The first photographic and descriptive musculoskeletal atlas of a baby gorilla, this book details the comparative and phylogenetic context of the gross anatomy and evolutionary history of the soft tissue morphology of modern humans and one of their closest relatives. With detailed high-quality photographs of musculoskeletal structures, it provides an updated review of the anatomical variations within gorillas as well as an extensive list of the synonyms used in the literature to designate the structures discussed. It will be of interest to students, teachers, and researchers studying primatology, comparative anatomy, functional morphology, zoology, and physical anthropology.

Infectious fungal diseases continue to take their toll in terms of human suffering and enormous economic losses. Invasive infections by opportunistic fungal pathogens are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in immuno-compromised individuals. At the same time, plant pathogenic fungi have devastating effects on crop production and human health. New strategies for antifungal control are required to meet the challenges posed by these agents, and such approaches can only be developed through the identification of novel biochemical and molecular targets. However, in contrast to bacterial pathogens, fungi display a wealth of lifestyles and modes of infection. This diversity makes it extremely difficult to identify individual, evolutionarily conserved virulence determinants and represents a major stumbling block in the search for common antifungal targets. In order to activate the infection programme, all fungal pathogens must undergo appropriate developmental transitions that involve cellular differentiation and the introduction of a new morphogenetic programme. How growth, cell cycle progression and morphogenesis are co-ordinately regulated during development has been an active area of research in fungal model systems such as budding and fission yeast. By contrast, we have only limited knowledge of how these developmental processes shape fungal pathogenicity, or of the role of the cell cycle and morphogenesis regulators as true virulence factors. This book combines state-of-the-art expertise from diverse pathogen model systems to update our current understanding of the regulation of fungal morphogenesis as a key determinant of pathogenicity in fungi.

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Nowadays, it is widely accepted that there is no single influence (be it nature or nurture) on cognitive development. Cognitive abilities emerge as a result of interactions between gene expression, cortical and subcortical brain networks, and environmental influences. In recent years, our study of neurodevelopmental disorders has provided much valuable information on how genes, brain development, behaviour, and environment interact to influence development from infancy to adulthood. This is the first book to present evidence on development across the lifespan across these multiple levels of description (genetic, brain, cognitive, environmental). In the book, the authors have chosen a well-defined disorder, Williams syndrome (WS), to explore the impact of genes, brain development, behaviour, as well as the individual's environment on development. WS is used as a model disorder to demonstrate the authors approach to understanding development, whilst being presented in comparison to other neurodevelopmental disorders - Autism, Developmental Dyscalculia, Down syndrome, Dyslexia, Fragile X syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Specific Language Impairment, Turner syndrome - to illustrate differences in development across neurodevelopmental disorders. Williams syndrome is particularly informative for exploring development: Firstly, it has been extensively researched at multiple levels: genes, brain, cognition and behaviour, as well as in terms of the difficulties of daily living and social interaction. Secondly, it has been studied across the lifespan, with many studies on infants and toddlers with WS as well as a large number on children, adolescents and adults. The authors also explore a number of domain-general and domain-specific processes in the verbal, non-verbal and social domains, across numerous neurodevelopmental disorders. This illustrates, among other factors, the importance of developmental timing, i.e. that the development of a cognitive skill at a specific timepoint can impact on subsequent development within that domain, but also across domains. In addition, the authors discuss the value of investigating basic-level abilities from as close to the infant start-state as possible, presenting evidence of where cross-syndrome comparisons have shed light on the cascading impacts of subtle similarities and discrepancies in early delay or deviance, on subsequent development. Designed such that readers with an interest in any neurodevelopmental disorder can gain insight into the intricate dynamics of cognitive development, the book covers both theoretical issues and those of clinical relevance. It will be an invaluable reference for any researcher, clinician, student as well as interested parents or teachers wishing to learn about neurodevelopmental disorders from a developmental framework.

