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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Life sciences: general issues
Secondary Findings in Genomic Research offers a single, highly
accessible resource on interpreting, managing and disclosing
secondary findings in genomic research. With chapters written by
experts in the field, this book is the first to concisely explain
the ethical and practical issues raised by secondary genomics
findings for a multi and interdisciplinary audience of genomic
researchers, translational scientists, clinicians, medical
students, genetic counselors, ethicists, legal experts and law
students, public policy specialists and regulators. Contributors
from Europe, North America, and Asia effectively synthesize
perspectives from a spectrum of different scientific, societal, and
global contexts, and offer pragmatic approaches to a range of
topics, including oversight, governance and policy surrounding
secondary genomic results, criteria for identifying results for
return, communication and consent, stakeholders' attitudes and
perspectives, disclosing results, and clinical, patient-centered
protocols.
Transgenerational Epigenetics, Second Edition, offers the only
up-to-date, comprehensive analysis of the inheritance of epigenetic
phenomena between generations with an emphasis on human disease
relevance, drug discovery, and next steps in clinical translation.
International experts discuss mechanisms of epigenetic inheritance,
its expression in animal and plant models, and how human ailments,
such as metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease are
influenced by transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. Where
evidence is sufficient, epigenetic clinical interventions are
proposed that may help prevent or reduce the severity of disease
before offspring are born. This edition has been thoroughly revised
in each disease area, featuring newly researched actors in
epigenetic regulation, including long noncoding RNA in addition to
histone modifications and DNA methylation. Therapeutic pathways in
treating cancer and extending human longevity are also considered,
as are current debates and future directions for research.
While the field of vision science has grown significantly in the
past three decades, there have been few comprehensive books that
showed readers how to adopt a computional approach to understanding
visual perception, along with the underlying mechanisms in the
brain. Understanding Vision explains the computational principles
and models of biological visual processing, and in particular, of
primate vision. The book is written in such a way that vision
scientists, unfamiliar with mathematical details, should be able to
conceptually follow the theoretical principles and their
relationship with physiological, anatomical, and psychological
observations, without going through the more mathematical pages.
For those with a physical science background, especially those from
machine vision, this book serves as an analytical introduction to
biological vision. It can be used as a textbook or a reference book
in a vision course, or a computational neuroscience course for
graduate students or advanced undergraduate students. It is also
suitable for self-learning by motivated readers. in addition, for
those with a focused interest in just one of the topics in the
book, it is feasible to read just the chapter on this topic without
having read or fully comprehended the other chapters. In
particular, Chapter 2 presents a brief overview of experimental
observations on biological vision; Chapter 3 is on encoding of
visual inputs, Chapter 5 is on visual attentional selection driven
by sensory inputs, and Chapter 6 is on visual perception or
decoding. Including many examples that clearly illustrate the
application of computational principles to experimental
observations, Understanding Vision is valuable for students and
researchers in computational neuroscience, vision science, machine
and computer vision, as well as physicists interested in visual
processes.
This is an edited book with original scientific papers of the
results of the 6th International Congress on Fossil Insects,
Arthropods and Amber (FossilX3) held in Byblos, Lebanon in April,
2013. In the tradition of previous congresses, researchers from
around the world gathered to discuss the latest developments and to
build new co-operative endeavours. Recognizing that the future of
our science is one of interdisciplinary collaboration, these
meetings steadily grow in importance, and proceedings such as this
reveal the latest hypotheses and conclusions, while inspiring
others toward newer and greater goals.
The Neuromodulation Casebook is a case-based volume for practical,
hands-on decision-making using realistic case examples from the
field of neuromodulation. It encompasses a variety of techniques
and therapies, ranging from deep brain stimulation for a multitude
of disorders, to spinal cord stimulation, peripheral nerve
stimulation, cortical stimulation and cranial nerve stimulation, as
well as non-invasive therapies and other implanted types of devices
that interface with the nervous system. Allowing readers to better
learn via case-based examples, this practical volume depicts real
examples of decisions neuroscientists and neurosurgeons need to
make every day from leaders in the field. This book serves as a
companion text to the editor's previous titles Essential
Neuromodulation and Innovative Neuromodulation for neuroscience,
neural engineering and biomedical engineering courses.
BEST: Implementing Career Development Activities for Biomedical
Research Trainees provides an instructional guide for institutions
wanting to create, supplement or improve their career and
professional development offerings. Each chapter provides an
exclusive perspective from an administrator from the 17 Broadening
Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) institutions. The book
can aid institutions who train graduate students in a variety of
careers by teaching faculty and staff how to create and implement
career development programming, how to highlight the effectiveness
of offerings, how to demonstrate that creating a program from
scratch is doable, and how to inform faculty and staff on getting
institutional buy-in. This is a must-have for graduate school deans
and faculty and staff who want to implement and institutionalize
career development programing at their institutions. It is also
ideal for graduate students and postdocs.
