We have known for over a thousand years that the brain underlies behavioral expression, but effective scientific study of the brain is only very recent. Two things converge in this book: a great respect for neuroscience and its many variations, and a sense of investigation and inquiry demythologized. Think of it as foraging for coherence.

The monograph discusses models of synthetic protocells, which are cell-like structures obtained from non-living matter endowed with some rudimentary kind of metabolism and genetics, but much simpler than biological cells. They should grow and proliferate, generating offsprings that resemble in some way the parent protocells with some variation, so that selection may take place. Sustainable protocell populations have not yet been obtained experimentally and mathematical models are therefore extremely important to address key questions concerning their synthesis and behavior. Different protocell "architectures" have been proposed and high-level abstract models like those that are presented in this book are particularly relevant to gain a better understanding of the different properites. These models are able to treat all the major dynamical phenomena in a unified framework, so they can be seen as "virtual laboratories" for protocell research. Particular attention is paid to the problem of synchronization of the fission rate of the whole protocell and the duplication rate of its "protogenetic" material, which is shown to be an emergent property that spontaneously develops in successive generations. The book is of interest for a broad range of scientists working in soft matter physics, chemistry and biology, interested in the role protocells may play on the development of new technologies with medical, environmental and industrial applications as well as scientists interested in the origin of life.

Found in every plant species, the diversity of endophytic micro-organisms can be extremely high within different plant organs and tissue types. In trees, their ecological roles with respect to host tree can vary from latent pathogens or saprophytes to neutral commensalists and mutualists. Given their high diversity, and their bio-active nature, endophytes are currently being associated with a role in tree health against insect herbivores and fungal pathogens, as well as improving tree properties in phytoremediation. Meanwhile there is increasing interest in the potential of some tree endophytes as new sources of drug compounds. The first book on tree endophytes in several years, and containing contributions from leading authors in the field, this book provides an important reference text for professional researchers and advanced students.

This book provides a multifaceted look into the world of stem cells and explains the similarities and differences between plant and human stem cells. It explores the intersection between animals and plants and explains their cooperative role in bioengineering studies. The book treats both theoretical and practical aspects of stem cell research. It covers the advantages and limitations of many common applications related to stem cells: their sources, categories, engineering of these cells, reprogramming of their functions, and their role as novel cellular therapeutic approach. Written by experts in the field, the book focuses on aspects of stem cells ranging from expansion-propagation to metabolic reprogramming. It introduces the emergence of cancer stem cells and different modalities in targeted cancer stem cell therapies. It is a valuable source of fresh information for academics and researchers, examining molecular mechanisms of animal and plant stem cell regulation and their usage for therapeutic applications. Students at all levels of medical or engineering backgrounds will enjoy the case studies that illustrate and explain mechanisms, interactions, targeted effects, and multimodal therapeutic approaches. Academics, researchers, and professionals who want to expand their knowledge in this field will find this book an exceptional resource.

Considerable advances have taken place since the initial isolation and characterization of human embryonic stem (HES) cells; however, significant challenges remain before their potential for restoration and regeneration processes in patients can be realized. Understanding the diversity amongst HES cell lines and realizing the ability to isolate lines with robust differentiation potential remain difficult. In the Human Embryonic Stem Cells Handbook, experts in the field provide an assortment of protocols that have been used by various laboratories around the world so as to allow both novices and experienced investigators to compare and contrast different approaches to HES cell isolation and characterization with the hope that, from these protocols, researchers might standardize approaches for HES cell biology. Written in the Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips for troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and accessible, Human Embryonic Stem Cells Handbook serves as a valuable reference for scientists pursuing this vital field and its enormous potential.

Discussed in this book is the association between speech and movements, especially those of the preferred hand. Both are skilled motor activities that appear to depend upon a similar neural organization that is available in the left hemisphere of the brain. The nature of this association of the cerebral control of speech and skilled manual performance is discussed in four sections: 1. Motor control and speech examines speech as a motor activity; 2. Language and gesture examines the correspondence between spoken language and manual gesture; 3. Motor performance and aphasia examines the motor impairments associated with aphasias; 4. Interactions of speech and manual performance examines the interactions that occur between concurrent verbal and manual activities.

