Dynamic Biological Organization is a fascinating account of the living organisms as dynamic systems, based on the concept that the spatio-temporal coherence of events within a living system result from the intrinsic dynamics of the processes taking place within that sysem. The authors of this important work, Miguel Aon and Sonia Cortassa have travelled widely to work in some of the leading research laboratories to accumulate a large information base on which to assemble this book. Taking a transdisciplinary approach, the authors draw on work at the interface of biochemistry, genetics, physiology, thermodynamics, kinetics and biomathematics, using mathematical models throughout to corroborate and analyze the biological complexity presented. Emphasizing biological processes occuring at the cellular level. Dynamic Biological Organization gives exciting insights into the experimental and theoretical applications of modern scientific paradigms to fundamental biological processes.

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.

The Dynamic Energy Budget theory unifies the commonalties between organisms, as prescribed by the implications of energetics, and links different levels of biological organisation (cells, organisms and populations). The theory presents simple mechanistic rules that describe the uptake and use of energy and nutrients and the consequences for physiological organization throughout an organism's life cycle. All living organisms are covered in a single quantitative framework, the predictions of which are tested against a variety of experimental results at a range of levels of organisation. The theory explains many general observations, such as the body size scaling relationships of certain physiological traits, and provides a theoretical underpinning to the method of indirect calorimetry. In each case, the theory is developed in elementary mathematical terms, but a more detailed discussion of the methodological aspects of mathematical modelling is also included.

"This book addresses basic and advanced questions surrounding the idea of levels or organization in the biological sciences"--

Dynamic Food Webs challenges us to rethink what factors may determine ecological and evolutionary pathways of food web development. It touches upon the intriguing idea that trophic interactions drive patterns and dynamics at different levels of biological organization: dynamics in species composition, dynamics in population life-history parameters and abundances, and dynamics in individual growth, size and behavior. These dynamics are shown to be strongly interrelated governing food web structure and stability and the role of populations and communities play in ecosystem functioning. Dynamic Food Webs not only offers over 100 illustrations, but also contains 8 riveting sections devoted to an understanding of how to manage the effects of environmental change, the protection of biological diversity and the sustainable use of natural resources. Dynamic Food Webs is a volume in the Theoretical Ecology series. - Relates dynamics on different levels of biological organization: individuals, populations, and communities - Deals with empirical and theoretical approaches - Discusses the role of community food webs in ecosystem functioning - Proposes methods to assess the effects of environmental change on the structure of biological communities and ecosystem functioning - Offers an analyses of the relationship between complexity and stability in food webs

This book is intended as a communication platform to bridge the cultural, conceptual, and technological gap among the key systems biology disciplines of biology, mathematics, and information technology. To support this goal, contributors were asked to adopts an approach that appeals to audiences from different backgrounds.

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.

From controlling disease outbreaks to predicting heart attacks, dynamic models are increasingly crucial for understanding biological processes. Many universities are starting undergraduate programs in computational biology to introduce students to this rapidly growing field. In Dynamic Models in Biology, the first text on dynamic models specifically written for undergraduate students in the biological sciences, ecologist Stephen Ellner and mathematician John Guckenheimer teach students how to understand, build, and use dynamic models in biology. Developed from a course taught by Ellner and Guckenheimer at Cornell University, the book is organized around biological applications, with mathematics and computing developed through case studies at the molecular, cellular, and population levels. The authors cover both simple analytic models--the sort usually found in mathematical biology texts--and the complex computational models now used by both biologists and mathematicians. Linked to a Web site with computer-lab materials and exercises, Dynamic Models in Biology is a major new introduction to dynamic models for students in the biological sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

This volume brings together information on membrane organization and dynamics from a variety of spectroscopic, microscopic and simulation approaches, spanning a broad range of time scales. The implication of such dynamic information on membrane function in health and disease is a topic of contemporary interest. The chapters cover various aspects of membrane lipid and protein dynamics, explored using a battery of experimental and theoretical approaches. The synthesis of information and knowledge gained by utilizing multiple approaches will provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the underlying membrane dynamics and function, which will help to develop robust dynamic models for the understanding of membrane function in healthy and diseased states. In the last few years, crystal structures of an impressive number of membrane proteins have been reported, thanks to tremendous advances in membrane protein crystallization techniques. Some of these recently solved structures belong to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, which are particularly difficult to crystallize due to their intrinsic flexibility. Nonetheless, these static structures do not provide the necessary information to understand the function of membrane proteins in the complex membrane milieu. This volume will address the dynamic nature of membrane proteins within the membrane and will provide the reader with an up-to date overview of the theory and practical approaches that can be used. This volume will be invaluable to researchers working in a wide range of scientific areas, from biochemistry and molecular biology to biophysics and protein science. Students of these fields will also find this volume very useful. This book will also be of great use to those who are interested in the dynamic nature of biological processes.