Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) have been studied by primatologists since 1948, and considerable knowledge of the primate has been accumulated to elucidate the adaptation of the species over time and to distinct environments in Japan. The Japanese macaque is especially suited to intragenera and interpopulation comparative studies of behavior, physiology, and morphology, and to socioecology studies in general. This book, the most comprehensive ever published in English on Japanese macaques, is replete with contributions by leading researchers in field primatology. Highlighted are topics of intraspecific variations in the ecology and behaviors of the macaque. Such variations provide evidence of the ecological determinants on this species' mating and social behaviors, along with evidence of cultural behavior. The book also addresses morphology, population genetics, recent habitat change, and conflicts with humans, and attests to the plasticity and complex adaptive system of macaque societies. The valuable information in this volume is recommended reading for researchers in primatology, anthropology, zoology, animal behavior, and conservation biology.

In Genealogy of Obedience Justyna Wlodarczyk provides a long overdue look at the history of companion dog training methods in North America since the mid-nineteenth century, when the market of popular training handbooks emerged. Wlodarczyk argues that changes in the functions and goals of dog training are entangled in bigger cultural discourses; with a particular focus on how animal training has served as a field for playing out anxieties related to race, class and gender in North America. By applying a Foucauldian genealogical perspective, the book shows how changes in training methods correlate with shifts in dominant regimes of power. It traces the rise and fall of obedience as a category for conceptualizing relationships with dogs.

Periods of environmental hypoxia (Low Oxygen Availability) are extremely common in aquatic systems due to both natural causes such as diurnal oscillations in algal respiration, seasonal flooding, stratification, under ice cover in lakes, and isolation of densely vegetated water bodies, as well as more recent anthropogenic causes (e.g. eutrophication). In view of this, it is perhaps not surprising that among all vertebrates, fish boast the largest number of hypoxia tolerant species; hypoxia has clearly played an important role in shaping the evolution of many unique adaptive strategies. These unique adaptive strategies either allow fish to maintain function at low oxygen levels, thus extending hypoxia tolerance limits, or permit them to defend against the metabolic consequences of oxygen levels that fall below a threshold where metabolic functions cannot be maintained.
The aim of this volume is two-fold. First, this book will review and synthesize the adaptive behavioural, morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular strategies used by fish to survive hypoxia exposure and place them within an environmental and ecological context. Second, through the development of a synthesis chapter this book will serve as the cornerstone for directing future research into the effects of hypoxia exposures on fish physiology and biochemistry.

Key Features
* The only single volume available to provide an in-depth discussion of the adaptations and responses of fish to environmental hypoxia.
* Reviews and synthesizes the adaptive behavioural, morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular strategies used by fish to survive hypoxia exposure.
* Includes discussion of the evolutionary and ecological consequences of hypoxia exposure in fish.

Mechanisms controlling aggressive behavior started to be identified from late 20's of the 20th century and subsequent research described such mechanisms in great detail. While the findings are of great relevance for the understanding of aggression per se, they provide limited insights into the mechanisms of abnormal aggression i.e. those mechanisms that underlie aggression-related psychopathologies. While basic phenomena and mechanism of aggression are presented, this book is the first that comprehensively describes ultimate and proximate mechanisms that transform normal (laboratory animals) or tolerable (humans) manifestations of aggressiveness into abnormal patterns in laboratory animals and aggression-related psychopathologies in humans. This book is written for behavioral neurobiologists and neuroscientists, interested in emotional control in general and aggression research in particular. The book will also offer important information to neurologists and psychiatrists dealing with aggressive behavior in the clinic and ultimately, may provide means to understand and on the long run to discover novel approaches to the treatment of abnormal human aggression.

Nature helps... of course at first itself by developing measures that give bacteria, fungi, plants and animals a chance to be successful in their struggle for life. As a latecomer on Earth, Homo sapiens was gifted with some droplets of the divine spirit of recognition and thus became able to observe, to analyse and recombine skills of other living beings and to use them for his overwhelming career over the last 10,000 years.Of course fungi, plants, animals and even bacteria were primarily used by mankind as food or as lifestyle products such as beer, but soon it became clear that there was much more potential hidden in these organisms and that they could be used for other purposes, too. Extracts of plants and fungi were recognized as powerful remedies, as medicines, as insecticides or acarizides, as repellents against parasites or even as weapons, e.g. when poisonous compounds from frogs or plants were applied to arrowheads. Over the last 110 years the pharmaceutical industry has often simulated nature by analyzing complex organic substances taken from living organisms and then producing by synthesis absolutely pure compounds, which mostly consisted of only one single active substance. These products had the advantage of acting against precisely one target and thus produced fewer possible side effects than the complex plant extracts. However, the more serious side effect was that disease agents could develop resistances to pure medicinal products much more easily. Thus after 70 years of excellent prospects for chemotherapy, some dark clouds appeared and quickly gathered, so that several therapeutic remedies now no longer work. Therefore in many countries - especially in those where the pure chemotherapeutics are too expensive for the poor population - the cry "back to nature" is becoming louder and louder. This has led to an enormous increase of studies that again use natural extracts as remedies in the fight against diseases. The present book summarizes examples of promising aspects in a broad spectrum of applications and shows how extracts derived from bacteria, marine organisms, plants or even animals may help to treat infectious diseases, how such organisms may keep away parasites and pests from the bodies of plants or animals, including humans, and how they can be used directly to aid in diagnosis, promote wound healing and even to help catch criminals. These 15 chapters offer not only basic research on these different fields, but also show how useful and effective products can be developed from research.

