A comparison of the adaptations made by invertebrates in polar deserts with those of temperate and subtropical deserts. These regions represent some of the most hostile environments on earth, demanding an array of strategies for survival. Polar species are well adapted to the cold and have to cope with arid conditions due to low precipitation and lack of liquid water during the winter. Similarly, temperate desert invertebrates have adapted to dry conditions and are also exposed to low winter temperatures. Terrestrial arthropods maintain their water-balance through behavioural and physiological adaptations. Tardigrades and nematodes are remarkable in their ability to shed all their water before entering a state of anhydrobiosis only to be revived when moisture once again becomes available.

This publication contains the proceedings of a Seminar "Beef production from different dairy breeds and dairy beef crosses," held in Ireland on April 13-15, 1981, under the auspices of the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) as part of the European Communities (EC) programme for beef production research. The CEC wishes to thank those representatives of Ireland who took responsibility for the organisation and conduct of this Seminar, notably Professor E.P. Cunningham, Dr. G.J. More O'Ferrall (local organiser), Dr. Patricia McGlaughlin and In particular, thanks are due to Dr. McGlaughlin Mr. R. Barlow. and Mr. Barlow for their recording of the discussions. Professor Ian Gordon of the Faculty of Agriculture, kindly made available the facilities of Lyons House, University College, for the Seminar. Thanks are also accorded to the Chairmen of the Sessions Professor D. Smidt, Dr. R.B. Thiessen, Professor A. Neimann Sorensen, Professor E.P. Cunningham, and to all the participants who presented papers and took part in the discussions. X OBJECTIVES The aims of the Seminar were to review recent comparisons of Holstein and Friesian strains with other dairy breeds for beef and veal production; to look at the use of beef breeds for crossing on dairy herds in various EEC countries, and to examine the economic and genetic balance between milk and beef traits in dual purpose bull testing and selection."

Branching morphogenesis, the creation of branched structures in the body, is a key feature of animal and plant development. This book brings together, for the first time, expert researchers working on a variety of branching systems to present a state-of-the-art view of the mechanisms that control branching morphogenesis. Systems considered range from single cells, to blood vessel and drainage duct systems to entire body plans, and approaches range from observation through experiment to detailed biophysical modelling. The result is an integrated overview of branching.

Over the past 40 years, the SIP meetings have played a central role in the development of the field of insect-plant relationships, providing both a show-case for current research as well as a forum for the airing and development of influential new ideas. The 10th symposium, held 4-10 July 1998, in Oxford, followed that tradition. The present volume includes a representative selection of fully refereed papers from the meeting, plus a listing of the titles of all presentations. The volume includes reviews of major areas within the subject, along with detailed experimental studies. Topics covered include central neural and chemosensory bases of host plant recognition, integrative studies of insect behaviour, tritrophic interactions, plant defences, insect life histories, plant growth responses, microbial partners in insect-plant associations, and genetic bases of host plant associations. The book provides a key source for students and research workers in the field of insect-plant relationships.

Coccinellids have been very actively studied in the course of the twenty three years since "Biology of Coccinellidae" was published. The great amount of new, and often very important findings have made the previous book outdated and a new synthesis is needed. No other monograph of similar focus and extent has appeared. Iablokoff Khnzorian's "Les Coccinelles" (1982), limited to the tribus Coccinellini, and Gor don's "The Coccinellidae of America North of Mexico" (1985) both concentrate on taxonomy. Majerus' beautiful "Ladybirds" (1994) deal specifically with British coc cinellids and address chiefly amateur naturalists. The focus and the title of the recent book are slightly different from the 1973 vol ume. If a satisfactory comprehensive review of important new findings is attempted, the book would grow too much, due also to References and Indexes. To keep the vol ume at a tolerable extent, the section on larval identification of Palaearctic species has been omitted; not much could be added to the previous version of that part, any way. However, we have kept Kovar's chapter on morphology and anatomy, because of its relation to feeding and other ecological aspects. The chapter on phylogeny was updated also by him. Our Polish friend, Piotr Ceryngier, who has recently specialised in parasites, updated perfectly the parts on parasites and pathogens in Chapter 8. We would be glad if their contribution is quoted by their names. It seems to us that the remarks, contained in the reprinted preface to the previous volume, remain pertinent today."

This book contains the proceedings of the 11 'h international symposium dedicated to the understanding of animal "Life in the Cold," held at Jungholz (Austria), August 13-18, 2000. In 55 chapters contributed by researchers from 16 countries the current state of knowledge is reviewed, and the most recent developments and discussions in this field are highlighted. The first symposium on hibernation and life in the cold was held in 1959, and from then on they continued to occur every 3-5 years. The regular occurrence of these meetings became almost a tradition. A tradition which is entirely based on the enthusiasm of participants, and was nourished by scientific progress in this area during the past decades. The first symposium in 1959 was organised by Charles P. Lyman and Albert R. Dawe and was almost entirely dedicated to hibernation and torpor. This has been a backbone topic of the following symposia, although other aspects of animal energetics, thermal physiology and biochemistry were included in later meetings.

