This book gives evidence-based background information and advice to athletes and coaches on if and how data from wearable technologies can be applied for preparing individual training procedures to achieve improvement on aspects of performance and health.

This collection of reviews will be of considerable interests to biologists and MDs working on any aspect of cardiovascular function. With state-of-the-art reviews written by competent experts in the field, the content is also of interest for MSc and PhD students in most fields of cardiovascular physiology.

More than 70 years have elapsed since U. S. von Euler and I. H. Gaddum dis­ covered an unidentified depressor substance in the brain and gut. The effects of the powdery extracts were marked as 'P' on the kymograph tracings, and the nondescript name of 'substance P' still carries the breath of this adventurous period. In the 1960s, substance P returned in another disguise, staging as a hypothalamic peptide that causes copious salivary secretion (see chapter by F. Lembeck and I. Donnerer). This time, though, the mysterious substance was tracked down by S. E. Leeman and her collaborators as an undecapeptide, after it had eluded its identification for some 40 years.

Cochlear implants have instigated a popular but controversial revolution in the treatment of deafness. This book discusses the physiological bases of using artificial devices to electrically stimulate the brain to interpret sounds. As the first successful device to restore neural function, the cochlear implant serves as a model for research in neuroscience and biomedical engineering. These and other auditory prostheses are discussed in the context of historical treatments, engineering, psychophysics and clinical issues as well as implications for speech, behavior, cognition and long-term effects on people.

This classic text has been used in over 20 countries by advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in biophysics, physiology, medical physics, neuroscience, and biomedical engineering. It bridges the gap between an introductory physics course and the application of physics to the life and biomedical sciences.

This richly illustrated book explores the fascinating and ubiquitous occurrence of spirals and vortices in human culture and in nature. Spiral forms have been used as elements in the arts for thousands of years, whereas their role in nature and science – from DNA and sea shells to galaxies – is still a topic of investigation in numerous fields. Following an introduction to the cultural history of spiral forms, the book presents contributions from leading experts, who describe the origins, mechanisms and dynamics of spirals and vortices in their special fields. As a whole the book provides a valuable source of information, while also taking the reader on an aesthetic and scientific journey through the world of spiral forms.

Skeletal muscle is the most abundant tissue of our body. Apart from its essential role in locomotion, it is also the body’s main store of carbohydrate and protein as well as being one of the principal generators of heat. Its proper maintenance and function are, therefore, essential. A severe acute loss of muscle function is potentially lethal and the debilitating effects of chronic decline in mobility are commonplace experience, so repair and maintenance of the tissue must by both rapid and effective. Since the middle of the last century we have progressively built up a comprehensive descriptive model of the allied mechanisms that maintain our muscles at a size and strength appropriate to the functional demands upon them and that rapidly repair damaged muscles. This volume is an assemblage of the collective experience from the pick of major research groups investigating these aspects of muscle cell biology. The topics range from correlation of changes in pattern of gene expression with the histological sequence during a regenerative episode to the distinctive insult-specific patterns of structural and functional outcome at the other end of the spectrum. The middle ground – who is doing what in this complex process – constitutes the meat of this sandwich.

This book provides an overview on recent progress in anion channels and transporters. It covers multiple scales of analysis ranging from studying the molecular basis of function at atomic resolution to cellular consequences to channel/transporter dysfunction and approaches to correct such processes by pharmacological intervention. Similar anion channels and transporters are expressed in multiple tissues – often fulfilling similar cellular tasks, but also clearly distinct functions. The aim is to combine work on multiple cell and organ systems.

Biomechanics applies the principles and rigor of engineering to the mechanical properties of living systems. This book integrates the classic fields of mechanics–statics, dynamics, and strength of materials–using examples from biology and medicine. Fundamentals of Biomechanics is excellent for teaching either undergraduates in biomedical engineering programs or health care professionals studying biomechanics at the graduate level. Extensively revised from a successful first edition, the book features a wealth of clear illustrations, numerous worked examples, and many problem sets. The book provides the quantitative perspective missing from more descriptive texts, without requiring an advanced background in mathematics. It will be welcomed for use in courses such as biomechanics and orthopedics, rehabilitation and industrial engineering, and occupational or sports medicine.