Cilia--the tiny hairlike structures on the surface of cells--have recently been identified as playing a role in a variety of disease and developmental disorders. Absent or defective cilia in certain cells can cause infertility, blindness, kidney disease, and lung disease. This volume presents recent findings in cilia research and current thought on the role of cilia in disease and developmental abnormalities.

Australia's venomous snakes are widely viewed as the world's most deadly and are regarded with cautious curiosity, fascination and, regrettably, fear. Australia's Dangerous Snakes examines the biology, natural history, venom properties and bite treatment of medically important venomous marine and terrestrial snakes. It contains comprehensive identification profiles for each species, supported by keys and photographs. In addition to their medical importance, the environmental roles of these snakes and the threats that are causing the decline of many of these reptiles are discussed. Drawing on the authors' experience in the fields of herpetology, toxinology and clinical medicine, this book stimulates respect and admiration and dispels fear of Australia's fascinating snakes. Australia's Dangerous Snakes will provide hours of rewarding reading and valuable information for anyone interested in Australia's unique wildlife and natural history, and will be an essential reference for herpetologists, toxinologists, physicians, zoo personnel and private snake collectors.

There are several books on properties of chitin and associated biomolecules and their biochemical significance. However, the present volume deals with a wide variety of biogeochemical and organic geochemical aspects of this vital macromolecule written by leading authors and experts in the field. Each chapter is carefully peer reviewed and is an updated account of recent research in isotopic, nanostructural, biochemical, microstructural, geochemical, paleontological and experimental aspects of chitin formation, distribution and preservation in the environment and earth history.

Freshwater eels are almost infinitely improbable creatures. They spawn and die in the middle of the ocean, often associated with undersea mountains. Their tra- parent, leaf-like larvae move with ocean currents for months or years until they approach the mouths of freshwater rivers. Then they undergo a dramatic transf- mation in morphology, physiology and behavior. They move from their planktonic oceanic environment, migrate upstream and live for several years as apex fre- water predators. Then, almost impossibly, as they become sexually mature, they reverse their migration downstream to the ocean and back to spawning grounds to complete their life cycle. The dramatic changes in their life cycles are incredible. The efforts to unravel the details of their life history have been truly daunting. Much of the past research was the work of dedicated individuals who devoted their lifetime research to these fishes. Freshwater eels merit a separate chapter in almost any textbook dealing with ichthyology, marine biology or animal migration. We know a great deal about some aspects of the biology of freshwater eels. However, our understanding of their bi- ogy still resembles a work of art as much as a work of science. To some it appears like the sweeping brush strokes of a Japanese Zen landscape, to others it resembles the work of a French impressionist, and to still others it appears as magic realism.

* Comprehensive and an easily accessible reference volume for developing, running, and analyzing biomedical research using the rat as model system Grown exponentially by the genomic revolution, the use of the rat as a model of choice for physiological studies continues in popularity and at a much greater depth of understanding. In Rat Genomics: Methods and Protocols, world-wide experts provide both practical information for researchers involved in genomic research in the rat along with a more contextual discussion about the usefulness of the rat in physiological or translational research in different organs and systems. The volume extensively covers topics including genome sequencing, quantitative trait loci mapping, and the identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms as well as the development of transgenic technologies such as nuclear cloning, lentiviral-mediated transgenesis, gene knock-down using RNA interference, gene knock-out by mutagenesis, and zinc finger nucleases plus exciting advances in the obtention of rat embryonic cell lines. As a volume in the highly successful Methods in Molecular BiologyT series, this work provides the kind of detailed description and implementation advice that is crucial for getting optimal results. Comprehensive and up-to-date, Rat Genomics: Methods and Protocols thoroughly covers the current techniques used in labs around the world and overviews the applications of the data obtained, making it certain to be useful to the scientific community as a key source of references and methods.

