scholarly journals Allometry, Scaling, and Ontogeny of Form—An Introduction to the Symposium

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 1275-1280 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Frederik Nijhout ◽  
Kenneth Z McKenna
Keyword(s):  
Cell Biology ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The Body ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
Regulatory Mechanisms ◽  
The Past ◽  
Control Growth ◽  
Diverse Field ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Kinetics Of

Abstract Until recently, the study of allometry has been mostly descriptive, and consisted of a diversity of methods for fitting regressions to bivariate or multivariate morphometric data. During the past decade, researchers have been developing methods to extract biological information from allometric data that could be used to deduce the underlying mechanisms that gave rise to the allometry. In addition, an increasing effort has gone into understanding the kinetics of growth and the regulatory mechanisms that control growth of the body and its component parts. The study of allometry and scaling has now become an exceptionally diverse field, with different investigators applying state of the art methods and concepts in evolution, developmental biology, cell biology, and genetics. Diversity has caused divergence, and we felt that although there is general agreement about the new goals for the study of allometry (understanding underlying mechanisms and how those evolve to produce different morphologies), progress is hindered by lack of coordination among the different approaches. We felt the time was right to bring these diverse practitioners together in a symposium to discuss their most recent work in the hope of forging new functional, conceptual, and collaborative connections among established and novice practitioners.

Micro- and Nanofluidics for Cell Biology, Cell Therapy, and Cell-Based Drug Testing

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuichi Takayama ◽  
Dongeun Huh ◽  
Jonathan Song ◽  
Wansik Cha ◽  
Yunseok Heo
Keyword(s):  
Cell Biology ◽  
Mammalian Cells ◽  
Cancer Metastasis ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
Screening Methods ◽  
Biological Studies

Many biological studies, drug screening methods, and cellular therapies require culture and manipulation of living cells outside of their natural environment in the body. The gap between the cellular microenvironment in vivo and in vitro, however, poses challenges for obtaining physiologically relevant responses from cells used in basic biological studies or drug screens and for drawing out the maximum functional potential from cells used therapeutically. One of the reasons for this gap is because the fluidic environment of mammalian cells in vivo is microscale and dynamic whereas typical in vitro cultures are macroscopic and static. This presentation will give an overview of efforts in our laboratory to develop microfluidic systems that enable spatio-temporal control of both the chemical and fluid mechanical environment of cells. The technologies and methods close the physiology gap to provide biological information otherwise unobtainable and to enhance cellular performance in therapeutic applications. Specific biomedical topics that will be discussed include, in vitro fertilization on a chip, microfluidic tissue engineering of small airway injuries, breast cancer metastasis on a chip, electrochemical biosensors, and development of tuneable nanofluidic systems towards applications in single molecule DNA analysis.

scholarly journals Quantitative cell biology: the essential role of theory

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (22) ◽  
pp. 3438-3440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathon Howard
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Graduate Programs ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Quantitative Biology ◽  
The Past ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Recent Establishment

Quantitative biology is a hot area, as evidenced by the recent establishment of institutes, graduate programs, and conferences with that name. But what is quantitative biology? What should it be? And how can it contribute to solving the big questions in biology? The past decade has seen very rapid development of quantitative experimental techniques, especially at the single-molecule and single-cell levels. In this essay, I argue that quantitative biology is much more than just the quantitation of these experimental results. Instead, it should be the application of the scientific method by which measurement is directed toward testing theories. In this view, quantitative biology is the recognition that theory and models play critical roles in biology, as they do in physics and engineering. By tying together experiment and theory, quantitative biology promises a deeper understanding of underlying mechanisms, when the theory works, or to new discoveries, when it does not.

Smart Hydrogels Designed for use in Microfabricated Sensor Arrays

2013 ◽  
Vol 1570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Bates ◽  
Seung Hei Cho ◽  
Prashant Tathireddy ◽  
Loren W. Rieth ◽  
Jules J. Magda
Keyword(s):  
Smart Materials ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Sensor Arrays ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Past ◽  
Biomedical Device ◽  
Piezoresistive Sensor ◽  
Micro Sensor ◽  
Responsive Hydrogels ◽  
Kinetics Of

ABSTRACTHydrogels are considered smart materials because they respond to environmental stimuli. Sensors that monitor the body’s pH levels would be helpful for doctors to determine the severity of a patient’s condition, especially if they exhibit signs of shock. The motivation of this project is to create a biomedical device that can be worn sublingually or implanted into the body to help doctors with diagnosing a patient’s condition. The magnitude of the swelling/deswelling behavior can be measured by placing a sample of the hydrogel in a piezoresistive sensor. The degree of swelling/deswelling is directly proportional to the change in pH of the aqueous solution it is placed in. In this study, a variety of compositions of pH responsive hydrogels were designed and tested to determine the response time and magnitude for use in both macro and micro sensor arrays. This pressure sensor has been designed for use with thinner gels than have been used in the past. The results for swelling time and magnitude were compared to determine the effect of the thickness of the hydrogel samples on the swelling/deswelling kinetics of the material in order to find the appropriate composition, thickness and device that will yield the desired response rate and sensitivity.

