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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.

  • Recombinant DNA

    Science, Ethics and Politics
    • 1st Edition
    • John Richards
    • English
    Recombinant DNA: Science, Ethics, and Politics emerged from papers presented at a conference, Ethical and Methodological Dimensions of Scientific Research: Recombinant DNA, A Case Study, held at the University of Georgia, April 15-16, 1977. Starting with an introduction to the methods and uses of recombinant DNA technology, the remaining contributions made by researchers at the symposium are organized into four parts. The first part contains papers on the development and utilization of recombinant DNA technology; genetic engineering in agriculture; and the dangers of unrestricted research. The second part focuses on the ethical aspects of recombinant DNA research. It includes studies such as ethical prerequisites for examining biological research; the limitations of broad moral policies; and ethical theories underlying the recombinant DNA controversy. The third part examines the legal aspects of recombinant DNA research and examines the issue of whether such research should be regulated. The papers in the fourth part consider directors for future research.

  • Physical surfaces

    • 1st Edition
    • J.J. Bikerman
    • English
    Physical Surfaces deals with the basic concepts of the physics of surfaces, including the nature of the surface pressure of unimolecular films and the equilibrium pressure of these films. The effect of particle size on capillary pressure, the surface energy and the cuticular energy of solids, and the fundamentals of wetting are also examined. This book is comprised of nine chapters and begins with a discussion on the mechanics and physical chemistry of liquid surfaces, with emphasis on capillarity and surface tension. The following chapters focus on liquid-liquid interfaces, foams and emulsions, and solid surfaces. Interfacial tension is analyzed in relation to miscibility and surface tension, along with contact angles in gas-liquid-liquid systems. The chapter on wetting looks at theories of contact angle, its measurement, and hysteresis. Adsorption and electric surface phenomena are also explored, together with adhesion and friction. This monograph will be a valuable resource for physical chemists and physicists.

  • Nutrition Intervention Strategies in National Development

    • 1st Edition
    • Barbara Underwood
    • English
    Nutrition Intervention Strategies in National Development reviews nutritional programs as key components of policy planning for national development in general and health programs in particular. It summarizes research on targeted application of nutrition knowledge in public health and efforts to reduce worldwide malnutrition, and it highlights the importance of planned controlled change in the quality of diet as a preventive strategy against widespread disease. Organized into seven sections encompassing 33 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the basic concepts of nutrition intervention and some elements of successful nutrition intervention strategies. It then discusses the economic effects of early malnutrition and economic considerations for nutrition intervention programs; the role of the government in income distribution and nutritional improvement; supplementary feeding programs; and strategies for addressing protein energy malnutrition. The reader is also introduced to the nutrition-infection cycle in relation to intervention techniques, nutrient-specific interventions including prevention of iron deficiency, and nutrition education. Scientists, nutritionists, policymakers, medical doctors, economists, education specialists, and health workers concerned with nutrition intervention programs will find this book extremely helpful.

  • Quantitative genetic variation

    • 1st Edition
    • James N. Jr. Thompson
    • English
    Quantitative Genetic Variation describes some of the experimental approaches to quantitative genetic variation, along with their potential applications and limitations. It considers one of the most widely applicable tools, i.e., biometrical analysis, as well as individual polygenic effects, specific components of a quantitative genetic trait, and artificial selection, and it shows how selection experiments can address specific developmental and genetic questions. Organized into four sections encompassing 17 chapters, this volume begins with a historical overview of the study of quantitative genetic variation, along with genetic variation in fungi and Drosophila. It then discusses the biometrical approach to quantitative variation, selection theory and analysis, uses and limitations of polygene mapping, and computer simulation of the breeding program for polygene location. The reader is also introduced to genes affecting quantitative aspects of physiology in rodents, as well as cytological markers and quantitative variation in wheat. This book will be extremely useful to students, researchers, and geneticists.

  • Microprobe Analysis of Biological Systems

    • 1st Edition
    • Thomas Hutchinson
    • English
    Microprobe Analysis of Biological Systems covers the proceedings of the 1980 Microprobe Analysis of Biological Systems conference held at Battelle Conference Center in Seattle, Washington. Most of the major laboratories in the field of biological microanalysis in the United States, England, Scotland, France, and Germany are represented. The conference presents the findings, theories, techniques, and procedures of the laboratory represented, no matter how tentative and exploratory. This book is divided into four parts encompassing 22 chapters that focus on biological applications of microprobe analysis. The introductory part describes the application of electron microprobe and X-ray microanalyses in studies of epithelial transport, avian salt gland, electrolyte transport, and acrosome reaction. The subsequent part covers the application of microprobe techniques in the analysis of cardiac, skeletal, vascular smooth, and freeze-dried muscles. It also describes a method for obtaining erythrocyte preparations for validating biological microprobe methods and the continuum-fluorescen... effect on thick biological tissue. The method using freeze-substitution to localize calcium in quick-frozen tissue for X-ray microanalysis is also explained. The third part of the book tackles the principles, basic features, and applications of electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Discussions on the use of inner-shell signals for a quantitative local microanalysis technique; theoretical study of the energy resolution; and collection efficiency of a magnetic spectrometer are also included. The final part covers the elemental distribution in single erythrocytes using X-ray microanalysis. It also discusses the fundamentals of cryosectioning process for X-ray microanalysis of diffusible elements and the freezing behavior of a number of chemically different gels chosen for their partial resemblance to biological structures. Considerable chapters contain materials and methods, results, discussions, conclusions, and references. This book will be of value to scientists interested in elemental and ion transport within cells and between cells and extracellular compartments.

