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Books in Life sciences

  • Neural Control of Circulation

    • 1st Edition
    • December 2, 2012
    • Maysie Hurnes
    • English
    Neural Control of Circulation presents an in-depth view of specialized areas in the neural regulation of the circulatory system that have been the subject of intensive research, the historical basis and theory from which those investigations evolved, and directions for future studies. Special emphasis is placed on critical evaluation of the experimental data in each field of research. This volume is comprised of seven chapters and begins with a synthesis of a large number of studies undertaken using conscious animals, particularly those that focuses on the behavioral and cerebral control of cardiovascular function. The second chapter explores the role of the brain stem and cerebellum in cardiovascular control. Next, specific research areas concerning bulbospinal control of sympathetic nerve discharge are discussed. This is followed by a chapter devoted to the nucleus tractus solitarii and experimental neurogenic hypertension. A concept in potential hypertensive mechanisms involving long-term transsynaptic regulation of adrenal medullary function is also described, and the neural control of the circulation during hypoxia is considered. Finally, aspects of central nervous system pharmacology and regulation of circulation are examined. This book is designed for individuals who are interested in the cardiovascular system and its function, and should also prove useful to students and researchers in physiology and individuals in other ancillary areas of bioscience.

  • Rapid Detection and Identification of Infectious Agents

    • 1st Edition
    • December 2, 2012
    • David Kingsbury
    • English
    Rapid Detection and Identification of Infectious Agents is a collection of papers presented at the International Symposium on Rapid Detection and Identification of Infectious Agents held on October 5-7, 1983, in Oakland, California, and organized by the Naval Biosciences Laboratory of the School of Public Health of the University of California at Berkeley. Contributors examine progress in the field of rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases, with a particular emphasis on DNA probe-based assays and monoclonal and polyclonal antibody-based immunoassays. This volume is organized into five sections encompassing 20 chapters. It begins with an overview of state-of-the-art methods for rapid detection and identification of infectious agents, including technology that is currently applied in clinical microbiology, as well as concerns regarding the political and scientific climates, which have an impact on health care and clinical microbiology. Chapters are organized to deal with a single diagnostic type of test for a given broad group of organisms. The approach is to compare the strengths and weaknesses of each of the new diagnostic procedures, using the same type of clinical material whenever possible. The book gives consideration to the fundamental design of DNA probes and probe assay systems, the clinical comparison of immunologic assays for the diagnosis of meningococcal disease, and immunodiagnostics for viral and parasitic pathogens. This book will be of value to scientists and researchers interested in immunology and infectious diseases, as well as the methods used to detect and identify them.

  • Biology Control in Agriculture IPM System

    • 1st Edition
    • December 2, 2012
    • Marjorie Hoy
    • English
    Biological Control in Agricultural IPM Systems covers the proceedings of the 1984 symposium on Biological Control in Agricultural IPM Systems, held in the Citrus Research and Education Center of the University of Florida at Lake Alfred. The symposium summarizes the status and practical use of biological control in agricultural integrated pest management (IPM) systems in the United States. The book is organized into seven parts encompassing 31 chapters that cover the biological control of arthropods, weeds, plant pathogens, and nematodes. After briefly discussing the status and issues of biological control in IPM, the book deals with the basic principles of IPM programs and their related costs, risks, and benefits in biological control. The text also describes the compatibility of plant resistance with biological control of arthropods and the chemical mediated host or prey selection behaviors of entomophagous insects attacking herbivorous insect pests. It explains the development of microbial insecticides; the genetic improvement of insect pathogens; the use of entomogenous nematodes in cryptic and soil habitats; and the techniques for integrating the influences of natural enemies into models of crop/pest systems. The fourth part of the book focuses on the biological control of weeds. The following part considers the general concepts relating to the unique characteristics of plant diseases affecting aerial plant parts. This part also examines the biological control of soil plant pathogens in IPM systems and the use of soilborne viruses, bacteriocins, and hypovirulent strains of fungi as biological control agents. The concluding parts describe the biological control of nematodes and the status and limits to biological control in selected commodity IPM systems, such as citrus, grapes, alfalfa, cotton, and soybean. Entomologists, plant pathologists, weed scientists, nematologists, toxicologists, and economists will find this book invaluable.

  • Tissue Culture

    Methods and Applications
    • 1st Edition
    • December 2, 2012
    • Paul F. Jr. Kruse
    • English
    Tissue Culture: Methods and Applications presents an overview of the procedures for working with cells in culture and for using them in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. The book discusses primary tissue dissociation; the preparation of primary cultures; cell harvesting; and replicate culture methods. The text also describes protocols on single cell isolations and cloning; perfusion and mass culture techniques; cell propagation on miscellaneous culture supports; and the evaluation of culture dynamics. The recent techniques facilitating microscopic observation of cells; cell hybridization; and virus propagation and assay are also encompassed. The book further tackles the production of hormones and intercellular substances; the diagnosis and understanding of disease; as well as quality control measures. Scientists and professionals interested in methodology per se will find the book invaluable.

  • Visual Perception

    • 1st Edition
    • December 2, 2012
    • Tom Cornsweet
    • English
    Visual Perception explores fundamental topics underlying the field of visual perception, including the perception of brightness and color, the physics of light, and the optics of the eye. Although the text leans heavily on physical and physiological concepts, explanations of the relevant physics and physiology are considered. This book is organized into 16 chapters and begins with an overview of the relationship between information assimilation and the physiology of the visual system based on data gathered both in physiological and perceptual experiments. More specifically, this text discusses the nature of the human perceptual system in terms of the kinds of information that are assimilated from the world, and how this selection of information is governed by the structure of receptors and the neural circuits that are connected to them. The relationships between symbols and their corresponding physical and physiological variables are also examined. Finally, the book addresses the presence of strong lateral inhibition in the visual system and how it fits the concept of evolution. This book is aimed at undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of their academic backgrounds.

