1 Introduction
7
Chapter 26, by Abdulhameed et al. discusses recent work on cardiovascular oscillations in malaria. In particular, the authors show how a non-autonomous dynamics approach, using time-resolved analyses of power spectra and phase coherence,
reveals significant differences between malaria patients and a healthy control group.
These differences appear to be attributable to the specific effects of malaria on red
blood cells, which cause them to stiffen and to stick to the endothelial lining of the
blood vessels, markedly altering the flow properties of the blood. Following this
approach leads to a classification accuracy of 88% in distinguishing malaria patients
from healthy subjects, and may provide the basis for a new noninvasive diagnostic test. Further work will, however, be needed to compare the physical findings in
malaria with those in other febrile infections.
1.5 Outlook
Finally, in Chap. 27, MacKay et al. take note of the contributions made in the preceding chapters, and address the question of where the subject is going. It is now
well appreciated that understanding living systems requires more than just traditional dynamical systems theory. In taking account of the fact that they function far
from equilibrium, the authors comment that the minimum entropy production rate,
valid near equilibrium, needs to be replaced. They discuss other principles that are
potentially more relevant, and the possibility that a reformulation and mesoscopic
interpretation of thermodynamics itself may be needed.
1.6 Using the Book
As will be apparent from the summary remarks above, the chapters that follow are
highly diverse in character although they all, whether explicitly or implicitly, grapple with aspects of non-autonomous dynamics. They range from relatively abstruse
mathematics, which will mean little to most biologists and many physicists, to the
practical details of physiological experiments which will mostly be lost on the theoretical physicists and mathematicians. Only a small minority of readers will start at
the beginning and peruse the entire book from beginning to end. Most readers will
probably prefer to pursue in detail topics that are of particular interest to them, in
just a few chapters, while remaining aware of the larger reality presented by the rest
of the book, and moving out into the latter when needed.
Each chapter is written by an expert, or experts, in the relevant subfield and each
of them provides an extensive bibliography. So readers should have no difficulty in
following up topics that are important to them.
7
Chapter 26, by Abdulhameed et al. discusses recent work on cardiovascular oscillations in malaria. In particular, the authors show how a non-autonomous dynamics approach, using time-resolved analyses of power spectra and phase coherence,
reveals significant differences between malaria patients and a healthy control group.
These differences appear to be attributable to the specific effects of malaria on red
blood cells, which cause them to stiffen and to stick to the endothelial lining of the
blood vessels, markedly altering the flow properties of the blood. Following this
approach leads to a classification accuracy of 88% in distinguishing malaria patients
from healthy subjects, and may provide the basis for a new noninvasive diagnostic test. Further work will, however, be needed to compare the physical findings in
malaria with those in other febrile infections.
1.5 Outlook
Finally, in Chap. 27, MacKay et al. take note of the contributions made in the preceding chapters, and address the question of where the subject is going. It is now
well appreciated that understanding living systems requires more than just traditional dynamical systems theory. In taking account of the fact that they function far
from equilibrium, the authors comment that the minimum entropy production rate,
valid near equilibrium, needs to be replaced. They discuss other principles that are
potentially more relevant, and the possibility that a reformulation and mesoscopic
interpretation of thermodynamics itself may be needed.
1.6 Using the Book
As will be apparent from the summary remarks above, the chapters that follow are
highly diverse in character although they all, whether explicitly or implicitly, grapple with aspects of non-autonomous dynamics. They range from relatively abstruse
mathematics, which will mean little to most biologists and many physicists, to the
practical details of physiological experiments which will mostly be lost on the theoretical physicists and mathematicians. Only a small minority of readers will start at
the beginning and peruse the entire book from beginning to end. Most readers will
probably prefer to pursue in detail topics that are of particular interest to them, in
just a few chapters, while remaining aware of the larger reality presented by the rest
of the book, and moving out into the latter when needed.
Each chapter is written by an expert, or experts, in the relevant subfield and each
of them provides an extensive bibliography. So readers should have no difficulty in
following up topics that are important to them.