Elementary Medical Biophysics deals with the basic principles involved in the physical sciences, such as the application of mathematical methods involving scientific problems, the production of electricity in electrical and living cells, as well as light, sight, and radioactivity. The book reviews the graphical and mathematical representation of scientific problems, and the use of units to measure temperature, time, force, energy that are commonly employed in experiments and research work. The text describes the forces involved in diffusion and osmosis that occur during the movement of molecules or other particles when these are unevenly dispersed in a fluid medium. The force in diffusion causes a particle to move from an area of high concentration of particles into one with a low concentration, until there is equilibrium. Osmosis involves the force or movement of a solvent from an area of low concentration of the solute to an area with a high concentration of the solute. The book also explains the production of electricity in living cells of the body, as well as the possible special affinity or preference that tumors or cancerous cells can have with radioactive substances. The text is intended for nursing and paramedical students with courses in physiology, biophysics, and other programs related to the medical sciences.

This book comprehensively addresses the physics and engineering aspects of human physiology by using and building on first-year college physics and mathematics. Topics include the mechanics of the static body and the body in motion, the mechanical properties of the body, muscles in the body, the energetics of body metabolism, fluid flow in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, the acoustics of sound waves in speaking and hearing, vision and the optics of the eye, the electrical properties of the body, and the basic engineering principles of feedback and control in regulating all aspects of function. The goal of this text is to clearly explain the physics issues concerning the human body, in part by developing and then using simple and subsequently more refined models of the macrophysics of the human body. Many chapters include a brief review of the underlying physics. There are problems at the end of each chapter; solutions to selected problems are also provided. This second edition enhances the treatments of the physics of motion, sports, and diseases and disorders, and integrates discussions of these topics as they appear throughout the book. Also, it briefly addresses physical measurements of and in the body, and offers a broader selection of problems, which, as in the first edition, are geared to a range of student levels. This text is geared to undergraduates interested in physics, medical applications of physics, quantitative physiology, medicine, and biomedical engineering.

A physicist's guide to the phenomena of life Interactions between the fields of physics and biology reach back over a century, and some of the most significant developments in biology—from the discovery of DNA's structure to imaging of the human brain—have involved collaboration across this disciplinary boundary. For a new generation of physicists, the phenomena of life pose exciting challenges to physics itself, and biophysics has emerged as an important subfield of this discipline. Here, William Bialek provides the first graduate-level introduction to biophysics aimed at physics students. Bialek begins by exploring how photon counting in vision offers important lessons about the opportunities for quantitative, physics-style experiments on diverse biological phenomena. He draws from these lessons three general physical principles—the importance of noise, the need to understand the extraordinary performance of living systems without appealing to finely tuned parameters, and the critical role of the representation and flow of information in the business of life. Bialek then applies these principles to a broad range of phenomena, including the control of gene expression, perception and memory, protein folding, the mechanics of the inner ear, the dynamics of biochemical reactions, and pattern formation in developing embryos. Featuring numerous problems and exercises throughout, Biophysics emphasizes the unifying power of abstract physical principles to motivate new and novel experiments on biological systems. Covers a range of biological phenomena from the physicist's perspective Features 200 problems Draws on statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and related mathematical concepts Includes an annotated bibliography and detailed appendixes

Biophysics is the science of physical principles underlying the "phenomenon of life" on all levels of organization. This book begins by explaining molecular and ionic interactions, movements, excitation and energy transfer, and the self-organization of supramolecular structures. Then the biological organism is introduced as a non-equilibrium system. Finally, system analyses are discussed as well as environmental biophysics, ecological interactions, growth, differentiation, and evolution. A growing number of applications in biotechnology are based on these biophysical concepts.

Elementary Medical Biochemistry deals with the biochemical basis of the process of life, particularly, the principles of metabolic processes and the systems controlling these processes. The book reviews matter, energy, and the molecular transport processes in the body (known as diffusion, osmosis, filtration, active transport, circulation). The text also describes the medical uses of oxygen, and its functions together with hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen. The book explains the importance of minerals in the body such as sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, chlorine, phosphorus, sulfur, the trace elements (copper, manganese, cobalt), and other elements (nickel, cadmium, vanadium). Chemical reactions either form or break chemical bonds resulting in an uptake or release of energy. The book explains the various factors affecting the rate at which a chemical reaction occurs. These factors include temperature, concentration of reagents, or enzymes. The text also describes the metabolic fate of pyruvic acid, the glycolysis in muscle tissue, and the handling of end-products of metabolism by the body. The book is intended for students of nursing with diploma courses in general obstetrics and psychiatric nursing.

This book summarizes basic knowledge of atomic, nuclear, and radiation physics that professionals need for efficient and safe use of ionizing radiation. Concentrating on the underlying principles of radiation physics, it covers prerequisite knowledge for medical physics courses on the graduate and post-graduate levels, providing the link between elementary physics on the one hand and the intricacies of the medical physics specialties on the other.