The Thermodynamic Machinery of Life (The Frontiers Collection)

Thermodynamics was created in the ?rst half of the 19th century as a theory designed to explain the functioning of heat engines converting heat into mechanical work. In the course of time, while the scope of research in this ?eld was being extended to a wider and wider class of energy transformations, thermodynamics came to be considered as a general theory of machines identi?ed with energy transducers. Imp- tant progress in biochemistry in the ?rst half of the 20th century, and in molecular biology in the second half, made it possible to think of treating even living organisms as machines, at least on the subcellular level. However, success in applying thermodynamics to elucidate the phenomenon of life has been rather mitigated. Two reasons seem to be responsible for this unsatisfactory s- uation. Nineteenth century thermodynamics dealt only with simple (homogeneous) systems in complete equilibrium. Although during the 20th century a nonequilibrium thermodynamics was developed, sta- ing with the Onsager theory of linear response and ending with the Prigogine nonlinear theory of dissipative structures, these theories still concern the originally homogeneous systems. Because living organisms are complex systems with a historically frozen spatial and functional structure, a thermodynamics of both nonequilibrium and complex s- tems is needed for their description. The ?rst goal of the present book is to formulate the foundations of such a thermodynamics. "The Thermodynamic Machinery of the Living Cell" presents the relevant foundations of nonequilibrium thermodynamics as applied to biological processes taking place at the subcellular level. The biological cell is considered as a complex open thermodynamic system far from equilibrium that enzymatically controls various biochemical reactions and transport processes across internal and the cytoplasmatic membrane. The enzymatic free energy and signal transduction processes are described in detail. All the biological molecular machines, also pumps and motors are considered to be effective chemo-chemical free energy transducers. Special attention is paid to the role of the mesoscopic internal dynamics of biomolecules in the activity control of enzymes and the action of molecular machines. TOC:Introduction: Biophysics - The Physics of Animate Matter or an Experimental Tool of Biology?.- Statistical Description of Matter.- Thermodynamic State.- Structure and Physiology of Biological Cell.- Chemical Reactions.- Enzymatic Catalysis.- Biological Free Energy Transduction.- Applicatibility Limits of Thermodynamics Living organisms are open thermodynamic systems whose functional structure has developed and been kinetically frozen during the historical process of biological evolution. A thermodynamics of both nonequilibrium and complex systems is needed for their description. In this book, the foundations of such a thermodynamics are presented. Biological processes at the cellular level are considered as coupled chemical reactions and transport processes across internal and the cytoplasmic membrane. All these processes are catalyzed by specific enzymes hence the kinetics of enzymatic catalysis and its control are described here in detail. The coupling of several processes through a common enzyme is considered in the context of free energy or signal transduction. Special attention is paid to evidence for a rich stochastic internal dynamics of native proteins and its possible role in the control of enzyme activity and in the action of biological molecular machines Bio-Inspired Hybrid Intelligent Systems for Image Analysis and Pattern Recognition comprises papers on diverse aspects of bio-inspired models, soft computing and hybrid intelligent systems. The articles are divided into four main parts. The first one consists of papers that propose new fuzzy and bio-inspired models to solve general problems. The second part deals with the main theme of modular neural networks in pattern recognition, which are basically papers using bio-inspired techniques. The third part contains papers that apply hybrid intelligent systems to the problem of time series analysis and prediction, while the fourth one shows papers dealing with bio-inspired models in optimization and robotics applications. An edited book in which both theoretical and application aspects are covered. "Bio-Inspired Hybrid Intelligent Systems for Image Analysis and Pattern Recognition" comprises papers on diverse aspects of bio-inspired models, soft computing and hybrid intelligent systems. The articles are divided in four main parts. The first one consists of papers that propose new fuzzy and bio-inspired models to solve general problems. The second part deals with the main theme of modular neural networks in pattern recognition, which are basically papers using bio-inspired techniques. The third part contains papers that apply hybrid intelligent systems to the problem of time series analysis and prediction, while the fourth one shows papers dealing with bio-inspired models in optimization and robotics applications. An edited book where both theoretical and application aspects are covered

The Thermodynamic Machinery of Life presents the relevant foundations of nonequilibrium thermodynamics as applied to biological processes taking place at the subcellular level. The biological cell is considered as a complex open thermodynamic system far from equilibrium that enzymatically controls various biochemical reactions and transport processes across internal and the cytoplasmatic membrane. The enzymatic free energy and signal transduction processes are described in detail. All the biological molecular machines, also pumps and motors are considered to be effective chemo-chemical free energy transducers. Special attention is paid to the role of the mesoscopic internal dynamics of biomolecules in the activity control of enzymes and the action of molecular machines.

The international conference on'Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics', held on February 27-29, 2008 at Wuppertal University in Germany, was the fourth in this series after successful meetings in Duisburg (2001), Greenwich (2003) and Vienna (2005). The conference was aimed at improving the scientific exchange between scientists, experts and practitioners of various fields of pedestrian and evacuation dynamics and featured: the analysis of evacuation processes and pedestrian motion, modeling of pedestrian dynamics in various situations, experiments on pedestrian dynamics, human behavior research, regulatory action. All these topics are included in this book to give a broad and state-of-the-art overview of pedestrian and evacuation dynamics. The international conference on ""Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics,"" held on February 27-29, 2008 at Wuppertal University in Germany, was the fourth in this series after successful meetings in Duisburg (2001), Greenwich (2003) and Vienna (2005). The conference was aimed at improving the scientific exchange between scientists, experts and practitioners of various fields of pedestrian and evacuation dynamics and featured: the analysis of evacuation processes and pedestrian motion, modeling of pedestrian dynamics in various situations, experiments on pedestrian dynamics, human behavior researc Es un libro que presenta las bases de la termodinámica fuera del equilibrio aplicada a procesos biológicos a nivel subcelular. Considera la célula biológica como un sistema termodinámico abierto y complejo, lejos del equilibrio, que controla enzimáticamente diversas reacciones bioquímicas y procesos de transporte. Es una lectura esencial para biofísicos, biólogos celulares y físicos y químicos interesados en disciplinas interdisciplinarias. Content: Biophysics: An Experimental Tool of Biology or the Physics of Animate Matter? Statistical Description of Matter Thermodynamic State Origins and Evolution of Life Molecular Biology of the Eukaryotic Cell Chemical Reactions Enzymatic Catalysis Biological Free Energy Transduction Lack of Partial Thermodynamic Equilibrium Thermodynamic Supplement Stochastic Processes Structure of Biomolecules Dynamics of Biomolecules.