Skip to main content

Academic Press

Stability of Happiness
Theories and Evidence on Whether Happiness Can Change
1st Edition
Kennon M Sheldon + 1 more
English
The right to "pursue happiness" is one of the dominant themes of western culture, and understanding the causes of happiness is one of the primary goals of the positive psychology movement. However, before the causality question can even be considered, a more basic question must be addressed: CAN happiness change? Reasons for skepticism include the notion of a "genetic set point" for happiness, i.e. a stable personal baseline of happiness to which individuals will always return, no matter how much their lives change for the better; the life-span stability of happiness-related traits such as neuroticism and extraversion; and the powerful processes of hedonic adaptation, which erode the positive effects of any fortuitous life change. This book investigates prominent theories on happiness with the research evidence to discuss when and how happiness changes and for how long.
Biochemical Ecotoxicology
Principles and Methods
1st Edition
Francois Gagne
English
Biochemical Ecotoxicology: Principles and Methods presents practical approaches to biochemical ecotoxicology experiments for environmental protection and conservation. With its methodical, stepped approach this essential reference introduces readers to current techniques for toxicity endpoint testing, suitable for laboratories of any size and budget. Each chapter presents a state-of-the-art principle, a quick and inexpensive procedure (including appropriate reagents), case studies, and demonstrations on how to analyze your results. Generic techniques are covered, suitable for a variety of organisms, as well as high-throughput techniques like quantitative polymerase chain reactions and enzyme-linked immunoassays. Cutting-edge approaches, including gPCR arrays and lipidomic techniques, are also included, making this is an essential reference for anyone who needs to assess environmental toxicity.
An Introduction to Aquatic Toxicology
1st Edition
Mikko Nikinmaa
English
An Introduction to Aquatic Toxicology is an introductory reference for all aspects of toxicology pertaining to aquatic environments. As water sources diminish, the need to understand the effects that contaminants may have on aquatic organisms and ecosystems increases in importance. This book will provide you with a solid understanding of aquatic toxicology, its past, its cutting-edge present and its likely future. An Introduction to Aquatic Toxicology will introduce you to the global issue of aquatic contamination, detailing the major sources of contamination, from where they originate, and their effects on aquatic organisms and their environment. State-of-the-art toxicological topics covered include nanotoxicology, toxicogenomics, bioinformatics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, as well as water management and the toxicological effects of major environmental issues such as algal blooms, climate change and ocean acidification. This book is intended for anyone who wants to know more about the impact of toxicants on aquatic organisms and ecosystems, or to keep up to date with recent and future developments in the field.
The Rat Nervous System
4th Edition
George Paxinos
English
The previous editions of The Rat Nervous System were indispensable guides for those working on the rat and mouse as experimental models. The fourth edition enhances this tradition, providing the latest information in the very active field of research on the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system. The structure, connections, and function are explained in exquisite detail, making this an essential book for any graduate student or scientist working on the rat or mouse nervous system.
Protein Structure
1st Edition
Volume 1
Harold A. Scheraga
Nathan O. Kaplan + 1 more
English
Protein Structure deals with the chemistry and physics of biologically important molecules—the proteins—particularl... the determination of the structure of various proteins, their thermodynamics, their kinetics, and the mechanisms of different reactions of individual proteins. The book approaches the study of protein structure in two ways: firstly, by determining the general features of protein structure, the overall size, and shape of the molecule; and secondly, by investigating the molecule internally along with the various aspects of the internal configuration of protein molecules. It describes in detail experimental methods for determining protein structure in solution, such as the hydrodynamic method, the thermodynamic optical method, and the electrochemical method. The book then explains the results of experiments carried out on insulin, lysozyme, and ribonuclease. The text notes that the experiments, carried out on native and denatured proteins as well as on derivatives prepared by chemical modification (e.g., by methylation, iodination, acetylation, etc.), can lead to greater understanding of secondary and tertiary structures of proteins of known sequence. The book is suitable for biochemists, micro-biologists, cellular researchers, or investigators involved in protein structure and other biological sciences related to muscle physiologists, geneticists, enzymologists, or immunologists.
The Polysaccharides
1st Edition
Gerald O. Aspinall
English
