This book provides a knowledge-based view to the dynamic capabilities in an organization. The author integrates two existing views on gaining competitive advantage: the Knowledge View which suggests that the capability of organizations to learn faster than competitors is the only source of competitiveness; and the Dynamic Capability View which speculates that a fi rm's competitive advantage rests on it's ability to adapt to changes in the business environment. Using the IT sector in India as a case study, this book provides and tests a new framework-Knowledge-Based Dynamic Capabilities-in the prediction of competitive advantage in organizations.

Current Topics in Developmental Biology provides a comprehensive survey of the major topics in the field of developmental biology. These volumes are valuable to researchers in animal and plant development, as well as to students and professionals who want an introduction to cellular and molecular mechanisms of development. The series has recently passed its 30-year mark, making it the longest-running forum for contemporary issues in developmental biology.
* Includes many descriptive figures
* Topics covered include Wnt signaling, controlling regulatory networks, cartilage growth plates, and more
* Latest volume in the series that covers seven reviews in 300 pages

Human Fertility: Methods and Protocols is intended for all practitioners of reproductive medicine and ART, as well as for embryologists and reproductive, developmental, cell and molecular biologists and others in the biomedical sciences. The volume presents straight-forward manner best practice approaches for overcoming a host of fertility challenges. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Human Fertility: Methods and Protocols aids scientists in continuing to study assisted reproductive technologies.

The discipline of developmental toxicology is an integration of concepts, models, and methodologies based heavily on the superimposition of toxicology principles upon the science of developmental biology. The science of developmental toxicology also borrows from other research areas that are concerned with regulation of cell growth, migration, differentiation and cell death, as such are central to the study of stem cells, cancer, and chronic diseases. In Developmental Toxicology: Methods and Protocols expert researchers in the field detail many of the methods which are now commonly used to study developmental toxicology highlighting the evolution of methods from classical teratology approaches to the dynamic, state-of-the-art molecular methods, systems biology, and next generation models and procedures. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Developmental Toxicology: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource to those planning experiments to investigate consequences of environmental, nutritional, or chemical effects caused during development.

This is a valuable, up-to-date, and newly revised collection of articles by noted experts to address all aspects of the stem cell controversy.

Much effort has been devoted to developing theories to explain the wide variation we observe in reproductive allocation among environments. Reproductive Allocation in Plants describes why plants differ in the proportion of their resources that they allocate to reproduction and looks into the various theories. This book examines the ecological and evolutionary explanations for variation in plant reproductive allocation from the perspective of the underlying physiological mechanisms controlling reproduction and growth. An international team of leading experts have prepared chapters summarizing the current state of the field and offering their views on the factors determining reproductive allocation in plants. This will be a valuable resource for senior undergraduate students, graduate students and researchers in ecology, plant ecophysiology, and population biology.
* 8 outstanding chapters dedicated to the evolution and ecology of variation in plant reproductive allocation
* Written by an international team of leading experts in the field
* Provides enough background information to make it accessible to senior undergraduate students
* Includes over 60 figures and 29 tables

In mammals, the major factors involved in the regulation of body growth are known: insulin-like growth factors (IGF) are key regulators of somatic growth. Growth hormone (GH), secreted by the pituitary gland, directly regulates circulating levels of IGF-I, which is the major coordinator of spatio-temporal growth of the organism. In humans, growth is even more complex, involving a number of specific characteristics not found in other species. These include rapid intrauterine growth, deceleration just after birth, a mid-childhood growth spurt, a second deceleration before puberty, an adolescent growth spurt, and finally full statural growth, which is seen somewhat later. The combined knowledge concerning the endocrine and paracrine aspects of growth have led to the introduction of treatment regimens, most effective in GH-deficient children. However, size depends on the combination of a number of genetic factors, and there remain several aspects of this complex process still poorly understood.

