Thermodynamic Bases Of Biological Processes

No detailed description available for "Thermodynamics and Regulation of Biological Processes".

Foundations of Bioenergetics provides an introduction to the physical foundations of bioenergetics and the methods of applying these constructs to biological problems. It combines parts of thermal physics, biochemistry, ecology, and cellular and organismic biology into a single coherent work. Much of the material in this volume comes from ""Entropy for Biologists,"" an introductory thermodynamics book aimed particularly at life scientists. Some of the topics originally appeared in the monograph ""Energy Flow in Biology."" The current volume expands on that material with respect to biological applications and attempts to bridge the gap between physics and biology. The book explains basic concepts such as energy, temperature, the second law of thermodynamics, entropy, information theory, and statistical mechanics. It discusses the relations between thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, free-energy functions, radiant energy, the free energy of cells and tissue, chemical kinetics, and cyclic flows. It examines the relationships between energy flows and biological processes; applications of the concepts of Gibbs free energy, chemical potential, and activity; and measurements of temperature, energy, and thermochemical quantities. The book also includes chapters that deal with irreversible dynamics, irreversible theory, and osmotic flow.

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.

Enrico Di Cera, a rising star in biophysics, has organized a superb group of authors to write substantial chapters covering the most exciting and central issues relating to the bioenergetic aspects of proteins, nucleic acids, and their interactions. Topics covered in this book are protein and nucleic acid folding and stability, enzyme-substrate interactions, prediction of the affinity of complexes, electrostatics, and non-equilibrium aspects of protein function. The breadth of the topics covered in this book illustrates the growing importance of thermodynamic approaches in the study of biological phenomena. The book should be of wide interest to biophysicists, biochemists, and structural biologists.

No detailed description available for "Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Biological Processes".

No detailed description available for "Thermodynamics of Biological Processes".