Life sciences: general issues Books

This book is not a conventional review of diving physiology. The coverage of the literature has been selective rather than en­ compassing, the emphasis has been on field studies rather than laboratory investigations, and the...

The Second International Symposium on Narcolepsy was held at Fairchild Auditorium, Stanford University, on 6-7 July 1985 under the presidency of Drs. William C. Dement and Christian Guillemi­ nault. It succeeded the First...

In addition to the more or less static properties of the environ­ ment, plants and animals must cope with its temporal variations. Among the most conspicuous temporal changes to which organisms are exposed are periodic...

Here for the first time in one book is a comprehensive and systematic approach to the dynamic modeling and control of biped locomotion robots. A survey is included of various approaches to the control of biped robots, and a new...

The NATO workshop on Disordered Systems and Biological Organization was attended, in march 1985, by 65 scientists representing a large variety of fields: Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics and Biology. It was the purpose of...

For old and new studies in decision making and risk analysis, this book should stand at tlle watershed. Studies of conflict resolution and public policy will surely now have to take account of the model investigation provided...

Chance Favors Only the Prepared Mind How does a scientist go about the task of pushing back the curtains of the unknown? Certainly the romance of tackling the mysteries of nature provides the motivation, for who would not be...

The first summer study at IIASA brought together a cross-section of individ­ uals from different disciplines and nationalities. All the participants have had an interest in the role of risk analysis given the institutional...

An invitation from the Editors to contribute to 'Studies of Brain Functions' with a monograph on the parietal lobe of­ fers me an opportunity to present in a concentrated form my studies on this part of the brain from a period...

Neurophysiologists are often accused by colleagues in the physical sci­ ences of designing experiments without any underlying hypothesis. This impression is attributable to the ease of getting lost in the ever-increasing sea of...

With the increasing numbers of research workers and groups of investigators devoting themselves to the ecology of carabids I felt that the time had come to take stock of the existing knowledge in this field and to endeavour to...

This book has been written mostly within sight of wild African ungulates, at the research center in Tsavo East National Park, V oi, Kenya. While this had many positive aspects, there were also a few drawbacks. The main one of...

The period since World War II, and especially the last decade influenced by the International Biological Program, has seen enormous growth in research on the function of ecosystems. The same period has seen an exponential' rise...

This book presents a distillation of many years of investigation by the author and his associates on the problem of sensory reception. Both our own data and data from the scientific literature on the electron microscopy,...

There is now considerable genetic evidence that the type 4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene is a major susceptibility factor associated with late­ onset Alzheimer's disease, the common form of the disease defined as starting...

Anthropogenic release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere has been recognized as the primary agent in global climate change. The volume discusses the possibilities for limiting that increase by the long-term storage of carbon...

G.P. Stamou describes the adaptive strategies that allow arthropods to cope with the severity of Mediterranean environments. After an introduction to the structure and function of Mediterranean-type ecosystems, ecophysiological...

Biological effects of magnetic fields have been studied in many animals and plants. The magnetic fields were of a wide intensity range and, as alternating fields, of a wide frequency range and of a variety of impulse shapes...

Azospirillum is a plant growth promoting rhizobacterium used for inoculation of cereal and forage crops. The book covers its physiology, ecology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. The most advanced molecular techniques to...

Invertebrate animals represent a diversity of solutions to life's challenges. Success in a wide range of environments has been achieved by an almost bewildering range of invertebrate body forms. These body forms are reflected...

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) AIDS Program is the fourth largest acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) program within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Since 1983, our program's contributions have...

Forest decline became a matter of public and scientific concern in France in 1983 when conifers in the Vosges mountains were found to exhibit unusual crown deterioration. An impassioned controversy on a supposedly large scale...

Ecosystem health offers a fresh perspective on the management of natural resources and the environment. While some of the root concepts can surely be traced back to Aldo Leopold and even earlier, it is only in the recent decade...

Fifty million years ago, the Arctic Ocean was a warm sea, bounded by lush vegetation of the warm-temperate shores of Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska and the Northwest Territories. Wind and storms were rare because Atlantic weather...

After a brief survey of biotopic and vegetational features and an account of the main groups of desert animals, the most unusual patterns of the behaviour of the xerophilous fauna are examined. The importance of the ...

Soils will play a central role in mediating the impact of climate change on natural and managed ecosystems. The book addresses the various responses of soil processes and properties to environmental change and highlights their...

This book provides a quantitative analysis of the role of woody plants in semi-arid regions, for the aSSessment of their benefits in agrosylvopastoralland-use systems with productive and sus­ tainability objectives. The...

Environmental stresses, such as high and low temperature, salinity, and drought, represent limiting factors to agricultural productivity worldwide. Their impact is not only on crops that are presently being cultivated, but they...

Hydroponics, the method of growing plants without soil, presents a feasible alternative to conventional farming in areas which are short on water supply and limited in agricultural soil.This book will serve as an indispensable...

Presented here are recent data on the mechanisms of action of different dusts and fibres of industrial interest. Emphasis is placed on the use of cell and organ culture and lavage cell populations obtained from man and...

A comparison of the adaptations made by invertebrates in polar deserts with those of temperate and subtropical deserts. These regions represent some of the most hostile environments on earth, demanding an array of strategies...

Microbial mats are benthic communities of a variety of microorganisms. Their investigation requires multidisciplinary studies and close cooperation between microbiologists, biogeochemists, and geologists.Reported here are...

Savannas are the most widespread ecosystem in the tropics and as such are subjected to great human pressure that may result in massive soil degradation. The book addresses the role of species in the function of savanna...

On April 1, 1992, Otto Creutzfeldt would have celebrated his 65th birthday. About a year before, those of us who worked with him in the Department of Neurobiology decided to organize a meeting to honour Otto and his contri­...

In the rapidly developing area of neuroimmunology, primary at­ tention has been given thus far to the bidirectional exchange of information between the immune system and the neuroendocrine system. Several recent texts on this...

As human populations expand and have increasing access to technol­ ogy, two general environmental concerns have arisen. First, human pop­ ulations are having increasing impact on the earth system, such that we are altering the...