Provides a unique, interdisciplinary perspective on state-of-the-art physical gels, highlighting recent developments and practical applications.

This book describes a new family of bio-polymer gels made from cytoskeletal proteins - actin, microtubule, and tropomyosin. The importance of the gel state with multi-scale hierarchical structure is emphasized to utilize emergent functions in living organisms. Detailed protocol of gel preparation, specified method of structure investigation, and dynamic studies of self-organization, self-healing, synchronized oscillating, and autonomous motility functions are introduced together with biomimetic functions of synthetic hydrogels.

This volume of Macromolecular Symposia contains papers presented at the Polymer Networks 2004 Conference, held in Bethesda, MD, in August 2004. The conference highlighted the latest findings in the fields of materials science, nanotechnology, surface science, rheology, and modeling relevant to the formation, structure and application of synthetic and biopolymer networks and gels. In particular, the conference focused on contemporary experimental tools and theoretical models to describe biological phenomena with physical concepts that allow predictive, model-driven research. The collection of papers illustrates the revolution that this rapidly expanding field of polymer science is currently experiencing, notably in the areas of biomedical research, medical diagnostics and biotechnology.

This review shows that the measurement of viscoelastic properties is a powerful tool in the study of thermoreversible gels. Although many conclusions may be drawn about network development and its structure, it is also shown that the use of additional techniques (e.g. small angle S-ray and neutron scattering techniques and optical rotation) and the combination with thermodynamics and network models, widens the insight in the crosslinking process and the gel structure temendously. A general Introduction is followed by eight Chapters concerning synthetic polymers (PVC, PVAL, PMMA, PS, PAN, PE, ABA blockcopolymers and LCP's) and four Chapters concerning biopolymers (gelatin, agarose, carrageenans and gellan gum).

Reviews recent advances in the understanding of solid and liquid biomaterials and of viscoelastic solids and liquids. Includes discussions of the single material characteristic in biological materials of interest for structural uses (wood), and for nutritional uses (gels and gums) and medical purposes (artificial skins and membranes). Twenty-six chapters provide the reader with a perspective on the current state of knowledge of biomaterial science as it affects medical, nutritional, and structural fields of science.

No. 2, pt. 2 of November issue each year from v. 19 (1963)-47 (1970) and v. 55 (1972)- contain the Abstracts of papers presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, 3d (1963)-10th (1970) and 12th (1972)-