Compared to animals, plants have been largely neglected in evolutionary developmental biology. Mainstream research has focused on developmental genetics, while a rich body of knowledge in comparative morphology is still to be exploited. No integrated account is available. In this volume, Minelli fills this gap using the same approach he gave to animals, revisiting traditional concepts and providing an articulated analysis of genetic and molecular data. Topics covered include leaf complexity and the evolution of flower organs, handedness, branching patterns, flower symmetry and synorganization, and less conventional topics such as fractal patterns of plant organization. Also discussed is the hitherto neglected topic of the evolvability of temporal phenotypes like a plant's annual, biennial or perennial life cycle, flowering time and the timing of abscission of flower organs. This will be informative reading for anyone in the field of plant evo-devo, from students to lecturers and researchers.

Moving Beyond Self-Interest is an interdisciplinary volume that discusses cutting-edge developments in the science of caring for and helping others. In Part I, contributors raise foundational issues related to human caregiving. They present new theories and data to show how natural selection might have shaped a genuinely altruistic drive to benefit others, how this drive intersects with the attachment and caregiving systems, and how it emerges from a broader social engagement system made possible by symbiotic regulation of autonomic physiological states. In Part II, contributors propose a new neurophysiological model of the human caregiving system and present arguments and evidence to show how mammalian neural circuitry that supports parenting might be recruited to direct human cooperation and competition, human empathy, and parental and romantic love. Part III is devoted to the psychology of human caregiving. Some contributors in this section show how an evolutionary perspective helps us better understand parental investment in and empathic concern for children at risk for, or suffering from, various health, behavioral, and cognitive problems. Other contributors identify circumstances that differentially predict caregiver benefits and costs, and raise the question of whether extreme levels of compassion are actually pathological. The section concludes with a discussion of semantic and conceptual obstacles to the scientific investigation of caregiving. Part IV focuses on possible interfaces between new models of caregiving motivation and economics, political science, and social policy development. In this section, contributors show how the new theory and research discussed in this volume can inform our understanding of economic utility, policies for delivering social services (such as health care and education), and hypotheses concerning the origins and development of human society, including some of its more problematic features of nationalism, conflict, and war. The chapters in this volume help readers appreciate the human capacity for engaging in altruistic acts, on both a small and large scale.

Providing a new conceptual scaffold for further research in biology and cognition, this book introduces the new field of Cognitive Biology: a systems biology approach showing that further progress in this field will depend on a deep recognition of developmental processes, as well as on the consideration of the developed organism as an agent able to modify and control its surrounding environment. The role of cognition, the means through which the organism is able to cope with its environment, cannot be underestimated. In particular, it is shown that this activity is grounded on a theory of information based on Bayesian probabilities. The organism is considered as a cybernetic system able to integrate a processor as a source of variety (the genetic system), a regulator of its own homeostasis (the metabolic system), and a selecting system separating the self from the non-self (the membrane in unicellular organisms). Any organism is a complex system that can survive only if it is able to maintain its internal order against the spontaneous tendency towards disruption. Therefore, it is forced to monitor and control its environment and so to establish feedback circuits resulting in co-adaptation. Cognitive and biological processes are shown to be inseparable.

This textbook provides students with knowledge of neurogenetics, neurogenesis, neuronal specification and function, neuronal networks, learning and memory formation, brain evolution, and neurodegenerative diseases. Students are introduced to topics of classical developmental genetics as well as modern molecular and neurogenetic methods. Using a wealth of examples from current research, the textbook takes a strong applied approach. Using animal models such as Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans as well as mammalian systems, the interrelationships between genes, neurons, nervous systems, and behaviour under normal and pathological conditions are illustrated. The textbook aims encourage students to address biological questions in neurogenetics and to think about the design of their own experiments. It targets primarily master and graduate students in neurobiology, but is also a valuable teaching tool for instructors in these fields.

