This book focuses primarily on the role of interfacial forces in understanding biological phenomena at the molecular scale. By providing a suitable statistical mechanical apparatus to handle the biomolecular interface, the book becomes uniquely positioned to address core problems in molecular biophysics. It highlights the importance of interfacial tension in delineating a solution to the protein folding problem, in unravelling the physico-chemical basis of enzyme catalysis and protein associations, and in rationally designing molecular targeted therapies. Thus grounded in fundamental science, the book develops a powerful technological platform for drug discovery, while it is set to inspire scientists at any level in their careers determined to address the major challenges in molecular biophysics. The acknowledgment of how exquisitely the structure and dynamics of proteins and their aqueous environment are related attests to the overdue recognition that biomolecular phenomena cannot be effectively understood without dealing with interfacial behaviour. There is an urge to grasp how biologically relevant behaviour is shaped by the structuring of biomolecular interfaces and how interfacial tension affects the molecular events that take place in the cell. This book squarely addresses these needs from a physicist perspective. The book may serve as a monograph for practitioners and, alternatively, as an advanced textbook. Fruitful reading requires a background in physical chemistry and some basics in biophysics. The selected problems at the end of the chapters and the progression in conceptual difficulty make it a suitable textbook for a graduate level course or an elective course for seniors majoring in chemistry, physics, biomedical engineering or related disciplines.

The book focuses on the aqueous interface of biomolecules, a vital yet overlooked area of biophysical research. Most biological phenomena cannot be fully understood at the molecular level without considering interfacial behavior. The author presents conceptual advances in molecular biophysics that herald the advent of a new discipline, epistructural biology, centered on the interactions of water and bio molecular structures across the interface. The author introduces powerful theoretical and computational resources in order to address fundamental topics such as protein folding, the physico-chemical basis of enzyme catalysis and protein associations. On the basis of this information, a multi-disciplinary approach is used to engineer therapeutic drugs and to allow substantive advances in targeted molecular medicine. This book will be of interest to scientists, students and practitioners in the fields of chemistry, biophysics and biomedical engineering.

In the era of big biomedical data, there are many ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to broaden the technological base of the pharmaceutical industry. Cheminformatic applications of AI involving the parsing of chemical space are already being implemented to infer compound properties and activity. By contrast, dynamic aspects of the design of drug/target interfaces have received little attention due to the inherent difficulties in dealing with physical phenomena that often do not conform to simplifying views.This book focuses precisely on dynamic drug/target interfaces and argues that the true game change in pharmaceutical discovery will come as AI is enabled to solve core problems in molecular biophysics that are intimately related to rational drug design and drug discovery.Here are a few examples to convey the flavor of our quest: How do we therapeutically impair a dysfunctional protein with unknown structure or regulation but known to be a culprit of disease? In regards to SARS-CoV-2, what is the structural impact of a dominant mutation?, how does the structure change translate into a fitness advantage?, what new therapeutic opportunity arises? How do we extend molecular dynamics simulations to realistic timescales, to capture the rare events associated with drug targeting in vivo? How do we control specificity in drug design to selectively remove side effects? This is the type of problems, directly related to the understanding of drug/target interfaces, that the book squarely addresses by leveraging a comprehensive AI-empowered approach.

This is a graduate-level introduction to quantitative concepts and methods in the science of living systems. It relies on a systems approach for understanding the physical principles operating in biology. Physical phenomena are treated at the appropriate spatio-temporal scale and phenomenological equations are used in order to reflect the system of interest. Biological details enter to the degree necessary for understanding specific processes, but in many cases the approach is not reductionist. This is in line with the approach taken by physics to many other complex systems. The book bridges the gap between graduate students’ general physics courses and research papers published in professional journals. It gives students the foundations needed for independent research in biological physics and for working in collaborations aimed at quantitative biology and biomedical research. Also included are modern mathematical and theoretical physics methods, giving the student a broad knowledge of tools that can shed light on the sophisticated mechanisms brought forth by evolution in biological systems. The content covers many aspects that have been the focus of active research over the past twenty years, reflecting the authors' experience as leading researchers and teachers in this field.