Lucretius' account of the origin of life, the origin of species, and human prehistory (first century BC) is the longest and most detailed account extant from the ancient world. It is a mechanistic theory that does away with the need for any divine design, and has been seen as a forerunner of Darwin's theory of evolution. This commentary seeks to locate Lucretius in both the ancient and modern contexts. The recent revival of creationism makes this study particularly relevant to contemporary debate, and indeed, many of the central questions posed by creationists are those Lucretius attempts to answer.
Emery and Rimoin's Principles and Practice of Medical Genetics and
Genomics: Cardiovascular, Respiratory, and Gastrointestinal
Disorders, Seventh Edition includes the latest information on
seminal topics such as prenatal diagnosis, genome and exome
sequencing, public health genetics, genetic counseling, and
management and treatment strategies. This comprehensive, yet
practical, resource emphasizes theory and research fundamentals
relating to applications of medical genetics across the full
spectrum of inherited disorders and applications to medicine.
Updated sections in this release cover the genetics of
cardiovascular, respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders, with an
emphasis on genetic determinants and new pathways for diagnosis,
prevention and disease management. In addition, genetic
researchers, students and health professionals will find new and
fully revised chapters on the molecular genetics of congenital
heart defects, inherited cardiomyopathies, hypertension, cystic
fibrosis, asthma, hereditary pulmonary emphysema, inflammatory
bowel disease, and bile pigment metabolism disorders among other
conditions.
"Genes, Culture, and Human Evolution: A Synthesis"is a textbook on
human evolution that offers students a unique combination of
cultural anthropology and genetics.
Written by two geneticists---including a world-renowned scientist
and founder of the Human Genome Diversity Project---and a
socio-cultural anthropologist.
Based on recent findings in genetics and anthropology that indicate
the analysis of human culture and evolution demands an integration
of these fields of study.
Focuses on evolution---or, rather, co-evolution---viewed from the
standpoint of genes and culture, and their inescapable
interactions.
Unifies cultural and genetic concepts rather than rehashing
nonempirical sociobiological musings.
Demonstrates that empirical genetic evidence, based on modern DNA
analysis and population studies, provides an excellent foundation
for understanding human cultural diversity.
This book is a collection of essays exploring adaptive systems from
many perspectives, ranging from computational applications to
models of adaptation in living and social systems. The essays on
computation discuss history, theory, applications, and possible
threats of adaptive and evolving computations systems. The modeling
chapters cover topics such as evolution in microbial populations,
the evolution of cooperation, and how ideas about evolution relate
to economics.
The title Perspectives on Adaptation in Natural and Artificial
Systems honors John Holland, whose 1975 Book, Adaptation in Natural
and Artificial Systems has become a classic text for many
disciplines in which adaptation play a central role. The essays
brought together here were originally written to honor John
Holland, and span most of the different areas touched by his
wide-ranging and influential research career. The authors include
some of the most prominent scientists in the fields of artificial
intelligence evolutionary computation, and complex adaptive
systems. Taken together, these essays present a broad modern
picture of current research on adaptation as it relates to
computers, living systems, society, and their complex interactions.
The brain is a cognitive organ, and regions of the brain that traverse brainstem and cortical sites orchestrate the expression of bodily sensibility: intelligent action. They can appear perfunctory or intimate, calculating a sum or selecting a mate. Schulkin presents neuroscientific research demonstrating that thought is not on one side and bodily sensibility on the other; from a biological point of view, they are integrated. Schulkin further argues that this integration has important implications for judgements about the emotions, art and music, moral sensibilities, attraction and revulsion, and our perpetual inclination to explain ourselves and our surroundings. He begins the book by setting forth a view of the emotions not as a bodily burden to be borne, but rather as a great source of information. He then moves on to other domains, claiming that underlying the experience of aesthetics in at least some instances is the interplay between expectation and disappointment from its infraction, and suggesting that, among other things, repulsion and attraction to the cries and joys of others consitutes moral responsiveness. This book should appeal to researchers in behavioral neuroscience, emotion, and psychophysiology, as well as cognitive and social psychologists and philosophers of mind.
This book provides an up-to-date review and analysis of the
carrot's nuclear and organellar genome structure and evolution. In
addition, it highlights applications of carrot genomic information
to elucidate the carrot's natural and agricultural history,
reproductive biology, and the genetic basis of traits important in
agriculture and human health. The carrot genome was sequenced in
2016, and its relatively small diploid genome, combined with the
fact that it is the most complete root crop genome released to date
and the first-ever Euasterid II genome to be sequenced, mean the
carrot has an important role in the study of plant development and
evolution. In addition, the carrot is among the top ten vegetables
grown worldwide, and the abundant orange provitamin A carotenoids
that account for its familiar orange color make it the richest crop
source of vitamin A in the US diet, and in much of the world. This
book includes the latest genetic maps, genetic tools and resources,
and covers advances in genetic engineering that are relevant for
plant breeders and biologists alike.
