Skip to main content

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.

  • Biological Response Modifiers

    New Approaches to Disease Intervention
    • 1st Edition
    • Paul Torrence
    • English
    Biological Response Modifiers: New Approaches to Disease Intervention focuses on biological response modifiers (BRMs) and the ways they provide novel approaches to disease control. It examines how BRMs act through an organism's own biological response mechanisms and how their mechanisms of action can be utilized to develop new modalities of chemotherapy. Organized into 15 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of specific agents and approaches to biological therapy, the basic concepts of immunity, and BRM screening. It then discusses interferons and their immunoregulatory functions; mechanism of interferon action; how nucleic acids and polynucleotides regulate the immune system; clinical applications of thymosins and other thymic hormones; the antibacterial and antineoplastic properties of tuftsin; and production and characterization of tumor necrosis factor. The reader is also introduced to detection and activity of colony-stimulating factor; the role of neuroendocrine hormones in the immune system; chalones and other endogenous inhibitors of cell proliferation; biochemistry of lymphotoxins; muramyl peptides as immunopharmacologica... response modifiers; biological activities of transfer factor in leukocyte dialysates; and requirements for activation and growth of human lymphocytes. This book is a valuable resource for immunologists, clinicians, biochemists, and organic/medicinal chemists.
  • Quality Control in the Food Industry V2

    • 1st Edition
    • S Herschdoerfer
    • English
    Quality Control in the Food Industry, Volume 2 focuses on quality control in the food industry, emphasizing the controllable factors that affect the quality of the finished product, including the selection of raw materials, processing, packaging, storage, and distribution. The book describes the principles of quality control in industries such as soft drinks; dairy products; flour and bread; flour confectionery; meat and fish, and their products; and edible fats and oils. This volume is organized into seven chapters and begins with an overview of the various uses of water in the food industry, along with standards and methods of treatment of wastewaters produced by food manufacturers. The book then systematically discusses the quality tests in the dairy industry; quality control for flour and flour confectionery, including pastry and cakes; and quality control methods for manufactured meat products. The book also explains the quality control in the fish industry, and then concludes with a chapter on quality assessment for edible fats and oils and fat products, such as margarine; salad oils; frying fats and shortenings; mayonnaise and salad dressings; and creams. This book is a valuable source of information for food scientists and technologists; managers in the food industry; and students.
  • Forage in Ruminant Nutrition

    • 1st Edition
    • Dennis Minson
    • English
    Forage in Ruminant Nutrition is the 12th text in a series of books about animal feeing and nutrition. The series is intended to keep readers updated on the developments occurring in these fields. As it is apparent that ruminant animals are important throughout the world because of the meat and milk they produce, knowledge about the feeds available to ruminants must also be considered for increased production and efficiency. This text provides information that readers will find considerably invaluable about forage feeds, such as grass, legumes, hay, and straw. The book is composed of 16 chapters that feature the following concepts of ruminant forage feeding: • composition of ruminant products and the nutrients required for maintenance and reproduction; • energy and nutrient available in forage: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, copper, iodine, zinc, manganese, selenium, and cobalt; • intake of forage by housed ruminants; • grazing; • forage digestibility; • protein in ruminant nutrition; • protein and other nutrient deficiencies. This volume will be an invaluable reference for students and professionals in agricultural chemistry and grassland and animal husbandry researches.
  • The Behavior of Fish and Other Aquatic Animals

    • 1st Edition
    • David Mostofsky
    • English
    The Behavior of Fish and Other Aquatic Animals provides a comprehensive discussion of the behavior of fish and other aquatic animals. It aims to fulfill the need for published materials that can responsibly depict the status quo of existing knowledge, and that can serve to educate the scientist seeking an organized presentation focused on biobehavioral issues and techniques. The book begins by exploring symbiotic relationships in fishes that range from broad multispecific types that have little or no intimacy between symbionts to intimate mutualistic relationships. It then presents studies on the feasibility of using teleost fish as subjects in behavioral toxicology experiments; the visual behavior of fishes; the role of the teleost telencephalon in behavior; and the auditory systems of fishes. The remaining chapters cover the behavior of turtles in land, sea, and fresh waters; visually guided behavior in turtles; the gas bubble disease of fish; and the advantages and limitations of acoustic telemetry, which has been used to obtain data from animals ranging in size from hatchling sea turtles to large tuna and sharks.
  • Cell Biology of Physarum and Didymium V1

    Organisms, Nucleus, and Cell Cycle
    • 1st Edition
    • Henery Aldrich
    • English
    Cell Biology of Physarum and Didymium, Volume I: Organisms, Nucleus, and Cell Cycle presents important experimental research on Physarum and Didymium for developmental and cellular studies. This book is organized into four parts, encompassing 12 chapters that summarize the taxonomy, biological activities, genetics, and cell cycle of these organisms. The opening part covers two chapters on morphology, taxonomy, phylogeny, biosystematics, and evolutionary implications of Physarum and Didymium species. This is followed by discussions on the biological aspects of these species. These include periodic events of the mitotic cycle in Physarum polycephalum. The general characteristics of chemoreception at the membrane level using plasmodium as a model organism, as well as the structure and motility of plasmodium, are also included. The third part of the book focuses on genetic analysis of plasmodium development and the discovery of techniques for the genetic manipulation of P. polycephalum. Progress in the genetic analysis of other processes is summarized. The concluding part examines the morphological evolution of the nucleus during the mitotic cycle together with the results from ultracytochemical and radioautographic studies. It also includes a discussion on DNA organization and replication in P. polycephalum. Finally, the synthesis and degradation of RNA in Physarum and the relationship of these biochemical processes to mitotic cycle and differentiation are tackled in the concluding chapter. The book will serve as a frequent, single reference source to brief cell biologists on the primary research on Physarum and Didymium. It will be a good source for graduate students in cell biology, and perhaps in other graduate courses.
  • Structure and Metabolic Mechanisms

