Год выпуска: 2008 Издательство: Страниц: 168 ISBN: 0387097937
Описание
Living systems are fundamentally dynamic and adaptive, relying on a constant throughput of energy. They are also, by definition, self-sustaining over the full range of length and time scales. This characteristic combination of constant adaptive flux and emergent persistence requires that the properties of all living systems must, at some level, be cyclical. Consequently, oscillatory dynamics, in which system properties rise and fall in a regular rhythmic fashion, are a central feature of a wide range of biological processes. The scale of biological oscillations covers enormous ranges, from the sub-cellular to the population level, and from milliseconds to years. While the existence of a number of biological oscillations is widely appreciated, there are many oscillatory phenomena that are much less obvious, albeit no less important. Since oscillations reflect periodic quantitative changes in system properties, their detection and characterisation relies on the quantitative measurement...