This book provides a premier resource on understanding the ribosome's essential nature and how it interacts with other proteins and nucleic acids to control protein synthesis. As one of the central foundations in our understanding of the biology at the molecular level, this topic appeals to a wide audience, from bench researcher to clinician. With the advent of atomic scale structures, methods to visualize and separate individual molecules, and the computational power to model the complex interactions of over a million atoms at once, our understanding of how gene expression is controlled at the level of protein translation is now deeply ensconced in the biophysical realm."

This book reviews the unique ecosystem of the Lake Skadar/Shkodra and its basin, and discusses the latest advances made in this region to face the impact of climate change. Divided into 23 chapters, the book gathers leading expertise from various scientific and engineering communities and provides readers with extensive discussions of core issues, including the water and sediment chemistry of Lake Skadar/Shkodra and the metal pollution that is evident in plants, aquatic invertebrates and fish. Readers will discover how a sustainable science-based management approach can be applied to the Lake Skadar/Shkodra region, and will learn about the environment prospects for the region. This book is intended as an essential tool for all scientists interested in the Lake Skadar/Shkodra environment - in particular those investigating the interactions between land and water, between limnology and biota, and between natural and cultural resources.

A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Full of delightful nuggets' Guardian online 'Entertaining, informative and philosphical ... An essential read' All About History 'Extraordinary range ... All the world and more is here' Evening Standard 165 million years ago saw the birth of rhythm. 66 million years ago came the first melody. 40 thousand years ago Homo sapiens created the first musical instrument. Today music fills our lives. How we have created, performed and listened to music throughout history has defined what our species is and how we understand who we are. Yet it is an overlooked part of our origin story. The Musical Human takes us on an exhilarating journey across the ages - from Bach to BTS and back - to explore the vibrant relationship between music and the human species. With insights from a wealth of disciplines, world-leading musicologist Michael Spitzer renders a global history of music on the widest possible canvas, from global history to our everyday lives, from insects to apes, humans to artificial intelligence. 'Michael Spitzer has pulled off the impossible: a Guns, Germs and Steel for music' Daniel Levitin 'A thrilling exploration of what music has meant and means to humankind' Ian Bostridge

This volume aims to connect current ideas and concepts about GI disorders with the search for novel therapeutics. Towards this goal, authors provide a timely state-of-the-art overview of the GI tract in health and disease, current treatment approaches and ongoing developments in drug discovery, and their potential for the better treatment of patients with GI disorders.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing at an alarming rate. As global levels of CO2 increase, changes in climate, the size of polar ice-caps, and consequent changes in shorelines are anticipated. Just as important are the responses of communities of plants and animals to these dramatic changes.;This book focuses upon responses of population and communities, as well as the resulting evolutionary responses to elevated carbon dioxide levels. An international team of researchers has been assembled to explore three important impacts of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations.;In the first section, populations are the focus because they are composed of many individual organisms and each has a slightly different genetic response to CO2. The second part of the book is devoted to community level responses. And the third segment of the book concerns the ways in which different sorts of organisms interact in CO2 rich circumstances.;A final section is devoted to theory, modelling, and concepts. By laying the scientific foundation for future studies of the continuing impact of carbon dioxide, this volume will help replace the hyperbole of anticipated impact with the

This volume summarizes recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms that produce successful symbiotic partnerships involving microorganisms. It begins with a basic introduction to the nature of and mechanistic benefits derived from symbiotic associations. Taking that background knowledge as the starting point, the next sections include chapters that examine representative examples of coevolutionary associations that have developed between species of microbes, as well as associations between microbes and plants. The authors conclude with a section covering a broad range of associations between microbes and invertebrate animals, in which they discuss the spectrum of hosts, with examples ranging from bryozoans and corals to nematodes, arthropods, and cephalopods. Join the authors on this journey of understanding!