One of the major questions in the evolution of animals is the transition from unicellular to multicellular organization, which resulted in the emergence of Metazoa through a hypothetical Urmetazoa. The Comparative Embryology of Sponges contains abundant original and literary data on comparative embryology and morphology of the Porifera (Sponges), a group of 'lower Metazoa'. On the basis of this material, original typization of the development of Sponges is given and the problems concerning origin and evolution of Porifera and their ontogenesis are discussed. A morphogenetic interpretation of the body plan development during embryogenesis, metamorphosis and asexual reproduction in Sponges is proposed. Special attention is given to the analysis of characteristic features of the ontogenesis in Porifera. The book pursues three primary goals: 1) generalization of all existing information on individual development of sponges, its classification and a statement according to taxonomical structure of Porifera; 2) revealing of heterogeneity of morphogenesis and peculiarities of ontogeneses in various clades of Porifera, and also their correlations with the organization, both adult sponges, and their larvae; 3) revealing homology of morphogeneses in both Porifera and Eumetazoa, testifying to the general evolutionary roots of multicellular animals, and peculiar features of sponges' morphogeneses and ontogenesis. This book will be of interest to embryologists, zoologists, morphologists and researchers in evolutionary biology.

The field of stem cell biology is geared towards translation into clinical practice through in vitro tissue production and regeneration therapy. Since the discovery of adult neurogenesis, much attention has been put on the study of differentiation of stem cells into neural cell types and the development of model systems for stroke and neurodegenerative diseases.

In addition to chapters on therapeutic applicability of embryonic, very small-embryonic like, mesenchymal stem and neural progenitor cells, this book covers signalling mechanisms guiding induction to differentiation and cell diversification. Furthermore, fundamental aspects of stem cell biology and neurogenesis, such as the importance of proliferation induction, programmed cell death and the function of glia in differentiation of stem cells and development of neuronal circuits, are also highlighted. In vitro cultures of embryonic, mesenchymal and neural stem cells as well as mobilization of endogenous stem and precursor cells for brain repair and replacement therapy in neurological disorders are important issues of this book.

Each chapter is written by researchers who are leaders in the field and provides an invaluable resource for information on the most current advances in the field and possible therapeutic applications, with discussions of controversial issues and areas of emerging importance. By providing an up-to-date and critical view of the state of Science, we hope that this book shall be a base for exciting scientific ideas regarding functions and therapeutic applications of stem cells in the adult brain. The book is directed to neuroscientists, physicians, students and all who are engaged and interested in the exciting and rapidly expanding field of modern neuroscience and stem cell biology.

More than two thirds of all living organisms described to date belong to the phylum Arthropoda. But their diversity, as measured in terms of species number, is also accompanied by an amazing disparity in terms of body form, developmental processes, and adaptations to every inhabitable place on Earth, from the deepest marine abysses to the earth surface and the air. The Arthropoda also include one of the most fashionable and extensively studied of all model organisms, the fruit-fly, whose name is not only linked forever to Mendelian and population genetics, but has more recently come back to centre stage as one of the most important and more extensively investigated models in developmental genetics. This approach has completely changed our appreciation of some of the most characteristic traits of arthropods as are the origin and evolution of segments, their regional and individual specialization, and the origin and evolution of the appendages. At approximately the same time as developmental genetics was eventually turning into the major agent in the birth of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), molecular phylogenetics was challenging the traditional views on arthropod phylogeny, including the relationships among the four major groups: insects, crustaceans, myriapods, and chelicerates. In the meantime, palaeontology was revealing an amazing number of extinct forms that on the one side have contributed to a radical revisitation of arthropod phylogeny, but on the other have provided evidence of a previously unexpected disparity of arthropod and arthropod-like forms that often challenge a clear-cut delimitation of the phylum.

Hedgehog-GLI Signaling in Human Disease represents the first compilation of up-to-date reviews by top-level scientists in this important field of research. The chapters cover a wide spectrum of related interests, from the molecular bases of morphogen function, to human genetics to cancer research. The aim of the book is to disseminate information on this exciting field, to allow students, scientists and the public in general to gain access current information from research leaders and to provide a book that encompasses different aspects of research showing the fusion of basic research in model systems and medicine. This is a timely primer on how a system of cell communication, Hedgehog-GLI signaling, plays a critical role in human disease and thus provides the background for the development of novel and rational therapies.

The first homeobox gene was molecular cloned nearly two decades ago, and since that time tremendous progress has been made in our understanding of the distribution of homeobox genes in the genomes of many animal species and the common functional role the encoded homeodomains play in cell-type specification, morphogenesis and development.