Animal life, now and over the past half billion years, is incredibly diverse. Describing and understanding the evolution of this diversity of body plans - from vertebrates such as humans and fish to the numerous invertebrate groups including sponges, insects, molluscs, and the many groups of worms - is a major goal of evolutionary biology. In this book, a group of leading researchers adopt a modern, integrated approach to describe how current molecular genetic techniques and disciplines as diverse as palaeontology, embryology, and genomics have been combined, resulting in a dramatic renaissance in the study of animal evolution.
The last decade has seen growing interest in evolutionary biology fuelled by a wealth of data from molecular biology. Modern phylogenies integrating evidence from molecules, embryological data, and morphology of living and fossil taxa provide a wide consensus of the major branching patterns of the tree of life; moreover, the links between phenotype and genotype are increasingly well understood. This has resulted in a reliable tree of relationships that has been widely accepted and has spawned numerous new and exciting questions that require a reassessment of the origins and radiation of animal life. The focus of this volume is at the level of major animal groups, the morphological innovations that define them, and the mechanisms of change to their embryology that have resulted in their evolution. Current research themes and future prospects are highlighted including phylogeny reconstruction, comparative developmental biology, the value of different sources of data and the importance of fossils, homology assessment, character evolution, phylogeny of major groups of animals, and genome evolution. These topics are integrated in the light of a 'new animal phylogeny', to provide fresh insights into the patterns and processes of animal evolution.
Animal Evolution provides a timely and comprehensive statement of progress in the field for academic researchers requiring an authoritative, balanced and up-to-date overview of the topic. It is also intended for both upper level undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in animal evolution, molecular phylogenetics, evo-devo, comparative genomics and associated disciplines.

Animal phylogeny is undergoing a major revolution due to the availability of an exponentially increasing amount of molecular data and the application of novel methods of phylogentic reconstruction, as well as the many spectacular advances in palaeontology and molecular developmental biology. Traditional views of the relationships among major phyla have been shaken and new, often unexpected, relationships are now being considered. At the same tiem, the emerging discipline of evolutionary developmental biology, or 'evo-devo', has offered new insights into the origin and evolvability of major traits of animal architecture and life cycle. All these developments call for a revised interpretation of the pathways along which animal structure and development has evolved since the origin of the Metazoa.
Perspectives in Animal Phylogeny and Evolution takes on this challenge, successfully integrating morphological, fossil and molecular evidence to produce a novel reinterpretation of animal evolution. Central to the book's approach is an 'evo-devo' perspective on animal evolution (with all the fresh insights this has given into the origin of animal organization and life cycles), complementary to the more traditional perspectives of pattern (cladistics, comparative anatomy and embryology), mechanisms (developmental biology) and adaptation (evolutionary biology). The author advocates the need to approach the study of animal evolution with a critical attitude towards many key concepts of comparative morphology and developmental biology. Particular attention in the book is paid to the evolution of life cycles and larval forms.
This accessible text is suitable for graduate students taking advanced courses in evolutionary developmental biology, invertebrate zoology, molecular phylogenetics and palaeontology, as well as professional researchers in these fields requiring an authoritative and up-to-date overview of this dynamic topic.

Photochemistry is an important facet in the study of the origin of life and prebiotic chemistry. Solar photons are the unique source of the large amounts of energy likely required to initiate the organisation of matter to produce biological life. The Miller-Urey experiment simulated the conditions thought to be present on the early earth and supported the hypothesis that under such conditions complex organic compounds could be synthesised from simpler inorganic precursors. The experiment inspired many others, including the production of various alcohols, aldehydes and organic acids through UV-photolysis of water vapour with carbon monoxide. This book covers the photochemical aspects of the study of prebiotic and origin of life chemistry an ideal companion for postgraduates and researchers in prebiotic chemistry, photochemistry, photobiology, chemical biology and astrochemistry.

The advent of genome sequencing and associated technologies has transformed biologists' ability to measure important classes of molecules and their interactions. This expanded cellular view has opened the field to thousands of interactions that previously were outside the researchers' reach. The processing and interpretation of these new vast quantities of interconnected data call for sophisticated mathematical models and computational methods. Systems biology meets this need by combining genomic knowledge with theoretical, experimental and computational approaches from a number of traditional scientific disciplines to create a mechanistic explanation of cellular systems and processes.
Systems Biology I: Genomics and Systems Biology II: Networks, Models, and Applications offer a much-needed study of genomic principles and their associated networks and models. Written for a wide audience, each volume presents a timely compendium of essential information that is necessary for a comprehensive study of the subject. The chapters in the two volumes reflect the hierarchical nature of systems biology. Chapter authors-world-recognized experts in their fields-provide authoritative discussions on a wide range of topics along this hierarchy. Volume I explores issues pertaining to genomics that range from prebiotic chemistry to noncoding RNAs. Volume II covers an equally wide spectrum, from mass spectrometry to embryonic stem cells. The two volumes are meant to provide a reliable reference for students and researchers alike.

Familiar sciences of biology, physics, chemistry, cybernetics, and computational methods for dealing with vast new data sets of information at molecular and sub-molecular levels are morphing into new sciences. Some exist beneath our line of sight where laws of nature hover between Newtonian and quantum mechanics. New fields of cyber-, bio-, nanotechnology and systems biology raise arcane new concepts. The completed human genome has led to an explosion of interest in genetics and molecular biology. The view of the genome as a network of interacting computational components is well established and here writers explore it in new ways. These systemic approaches are timely in light of the availability of an increasing number of genomic sequences, and the generation of large volumes of biological data by high-throughput methods. Suitable for two-semesters of study, the works surveys genomics principles in the 13 chapters of Vol I, and networks and models in the 14 chapters of Vol II. Both, as a two-book set, will serve as core foundation titles for Dennis Shasha's Series in Systems Biology, establishing the principles and challenges for this emerging field of study. In each chapter world-renowned experts trail-blazing in their respective fields will review corresponding topics as well as current and planned research. Chapters will treat the integrated study and analysis of biological systems by use of data and information about the system components in their entirety, as opposed to the study of individual components in isolation. Systems Biology courses are popping up all over the place and biology, computer science, and bioinformatics programs are the primary potential takers. The editors plan books for a very wide audience, at the same time providing a comprehensive repository of up-to-date overviews and predictions for a number of inter-related sub-fields within this hierarchy. Intended readers include graduate students plus academic and professional researchers of genomics, bioinformatics, molecular biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, and computer systemic approaches to those fields. By comparison, Shasha's first Systems Biology Series title, Amos's Cellular Biology, is a book for technologists using biology as a vehicle to do something else, whereas this is a book about systems and related technologies in service to biologists. The volume editors plan to review or have reviewed, and to edit the invited chapters for content and consistent conceptual level, each chapter contributing uniquely to the key aspects of the Systems Biology hierarchy. A few chapter contents may date after two years, but the majority will endure for longer-term reference use because they treat methodologies and provide sample applications.

What is sex? Has it always existed? What purpose does it serve? Why are there penises and vaginas? These questions are at the very core of Dirty Biology, an erudite (and hilarious) graphic novel that aims to teach you everything you wanted to know about sex-and then some. "Sex" can mean a number of things. It can refer to sex organs, to sex types, to the act of copulation, or to the simple exchange of genetic material. This book explains what we actually mean when we talk about sex and reveals a wealth of astonishing scientific details along the way. For example, did you know that some species can have sex without genitals? And when it comes to genitals, did you know that there's an amazing diversity of these across species? From the evolution of penises and vaginas to far-fetched mating rituals and the shocking consequences of the sex act, Dirty Biology exposes sex for what it is: a lot more interesting and more complicated than the simplistic image we often have of it.

This Second Edition of Plankton is a fully updated introduction to the biology, ecology and identification of plankton and their use in monitoring water quality. It includes expanded, illustrated descriptions of all major groups of freshwater, coastal and marine phytoplankton and zooplankton and a new chapter on teaching science using plankton. Best practice methods for plankton sampling and monitoring programs are presented using case studies, along with explanations of how to analyse and interpret sampling data. Healthy waterways and oceans are essential for our increasingly urbanised world. Yet monitoring water quality in aquatic environments is a challenge, as it varies from hour to hour due to stormwater and currents. Being at the base of the aquatic food web and present in huge numbers, plankton are strongly influenced by changes in environment and provide an indication of water quality integrated over days and weeks. Plankton are the aquatic version of a canary in a coal mine. They are also vital for our existence, providing not only food for fish, seabirds, seals and sharks, but producing oxygen, cycling nutrients, processing pollutants, and removing carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. This new edition: contains a new chapter on Plankton in the Classroom has greatly expanded coverage of coastal and marine phytoplankton explains the role of plankton in aquatic ecosystems and its usefulness as a water quality indicator updates and details best practice in methodology for plankton sampling and monitoring programs brings together widely-scattered information on freshwater and coastal phytoplankton and zooplankton and provides a list of up-to-date references. Plankton is an invaluable reference for teachers and students, environmental managers, ecologists, estuary and catchment management committees, and coastal engineers.

