A New York Times bestseller and international sensation, this “stimulating and important book” (Financial Times) is a fascinating dive into the purpose and power of slumber.

With two appearances on CBS This Morning and Fresh Air's most popular interview of 2017, Matthew Walker has made abundantly clear that sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when it is absent. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remains more elusive.

Within the brain, sleep enriches a diversity of functions, including our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge, inspiring creativity.

In this “compelling and utterly convincing” (The Sunday Times) book, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Charting the most cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and marshalling his decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood and energy levels, regulate hormones, prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes, slow the effects of aging, and increase longevity. He also provides actionable steps towards getting a better night’s sleep every night.

Clear-eyed, fascinating, and accessible, Why We Sleep is a crucial and illuminating book. Written with the precision of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Sherwin Nuland, it is “recommended for night-table reading in the most pragmatic sense” (The New York Times Book Review).

Epigenetics in Organ Specific Disorders, a new volume in the Translational Epigenetics series, provides a foundational overview and nuanced analysis of epigenetic gene regulation distinct to each organ type and organ specific disorders, fully elucidating the epigenetics pathways that promote and regulate disease. After a brief introduction, chapter authors compare epigenetic regulations across normal and disease conditions in different organ tissues, exploring similarities and contrasts. The role of epigenetic mechanisms in stem cells, cell-matrix interactions and cell proliferation, cell migration, cellular apoptosis, necrosis, pyknosis, tumor suppression, and immune responses across different organ types are examined in-depth. Organ specific epigenetic mechanisms and biomarkers of early use in developing drugs, which can selectively target the organ of interest, are also explored to enable new precision therapies.

Ticks: Biology, Ecology and Diseases provides a detailed overview of the fascinating world of tick biology and ecology. This book discusses disease transmission to humans and livestock, assesses the impact of human behavior and climate change on tick biology, and details how this will affect future disease transmission. Written by an expert on ticks and their transmitted diseases, this book explores the unique biology of ticks and how it influences the transmission of some of the most devastating diseases. In a series of detailed chapters, the book provides up-to-date information on the interrelationship between ticks and the vertebrates they feed on. In addition, the book covers information on recent scientific discoveries surrounding ticks, along with reviews on control methods and disease transmission. Other sections cover the recent emergence of tick-borne pathogens, making this book an ideal source for interested scientists, clinicians, veterinarians and experts in the field of tick biology.

The Bowhead Whale: Balaena mysticetus: Biology and Human Interactions covers bowhead biology from their anatomy and behavior, to conservation, distribution, ecology and evolution. The book also discusses the biological and physical aspects of the Arctic ecosystem in which these whales live, with careful attention paid to the dramatic changes taking place. A special section of the book describes the interactions of humans with bowheads in past and present, focusing on their importance to Indigenous communities and the challenges regarding entanglement in fishing gear, industrial noise and ship strikes. This volume brings together the knowledge of bowheads in one place for easy reference for scientists that study the species, marine mammal biologists, but, equally important, for everyone who is interested in the Arctic.

Vegetation Dynamics and Crop Stress: An Earth-Observation Perspective focuses on vegetation dynamics and crop stress at both the regional and country levels by using earth observation (EO) data sets. The book uniquely provides a better understanding of natural vegetation and crop failure through geo-spatial technologies. This book covers biophysical control of vegetation, deforestation, desertification, drought, and crop-water efficiency, as well as the application of satellite-derived measures from optical, thermal, and microwave domains for monitoring and modeling crop condition, agricultural drought, and crop health in contrasting monsoon/weather episodes.

Recent Advances and Future Perspectives of Microbial Metabolites: Applications in Biomedicine sheds new light on various applications of microbial metabolites in the biomedical sector. The purpose of this book is to integrate the latest research advancements on the application of microbial metabolites in the medical industry into a single platform. In 10 chapters, the significance of biomedical applications and future therapeutic applications of microbial metabolites in human health are highlighted. Several chapters are dedicated to the role of microbial metabolites in precision medicine like the impact of the activities of microbial metabolites in antitumor and antidiabetic agents and immunosuppressive activities. It also provides a roadmap for drugs discovery based on antimicrobial products and the effect of microbial metabolites on humans' health and the immune system. The book finalizes with a chapter on the use of microbial metabolites in OMICS technology. Recent Advances and Future Perspectives of Microbial Metabolites: Applications in Biomedicine targets researchers from both academia and industry, professors, and graduate students from microbiology, molecular biology, biotechnology, and immunology.

