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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Zoology & animal sciences > General
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book
breaks new ground by situating animals and their diseases at the
very heart of modern medicine. In demonstrating their historical
significance as subjects and shapers of medicine, it offers
important insights into past animal lives, and reveals that what we
think of as 'human' medicine was in fact deeply zoological. Each
chapter analyses an important episode in which animals changed and
were changed by medicine. Ranging across the animal inhabitants of
Britain's zoos, sick sheep on Scottish farms, unproductive
livestock in developing countries, and the tapeworms of California
and Beirut, they illuminate the multi-species dimensions of modern
medicine and its rich historical connections with biology, zoology,
agriculture and veterinary medicine. The modern movement for One
Health - whose history is also analyzed - is therefore revealed as
just the latest attempt to improve health by working across species
and disciplines. This book will appeal to historians of animals,
science and medicine, to those involved in the promotion and
practice of One Health today.
This new edited volume in the Springer Subcellular Biochemistry
Series presents a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of the
proteomics of peroxisomes derived from mammalian, Drosophila,
fungal, and plant origin, and contains contributions from leading
experts in the field. The development of sensitive proteomics and
mass spectrometry technologies, combined with bioinformatics
approaches now allow the identification of low-abundance and
transient peroxisomal proteins and permits to identify the complete
proteome of peroxisomes, with the consequent increase of our
knowledge of the metabolic and regulatory networks of these
important cellular organelles. The book lines-up with these
developments and is organized in four sections including: (i) mass
spectrometry-based organelle proteomics; (ii) prediction of
peroxisomal proteomes; (iii) analysis of peroxisome proteome
interaction networks; and (iv) peroxisomes in relation to other
subcellular compartments. The editor Luis A. del Rio is Professor
ad honorem of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in the
Group of Antioxidants, Free Radicals and Nitric Oxide in
Biotechnology, Food and Agriculture, Department of Biochemistry and
Cell & Molecular Biology of Plants, at the Estacion
Experimental del Zaidin, Granada, Spain. Del Rio's research group
focuses on the metabolism of reactive oxygen species (ROS),
reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and antioxidants in plant
peroxisomes, and the ROS- and RNS-dependent role of peroxisomes in
plant cell signalling. The editor Michael Schrader is Professor of
Cell Biology & Cytopathology in the Department of Biosciences
at the University of Exeter, UK. Using mammalian peroxisomes as
model organelles, Prof. Schrader and his team aim to unravel the
molecular machinery and signalling pathways that mediate and
regulate the formation, dynamics and abundance of these medically
relevant cellular compartments.
The Atlantic Forest is one of the 36 hotspots for biodiversity
conservation worldwide. It is a unique, large biome (more than 3000
km in latitude; 2500 in longitude), marked by high biodiversity,
high degree of endemic species and, at the same time, extremely
threatened. Approximately 70% of the Brazilian population lives in
the area of this biome, which makes the conflict between
biodiversity conservation and the sustainability of the human
population a relevant issue. This book aims to cover: 1) the
historical characterization and geographic variation of the biome;
2) the distribution of the diversity of some relevant taxa; 3) the
main threats to biodiversity, and 4) possible opportunities to
ensure the biodiversity conservation, and the economic and social
sustainability. Also, it is hoped that this book can be useful for
those involved in the development of public policies aimed at the
conservation of this important global biome.
The overall aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive review
of the current understanding of the mechanisms that the
micro-organisms known as extremophiles have evolved to survive and
grow in particular extreme environments, and how these may be, or
are being, exploited for biotechnological processes. Whilst the
volume is aimed primarily at established research workers in
universities, research institutes and industry, it is hoped that it
will also provide a stimulating introduction to the subject for
senior undergraduates and postgraduates who are interested in
organisms which inhabit unusual and extreme environments. In future
years these organisms may form the basis of new
biotechnologically-based industries.
This book presents a comprehensive review of various aspects of the
novel and rapidly developing field of active matter, which
encompasses a wide variety of self-organized self-driven
energy-consuming media or agents. Most naturally occurring examples
are of biological origin, spanning all scales from intracellular
structures to swimming and crawling cells and microorganisms, to
living tissues, bacterial colonies and flocks of birds. But the
field also encompasses artificial systems, from colloids to soft
robots. Intrinsically out of equilibrium and free of constraints of
time-reversal symmetry, such systems display a range of surprising
and unusual behaviors. In this book, the author emphasizes
connections between fluid-mechanical, material, biological and
technological aspects of active matter. He employs a minimum of
mathematical tools, ensuring that the presentation is accessible to
a wider scientific community. Richly illustrated, it gives the
reader a clear picture of this fascinating field, its diverse
phenomena and its open questions.
