On the Reversible Abrupt Structural Changes in Nerve Fibers Underlying Their Excitation and Conduction Processes; Nonequilibrium Phase Transition in Scattered Cell Communities Coupled by Auto/Paracrine-Like Signalling; Interfacial Water Compartments on Tendon/Collagen and in Cells; The Role of Ion-Exchange on Trypsin Premature Activation in Zymogen Granules; Whole-Cell Phase Transition in Neurons and its Possible Role in Apoptotic Cell Death; Puzzles of Cell and Animal Physiology in View of the Chain-Ordering Transition in Lipid Membrane
Summary
Phase transitions occur throughout nature. The most familiar example is the one that occurs in water a" the abrupt, discontinuous transition from a liquid to a gas or a solid, induced by a subtle environmental change. Practically magical, the ever-so-slight shift of temperature or pressure can induce an astonishing transition from one entity to another entity that bears little resemblance to the first. So "convenient" a feature is seen throughout the domains of physics and chemistry, and one is therefore led to wonder whether it might also be common to biology. Indeed, many of t