This lab manual is designed to give students experience with a wide variety of model systems currently in use by developmental biologists. Experiments range from classic slide or whole animal observations to more modern immunohistochemistry and manipulation of gene expression. All of these experiments can be completed on a relatively small budget.

A provocative and timely case for how the science of genetics can help create a more just and equal society In recent years, scientists like Kathryn Paige Harden have shown that DNA makes us different, in our personalities and in our health-and in ways that matter for educational and economic success in our current society. In The Genetic Lottery, Harden introduces readers to the latest genetic science, dismantling dangerous ideas about racial superiority and challenging us to grapple with what equality really means in a world where people are born different. Weaving together personal stories with scientific evidence, Harden shows why our refusal to recognize the power of DNA perpetuates the myth of meritocracy, and argues that we must acknowledge the role of genetic luck if we are ever to create a fair society. Reclaiming genetic science from the legacy of eugenics, this groundbreaking book offers a bold new vision of society where everyone thrives, regardless of how one fares in the genetic lottery.

The zebrafish has become one of the most important model organisms to study biological processes within a living body. As a vertebrate that has many of the strengths of invertebrate model systems, it offers numerous advantages to researchers interested in many aspects of embryonic development, physiology and disease. This book not only provides a complete set of instructions that will allow researchers to establish the zebrafish in their laboratory. It also gives a broad overview of commonly used methods and a comprehensive collection of protocols describing the most powerful techniques.

This is the first comprehensive review of avian incubation. It is written by leading authorities from around the world and covers all aspects of Incubation Biology from evolution to practical aspects. This is an invaluable text for both applied and pure scientists in the fields of Incubation and Ornithology.

An up to date and comprehensive overview of the developing nervous system, with particular emphasis on the vertebrate brain. Recent advances in the molecular genetic basis of developmental mechanisms are integrated with a synthesis of the classical literature to provide coverage of key events, from the first appearance of the nervous system in the early embryo to postnatal and later stages. The extensive reference list will also make it a useful source for teachers and researchers in the field.

This book comprehensively covers the topic of COVID-19 and other pandemics and epidemics data analytics using computational modelling. Biomedical and Health Informatics is an emerging field of research at the intersection of information science, computer science, and health care. The new era of pandemics and epidemics bring tremendous opportunities and challenges due to the plentiful and easily available medical data allowing for further analysis. The aim of pandemics and epidemics research is to ensure high-quality, efficient healthcare, better treatment and quality of life by efficiently analyzing the abundant medical, and healthcare data including patient's data, electronic health records (EHRs) and lifestyle. In the past, it was a common requirement to have domain experts for developing models for biomedical or healthcare. However, recent advances in representation learning algorithms allow us to automatically learn the pattern and representation of the given data for the development of such models. Medical Image Mining, a novel research area (due to its large amount of medical images) are increasingly generated and stored digitally. These images are mainly in the form of: computed tomography (CT), X-ray, nuclear medicine imaging (PET, SPECT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound. Patients' biomedical images can be digitized using data mining techniques and may help in answering several important and critical questions related to health care. Image mining in medicine can help to uncover new relationships between data and reveal new and useful information that can be helpful for scientists and biomedical practitioners. Assessing COVID-19 and Other Pandemics and Epidemics using Computational Modelling and Data Analysis will play a vital role in improving human life in response to pandemics and epidemics. The state-of-the-art approaches for data mining-based medical and health related applications will be of great value to researchers and practitioners working in biomedical, health informatics, and artificial intelligence..

