Scale biologies

It is now recognised that a wide range of organic molecules, collectively termed ionophores 185,186) or complexones 187), are able to facilitate ion (usually cation) transport. Two major mechanisms have been revealed for this process, namely the involvement of transmembrane ion carriers and transmembrane pores or channels (see Fig. 19). The majority of ionophores studied to date are natural antibiotics and their synthetic analogues which are, on a biological scale, comparatively small molecules lending themselves to study outside the biological system. In contrast far less is known about the molecular structures involved in normal transport processes. Such molecules are likely to be more complex or present in small amounts and may require... 

Multiple scenarios may also be necessary to allow assessment of endpoints at different levels of temporal, spatial, and biological scale (US SAP 1999). This is because both the risks and their acceptability to stakeholders may differ markedly... 

Tabulating the temporal, spatial, and biological scales of each component of the assessment may help to identify appropriate units of analysis, show how they relate to real-world processes, and check their compatibility with the assessment endpoint and hence the management goal (e.g., Table 2.1). 

J. M. Carr and D. J. Wales, The Energy Landscape as a Computational Tool, in Latest Advances in Atomic Cluster Collisions Structure and Dynamics from the Nuclear to the Biological Scale. J.-P. Connerade, and A. Solov yov (eds.). 321-330, Imperial College Press, London (2008). 

Hedin, L.O. Biological scaling Does the exception prove the rule (reply). Nature 445, Ell (2007)... 

Azbel, M.Y. Universal biological scaling and mortality. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91(26),... 

Chapter 17 adopts a comparative approach using biological scaling laws to compare the cardiovascular systems of different mammals. Allometry, the change of proportions with increase of size, and dimensional analysis is used to develop allometric relations for important cardiovascular parameters such as stroke volume, peripheral resistance, and heart efficiency. Optimal cardiovascular design is also discussed. 

Using physical principles and applying engineering techniques, we can model the cardiovascular systems of different mammals. However, the complexity of the beat-to-beat dynamic performance of the heart and its interaction with the vascular systems makes this a major challenge. This complexity can be substantially reduced when we first impose appropriate biological scaling laws and identify relevant invariant features that appear across species in the mammalian class. 

Computational modelling in chemistry is in a unique position compared to the other sciences. Where mathematics and physics are happier to study ideal systems, real-life chemical systems are more complex and often non-ideal, in a similar way to systems at the biological scale and greater. However, the scale of chemical interrogation of these systems often necessitates inclusion of electronic and quantum effects, which increase the computational cost of the simulation and the number of approximations necessary. 

It is obvious that the combination of nanoscience/nanotechnology with medicine makes a lot of sense for many reasons. One major reason is that the nanoscale is a characteristic biological scale, a scale related directly to life. DNA strains, globular proteins such as ferricins, vimses are all on this scale. For instance, the tobacco mosaic vims is actually a nanotube. The dimensions of bacteria and of cells tend to be already in the micrometer range, but important subunits of these objects such as the membranes of cells have dimensions in the nm scale. 

Gilbert, O. L. (1970b). A biological scale for the estimation of sulfur dioxide pollution. Vew Phytol. 69, 629-634. 

Mechanism oriented, which consists mainly in the identification of the fundamental t5qjes of interaction that happen at the ehemieal-to-biological scale so that the structural properties of a compound constitute the causes that can be related to the manifest and recorded effects at a biological site (Pavan Todeschini, 2008 Pavan et al., 2009 Roberts et al., 2008 Spycher et al., 2008 Benigni et al., 2007 Viacko et al., 2006) ... 

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