This book mainly focuses on key aspects of biomembranes that have emerged over the past 15 years. It covers static and dynamic descriptions, as well as modeling for membrane organization and shape at the local and global (at the cell level) scale. It also discusses several new developments in non-equilibrium aspects that have not yet been covered elsewhere. Biological membranes are the seat of interactions between cells and the rest of the world, and internally, they are at the core of complex dynamic reorganizations and chemical reactions. Despite the long tradition of membrane research in biophysics, the physics of cell membranes as well as of biomimetic or synthetic membranes is a rapidly developing field. Though successful books have already been published on this topic over the past decades, none include the most recent advances. Additionally, in this domain, the traditional distinction between biological and physical approaches tends to blur. This book gathers the most recent advances in this area, and will benefit biologists and physicists alike.

Underpinning all the other branches of science, physics affects the way we live our lives, and ultimately how life itself functions. Recent scientific advances have led to dramatic reassessment of our understanding of the world around us, and made a significant impact on our lifestyle. In this book, leading international experts, including Nobel prize winners, explore the frontiers of modern physics, from the particles inside an atom to the stars that make up a galaxy, from nano-engineering and brain research to high-speed data networks. Revealing how physics plays a vital role in what we see around us, this book will fascinate scientists of all disciplines, and anyone wanting to know more about the world of physics today.

Recent years have seen a growing interest in and activity at the interface between physics and biology, with the realization that both subjects have a great deal to learn from and to teach to one another. A particularly promising aspect of this interface concerns the area of cooperative phenomena and phase transitions. The present book addresses both the structure and motion of biological materials and the increasingly complex behaviour that arises out of interactions in large systems, giving rise to self organization, adaptation, selection and evolution: concepts of interest not only to biology and living systems but also within condensed matter physics. The approach adopted by Physics of Biomaterials: Fluctuations, Self Assembly and Evolution is tutorial, but the book is fully up to date with the latest research. Written at a level appropriate to graduate researchers, preferably with a background either in condensed matter physics or theoretical or physically-oriented experimental biology.

This book provides a unique and comprehensive overview of the latest advances, challenges and accomplishments in the rapidly growing field of theoretical and computational materials science. Today, an increasing number of industrial communities rely more and more on advanced atomic-scale methods to obtain reliable predictions of materials properties, complement qualitative experimental analyses and circumvent experimental difficulties. The book examines some of the latest and most advanced simulation techniques currently available, as well as up-to-date theoretical approaches adopted by a selected panel of twelve international research teams. It covers a wide range of novel and advanced materials, exploring their structural, elastic, optical, mass and electronic transport properties. The cutting-edge techniques presented appeal to physicists, applied mathematicians and engineers interested in advanced simulation methods in materials science. The book can also be used as additional literature for undergraduate and postgraduate students with majors in physics, chemistry, applied mathematics and engineering.

July 02-03, 2018 Vienna, Austria. Key Topics: Lasers and OpticsComputational PhysicsMany Body Physics Medical Physics and BiophysicsBiophotonicsNanophotonics and Nano DevicesGrapheneSolid State PhysicsSemiconductor DevicesSpintronicsSuperconductivityPlasma Physics AstrophysicsParticle PhysicsTheory Of RelativityQuantum Field TheoryExperimental PhysicsTheoretical PhysicsMagnetism

Any notion that surface science is all about semiconductors and coatings is laid to rest by this encyclopedic publication: Bioengineered interfaces in medicine, interstellar dust, DNA computation, conducting polymers, the surfaces of atomic nuclei - all are brought up to date. Frontiers in Surface and Interface Science - a milestone publication deserving a wide readership. It combines a sweeping expert survey of research today with an educated look into the future. It is a future that embraces surface phenomena on scales from the subatomic to the galactic, as well as traditional topics like semiconductor design, catalysis, and surface processing, modeling and characterization. And, great efforts have been made to express sophisticated ideas in an attractive and accessible way. Nanotechnology, surfaces for DNA computation, polymer-based electronics, soft surfaces, interstellar surface chemistry - all feature in this comprehensive collection.