Molecular, Cellular, and Metabolic Fundamentals of Human Aging provides researchers with an overview of the main aging mechanisms and physiology and how they can lead to age-related diseases and conditions. Topics covered include DNA damage and how ineffective repair can lead to cell and tissue aging and decreased functionality, loss of proteostasis, changes to feeding and fasting pathways, mitochondrial dysfunction, the impact of decreased ability of autophagosomes and autophagosomes, cellular senescence, changes to communication molecules, and the impact of stem cell exhaustion. The book also considers the impact of aging within the immune system, the relationship between aging and diseases such as cancers and neurodegenerative conditions, and provides an overview on the dialogue surrounding the topic of aging beyond basic biology.

Oncogenic Viruses: Fundamentals of Oncoviruses provides an overview of the history of human oncoviruses, how to discover and define an oncovirus, how viruses cause cancer in general, their oncogenic mechanisms and epidemiology, and the cancer biology of oncoviruses. The book is organized into five main parts that include history and discovery of virus-tumor complications, taxonomy and classification of oncoviruses, oncoviruses around the world, including epidemiology statistics and current methods. Finally, the book looks at the molecular epidemiology of DNA and RNA viruses and their role in the pathogenesis of human cancers.

Genetics and Neurobiology of Down Syndrome provides a thorough review of the genetic etiology and mechanisms of trisomy 21. The author discusses the history of the syndrome, along with the clinical features and health consequences, including physical features, cognitive, and neurologic symptoms. Genetic counseling on pros and cons of prenatal screening and testing and associated ethical issues are explored. This unique book also covers the societal and demographic aspects as well as the future direction of therapeutic development.

Although scientists recognize the role of epigenetic mechanisms in DNA damage response, the complex, mechanistic interplay between chromatin regulation and DNA repair is still poorly understood. Comprehending how these processes are connected in time and space and play out in developmental processes may reveal novel directions for new research and disease treatment. Epigenetics and DNA Damage, a new volume in the Translational Epigenetics series, offers a thorough grounding in the relationship between DNA Damage, epigenetic modifications, and chromatin regulation. Early chapters address the basic science of DNA damage and its association with various epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, post-translational histone modifications, histone variants, chromatin remodeling, miRNAs, and lncRNAs. This is followed by a close discussion of DNA damage and epigenetics in metabolism, aging, cellular differentiation, immune function, stem cell biology, and cancer, tying recent research to translational application in disease understanding. Later chapters examine possible epigenetic therapies combining DNA damage induction and epigenetic alteration, as well as instructive chapters on how to analyze DNA damage and epigenetic alterations in new research.

Learn how baby animals like pandas, penguins, elephants, kittens, and frogs grow and change! This science reader introduces students to the concepts of growth and change. With easy-to-read text, this book teaches students important scientific subjects and vocabulary terms. Aligned to state and national standards, the book contains nonfiction text features like an index, a glossary, captions, bold font, and detailed images to keep students connected to the text. A hands-on science experiment helps students apply what they have learned and develops critical thinking skills.

A Complete Guidebook on Biofilm Study has emphasized the biofilm-related issues in the present context related to research and development. For this purpose, experimental design and relevant experimental protocols for the biofilm studies have been highlighted here. In addition to that, inhibitors from natural or synthetic sources against microbial biofilm development have been addressed. This approach has been further substantiated by bioinformatics as well as nanotechnology-based reports. Both, the image processing related to biofilm study and the characters of substratum associated with biofilm development have also been included for a better understanding of the beginners in this field. Further, how biofilm helps and/or hampers in food processing and waste management system, that discussion has been considered in this book. Similarly, human benefits from biofilm and reverse of it have also been included considering host-pathogen interaction, immunity aspects, and others.