A Two Ribosome Model for Attenuation (G.W. Hatfield). Regulation of Ribosomal Proteins mRNA Translation in Bacteria (C. Portier, M. GrunbergManago). How Elongation Factors Steer the Ribosomal Elongation Cycle (K.H. Nierhaus, F. Triana). Genetics of Translation Initiation Factors in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (L. Feng, T.F. Donahue). Regulation of GCN4 Expression in Yeast (A.G. Hinnebusch et al.). Co and PostTranslational Processes and Mitochondrial Import of Yeast Cytochrome c (F. Sherman et al.). EIF4E Phosphorylation and the Regulation of Protein Synthesis (R.M. Frederickson, N. Sonenberg). InterferonInduced and DoubleStranded RNAActivated Proteins (A.G. Hovanessian). Translational Regulation by Vaccinia Virus (R. Bablanian). Translational Control by AdenovirusAssociated RNA I (B. Thimmapaya et al.). Translational Regulation in Adenovirus Infected Cells (R.J. Schneider, Y. Zhang). 12 additional articles. Index.

Medicinal chemistry is both science and art. The science of medicinal chemistry offers mankind one of its best hopes for improving the quality of life. The art of medicinal chemistry continues to challenge its practitioners with the need for both intuition and experience to discover new drugs. Hence sharing the experience of drug research is uniquely beneficial to the field of medicinal chemistry. Drug research requires interdisciplinary team-work at the interface between chemistry, biology and medicine. Therefore, the topic-related series Topics in Medicinal Chemistry covers all relevant aspects of drug research, e.g. pathobiochemistry of diseases, identification and validation of (emerging) drug targets, structural biology, drugability of targets, drug design approaches, chemogenomics, synthetic chemistry including combinatorial methods, bioorganic chemistry, natural compounds, high-throughput screening, pharmacological in vitro and in vivo investigations, drug-receptor interactions on the molecular level, structure-activity relationships, drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, toxicology and pharmacogenomics. In general, special volumes are edited by well known guest editors

Mesenchymal Stem Cells have seen an unprecedented level of interest in the last decade, primarily due to their relative ease of isolation, the large numbers of cells present in the adult, and the ability to propagate these cells in culture. In Mesenchymal Stem Cell Assays and Applications, expert researchers from across the globe explore the latest techniques to propagate, characterize, and engineer this special cell type. Chapters outline a set of protocols and assays used by leading investigators in the field, providing standards that can be applied by all researchers to the population of cells used in their experiments. Composed in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, each chapter contains a brief introduction, step-by-step methods, a list of necessary materials, and a Notes section which shares tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Ground-breaking and current, Mesenchymal Stem Cell Assays and Applications is a necessary handbook for all researchers working with this ambiguous population of cells.

The 3rd World Congress on Genetics, Geriatrics, and Neurodegenerative Disease Research (GeNeDis 2018), focuses on recent advances in genetics, geriatrics, and neurodegeneration, ranging from basic science to clinical and pharmaceutical developments. It also provides an international forum for the latest scientific discoveries, medical practices, and care initiatives. Advanced information technologies are discussed, including the basic research, implementation of medico-social policies, and the European and global issues in the funding of long-term care for elderly people.

This book brings together a number of essays that are optimistic about the ways certain neuroscientific insights might advance philosophical ethics, and other essays that are more circumspect about the relevance of neuroscience to philosophical ethics. As a whole, the essays form a self-reflective body of work that simultaneously seeks to derive normative ethical implications from neuroscience, and to question whether and how that may be possible at all. In doing so, the collection brings together psychology, neuroscience, philosophy of mind, ethics, and philosophy of science. Neuroscience seeks to understand the biological systems that guide human behavior and cognition. Normative ethics, on the other hand, seeks to understand the system of abstract moral principles dictating how people ought to behave. By studying how the human brain makes moral judgments, can philosophers learn anything about the nature of morality itself? A growing number of researchers believe that neuroscience can, indeed, provide insights into the questions of philosophical ethics. However, even these advocates acknowledge that the path from neuroscientific is to normative ethical ought can be quite fraught.

