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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.

  • Biochemistry and Physiology of Protozoa

    • 2nd Edition
    • M Levendowsky
    • English
    Biochemistry and Physiology of Protozoa, Second Edition, Volume 1 is organized into 13 chapters, beginning with a discussion on fine structure and phytogeny of phytoflagellates. This book discusses the structural features of protozoan cytochromes. Subsequent chapters explain sterol and carotenoid distributions in various groups, phycobiliproteins in cryptomonads, halotolerance in Dunaliella, physiology of coccolithophorids, the ameboflagellates, and bioluminescence of phytoflagellates. This edition also describes the most severe and best known of the toxins, saxitoxin, produced by species of Gonyaulax. Lastly, the physiological ecology of red tide flagellates is explained.
  • The Mycoplasmas V1

    Cell Biology
    • 1st Edition
    • M.F. Barile
    • English
    The Mycoplasmas, Volume I: Cell Biology is a volume of a comprehensive three-volume series encompassing various facets of mycoplasmology, emphasizing outstanding developments made in the field. This volume deals specifically with the cell biology of the mycoplasmas. This book focuses on problems regarding mycoplasma classification, phylogenetics, and relatedness to wall-covered bacteria; their unique molecular biology, energy metabolism, transport mechanisms, antigenic structure, and membrane biochemistry. The characterization, ultrastructure, and molecular biology of the mycoplasmaviruses, as well as the special properties of several groups of mycoplasmas, such as Ureaplasma, Acholeplasma, Thermoplasma, and Anaeroplasma, are also described. This book will serve as a standard reference work for mycoplasmologists, as well as for other interested microbiologists, cellular and molecular biologists, membrane biochemists, clinicians, veterinarians, plant pathologists, and entomologists.
  • The Psychobiology of Attachment and Separation

    • 1st Edition
    • Martin Reite
    • English
    The Psychobiology of Attachment and Separation provides an understanding of certain theoretical issues involved in social attachment and separation. The book brings together a number of investigators studying animal and human models of the psychobiology of attachment and separation. The contributors are actively conducting studies that incorporate physiological measures in attachment-separatio... paradigms. Thus, the book's unique features include reviews and interpretations of recent data on the physiological correlates of attachment and separation behavior in both animals and humans. The book is divided into two parts, one on animal models and one on human models. The first part reviews research from several animal species, including studies on the biology of maternal behavior and physiological, neurochemical, and neuroanatomical correlates of both attachment and separation. The chapters on animal models provide an overview of the state of knowledge on both the biology of social attachment and the biological correlates of separation. The second part presents reviews and new data on attachment and separation in human infants. A summary chapter examines both animal and human data and offers a synthesis of the results, including clinical implications and ideas for future research.
  • Biology of Fertilization V3

    The Fertilization Response of the Egg
    • 1st Edition
    • Charles Metz
    • English
    The Fertilization Response of the Egg is the third and final volume of the Biology of Fertilization which provides a detailed discussion of the responses of the egg to the fertilizing sperm, collectively called as the activation of the egg. It is an anthology of physiological articles written by biology and physiology professionals. The book is divided into 12 chapters, half of which focused on the sea urchin egg fertilization, as it is the most studied form. The first two chapters cover the discussions on the first visible egg responses to fertilization and the formation of the fertilization membrane. The following chapter describes the relationship of sperm entry into the amphibian egg and the establishment of the symmetry of the embryo. Other chapters focus on the electrical and ionic changes of the egg plasma membrane and cytoplasm. The remaining parts of the book describe the synthetic activities in the egg that are initiated during fertilization. These include description of DNA and maternal RNA syntheses, nuclear-cytoplasm interactions, protein synthesis during oogenesis and early embryogenesis, and the expression of maternal messenger RNA. The book is an excellent reference for undergraduate and graduate biology students, specifically in physiology, embryogenesis, and developmental biology. It can also be an invaluable source of information for lecturers and professionals in biology.
  • Invertebrate Tissue Culture

    • 1st Edition
    • C Vago
    • English
    Invertebrate Tissue Culture, Volume I, reviews advances in the use of tissue and organ culture in invertebrate research in physiology and pathology. It describes methods in invertebrate tissue culture, including organ culture techniques in liquid and gel media; aseptic rearing of invertebrates for tissue culture; and cell culture of organisms, ranging from Lepidoptera and Diptera to Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Dictyoptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Crustacea, Arachnida, Merostomacea, and mollusks. Organized into two sections encompassing 13 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the general methodology in cell and organ cultures and their preparation from aseptic conditions. It then discusses methods for the examination of cultures, including those concerning ultrastructure studies by electron microscopy. The reader is also introduced to cell cultures obtained from different groups of invertebrates, with emphasis on peculiarities specific to each group; the morphology and physiology of cultured invertebrate cells; and cultivation and growth of cells. This book is a valuable resource for specialists in the field of invertebrate cell and organ culture.
  • Viruses and Environment