Two distinguished scientists encouraged Warwick Collins in writing his revolutionary theory of evolution. Professor Freeman Dyson, one of the world's leading theoretical physicists, wrote, "I like your theory, and think it has a good chance of being right."He added, "Darwin would have liked your theory." Professor Donald Braben, a nuclear physicist who directed a series of wide-ranging research programs at BP, responded, "Hierarchically speaking, variation is of greater significance than selection. I agree, therefore, that if silent gene theory were proved correct, it would be the more complete theory, as Einstein's is compared with Newton's."Charles Darwin wrote in The Origin of Species that ..". unless profitable variations do occur, natural selection can do nothing." As Darwin recognized, natural selection, far from increasing variation within species, reduces variation constantly in favor of an optimum type. What then is the true source of variation in evolutionary systems? It is a question which has obsessed Warwick Collins, a novelist who had studied biology at university, for much of his adult life.He proposed in March 2000 that the required degree of variation could be achieved if large numbers of inert or silent genes existed within the genome. Such genes, because they do not code for physical characteristics, could freely mutate over time without deleteriously affecting the host organism. At a later stage they could be switched on, by largely random processes, and generate exotic new variants. Remarkably, his description of silent genes was found to correspond precisely with the so-called junk genes. These are found in all species, forming the great majority of genes in multicellular species and rising to 98.5% of the genome in humans. Until then their function had proved mysterious. In addition, Collins's theory predicted a number of features of the silent or junk genes which have since been increasingly verified by recent research: for example, that they could become active and begin to code, and that they influenced other genes.It is now widely accepted that, just as Collins predicted, the vast majority of significant mutation in the genomes of complex species arises from the silent genes. But Collins's powerful and ambitious theory moves well beyond the molecular realm. He argues that while natural selection is a major force in evolution, it is primarily negative and entropic. Instead, the great driver of complex evolution is the range of variation created by the silent genes. As Professor Donald Braben writes in his illuminating foreword, "Collins is proposing a general evolutionary theory which, if it continues to be supported by the data, may in due course come to rival Darwin's theory that evolution is driven by natural selection."

Current Trends and Future Developments on (Bio-) Membranes: Recent Achievements for Ion-Exchange Membranes focuses on introducing and analyzing ion-exchange membranes performance and overviewing recent achievements in the structural development of ion-exchange membranes in various applications. Hence, this book is a key reference text for R&D managers in who are interested in the development of ion-exchange membrane technologies as well as academic researchers and postgraduate students working in the wider area of strategic treatments, separation and purification processes.

The fastest growing realization everywhere is that humanity can't go on the way it is going. Indeed, the great fear is we're entering endgame where we appear to have lost the race between self-destruction and self-discovery-the race to find the psychologically relieving understanding of our `good and evil'-afflicted human condition. Well, astonishing as it is, this book by Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith presents the 11th hour breakthrough biological explanation of the human condition necessary for the psychological rehabilitation and transformation of our species! The culmination of 40 years of studying and writing about our species' psychosis, FREEDOM delivers nothing less than the holy grail of insight we have needed to free ourselves from the human condition. It is, in short, as Professor Harry Prosen, a former president of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, asserts in his Introduction, "The book that saves the world!". Griffith has been able to venture right to the bottom of the dark depths of what it is to be human and return with the fully accountable, true explanation of our seemingly imperfect lives. At long last we have the redeeming and thus transforming understanding of human behaviour! And with that explanation found all the other great outstanding scientific mysteries about our existence are now also able to be truthfully explained-of the meaning of our existence, of the origin of our unconditionally selfless moral instincts, and of why we humans became conscious when other animals haven't. Yes, the full story of life on Earth can finally be told-and all of these incredible breakthroughs and insights are presented here in this `greatest of all books'.

