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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.

  • Nutritional Toxicology V1

    • 1st Edition
    • John Hathcock
    • English
    Nutritional Toxicology, Volume I is a sample result that has risen from the need for increased toxicological awareness and understanding by nutritionists and other professionals concerned with food production, utilization, and health. This book aims to collate significant information regarding nutrition-associated toxicity problems. The book is divided into 13 chapters. The first two chapters deal with a general overview of nutritional toxicology. Some of the topics discussed in this section include the nutritional effects of toxicants, xenobiotics, toxic action, and biotoxification. The following subject areas discussed include vitamin excess and toxicity; trace elements and cardiovascular disease; and factors affecting the metabolism of nonessential metals in food. The subsequent chapters focus on problem areas including the hazards of foodborne bacterial infections and intoxications, mycotoxins and toxic stress metabolites, environmental contaminants in food, and hazards of compounds in human nutrition. The last section tackles the close relationship of toxicology with food, including their effects and applications. Some topics include food colors, ingredients, chemicals, and substances, as well as their effects on other organisms. This volume will be invaluable to students and professionals in nutrition and toxicology. Other people who studies nutrition, toxicology, and pharmacology will also benefit from this resource.
  • The Physiology of Insecta V5

    • 2nd Edition
    • Morris Rockstein
    • English
    The Physiology of Insecta, Second Edition, Volume V, is part of a multivolume treatise that brings together the known facts, the controversial material, and the many unresolved and unsettled problems of insect physiology. It features chapters written by the outstanding workers in each of a wide range of insect function areas. It is designed to meet a manifest need, which has arisen from the phenomenal increase in research activity on insects, for an authoritative, comprehensive reference work in insect physiology. The book begins with a discussion of insect nutrition. This is followed by separate chapters on the physiology of digestion and absorption; the factors affecting insect heart rates; the electrical properties of the insect heart; and the hemocytes of insects. Subsequent chapters cover the physiological role and the adaptive significance of the main biochemical constituents of insect hemolymph; salt and water balance in insects; defense reactions in insects; and microsomal mixed-function oxidases.
  • 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.
  • Fish As Food V3

    Processing: Part 1
    • 1st Edition
    • Georg Borgstrom
    • English
    Fish as Food, Volume III: Processing: Part I presents wise fish utilization and efficient processing. This volume is organized into 13 chapters that describe specific processing methods for specific fish product. The first four chapters of the book describe the theoretical and practical aspects, appraisal, and features of fish drying and dehydration, smoking, and salting. Core chapters deal with the production, properties, and shelf-life of some fish products, such as fish marinades, anchovies, dried seafood, whale products, and fish sausage and soluble. A chapter discusses happenings in technical and industrial aspects, focusing on the commercial developments of fisheries and fish processing in individual countries. The concluding chapter discusses the basic principles of fish meal industry, the important industrial methods, and the nutritive value in relation to manufacturing details of fish meal. Food scientists, technologists, researchers, and manufacturers will find this volume invaluable.
  • Physics and Biology

    • 1st Edition
    • M Volkenstein
    • English
    Physics and Biology demonstrates the unlimited possibilities of physics in explaining a variety of biological phenomena. It explores developments in biophysics and the most general problems of biological thermodynamics, information theory, and the physical theory of biological development and how they are all connected with the biophysics of complicated systems. Organized into 13 chapters, this volume begins with a historical overview of biophysics, with emphasis on molecular biophysics, followed by a discussion of the biophysics of the cell and of complicated systems. It then introduces the reader to the physical basis of theoretical chemistry and biologically functional substances, with emphasis on some concepts that are necessary for the understanding of molecular biophysics. The next chapters focus on some properties of biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids, how molecules interact with each other, and the peculiarities of macromolecules. More specifically, the molecules of organic substances, the chemical reaction involved in molecular interactions, van der Waals forces, and the role of hydrogen bonds in biological processes are considered. The final chapter analyzes the physicochemical basis of the functions of biological molecules. This book will be a valuable resource for physicists, biologists, chemists, natural scientists, and anyone who wants help in tackling some important biophysics-related problems in the contemporary natural sciences.
  • Invertebrate Pathology Noncommunicable Diseases

