Methods in Physiology – serie

The Multiple Inert Gas Elimination Technique (MIGET) is a complex methodology involving specialized gas chromatography and sophisticated mathematics developed in the early 1970’s. Essentially, nobody possesses knowledge of all its elements except for its original developers, and while some practical and theoretical aspects have been published over the years, none have included the level of detail that would be necessary for a potential user to adopt and understand the technique easily. This book is unique in providing a highly detailed, comprehensive technical description of the theory and practice underlying the MIGET to help potential users set up the method and solve problems they may encounter. But it is much more than a reference manual – it is a substantial physiological and mathematical treatise in its own right. It also has a wide applicability – there is extensive discussion of the common biological problem of quantitative inference. The authors took measured whole-lung gas exchange variables, and used mathematical procedures to infer the distribution of ventilation and blood flow from this data. In so doing, they developed novel approaches to answer the question: What are the limits to what can be concluded when inferring the inner workings from the “black box” behavior of a system? The book details the approaches developed, which can be generalized to other similar distributed functions within tissues and organs. They involve engineering approaches such as linear and quadratic programming, and uniquely use mathematical tools with biological constraints to obtain as much information as possible about a “black box” system.  Lastly, the book summarizes the hundreds of research papers published by a number of groups over the decades in a way never before attempted in order to marshal the world’s literature on the topic and to provide in one place the wealth of important discoveries, both physiological andclinical, enabled by the technique.

The Multiple Inert Gas Elimination Technique (MIGET) is a complex methodology involving specialized gas chromatography and sophisticated mathematics developed in the early 1970’s. Essentially, nobody possesses knowledge of all its elements except for its original developers, and while some practical and theoretical aspects have been published over the years, none have included the level of detail that would be necessary for a potential user to adopt and understand the technique easily. This book is unique in providing a highly detailed, comprehensive technical description of the theory and practice underlying the MIGET to help potential users set up the method and solve problems they may encounter. But it is much more than a reference manual – it is a substantial physiological and mathematical treatise in its own right. It also has a wide applicability – there is extensive discussion of the common biological problem of quantitative inference. The authors took measured whole-lung gas exchange variables, and used mathematical procedures to infer the distribution of ventilation and blood flow from this data. In so doing, they developed novel approaches to answer the question: What are the limits to what can be concluded when inferring the inner workings from the “black box” behavior of a system? The book details the approaches developed, which can be generalized to other similar distributed functions within tissues and organs. They involve engineering approaches such as linear and quadratic programming, and uniquely use mathematical tools with biological constraints to obtain as much information as possible about a “black box” system.  Lastly, the book summarizes the hundreds of research papers published by a number of groups over the decades in a way never before attempted in order to marshal the world’s literature on the topic and to provide in one place the wealth of important discoveries, both physiological andclinical, enabled by the technique.

This book is a collection of principles and current practices in omics research, applied to skeletal muscle physiology and disorders. The various sections are categorized according to the level of biological organization, namely, genomics (DNA), transcriptomics (RNA), proteomics (protein), and metabolomics (metabolite). With skeletal muscle as the unifying theme, and featuring contributions from leading experts in this traditional field of research, it highlights the importance of skeletal muscle tissue in human development, health and successful ageing. It also discusses other fascinating topics like developmental biology, muscular dystrophies, exercise, insulin resistance and atrophy due to disuse, ageing or other muscle diseases, conveying the vast opportunities for generating new hypotheses as well as testing existing hypotheses by combining high-throughput techniques with proper experiment designs, bioinformatics and statistical analyses.Presenting the latest researchtechniques, this book is a valuable resource for the physiology community, particularly researchers and grad students who want to explore the new opportunities for omics technologies in basic physiology research.

This book is a collection of principles and current practices in omics research, applied to skeletal muscle physiology and disorders. The various sections are categorized according to the level of biological organization, namely, genomics (DNA), transcriptomics (RNA), proteomics (protein), and metabolomics (metabolite). With skeletal muscle as the unifying theme, and featuring contributions from leading experts in this traditional field of research, it highlights the importance of skeletal muscle tissue in human development, health and successful ageing. It also discusses other fascinating topics like developmental biology, muscular dystrophies, exercise, insulin resistance and atrophy due to disuse, ageing or other muscle diseases, conveying the vast opportunities for generating new hypotheses as well as testing existing hypotheses by combining high-throughput techniques with proper experiment designs, bioinformatics and statistical analyses.Presenting the latest researchtechniques, this book is a valuable resource for the physiology community, particularly researchers and grad students who want to explore the new opportunities for omics technologies in basic physiology research.

This contributed volume focuses on understanding the educational strengths and weaknesses of mediated content (including media as a learning supplement), in comparison to traditional face-to-face learning.  Each chapter includes research on, and a broad-brush summary of, approaches to combining life sciences education with educational technologies. The chapters are organized into four main sections, each of which focuses on a key question regarding the consequences of incorporating media into education. In this regard, the authors highlight how educational technology is both a bridge and barrier to student access and inclusivity. Further, they address the ongoing discussion as to whether students need to be present for lectures, and on how having agency in their own learning can improve both retention and conceptual understanding. To link the content to current events, the authors also shed light on the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is having onthe continuity of educational programs and on the growing importance of educational technologies. Consequently, the book offers life science educators valuable guidance on the technologies already available, and an outlook on what is yet to come.