Written with the non-specialist in mind, this guide is a must-have for flower lovers, hikers, tour guides and tourists – anyone interested in identifying the wild flowers that grace the Cape Peninsula.

Wild Flowers of the Cape Peninsula covers the most remarkable and commonly seen wild flowers of Table Mountain, Silvermine and Cape Point. The book was originally published as Common Wild Flowers of Table Mountain in 2007, then revised in 2013 to include the flowers of Silvermine.

This new edition offers:

• 360 (previously 208) of the region’s most remarkable and commonly seen wild flowers
• Clear photographs of all featured flowers and concise, informative text
• Flowers grouped according to colour, to help with quick ID
• Walking routes in the Peninsula’s famed reserves, plotted on 3 clear maps
• Illustrated glossary of terms

This second volume in the series covers such topics as DNA fingerprinting of fishes, the cytochromes P450 in fish, the molecular biology of bacterial fish diseases, and new insights into the origins of the diversity and distribution of fish antifreeze proteins. The book will be of great value to fisheries scientists, animal biochemists, physiologists and endocrinologists, and aquaculturists. It will provide researchers and students alike with a pertinent information source from theoretical and experimental angles.

This is the companion volume to Daniel Klionsky s "Autophagy: Lower Eukaryotes, " which features the basic methods in autophagy covering yeasts and alternative fungi (aspergillus, podospora, magnaporthe). Klionsky is one of the leading authorities in the field. He is the editor-in-chief of "Autophagy." The November 2007 issue of "Nature Reviews" highlighted his article, Autophagy: From phenomenology to molecular understanding in less than a decade. He is currently editing guidelines for the field, with 230 contributing authors, that will publish in "Autophagy."
Particularly in times of stress, like starvation and disease, higher organisms have an internal mechanism in their cells for chewing up and recycling parts of themselves. The process of internal house cleaning in the cell is called autophagy - literally self-eating. Breakthroughs in understanding the molecular basis of autophagy came after the cloning of ATG1 (autophagy-related gene 1) in yeast. (To date, 30 additional yeast genes have been identified.) These ATG genes in yeast were the stepping stones to the explosion of research into the molecular analysis of autophagy in higher eukaryotes. In the future, this research will help to design clinical approaches that can turn on autophagy and halt tumor growth."

Advances in Insect Physiology publishes eclectic volumes containing important, comprehensive and in-depth reviews on all aspects of insect physiology. It is an essential reference source for invertebrate physiologists and neurobiologists, entomologists, zoologists and insect biochemists. First published in 1963, the serial is now edited by Steve Simpson and Jerome Casas to provide an international perspective.
* More than 300 pages with contributions from the leading researchers in entomology
* Over 40 figures and illustrations combined
* Includes an in-depth review of the genetics of the honey bee
* Discusses the physiological diversity in insects

Progestins play a key role in reproductive endocrinology and as pharmaceutical drugs for contraception and in combined hormone therapy. To further our understanding of progestin action in the mammary gland, an international symposium, attended by leading researchers from academia and industry, was held in Berlin, 21 23 March 2007. Genetic mouse models helped to elucidate the role of progestins, both in normal breast development and in disease. Mechanistic molecular studies inspired the design of new progestins with improved tissue selectivity. In addition, the clinical impact of progesterone receptor agonists and antagonists for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer was discussed.

This book focuses on explaining the distribution of sexual systems (simultaneous hermaphroditism, sequential hermaphroditism, environmental sex determination,dioecy, androdioecy, etc.) among taxa, which remains a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Although significant advances have been made for angiosperms, there is not yet a theory that predicts the sexual system for the majority of animal taxa, and other taxa of plants also remain poorly understood. The problem, particularly for animals, is that sexual systems can be very conservative, with whole phyla and classes being characterized by a single sexual system; for example essentially the whole phylum Platyhelminthes is simultaneously hermaphroditic, whereas the Insecta (Hexapoda) and the Tetrapoda among the vertebrates, are exclusively dioecious. Sex allocation theory on the other hand, suggests that sexual systems should be highly responsive to evolution, changing with population density, life span, patterns of resource availability, etc. The book provides an overview of the topic and then presents a series of chapters, each dealing with a taxon with substantial lability in sexual system in order to identify the factors associated with changes in sexual system in each case. By doing so, the authors reveal factors that have not been considered in formal theory but seem to have a major impact on transitions between sexual systems. This book appeals to a wide readership in fields from zoology and evolutionary biology to botany.

Members of the genus Campylobacter are commonly found in the gastrointestinal tract of mammals and birds, and can be commensal or pathogenic in nature. In this book, internationally recognized experts critically review and provide novel insights into important aspects Campylobacter research.