After volume 33, this book series was replaced by the journal "Evolutionary Biology." Please visit www.springer.com/11692 for further information.

This volume continues bringing to readers the findings of eminent evolutionary biologists and paleobiologists. Among the topics discussed in this book are the origin of the dermal skeleton in conodont chordates, patterns of nucleotide substitution and codon usage in plasmid DNA evolution, a model to explain phenotype stability in functional systems, and inter-island speciation of Hawaiian biota.

Morphometrics is concerned with the study of variations and change in the form (size and shape) of organisms or objects adding a quantitative element to descriptions and thereby facilitating the comparison of different objects and organisms. This volume provides an introduction to morphometrics in a clear and simple way without recourse to complex mathematics and statistics. This introduction is followed by a series of case studies describing the variety of applications of morphometrics from paleontology and evolutionary ecology to archaeological artifacts analysis. This is followed by a presentation of future applications of morphometrics and state of the art software for analyzing and comparing shape.

This book, written by the leading international research scientists in the field, is the first to cover all aspects of research into the welfare of dairy, veal and beef cattle. The book provides a thorough and critical review of the most up-to-date research on the welfare of cattle, covering behaviour, nutrition and feeding, housing and management, stockmanship, and stress physiology, as well as transport and slaughter. It provides a detailed and critical analysis of the main indicators of animal welfare and covers the main threats to animal welfare in modern cattle production systems. Although the focus is largely on cattle in developed countries, this book should also be of relevance in developing countries, where issues affecting the welfare of domestic animals are beginning to be addressed. The book is intended for researchers and research students in veterinary and animal science and animal welfare science, as well as professionals in the beef and dairy industries.

Hepatitis viruses research started more than fifty years ago. The names of hepatitis A and hepatitis B were introduced in 1947 when it became clear that there were two types of hepatitis that were transmitted either enterically or parenterally. It became apparent in the 1970's that there were additional hepatitis viruses distinct from hepatitis A and hepatitis B, and thus, the term non-A, non-B hepatitis was introduced. The non-A, non-B hepatitis was further divided into post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis and enterically-transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis in the 1980's. By the end of the 1980's, both post-transfusion non-A, non-B virus and enterically-transmitted non-A, non-B virus had been identified and renamed hepatitis C virus and hepatitis E virus, respectively. Hepatitis delta antigen was first recognized as an antigen associated with hepatitis B virus infection in the 1970's. In the early 1980's, a virus was isolated and named hepatitis delta virus. These five different hepatitis viruses have distinct replication pathways and are major health concerns. They have become an important topic for teaching to graduate-level and medical students. Hepatitis Viruses provides a comprehensive, up-to-date review of these viruses to readers. Each chapter is written by one of the top researchers in the field, and topics include: the epidemiology and the natural history of infection of these viruses, the molecular biology and the replication cycle of individual hepatitis viruses, host-virus interactions and the pathogenesis of hepatitis viruses, the immunology of hepatitis viruses, the relationship between hepatitis viruses and hepatocellular carcinoma, the viral vaccines and antiviral drugs. This book can serve as a supplemental reading material to graduate students and medical students, and to any researcher who would like to learn more about hepatitis viruses.

Animal cell technology is a growing discipline of cell biology, which aims not only to understand structures, functions, and behaviours of differentiated animal cells but also to ascertain their ability to be used for industrial and medical purposes. The goal of animal cell technology includes accomplishments of clonal expansion of differentiated cells with useful ability, optimisation of their culture conditions, modulation of their ability for production of medically and pharmaceutically important proteins, and the application of animal cells to gene therapy, artificial organs, and functional foods. This volume gives the reader a complete review of the present state of the art in Japan and other countries where this field is well advanced. The Proceedings will be useful for cell biologists, biochemists, molecular biologists, immunologists, biochemical engineers, and other disciplines related to animal cell culture, working in either academic environments or in industries of biotechnology and pharmacy.

Waste water treatment is the largest biotechnology industry in the world, handling and disposing of domestic and industrial wastes so they present no threat to the general populace or the environment at large. The activated sludge process is the cornerstone of sewage treatment systems. Although it is a biological process and has been in use for more than 80 years, we still lack detailed understanding of how it works and how its performance might be better controlled and manipulated. This book presents a comprehensive review of what is currently known about the general microbiology of activated sludge and some of the bacteria responsible for the major operational problems encountered. Current understanding and the existing literature are critically assessed and new potentially valuable areas for research suggested. Methodology particularly appropriate to the study of the bacteria that cause bulking and foaming is described, and there is an identification section consisting of photomicrographs and detailed descriptions of the filamentous and other bacteria commonly seen in activated sludge plants. The impact of molecular methods on our understanding of activated sludge microbiology is emphasized throughout the book. The book will be of immediate interest to both microbiologists and waste water engineers, and has been written so as to be relevant and understandable to both. It will also be of interest and value to postgraduate students and researchers working in the fields of environmental engineering, general microbiology and microbial ecology.