    • 1st Edition
    • Walter Lovenberg
    • English
    Iron-Sulfur Proteins, Volume III: Structure and Metabolic Mechanisms focuses on numerous advances that have been made in the vital role of iron-sulfur proteins in biological processes. Of the 10 chapters in this book, five chapters present advances in biochemical areas and the other five chapters discuss some of the elegant physical studies made. This book begins with a description of the nitrogenase gene and the molecular mechanism of this complex enzyme. It then centers on the role of iron-sulfur proteins in mammalian mitochondrial function, as well as on the mechanism of biosynthesis and the function of these proteins in formate metabolism. Different approaches that have yielded advances in the understanding of the iron-sulfur clusters are also shown. This book also gives an in-depth discussion on the theoretical aspects of the redox properties of iron-sulfur proteins.
  • Introduction to Forest Genetics

    • 1st Edition
    • Jonathan Wright
    • English
    Introduction to Forest Genetics examines some of the basic genetic concepts typically used in forestry and tree improvement studies, including Mendelian and population genetics. It also describes techniques that are generally useful in tree improvement work, including individual tree selection and breeding, provenance testing, species and racial hybridization, and introduction of exotics. Organized into 19 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of forest genetics and problems associated with forest genetics. It then discusses concepts from basic genetics, including chromosome structure and function; DNA and RNA; nongenetic inheritance; and genotype versus phenotype. Other chapters focus on inbreeding: complete elimination of homozygous recessive trees; mutation and migration; and controlled pollination and vegetative propagation. The book also covers the establishment and measurement of test plantations; general principles and methods of selective breeding; choice of breeding method and type of seed orchard; heritability and genetic gain; geographic variation in Scotch pine and American trees; species and racial hybridization; chromosome studies; and polyploidy and haploidy breeding. This book is a valuable resource for foresters, professional tree breeders, and those with or without previous training in genetics or forestry.
  • Immune Surveillance

    • 1st Edition
    • Richard T. Smith
    • English
    Immune Surveillance deals with the issues regarding tumor immunology and surveillance, in which the central theme is all about the life span of the mammalian host that is depleted by the environment with mutagenic agents and solutions. The book is divided into six chapters. It includes discussions on the organization and modulation of cell membrane receptors, as well as the origin and expression of membrane antigens. It also covers the topics on the triggering mechanisms for and effector mechanisms activated by the cellular recognition. These topics analyze and evaluate alternatives for the recognition and destruction mechanisms in the knowledge of cell cooperation and requirements for immune recognition. A chapter provides discourse on a solution for the paradox of thriving tumors based on the demonstrable in vitro host immunity. Another discusses the generation of antibody diversity and the theory of self-tolerance. The last chapter explains the evaluation of the evidence for immune surveillance. This reference will be invaluable to those who specialize in immunology.
  • Introduction to Food Science and Technology

    • 1st Edition
    • George Stewart
    • English
    Introduction to Food Science and Technology focuses on the importance of food science and food technology to humans. This book discusses the total sequence of operations in food technology, which includes the selection of raw materials, processing, preservation, and distribution. Comprised of nine chapters, this monograph starts with an overview of the processing and storage of food. This book examines how the food processor often controls the producer’s operations by demanding a raw product of a certain type in order to satisfy a particular processing and consumer demand. Other chapters consider the primary concern of food scientists and technologists in the processing and preservation of raw agricultural products as nutritious and stable foods of acceptable quality. The final chapter deals with the variety of jobs available for those trained in the biological, physical, and behavioral sciences and their applications to food processing and food preservation. Food technologists, chemists, and scientists will find this book extremely useful.
  • Metabolic Inhibitors V4

    A Comprehensive Treatise
    • 1st Edition
    • R Hochster
    • English
    Metabolic Inhibitors: A Comprehensive Treatise, Volume IV reviews developments in studies of inhibition of metabolic and enzymic processes ranging from photosynthesis and blood clotting to protein synthesis, fatty acid metabolism, and phospholipid metabolism. The book also explores the inhibition of specific enzyme reactions, such as amino acid activation, amino acid hydroxylation, and cyclic AMP formation. Organized into nine chapters, this volume begins with an overview of allosteric inhibition and inhibitors, and then discusses amino acid hydroxylase inhibitors. The reader is also introduced to inhibitors and activators of enzymes that regulate the cellular concentration of cyclic AMP. In particular, the book describes the role of lipids in the activation of adenyl cyclase by hormones; modification of adenyl cyclase in various physiological and pathological conditions; and synthesis of glycerophosphatides as well as phospho- and glycosphingolipids. This book is a valuable source of information for biochemists and medical research workers as well as virologists, microbiologists, plant physiologists, and agronomists.