Author Description

The mechanisms that form the basis of regulatory processes within biological membranes can be analyzed through the dielectric signals that accompany their molecular transitions. This monograph reviews the contributions made by recent developments in this field to forge an understanding of cellular activation phenomena in striated muscle. Basic physical, mathematical and physiological principles are also covered at a more coherent level than is available in the current published literature. The phenomenon of intramembrane change is then surveyed through a range of biological systems. This is followed by more detailed analyses of steady-state and kinetic properties, and their relationship to possible underlying physical mechanisms. Correlations are consistently drawn, both with cellular and molecular biological information and also with their physiological consequences and significance. Although primarily an academic monograph, each chapter in this book is relatively independent from the others, and begins from fundamentals. The text is organized and written to be accessible both as a survey of basic concepts and as an authoritative review of recent work in the field.