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Recent advances in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) include capabilities for applications to areas as diverse as archeology, beer shelf life, biological structure, dosimetry, in vivo imaging, molecular magnets, and quantum computing. Enabling technologies include multifrequency continuous wave, pulsed, and rapid scan EPR. Interpretation is enhanced by increasingly powerful computational models.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a promising concept in our understanding of emotional regulation, related behaviors and pathologies. However, research linking EI to underlying physiological and biological structure and responses is meager. This study explored potential associations of EI with electro-dermal activity (EDA) responses to emotionally arousing visual stimuli. It was hypothesized that higher levels of EI will associate with more efficient emotional regulation as reflected by EDA. Eighty-four healthy participants were exposed to stimuli consisting of a series of 12 images designed to evoke positive or negative emotional responses, presented in a counterbalanced order. A self-report questionnaire and a computer based test of EI were administered along with a demographic questionnaire. EDA measures were taken during the exposure to the above stimuli using BIOPACK MP150. EI test scores (Beta = .35, .32; p < .001) and age (Beta = −.24, −.31; p < .03) associated with EDA delta (stimulus response-baseline) scores, while the self-report measure of EI and other demographics (e.g., gender. ethnicity) did not show any associations with the outcome measures. The results support the relevance of the concept to our understanding of emotional responses and regulation. The findings are briefly discussed within the context of underlying mechanisms of EI as well as measure validity and relevance.

Undulate fin is the main propelling organ of MPF mode fish, which could produce propelling wave continually and controllabily while swimming, and this propelling mode has characteristics of high efficiency and low disturbance to fluid field. In this paper, biological structure of “Nilotic Ghost” fish’s long flexible fin(Undulate Fin) is studied with physiological anatomizing and X-ray perspectiving means. Then motion characteristics of the undulate fin are revealed with pictures from fish’s swimming video. Under the bionical conclusions, a hydraulic-driven bionic joint for undulating thruster is designed, including a pair of restoration springs. At last some calculating simulation and testing experiments are carried out, so as to analyze and verify this bionic joint’s characteristics. Results show that, bionic joint driven by hydraulic system could immitate the flexible movements of natural rib in undulate fin, which are described as position restoration, changing of swaying range as well as frequency.

Dyes and fluorochromes are used in biology and medicine to generate informative microscopic and macroscopic images. This means that the presence, location, biological structure, chemical content and physiological function of cells, tissues and whole creatures can be investigated. A wide range of dyes, both textile and functional, are used in this way. It is suggested that the various groups of stakeholders involved in this approach-end-users in biomedicine; synthesizers, manufacturers & vendors of dyes; and regulators and standardizers-have much to gain by becoming significantly better connected with each other. Broadly speaking, textile dyers use colorants to make socks and shirts and ties more visually attractive, which is not an objective of professional concern to biologists or clinicians. Biomedical applications of colorants are commonly aimed at obtaining information about living systems, using imaging technologies. There are also non-imaging dye applications in which they are used as drugs or analytical reagents, but these are not considered here. Note: below, “dyes” often implies fluorochromes, whilst “biomedicine” is short for biology and medicine.

X-ray crystallography is the fundamental research tool that shaped our notion on biological structure & function at the molecular level. It generates the information vital to understand life processes by providing the information required for creating accurate three-dimensional models (namely mapping the position of each and every atom that makes up the studied object). The use of this method begun in the middle of last century following Max von Laue discovery of the phenomenon of diffraction of X-rays by crystals, and the successful application of this discovery for the determination of the electronic distribution within simple inorganic molecules by Sir William Henry Bragg and his son, William Lawrence Bragg. The idea of extension of this method to biological molecules met initially with considerable skepticism. For over two decades many respected scientists doubted whether it could be done. Yet, despite its bottlenecks (some of which are described below), the superiority of X-ray crystallography over all other approaches for shedding light on functional aspects at the molecular level became evident once the first structure was determined. The power of this method inspired continuous efforts and spectacular innovations, which vastly accelerated its incredible expansion. Consequently, over the last six decades biological crystallography has produced a constantly growing number of structures, some of which were considered formidable. This remarkable advance yielded numerous new insights into intricate functional aspects. Owing to space limitation this article focuses on selected studies performed recently and highlights some recent exciting developments.

Summary Background Fractional resurfacing is a laser treatment modality to create numerous microscopic thermal injury zones of controlled width, depth, and density that are surrounded by a reservoir of spared epidermal and dermal tissue, allowing rapid repair of laser-induced thermal injury. Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of a fractional CO2 laser system in the treatment of photo-damaged skin with clinical, histological, and ultrastructural evaluation, with special attention to one of the parameters of this laser system: the fluences. Materials and methods Twelve patients with Fitzpatrick skin types II to III with photo-damage skin underwent fractional laser treatment with one single-pass superficial on the face and forearm. Clinical outcome and histological and ultrastructural changes were assessed. Results Light microscopy of biopsies gave important information about skin changes at three different times after fractional treatment, especially revealing some differences between the fluences used in the three groups of patients. Conclusion Fractional resurfacing offers significant surgical advantages allowing to achieve excellent esthetic results in balance with the biological structure. Besides, our study shows already that with 2.07 and 2.77 J/cm2, instead of 4.15 J/cm2, it is possible to reach a biological response without scar formation.