This new definitive volume on fish auditory systems will interest investigators in both basic research of fish bioacoustics as well as investigators in applied aspects of fisheries and resource management. Topics cover structure, physiology, localization, and acoustic behavior as well as more applied topics such as using sound to detect and locate fish.

Countless ants transport and deposit seeds and thereby influence the survival, death, and evolution of many plant species. In higher plants, seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) has appeared many times independently in different lineages. More than 3000 plant species are known to utilize ant assistance to be planted. Myrmecochory is a very interesting and rather enigmatic form of mutualistic ant-plant associations. This phenomenon is extremely complex, because there are hundreds of ant species connected with hundreds of plant species. This book effectively combines a thorough approach to investigating morphological and physiological adaptations of plants with elegant field experiments on the behaviour of ants. This monograph is a first attempt at collecting information about morphology, ecology and phenology of ants and plants from one ecosystem. The book gives readers a panoramic view of the hidden, poorly-known interrelations not only between pairs of ants and plant species, but also between species communities in the ecosystem. The authors have considered not just one aspect of animal-plant relationships, but have tried to show them in all their complexity. Some aspects of the ant-plant interactions described in the book may be of interest to botanists, others to zoologists or ecologists, but the entire work is an excellent example of the marriage of these biological disciplines.

Saponins are glycosides of triterpenes, steroids or steroidal alkaloids. They can be found in plants and marine organisms. Very diverse biological activities are ascribed to saponins and they play important roles in food, animal feedstuffs, and pharmaceutical properties. This volume provides a selection of recent work on saponins presented at a symposium in Pulawy, Poland, in 1999. Many different aspects are treated: analysis, separation, biological activities, relevant use in human and animal nutrition, and ecological significance. This book will be of use to researchers both in universities and industry.

In order to communicate, animals send and receive signals that are subject to their particular anatomical, psychological, and environmental constraints. This SHAR volume discusses both the production and perception of acoustic signals. Chapters address the information that animals communicate, how the communication is developed and learned, and how communication systems have adapted and evolved within species. The book will give examples from a variety of species.

The annual research conference for 1996 of the American Institute for Cancer Re search was again held at the Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC, August 29 and 30. The topic for this, the seventh in the series, was "Dietary Fat and Cancer: Genetic and Molecular Mechanisms. " Two separate presentations were given as the conference overview. "Fat and Cancer: The Epidemiologic Evidence in Perspective" noted that die tary fat can be saturated, largely from animal or dairy sources, or mono- or polyunsatu rated, mostly from plant sources. Unlike animal fats, fish contain relatively high levels of protective omega-3 fatty acids. Although the hypothesis that dietary fat is associated with cancer is plausible, the mechanisms involved are reasonable, and many animal studies support the hypothesis, there are many obstacles in any direct extrapolation to humans, in cluding imprecise measures of dietary fat intake, variability in individual diets, and spe cies variations. Despite these limitations, there is a weak positive correlation between colon cancer and dietary fat intake, but with substantial differences for various ethnic groups. In the case of breast cancer, there is substantial variation among countries and eth nic groups, but the overall evidence indicated an association with fat in the diet. Epidemiologic studies of dietary fat and prostate cancer are more consistent and most show a positive relationship. However, it was not clear which types of dietary fat were im plicated in the effect."

Current Ornithology publishes authoritative, up-to-date, scholarly reviews of topics selected from the full range of current research in avian biology. Topics cover the spectrum from the molecular level of organization to population biology and community ecology. The series seeks especially to review (1) fields in which an abundant recent literature will benefit from synthesis and organization, or (2) newly emerging fields that are gaining recognition as the result of recent discoveries or shifts in perspective, or (3) fields in which students of vertebrates may benefit from comparisons of birds with other classes. All chapters are invited, and authors are chosen for their leadership in the subjects under review.

This volume includes contributions presented at the Second International Sym posium on Nutrition and Cancer, held in Naples, Italy, in October 1998 at the National Tumor Institute "Fondazione Pascale." During the Conference, experts from different disciplines discussed pivotal and timely subjects on the interactions between human nutrition and the development of malignancies. Comparing the themes of this Meeting with those discussed at the First Sympo sium in 1992, the major scientific advancements certainly derive from the extensive use of molecular approaches to perform research in nutrition. Moreover, the fundamental observation of R. Doll and R. Peto (1981), which suggested that at least 35% of all cancers (with large differences among different tumors) might be prevented by dietary regimens, has been definitively confirmed by epidemiological studies. On the other hand, the relationships between diet and cancer are quite intricate and complex; it is difficult, and at the same time not methodologically correct, to reduce them to simple terms. Metabolic and hormonal factors, contaminants and biological agents, and deficiency of specific protective nutrients are all pieces of the same puzzle."