Since the epochal discovery of the radical and highly toxic gas nitric oxide (NO) as a signaling molecule, two other no less toxic gases – carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) – have been found to also be involved in a plethora of physiological and pathophysiological functions. The gases termed gasotransmitters play an increasingly important role in understanding how signalling into and between cells is modulated and fine-tuned. The advent of gasotransmitters has profoundly changed our way of thinking about biosynthesis, liberation, storage and action mechanisms in cellular signaling. In recent years an impressive amount of new data, distributed throughout the existing literature, has been generated. For this book the editors have recruited distinguished colleagues in the field to summarize and review important biological, pharmacological and medical functions and their implications, as well as methods for the detection of gasotransmitters.

The vitality of the cardiovascular system, which consists of the heart, vas­ culature, and blood, depends on its response to a host of complex stimuli, including biological, chemical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal. The focus of this book, however, is on the response of the heart and arteries to mechanical loads from the perspective of nonlinear solid mechanics. Through my own research in this field, I have come to realize that study­ ing the complex responses of cardiovascular cells, tissues, and organs nec­ essarily requires a combined theoretical, experimental, and computational approach. Theory is needed to guide the performance and interpretation of experiments as well as to synthesize the results; experiment is needed to study the responses of the system to well-controlled loads and to test can­ didate hypotheses and theories; and due to the geometric and material non­ linearities inherent to cardiovascular mechanics, computation is needed to analyze data as well as to solve boundary and initial value problems that correspond to either experimental or in vivo conditions. One of the primary goals of this book is to introduce together basic analytical, experimental, and computational methods and to illustrate how these methods can and must be integrated to gain a more complete understanding of the bio­ mechanics of the heart and vasculature. Despite the focus on cardiovascu­ lar mechanics, the fundamental methods, indeed many of the specific results, are generally applicable to many different soft tissues.

This book reviews the cellular and non-cellular components of human breast milk and their contribution to infant growth and development. It also discusses various cellular growth factors in breast milk, including stem cells and their significance in promoting optimal growth, immunity and regeneration in neonates and in mitigating several neonatal diseases.

The aim of this volume is to summarize novel findings on the function, pathophysiology, and regulation of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels and on novel concepts of their pharmacological modulation. Impressive insights into the role of channel function and regulation have come from Ca2+ channelopathies affecting the pore-forming as well as accessory subunits and channel-interacting proteins. Moreover, the long-sought molecular basis for key regulatory pathways have been discovered as well as exciting concepts of their subtype-selective pharmacological modulation.

This new edition discusses classical aspects of cellular physiology and the metabolism of physical exercise, as well as novel topics like exercise in transplantation and exercise in beta-cell failure, which mark the frontiers of research in sport-related sciences and research. The team of authors together with the editor are world-renowned experts in the field of physiology and metabolism applied to sport sciences. In order to make the book answering also to current pandemic clinical issue, this second edition includes new chapters, specifically dealing with COVID-related issues.

The book will contain reviews and brief research articles from the participants attending the International Society for Arterial Chemoreception (ISAC) meeting, to be held in Lisbon in Portugal in June/July 2020. Since ISAC was first established, almost 70 years ago, many advances in the classical field of arterial O2, CO2 and pH sensing have been achieved but the most impressive ones are probably related to the non-canonical roles of the carotid body, as its involvement in sympatho-mediated diseases. Over the recent years, the carotid body field has gained attention with the findings that carotid body dysfunction is associated with the development/maintenance of highly prevalent diseases from cardio-metabolic diseases to asthma. Knowing that most of the patients with these pathologies lack long-term disease control, it is imperative to define new pathophysiological mechanisms aiming to find new therapeutic targets for treatment and prevention.