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Annual review of biophysics and bioengineering vol. 1981
The fourth section is Uterine and Urological Mechanics and includes chapters dealing with the passive and contractile properties of the uterus and its mechanics, and the mechanics of the kidney and the upper urinary tract. The final section, on the Mechanics of Ocular and Vestibular organs, deals with the regulation and measurement of intraocular pressure, modelling of the equilibrium orientation providing function of the vestibulo-ocular reflex, and clinical vestibular analysis. To summarize, the book emphasizes biomechanical mechanisms and applications and demonstrates
NERVE AND MUSChE EXCITATION Douglas
employment of the various disciplines of engineering mechanics to analyse physiological processes and solve medical problems. In each chapter, the detailed mechanical engineering analyses required to formulate and solve the problems are presented. The chapters are geared to specific physiological and medical problems; the current state of the art is presented and the pertinent detailed analyses are included. It is certainly a useful book to researchers and practising engineers and could be used as a graduate level textbook for students. The chapters are written to enable the medical reader to incorporate, in clinical usage, the diagnostic procedures discussed therein. Mothiram K. Patil
(2nd EDITION)
Junge
Sinauer Associates,
Inc., 1981 pp. 240. X5.95
This book is an extensively revised and up-dated second edition. The title is in some ways misleading, for the subject matter is developed almost entirely in the context of nerves and neurons, and muscle -whether vertebrate or invertebrate, skeletal or cardiac - receives only fleeting reference. Essentially the book is about excitable membranes, and the bias towards neuronal membranes merely reflects the greater contribution to the subject that has been made by research in that area. Sensibly, the author does not start with ionic equilibria but with extracellular recording techniques, with which many of his readers will already be familiar. He then proceeds via the sucrose gap technique to intracellular recording. The second chapter deals with electronic analogues of membrane behaviour, and it is not until the third and fourth chapters that ionic distributions and movements begin to be considered. A chapter on measurements with the voltage-clamp technique is followed by the explanation of these phenomena provided by the Hodgkin-Huxley theory. Later chapters are devoted to repetitive firing, the role of divalent ions, synaptic transmission (based very largely on the choline+ neuromuscular junction), and electrogenic pumps. A new chapter on membrane noise analysis leads to the important concept of quantized conductance changes, arising from discrete ionic channels, and thence to a consideration of single-channel conductance. Finally some new techniques are described, some of which may
advance the field in the way that the sucrose gap, microelectrode and voltage clamp techniques have done in the past. A mere description of the content of the book does not, however, do justice to its style. The author is at pains to convey not only ‘where we are’ but also ‘how we got there’, and does so in a very readable way. Each concept unfolds historically, with an account of the various experimental and theoretical steps, small and large, which helped to increase our insight and understanding. This is a most valuable feature, for to evaluate an idea critically one needs to know how it developed and gained currency. Each chapter concludes with problem examples, the list of answers appearing in an appendix. References are listed at the end of each chapter, which is convenient at a first reading but less so when one returns to the book on subsequent occasions. An author index would be a useful addition. The list of contents is detailed and helpful; the subject index just adequate. Illustrations are plentiful and appropriate. Because the book is somewhat specialised and, in places, a little mathematical, it may not appeal to the less motivated reader. It can, however, be strongly recommended as ideal preliminary reading for a student who proposes to undertake research in this area, or indeed for a lecturer who has volunteered (or been volunteered!) to teach this material at an undergraduate level. S. Salmons
ANNUAL REVIEW OF BIOPHYSICS AND BIOENGINEERING VOb. 1981 Eds. Mullins,
Hagins,
Newton
and Weber
Publ. Annual
Reviews Inc. USA pp. 631 Price $21
Only one paper out of the twenty included in this review is even remotely related to Bio-Engineering and that is a mathematical paper on Compartmental Analysis.
166
J. Biomed. Eng. 1982, Vol. 4, April
I would have thought a minimum content of 20% should be required for the subject to be included in the title. Jack Perkins
NERVE AND MUSChE EXCITATION Douglas
employment of the various disciplines of engineering mechanics to analyse physiological processes and solve medical problems. In each chapter, the detailed mechanical engineering analyses required to formulate and solve the problems are presented. The chapters are geared to specific physiological and medical problems; the current state of the art is presented and the pertinent detailed analyses are included. It is certainly a useful book to researchers and practising engineers and could be used as a graduate level textbook for students. The chapters are written to enable the medical reader to incorporate, in clinical usage, the diagnostic procedures discussed therein. Mothiram K. Patil
(2nd EDITION)
Junge
Sinauer Associates,
Inc., 1981 pp. 240. X5.95
This book is an extensively revised and up-dated second edition. The title is in some ways misleading, for the subject matter is developed almost entirely in the context of nerves and neurons, and muscle -whether vertebrate or invertebrate, skeletal or cardiac - receives only fleeting reference. Essentially the book is about excitable membranes, and the bias towards neuronal membranes merely reflects the greater contribution to the subject that has been made by research in that area. Sensibly, the author does not start with ionic equilibria but with extracellular recording techniques, with which many of his readers will already be familiar. He then proceeds via the sucrose gap technique to intracellular recording. The second chapter deals with electronic analogues of membrane behaviour, and it is not until the third and fourth chapters that ionic distributions and movements begin to be considered. A chapter on measurements with the voltage-clamp technique is followed by the explanation of these phenomena provided by the Hodgkin-Huxley theory. Later chapters are devoted to repetitive firing, the role of divalent ions, synaptic transmission (based very largely on the choline+ neuromuscular junction), and electrogenic pumps. A new chapter on membrane noise analysis leads to the important concept of quantized conductance changes, arising from discrete ionic channels, and thence to a consideration of single-channel conductance. Finally some new techniques are described, some of which may
advance the field in the way that the sucrose gap, microelectrode and voltage clamp techniques have done in the past. A mere description of the content of the book does not, however, do justice to its style. The author is at pains to convey not only ‘where we are’ but also ‘how we got there’, and does so in a very readable way. Each concept unfolds historically, with an account of the various experimental and theoretical steps, small and large, which helped to increase our insight and understanding. This is a most valuable feature, for to evaluate an idea critically one needs to know how it developed and gained currency. Each chapter concludes with problem examples, the list of answers appearing in an appendix. References are listed at the end of each chapter, which is convenient at a first reading but less so when one returns to the book on subsequent occasions. An author index would be a useful addition. The list of contents is detailed and helpful; the subject index just adequate. Illustrations are plentiful and appropriate. Because the book is somewhat specialised and, in places, a little mathematical, it may not appeal to the less motivated reader. It can, however, be strongly recommended as ideal preliminary reading for a student who proposes to undertake research in this area, or indeed for a lecturer who has volunteered (or been volunteered!) to teach this material at an undergraduate level. S. Salmons
ANNUAL REVIEW OF BIOPHYSICS AND BIOENGINEERING VOb. 1981 Eds. Mullins,
Hagins,
Newton
and Weber
Publ. Annual
Reviews Inc. USA pp. 631 Price $21
Only one paper out of the twenty included in this review is even remotely related to Bio-Engineering and that is a mathematical paper on Compartmental Analysis.
166
J. Biomed. Eng. 1982, Vol. 4, April
I would have thought a minimum content of 20% should be required for the subject to be included in the title. Jack Perkins