Products from Cells - Cells as Products This book ist he "lasting" product, a resource ofup to date information in the scientific literature fort he field ofanimal cell tec hnology, as it was presented during a pleasant and s timulating mee ting that was held in Lugano Switzerland in April 1999. "Products" appeartwice int he title oft he conference. This clearly indicates the fact that the focus oft he papers presented during this meeting was really the application ofn ew technologies (novel reactors or novel vectors, for example for the preparation and/ort he more efficient generation ofproducts ) that could be used, mainly, int he medical field. Classical approaches forthe use ofa nimal cells, for example forthe p r oduction of virus vaccines for human and animal health, still remain an important technology and still have, surprisingly, quite significant potential for further development and improvement. How ever, it appears that major technological advances an d major growth from an economical point ofview are occurring in other areas. Most importantly, protein production on the basis of recombinant DNA molecules transferred into a nimal cells, appears to be an ever increasing field of interest and innovation, even though the first production scheme with this technology was approved more than 15 years ago.

Epithelia are one of the commonest tissue types in the animal kingdom. Chapters from leading scientists in the major international research laboratories use examples from different systems to illustrate the form and function of epithelia. An important theme is the way in which epithelial cells differentiate to specialized tissue - reversal of this process occurs when cells become tumorigenic.

Contributors to this volume offer new research on extinction processes in birds, nest predation, and song systems, and describes a graphical model that helps predict the reproductive consequences of time allocation between the competing demands of guarding young birds and foraging for food. Current Ornithology is the only English-language publication currently devoted exclusively to extensive reviews and synthesis of topics pertaining to all aspects of the biology of birds. Chapters fall under such diverse rubrics as ecology, evolution, behavior, phylogeny, behavioral ecology, anatomy and physiology, and conservation biology. All authors are leading authorities on their subjects, and each chapter is refereed by experts in the topics covered. Although all chapters focus primarily on birds, some topics, such as the social cognition of birds as compared to primates (Volume 13), have significant application to disciplines outside of ornithology. Current Ornithology aims to provide an accessible, up-to-date, accurate source of data and to contribute to conceptual generalization and unification across the biological sciences.

Koval provides an interdisciplinary forum for the diverse studies involved in the stress biology of eukaryotic cells. Readers gain access to the most recent information available for eukaryotic systems ranging from plants to humans. For the student, this format introduces a source of potentially unifying concepts and hypotheses. Scientists will find a unique opportunity to conveniently examine the similarities among inducible responses initiated by a variety of agents.

The Veterinary Psychiatry of Cats introduces veterinary behavioral medicine and veterinary psychiatry using the domestic cat as its model. This book combines the most up-to-date understanding of biology of this beloved, revered and often maligned species with learnings from the fields of normal and abnormal psychology. Written by a leading expert in feline behavior, this book begins by assessing “normal” factors of feline behavior, from neuroanatomy, neuroendocrinology, cognitive and social abilities. Delving into psychiatry, it then discusses mental health disorders, hindered development, and trauma. Psychopharmacology, including medications and supplements, are also explained. The Veterinary Psychiatry of Cats finishes with a comprehensive view of feline welfare management, how to treat cats humanely and how to house them responsibly given their behaviors. This is an ideal resource for feline behavioral specialists, veterinarians and domestic animal researchers and practitioners, including veterinary technicians, students and even feline owners.

How does science treat evidence from the edges? This fresh and entertaining look at the search for Sasquatch concerns more than just the startling and controversial nature of monsters and monster hunting in the late twentieth century, but the more important relationship between the professional scientists and amateur naturalists who hunt them-and their place in the history of science. The traditional heroic narrative of monster-hunting situates mainstream, academic scientists (the eggheads) as villains rejecting the existence of anomalous primates and cryptozoology as unworthy of study. It gives a privileged place to passionate amateur naturalists (the crackpots) who soldier on against great odds, and the obstinacy of the mainstream to bring knowledge of these creatures to light. Brian Regal shows this model to be inaccurate: many professional scientists eagerly sought anomalous primates, examining their traces and working out evolutionary paradigms to explain them. Even though scientific thinking held that anomalous primates-Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti-did not and could not exist, these scientists risked their careers because they believed these creature to be a genuine biological reality.

This volume tries to map out the intriguing amalgam of the different, partly conflicting approaches that shaped early modern zoology. Early modern reading of the "Book of Nature" comprised, among others, the description of species in the literary tradition of antiquity, as well as empirical observations, vivisection, and modern eyewitness accounts; the "translation" of zoological species into visual art for devotion, prayer, and religious education, but also scientific and scholarly curiosity; theoretical, philosophical, and theological thinking regarding God's creation, the Flood, and the generation of animals; new attempts with respect to nomenclature and taxonomy; the discovery of unknown species in the New World; impressive Wunderkammer collections, and the keeping of exotic animals in princely menageries. The volume demonstrates that theology and philology played a pivotal role in the complex formation of this new science. Contributors include: Brian Ogilvie, Bernd Roling, Erik Jorink, Paul Smith, Sabine Kalff, Tamas Demeter, Amanda Herrin, Marrigje Rikken, Alexander Loose, Sophia Hendrikx, and Karl Enenkel.