This book offers the reader an integrated point of view of fertilization in the animal kingdom. As the research at the molecular and cellular level is scarce compared to the huge diversity of animal species, for each phylum or class representative species have been chosen. Each phylum/class begins with a general description of the sexual and asexual reproduction strategies of the respective species, followed by a description of the reproductive cycle as well as of its reproductive system. The main focus is on the cellular and molecular aspects of fertilization of all the selected representative species, and the book is fully illustrated with photographs and drawings to facilitate understanding.
I have written this book because there is, as in almost all
supraspecific ciliate taxa, an ur- gent need for an up-to-date
revision of the oxytrichids, which are common in terrestrial,
limnetic, and marine biotopes. The last comprehensive, illustrated
guides to this group of hypotrichs were provided by KAHL (1932) and
SmLER (1974b); however, as regards syn- onymy and faunistics, these
works are outdated and not as detailed as EHRENBERG'S out- standing
book from 1838. In KAHL's revision, the oxytrichids sensu stricto
are described on about 30 pages, whereas in the present book the
systematic section comprises about 830 pages. This extraordinary
increase in page number is mainly due to the following points: (i)
Species number increased from about SO in KAHL to about 170 in the
present book. (ii) KAHL usually provided only a single illustration
of each species, whereas almost all published illustrations on
oxytrichid ciliates are included in my book. (iii) Modern,
phylogenetic systematics of oxytrichids without morphogenetic data
is impossible; conse- quentlY,*almost all detailed descriptions,
usually dealing with the type species, have been included. (iv)
Synonymy is discussed, and not only mentioned, as is unfortunately
usual.
I first became involved in research into primate behavior and
ecology in 1968, over 40 years ago, driven by a quest for a better
understanding of the natural context of primate evolution. At that
time, it was virtually unknown that primates can exploit exudates
as a major food source. I was certainly unaware of this myself. By
good fortune, I was awarded a postdoctoral grant to work on lemurs
with Jean-Jacques Petter in the general ecology division of the
Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Brunoy, France. This
provided the launching-pad for my first field study of lesser mouse
lemurs in Madagascar, during which I gained my initial inklings of
exudate feeding. It was also in Brunoy that I met up with Pierre
Charles- Dominique, who introduced me to pioneering observations of
exudate feeding he had made during his field study of five
lorisiform species in Gabon. This opened my eyes to a key feeding
adaptation that has now been reported for at least 69 primate
species in 12 families (Smith, Chap. 3) - almost 20% of extant
primate species. So exudativory is now firmly established as a
dietary category for p- mates, alongside the long-recognized
classes of faunivory (including insectivory), frugivory, and
folivory. Soon after I encountered Charles-Dominique, he published
the first synthetic account of his Gabon field study in a French
language journal (Charles-Dominique 1971).
Strategies of Bacterial Interaction with Eukaryotic Cells *Tobias
A. Oelschlaeger and Jorg Hacker 1. BENEFICIAL BACTERIAL-HOST
INTERACTIONS Already during birth and soon thereafter mammals are
colonized by bacte- ria belonging to the resident microbial flora.
Cutaneous and mucosal sur- faces and the gastrointestinal tract are
the areas which become colonized. These indigenous or autochthonous
bacteria have a variety of beneficial effects on their hosts. They
play a protective role by bacterial antagonism in fighting
infections (Hoszowski and Truszczynski, 1997; Hentges, 1979). Pro-
duction of vitamin K is another essential contribution of the
resident microbial flora to the health of the host (Hill, 1997).
Even more important, studies with germ-free animals demonstrated
the involvement of the microbial flora on the development of the
immune system. Such animals have underdeveloped and relatively
undifferentiated lymphoid tissues and low concentrations of serum
immune globulins ( Cebra et at., 1998). They TOBIAS A. OELSCHLAEGER
and JORG HACKER Institut filr Molekulare lnfektionsbiologie,
Universitiit Wiirzburg, 97070 Wiirzburg, Germany. *Corresponding
author; Phone: (0)931-312150; FAX: (0)931-312578; E-mail:
[email protected] xxix Tobias A. Oelschlaeger
and Jorg Hacker also show defects in specific immune responsiveness
and in nonspecific resistance induced by endotoxin, which may
account for their lowered resis- tance. A more typical example of
symbiotic interaction of bacteria with a host are bacteria like
Ruminococcus in the gut of ruminants, essential for degradation of
cellulose (Hobson, 1988). The closest benefical bacterial-host
interactions are those of intracellular symbiotic bacteria and
their host cells.
