This book presents the proceedings of a conference on dynamical systems held in honor of Jürgen Scheurle in January 2012. Through both original research papers and survey articles leading experts in the field offer overviews of the current state of the theory and its applications to mechanics and physics. In particular, the following aspects of the theory of dynamical systems are covered: - Stability and bifurcation- Geometric mechanics and control theory- Invariant manifolds, attractors and chaos- Fluid mechanics and elasticity- Perturbations and multiscale problems- Hamiltonian dynamics and KAM theoryResearchers and graduate students in dynamical systems and related fields, including engineering, will benefit from the articles presented in this volume.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events encompass processes as varied as the exchange of genetic material between microbes coexisting in the same environment, between symbiotic bacteria and their eukaryotic hosts, and the evolution of organelles by symbiosis, in which whole genomes are acquired.  In Horizontal Gene Transfer: Genomes in Flux, expert researchers contribute an overview of HGT concepts as well as specific case histories that highlight the most current progress to inspire future work. Divided into three sections, the volume begins with an overview of terminology, concepts and the implications of HGT on current evolutionary thought and philosophy, and continues with methods involving computer and bioinformatics analyses of genomic data as well as molecular biology techniques for identifying, quantifying, and differentiating instances of HGT. A section of case studies follows, which provides detailed accounts of how HGT has shaped evolution across the diversity of organisms and organismal lineages. As a volume of the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology™ series, this work provides the kind of detailed description and implementation advice that is crucial for getting optimal results. Cutting-edge and thoroughly detailed, Horizontal Gene Transfer: Genomes in Flux examines how HGT has contributed to genome evolution and how understanding HGT impacts our ability to accurately reconstruct and comprehend the web-like evolutionary history in order to aid scientists in furthering their own research.