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Elsevier

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.

  • Practical Tissue Culture Applications

    • 1st Edition
    • Karl Maramorosch
    • English
    Practical Tissue Culture Applications contains the proceedings of a conference held at the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases in Nairobi, Kenya, August 24-29, 1978. This book aims to describe some of the more important practical applications of in vitro techniques in a simple, easily understandable manner. Organized into three sections, with a total of 27 chapters, this book provides critical reviews, describes various techniques, and presents complete step-by-step methodology. It emphasizes applications pertaining to the health and economy in developing nations. In particular, this book discusses the pitfalls in preparing general purpose culture media, balanced salt solutions, and the procedures followed in the development of modern in vitro techniques. It also describes techniques for cultivation of vertebrate cells and organs; plant tissue culture and its numerous applications; and electron microscopy of cultured cell. This book explains as well virus isolation and identification in cell cultures, mass production of cells for vaccines, and use of cultured cells for drug evaluation. The applications of in vitro techniques to parasitology are explored in numerous chapters of this book. Considering the potential benefit of application of in vitro techniques, this reference material will be of interest both in developed and developing countries.

  • Prokaryotes

    • 1st Edition
    • Bozzano G Luisa
    • English
    Forms part of the three-volume set, Pathogenesis & Host Specificity in Plant Diseases, and deals with pathogenesis and host specificity in plant pathogenic prokaryotes.Pathogen... & Host Specificity in Plant Diseases as a whole is the first complete publication covering the mechanism of host specificity and pathogenesis in plant diseases, bringing together all knowledge about plant pathology into one fully comprehensive source. The main aim of the work is to compile, critically analyze and correlate the information available on all aspects of pathogenesis and host specificity in important plant-pathogen systems representing different types of parasitism and symbiotic, mutualistic and antagonistic associations. Over 100 authors have contributed state-of-the-art chapters, all of whom are internationally recognised as leading experts in their fields. Subject matter is clear and readable throughout and is supported by clear diagrams, tables and photographs.Each individual volume is available separately or in a three-volume set.

  • Perspectives In Membrane Biology

    • 1st Edition
    • Sergio Estrada-O
    • English
    Perspectives in Membrane Biology is consists of the proceeding of the first Meeting on Perspectives in Membrane Biology held at Oaxaca, Mexico, on January 14-18, 1974. Organized into seven parts, the book first discusses the structure and plasticity of biological membranes. It then explains the ion and metabolite distribution, as well as the conservation of energy and light mediated phenomena in membranes. It also elucidates the role of membranes in genome expression, the association between membrane and immunological response, and the reconstitution of specific membrane functions.

  • Growth, Nutrition, and Metabolism of Cells In Culture V3

    • 1st Edition
    • George Rothblat
    • English
    Growth, Nutrition, and Metabolism of Cells in Culture, Volume 3, focuses on a number of specific, timely areas of research that make use of cell and tissue culture. The major theme of this volume is growth and its regulation in animal cells. The book includes studies on the role of growth factors in cell culture systems; the effects of cyclic nucleotides in cell proliferation in culture; metabolic regulation during the cell cycle; and the role of the cell surface in growth and metabolic regulation. There are also separate chapters on aspects of abnormal cell growth and metabolism; DNA repair; genetic analysis using cell fusion techniques; the growth of vascular cells in culture for atherosclerosis research; the culture of haploid vertebrate cells for genetic analysis of cell function; data on haploid cell culture; and the value of using cell cultures to test for the possible toxicity of various pharmacologic agents.

  • Agricultural Policy Formation in the European Community

    The Birth of Milk Quotas and CAP Reform
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 4
    • M. Petit + 5 more
    • English
    Understanding why agricultural policies of developed countries are what they are is critical on several accounts for the developed countries as a group and for individual countries. It is important because the inter-dependencies among national agricultural policies are so numerous, as illustrated by the ongoing agricultural trade confrontation between the United States and the European Community; confrontation that is vividly expressed in the current subsidy war between the two trading blocs. The stakes for developing countries are also very high because the domestic agricultural policies of these two giants have a considerable influence on the international markets of major agricultural commodities.Studying why policies are what they are is an important research issue: legitimate in its own right on scientific grounds and relevant for any institution dealing with agricultural policies. Thus, it is only fitting that an international research institute dealing with food policy should analyze developed country policies and actions. This book is a further development of a research report by Michel Petit, ``Determinants of Agricultural Policies in the United States and the European Community'', published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and is written by a team of eminent European scholars from a variety of organisations called together by Michel Petit and working under his leadership. Concentrating on the policy process in the European Community, this research provides useful insights on the influence of domestic, economic and political factors in shaping the positions of member countries in Community negotiations and on the process leading to a Community policy decision.

  • Vehicle Traction Mechanics

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 3
    • R.N. Yong + 2 more
    • English
    The fundamental problem in the study of vehicle mobility is the development of traction between the vehicle and the supporting terrain. The mechanics of energy transfer will essentially control the final performance of the surficial machine. Determining and predicting the capability of a particular piece of machinery to traverse successfully a specific piece of terrain is very complex, particularly as the characteristics and properties of different types of terrain cover vary considerably, as do the many types of vehicle and their running gear.The material that forms the basis of this book has been gathered over many years of study both in the laboratory and in the field. It studies vehicle traction mechanics from the viewpoint of the interaction between the vehicle and the ground surface. The types of machines covered include earth-moving, forestry, agricultural, and construction machines. In addition, the mechanisms involved in the development of traction and the working of the terrain through cultivation, construction and surface disturbances are examined. The book also addresses the problems of off-road mobility and terrain trafficability, especially from the terrain-support and terrain interaction points of view. It is the authors' aim that the book will provide the reader with the ability to both analyze and predict the traction capability of his proposed machinery, and also to anticipate the kinds of reactions that will occur in the ground and at the ground surface.

  • Biological Monitoring of Marine Pollutants

    • 1st Edition
    • F. John Vernberg
    • English
    Biological Monitoring of Marine Pollutants presents the proceedings of a symposium on ""Pollution and Physiology of Marine Organisms"" held in Milford, Connecticut, on November 7-9, 1980. It looks at the physiological effects of pollutants, such as synthetic organic compounds, petroleum hydrocarbons, and heavy metals, on marine organisms ranging from fishes and shrimps to barnacles, crabs, mussels, polychaetes, and microalgae. Comprised of four sections encompassing 22 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the effects of synthetic organics, such as pesticides on marine organisms like the mysid shrimps Mysidopsis bahia. It proceeds with a discussion of the toxic effects of several chlorophenols on the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio; how heavy metals, including silver, copper, cadmium, zinc, and mercury, affect species such as the polychaete Neanthes virens and the caridean shrimp Palaemonetes pugio; monitoring of water quality based on the biochemical and physiological responses of marine organisms to pollutants; and the effects of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on fishes from an ecological standpoint. Marine scientists, ecologists, and students will find this book extremely useful.

  • Water Activity and Food

    • 1st Edition
    • John Troller
    • English
    Water Activity and Food explores the role of water activity in the water relations of microorganisms and in food processing, packaging, and storage. It reviews the literature and provides numerous examples demonstrating the use of water activity to predict the reactions of microorganisms or the stability of food components. It also highlights cases where water activity is not a reliable predictor of events and considers some interesting interactions with other environmental parameters. Comprised of 11 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of water in foods and solutions, water activity values for foods, and water relations of enzyme activity. It then discusses lipid oxidation, enzyme reactions and non-enzymatic browning, and several other food-related factors. The reader is also introduced to water relations of microbial growth; the effects of water on microbial survival; the spoilage and preservation of foods at various levels of water activity; the water relations of food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella and toxigenic molds; the importance of water activity in non-microbiological aspects of food processing and storage; and the influence of atmospheric relative humidity on sanitation and the protection of food products. This book is an important source of information for researchers in food microbiology and microbial water relations.

  • The Viruses

    Biochemical, Biological, and Biophysical Properties
    • 1st Edition
    • F Burnet
    • English
    The Viruses: Biochemical, Biological, and Biophysical Properties, Volume 2: Plant and Bacterial Viruses deals with the biochemistry, biology, and biophysics of plant viruses. The viruses considered are tobacco and turnip yellow mosaic viruses; tobacco ringspot virus; potato virus X; and bacterial viruses, such as lysogenic bacteria and phages. This volume is organized into 10 chapters and begins with a discussion of the tobacco mosaic virus and other plant viruses, emphasizing the process of infection and synthesis and general features of the host-virus system. The next chapters focus on the purification and protein components of plant viruses; the chemical correlates of biological variability in viruses; and biological cycles of plant viruses in insect vectors. This book describes the bacteriophage, which is considered as a model virus in comparison with typical microorganisms and cellular organelles. It also introduces the reader to the kinetics of phage reproduction; the intracellular multiplication of bacterial viruses; and the process of lysogeny in bacteria. The book concludes with a chapter on irradiation of phage with ultraviolet light, decay of incorporated radiophosphorus (""suicide""), and ionizing radiation (usually X-rays). Biologists, botanists, biochemists, biophysicists, and microbial physiologists will find this book a rich source of information on plant and bacterial viruses.

  • Herbivorous Insects

    Host-seeking Behavior and mechanisms
    • 1st Edition
    • Sami Ahmad
    • English
    Herbivorous Insects: Host-Seeking Behavior and Mechanisms addresses mechanisms of searching behavior leading ultimately to host location of herbivorous insects. It is divided into four sections, wherein the first two sections deal with neurophysiology and the diversity of behavioral induction cues. The third section covers the searching mechanisms as affected by insects' breadth of diet. The last part examines the evolutionary analysis of the behavioral and physiological adaptations in insect/host plant relations. This book starts with an introduction to the chemical sensory system as it relates to host selection in general. This is followed by considerable discussions on host-seeking behavior and allied patterns in behavior. This text also includes the study of oviposition behavior in butterflies belonging to Papilionidae. The third section presents host selection and colonization by three insects within the saprophage-predator continuum, namely, Hylurgopinus rufipes, Scolytus multistriatus, and Pissodes strobi. The behaviors by which certain oligophagous insects locate and select food plants are also considered. The concluding part addresses the unifying theme and the diversity of responses of phytophagous insects to plants. The book provides direction toward developing a unifying theme and improving the ability to unravel the complexities of insect/plant interactions. Behaviorists, ecologists, entomologists, evolutionary biologists, and physiologists will find this book invaluable.

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