When attempting to design bio-inspired materials and structures, it is important to remember that Nature employs some strategies for optimising the use of load-bearing materials which we, as engineers, cannot replicate. A material in a biological structure, such as a bone or plant stem, experiences stresses which are higher than would be allowed in an engineering structure, even if we were using exactly the same material. There are several reasons for this: biological materials are subject to continuous inspection and repair; they are constructed in more optimal ways, especially in respect to fibre orientations, and they are allowed to operate at higher failure rates. In the present paper I discuss four particular examples of Nature's strategies and, in each case, I try to quantify their effect for the case of cortical bone. The overall conclusion is that, thanks to these four little tricks, Nature is able to operate bone at a stress which is about 17 times greater than the stress at which it could be used in an engineering component. Considering how a typical bone is loaded, this implies an increase in weight of about a factor of 10.

The field of biomimicry is embracing the construction of complex assemblies that imitate both biological structure and function. Advancements in the design of these mimetics have generated a growing vision for creating an artificial cell or protocell. Polymersomes are vesicles that can be made from synthetic, biological, or hybrid polymers and can be used as a model template to build cell-like structures. In this perspective, we discuss various areas where polymersomes have been used to mimic cell functions as well as areas in which the synthetic flexibility of polymersomes would make them ideal candidates for a biomembrane mimetic. Designing a polymersome that comprehensively displays the behaviors discussed herein has the potential to lead to the development of an autonomous, responsive particle that resembles the intelligence of a biological cell.

The identification of sex in human remains recovered from archaeological locations is important in order to understand the social and biological structure of past societies, and to reconstruct past population demographic events. Sex determination is usually based on morphological traits of the skeletons, with the drawback that most methods do not apply to juveniles and require well preserved remains. In cases where morphological methods cannot be used, or are ambiguous, methods of molecular sexing systems are an alternative. In this methodological study we tested and validated the accuracy and usefulness of a molecular sexing method based on the amelogenin gene using pyrosequencing. We did this in a double blind study of documented 18th and 19th century human remains.

Image analysis techniques for preprocessing, segmentation and estimation of geometrical characteristics of fiber-like structures from 2-D or 3-D images captured by a confocal microscope are presented. Methods are demonstrated on fiber-like biological structure: endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of tobacco cells. In the presented analysis of 2-D images of ER before and after the treatment of latrunculin B, ER and ER tubules were segmented and the area density of ER as well as the length density of ER tubules in the cell cortical layer were estimated by automatic image analysis algorithms. Images of 3-D arrangement of ER were reconstructed and rendered by various visualization techniques.

From ∼1970 to 2000, the year its crystal structure was solved, no biological structure was investigated more intensely than the ribosome. Some of the structural experiments done in the precrystallographic era produced information that significantly advanced our understanding of that enzyme. Other approaches yielded little that would be regarded as useful today, even if crystal structures had never been obtained. That experience is reviewed here to provide guidance for those faced with similar challenges in the future.

The great power of protein crystallography to reveal biological structure is often limited by the tremen26 dous effort required to produce suitable crystals. A hybrid crystal growth predictive model is presented 27 that combines both experimental and sequence-derived data from target proteins, including novel vari28 ables derived from physico-chemical characterization such as R30, the ratio between a protein’s DSF 29 intensity at 30 C and at Tm. This hybrid model is shown to be more powerful than sequence-based pre30 diction alone – and more likely to be useful for prioritizing and directing the efforts of structural genom31 ics and individual structural biology laboratories. 32