The amino acid sequence of the homeodomain, as well as the presence of other conserved protein domains, has allowed the classification of homeodomain-containing proteins (homeoproteins) into over thirty separate families (e.g. "Hox, Dlx, Msx, Otx, Hmx, Cdx" etc.). In many cases a single gene has been shown to fully direct the morphogenesis and development of a complex tissue, organ or even an entire body segment. Yet how this "master" regulatory ability of homeoproteins functions at the molecular level to a large degree still remains a mystery, in part owing to our limited understanding of the nature of both homeoprotein transcriptional cofactors and even more elusively, the downstream targets of homeoprotein function.

In the reviews presented here it is limited primarily to what has been learned in vertebrate systems, principally focusing on the mouse, owing to the strengths of the technical approaches currently existing in murine developmental genetics that are not yet available to the same degree in other vertebrate species. Despite this mammalian predilection, a common thread to each of these reviews is the underlying importance of what has been learned about homeoprotein function in other animal species, particularly arthropods like "Drosophila."

The acclaimed International Review of Cytology series presents current advances and reviews in cell biology, both plant and animal. Aricles address structure and control of gene expression, nucleocytoplasmic interactions, control of cell development and differentiation, and cell transformation and growth. Contributors to this volume include Yosef Gruenbaum, Sergey Razin, Johanna M. van der Wouden, J. M. Mitchison, Ora A. Weisz, and
Anne Regnier-Vigourous.
The acclaimed International Review of Cytology series presents current advances and reviews in cell biology, both plant and animal. Aricles address structure and control of gene expression, nucleocytoplasmic interactions, control of cell development and differentiation, and cell transformation and growth. Contributors to this volume include Yosef Gruenbaum, Sergey Razin, Johanna M. van der Wouden, J. M. Mitchison, Ora A. Weisz, and
Anne Regnier-Vigourous.

Conceived for both computer scientists and biologists alike, this collection of 22 essays highlights the important new role that computers play in developmental biology research. Essays show how through computer modeling, researchers gain further insight into developmental processes. Featured essays also cover their use in designing computer algorithms to tackle computer science problems in areas like neural network design, robot control, evolvable hardware, and more. Peter Bentley, noted for his prolific research on evolutionary computation, and Sanjeev Kumar head up a respected team to guide readers through these very complex and fascinating disciplines.
* Covers both developmental biology and computational development -- the only book of its kind
* Provides introductory material and more detailed information on BOTH disciplines
* Includes contribututions from Richard Dawkins, Lewis Wolpert, Ian Stewart, and many other experts

International Review of Cytology presents current advances and comprehensive reviews in cell biology--both plant and animal. Articles address structure and control of gene expression, nucleocytoplasmic interactions, control of cell development and differentiation, and cell transformation and growth. Authored by some of the foremost scientists in the field, each volume provides up-to-date information and directions for future research.
Key Features
* Each volume provides up-to-date information and directions for future research
* Authored by some of the foremost international scientists in the field
* Fully illustrated in color and black and white

This book focuses on the intersection between cell cycle regulation and embryo development. Specific modifications of the canonical cell cycle occur throughout the whole period of development and are adapted to fulfil functions coded by the developmental program. Deciphering these adaptations is essential to comprehending how living organisms develop. The aim of this book is to review the best-known modifications and adaptations of the cell cycle during development. The first chapters cover the general problems of how the cell cycle evolves, while consecutive chapters guide readers through the plethora of such phenomena. The book closes with a description of specific changes in the cell cycle of neurons in the senescent human brain. Taken together, the chapters present a panorama of species - from worms to humans - and of developmental stages - from unfertilized oocyte to aged adult.

Plant dormancy involves synchronization of environmental cues with developmental processes to ensure plant survival; however, negative impacts of plant dormancy include pre-harvest sprouting, non-uniform germination of crop and weed seeds, and fruit loss due to inappropriate bud break. Thus, our continued quest to disseminate information is important in moving our understanding of plant dormancy forward and to develop new ideas for improving food, feed, and fiber production and efficient weed control, particularly under global climate change. Proceeding from the 5th International Plant Dormancy Symposium will provide an overview related on our current understanding of how environmental factors impact cellular, molecular, and physiological processes involved in bud and seed dormancy, and perspectives and/or reviews on achievements, which should stimulate new ideas and lines of investigation that increase our understanding of plant dormancy and highlight directions for future research.