Mitochondrial Medicine: A Primer for Health Care Providers and
Translational Researchers is an applied, holistic resource that
addresses the evolving and multidisciplinary area of mitochondrial
disease. The book discusses the fundamentals of mitochondrial
medicine in humans, as well as the pathophysiology, diagnosis and
treatment of mitochondrial diseases. Three all-inclusive sections
examine the role of mitochondria in common medical conditions, such
as diabetes, heart failure and the full range of inherited
mitochondrial diseases. Sections cover the genetic and biochemical
basis of both mitochondrial DNA deletion syndromes and point
mutation syndromes, their clinical presentation, treatment plans,
genetic counseling, prenatal testing, and ongoing research. While
providing a solid foundation in its topic area, each chapter in the
book is written in an accessible format with illustrative case
studies, thus making it a quick bedside or clinical laboratory
reference.
Nowhere on Earth is the challenge for ecological understanding greater, and yet more urgent, than in those parts of the globe where human activity is most intense - cities. People need to understand how cities work as ecological systems so they can take control of the vital links between human actions and environmental quality, and work for an ecologically and economically sustainable future. An ecosystem approach integrates biological, physical and social factors and embraces historical and geographical dimensions, providing our best hope for coping with the complexity of cities. This book is the first of its kind to bring together leaders in the biological, physical and social dimensions of urban ecosystem research with leading education researchers, administrators and practitioners, to show how an understanding of urban ecosystems is vital for urban dwellers to grasp the fundamentals of ecological and environmental science, and to understand their own environment.
Complexes of physically interacting proteins constitute fundamental
functional units that drive almost all biological processes within
cells. A faithful reconstruction of the entire set of protein
complexes (the "complexosome") is therefore important not only to
understand the composition of complexes but also the higher level
functional organization within cells. Advances over the last
several years, particularly through the use of high-throughput
proteomics techniques, have made it possible to map substantial
fractions of protein interactions (the "interactomes") from model
organisms including Arabidopsis thaliana (a flowering plant),
Caenorhabditis elegans (a nematode), Drosophila melanogaster (fruit
fly), and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast). These
interaction datasets have enabled systematic inquiry into the
identification and study of protein complexes from organisms.
Computational methods have played a significant role in this
context, by contributing accurate, efficient, and exhaustive ways
to analyze the enormous amounts of data. These methods have helped
to compensate for some of the limitations in experimental datasets
including the presence of biological and technical noise and the
relative paucity of credible interactions. In this book, we
systematically walk through computational methods devised to date
(approximately between 2000 and 2016) for identifying protein
complexes from the network of protein interactions (the
protein-protein interaction (PPI) network). We present a detailed
taxonomy of these methods, and comprehensively evaluate them for
protein complex identification across a variety of scenarios
including the absence of many true interactions and the presence of
false-positive interactions (noise) in PPI networks. Based on this
evaluation, we highlight challenges faced by the methods, for
instance in identifying sparse, sub-, or small complexes and in
discerning overlapping complexes, and reveal how a combination of
strategies is necessary to accurately reconstruct the entire
complexosome.
This book looks at how three kinds of strongly electric fishes
literally became "electrical," and how they helped to change the
sciences and medicine. These fishes are the flat torpedo rays
common to the Mediterranean, the electric catfishes of Africa, and
an "eel" from South America. The discovery of the electrical nature
of these fishes in the second half of the 18th century was the
starting point of the two fundamental advances in the sciences: on
the physiological side, the demonstration that nerve conduction and
muscle excitation are electrical phenomena, and on the physical
side, the invention of the electric battery. Starting with catfish
tomb drawings from Ancient Egypt and colorful descriptions of
torpedoes from the Classical Era, the authors show how these fishes
were both fascinating and mysterious to the ancients. After all,
not only could they produce torpor and temporary numbness when
touched, they could stun through intermediaries, such as wet nets
and spears.
Various explanations were given for these remarkable actions in
ancient times, including the idea that they might release some sort
of cold venom. Through the Renaissance, they also tended to be
associated with occult and magical qualities. During the 1600s,
natural philosophers speculated that rapid movements of specialized
muscles could account for their actions. This idea was widely
accepted until the 1750s, when the possibility that their shocks
might be electrical began to be discussed.
Showing how researchers set forth to provide support for fish
electricity is a major focus of this book. Here the authors
transport us into the jungles of South America and later show how
some live eels were transported to London, where John Walsh
demonstrated in1776 that they can actually spark.
Subsequent chapters deal with further evidence for specialized fish
electricity and how electric fishes helped to change ideas about
even our own physiology. The authors also show how these fish
remained a part of medicine, and how Volta modeled his
revolutionary "pile" or electric battery on their anatomy.
From beginning to end, this drama is firmly anchored in the
philosophy and science of the day. Moreover, with biographical
information about the key players, readers can fully appreciate
what they were thinking as they tried to understand one of Nature's
greatest puzzles - a mystery that would transform nerve and muscle
physiology in ways that earlier generations could not have
anticipated. Although a scholarly volume, the book's style is
generally narrative and, with its hundreds of magnificent
illustrations, it should appeal to a large audience.
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