'Gow reinvents what it means to be a guardian of the countryside.'-Guardian 'This authentic, impassioned manifesto-cum-memoir will hopefully have a major impact on what is likely to be a long-running controversy.'-The Spectator 'Gow has a fire in his belly. We need more like him.'-BBC Wildlife Magazine A Waterstones Best Nature Writing Book of 2020 'Bringing Back the Beaver is a hilarious, eccentric and magnificent account of a struggle . . . to reintroduce a species crucial to the health of our ecosystems.'-George Monbiot Bringing Back the Beaver is farmer-turned-ecologist Derek Gow's inspirational and often riotously funny first-hand account of how the movement to rewild beavers into the British landscape became the single most dramatic and subversive nature conservation act of the modern era. Since the early 1990s - in the face of outright opposition from government, landowning elites and even some conservation professionals - Gow has imported, quarantined and assisted the reestablishment of beavers in waterways across England and Scotland. With a foreword by bestselling author of Wilding, Isabella Tree, Bringing Back the Beaver makes a passionate case as to why the return of one of nature's great problem solvers will be critical as part of a sustainable fix for the UK's growing flooding problems, whilst ensuring the creation of essential landscapes that enable the broadest spectrum of Britain's wildlife to thrive. 'It is wonderful to see that beavers are now officially back on the list of native species, having been absent for so long . . . far too long!'-Dame Judi Dench

Bioengineered Nanomaterials for Wound Healing and Infection Control is a key reference for those working in the fields of materials science, pharmacy, nanotechnology, biomedical engineering and microbiology. Bioengineered nanomaterials have unique physicochemical properties which promote accelerated wound healing and treatment of infections. The biosynthesis of these nanomaterials also offers a clean, safe and renewable alternative to traditional nanomaterials, helping reduce environmental impact alongside antibacterial resistance.

Integrative Strategies for Bioremediation of Environmental Contaminants, Volume Two: Avenues to a Cleaner Society focuses on the exploitation of various biological treatment technologies and their use to treat toxic contaminants present in industrial effluent to restore contaminated sites. The book includes coverage of combined treatments of microbes for reuse of wastewater and contaminated soil to successfully achieve eco-restoration, environment protection and sustainable development. In 14 chapters, this reference compiles current and advanced biotechnologies as well as future directions for research. This is a valuable resource for researchers in microbiology, biotechnology, environmental engineering and environmental science, and all those who wish to broaden their knowledge in the field of applied microbiology to develop sustainable waste management.

Viral Vectors in Cancer Immunotherapy, Volume 379 in the International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology presents the latest on cancer immunotherapy and how it has transformed cancer treatment through advances in immune checkpoint inhibitors and adoptive cell therapy. Chapters in this new release include Past, present and future of viral vectors in cancer immunotherapy, Alphaviruses in cancer immunotherapy, Adenoviral-based cancer gene therapy, Armored modified vaccinia Ankara in cancer immunotherapy, Strategies of Semliki Forest virus in immuno-oncology, Maraba virus in cancer immunotherapy, Oncolytic viruses in hematological malignancies, Oncolytic virus for cancer therapies: Overview and future directions, and more. The use of genetically modified viruses allows the expression of pro-inflammatory molecules, while the immune system receives danger signals from the viruses themselves. In some cases, the virus can also induce tumor cell death. This book will review advances in virus-based cancer immunotherapy in both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

The Immunological Synapse - Part B, Volume 178 in the Methods in Cell Biology series provides state-of-the-art methods for the study of the immunological synapse. This first volume covers various aspects on T cell and natural killer (NK) cell synapses, including imaging polarized granule release using TIRF microscopy, analysis of actin reorganization and centrosome polarization, redirected degranulation, live cell-imaging to quantify cytotoxic and chemotactic dynamics, quantification of interactions between APCs and T cells, assessment of membrane lipid state at the immunological synapse, proteomic analysis and imaging of NK-tumor cell interaction, evaluating natural killer cell effector functions against breast cancer cells derived from human tumor tissue, evaluation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified cell immunological synapse quality using the glass-supported planar lipid bilayer, and monitoring potency of therapeutic CAR T cells. It also includes one chapter on quantification of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus specific T cells and LCMV viral titers, and one chapter on the murine antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis assay.