The importance of polyamines for all living cells has been recognized since spermine was discovered in human semen more than 300 years ago. Polyamine research intensified when analytical methods were developed for their determination, particularly in tissues and biological fluids. Discovering their close correlation with cancer, and that polyamine concentrations change during the cell cycle, gave reason for further research in this topic. Polyamines in Health and Nutrition concentrates on the direction of polyamine research which has the capacity to influence and benefit our health and which can explain some of the discrepancies and failures of earlier research. It is important to recognize the dietary contribution to the polyamine body pool and to investigate how the polyamine content of the diet can be changed, with the ultimate aim of using this information to improve our health.

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of com prehensive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modem auditory research. It is aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators. The volumes will introduce new investigators to important aspects of hearing science and will help established investigators to better understand the fundamental theories and data in fields of hearing that they may not normally follow closely. Each volume is intended to present a particular topic comprehensively, and each chapter will serve as a synthetic overview and guide to the literature. As such, the chapters present neither exhaustive data reviews nor original research that has not yet appeared in peer-reviewed journals. The series focuses on topics that have developed a solid data and conceptual foundation rather than on those for which a literature is only beginning to develop. New research areas will be covered on a timely basis in the series as they begin to mature. Each volume in the series consists of five to eight substantial chapters on a particular topic. In some cases, the topics will be ones of traditional interest for which there is a solid body of data and theory, such as auditory neuroanatomy (Vol. 1) and neurophysiology (Vol. 2). Other volumes in the series will deal with topics which have begun to mature more recently, such as development, plasticity, and computational models of neural processing."

In the Preface to his volume on Ecophysiology of the Camelidae and Desert Ruminants in this series, Trevor Wilson mentions his hesitation at the invitation from John Cloudsley-Thompson to write the book, because he had been out of direct touch with desert biology for some years. My response to John's invitation to write Ecophysiology of Desert Birds was much the same, and for the same reasons. However, with his encouragement and, taking account of the fact that a colleague of mine who is much better suited to do the job had turned it down because of pressure of work, I accepted the challenge and have enjoyed it immensely. It has been my privilege to spend much time in the deserts of North and South America, southern Africa and Australia, some of it with my wife, Cherie, whose editing of the entire text has improved the work immeasurably. Indeed, I believe it would have been proper for her to accept coauthorship, but she graciously declined the offer I owe her a debt of gratitude which I hope will be repaid in part by her seeing the text finally between covers. The chapters on water regulation (Chap. 5) and thermo regulation (Chap. 6) have benefited from the refereeing of my colleague, Dr. Barry Lovegrove, of the Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg."

Sense organs serve as a kind of biological interface between the environment and the organism. Therefore, the relationship between sensory systems and ecology is very close and its knowledge of fundamental importance for an understanding of animal behavior. The sixteen chapters of this book exemplify the diversity of the constraints and opportunities associated with the sensation of stimuli representing different forms of energy. The book stresses the events taking place in the sensory periphery where the animal is exposed to and gets in touch with its natural habitat and acquires the information needed to organize its interaction with its environment.
"Ecology of Sensing " brings together the leading experts in the field.

Genetics is fundamental to hearing function, and an understanding of genetics enhances both auditory research and the clinical treatment of the hearing impaired. Approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of hearing impairment have developed from technological advances in genetic research. This volume covers gene expression, mutations, mapping and cloning, as well as mitochondrial and cellular genetics. Chapters are also included on the uses of mouse models, genetic epidemiology and genetic counseling specifically for hearing impairment. As a comprehensive review of the genetics of hearing, this book will interest hearing researchers, clinicians and genetic counselors.

A summary of how the electrical signals used to represent sounds are encoded and interpreted through the integrated roles of various nuclei. This volume builds on the information about the anatomy and physiology of the auditory pathway found in volumes 1 and 2 of the SHAR series. While the first two volumes describe the structure and function of auditory pathways, this one explains how these pathways lead to an animal's ability to localize and interpret sounds.

''Excellent and very timely....It will undoubtedly become a standard reference for the application of circular dichroism (CD) to biomolecules.'' "--- Quarterly Review of Biology," March 1997 '' T]estament to the book's utility is the fact that during the course of my review I had to 'rescue' it from the desks of graduate students on an almost daily basis. In summary, this is a great book.'' "--- American Scientist" ''Well documented chapters provide a very good insight into the problems surrounding the conformation of biomacromolecules...An indispensible source of information.'' "--- Nahrung," 42(2), 1998 Renowned experts present the first state-of-the-art description of circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD). Chapters present in-depth discussions of the history of the field, the theory of CD for application to globular proteins, membrane proteins, peptides, nucleic acids and their interactions, carbohydrates, and instrumentation. Discussions also feature new techniques using synchrotron radiation, vibrational Raman optical activity, and vibrational CD. More than 250 illustrations supplement the text.