    • 1st Edition
    • Edouard Kurstak
    • English
    Viruses and Environment contains the proceedings of the Third International Conference on Comparative Virology, held at Mont Gabriel, Quebec, Canada on May 1977. The primary focus of the conference is the ecology of viruses, that is, the interrelationships between organisms and their environment. Organized into seven parts with a total of 33 chapters, this book centers on the impact of viruses on the environment; the persistent virus infections of man, vertebrate and invertebrate animals, and plants; and the smallest disease agents, the viroids. In particular, this book describes the reservoirs of viruses, such as arthropod vectors, water, cultivated plants, and wild animals; safety considerations concerning the use of live virus vaccines; and the viral insecticides. The use of bacterial viruses in genetic engineering is also addressed. This treatise will be valuable to research workers in medical and biomedical fields; biological control; and animal and plant quarantine. It will also benefit the university teachers and graduate students.
  • The Mammalian Mitochondrial Respiratory chain

    • 1st Edition
    • Walter Wainio
    • English
    The Mammalian Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain provides the vocabulary related to the mitochondrial respiratory chain in mammalian species. It explores the heterogeneous nature of mitochondria, the mammalian mitochondrial cytochromes, the concept of a respiratory chain for the oxidation of substrates, the cytochrome and non-cytochrome components of the chain, and the role of the respiratory chain in energy conservation. Organized into five chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the structure and composition of mitochondria in heart, liver, kidney, and brain before turning to the NADH oxidase system and its ability to generate one additional high-energy bond for every pair of electrons transferred compared to the succinate oxidase system. It also describes electron transfer in the respiratory chain and inhibitors of the respiratory chain such as antimycin A, along with differences in the pathways of electrons from succinate, choline, and NADH to oxygen as well as systems mediated by electron-transferrin... flavoprotein. The reader is also introduced to the processes involved in the fragmentation, extraction, and recombination of mitochondria; artificial electron acceptors such as phenazine methosulfate and artificial electron donors such as ascorbate and tetramethyl-p-phenyl... and the role of flavoproteins, including flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide, in electron transport. The book concludes with a chapter that explains how the oxidation-reductions of the respiratory chain release energy in discrete packets. Graduate students and beginning researchers in biology will find this book extremely helpful.
  • Nutrition and Immunity

    • 1st Edition
    • M Gershwin
    • English
    Nutrition and Immunity discusses the interaction between nutrition, immune function, and immunity, based on empirical and epidemiologic point of view. It is organized into 14 chapters that focus on experimental studies on laboratory animals, including animal models to isolate specific factors in the interaction between nutrition and immunity. The book starts with an introduction to the potential impact of nutritional factors on immune responsiveness. Two chapters deal with the evaluation of immune function and nutritional assessment. Other chapters present classic observations on malnutrition and infectious disease, involving field studies as well as studies on the effect of nutritional factors on immune ontogeny. The following chapters examine issues related to caloric intake, proteins, minerals, vitamins, lipids, breast milk, and alcohol, as well as their effects in immune function and immunity. The book’s final chapters cover future directions and the potential role of nutritional modulation in immune dysfunction. Each chapter is meant to be an authoritative review presenting the state of the art as well as providing key illustrations from classic papers in a given field. Nutritionists, immunologists, scientists, and researchers will find this book very helpful in expanding their knowledge in the interrelationship between nutrition and immunity.
  • The Structure of Nematodes

    • 1st Edition
    • Alan Bird
    • English
    The Structure of Nematodes attempts to connect the research on the fine structure of nematodes, as seen with the aid of the electron microscope, with the research on these animals done with the aid of the light microscope. Organized into 12 chapters, this book begins with the detailed information on modern techniques that have proved to be successful with nematodes. The other chapters deal with the organism’s exoskeleton; molting; the hypodermis; the pseudocoelom; musculature; the nervous, excretory, digestive, and reproductive systems; and the egg. This book caters to all workers interested in nematodes, particularly, to zoologists, medical research workers, veterinarians, and to agricultural scientists.
  • Aflatoxin

    Scientific Background, Control, and Implications
    • 1st Edition
    • Leo Goldblatt
    • English
    Aflatoxin: Scientific Background, Control, and Implications discusses general problems posed by mycotoxin contamination in foods and feeds. This book is divided into 15 chapters that summarize the discovery, elaboration, chemistry and assay, effects and metabolic fate, processing to ensure their removal or inactivation, and regulatory aspects of aflatoxins. The introductory chapters cover the discovery, formation by Aspergillus flavus, and the chemistry and structure of aflatoxins. The subsequent chapters describe the physicochemical and biological assays for aflatoxin measurement, detection, and analysis. A chapter also describes the metabolic fate and the biochemical alterations associated with aflatoxin administration to animals and other biological test systems. Discussions on the acute toxicity and carcinogenic activity of aflatoxins in laboratory and farm animals are also provided, with emphasis on the recognition of aflatoxicosis, a disease condition caused by the action of the aflatoxin poison. The book goes on examining the role of spoilage molds in destroying stored crops and the tremendous capacity for toxin production of aflatoxins. It also describes successful efforts of food and feed industries to ensure a wholesome food supply, including the utilization of various detoxification processes. The last chapters deal with the regulatory provisions for aflatoxin contamination control and tolerances and the implications of fungal toxins to human health. The book is intended for scientists and manufacturers concerned with the production and processing of foods and feeds, the nutrition, and the animal and public health.