  • Advances in Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry V7

    • 1st Edition
    • December 2, 2012
    • O Lowenstein
    • English
    Advances in Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, Volume 7, presents four papers that illustrate a logical progression from evolutionary and genetic aspects of the biochemistry of a family of enzymes to the biochemical. The first study deals with the comparative biochemistry, physiology, and genetics of animal α-amylases. The second study examines the biochemistry of intercellular recognition, which is a component of so many biological phenomena. It covers the evolution of intercellular recognition processes; primitive sex mechanisms as precursors of intercellular recognition; conjugation in single-celled eukaryotes; fertilization in metazoans; cell aggregation as a developmental event in cellular slime molds; aggregation of dissociated sponge cells; and contact cellular interactions during embryonic development. The third paper explores the role of amino acids in neurotransmission. The final paper on the biochemical and biophysical aspects of the complex range of functions of the swimbladder in fishes establishes a link with the higher categories of organismal interaction in the fields of behavior and ecology.

  • Aflatoxin

    Scientific Background, Control, and Implications
    • 1st Edition
    • December 2, 2012
    • Leo Goldblatt
    • English
    Aflatoxin: Scientific Background, Control, and Implications discusses general problems posed by mycotoxin contamination in foods and feeds. This book is divided into 15 chapters that summarize the discovery, elaboration, chemistry and assay, effects and metabolic fate, processing to ensure their removal or inactivation, and regulatory aspects of aflatoxins. The introductory chapters cover the discovery, formation by Aspergillus flavus, and the chemistry and structure of aflatoxins. The subsequent chapters describe the physicochemical and biological assays for aflatoxin measurement, detection, and analysis. A chapter also describes the metabolic fate and the biochemical alterations associated with aflatoxin administration to animals and other biological test systems. Discussions on the acute toxicity and carcinogenic activity of aflatoxins in laboratory and farm animals are also provided, with emphasis on the recognition of aflatoxicosis, a disease condition caused by the action of the aflatoxin poison. The book goes on examining the role of spoilage molds in destroying stored crops and the tremendous capacity for toxin production of aflatoxins. It also describes successful efforts of food and feed industries to ensure a wholesome food supply, including the utilization of various detoxification processes. The last chapters deal with the regulatory provisions for aflatoxin contamination control and tolerances and the implications of fungal toxins to human health. The book is intended for scientists and manufacturers concerned with the production and processing of foods and feeds, the nutrition, and the animal and public health.

  • Psychobiology Behavior From a Biological Perspective

    • 1st Edition
    • December 2, 2012
    • James McGaugh
    • English
    Psychobiology: Behavior from a Biological Perspective covers the problems encountered in understanding the biology of behavior. This book contains seven chapters that present a contemporary analysis of the essential features of these problems. Chapter 1 provides extensive evidence concerning the evolution of specific aspects of behavior and illustrates the genetic processes underlying the evolution of behavior. Chapter 2 presents a contemporary analysis of the problem of instinctive behavior. Chapters 3 to 7 are concerned with processes underlying behavior, including sensory processes, motivation, attention, and memory. These chapters discuss the essential issues together with contemporary facts and theories. This work will be of value to psychobiologists, neurobiologists, behaviorists, and researchers who are interested in the biological aspects of behavior.

  • Biology of Memory

    • 1st Edition
    • December 2, 2012
    • Karl Pribram
    • English
    Biology of Memory investigates the biological basis of memory and covers topics ranging from short- and long-term post-perceptual memory to memory storage processes, memory microstructures, chemical transfer, and neuronal plasticity. The activity of neuronal networks in the thalamus of the monkey is also examined, along with integrative functions of the thalamocortical visual system of the cat. Comprised of 20 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the mechanisms that inhibit or interfere with short- and long-term memory, followed by a discussion on different retrieval mechanisms for short- and long-term memory. The reader is then introduced to the role of short- and long-term memory in the formation, retention, and utilization of associations, together with the link between memory and the medial temporal regions of the brain. Subsequent chapters focus on anatomical and chemical changes in the brain during primary learning; cellular models of learning and cellular mechanisms of plasticity in Aplysia; trace phenomena in single neurons of hippocampus and mammiliary bodies; and plasticity in single units in the mammalian brain. The book concludes with a description of Occam (Omnium-Gatherum Core Content Addressable Memory), a computer program for a content addressable memory in the central nervous system. This monograph will be useful to biologists, behavioral psychologists, neuropsychologists, neurophysiologists, biophysicists, and biochemists as well as computer scientists and mathematicians.

  • The Role of Selenium in Nutrition

    • 1st Edition
    • December 2, 2012
    • Gerald F. Jr. Combs
    • English
    The Role of Selenium in Nutrition reviews the most pertinent scientific literature dealing with the basic aspects of the present understanding of the roles of selenium (Se) in nutrition and health. The book begins with a general discussion of Se, covering its various forms, chemistry and physical properties, and techniques for Se analysis. This is followed by separate chapters on the environmental aspects of Se, including its presence in mineral deposits, soils, water, air, and uptake by plants; Se contents of human foods and animal feedstuffs; biological utilization of dietary Se; and absorption, excretion, metabolism, and tissue concentrations of Se. Subsequent chapters deal with the biochemical functions of Se; Se-related diseases of animals and livestock; the role of Se in human health and in support of normal immune function and disease resistance; and the relationship of Se and cancer. The final chapter reviews the evidence concerning the toxicity of Se compounds and sets this in perspective with current knowledge of the roles of Se in nutrition and health, and of the normal exposures of animals and humans to Se compounds.

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