This widely expanded second edition offers a compilation of robust, reproducible techniques for the conservation of a wide range of biological materials. It includes novel approaches and protocols that were not preservable when the first edition was published.

The book begins with a discussion of long term ex situ conservation of biological resources, the role of biological resource centers, and fundamental principles of freeze-drying and cryopreservation. Each chapter focuses on the preservation of specific biological materials, including proteins, mircroorganisms, cell lines, and multicellular structures.

With the growing global fear of a major pandemic, avian influenza (AI) virus research has greatly increased in importance. In Avian Influenza Virus, an expert team of researchers and diagnosticians examine the fundamental, yet essential, virological methods for AI virus research and diagnostics as well as some of the newest molecular procedures currently used for basic and applied research. They present exciting, cutting-edge new methods that focus both on studying the virus itself and on work with avian hosts, an area greatly lacking in research.

Since the early times of the Greek philosophers Leucippus and Democritus, and later of the Roman philosopher Lucretius, a simple, fundamental idea emerged that brought the life sciences into the realm of the physical sciences. Atoms, after various interactions, were assumed to acquire stable configurations that corresponded either to the living or to the inanimate world. This simple and unitary theory, which has evolved in successive steps to our present time, remarkably maintained its validity despite several centuries of alternative vicissitudes, and is the foundation of modern biophysics. Some of the recent developments of this ancient idea are the discovery of the direct relationship between spatial structures and chemical activity of such molecules as methane and benzene, and the later discovery of the three-dimensional structure of double-helical DNA, and of its relationship with biological activity. The relationship between the structure of various macromolecules and the function of living cells was one of the most striking advancements of modern science, obtained by the cooperation of physicists, chemists, mathematicians, engineers, biologists, and physicians. This crossing of the life and physical sciences has given rise to new and exciting frontiers, and to a new synthesis where there is a frequent interconnection of expertise, and where there is an exchange of roles among traditionally separated soft and hard sciences. Even if knowledge is still transmitted to new generations within univer sities as separate disciplines, new knowledge is acquired today in the laboratory by truly interdisciplinary teams."

Experimentalists tend to revel in the complexity and multidimensionality of biological processes. Modelers, on the other hand, generally look towards parsimony as a guiding prin ciple in their approach to understanding physiological systems. It is therefore not surprising that a substantial degree of miscommunication and misunderstanding still exists between the two groups of truth-seekers. However, there have been numerous instances in physiology where the marriage of mathematical modeling and experimentation has led to powerful in sights into the mechanisms being studied. Respiratory control represents one area in which this kind of cross-pollination has proven particularly fruitful. While earlier modeling ef forts were directed primarily at the chemical control of ventilation, more recent studies have extended the scope of modeling to include the neural and mechanical aspects pertinent to respiratory control. As well, there has been a greater awareness of the need to incorpo rate interactions with other organ systems. Nevertheless, it is necessary from time to time to remind experimentalists of the existence of modelers, and vice versa. The 4th Annual Biomedical Simulations Resource (BMSR) Short Course was held in Marina Del Rey on May 21-22,1989, to acquaint respiratory physiologists and clinical researchers with state-of-the art methodologies in mathematical modeling, experiment design and data analysis, as well as to provide an opportunity for experimentalists to challenge modelers with their more recent findings."

JOHN G. HILDEBRAND Research on insect olfaction is important for at least two reasons. First, the olfactory systems of insects and their arthropod kin are experi mentally favourable models for studies aimed at learning about general principles of olfaction that apply to vertebrates and invertebrates alike. Detailed comparisons between the olfactory pathways in vertebrates and insects have revealed striking similarities of functional organisation, physiol ogy, and development, suggesting that olfactory information is processed through neural mechanisms more similar than different in these evolution arily remote creatures. Second, insect olfaction itself is important because of the economic and medical impact of insects that are agricultural pests and disease vectors, as well as positive impact of beneficial species, such as the bees and moths responsible for pollination and production of honey. The harm or benefit attributable to an insect is a function of what it does - that is, of its behaviour - which is shaped by sensory information. Often olfaction is the key modality for control of basic insect behaviour, such as ori entation and movement toward, and interactions with, potential mates, appro priate sites for oviposition, and sources of food. Not surprisingly, therefore, much work on insect olfaction has been motivated by long-term hopes of using knowledge of this pivotal sensory system to design strategies for mon itoring and managing harmful species and fostering the welfare of beneficial ones."