    • 1st Edition
    • Albert Sparks
    • English
    Invertebrate Pathology Noncommunicable Diseases discusses the taxonomic and phylogenetic aspects of invertebrate pathology, beginning with protozoans and progressing through the ascending taxonomic order to the chordates. The book is organized into seven chapters that cover the death and postmortem change; reaction to injury and wound repair; the physical and chemical injuries; the effects of venoms and biotoxins; the effects of ionizing radiation; and tumors and tumor-like growths. The opening chapter describes stages of events in death: necrosis; somatic death; gross and histological postmortem changes; and cellular depression and degeneration. The following chapter discusses the inflammatory response, called wound repair, to injury in invertebrates. This text describes the processes that occur after injury in many invertebrates and covers the general principles of physical, chemical, and biological injuries. Discussions on the effects of trauma, pressure and temperature changes, poisons, pesticides, detergents, venoms, biotoxins, and toxigenic algae are included. The book further examines the effects of ionizing radiation both on vertebrates and invertebrates, such as beta particles, gamma and X-rays, and neutrons. The concluding chapter describes the structures of tumor in invertebrates, focusing on hyperplasia or unusual proliferation of typical cellular components, in response to injury or parasitic invasion. With an ultimate objective to stimulate an acceleration of research effort in invertebrate pathology, the book is an invaluable source for invertebrate pathologists, immunologists, and parasitologists.
  • Power Plant Entrainment

    A Biological Assessment
    • 1st Edition
    • J.R. Schubel
    • English
    Power Plant Entrainment: A Biological Assessment presents the effects of the various stresses associated with entrainment. This book examines the results of the assessment to develop guidelines for the conceptual design and operation of power plants with once-through cooling systems to minimize the mortalities of entrained organisms. Organized into seven chapters, this book begins with an overview of the characteristics of steam electric plants, which consists of heat source, turbine, boiler, generator, and condenser system. This text then describes the use of biocides to control fouling in the intake and condenser systems of thermal electric power plants in aquatic environments. Other chapters consider the environmental studies of power plants. The final chapter deals with entrained organisms that range from microscopic bacteria and plankton to small fish. This book is a valuable resource for decision makers and their staffs in state and federal regulatory agencies responsible for setting design and operating criteria. Plant managers, scientists, and environmentalist will also find this book useful.
  • Insect Photoperiodism

    • 2nd Edition
    • Stanley D. Beck
    • English
    Insect Photoperiodism reviews the many aspects of photoperiodism, particularly in insects, emphasizing the concepts that serve to place the subject in a meaningful relationship to the whole of modern biology. Photoperiodism is the study of the adaptive mechanisms by which living systems exploit this source of temporal information. Organized into 12 chapters, this book begins by discussing the relationships between an endogenous behavioral rhythm and the exogenous photoperiod. Aside from behavioral activities, it also shows that some observable developmental events tend to occur at species-typical times of the day and to be photoperiodically regulated. Notably, photoperiod may exert either or both of two regulatory effects on insect development: growth rate effects or polymorphism. Furthermore, the characteristics of some of the principal physiological rhythms that have been studied; role of photoperiod in the control of diapauses; and the circadian functions and theoretical nature of biological clock are explored in this book.
  • Assessment of Immune status by the Leukocyte Adherence Inhibition Test

    • 1st Edition
    • D Thomson
    • English
    Assessment of Immune Status by the Leukocyte Adherence Inhibition Test reviews many aspects of the immune response and cellular requirements in leukocyte adherence inhibition (LAI). It compares the LAI methodology with alternative approaches, discusses the method that has been adopted to determine whether the LAI phenomenon measures a specific immune response, and explores how these phenomena fit in with and relate to the traditional immune response. Organized into three parts encompassing 15 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the hemocytometer assay, the immunological basis and applications of hemocytometer LAI, the immune response as assayed by the test tube method, and the microplate assay. It then discusses cellular populations in LAI; measurements of humoral antitumor immunity; clinical application of LAI in breast cancer, prostate cancer, and rheumatic diseases; the biology of LAI and its response to human cancer; and cellular and pharmacologic aspects of LAI. It also compares microplate LAI with other in vitro assays of cell-mediated immunity, as well as tumor immunity in animal models and human cancer. Both beginning and experienced investigators involved in all aspects of immunologic research will find this book extremely useful.
  • 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.