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Books > Science & Mathematics > Biology, life sciences > Life sciences: general issues
Flora of North America, Volume 22, is the first of five volumes covering monocots in North America, north of Mexico. The volume comprises of many groups of aquatic plants and the North American relatives of groups that have their greatest number of species located in the New World tropics. These include: the rush family (Juncaceae); cat-tails (Typhaceae); spiderworts (Commelinaceae); aroids (Araceae), and pondweeds (Potamogetonaceae). This volume includes thirty families, representing a diverse range of plant forms from marine Zosteraceae (eel-grasses) to stately Arecaceae (palms), and the naturalised exotic Zingiberaceae (gingers), Heliconiaceae (heliconias), and Musaceae (bananas).
The study of attention is central to psychology. In this work,
Michael Posner, a pioneer in attention research, presents the
science of attention in a larger social context, which includes our
ability to voluntarily choose and act upon an object of thought.
The volume is based on fifty years of research involving
behavioral, imaging, developmental, and genetic methods. It
describes three brain networks of attention that carry out the
functions of obtaining and maintaining the alert state, orienting
to sensory events, and regulating responses. The book ties these
brain networks to anatomy, connectivity, development, and
socialization and includes material on pathologies that involve
attentional networks, as well as their role in education and social
interaction.
It is well known that the class of steroid hormones known as
estrogens have powerful effects on organs related to reproduction
such as the uterus and the breast. What is less well known is that
estrogens also profoundly modulate brain function and behavior.
Estrogens, such as estradiol, can occur in brain as the result of
ovarian secretion of the hormone into the blood that then finds its
way to the brain. In male vertebrates, the testes secrete
androgens, such as testosterone, into the blood and this class of
steroid hormones can be converted into estrogens in the brain via
the action of the enzyme aromatase which is expressed in the male
brain in many species. Finally estradiol can be synthesized de novo
from cholesterol as it has been shown in a variety of species that
all the enzymes required to synthesize estrogens are expressed in
the brain. This book collects chapters by experts in the field that
considers, how estradiol is synthesized in the brain and what its
effects are on a variety of behaviors. Special attention is paid to
the enzyme aromatase that is distributed in discrete regions of the
brain and is highly regulated in a sex specific and seasonal
specific manner. Recently it has become clear that estrogens can
act in the brain at two very different time scales, one is rather
long lasting (days to weeks) and involves the modulation of gene
transcription by the hormone-receptor complex. A second mode of
action is much quicker and involves the action of estrogens on cell
membranes that can result in effects on second messenger systems
and ultimately behavior within minutes. Thus this book highlights
novel views of estrogen action that are still under-appreciated
namely that estrogens have significant effects on the male brain
and that they can act on two very different times scales. This
volume will be of interest to both basic researchers and clinicians
interested in the action of estrogens.
The Art of 2D Transesophageal Echocardiography provides in a
practical and systematic way an overview of basic concepts and
state of-the-art techniques in transesophageal echocardiography. It
summarizes established application, provides hundreds of real-time
videos of various cardiac diseases that expand the knowledge of
every cardiologist, intensivist, and cardiovascular physicians in
their daily practice of transesophageal echocardiography.
Written for all therapists who want to understand this
groundbreaking theory as it might actually show up in their
day-to-day practice, this book offers a comprehensive approach to
polyvagal-informed intervention. Worksheets and experiential
exercises designed to map and shape autonomic response provide
therapists with a road map for bringing polyvagal theory into their
clinical practice.
A Best Book of 2020: The Washington Post * NPR * Chicago Tribune *
Smithsonian A "remarkable" (Los Angeles Times), "seductive" (The
Wall Street Journal) debut from the new cohost of Radiolab, Why
Fish Don't Exist is a dark and astonishing tale of love, chaos,
scientific obsession, and--possibly--even murder. "At one point,
Miller dives into the ocean into a school of fish...comes up for
air, and realizes she's in love. That's how I felt: Her book took
me to strange depths I never imagined, and I was smitten." --The
New York Times Book Review David Starr Jordan was a taxonomist, a
man possessed with bringing order to the natural world. In time, he
would be credited with discovering nearly a fifth of the fish known
to humans in his day. But the more of the hidden blueprint of life
he uncovered, the harder the universe seemed to try to thwart him.