The word 'allometry' refers to the relative growth of a biological structure to other(s) or to the entire body, and encompasses conformational changes due to size change. When growth is the same among studied traits, it is known as 'isometry'. In order to study this phenomenon in domestic rabbit, a sample of 71 fresh post-weaned rabbit corpses of different age was collected, and skulls were obtained and defleshed. Of this sample, 59 corpses were from companion type ('toys' and 'beliers') and 12 from meat type (Californian/New Zealand) rabbits. From each skull it was obtained a digital picture, on its lateral aspect, and 12 anatomical landmarks were situated on it and analysed by means of geometric morphometric methods. Meat rabbits presented a clear isometric growth, although they were still growing (e. g. have not reached to final growth stage) while companion rabbits presented a clear allometric growth (e. g. adults have not reached a final growth). So, it is illustrated a case of gerontomorphy for meat rabbits ¿e. g. an early development of skull traits¿ and a case of pedomorphy for companion rabbits ¿e. g. a delayed growth in skull traits in order to mantain typical juvenile traits as a short and plain face, and a comparatively big cranium¿. In other words, for the former group, a precocious development was detected, while for the latter, it was detected a retention of juvenile traits, being for both types cases of developmental heterochronies. Como alometría se entiende el crecimiento relativo de una estructura biológica respecto a otra(s) o al organismo total y da cuenta de los cambios de conformación que derivan de la modificación de tamaño. Un caso particular es cuando la velocidad de crecimiento es la misma entre los caracteres en estudio, lo cual recibe el nombre de isometría. A fin de estudiar este fenómeno en el conejo doméstico, se colectó un total de 71 cadáveres frescos de conejos, de diferente edad, correspondientes a animales destetados, y se obtuvo por descarnado el cráneo de cada uno. De ellos, 59 correspondían al tipo de compañía (tipos “toys” y “beliers”) y 12 al tipo carnicero (californiano/ neozelandés). Se captó una imagen digital, en la cara lateral, de cada cráneo, sobre la que posteriormente se situaron 12 hitos anatómicos, analizados mediante métodos de morfometría geométrica. Los conejos de carne presentaron un comportamiento claramente isométrico, mientras que los de compañía, y a pesar de que muchos ya eran adultos, este comportamiento era alométrico. Nos encontramos, pues, ante un caso de gerontomorfia en los conejos de carne —un desarrollo precoz— y una pedomorfia en los de compañía —un retardo en su crecimiento, puesto que, aunque adultos, siguen presentando una cara corta y plana, y un cráneo proporcionalmente grande, caracteres típicamente juveniles—. Para los primeros un desarrollo lo más precoz posible y para los segundos una retención de los caracteres juveniles; en ambos tipos, ejemplo de heterocronías de desarrollo.

Based on the fast-growing and abundant lightwood as ground mass, the study applies the formation principle of aerogel, uses such low-carbon treatment technologies as sol-gel method, Lowry method and supercritical drying method, prepares and forms an environment-friendly aerogel-type wood. The result of study shows that the new type of material not only has the natural biological structure of wood, but also has some fine features of aerogel, and is easily accepted by the environment.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a critical biological structure that prevents damage to the brain and maintains its bathing microenvironment. However, this barrier is also the obstacle to deliver beneficial drugs to treat CNS (central nervous system) diseases. Many efforts have been made for improvement of delivering drugs across the BBB in recent years to treat CNS diseases. In this review, the anatomical and functional structure of the BBB is comprehensively discussed. The mechanisms of BBB penetration are summarized, and the methods and effects on increasing BBB permeability are investigated in detail. It also elaborates on the physical, chemical, biological and nanocarrier aspects to improve drug delivery penetration to the brain and introduces some specific drug delivery effects on BBB permeability.

This study shows the significant differences in the fuel quality and ash properties of biochars produced from the slow pyrolysis of various biomass components (leaf, wood, and bark). The objective is to identify which component is likely to cause problems in subsequent utilization processes if biochar produced from various components of mallee trees is used as a fuel. It is found that the pyrolysis of different biomass components produced biochars with distinct characteristics, largely because of the differences in the biological structure of these components. Leaf biochar showed the poorest grindability, possibly because of the presence of abundant tough oil glands in leaf. Even for the biochar prepared from the pyrolysis of leaf at 800 °C, the oil gland enclosures remained largely intact after grinding. Biochars produced from leaf, bark, and wood components also have significant differences in ash properties. Even with low ash content, wood biochars have low Si/K and Ca/K ratios, suggesting that these b...

A digital image of a plant seed can be regarded as a two-dimensional object which can be measured in size, shape and color density during the development stage of germination by computer image analysis technology. Seed changes its biological structure passing from a quiescent stage to a proliferating one, and any morphological variation can be associated with the corresponding variation of seed geometry and color space components. Future perspectives are addressed to design comprehensive biological models that may contribute to studying seed quality patterns possibly integrated with those proposed for other biological systems.

Bone is a composite of organic phase (collagen nanofibers) and Ca–P minerals (hydroxylapatite) and an important biological structure in the field of biomineralization, but the interaction between organic matrixes and inorganic minerals is still too ambiguous. In order to investigate the interaction between the growing Ca–P minerals and organic nanofibers during early biomineralization process, bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers were used as templates to mimic collagen nanofibers for Ca–P minerals deposition via biomineralization for periods from as short as 4–72 h. Our findings pointed out that the resultant Ca–P minerals formed on BC nanofibers were platelet-like calcium-deficient HAp which was analogous to those in natural bone tissue. Strikingly, we found that the growth of Ca–P minerals had influence on the structure and properties of BC nano-templates during biomineralization process.

