of living organisms and disease processes. This book introduces the application to biomedicine of a broad range of interdisciplinary concepts from nonlinear dynamics, such as self-organization, complexity, coherence, stochastic resonance, fractals and chaos. It comprises 18 chapters written by leading figures in the field and covers experimental and theoretical research, as well as the emerging technological possibilities such as nonlinear control techniques for treating pathological biodynamics, including heart arrhythmias and epilepsy. This book will attract the interest of professionals and students from a wide range of disciplines, including physicists, chemists, biologists, sensory physiologists and medical researchers such as cardiologists, neurologists and biomedical engineers.

Author: Ahmed H. Zewail
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 1848162006
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 582

View

Book Description
Addresses significant problems in physical biology and adjacent disciplines. This volume provides a perspective on the methods and concepts at the heart of chemical and biological behavior, covering the topics of visualization; theory and computation for complexity; and macromolecular function, protein folding, and protein misfolding