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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.

  • Avian Immunology

    • 2nd Edition
    • Bernd Kaspers + 1 more
    • English
    The second edition of Avian Immunology provides an up-to-date overview of the current knowledge of avian immunology. From the ontogeny of the avian immune system to practical application in vaccinology, the book encompasses all aspects of innate and adaptive immunity in chickens. In addition, chapters are devoted to the immunology of other commercially important species such as turkeys and ducks, and to ecoimmunology summarizing the knowledge of immune responses in free-living birds often in relation to reproductive success. The book contains a detailed description of the avian innate immune system, encompassing the mucosal, enteric, respiratory and reproductive systems. The diseases and disorders it covers include immunodepressive diseases and immune evasion, autoimmune diseases, and tumors of the immune system. Practical aspects of vaccination are examined as well. Extensive appendices summarize resources for scientists including cell lines, inbred chicken lines, cytokines, chemokines, and monoclonal antibodies. The world-wide importance of poultry protein for the human diet, as well as the threat of avian influenza pandemics like H5N1 and heavy reliance on vaccination to protect commercial flocks makes this book a vital resource. This book provides crucial information not only for poultry health professionals and avian biologists, but also for comparative and veterinary immunologists, graduate students and veterinary students with an interest in avian immunology.
  • 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.
  • Control Mechanisms in the Expression of Cellular Phenotypes

    • 1st Edition
    • Helen Padykula
    • English
    Control Mechanisms in the Expression of Cellular Phenotypes documents the proceedings of a symposium of the International Society for Cell Biology. In progressively widening investigations, phenotypic expression has come to a critical focus not only in the developmental biology of animal and plant cells, but also in such fields as immunology, cytogenetics, enzymatic regulation, and tumor biology. It was for this reason that the present symposium was organized as a means of bringing together investigators of widely different backgrounds. The contributions made by researchers at the symposium include studies on gene expression in allophenic mice; the regulation of uridine 5-monophosphate synthesis in human diploid cells; the melanotic expression of embryonic pigment cells; and clonal cell lines of neurons. Other papers deal with biochemical genetics studies on mammalian cells in vitro; embryos from somatic plant cells; somatic cell hybrids as tools for genetic studies in man; and utilization of somatic cells for genetic analysis.
  • 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.
  • Coelenterate Biology

    Reviews and New Perspectives
    • 1st Edition
    • Leonard Muscatine
    • English
    Coelenterate Biology: Reviews and New Perspectives highlights research areas in which coelenterates are exceptionally useful and interesting experimental animals. It outlines the state of knowledge in coelenterate research and draws attention to some of the challenging problems that are amenable for study. Coelenterates offer valuable material for many levels of inquiry—from the population and organismic to the cellular, subcellular, and molecular levels. They are especially attractive animals for studies in developmental biology and behavior. The book begins by discussing cnidarians histology, focusing on the light and electron microscopy of cnidarian tissues. There are separate chapters on the skeletal system of cnidarians; the morphology, functions, and chemistry of nematocytes; and a few aspects of the enormous subject of cnidarian development. The subsequent chapters deal with cnidarian neurobiology, behavior, locomotion, flotation, and dispersal; experimental studies on algae-cnidarian symbioses; and coelenterate bioluminescence. The book concludes with a discussion of the systems of coordination and nervous system of ctenophores.
  • Trap Responses of Flying Insects

    The Influence of Trap Design on Capture Efficiency
    • 1st Edition
    • R. C. Muirhead-Thompson
    • English
    Insect trapping is a basic field research tool for many biologists, whether they are studying insect pests, disease vectors or insect ecology for its own sake. Any field entomologist contemplating a new insect trapping program or looking to improve or develop an existing scheme will benefit from this broad review of flying insect traps, in which the author draws on a wide variety of methods used by different research projects from all over the world. Over the years a great many traps have been developed and endlessly modified to suit particular species, habitats, and research requirements. In virtually every case the design of the trap interacts with the specific behavior of the insects involved to bias trap efficiency. In addition, the limited dialogue between workers in different subject disciplines and habitats has caused a shortage of new information available to field entomologists as a whole.
  • The Origin and Domestication of Cultivated Plants

    • 1st Edition
    • C. Barigozzi
    • English
    This book consists of the proceedings of a symposium organized by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome. The proceedings are unusual in that it is a rare event to see archaeologists and geneticists coming together to discuss the connection between historical facts and biological phenomena. The aim of the symposium was to discuss the origin of some important cultivated plants (wheat, maize, barley, oat, legumes and fruit trees) not only in relation to genetical mechanisms but also as a complex of historical facts recognizable through archaeological research.This international Meeting based on interdisciplinary concepts, met with a prompt and positive reaction from all those specialists invited to attend. The book itself is an unparalleled contribution to the interdisciplinary knowledge on the origin of crop plants and agriculture.
  • Microcirculation as Related to Shock

    • 1st Edition
    • David Shepro
    • English
    Microcirculation as Related to Shock contains the proceedings of the 1967 Conference on the Microcirculation as Related to Shock held at Boston University. Contributors address reduced blood flow in the microcirculation and microcirculatory hypoperfusion as the focal point of shock. They also review significant progress in shock research, basic cardiovascular physiology, and cognate interdisciplinary fields. This volume is organized into four sections encompassing 26 chapters and begins with an overview of organs and systems involved in shock, including splanchnic circulation, regulatory mechanisms in shock, and microcirculatory studies in hypotension. The next chapters explore the causative factors that produce the state of low blood flow as found in shock, and whether microcirculatory hypoperfusion in humans can be prevented and treated. The book also discusses whether microcirculatory hypoperfusion can be measured in the patient and concludes with an assessment of promising avenues for further research, emphasizing the measurement of blood viscosity, shear stress, and rheological factors as indices of the degree of hypotension. This book is a valuable source of information for physiologists, biologists, and pathologists, as well as those involved in the medical sciences.
  • Environmental Injury to Plants

    • 1st Edition
    • Bozzano G Luisa
    • English
    The reaction of plant tissue to stress is of critical importance to growers concerned with the production of horticultural or agronomical plants on a large scale. This book discusses several factors that contribute to plant stress, including freezing and chill injury, drought stress, heat shock, salt stress, and toxic metals. The detection of plant stress by remote sensing devices is also examined.
  • The Comparative Molecular Biology of Extracellular Matrices

    • 1st Edition
    • Harold Slavkin
    • English
    The Comparative Molecular Biology of Extracellular Matrices reviews and assesses the comparative molecular biology of extracellular matrices. It covers six areas that are advanced to supplement this study. These include the molecular biology of collagen, monopolysaccharides, proteoglycans, and structural glycoproteins; development process of extracellular matrices; cell surfaces and interactions; evolution of bone and some tissues; and biophysical properties of connective tissues.