This book proposes a new way to think about evolution. The author carefully brings together evidence from diverse fields of science. In the process, he bridges the gaps between many different--and usually seen as conflicting--ideas to present one integrative theory named ONCE, which stands for Organic Nonoptimal Constrained Evolution. The author argues that evolution is mainly driven by the behavioral choices and persistence of organisms themselves, in a process in which Darwinian natural selection is mainly a secondary--but still crucial--evolutionary player. Within ONCE, evolution is therefore generally made of mistakes and mismatches and trial-and-error situations, and is not a process where organisms engage in an incessant, suffocating struggle in which they can't thrive if they are not optimally adapted to their habitats and the external environment. Therefore, this unifying view incorporates a more comprehensive view of the diversity and complexity of life by stressing that organisms are not merely passive evolutionary players under the rule of external factors. This insightful and well-reasoned argument is based on numerous fascinating case studies from a wide range of organisms, including bacteria, plants, insects and diverse examples from the evolution of our own species. The book has an appeal to researchers, students, teachers, and those with an interest in the history and philosophy of science, as well as to the broader public, as it brings life back into biology by emphasizing that organisms, including humans, are the key active players in evolution and thus in the future of life on this wonderful planet.

Epizootic Ulcerative Fish Disease Syndrome covers both the background and current information on the EUS disease relevant to fisheries and aquaculture delivered in a systematic and succinct way. The book is an essential resource for the aquaculture and fisheries researcher interested in finding solutions to the spread of the disease across the globe and students in relevant programs, including an in-depth description and analysis of the disease, as well as the structure and composition of the virus, while offering prevention and control methodologies. Clinical veterinarians, aquaculture disease practitioners, farmers, and those who are interested in aquatic virology will find this book to be a useful guide on the topic.

This timely book revisits cryptic female choice in arthropods, gathering detailed contributions from around the world to address key behavioral, ecological and evolutionary questions. The reader will find a critical summary of major breakthroughs in taxon-oriented chapters that offer many new perspectives and cases to explore and in many cases unpublished data. Many groups of arthropods such as spiders, harvestmen, flies, moths, crickets, earwigs, beetles, eusocial insects, shrimp and crabs are discussed. Sexual selection is currently the focus of numerous and controversial theoretical and experimental studies. Selection in mating and post-mating patterns can be shaped by several different mechanisms, including sperm competition, extreme sexual conflict and cryptic female choice. Discrimination among males during or after copulation is called cryptic female choice because it occurs after intromission, the event that was formerly used as the definitive criterion of male reproductive success and is therefore usually difficult to detect and confirm. Because it sequentially follows intra- and intersexual interactions that occur before copulation, cryptic female choice has the power to alter or negate precopulatory sexual selection. However, though female roles in biasing male paternity after copulation have been proposed for a number of species distributed in many animal groups, cryptic female choice continues to be often underestimated. Furthermore, in recent years the concept of sexual conflict has been frequently misused, linking sexual selection by female choice irrevocably and exclusively with sexually antagonistic co-evolution, without exploring other alternatives. The book offers an essential source of information on how two fields, selective cooperation and individual sex interests, work together in the context of cryptic female choice in nature, using arthropods as model organisms. It is bound to spark valuable discussions among scientists working in evolutionary biology across the world, motivating new generations to unveil the astonishing secrets of sexual biology throughout the animal kingdom.

First published in 1943, Vitamins and Hormones is the longest-running serial published by Academic Press. The Series provides up-to-date information on vitamin and hormone research spanning data from molecular biology to the clinic. A volume can focus on a single molecule or on a disease that is related to vitamins or hormones. A hormone is interpreted broadly so that related substances, such as transmitters, cytokines, growth factors and others can be reviewed. This volume focuses on Bone Morphogenic Protein.

This comprehensive volume on the blood-gas barrier (BGB) among vertebrates covers its structure and composition along with aspects of evolution, bioengineering, and morphometry. The book also discusses the embryological development of the BGB, including chronology of events and molecular control in vertebrates; modulation of the barrier function, including cyclic stretch-induced increases in alveolar epithelial permeability; mechanisms of lung vascular/epithelial permeability; transport mechanisms of the BGB, including sodium transport channels; factors affecting trans-barrier traffic of fluids, such as chronic elevation of pulmonary microvascular pressure; stress failure; regulation and repair in acute lung injury; chronic lung disease; and lung transportation. Ten authoritative chapters approach the blood-gas barrier holistically, from basic structure and development to pathology and treatment. Properties of the BGB are discussed in the earlier chapters, followed by prenatal and post-natal development and mechanisms of the healthy BGB. The latter half of the book delves into the pathology of the BGB, analyzing common afflictions and exploring options for treatment, including its alterations during lung transplantation. Intuitively structured and comprehensive, The Vertebrate Blood-Gas Barrier in Health and Disease is ideal for researchers and clinicians interested in pneumology and angiology.

