Bioengineering Aspects in the Design of Gas Exchangers, 2011 Comparative Evolutionary, Morphological, Functional, and Molecular Perspectives

This book encapsulates over three decades of the author?s work on comparative functional respiratory morphology. It provides insights into the mechanism(s) by which respiratory means and processes originated and advanced to their modern states. Pertinent cross-disciplinary details and facts have been integrated and reexamined in order to arrive at more robust answers to questions regarding the basis of the functional designs of gas exchangers. The utilization of oxygen for energy production is an ancient process, the development and progression of which were underpinned by dynamic events in the biological, physical, and chemical worlds. Many books that have broached the subject of comparative functional respiratory biology have only described the form and function of the ?end-product,? the gas exchanger; they have scarcely delved into the factors and the conditions that motivated and steered the development from primeval to modern respiratory means and processes. This book addresses and answers broad questions concerning the critical synthesis of multidisciplinary data, and clarifies previously cryptic aspects of comparative respiratory biology.

Accretion and Shifts of the Levels of O₂ and CO₂ in the Biosphere.- Fundamental Principles of Gas Exchangers.- Physicochemical Properties of Respiratory Fluid Media and Gases.- Some Molecular Aspects in the Biology of Respiration.- Functional Designs of the Gas Exchangers.

Data from earth- and biological sciences have been integrated and critically evaluated

The shifts in the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide over the time life has existed on Earth are presented and their impact on the development of the gas exchangers and respiratory modalities highlighted

The book is well illustrated so that the reader can easily grasp the concepts

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras