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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 Mycoplasmas

    • 1st Edition
    • Paul F. Smith
    • English
    The Biology of Mycoplasmas discusses the origins, structure, significance, and dynamics of reproduction and growth of mycoplasmas. It also explains the relationship of mycoplasmas to bacteria and bacterial L-forms as well as to its chemical and physical environment. The book compares mycoplasmas with other group of microorganisms. In this way, it explains the rationale of separating this group from other groups. Aside from describing the organism and its growth and relationships, the book also explains the pathogenicity and significance of mycoplasmas as cells. It also discusses the immunological response to this group of organisms. This book will be invaluable to general biological scientist as well as to undergraduate and graduate students specializing in biology, microbiology, and other related sciences.
  • Power Plants

    Effects on Fish and Shellfish Behavior
    • 1st Edition
    • Charles Hocutt
    • English
    Power Plants: Effects on Fish and Shellfish Behavior reviews the effects of power plant construction, operation, and maintenance on the behavior of fish and important shellfish populations such as blue crabs, crayfish, lobsters, penaeid shrimp, and bivalve molluscs. The emphasis is on the link between power plant design and fish aggregation phenomena. The effects of biocides and temperature on fish behavior are also examined. This book is comprised of 13 chapters and begins with a discussion on the economic relevance of power plants and their environmental impact on fish and shellfish populations. The potential of power generating facilities to act as a physical stimulus for fish aggregation is then considered. The effect of parameters associated with power plants, such as temperature and biocides, on fish behavior is the subject of subsequent chapters. The ecological and behavioral characteristics influencing entrainment of fish eggs and young at cooling water intakes are analyzed. This monograph is oriented to those involved in assessment of power plants on aquatic communities, including consultants, state and federal regulators, and electrical utility personnel, as well as researchers in physiology, ecology, and ethology.
  • Intracellular Transport

    • 1st Edition
    • Katherine Brehme Warren
    • English
    Intracellular Transport, Volume 5 brings together a seemingly disparate group of scientists who offer their perspectives on the processes of and mechanisms underlying intracellular transport. Organized into 14 chapters, this volume begins with a review of some of the viewpoints about membrane structure and the unit membrane concept, including the so-called pauci-molecular theory of cell membrane structure advanced by Danielli and Davson. The next chapters focus on intracellular potentials, the localization of adenine nucleoside phosphatase activity, pinocytosis in amoeba, the brush border of cells, and the transport of gamma-aminobutyric acid. The reader is also introduced to pattern and rhythm; diffusion and reaction coupling; compartmental analysis and residence time distributions; and parametric pumping. The remaining chapters explore intracellular transport fluxes; theoretical aspects of permeability transport; rotating helices and contractile mechanisms; and the movements of cell membranes. This book is a valuable source of information for cellular biologists concerned with nature's evolved processing plants and engineers involved in the analysis and design of chemical processing plants.
  • Eucaryotic Gene Regulation

    • 1st Edition
    • Richard Axel
    • English
    Eukaryotic Gene Regulation covers the aspects and mechanisms of gene regulation of selected eukaryotes, such as yeast, Drosophila, and insect. This book is organized into eight parts, encompassing 52 chapters. The majority of the chapters are presented in an experimental manner containing an abstract, methods, results and discussion, and conclusion. This book first gives a short overview of the evolutionary role of interspersion in eukaryotic genes. It then presents considerable chapters on control of gene expression in yeast; gene mutation and isolation; structure and function; and analysis. Part III focuses on genetic and DNA sequence analysis in Drosophila. It includes discussions on allelic complementation and transvection, genetic organization, histone gene, and gene transcription. Part IV examines cell lineage; gene expression and sequences; and protein synthesis of insects, sea urchin, and mammalian cells. This is followed by discussions on structure and expression of specific eukaryotic genes from chicken, rat, rabbit, and human. Topics on the transfer of genetic information within and between cells and the structure and function of chromosome are significantly considered in Parts VI and VII. Genes evaluated in these sections include heavy chain immunoglobulin, light chain, beta-globin, and dihydrofolate reductase. Furthermore, this book describes the in vitro transcription and the factors involved; internal organization and mechanism of assembly of nucleosome; and chromatin structure. The concluding section focuses on aspects of viral genome expression including gene regulation, synthesis, processing, and alternative RNA splicing. Research biologists, geneticists, scientists, teachers, and students will greatly benefit from this book.
  • Molecular Cytology V1

    The Cell Cycle
    • 1st Edition
    • Jean Brachet
    • English
    Molecular Cytology presents an integrated version about the morphology and biochemistry of the cell. This two-volume book focuses on the dynamic aspects of cytology and on the nucleocytoplasmic interactions in unicellular organisms and eggs. The first chapter covers the history of cell, cytology, and nucleic acids, as well as the uniformity and diversity in cell. The book then discusses various methods used in cell biology, including optical, cytochemical, biological, biochemical, and biophysical techniques. It also examines the activities of cytoplasm and nucleus during interphase. The final chapter describes various phases of the cell cycle, the structure of metaphase chromosomes, the molecular organization of the mitotic apparatus, and the cytokinesis, with emphasis on the main mitotic abnormalities. With the aim of linking the morphology and biochemistry of the cell, this book is intended for advanced students, research workers, biochemists, and cytologists who wish to broaden their knowledge in cell.
  • Diseases of Sugarcane

    Major Diseases
    • 1st Edition
    • C. Ricaud + 3 more
    • English
    An extensive volume of Sugarcane Diseases and their World Distribution (Vol. I) was published by Elsevier under the auspices of the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists in 1961. The present volume was intended to be a new edition of the book, but so many changes were required that a new book was needed. Only three chapters have been kept with slight amendments. The other chapters have been completely re-written. In fact with changes in importance of major diseases, four diseases previously treated have been left out; on the other hand, three new topics have been included in the new book, two new diseases and a chapter on sugarcane quarantine.The first chapter gives a brief account of the anatomy, morphology and physiology of the sugarcane plant to facilitate terminology and especially for a better appreciation of the effect of disease on the growth of the crop. Diseases are extensively treated as in Volume I, with a very good description of their symptoms and variation under different conditions and severity, all well illustrated by black and white figures and in a set of colour plates at the end of the book which will prove of valuable help for identification. The causal agents of the diseases are described giving synonyms, cultural characteristics, isolation methods and present knowledge on race variation, an aspect on which there has been quite an advance in knowledge since Volume I was published. New techniques of diagnosis are also given. Advances in research on the diseases over the last 25 years are well covered and supported by an extensive bibliography at the end of each chapter.The book has been edited by people having first hand experience in the field and in research on these diseases. Authors have been selected from among the most knowledgeable all over the sugar cane world, especially with due regard to the importance of the different diseases in their countries.The book should prove of immense value to those concerned with practical aspects of plant disease control in the field: pathologists, agronomists and crop specialists, including consultants, to those concerned with quarantine of the crop, for university lectures and students, and research scientists.In a pre-publication review D.J. Heinz and S.A. Ferreira of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association stated: ``Much has changed and new information generated since the original version of this book was published in 1961. This new edition incorporates most of it, providing both the laboratory and field sugarcane pathologist a complete and authoritative guide to the major sugarcane diseases of the world. It is the best single book available on sugarcane diseases.''
  • Inulin and Inulin-containing Crops

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 3
    • A. Fuchs
    • English
    The topics dealt with in this book cover a broad range of disciplines, such as agronomy and processing; analysis; chemistry and non-food applications; biochemistry; microbiology and molecular biology; and food and medical applications. Although emphasis is put on inulin and inulin-containing crops, the scope of the book is much wider, encompassing other fructans and fructan-containing plants, and even microorganisms producing and/or degrading fructans. It also deals with the possibiltiy of inulin-containing crops as alternatives in agricultural practice.This volume is recommended to those working in such diverse fields as agronomy and process technology, food science, analytical and organic chemistry, biochemistry, biology, microbiology and molecular biology, and medical sciences, as well as to industries involved in the research and development of carbohydrate-based novel chemicals.
  • Idiotypes

    • 1st Edition
    • Morris Reichin
    • English
    Idiotypes documents the proceedings of an International Conference on Idiotypes held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, October 20-23, 1985. The aims of the conference were to gather active investigators in the study of idiotypes; to assess progress in the field; and to explore directions for future research. The papers presented at the conference cover a wide range of subjects. Several papers deal with defining protein and DNA sequences which determine idiotypes. Evidence points to germ line genes encoding the V region structures which underlie idiotypy. Another subtheme which concerns several contributions is the occurrence of dominant idiotypes in induced immune responses (e.g., arsonate and lysozyme) and autoimmunity (e.g., thyroglobulin and rheumatoid factors). The presence of such dominant idiotypes is discussed from several viewpoints, but the recurrent theme is that such dominance is a manifestation of a selection process inherent in the idiotypic network. Two papers deal with idiotypic structures in T cells: on the one hand, identifying idiotypes on T helper cells and, on the other, I-J and Iat related structures which tightly govern cellular interactions in the evolution of an immune response. Network interactions through autoanti-idiotypic responses are shown to be associated with the effects on the specificity of both induced and naturally occurring immune responses. Autoanti-idiotypic responses are also shown to be correlated with the regulation of the anti-DNA response in human systemic lupus erythematosus. These data pointed to a role of the idiotype network in immune regulation.
  • Handbook of Food and Beverage Stability

    • 1st Edition
    • Bozzano G Luisa
    • English
    FROM THE PREFACE: Fortunately, chemistry--the root of all life processes--is becoming better understood and more accessible. A strong synergism between the chemical, agricultural, and related sciences is highly desirable. This handbook attempts to provide in easily accessible detail up-to-date information relevant to the stability of foods and beverages. Highly qualified scientists have compiled an extraordinary amount of data on the chemical, biochemical, and microbiological stability, along with sensory aspects, of selected foods and beverages. These data have been distilled and are presented mostly in tabular form, with a minimum of commentary whenever possible.****A total of 17 chapters (10 on food, 7 on beverages) by renowned experts in their particular fields from the United States, Europe, and Japan present a wealth of food and beverage stability information in handbook format. In particular, the chapters on fish and shellfish, cheese, and meat are remarkable in presenting data not readily available in an easily digestible form.****This handbook, encompassing as it does aging, shelf life, and stability--in short, the knowledge necessary to ensure preservation of our food supply--should help to bring about the above-mentioned synergism between chemical, agricultural, and related sciences. It is expected to fill a need, especially through the convenience of its tabular presentations.
  • 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.