A Wonderful Journey into the Insect World through Literature, Science, Art, and Popular Culture Aristotle on metamorphosis

• Alfred Russel Wallace on the rare butterflies of the Malay Archipelago
• Jean-Henri Fabre on the art of the dung beetle
• Dave Barry on naming the U.S. Official National Insect
• Charles Darwin on seagoing insects
• William Beebe on an army ant invasion
• Kevin Kelly on bee—and human—swarming
• Jonathan Schell on postnuclear insect survival
• Gary Larson on when insects take over
• May Berenbaum on maggots and murderers
• Henry David Thoreau on race wars among the ants
• Thomas Eisner on stealth bugs
• David George Gordon on appreciating the lowly cockroach
• Maurice Maeterlinck on the queen-bee’s wedding
• Edward O. Wilson on insect societies

…plus many other essays, illustrations, cartoons, screenplays, poems, recipes, tales, and observations on insect life.

This book presents a concept for implementing a mass balance approach toward developing an effective eco-friendly, livestock farming system independent of external energy input. In this context it describes a modern, integrated farming system, and includes comprehensive technical information explaining the design and evaluation of manure management systems, and modeling and operational tools. It first discusses the mass balance operating process, highlighting the difference between imported and exported mass across the farm boundary. Estimating mass balance can provide critical information for (comprehensive) nutrient management planning and for managing the movement of nutrients and manure. It then explains the estimation of whole-farm P mass balance using a suitable model system. The subsequent chapters provide updated information on management aspects of livestock-farming and generation of multiple job opportunities, and also explore various aspects of livestock farming operational protocols like housing and management; nurture of rams, ewes and lambs, new born calves and heifers; care of buck, doe and kid- nutrition flushing; concept zero grazing-systems; disease control and management; integrated goat farming; and crop-livestock integration. Further, the book addresses crop-livestock integration; energy autonomy in cattle farming; value added biopharmaceuticals from cattle farming; CAPEX for cattle farming; concepts of cattle farming; detrimental effects of the industry; topographic and edaphic factors, and thermal stress on livestock growth and development; socioeconomic development; and water requirements for livestock. The book concludes with the most important issue in the field of agriculture and veterinary science: "Livestock Farming with Care," describing sustainable, eco-friendly livestock farming by highlighting issues like animal feed vs. human food; agricultural GDP vs livestock, and factors affecting the sustainability of livestock farming. Given its scope, this book is a valuable resource for researchers and students alike, and will also appeal to practitioners in the field of livestock.

From the Preface
The major change in the format of the fifth edition is the presentation of the book in two volumes, necessitated by the rapidly increasing knowledge of metabolism, interactions, and requirements of trace elements. The guiding principle was to present the minimum of results that would serve as a logical foundation for the description of the present state of knowledge.

This is the perfect chance to immerse yourself in the uplifting sounds of a perfect country morning, from the comfort of your own home. At dawn, in our countryside, there is a pronounced peak in bird singing activity. This is especially noticeable for about an hour after the first light in temperate zone woodlands during spring and early summer. At this time, male birds defend their territories and attract females with their songs. The recordings on this CD are a selection of British woodland recordings, taken from the extensive collection of the wildlife section of the British Library sound archive.

Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology, Third Edition is a succinct, yet comprehensive text devoted to the systematics, evolution, morphology, ecology, physiology, and behavior of marine mammals. Earlier editions of this valuable work are considered required reading for all marine biologists concerned with marine mammals, and this text continues that tradition of excellence with updated citations and an expansion of nearly every chapter that includes full color photographs and distribution maps.

This book summarizes all currently available information on the ecology, environmental impacts and control methods of the golden mussel in industrial plants. The golden mussel was introduced in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South America between 1965 and 1990, swiftly spreading in freshwater waterbodies. In most areas invaded it has become the dominant macroinverebrate and a major fouling pest of industrial plants. Limnoperna fortunei attaches to any hard surface, as well as to some less firm substrates. The growth of Limnoperna populations in raw cooling water conduits became a common nuisance in many industrial and power plants that use raw river or lake water for their processes, both in South America and in Asia. This work is written by experts on the golden mussel from Asia, Europe, North America and South America, each chapter critically reviews previously available information, which is in sources of limited distribution, such as internal reports and theses, in various languages.

This volume provides an introduction to Borelli s theory on the movement of animals and demonstrates the nature of the energy of percussion, its causes, properties and effects. Building on and moving away from the theory of mechanics as formulated by Aristotle and Galileo and countering objections expressed by Stephani degli Angeli among others, Borelli presents a completely mechanical account of the action of muscles and analyzes the way in which the center of gravity of the animal shifts in locomotion.