This monograph will provide an in-depth mathematical treatment of modern multiple test procedures controlling the false discovery rate (FDR) and related error measures, particularly addressing applications to fields such as genetics, proteomics, neuroscience and general biology. The book will also include a detailed description how to implement these methods in practice. Moreover new developments focusing on non-standard assumptions are also included, especially multiple tests for discrete data. The book primarily addresses researchers and practitioners but will also be beneficial for graduate students.

International Review of Neurobiology is a well-respected series appealing to neuroscientists, clinicians, psychologists, physiologists, and pharmacologists. Led by an internationally renowned editorial board, this important serial publishes both eclectic volumes made up of timely reviews and thematic volumes that focus on recent progress in a specific area of neurobiology research. This volume is a cumulative subject index of volumes 26-50.

This book provides excellent techniques for detecting and evaluating biofilms: sticky films on materials that are formed by bacterial activity and produce a range of industrial and medical problems such as corrosion, sanitary problems, and infections. Accordingly, it is essential to control biofilms and to establish appropriate countermeasures, from both industrial and medical viewpoints. This book offers valuable, detailed information on these countermeasures. It also discusses the fundamentals of biofilms, relates various substrates to biofilms, and presents a variety of biofilm reactors. However, the most important feature of this book (unlike others on the market) is its clear focus on addressing the practical aspects from an engineering viewpoint. Therefore, it offers an excellent practical guide for engineers and researchers in various fields, and can also be used as a great academic textbook.

The contributors to this volume include many of the distinguished researchers in this area. Many of these scholars have collaborated with Joseph McKean to develop underlying theory for these methods, obtain small sample corrections, and develop efficient algorithms for their computation. The papers cover the scope of the area, including robust nonparametric rank-based procedures through Bayesian and big data rank-based analyses. Areas of application include biostatistics and spatial areas. Over the last 30 years, robust rank-based and nonparametric methods have developed considerably. These procedures generalize traditional Wilcoxon-type methods for one- and two-sample location problems. Research into these procedures has culminated in complete analyses for many of the models used in practice including linear, generalized linear, mixed, and nonlinear models. Settings are both multivariate and univariate. With the development of R packages in these areas, computation of these procedures is easily shared with readers and implemented. This book is developed from the International Conference on Robust Rank-Based and Nonparametric Methods, held at Western Michigan University in April 2015.

Practical tools and tips to lead a healthy and productive life The brain is the basis of everything we do: how we behave, communicate, feel, remember, pay attention, create, influence and decide. Why We Do What We Do combines scientific research with concrete examples and illustrative stories to clarify the complex mechanisms of the human brain. It offers valuable insights into how our brain works every day, at home and at work, and provides practical ideas and tips to help us lead happy, healthy and productive lives. - Learn about how your brain functions - Find out how emotions can be overcome or last a lifetime - Access your brain's natural ability to focus and concentrate - Think creatively The thoughts you have and the words that you speak all have an effect on your neural architecture -- and this book explains what that means in a way you can understand.

Various aspects, including diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis, of two brain tumors (meningioma and schwannoma) , of brain tumors are discussed in this volume. Insights on the understanding of molecular pathways involved in brain tumor biology are explained. For example, the role of E-cadherin gene instability, carbonic anhydrase 11, urokinase plasminogen activator, and Wnt signaling is discussed in detail. Such information will lead to the development of effective aniicancer drugs. The role of molecular genetics and epigenetic mechanisms in schwannomas is explained. Also, is explained the role of cyclin D1 in vestibular schwannoma. The determination of subtypes of meningiomas using perfusion magnetic resonance imaging is explained. Diagnosis of incidentally discovered meningioma and cystic papillary meningioma is also included. Diagnosis of facial nerve schwannoma, vestibular schwannoma, and intermediate nerve schwannoma is explained. Treatments for atypical meningioma, oncocytic meneingioma, intracranial meningioma, and cavernous are presented. Therapeutic methods such as neurosurgery, Gamma knife radiosurgery, and adjuvant radiation for this cancer are included. Large number of other treatments, including radiosurgery, retrosigmoidal craniotomy, and immunotherapy, for vestibular schwannoma patients are detailed.