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Books in Agricultural and biological sciences

The Agricultural and Biological Sciences collection advances science-based knowledge for the improvement of animal and plant life and for secure food systems that produce nutritious, novel, sustainable foods with minimal environmental impact. Food Science titles include not only those products from agriculture but all other aspects from food production to nutrition, health and safety, chemistry to security, policy, law and regulation. Biological Sciences address animal behaviour and biodiversity, organismal and evolutionary biology, entomology, marine biology and aquaculture, plant science and forestry.

  • Evolution

    Evolution
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 10
    • October 22, 2013
    • E. R. Trueman + 1 more
    • English
    FROM THE GENERAL PREFACE: This multivolume work, The Mollusca, had its origins in the mid 1960s with the publication of two volumes entitled Physiology of Mollusca and edited by Wilbur and Yonge. In those volumes, 27 authors collaborated to summarize the status of the conventional topics of physiology as well as biochemistry, reproduction and development, and ecology. Within the past two decades, there has been a remarkable burgeoning of molluscan research generally and with it the development of new fields of investigation. During the same period, several excellent books on molluscs have appeared. However, they do not provide adequate information on the many recent advances or give the breadth of perspective of current knowledge of the phylum. Clearly, there was need for a larger work with a comprehensive treatment of major areas of molluscan research. The Mollusca, as a series of 12 volumes, attempts to fulfill this objective. Even here, practical considerations have meant that certain aspects of molluscan research have not been included.Each major area is treated by several authors, each reviewing his or her special field. The areas are structure and function, metabolic biochemistry, molecular biomechanics, environmental biochemistry, physiology, ecology, reproduction and development, neurobiology and behavior, and evolution. Throughout, the authors have given emphasis to recent advances and present status of molluscan biology. In so doing, directions of future research have become evident.The Mollusca is intended to serve several disciplines--zoology... biochemistry, physiology, and paleontology. It will prove useful to researchers and to all others with interests in molluscs.FROM THE PREFACE TO VOLUME 10: Recent events that have stimulated a great surge of investigation into the evolution of the Mollusca include the discovery of well-preserved microscopic molluscs at most levels of the Cambrian on five continents, the development of electron microscopy, the need to examine competing models of the early history of the phylum, new interest in interstitial fauna of littoral and near-littoral sands, and significant advances in our knowledge of shell ontogeny, construction, and evolution. It is timely that an up-to-date synthesis involving both paleontologists and zoologists should be published after a decade of such activity and advance when many of the long-held views on molluscan phylogeny have been overturned.This book deals with all molluscan classes except the Cephalopoda, which will be treated in Volume 12. The two books together provide an up-to-date introduction to the evolution of the Mollusca with adequate references to guide further work. They will be invaluable to specialists on molluscs, postgraduate research workers, and undergraduates with particular interests in this phylum. Authorities on the various molluscan groups were asked to express their views and to treat the subject as they wished; the book provides a valuable record of their opinions at this time.While the main groups are broadly and fully treated, focus has been narrowed toward a few selected minor groups of particular interest such as limpets, land snails, and the Anomalodesmata, in which recent work has been particularly significant.Because recent years have seen major revisions in classificatory terms, the editors have provided an outline classification into which the chapter topics fit.
  • Animal Biotechnology

    Comprehensive Biotechnology, First Supplement
    • 1st Edition
    • October 22, 2013
    • L.A. Babiuk + 2 more
    • English
    The advent of biotechnology has the potential to develop a variety of novel or better quality products for the treatment of a large number of diseases in livestock. In addition, as we understand more about the reproductive physiology of animals, the potential exists to dramatically increase the productivity of animals through better therapeutics and diagnostics for the control of many infectious diseases. Productivity can also be increased through animal breeding strategies including gene transfer, micromanipulation of embryos and gamete sex selection. As well as being a valuable reference to current knowledge in these areas, this first supplement to Comprehensive Biotechnology also looks at societal concerns over the use of antibiotics and chemical residues in meat and milk products, which are forcing biotechnologists to investigate more natural means of controlling infection by stimulating the animal's own immune system to combat infection. The identification of a variety of cytokines which are involved in regulating immune responses provides opportunities to use the animal's natural defence mechanisms to combat many infections or increase the animal's resistance to such infections. These approaches should provide tools for eventual elimination of specific diseases from counties, regions or whole continents.
  • Forest Recreation

    • 3rd Edition
    • October 22, 2013
    • Robert W. Douglass
    • English
    Forest Recreation focuses on the increasing consideration of forests as destination for recreation. The book aims to put together the findings of researchers on the issues and problems that confront forest recreation administrators and the demands of the public. The selection also offers guidance to forest land managers with respect to the basic requirements of forest recreation as well as in planning. The book starts by defining outdoor recreation, including history and the factors affecting this type of recreation. The text then gives information on the number of forest recreation areas and the distribution of these areas, as well as the underlying legislation covering outdoor recreation. Forest recreation planning is noted, which includes a discussion of a state-wide comprehensive outdoor recreation plan. The book also discusses site selection and the development of recreation areas. Classification of areas in forests is also described, which includes picnic grounds, camping sites, and trails. Sanitation in forest recreation areas is also discussed. The text can best serve the interest of forest land managers, forest technicians, foresters, park technicians, and private landowners who are responsible in planning, developing, and administering forest recreation places.
  • Agriculture, Growth and Redistribution of Income