scholarly journals Hydin seek: finding a function in ciliary motility

2007 ◽  
Vol 176 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth F. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Human Diseases ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
Ciliary Motility ◽  
The Past ◽  
Experimental Approaches ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

One of the most surprising discoveries in cell biology in the past 5–10 years is the number of diverse human diseases that result from defects in ciliary assembly and/or motility, so-called ciliopathies (Badano, J.L., N. Mitsuma, P.L. Beales, and N. Katsanis. 2006. Annu. Rev. Genomics Hum. Genet. 7:125–148). The results presented by Lechtreck and Witman (see p. 473 of this issue) provide yet another example of how work in the model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii can reveal important insights into the underlying mechanisms of ciliary assembly/function and the diseases associated with defects in these organelles. By taking advantage of the wide array of experimental approaches C. reinhardtii offers, Lechtreck and Witman determined the precise axonemal location of hydin, a protein that, when mutated, causes hydrocephalus, and defined a unique role for hydin in ciliary motility.

scholarly journals Body, Sex and Gender in Archeology: Revisiting Some Multidisciplinary Aspects

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Sergio Francisco Serafim Monteiro Silva ◽  
Viviane Maria Cavalcanti de Castro
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
The Past ◽  
Human Sociobiology ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
And Gender

This article presents the main problems related to the inclusion of the body, gender, sex and its relations with the material culture in the production of modern archaeological knowledge about populations of the past. It outlines an outline of recurring speculations, terms, and concepts that function as paradigmatic umbrella to estimate the state of the art of such approaches from archaeological and ethnographic examples from America, Africa, and the Mediterranean. Convergent perspectives were selected, even in the scope of bioculture and human sociobiology, for the explanation of a sometimes transverse bias of scientific knowledge. Corpo, Sexo e Gênero na Arqueologia: Revisitando Alguns Aspectos Multidisciplinares Este artigo apresenta os principais problemas relacionados à inclusão do corpo, gênero, sexo e suas relações com a cultura material na produção do conhecimento arqueológico moderno sobre populações do passado. Traça um esboço das especulações recorrentes, termos e conceitos que funcionam como guarda-chuva paradigmático para estimar o estado da arte dessas abordagens a partir de exemplos arqueológicos e etnográficos da América, África e Mediterrâneo. Foram selecionadas perspectivas convergentes, mesmo no âmbito da biocultura e da sociobiologia humana para a explanação de um viés por vezes transversal de conhecimento científico.

The intelligent social change journey

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-300
Author(s):  
Alex Bennet ◽  
David Bennet ◽  
Arthur Shelley ◽  
Theresa Bullard ◽  
John Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
The Body ◽  
Phase Changes ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cause And Effect ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future

Purpose This paper aims to share key ideas forwarded in the five-book series focused on the Intelligent Social Change Journey (ISCJ) reflecting the latest research in the Consciousness Series supported by the Mountain Quest Institute and collaborators. This review is based on five separate books released as Part I (Laying the Groundwork), Part II (Learning from the Past), Part III (Learning in the Present), Part IV (Co-Creating the Future) and Part V (Living the Future) of The Profundity and Bifurcation of Change. Design/methodology/approach Reflecting the consilience approach taken by this in-depth research, the review of ideas provided in this paper tap into a deep array of research in knowledge and learning, with specific reference to recent neuroscience understanding that is emerging, and looks to psychology, physics, cell biology, systems and complexity, cognitive theory, social theory and spirituality for their contributions. The five books are heavily referenced (look to the larger work for these references) and, considering the individual as an intelligent complex adaptive learning system (Bennet et al., 2015b), entangle materials from science to philosophy, facts to psychology, management to poetry and words to pictures. This much shorter review can only partially represent this approach. Findings At this point in the history of humanity ? in the midst of a conscious expansion of our human capacity and understanding ? the rules are changing. As we move away from predictable patterns susceptible to logic, we are increasingly reliant on our ?gut? instinct, an internal sense of knowing that can tap into the intuitional plane. Yet, this knowing can only serve us if we ?know? what to do with it, how to act. Development of our mental faculties is essential to acting. We are on a developmental journey of the body, mind and heart, moving from the heaviness of cause-and-effect linear extrapolations, to the fluidity of co-evolving with our environment, to the lightness of breathing our thought and feelings into reality. Grounded in development of our mental faculties, these are phase changes, each building on and expanding previous learning in our movement toward intelligent activity. Originality/value This review lays the groundwork for the ISCJ, exploring consciousness through the lens of the cause-and-effect logic of Phase 1 (Learning from the Past), the co-evolving of Phase 2 (Learning in the Present) and the creative leap of Phase 3 (Co-Creating the Future). This research connects the expansion of consciousness to development of the human knowledge system.

scholarly journals Systems epidemiology of metabolomics measures reveals new relationships between lipoproteins and other small molecules

Metabolomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fotios Drenos
Keyword(s):  
Causal Effect ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Lipoprotein Metabolism ◽  
Population Level ◽  
The Body ◽  
Biochemical Networks ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
Mendelian Randomisation ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Abstract Introduction The study of lipoprotein metabolism at the population level can provide valuable information for the organisation of lipoprotein related processes in the body. To use this information towards interventional hypotheses generation and testing, we need to be able to identify the mechanistic connections among the large number of observed correlations between the measured components of the system. Objectives To use population level metabolomics information to gain insight on their biochemical networks and metabolism. Methods Genetic and metabolomics information for 230 metabolic measures, predominately lipoprotein related, from a targeted nuclear magnetic resonance approach, in two samples of an established European cohort, totalling more than 9400 individuals analysed using phenotypic and genetic correlations, as well as Mendelian Randomisation. Results More than 20,500 phenotypic correlations were identified in the data, with almost 2000 also showing evidence of strong genetic correlation. Mendelian randomisation, provided evidence for a causal effect between 9496 pairs of metabolic measures, mainly between lipoprotein traits. The results provide insights on the organisation of lipoproteins in three distinct classes, the heterogeneity between HDL particles, and the association, or lack of, between CLA, glycolysis markers, such as glucose and citrate, and glycoproteins with lipids subfractions. Two examples for the use of the approach in systems biology of lipoproteins are presented. Conclusions Genetic variation can be used to infer the underlying mechanisms for the associations between lipoproteins for hypothesis generation and confirmation, and, together with biological information, to map complex biological processes.

A Macintosh Interface for the Cameca Camebax-Micro Electron Microprobe

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 438-439
Author(s):  
Carl E. Henderson
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microprobe ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Computer Control ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Disk Storage ◽  
The Past ◽  
User Facility ◽  
Instrument Control

Over the past few years it has become apparent in our multi-user facility that the computer system and software supplied in 1985 with our CAMECA CAMEBAX-MICRO electron microprobe analyzer has the greatest potential for improvement and updating of any component of the instrument. While the standard CAMECA software running on a DEC PDP-11/23+ computer under the RSX-11M operating system can perform almost any task required of the instrument, the commands are not always intuitive and can be difficult to remember for the casual user (of which our laboratory has many). Given the widespread and growing use of other microcomputers (such as PC’s and Macintoshes) by users of the microprobe, the PDP has become the “oddball” and has also fallen behind the state-of-the-art in terms of processing speed and disk storage capabilities. Upgrade paths within products available from DEC are considered to be too expensive for the benefits received. After using a Macintosh for other tasks in the laboratory, such as instrument use and billing records, word processing, and graphics display, its unique and “friendly” user interface suggested an easier-to-use system for computer control of the electron microprobe automation. Specifically a Macintosh IIx was chosen for its capacity for third-party add-on cards used in instrument control.

Derrida on Pornography: Putting (It) Up for Sale

Derrida Today ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Morris
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Studies ◽  
English Translation ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Past ◽  
French Original ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Critical Discourses ◽  
Academic Debate

Over the past thirty years, academic debate over pornography in the discourses of feminism and cultural studies has foundered on questions of the performative and of the word's definition. In the polylogue of Droit de regards, pornography is defined as la mise en vente that is taking place in the act of exegesis in progress. (Wills's idiomatic English translation includes an ‘it’ that is absent in the French original). The definition in Droit de regards alludes to the word's etymology (writing by or about prostitutes) but leaves the referent of the ‘sale’ suspended. Pornography as la mise en vente boldly restates the necessary iterability of the sign and anticipates two of Derrida's late arguments: that there is no ‘the’ body and that performatives may be powerless. Deriving a definition of pornography from a truncated etymology exemplifies the prosthesis of origin and challenges other critical discourses to explain how pornography can be understood as anything more than ‘putting (it) up for sale’.

Receptions of the Past: Commemoration, Racism, Desire

Somatechnics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-303
Author(s):  
Michael Connors Jackman
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
White Privilege ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
The Body ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Lesbian And Gay ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of

This article investigates the ways in which the work of The Body Politic (TBP), the first major lesbian and gay newspaper in Canada, comes to be commemorated in queer publics and how it figures in the memories of those who were involved in producing the paper. In revisiting a critical point in the history of TBP from 1985 when controversy erupted over race and racism within the editorial collective, this discussion considers the role of memory in the reproduction of whiteness and in the rupture of standard narratives about the past. As the controversy continues to haunt contemporary queer activism in Canada, the productive work of memory must be considered an essential aspect of how, when and for what reasons the work of TBP comes to be commemorated. By revisiting the events of 1985 and by sifting through interviews with individuals who contributed to the work of TBP, this article complicates the narrative of TBP as a bluntly racist endeavour whilst questioning the white privilege and racially-charged demands that undergird its commemoration. The work of producing and preserving queer history is a vital means of challenging the intentional and strategic erasure of queer existence, but those who engage in such efforts must remain attentive to the unequal terrain of social relations within which remembering forms its objects.

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