This book is the first collection of lipid-membrane research conducted by leading mechanicians and experts in continuum mechanics. It brings the overall intellectual framework afforded by modern continuum mechanics to bear on a host of challenging problems in lipid membrane physics. These include unique and authoritative treatments of differential geometry, shape elasticity, surface flow and diffusion, interleaf membrane friction, phase transitions, electroelasticity and flexoelectricity, and computational modelling.

In Bilayer Lipid Membranes. Structure and Mechanical Properties the authors use new methods of measurement, which they have themselves developed, to present an analysis of the relation between membrane structure and viscoelastic properties, in particular in the transversal direction. Hianik and Passechnik's approach is fundamentally different from the usual one, in that they analyze lipid bilayer dynamics during various modes of deformation, arriving at a new, `three-layer' model that accounts for the great heterogeneity of biomembranes. The macroscopic parameters of membranes have been measured using a wide variety of methods, leading to a discussion of the correlations between the parameters. There is also an extensive discussion of the dynamic changes in mechanical properties of lipid bilayers in the course of conformational transition of integral proteins. During the conformational changes of proteins, the structure of a bilayer undergoes a transition, reaching a new, stable membrane state. The book is the first to present a comprehensive analysis of long-distance interaction in lipid bilayers and of molecular mechanisms of mechanoreception. Audience: Scientists and graduate students working in biophysics, membranology, physiology, medicine, pharmacology, bioelectronics, electrochemistry, and colloid chemistry.

This book is about the importance of water in determining the structure, stability and responsive behavior of biological membranes. Water confers to lipid membranes unique features in terms of surface and mechanical properties. The analysis of the hydration forces, plasticiser effects, controlled hydration, formation of microdomains of confined water suggests that water is an active constituent in a water-lipid system. The chapters describe water organization at the lipid membrane–water interphase, the water penetration, the long range water structure in the presence of lipid membranes by means of X-ray and neutron scattering, general polarization, fluorescent probes, ATR-FTIR and near infrared spectroscopies, piezo electric methods, computer simulation and surface thermodynamics. Permeation, percolation, osmotic stress, polarization, protrusion, sorption, hydrophobicity, density fluctuations are treated in detail in self-assembled bilayers. Studies in lipid monolayers show the correlation of surface pressure with water activity and its role in peptide and enzyme interactions. The book concludes with a discussion on anhydrobiosis and the effect of water replacement in microdomains and its consequence for cell function. New definitions of lipid/water interphases consider water not only as a structural-making solvent but as a mediator in signalling metabolic activity, modulating protein insertion and enzymatic activity, triggering oscillatory reactions and functioning of membrane bound receptors. Since these effects occur at the molecular level, membrane hydration appears fundamental to understand the behavior of nano systems and confined environments mimicking biological systems. These insights in structural, thermodynamical and mechanical water properties give a base for new paradigms in membrane structure and function for those interested in biophysics, physical chemistry, biology, bio and nano medicine, biochemistry, biotechnology and nano sciences searching for biotechnological inputs in human health, food industry, plant growing and energy conversion.

Presents a multi-disciplinary perspective on the physics of life and the particular role played by lipids and the lipid-bilayer component of cell membranes. Emphasizes the physical properties of lipid membranes seen as soft and molecularly structured interfaces. By combining and synthesizing insights obtained from a variety of recent studies, an attempt is made to clarify what membrane structure is and how it can be quantitatively described. Shows how biological function mediated by membranes is controlled by lipid membrane structure and organization on length scales ranging from the size of the individual molecule, across molecular assemblies of proteins and lipid domains in the range of nanometers, to the size of whole cells. Applications of lipids in nano-technology and biomedicine are also described.

This volume contains the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the Second International Conference on Exascale Applications and Software, EASC 2014, held in Stockholm, Sweden, in April 2014. The 6 full papers presented together with 6 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 17 submissions. They are organized in two topical sections named: toward exascale scientific applications and development environment for exascale applications.

Provides the reader with an up to date insight of the current state of the art in the field of lipid bilayer research and the important insights derived for the understanding of the complex and varied behaviour of biological membranes and its function.