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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.

  • The Biology of Amoeba

    • 1st Edition
    • Kwang Jeon
    • English
    The Biology of Amoeba discusses the general biology, morphology, movement and related phenomena, and biochemical and physiological studies of amoeba. This book is organized into five parts, encompassing 21 chapters that primarily focus on large free-living amoeba. After briefly discussing the highlights of studies involving amoeba, the book goes on describing the biological aspects of amoeba, including its taxonomy, phylogeny, culture, and maintaining methods. The second part describes the general morphology, ultrastructure, and cellular membrane of amoeba. The third part includes discussions on the movement of Chaos-Amoeba group; the amoeboid behavioral and motile responses; the molecular mechanism of amoeboid movement and cytoplasmic streaming; and the mechanism of endocytosis in the freshwater amoeba. Part 4 covers the effects of various groups of mutagens, antibiotics, radiation, and high pressure on phenotype change and cell activities of amoeba. The concluding part deals with the isolation and purification of amoeba's nucleic acids, as well as physical and chemical characterizations of these compounds. This part also describes the characteristics of structural features of amoeba's cell surface and the chemistry of tripartite surface. Discussions on cell cycle, nucleocytoplasmic interactions, nuclear-nuclear interactions, genetics, and strain specificity in amoeba are also covered. The book is intended as a comprehensive literature source for students in cell biology as well as for those who are using amoeba as research organisms.
  • Mitochondria in Higher Plants

    Structure, Function, and Biogenesis
    • 1st Edition
    • Roland Douce
    • English
    Mitochondria in Higher Plants: Structure, Function, and Biogenesis is a collection and interpretation of information on plant mitochondria. It explains not only the basic enzymology of ATP synthesis coupled to electron transport that seems to constitute the major activity of the mitochondria, but also many other aspects that make plant mitochondria rather more diverse than their animal counterparts. Organized into five chapters, this book begins with the morphological and cytological observations on mitochondria, and proceeding through membrane and matrix functions to participation in metabolism and biogenesis. Each section presents the unique properties of plant mitochondria within the framework of general mitochondrial structure and function. This book is intended not only for research workers and students interested in the enzymology of plant mitochondria respiration, but also for graduate and undergraduate students in the field of plant biochemistry, cell physiology, and molecular biology. It will be useful as a starting point for those students wishing to pursue special studies in this field.
  • Microbial Technology

    Microbial Processes
    • 2nd Edition
    • D. Perlman
    • English
    Microbial Technology: Microbial Processes, Volume 1, describes the production and uses of economic bacteria, yeast, molds, and viruses, and reviews the technologies associated with products of microbial metabolism. It is part of a two-volume set that emerged from a worldwide survey of industrial microbiology and its contributions to agriculture, industry, medicine, and environmental control. The book contains 17 chapters that cover the development of bioinsecticides and the large-scale bioprocessing of concentrated lactic acid bacteria with emphasis on the commercial use of the resulting culture. It includes discussions of the production of single-cell protein for use in food or feed; production of yeasts and yeast products; production of butanol-acetone by fermentation; microbial production of amino acids; microbial production of antibiotics; production of microbial enzymes; microbial production of nucleosides; and production of organic acids by fermentation nucleotides. The remaining chapters cover plant cell suspension cultures and their biosynthetic potential; polysaccharides; microbial transformation of steroids and sterols; the production of vitamin B12; microbial process for riboflavin production; and the production of carotenoids.
  • The Mycetozoans

    • 1st Edition
    • Lindsay Olive
    • English
    The Mycetozoans brings together, for the first time in a single volume, comprehensive information on the biology and classification of the mycetozoans and associated groups. The mycetozoans and their associates remain of prime interest to taxonomists and phylogenists because major new taxa continue to be discovered among them. This book informs the reader where to find mycetozoans, how to isolate and culture them, their life cycles and ultrastructure, and some of the experiments that may be performed with them. It presents studies on Protostelia (protostelids); Dictyostelia (dictyostelid cellular slime molds); Myxogastria (myxomycetes); Acrasea (acrasid cellular slime molds); Plasmodiophorina (plasmodiophorids); and Labyrinthulas (labyrinthulina and thraustochytrids). This text can serve as a reference tool in courses on mycetozoans, protozoology, mycology, and developmental biology of lower organisms, and as a concentrated source of information for research workers in all aspects of the biology and taxonomy of these organisms.
  • Role of the Gut Flora in Toxicity and Cancer

    • 1st Edition
    • I Rowland
    • English
    Role of the Gut Flora in Toxicity and Cancer examines the relationship between the gut microflora and its host. The aim is to provide a comprehensive view of the contribution of the gut flora to foreign compound metabolism in man and laboratory animals. The object has been to relate this bacterial metabolism to toxic events occurring in mammals and to consider the interrelationships of bacterial and mammalian metabolic pathways. The early chapters are set the scene and provide a background to the sections on metabolism of specific groups of compounds which follow. Subsequent chapters encompass the bacterial metabolism of both xenobiotics and food components, and concentrate on those reactions which have actual or potential toxicological and/or clinical importance. The concluding chapters provide assessments of the role of the gut flora in the etiology of cancer, in particular from the point of view of the formation of carcinogens, mutagens, and promotors within the large bowel.
  • New Protein Foods