His specimen collections were demolished by lightning, by fire, and
eventually by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake--which sent more
than a thousand discoveries, housed in fragile glass jars,
plummeting to the floor. In an instant, his life's work was
shattered. Many might have given up, given in to despair. But
Jordan? He surveyed the wreckage at his feet, found the first fish
that he recognized, and confidently began to rebuild his
collection. And this time, he introduced one clever innovation that
he believed would at last protect his work against the chaos of the
world. When NPR reporter Lulu Miller first heard this anecdote in
passing, she took Jordan for a fool--a cautionary tale in hubris,
or denial. But as her own life slowly unraveled, she began to
wonder about him. Perhaps instead he was a model for how to go on
when all seemed lost. What she would unearth about his life would
transform her understanding of history, morality, and the world
beneath her feet. Part biography, part memoir, part scientific
adventure, Why Fish Don't Exist is a wondrous fable about how to
persevere in a world where chaos will always prevail.
Largely through trial and error, filmmakers have developed engaging
techniques that capture our sensations, thoughts, and feelings.
Philosophers and film theorists have thought deeply about the
nature and impact of these techniques, yet few scientists have
delved into empirical analyses of our movie experience-or what
Arthur P. Shimamura has coined "psychocinematics." This edited
volume introduces this exciting field by bringing together film
theorists, philosophers, psychologists, and neuroscientists to
consider the viability of a scientific approach to our movie
experience.
Eye movements are a vital part of our interaction with the world.
They play a pivotal role in perception, cognition, and education.
Research in this field is now proceeding at a considerable pace and
casting new light on how the eyes move and what information we can
derive during the frequent and brief periods of fixation. However,
the origins of this work are less well known, even though much of
our knowledge was derived from this research with far more
primitive equipment. This book is unique in tracing the history of
eye movement research. It shows how great strides were made in this
area before modern recording devices were available, especially in
the measurement of nystagmus. When photographic techniques were
adapted to measure discontinuous eye movements, from about 1900,
many of the issues that are now basic to modern research were then
investigated. One of the earliest cognitive tasks examined was
reading, and it remains in the vanguard of contemporary research.
Modern researchers in this field will be astonished at the
subtleties of these early experimental studies and the ingenuity of
interpretations that were advanced one and even two centuries ago.
Though physicians often carried out the original eye movement
research, later on it was pursued by psychologists - it is within
contemporary neuroscience that we find these two strands reunited.
Anyone interested in the origins of psychology and neuroscience
will find much to stimulate and surprise them in this valuable new
work.
This book is about pleasure. It's also about pain. Most important, it's about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential.
We're living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting... The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we've all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.
In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain...and what to do about it. Condensing complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The lived experiences of her patients are the gripping fabric of her narrative. Their riveting stories of suffering and redemption give us all hope for managing our consumption and transforming our lives. In essence, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.
Archimedes to Hawking takes the reader on a journey across the
centuries as it explores the eponymous physical laws-from
Archimedes' Law of Buoyancy and Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion
to Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and Hubble's Law of Cosmic
Expansion-whose ramifications have profoundly altered our everyday
lives and our understanding of the universe. Throughout this
fascinating book, Clifford Pickover invites us to share in the
amazing adventures of brilliant, quirky, and passionate people
after whom these laws are named. These lawgivers turn out to be a
fascinating, diverse, and sometimes eccentric group of people. Many
were extremely versatile polymaths-human dynamos with a seemingly
infinite supply of curiosity and energy and who worked in many
different areas in science. Others had non-conventional educations
and displayed their unusual talents from an early age. Some
experienced resistance to their ideas, causing significant personal
anguish. Pickover examines more than 40 great laws, providing brief
and cogent introductions to the science behind the laws as well as
engaging biographies of such scientists as Newton, Faraday, Ohm,
Curie, and Planck. Throughout, he includes fascinating,
little-known tidbits relating to the law or lawgiver, and he
provides cross-references to other laws or equations mentioned in
the book. For several entries, he includes simple numerical
examples and solved problems so that readers can have a hands-on
understanding of the application of the law. A sweeping survey of
scientific discovery as well as an intriguing portrait gallery of
some of the greatest minds in history, this superb volume will
engage everyone interested in science and the physical world or in
the dazzling creativity of these brilliant thinkers.
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