In the absence of a clear and independent anatomical structure, the biological nature of meridians (Jingluo) and the mechanism of acupuncture and moxibustion and so on to prevent and cure diseases in the traditional Chinese medicine remain mysterious. Through summary and analysis of the evolution of animal nervous system and comparison with the information transmission systems of plants (the so-called “plant neurobiology”), the common biological structure and the basic law of information transmission of biological system were open-mindedly reviewed and described in this paper. For the first time, the biological information transmission systems were classified into three major levels as follows: (1) the brain-related central nervous system (the neural level), (2) the vessel-dependent information transmission system without the typical nerval structure (the vessel level), and (3) the intercellular and the cell-environmental signal communication systems (the cellular level). Electronic and biochemical signal transmissions were pinpointed as two major means of information dissemination pattern in the life system. In summary, the complicated information transmission functions and traits of the meridians are suggested as an interplay of the performances of the three major systems applying electronic and physicochemical materials, namely the “321-Integration Theory” of meridians.

A multilayer neural network model was developed to predict the equilibrium moisture content of longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) and the model was trained using a back-propagation algorithm. The predictive power of the model was found to be high (R^2=0.9998) after it was adequately trained. The artificial neural network (ANN) model was better than the well known phenomenological Guggenheim, Anderson, and de Boer (GAB) model previously developed by the authors [Janjai, S., Bala, B.K., Tohsing, K., Mahayothee, B., Heawsungcharern, M., Muhlbauer, W., Muller, J., 2006. Equilibrium moisture content heat of sorption of longan (Dimocarpus longan). Drying Technology 24, 1691-1696]. The ANN model was programmed in C++. The isosteric heat of sorption of longan is predicted by a power law model developed in this study, which was found to have better fit than the exponential model previously developed by the authors [Janjai, S., Bala, B.K., Tohsing, K., Mahayothee, B., Heawsungcharern, M., Muhlbauer, W., Muller, J., 2006. Equilibrium moisture content heat of sorption of longan (Dimocarpus longan). Drying Technology 24, 1691-1696]. Also a power law model was developed for entropy of sorption. The net isosteric heats of sorption were compared for longan (D.longan Lour.), litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) and mango (Mangifera indica L. cv. Nam Dok Mai). Longan and litchi have the same pattern of variation in heat of sorption with moisture contents which might be due to similar biological structure of both of these two fruits. However, at a moisture content of above 50% (d.b.) the isosteric heat of sorption of longan is lower than and it is higher at a moisture content below 50% (d.b.) when compared with that of mango. This set of two equations (isosteric heat and entropy) would be useful in the simulation of storage of dried longan. The artificial neural network model predicts equilibrium moisture contents more accurately and hence better equations for heat of sorption and entropy are developed based on data from the neural network model.

A mathematic model is constructed for predicting the absorption spectrum and dispersion of a section of a biological structure consisting of epidermis, upper layer of the derma, blood, and lower layer of the derma and placed in the cavity of an optical resonator. The quantitative estimates obtained here can be used for predicting changes in the optical properties of the sample of the biological tissue under investigation associated with various biophysical and biochemical processes in this sample.

It is far from obvious that outside of highly specialized domains such as commercial agriculture, the methodology of biometrics—quantitative comparisons over groups of organisms—should be of any use in today’s bioinformatically informed biological sciences. The methods in our biometric textbooks, such as regressions and principal components analysis, make assumptions of homogeneity that are incompatible with current understandings of the origins of developmental or evolutionary data in historically contingent processes, processes that might have come out otherwise; the appropriate statistical methods are those suited to random walks, not normal distributions. A valid methodology would further require that especially close attention be paid to the difference between aspects of processes that are plastic, those that encode their own histories or biographies, and the very small fraction of quantifications that can usefully and realistically be modeled as varying by colored noise around a central tendency that itself has some quantitative meaning. This point of view—that only a vanishingly small fraction of the quantitative information borne by any living organism is worth quantifying—is illustrated by some data on a human birth defect, namely, fetal alcohol syndrome. In a suggestive metaphor, the biometrician is like the pilgrim in Friedrich’s painting Der Wanderer uber dem Nebelmeer, uncertain as to whether to measure the mountains or the clouds. The mountains stand for contingent history, the clouds for the subset of the data most closely matching controlled experiments suitable for quantitative biometric summary. Biometrics applies to the clouds, not the mountains. The success of statistical methods comes at the expense of all the theories that we simultaneously hold to be true about the biological materials to which they both pertain. Biometrics is thus complementary to all of the emerging reductionist sciences of biological structure.