A new voice in the nature-nurture debate can be heard at the interface between evolution and development. Phenotypic integration--or, how large numbers of characteristics are related to make up the whole organism, and how these relationships evolve and change their function--is a major growth area in research, attracting the attention of evolutionary biologists, developmental biologists, and geneticists, as well as, more broadly, ecologists, physiologists, and paleontologists. This edited collection presents much of the best and most recent work the topic.

Aging is the progressive decline in biological functions over time. This decline targets macromolecules, cells, tissues and, as a consequence, whole organisms. Despite considerable progress in the development of testable hypothesis concerning aging in an evolutionary context, a unifying theory of the molecular/physiological mechanistic causes of aging has not been reached. In fact, is it not clear to what extent aging is a programmed or stochastic process. This book takes the reader from unicellular bacterial deterioration via senescence in yeast and worms to aging in rodents and humans, allowing a comparative view on similarities and differences in different genetic model systems. The different model systems are scrutinized in the light of contemporary aging hypothesis, such as the free radical and genomic instability theories.

As a result of the key advances made more than 30 years ago, specifically the ability to isolate islets of Langerhans from the pancreas, the ability to measure insulin accurately by immunoasay, and the development of microchemical techniques for studying cells and their components, many research volumes, symposium reports, and original papers have been produced. This explosion of interest has probably had at least three stimuli:

1. the inherent scientific interest in understanding secretion of the pancreatic -cell
2. the -cells relevance to a very common disease
3. the availability of funding from specific sources related to diabetes research, for instance, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International and the British Diabetic Association.

As a result of all this activity, detailed scientific literature including research reviews are readily available.
Surprisingly enough, there are relatively few attempts to summarize this great bulk of knowledge in a way that is accessible to the newcomer to this field and this book is intended to bridge this gap.

This book covers the wide area of developmental physiology of the intestine: changes in the structure and function of the gut during perinatal period and weaning in mammals, role of nutrients (in particular colostrum and milk), neuroendocrine function of the intestine, intestinal motility, secretion and absorption and their neurohormonal regulation, novel knowledge on gut metabolism, and the structural and functional expression of circadian variability in the gut. It also contains unique information on the luminal action of gut regulatory peptides, and the role of the electric current generated by intestinal smooth muscle on gastrointestinal microbial growth.

Only in recent times has the possibility of growing and implanting replacement teeth, made from one s own cells, moved into the realm of realistic possibilities; however, the molecular and cellular mechanisms of tooth development must be studied in a range of vertebrates, from zebrafish to mice, so that evolutionarily conserved network kernels, which will define the cellular states of generic vertebrate tooth development, can be recognized. In "Odontogenesis: Methods and Protocols," experts in the field examine techniques to approach this burgeoning field. This detailed volume includes chapters on the detection of tooth development gene expression, both at the RNA and protein level, current approaches to the manipulation of gene expression levels and subsequent analysis of tooth phenotypes, as well as chapters concerning current efforts to get living tooth implants working without waiting for a full understanding of the developmental pathways at the molecular level. Written in the highly successful "Methods in Molecular Biology " series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips for troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Practical and easy to use, "Odontogenesis: Methods and Protocols" aims to help researchers move forward toward the ultimate goal of getting a bioengineered tooth into the patient s mouth.

This book represents a classic compilation of current knowledge about mouse development and its correlates to research in cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, and neuroscience. Emphasis is placed on the research strategy, experimental design, and critical analysis of the data, disguishing this from other books that only focus on protocols for mouse developmental research. Selected chapters are indexed to electronic databases such as GeneBank, GenBank, Electronic Mouse Atlas, and Transgenic/Knockout, further increasing the utility of this book as a reference.
*Broad-based overview of mouse development from fundamental to specialist levels
*Extensive coverage of a wide range of developmental mutations of the mouse
*Excellent benchmark illustrations of brain, craniofacial, gut and heart development
*In-depth experiment-based assessment of concepts in mammalian development
*Focus on models of specific relevance to human development
*Comprehensive reference to key literature and electronic databases related to mouse development
*High-quality full-color production

Neural Stem Cells: Development and Transplantation provides comprehensive, critical and insightful reviews by leading experts in this exciting field of research. This volume will provide the latest data on neural stem cell properties and their therapeutic applications.
This volume will be particularly useful for students, basic scientists, and clinicians in the academic or industrial sectors who have an interest in understanding neural development and its application to repairing the nervous system.