How do we understand and explain the apparent dichotomy between plasticity and robustness in the context of development? Can we identify these complex processes without resorting to 'either/or' solutions? Written by two leaders in the field, this is the first book to fully unravel the complexity of the subject, explaining that the epigenetic processes generating plasticity and robustness are in fact deeply intertwined. It identifies the different mechanisms that generate robustness and the various forms of plasticity, before considering the functional significance of the integrated mechanisms and how the component processes might have evolved. Finally, it highlights the ways in which epigenetic mechanisms could be instrumental in driving evolutionary change. Essential reading for biologists and psychologists interested in epigenetics and evolution, this book is also a valuable resource for biological anthropologists, sociobiologists, child psychologists and paediatricians.

Advances in our understanding of biological mechanisms have frequently been associated with the development of new techniques. In situ hybridization is a classic case of just such an advance. The technique effectively combines histochemistry with molecular biology and enables the rapid analysis of the distribution of RNA, or DNA, in the tissues. The information gained from this has caused something of a revolution in our understanding of developmental biology, since a fundamental aspect of development is the spatial and temporal expression of genes. In addition the technique has found application in the field of medicine, where it is giving new insights into the functioning of healthy tissues and the diagnosis and study of diseases. This book brings together contributions from leaders in the application of this technique and will help the reader review and be guided through the various options and variations of the technique.

Meristematic cells in plants become the many different types of cells found in a mature plant. This is achieved by a selective response to chemical signals both from neighbouring cells and distant tissues. It is these responses that shape the plant, its time of flowering, the sex of its flowers, its length of survival or progress to senescence and death. How do plants achieve this? This treatise addresses this question using well-chosen examples to illustrate the concept of target cells. The authors discuss how each cell has the ability to discriminate between different chemical signals, determining which it will respond to and which it will ignore. The regulation of gene expression through signal perception and signal transduction is at the core of this selectivity and the Target Cell concept. This volume will serve as a valuable reference for all researchers working in the field of plant developmental biology.

This book reflects the state of the art of our understanding of the WNT signaling system, which comprises a network of signaling pathways initiated by the secreted WNT lipoglycoproteins, which are crucial for embryonal development, stem cell regulation, tissue homeostasis and repair. Dysfunction of this evolutionarily conserved signaling system leads to many diseases including developmental disorders, diverse forms of cancer, fibrosis, neurodegenerative disease and many more. The WNT signaling system is built upon 19 mammalian, secreted WNT lipoglycoproteins that interact with a plethora of distinct receptors, such as the G protein-coupled receptors called Frizzleds (FZD1-10), LDL receptor-like proteins (LRP5/6), receptor tyrosine kinases (ROR1, 2, RYK and PTK7). In addition, WNT pathways are tightly regulated by many secreted and cell-intrinsic negative regulators, such as soluble FZD-related proteins (SFRPs), Dickkopfs (DKKs), WNT-inhibitory proteins, TIKI, RNF43 and more. Understanding the basic mechanism in terms of receptor-ligand interaction, receptor selectivity, signal initiation and desensitization remain poorly understood, even though substantial advances have been made the recent years. Due to the involvement of the WNT signaling system in human disease, it appears obvious to target diverse branches pharmacologically and therapeutically. However, given the complexity of the system and its importance for stem cell regulation and tissue maintenance, therapy comes with obvious risks for severe side effects. The field is addressing the challenge to identify suitable targets and selective compounds for therapy allowing disease-selective therapeutic effects and balancing unwanted side effects. This book summarizes the current understanding of the basic and applied pharmacology in the WNT signaling system and bridges disciplines such as pharmacology, physiology, neurosciences, oncology and drug development.

In this volume, the contributing authors from top labs involved in stem cell theranostics share the latest advances in the field of stem cell research. The book covers many aspects of stem cell-based therapy and the progress made toward stem cell therapy for liver, ocular, and cardiovascular diseases as well as cancer. This volume serves as a continuation of Prof. Khawaja Husnain Haider's previously edited books pertaining to stem cells-based therapnostics. This is an ideal book for researchers involved in drug development as well as regenerative medicine and stem cell-based therapy. The secondary audience includes graduate and postgraduate medical students, doctors, cellular pharmacology, drug industry, and researchers involved in using stem cells as ex-vivo disease models for drug development.