Fluorescence has long been recognized as an important toolfor probing biological structure and function. Development ofoptically active structures that can enhance fluorescenceintensity has gained much attention as a means for detectingfluorescent-tagged analytes at low concentrations for applica-tions in DNA expression analysis and protein diagnosticassays. The majority of structures developed to date for thispurpose utilize plasmon resonances of metals to increase theexcitationoffluorophoresthroughenhancednearfields

Resonance energy transfer is the primary mechanism for the migration of electronic excitation in the condensed phase. Well-known in the particular context of molecular photochemistry, it is a phenomenon whose much wider prevalence in both natural and synthetic materials has only slowly been appreciated, and for which the fundamental theory and understanding have witnessed major advances in recent years. With the growing to maturity of a robust theoretical foundation, the latest developments have led to a more complete and thorough identification of key principles. The present review first describes the context and general features of energy transfer, then focusing on its electrodynamic, optical, and photophysical characteristics. The particular role the mechanism plays in photosynthetic materials and synthetic analogue polymers is then discussed, followed by a summary of its primarily biological structure determination applications. Lastly, several possible methods are described, by the means of which all-optical switching might be effected through the control and application of resonance energy transfer in suitably fabricated nanostructures.Key words: FRET, Förster energy transfer, photophysics, fluorescence, laser.

Recent progress in chips-neuron interface suggests real biological neurons as long-term alternatives to silicon transistors. The first step to designing such computing systems is to build an abstract model of self-assembled biological neural networks, much like computer architects manipulate abstract models of transistors. In this article, we propose a model of the structure of biological neural networks. Our model reproduces most of the graph properties exhibited by Caenorhabditis elegans, including its small-world structure and allows generating surrogate networks with realistic biological structure, as would be needed for complex information processing/computing tasks.

One approach to develop nanosystems that incorporate biological concepts involves the addition of biotic moieties (carbohydrates, DNA, protein) to abiotic scaffolds such as carbon nanotubes. These hybrids have interesting properties but incorporation of specific, site-directed functionalization is challenging and the resulting material is best described in terms of its bulk properties. An alternative approach to the development of bionanosystems is to adapt an existing biological system. This method has several advantages, including access to the powerful tools of protein engineering and ready biological acceptance as these structures themselves are biotic in origin. We have chosen the type IV pilus, a fiber-like structure from the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as our model system for the development of a protein-based nanotube. This review highlights the biological characteristics of our model system, presents the novel features of our pilin-derived protein nanotubes, and discusses how these protein nanotubes may contribute to bionanotechnology.

Flavor and fragrance molecules are used in many industrial fields such as food, cosmetics, tissues, pharmacy, agriculture (pheromones) etc. As most actives have a specific target and are fragile molecules, encapsulation processes have been developed for their use. These technologies are efficient to avoid loss of actives, dissemination out of the target and subsequent pollution, and to protect molecules up to their target. Several processes have been developed responding to the numerous situations encountered (e.g., protection against air, temperature, light, pH; masking or revealing sensorial properties of the molecule; release during the process, in the plate, in the mouth, etc.). However, the general trend for natural products and for processes friendly for the environment has put forward several constraints. According to the various regulations (CFR 1990, CE 1334/2008 etc.), to be natural, a product has to come from plant or animal raw materials with only a physical, enzymatic or microbial process at the exclusion of any chemical step. This definition results from a consensus between jurists, philosophers, industry, consumers, politics etc. It must be noted that this concept of naturality is neither universal nor consensual. In philosophy, although defined by Aristotle in his Book II as one thing that has “within itself a principle of motion and of stationariness,” natural things are not always easy to recognize from their opposite, artifactual things. With the completed and extended definition of artifactual things to what has been done in a project or purpose [discussed by J. Monod in the introduction of “Chance and necessity” (1971)], agriculture and biotechnology products would become mainly artifactual. This concept of naturality is thus quite controversial and regulation may evolve in the future. However, despite the fact that many definitions are hidden behind the word of naturality, this concept has attracted consumers, first in Germanic countries in the 1980s, spreading over Europe, then to North America, and from there to the whole World. The demand for natural product first appeared in food, reached cosmetics recently and is now expanding to other fields. However, to keep the label, natural flavors and fragrances require natural capsules, i.e., capsules coming from natural materials that have not been modified through chemical steps. As a result, the issue of naturality is closely related to the sustainability of the process, i.e., its impact on the environment (release of solvents, carbon impact etc.), which is also getting more and more important. In the field of encapsulation, among the numerous technologies developed at the lab scale, just few are ready for industrial implementation and it is often difficult to obtain an up-scalable process without any use of toxic solvents or not-natural materials. These technologies are based on various principles often trying to polymerise and coat a suspension of active. One could notice however that the presence of compartments has been a prerequisite to evolution and natural capsules have thus been developed from the apparition of the first cell. Among biological structures, cells are indeed a good protection for actives that have to interact together and with the environment. When the protection needs to be stronger and fewer relations are required between actives and the environment, specific structures are produced like microbial spores. Eventually, specialized structures are able to disseminate actives in the environment like pollen grains. With such nice model systems, humanity has developed biomimetics to synthesize efficient artificial capsules (Cai et al., 2015) but tries also to use already existing natural capsules (Pham-Hoang et al., 2013). Although several works have been carried out on this subject and some products have been developed from years, these natural capsules are difficult to utilize, precisely because of their envelope properties (Table ​(Table1).1). Indeed, the envelope, that makes the active protected inside the cell, is difficult to cross in a controlled way, making loading and controlled release difficult. Industrial encapsulation in these natural structures might also be difficult to carry out in a fully natural and sustainable process. In this opinion article, we propose to discuss the utilization of biological structure as microcapsules for natural and sustainable odorant products. Table 1 Performances of various biological structures as natural capsules.

