Life sciences: general issues Books

In the fifteen years since the thalidomide disaster teratology has become a science in its own right, distinct from its progenitors, experimental embryology and develop­ mental biology, but bearing many of the familiar features...

The vertebrate eye has been, and continues to be, an object of interest and of inquiry for biologists, physicists, chemists, psychologists, and others. Quite apart from its important role in the development of ophthalmology and...

The demonstration of the basic brain mechanism through studying the partially commissure-sectioned case appears to be a most prom­ ising enterprise. The work with animals of HAMILTON and others in elucidating psychological...

This volume contains the Proceedings of the 25th Mosbach Colloquium, the general theme of which is the Biochemistry of Sensory Functions. It was intended, continuing the silver-tradition of these Colloquia, to provide the...

Plans for an International Symposium on the Early Life History of Fish were first discussed in 1967 at the F. A. O. Advisory Committee on Marine Resources Research {A. C. M. R. R. }. It was considered that studies on fish eggs...

No other disjunct pieces of land present such striking similarities as the widely sepa­ 1 rated regions with a mediterranean type of climate, that is, the territories fringing the Mediterranean Sea, California, Central Chile...

To lose is human, to win is fortune, but to try is our destiny. EARL C. SUITOR, JR. The idea of a Symposium on "Arthropod Cell Cultures" started in July of 1969 shortly after the untimely death of our colleague, EARL C. SUITOR,...

Why should there be a handbook of sensory physiology, and if so, why now' The editors have asked this question, marshalled all of the arguments that seemed to speak against their project, and then discovered that most of these...

In the first volume of this series (edited by D. E. REICHLE) an international panel of experts treated various aspects of ecosystems research, using deciduous forests of the temperate zone as an example. That collection of...

Hazard assessment of a compound (xenobiotic) discharged to the aquatic environment requires data on both exposure and effects to various components of the ecosystem. The multitude of ecological gradients in the Baltic Sea is...

A considerable amount of information has been gathered in the field of immunoneurology over recent years. This knowledge about modifications in the pathways of neuroimmune diseases has enabled the development of new therapies...

This book presents the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop which was also financially supported by the National Research Council of Italy. The Workshop was held from October 9 to 15, 1994, at the Centro Ettore...

Globally, forest vegetation and soils are both major stores of terrestrial organic carbon, and major contributors to the annual cycling of carbon between the atmosphere and the biosphere. Forests are also a renewable resource,...

In recent years, the progress made in the prevention of mortality and morbidity caused by communicable diseases and malnutrition has changed the disease spectrum in both developed and, particularly developing countries. As a...

The exigencies of life in the desert environment have resulted in the se­ lection of a diversity of adaptations, both morphological and physiologi­ cal, in the flora and fauna. At the same time, many plants and most small...

Based on three decades of field experience in southwest Asia, southern Africa, and the southwest United States, the author summarizes the major adaptations of plants to desert dunes. This integrative study of plant and diaspore...

The Aral Sea Basin, which is located in the central Asian part of the former Soviet Union, is undergoing dramatically rapid and intense environmental change. Pervasive human misuse and overuse of its water, land, and other...

This volume contains reviews on five different aspects of bioclimatology: (1) The establishment, maintenance and use of data from automatic weather station networks for agricultural purposes; (2) Techniques for estimating...

The chapters making up this volume are based on the presentations given by their authors at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) , also entitled "The Microbiology of Atmospheric Trace Gases: Sources, Sinks and Global...

In terrestrial ecosystems, soil microorganisms and soil animals are essential for litter degradation, soil formation and the availability of nutrients and trace elements. The measurement of biological soil parameters allows a...

Desert invertebrates live in an environment where resources alternate unpredictably between brief periods of plenty and prolonged scarcity. This book describes the adaptive strategies of desert invertebrates in acquiring energy...

In the past years, much work has been carried out on either life-history evolu­ tion or structure and function of food webs. However, most studies dealt with only one of these areas and often touched upon the other only...

Even though transmitter release and re-uptake are very complementary and physically in close proximity, researchers usually focus on only one of these two aspects. This volume, however, covers both processes and brings together...

Research on decomposer communities of terrestrial ecosystems for a long time has focussed on microbial biomass and gross turnover parameters. Recently, more and more attempts are made to look beyond the biomass, and more...

Part A and Part B of the fifth of twelve volumes of The Mycota deal with the mechanisms of interactions between fungi and plants and consider pathogenic as well as mutualistic associations. Nobody involved in the manipulation...

Numerous experts including ecologists, geneticists, paleontologists and climatologists, investigate the response of terrestrial organisms to changes in their environment. The volume comprises an introductory and a final chapter...

Subtropical convergence regions in the southwestern Atlantic have a high biological productivity, and are important as nursery and feeding areas and as reproduction grounds for fishery stocks of subtropical and antarctic origin...

Deserts, whether hot or cold, are considered to be one of the most difficult environments for living systems, lacking the essential free water which ac­ counts for approximately 60-70% of their body mass and more than 98% of...

Unlike mammals, birds are not particularly well suited to desert life. Among the few types of birds that have successfully adapted to the desert ecosystem are the predators. With individual chapters devoted to each of the...

Nowadays, major environmental issues are the object of large public debates de­ spite the fact that scientific knowledge is often insufficient to draw unequivocal conclusions. Such is the case in the ongoing debate regarding...

Providing a link between theoretical and applied aspects of plant nutrition and agriculture, this book introduces new concepts in plant nutrition. It shows how these can be applied in order to assess the nitrogen status in...

Alzheimer's disease invades the brain from the inside. Unlike an abcess, a metas­ tasis or an infarct, the disease follows specific tracks and avoids certain cortical areas while flourishing in others. Any observer is struck by...

An excellent survey of the most recent advances in the area of cellular and molecular biology of glial cells and their involvement in remyelination and functional repair in the CNS. A major part of this book deals with...

A description of the structural and functional adaptations of the key organs such as skin, kidneys, bladder, lungs and ovaries, with special emphasis placed on physiological adaptations: water, electrolyte, nitrogen, and...

During the last few decades anthropogenic activities in the industrially advanced countries have outcompeted nature in changing the global environment. This is best illustrated for example by the polluted lakes in Scandinavia...

An introduction to the evolution and adaptation of amphibians and reptiles, bridging the gulf between the plethora of 'popular' books and the more advanced texts directed towards the needs of specialist research workers, thus...

Following a description of the physical and biological characterization of the four North American deserts together with the primary adaptations of plants to environmental stress, the authors go on to present case studies of...

The analysis of neurophysiological brain function is a highly interdisciplinary field of research. In addition to the traditional areas of psychology and neurobiology, various other scientific disciplines, such as physics,...

The Antarctic represents the last of the world's still unexplored continents. Since 1985, Italy has sent 10 expeditions to this region, three of those have been exclusively devoted to research on the marine ecology of the Ross...

Ten years ago Polar Biology published the book, Weddell Sea Ecology, containing the European "Polarstern" study EPOS in the Weddell Sea and Peninsula waters 1988/89. In certain respects, the present collection of papers, first...

Biomass burning profoundly affects atmospheric chemistry, the carbon cycle, and climate and may have done so for millions of years. Bringing together renowned experts from paleoecology, fire ecology, atmospheric chemistry, and...

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) - the conversion of molecular nitrogen into ammonia - is one of the most important reactions in ecology and agriculture. It is performed exclusively by microbes (prokaryotes) that live in...