Originally published in Italian in 1667, then translated into Latin in 1686, the text of this volume has now been translated into English, making the text accessible to a wide readership.

This volume is the first of two volumes that contain the Introduction and physical-mathematical illustrations necessary to understand Giovanni Alfonso Borelli s work "On the Movement of Animals, " the founding text of seventeenth century biomechanics. The second volume, entitled"On The Natural Motions Resulting From Gravity, "describes his theory and scientific experiments relating to the natural movements of bodies in a fluid environment."

This detailed volume focuses on best practices and conditions for maintaining the most commonly used salamander species in the laboratory. Salamanders in Regeneration Research: Methods and Protocols guides readers through experimental manipulations in vivo and in vitro, respectively. With methods on targeting a wide variety of structures, ranging from the limb to the heart and to the brain, and methods for studying genetically modified organisms and tools for mining in the genomic databases. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introduction to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and up-to-date, Salamanders in Regeneration Research: Methods and Protocols provides a comprehensive collection of methods chapters.

This volume is essential for geneticists, molecular biologists, biochemists, and medical doctors interested in the use of mouse models in cancer research. Recent genome studies, together with refined genetic engineering techniques, have greatly increased the value of using mice for research on cancer and other human disorders. The chapters of this book will support scientists in choosing the most suitable mouse models for their research questions. The book provides detailed methodological information for genetic or chemical induction of different types of cancer, histomorphometric cancer analysis, and in vivo imaging, as well as protocols to investigate oncogene addiction, immune surveillance, and hallmarks of cancer such as angiogenesis or metastasis. Four review-like articles provide background information on mouse technologies and histopathologic differences between mouse and human cancers. The mouse models described in individual chapters will fuel the understanding of cancer initiation, immune system roles, tumor angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, and the relevance of molecular diversity observed among human cancers. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology 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 on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Cutting-edge and resourceful, Mouse Models of Cancers: Methods and Protocols, is a valuable laboratory resource for all researchers, from the graduate level upwards, who study cancer and new possibilities for its treatment.

Amateurs and professionals studying birds at the end of the nineteenth century were a contentious, passionate group with goals that intersected, collided and occasionally merged in their writings and organizations. Driven by a desire to advance science, as well as by ego, pride, honor, insecurity, religion and other clashing sensibilities, they struggled to absorb the implications of evolution after Darwin. In the process, they dramatically reshaped the study of birds. Daniel Lewis here explores the professionalization of ornithology through one of its key figures: Robert Ridgway, the Smithsonian Institution's first curator of birds and one of North America's most important natural scientists. Exploring a world in which the uses of language, classification and accountability between amateurs and professionals played essential roles, Lewis offers a vivid introduction to Ridgway and shows how his work fundamentally influenced the direction of American and international ornithology. He explores the inner workings of the Smithsonian and the role of collectors working in the field and reveals previously unknown details of the ornithological journal The Auk and the untold story of the color dictionaries for which Ridgway is known.

Functional and Structural Constituents of Neuronal Ca2+ Channel Modulation by Neurotransmitters; E. Carbone, et al. Target Striatal Cells Regulate Development of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurones; C. Perrone-Capano, et al. Facts and Fantasies about Hair Cells; J.F. Ashmore. The Vomeronasal Organ; A. Cavaggioni, et al. Potassium Currents of Hair Cells in Thin Slices of Vestibular Epithelium; I. Prigioni, et al. A Compartment Model for Vertegrate Phototransduction Predicts Sensitivity and Adaptation; J.P. Raynauld. Modeling Odor Intensity and Odor Quality Coding in Olfactory Systems; J.P. Rospars, et al. Functional Connections between the Architecture of the Dendritic Arborization and the Microarchitecture of the Dendritic Membrane; P. Gogan, et al. The Functional Significance of Cerebellar Anatomy; D. Heck. Architecture for a Replicative Memory; J. D' Ninio. Measuring Information from Neuronal Activity; S. Panzeri, et al. Visual Processing in the Temporal Lobe for Invariant Object Recognition; E.T. Rolls. Biophysical Aspects of Cortical Networks; S. Rotter. On the Time Required for Recurrent Processing in the Brain; A. Treves, et al. 16 additional articles. Index.

This fourth volume in the series covers such topics as endogenous fuels, electric organs, histidine-related dipeptides, and origins of luciferins. The book will be invaluable to fisheries scientists, aquaculturists, and animal biochemists, physiologists and endocrinologists; it will provide researchers and students with a pertinent information source from theoretical and experimental angles.