With the invitation to edit this volume, I wanted to take the
opportunity to assemble reviews on different aspects of circadian
clocks and rhythms. Although most c- tributions in this volume
focus on mammalian circadian clocks, the historical int- duction
and comparative clocks section illustrate the importance of various
other organisms in deciphering the mechanisms and principles of
circadian biology. Circadian rhythms have been studied for
centuries, but only recently, a mole- lar understanding of this
process has emerged. This has taken research on circadian clocks
from mystic phenomenology to a mechanistic level; chains of
molecular events can describe phenomena with remarkable accuracy.
Nevertheless, current models of the functioning of circadian clocks
are still rudimentary. This is not due to the faultiness of
discovered mechanisms, but due to the lack of undiscovered
processes involved in contributing to circadian rhythmicity. We
know for example, that the general circadian mechanism is not
regulated equally in all tissues of m- mals. Hence, a lot still
needs to be discovered to get a full understanding of cir- dian
rhythms at the systems level. In this respect, technology has
advanced at high speed in the last years and provided us with data
illustrating the sheer complexity of regulation of physiological
processes in organisms. To handle this information, computer aided
integration of the results is of utmost importance in order to d-
cover novel concepts that ultimately need to be tested
experimentally.
This introductory text lays particular emphasis on the relationship between development and behaviour. Indeed, the second part of the book is devoted to examining the role of factors present during development which influence the growth of the nervous system and subsequent behaviour. Throughout the subject matter is extensively illustrated in clear, colour diagrams, and each chapter ends with learning objectives and questions.
Discover nature's most colourful creatures in a major new book on
colour in the animal kingdom. For many animals use of colour is
essential to surviving in the wild. Both a built-in defence
mechanism and a cunning tactic for attack, this biological
advantage helps animals hide from dangerous predators and catch
unsuspecting prey. It is used in many different ways, primarily to
mask one's identity, movement or location, and changes over time as
animals evolve and adapt to live. This stunning photographic
collection reveals 100 creatures from around the world paired with
fascinating insights from leading UK zoology author Steve Parker.
Each animal will have a profile of 300 words paired with striking
photographic examples featuring a wealth of colour and ingenious
uses of colour for display or disguise. Learn how: The octopus can
change its opacity, colour and pattern in response to threats. The
walking leaf insect has evolved a strikingly similar shape and
colour to the leaves it eats. The arctic fox changes its fur colour
to white in the winter, perfectly blending in with the snow - but
climate change is disrupting this age-old adaptation. This study of
some of the most innovative uses of colour by animals, packed with
beautiful photography and fascinating insights, will delight all
lovers of the natural world.
Wonderfully illustrated book, originally from 1749.
This work takes a critical look at the current concept of isotopic
landscapes ("isoscapes") in bioarchaeology and its application in
future research. It specifically addresses the research potential
of cremated finds, a somewhat neglected bioarchaeological
substrate, resulting primarily from the inherent osteological
challenges and complex mineralogy associated with it. In addition,
for the first time data mining methods are applied. The chapters
are the outcome of an international workshop sponsored by the
German Science Foundation and the Centre of Advanced Studies at the
Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich. Isotopic landscapes are
indispensable tracers for the monitoring of the flow of matter
through geo/ecological systems since they comprise existing
temporally and spatially defined stable isotopic patterns found in
geological and ecological samples. Analyses of stable isotopes of
the elements nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, strontium, and lead are
routinely utilized in bioarchaeology to reconstruct biodiversity,
palaeodiet, palaeoecology, palaeoclimate, migration and trade. The
interpretive power of stable isotopic ratios depends not only on
firm, testable hypotheses, but most importantly on the cooperative
networking of scientists from both natural and social sciences.
Application of multi-isotopic tracers generates isotopic patterns
with multiple dimensions, which accurately characterize a find, but
can only be interpreted by use of modern data mining methods.
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