Times and again, a longstanding fascination with the brain has attracted computer architects to hardware neural networks. However, the fascinating nature of the topic is also its greatest pitfall: it sometimes drives researchers to forgo the pragmatic application-driven nature of computer architecture, and the results can fall disappointingly short of the lofty goal of emulating the brain in hardware; as a result, most computer architects have stayed away from the topic. In this presentation, we outline that it might be more sustainable to focus on brain functionality than on brain structure. Architectures designed to efficiently implement some important functionality are more likely to find support than architectures designed to emulate a biological structure. And in the past decade, machine-learning researchers, who largely share this longstanding fascination with the brain, have made significant progress towards emulating some elementary, but already important, brain functionalities (e.g., image and speech recognition) using so-called deep neural networks. These successes come at a time where transistor technology constraints are nudging architectures towards custom accelerators. This remarkable conjunction of algorithm, application and technology evolutions can pave the way for the development of competitive hardware neural network accelerators, and help cement the adoption of the topic within the computer architecture community.

For many years there has been a long-held clinical belief that a flat or over-pronating foot should be supported; yet in every other part of the body it has long been recognised that use of support (if at all) should generally be limited to acute rehabilitation. Why should the foot be any different? To support a biological structure, in the long term, is to weaken it. Panjabi's model of joint stability offers insight into why the idea of arch support, as well-intentioned as it may have been, may be a dysfunctional model. A test (and conditioning exercise) is presented which appears to support the notion that there is no such thing as a flat foot; only a de-conditioned foot.

Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a powerful tool for functional morphology purposes. The accuracy of the final results depends on the mesh generation and the quality of the mesh. This is especially important in vertebrates as they present a complex biological structure, implying a complex geometry and, consequently, mesh generation should be performed with a consistent criterion. The aim of this paper is to discuss different ways to create a mesh of a vertebrate structure with different mesh generation methods and give recommendations on how to generate an efficient mesh without exceeding computational limits. Topics such as quality of the mesh, suitability of the mesh and reliability of the mesh are introduced to help the generation of the mesh. In this case, the use of convergence procedures assures the results of the computational solution and can be a good solution for the vertebrate models. The skull of a Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) is used as a case study.

The “new” Cnidaria incorporating oligocellular myxozoans with multicellular cnidarians flouts Ernst Haeckel’s biogenetic law and challenges contemporary hierarchical preconceptions of evolution, development, and biological structure. Instead of distorting definitions of embryos, tissues, and organs in order to bring once - unicellular eukaryotes under the aegis of Eumetazoa, current molecular, structural, and developmental data should be incorporated into proposals for new evolutionary mechanisms, such as the symbiogeny hypothesis.

A novel double Stokes Mueller polarimetry (DSMP) technique is employed for nonlinear optical microscopy of biological samples. Complete per-voxel sample polarimetric characterization, extraction of the susceptibility tensor values and reconstruction of biological structure is presented.

The abstracted and compiled information in the following 50 sections originates in textbooks, original publications, and reference articles. Some data originate in the data collection of Flindt (1986). Much information is also taken from Frisch (1974), Freude (1982), and the Finnish collaboration “Animal Architecture” (1995).

A fracture is a solution of continuity of the bone. As such, the anatomic restoration of the bone is clearly the optimal treatment. As a biological structure, the fractured bone causes immediate discharge of blood, which accumulates as hematomas within generally confined spaces.

The reliable tissue engineering of tubular structures, composing a significant portion of the human body, would have far reaching implications. Such structures, in the form of blood vessels or nerve conduits, could be used directly as grafts to replace respectively clogged vessels or to restore function after peripheral nerve injuries. Perhaps even more importantly they could be employed to vascularize and innervate more complex engineered organs, a still outstanding unresolved problem of tissue engineering. Here we first provide an overview on the fabrication of tubular organoids using extrusion bioprinting technology that operates with multicellular bioink units whose postprinting self-assembly, which gives rise to the ready-to-use biological structure, is based on morphogenetic principles evident in early embryonic development. We then detail the construction of nerve grafts.

The juxtaposition of structural sciences and biology leads to a multitude of—sometimes surprising—analogies. It shows primarily that the fundamental principles in both disciplines are comparable throughout. It is therefore worthwhile to peer over the fence, not simply in one direction but both.