    Policy Analysis with an Applied General Equilibrium Model in India
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 190
    • October 22, 2013
    • N.S.S. Narayana + 2 more
    • J. Tinbergen
    • English
    This book presents an empirically estimated applied general equilibrium model for India and the analysis of a wide range of policy issues carried out using the model. The various chapters in the book deal with public distribution policies, foreign trade and aid policies, rural works programmes, terms of trade policies, fertilizer subsidy policies and irrigation development policies. These policies are analysed in terms of their immediate and medium term effects on production, consumption and prices of different commodities, on the growth of the economy as well as on the distribution of income among different groups in rural and urban areas and the incidence of poverty in the economy. Each chapter dealing with policy analysis describes the analytical issues involved, the historical context and experience of the policy concerned, results of the model scenarios and the policy insights that emerge.
  • Water in Foods

    Fundamental Aspects and Their Significance in Relation to Processing of Foods
    • 1st Edition
    • October 22, 2013
    • Fito + 2 more
    • English
    Water in Foods: Fundamental Aspects and their Significance in Relation to Processing of Foods contains the proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on the Properties of Water in Foods (ISOPOW-V), held in Peniscola, Valencia, Spain, on November 8-14,1992. Organized into 31 chapters, each chapter representing the papers presented in the meeting, this book begins with a review of the theoretical aspects of hydration. Some chapters follow discussing the basic physical chemistry and links between hydration and solute interactions; computer modeling studies of the interaction of water with carbohydrates; and theories of liquid-glass transition. This book also describes the NMR imaging in the study of diffusion of water in foods, mechanical properties of frozen model solutions, and the role of water in biomembrane structures. Other chapters relate water to the methods of food preservation.
  • Kinetics of Soil Chemical Processes

    • 1st Edition
    • October 22, 2013
    • Donald L. Sparks
    • English
    The kinetics of reactions in soil and aquatic environments is a topic of extreme importance and interest. To properly understand the fate of applied fertilizers, pesticides, and organic pollutants with time, and to thus improve nutrient availability and the quality of our groundwater, one must study kinetics. This is the first compre
  • Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry

    • 1st Edition
    • October 22, 2013
    • Eldor Paul
    • English
    Soil Microbiology and Biochemsitry enconmpasses the broad spectrum of soil organisms and the dynamic processes carried on by them, including ecological relationships in the biota, the dynamics of the carbon and nitrogen cycles, and microbe-driven reactions involving sulfu, phosphorous, and metals. This reference source will prove invaluable to anyone involved in the study of agricultural and nonagricultural soils.
  • An Introduction to Rumen Studies

    • 1st Edition
    • October 22, 2013
    • J. W. Czerkawski
    • English
    The rumen is an object of study for many types of biological scientist, from anatomists to microbiologists, and more recently even mathematicians. The developments and use of various experimental techniques have enabled much progress to be made in rumen studies. Several chapters of this book concentrate on these techniques and concepts that stem from their application. Biochemical and microbial interrelationships are dealt with fully, with an emphasis on the integrated nature of the rumen's contents. The book concludes by considering the most fruitful approaches that might lead to a more complete understanding of this complex and efficient organ. Each chapter is a complete unit that can be read and understood without reference to other chapters. A general reading list at the end of each chapter, together with more detailed references, will help to launch the student into any specific area of rumen studies.
  • Comprehensive Insect Physiology, Volume 10

    Biochemistry
    • 1st Edition
    • October 22, 2013
    • G. A. Kerkut
    • English
    The underlying theme of this volume is the understanding of the molecules and processes important in the primary metabolism of insects. The 19 chapters provide both rich historical perspectives and timely reviews of current research, as well as showing the extent of progress to be expected in the near future, including the application of advanced techniques now used for the study of microbial and mammalian processes. The major themes of metabolism, proteins and nucleic acids, and biochemical events in the nervous system each have several chapters devoted to them, but specific topics such as pigments, toxins, and aging are also covered in detail. This extensive volume is therefore an invaluable source of information not only for entomologists but also for all scientists whose work involves insect biochemistry, including zoologists, biochemists, and molecular biologists and geneticists.
  • Structural and Functional Aspects of Phytochemistry

    Recent Advances in Phytochemistry, Vol. 5
    • 1st Edition
    • October 22, 2013
    • V. C. Runeckles + 1 more
    • English
    Recent Advances in Phytochemistry, Volume 5: Structural and Functional Aspects of Phytochemistry covers the proceedings of the 10th Symposium of the Phytochemical Society of North America held in Beltsville College Park, Maryland on October 6-9, 1970. The book discusses the energy conversion in both photooxidation and photophosphorylation reactions of photosynthesis; and advances in phytochrome studies, including the physiological and biochemical characterization of the pigment, the mechanism of action, and the regulation of phytochrome-mediated processes. The text also describes the structure, function, and photocontrolled synthesis of betalains; the chemistry of flavylium salts; and the histochemistry of plants in health and disease. The enzyme reaction to wound injury and parasites, and the evolution of the mechanisms of disease resistance are also considered. The book further tackles herbicide metabolism in plants; the chemistry of tea and tobacco; and the alkaloid biosynthesis of tobacco plants. Botanists, entomologists, and people involved in the study of plant chemistry will find the book invaluable.