  • Field and Laboratory Guide to Tree Pathology

    • 1st Edition
    • Robert Blanchard
    • English
    Field and Laboratory Guide to Tree Pathology presents a selection of tree diseases, along with related field and laboratory activities, to provide students with the basic information and skills necessary for tree disease diagnosis. The diseases discussed in this book intend to be representative of the major health problems of forest and shade trees. The book is organized into four parts. Part I presents some basic information about the tools, techniques, and terminology associated with the study of tree diseases. The subsequent parts describe the infectious and noninfectious diseases. The last part describes several exercises ranging from elementary to advanced, which demonstrate certain disease concepts and allow students to experience the techniques utilized in disease diagnosis. A broad selection of exercises is provided to allow choices dependent on facilities, equipment, supplies, and student level. In addition to students, professionals in arboriculture, forestry, landscape architecture, nursery practice, and other plant science specialties will find this book invaluable.

  • Isolation Characterization, and Utilization of T Lymphocyte Clones

    • 1st Edition
    • C Fathman
    • English
    Isolation, Characterization, and Utilization of T Lymphocyte Clones is a summary of information regarding T lymphocyte clones, including their usefulness. Organized into nine parts, the book begins with discussions on the soluble factors that can influence the growth of cloned T cells and the utilization of T cell hybridomas for analysis of T cell functions, emphasizing the biochemical and functional properties of helper and suppressor factors. The book then looks into the analysis of T cell clones and hybridomas using techniques of somatic cell genetics. The clonal analysis by limiting dilution, the characteristics of murine T cell clones reactive with alloantigens and soluble antigens, and the human T cell clones are described as well. This volume is valuable to those interested in the field of cloning of immunocompetent T cells.

  • Reproduction of Eukaryotic Cells

    • 1st Edition
    • David M. Prescott
    • English
    Reproduction of Eukaryotic Cells organizes in a single source the principal facts and observations on the cell life cycle and reproduction of eukaryotic cells. The aim is to increase the overall understanding of how these cells reproduce themselves and how this reproduction is regulated. The book begins with a discussion of the sections of the cell cycle and regulation of cell reproduction. Separate chapters on cell growth, cell synchrony, the G1 period, S period, and G2 period follow. Subsequent chapters are devoted to activities during cell division; cell cycle changes in surface morphology; the role of cyclic AMP (cAMP) and cyclic GMP (cGMP) in regulation of cell reproduction; and changes in nuclear proteins, RNA synthesis, and enzyme activities during the cell cycle. The final chapter covers the genetic analysis of the cell cycle.

  • Disease Resistance in Plants

    • 2nd Edition
    • J.E. Vanderplank
    • English
    Disease Resistance in Plants, Second Edition, looks at genetic, epidemiologic, biochemical, and biometric principles for developing new cultivars possessing genetic resistance to diseases. It examines the nature of disease resistance and resistance genes, and it highlights the importance of stabilizing selection, sugar, biotrophy, and necrotrophy to obtain the greatest possible yields. Organized into 17 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of disease resistance in plants and the ways to develop disease-resistant variants. It then discusses unspecific resistance; the resistance gene paradox; susceptibility and resistance within narrow host taxa; phenotypic variation and gene numbers in host plants; discontinuous variation and cytoplasmic inheritance; and experimental difficulties in partitioning variance. The reader is also introduced to epistasis and the structure of virulence in pathogens; the notion of physiological race; how the pathogen adapts to the host; mutation in the pathogen from avirulence to virulence; horizontal and vertical resistance to disease and its epidemiological effects; and the link between protein polymorphism and vertical resistance. In addition, the book discusses genes for susceptibility in the host versus genes for avirulence (or virulence) in the pathogen; sink-induced loss of resistance; high-sugar disease processes and biotrophy; slow rusting of cereal crops; plant resistance against endemic disease; and the accumulation of resistance genes in heterogeneous host populations. This book will be useful to plant pathologists and plant breeders.

  • Biochemistry of Insects

    • 1st Edition
    • Morris Rockstein
    • English
    Biochemistry of Insects reviews the state of knowledge in insect biochemistry. The book begins by examining the function of carbohydrates in regulating and maintaining the life processes of insects. This is followed by separate chapters on the functional roles of lipids and proteins in insects; and protein synthesis in insects. Subsequent chapters cover the chemistry of insect cuticle; the structure, distribution, and chemistry of insect biochromes; and chemical control of insect behavior. Also discussed are the biochemical aspects of the natural products used by insects in defensive contexts; the reaction of insecticides and related compounds with their targets; detoxification mechanisms in insects; and genetic variation in natural populations. Designed to serve as a basic textbook in field, this volume should be equally useful as an auxiliary text for most relevant courses in insect biology, particularly insect physiology, insect ecology, insect control, and economic entomology. The book should also serve as an important reference source for the advanced student, the research scientist, and the professional entomologist seeking authoritative details of relevant areas of subject matter.

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