The Polysaccharides, Volume 2 is a seven-chapter text that presents the status of polysaccharide chemistry and related aspects of biochemistry. The opening chapter is concerned with the major classifications of polysaccharides, such as homoglycans and diheteroglycans. The succeeding five chapters discuss the occurrence, usage, structural studies, conformation, and derivatives of specific carbohydrate group, including cellulose, plant, algal, bacterial, and fungal polysaccharides. The last chapter deals with the industrial application and economic aspects of polysaccharides. This book will prove useful to chemists and biochemists working on polysaccharides and other complex carbohydrates.
Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences
2nd Edition
Murray Webster + 1 more
English
While there are many books available on statistical analysis of data from experiments, there is significantly less available on the design, development, and actual conduct of the experiments. Laboratory Experiments in the Social Sciences summarizes how to design and conduct scientifically sound experiments, be they from surveys, interviews, observations, or experimental methods. The book encompasses how to collect reliable data, the appropriate uses of different methods, and how to avoid or resolve common problems in experimental research. Case study examples illustrate how multiple methods can be used to answer the same research questions and what kinds of outcome would result from each methodology. Sound data begins with effective data collection. This book will assist students and professionals alike in sociology, marketing, political science, anthropology, economics, and psychology.
Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory
Volume 11
1st Edition
Michael B Schiffer
English
Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 11 is a collection of papers that discusses world systems theory, modeling interregional interaction in prehistory, and the archaeological analysis of ceramics. Some papers review dating and weathering of inorganic materials, strategies for paleo-environmental reconstruction, as well as deposits and depositional events. One paper reviews the Old World state formation that occurred in West Asia during the fourth and third millennia B.C. Another paper examines the role of interactions among societies in the process of local social change, and the need for archaeologists to develop a framework in which to analyze intersocietal interaction processes. The presence of items such as ceramics is associated directly to factors of availability, functions, economic values, or ethnic affiliation. As an example, one paper cites the use and misuse of English and American ceramics in archaeological analysis in identifying cultural patterns and human behavior. Another paper notes that each biological or mechanical agent of transport and deposition has its own respective attributes on a deposit where the attributes of sedimentary particles on the deposit can be defined. From such definitions, the archaeologists can make observations and inferences. Sociologists, anthropologist, ethnographers, museum curators, professional or amateur archaeologists, and academicians studying historical antiquities will find the collection very useful.
Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory
Volume 8
1st Edition
Michael B Schiffer
English
Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 8 is a collection of papers that discusses postprocessual archaeology, bone technology, and tree-ring dating in Eastern North America. One paper discriminates between the process and norm, and eliminates the dichotomy by locating human agency and the active. It focuses on monitoring individuals as being in the center of social theory. Another paper discuses the physical model and the textual model that describe the basic components of an archaeological record. For example, the first model implies that archaeological inferences move from material components of the record to material phenomena in the past. The second model assumes that archaeological inference should move from material phenomena to mental phenomena, from material symbols to the ideas and beliefs they encode. Another paper explains the use of analogy as a useful tool in archaeological considerations. One paper investigates bones as a material for study, including the analysis of carnivore-induced fractures or hominid-induced modifications from using bones as tools. The collection is suitable for sociologists, anthropologist, professional or amateur archaeologists, and museum curators studying archaeological artifacts.
Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory
Volume 4
1st Edition
Michael B Schiffer
English
Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 4 presents the progressive explorations in methods and theory in archeology. This book discusses the increasing application of surface collection in cultural resource management. Organized into eight chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the fundamental aspects of archeoastronomy and explains what kinds of testable hypotheses that archeoastronomy generates. This text then examines the general implications for the study of cultural complexity. Other chapters consider the use of surface artifacts by archeologists to locate sites, establish regional culture histories, and to know where to excavate within sites. This book discusses as well the interpretative interfaces between archeology on the one hand, and ethnohistory and ethnology on the other, that is based on a theoretical stance advocating a fundamental holistic approach to anthropology. The final chapter deals with understanding the ecology of ancient organisms. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists and anthropologists.

Browse by Publisher