    • 1st Edition
    • Aaron Altschul
    • English
    New Protein Foods, Volume 1: Technology Part A deals with protein methodologies in transforming protein sources into better or more useful sources. This volume is organized into 10 chapters that summarize possible sources of protein foods, such as legumes, meat, poultry products, and meat analogs. The introductory chapter presents an overview of the definition of food problem of the societies, the concept of affluent malnutrition, and the role of protein foods. This book then discusses the extent of controversy surrounding the issue of the amino acid fortification of cereals. It emphasizes rice, as it is a major staple in regions where fortification with amino acids should be of great benefit in eliminating malnutrition and improving the health and performance of the populations. This is followed by a discussion on protein fortification of various forms of breads and other products. Chapters 5-8 are devoted into the role of food proteins in human nutrition and the available technologies for their treatment. Emerging protein foods unique to Japan, including products of enzyme applications, are also discussed and their prospects are assessed. The concluding chapter presents underlying philosophies and problems as food and drug laws and regulations move to further definition of food products. It also presents the concern about food nutritive values in changing times. This book is an ideal source of information for food technologists and researchers who are interested with the evolving field of food proteins.
  • Genetic Factors In Nutrition

    • 1st Edition
    • Hector Bourges
    • English
    Genetic Factors in Nutrition presents the proceedings of the International Workshop on Genetic Factors in Nutrition, held in Teotihuacan, Mexico, on August 4-8, 1982. The papers explore the link between genetics and nutrition in the context of biological evolution. They provide examples of successful interaction between the two disciplines and consider some aspects of nutrient requirements, as well as utilization and consideration of methodological approaches to evaluate nutritional status, with an emphasis on malnutrition. Divided into six parts encompassing 29 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of genetics and nutrition from an evolutionary perspective, citing findings among Amerindians. It proceeds with a discussion of the potential application of genetic epidemiology in nutritional research, nutrient requirements and metabolism, the association between obesity and energy balance, and assessment of nutritional status. It also presents case studies of the correlation between genetics and nutrition before introducing the reader to genetic inheritance and growth in human groups suffering from chronic under-nutrition. Some data derived from nutrition longitudinal studies are analyzed to interpret the nutrition-genetics interaction. This book will be a valuable source of information for scientists and students in genetics and nutrition.
  • Analysis of Turbulent Boundary Layers

    • 1st Edition
    • Tuncer Cebeci
    • English
    Analysis of Turbulent Boundary Layers focuses on turbulent flows meeting the requirements for the boundary-layer or thin-shear-layer approximations. Its approach is devising relatively fundamental, and often subtle, empirical engineering correlations, which are then introduced into various forms of describing equations for final solution. After introducing the topic on turbulence, the book examines the conservation equations for compressible turbulent flows, boundary-layer equations, and general behavior of turbulent boundary layers. The latter chapters describe the CS method for calculating two-dimensional and axisymmetric laminar and turbulent boundary layers. This book will be useful to readers who have advanced knowledge in fluid mechanics, especially to engineers who study the important problems of design.
  • General Biophysics

    • 1st Edition
    • M Volkenstein
    • English
    General Biophysics, Volume I deals with the theoretical physics underlying biological phenomena and presents some pertinent experimental results. It explores the molecular foundations of biophysics, the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium systems and membrane transport, nerve impulses, and mechanochemical processes. Comprised of five chapters, this volume begins with an overview of molecular biophysics and the concept of molecular recognition, followed by a discussion of the interaction between antibodies and antigens, the primary processes that determine odor reception, and the importance of intercellular interactions in the existence and development of multicellular organisms. The next chapters explain how protein biosynthesis is regulated by molecules and how proteins are biosynthesized in eukaryotic cells, along with the application of thermodynamics to the analysis of biophysical problems and the coupling of chemical reactions near equilibrium. The reader is also introduced to the stability conditions of a steady state, the concept of entropy for an open system, the thermodynamics of the sodium pump, ionic equilibrium between sodium and potassium solutions separated by an active membrane, the conformational properties of membranes, and the general phenomenological theory of facilitated transport and the role of the carriers. The book concludes with a chapter on biological mechanochemical processes and their thermodynamics. This book is a valuable resource for physicists and biophysicists, graduate and postgraduate students having the necessary knowledge of physics, and anyone acquainted with proteins and nucleic acids.
  • Soil and Water

    Physical Principles and Processes
    • 1st Edition
    • Daniel Hillel
    • English
    Soil and Water: Physical Principles and Processes describes the physical principles governing the soil-water system and particularly the sequence of processes constituting the cycle of water in the field. Organized into two parts, with a total of 11 chapters, this book first discusses the basic physical properties of both soil and water. Some chapters deal with the state of water in soil and flow of water in saturated and unsaturated soil. The second part focuses on the aspects of field water cycle, starting from the entry of water into soil to the redistribution of soil moisture. It also describes the groundwater drainage, evaporation from bare-surface soils, uptake of soil water by plants, and the water and energy balance in the field. This work is meant for students and professional workers in soil physics and other related disciplines who need or might be interested in a fundamental and up-to-date exposition of soil physics.