International audience; The analysis of imaged anatomical or biological structures and of their dynamics is an important task in terms of application and therefore of diagnostics. Such an analysis involves in the first place the extraction of these structures from the acquired images according to a given modality, which corresponds, in image processing terminology, to a segmentation phase. Segmentation methods are conventionally qualified as “region-based approaches” or “contour-based approaches”. The two types of information – image properties and a priori constraints – must be integrated into a common formalism, itself numerically implemented as an algorithm. This chapter details more particularly two deformable model approaches: deformable templates (DTs) and variational active contours. It presents the implementation of variational active contour methods in cardiac imaging, describing the choices carried out. The chapter focuses on two examples of active contours, applied to the segmentation of cardiac ultrasound images in 2D and 3D ultrasound echography

ABSTACT The discipline of human population biology incorporates study of biology and environmental factors, as well as the forces of micro-evolution leading to macro-evolution which ultimately influence the biological structure of human populations. The unit of study in understanding variations in man is a ‘breeding population’ some times also referred to as ‘Mendelian population’. India is inhabited by people of great diversity, different creeds and customs forming what may be designated as multiple (or plural) society. There are about 3000 castes in India, some have genesis in tribal stock while others are occupational, linguistic, religious and territorial entities. Each caste is a social unit or what may be called ‘monopolistic guild’ in itself. All these groups are not entirely independent; usually people belong to two or more of such groups at the same time. India is a country with distinct geographical entity and is marked off from rest of Asia by both mountains and sea. Indian sub-continent may be divided into four natural regions: (1) The Himalayan Mountain Complex, (2) The Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra Plains, (3) The Peninsular Plateau and (4) The Islands. The climate of India has many regional variations determined by locations, altitude, distance from the sea or the mountains and the general relief. India is divided into eight climatic regions based on the monthly value of temperature and precipitation. India is a Union comprising 25 States and 7 Union Territories and these may be categorised into six zones (North, West, East, Central, South India and Islands). Himalayan region may be divided into three divisions (Western, Central and Eastern Himalayan Regions). The present paper aims at investigating first the variation in the people of India in regional (Natural Regions of India, Climatic Regions of India, Political Divisions of India), ethnic (castes, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, communities), traditional occupational and linguistic groups and families with the help somatometry measurement and indices. Second, to study the variation with the help of biostatistics methods in the region, ethnic groups and linguistic groups. The basic data were collected from the literature and it was categorized in regional, ethnic, occupational and linguistic groups and coded accordingly for the analysis on computer.

The Japan/East Sea (JES) contains several oceanic regions separated by dynamic boundaries. These distinct regions and the physicals feature that establish and maintain the boundaries between the regions have significant impacts on its ocean biology. Until recently, most studies of the biology of the JES have focused on nearshore regions, with few detailed studies of the interior of the JES or the dynamic features that define the different regions. In addition, the classic sampling methods used in previous work have not allowed high-resolution studies of biological-physical interactions associated with key dynamic mesoscale frontal zones, quasi-synoptic surveys of water column and biological structure in three dimensions, or broad-scale description of the seasonal cycles in the different biogeographic regions of the JES.

Over millions of years, natural constructions have been developed by evolutionary processes in nature with the general aim to generate high-performance structures with minimum material consumption. It is well known that one of the major strategies is to reach a largely homogeneous material load in the biological structure. In this paper, we demonstrate that this natural design principal applies not only to the macroscopic level but also to microstructural optimization, and in particular, to adhesive joints in nature. Furthermore, we introduce the computer aided adhesive and assembly optimization method (CA3O), which transfers the natural mechanically stimulated growth processes to technical adhesive joints by means of the finite element method.

Several mutually incompatible theories exist about how and why endothermy evolved in mammals and birds. Some take the primary function to have been thermoregulation, selected for one adaptive purpose or another. Others take the high aerobic metabolic rate to have been primary. None of these theories is incontrovertibly supported by evidence, either from the fossil record of the synapsid amniotes or from observations and experiments on modern organisms. Furthermore, all are underpinned by the tacit assumption that endothermy must have evolved in a stepwise pattern, with an initial adaptive function followed only later by the addition of further functions. It is argued that this assumption is unrealistic and that the evolution of endothermy can be explained by the correlated progression model. Each structure and function associated with endothermy evolved a small increment at a time, in loose linkage with all the others evolving similarly. The result is that the sequence of organisms maintained functional integration throughout, and no one of the functions of endothermy was ever paramount over the others. The correlated progression model is tested by the nature of the integration between the parts as seen in living mammals, by computer simulations of the evolution of complex, multifunctional, multifactorial biological systems, and by reference to the synapsid fossil record, which is fully compatible with the model. There are several potentially important implications to be drawn from this example concerning the study of the evolution of complex structure and the new higher taxa that manifest it. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 147, 473–488.

Acute rat experiments have studied the impact of acute blood loss on the distribution of water fractions (total, free, and bound) in myocardial and hepatic tissues and whether detected impairments can be corrected by laser irradiation. They have provided an insight into the new pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for homeostatic disorders in blood loss and some aspects of the mechanism of action of laser emission on the body’s adaptive processes. The functioning of biopolymers and molecular structures in tissues is largely determined by their content of water. The redistribution of water towards to a blood loss-associated increase in bound water is a compensatory reaction aimed at preserving the biological structure of biopoly-mers. The decrease in hydrant-bound water suggests that there are severe derangements of their structure. The changes in the tissue free/bound water ratio reflect the degree of the body’s dysadaptation to blood loss. Laser irradiation has an adap-togenic effect on the structure of water in compensated hemorrhagic shock and a damaging action in decompensated one.

Today's biomedicine builds on the conviction that biochemistry can explain the creation of the body, its anatomy and physiology. Unfortunately there are still deep mysteries strangely “fighting back” when we try to define and understand the organism and its creation in the ontogenesis as emerging from biochemistry. In analysing this from a theoretical perspective using a mathematical model focusing on the noise in complex chemical systems we argue that evolving biological structure cannot in principle be a product of chemistry. In this paper we go through the chemical gradient model and argue that this is not able to explain the ontogenesis. We discuss the used gradients as information carriers in chemical self-organizing systems and argue that by use of the “Turing structures” we are only able to modelling the mostly simple biological systems. The bio-chemical model is only able to model simple organization but not to explain the complexity of biological phenomena. We conclude that we seemingly have presented a formal proof (a NO-GO theorem) that the self-organizing chemical systems that are using chemical gradients are not able to explain complex biological matters as the ontogenesis. We need a fundamentally new, information-carrying principle to understand biological information and biological order.

To quantitatively evaluate the dynamic changes to the texture of foods during chewing a mechatronic device is required to reproduce human chewing behaviour. To design such a device the jaw mechanism needs to be firstly modelled and analysed through simulations. Following an investigation into the biological process of mastication, the muscles responsible for the chewing movements are represented by a set of linear actuators. They are then placed between the mandible and the skull according to the biological structure and functionality, resulting in a spatial mechanism of 14 links, six linear actuators and 12 spherical joints. Simulations for motion and control have been conducted using the Matlab SimMechanics toolbox, and results have shown that the jaw mechanism enables the jaw movements to be reproduced.

The shape of an organism and variation among related groups lies at the core of understanding evolution and interactions between phenotype, genotype and environmental spaces. Traditional morphometrics, used in the study of shape, are currently complimented by an additional statistical method, geometric morphometrics. This technique is based on the quantification of shape using x,y coordinates or landmarks. Important features of this technique are obtaining an exact geometric description of the differences or similarities of a biological structure, as well as the ease in visually determining exactly which landmarks are responsible for differences/similarities. The current study investigates the amount of variation between the forewings of males and females of 24 species in the genus Tachyspex (Hymenoptera). Wing morphology and its diversity have been used frequently in taxonomic as well as systematic studies of insects and most groups can be identified based solely on the morphology of one wing. This research also aims to investigate the extent of the morphological similarities/differences between males and females of the same species, in order to make recommendations regarding inclusion of both males and females in a systematic or geometric morphometrics study. Mantel statistics revealed a good correlation between the male and female data set; however, Hotelling's t-test and canonical variates analyses (using the Integrated Morphometric Package) indicated that there were indeed significant differences between the two data sets. Although visual analysis of the relative warp analysis plots of the two sexes indicated significant correlations between sexes of the same species, differences in the position of the clusters (or species) on the plots suggests that sexual dimorphism in wings are present. Results from the thin-plate spline analysis of the mean shape of the male and female data set revealed which landmarks are responsible for the differences. It is concluded that, in an analysis of members of a genus, only one of the sexes be used in the analysis, as small-scale differences may influence the results.

The present contribution describes a potential application of Grid Computing in Bioinformatics. High resolution structure determination of biological specimens is critical in BioSciences to understanding the biological function. The problem is computational intensive. Distributed and Grid Computing are thus becoming essential. This contribution analyzes the use of Grid Computing and its potential benefits in the field of electron microscope tomography of biological specimens.

Radiation exposure produces a range of responses at every level of biological organisation. As new molecular, cellular, tissue, organ and organism responses are identified, it is essential to relate these responses to exposure parameters. This paper examines the use of different exposure parameters such as dose, fluence, local energy deposition, total energy deposited and hit number, and then relates them to biological responses at different levels of biological organisation. For many responses to high doses of radiation, the dose or energy concentration is the most appropriate and widely used parameter. The best predictor of response for cellular and molecular alterations following exposure to low radiation doses and for non-uniform radiation exposures appears to be “hit” number or the total energy deposited in the biological structure of interest. In many cases, this structure is the cell or the nucleus. To evaluate the probability of producing a cancer in an organ or tissue, the most appropriate measur...