Download or read book Biological Information new Perspectives written by Robert Jackson Marks (II) and published by World Scientific Publishing Company Incorporated. This book was released on 2013 with total page 563 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the spring of 2011, a diverse group of scientists gathered at Cornell University to discuss their research into the nature and origin of biological information. This symposium brought together experts in information theory, computer science, numerical simulation, thermodynamics, evolutionary theory, whole organism biology, developmental biology, molecular biology, genetics, physics, biophysics, mathematics, and linguistics. This volume presents new research by those invited to speak at the conference. The contributors to this volume use their wide-ranging expertise in the area of biological information to bring fresh insights into the explanatory difficulties that biological information raises. Going beyond the conventional scientific wisdom, which attempts to explain biological information reductionistically via chemical, genetic, and natural selective determinants, the work represented here develops novel non-reductionist approaches to biological information, looking notably to telic and self-organizational processes. Several clear themes emerged from these research papers: 1) Information is indispensable to our understanding of what life is. 2) Biological information is more than the material structures that embody it. 3) Conventional chemical and evolutionary mechanisms seem insufficient to fully explain the labyrinth of information that is life. By exploring new perspectives on biological information, this volume seeks to expand, encourage, and enrich research on the nature and origin of biological information.
Download or read book Biological Extinction written by Partha Dasgupta and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-09-05 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questions why species are becoming extinct, and how we can protect the natural world on which we all depend.
Download or read book Entropy Information and Evolution written by Bruce H. Weber and published by MIT Press (MA). This book was released on 1987-12-01 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most exciting and controversial areas of scientific research in recent years has been the application of the principles of nonequilibrium thermodynamics to the problems of the physical evolution of the universe, the origins of life, the structure and succession of ecological systems, and biological evolution.
Download or read book The Gibbons written by Susan Lappan and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-06-02 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is a great honor to be asked to introduce this exciting new volume, having been heavily involved in the first comprehensive synthesis in the early 1980s. Gibbons are the most enthralling of primates. On the one hand, they are the most appealing animals, with their upright posture and body shape, facial markings, dramatic arm-swinging locomotion and suspensory postures, and devastating duets; on the other hand, the small apes are the most diverse, hence biologically valuable and informative, of our closest relatives. It is hard for me to believe that it is 40 years to the month since I first set foot on the Malay Peninsula to start my doctoral study of the siamang. I am very proud to have followed in the footsteps of the great pioneer of primate field study, Clarence Ray Carpenter (CR or Ray, who I was fortunate to meet twice, in Pennsylvania and in Zurich), first in Central America (in 1967) and then in Southeast Asia. It is 75 years since he studied howler monkeys on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal Zone. It is 70 years since he studied the white-handed gibbon in Thailand.
Download or read book New Perspectives on Human Development written by Nancy Budwig and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-04-17 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book address fundamental questions of human development, revisiting old questions and applying original empirical findings.
Download or read book Evolutionary Medicine and Health written by Wenda R. Trevathan and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2009-03-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building on the success of their groundbreaking anthology Evolutionary Medicine (OUP, 1999), Wenda R. Trevathan, E. O. Smith, and James J. McKenna provide an up-to-date and thought-provoking introduction to the field with this new collection of essays. Ideal for courses in evolutionary medicine, medical anthropology, and the evolution of human disease, Evolutionary Medicine and Health: New Perspectives presents twenty-three original articles that examine how human evolution relates to a broad range of contemporary health problems including infectious, chronic, nutritional, and mental diseases and disorders. Topics covered include disease susceptibility in cultural context, substance abuse and addiction, sleep disorders, preeclampsia, altitude-related hypoxia, the biological context of menstruation, and the role of stress in modern life. An international team of preeminent scholars in biological anthropology, medicine, biology, psychology, and geography contributed the selections. Together they represent a uniquely integrative and multidisciplinary approach that takes into account the dialogue between biology and culture as it relates to understanding, treating, and preventing disease. A common theme throughout is the description of cases in which biological human development conflicts with culturally based individual behaviors that determine health outcomes. Detailed, evidence-based arguments make the case that all aspects of the human condition covered in the volume have an evolutionary basis, while theoretical discussions using other empirical evidence critique the gaps that still remain in evolutionary approaches to health. Evolutionary Medicine and Health: New Perspectives features an introductory overview that covers the field's diverse array of topics, questions, lines of evidence, and perspectives. In addition, the editors provide introductions to each essay and an extensive bibliography that represents a state-of-the-art survey of the literature. A companionwebsite at www.oup.com/us/evolmed offers a full bibliography and links to source articles, reports, and databases. Written in an engaging style that is accessible to students, professionals, and general readers, this book offers a unique look at how an evolutionary perspective has become increasingly relevant to the health field and medical practice.
Download or read book A New Biology for the 21st Century written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-11-20 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now more than ever, biology has the potential to contribute practical solutions to many of the major challenges confronting the United States and the world. A New Biology for the 21st Century recommends that a "New Biology" approach-one that depends on greater integration within biology, and closer collaboration with physical, computational, and earth scientists, mathematicians and engineers-be used to find solutions to four key societal needs: sustainable food production, ecosystem restoration, optimized biofuel production, and improvement in human health. The approach calls for a coordinated effort to leverage resources across the federal, private, and academic sectors to help meet challenges and improve the return on life science research in general.
Download or read book Cerebral Plasticity written by Leo M. Chalupa and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2011-05-20 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A survey of the latest research, covering such topics as plasticity in the adult brain and the underlying mechanisms of plasticity. The notion that neurons in the living brain can change in response to experience—a phenomenon known as "plasticity"—has become a major conceptual issue in neuroscience research as well as a practical focus for the fields of neural rehabilitation and neurodegenerative disease. Early work dealt with the plasticity of the developing brain and demonstrated the critical role played by sensory experience in normal development. Two broader themes have emerged in recent studies: the plasticity of the adult brain (one of the most rapidly developing areas of current research) and the search for the underlying mechanisms of plasticity—explanations for the cellular, molecular, and epigenetic factors controlling plasticity. Many scientists believe that achieving a fundamental understanding of what underlies neuronal plasticity could help us treat neurological disorders and even improve the learning capabilities of the human brain. This volume offers contributions from leaders in the field that cover all three approaches to the study of cerebral plasticity. Chapters treat normal development and the influences of environmental manipulations; cerebral plasticity in adulthood; and underlying mechanisms of plasticity. Other chapters deal with plastic changes in neurological conditions and with the enhancement of plasticity as a strategy for brain repair.
Download or read book New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs written by Michael J. Ryan and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2010-06-22 with total page 1180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Easily distinguished by the horns and frills on their skulls, ceratopsians were one of the most successful of all dinosaurs. This volume presents a broad range of cutting-edge research on the functional biology, behavior, systematics, paleoecology, and paleogeography of the horned dinosaurs, and includes descriptions of newly identified species.
Download or read book New Perspectives on the Biology of Nectaries and Nectars written by Clay Carter and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2019-08-27 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The number of currently known, described and accepted plant species is ca 374,000, of which approximately 295,00 (79%) are angiosperms. Almost 90% of this huge number of flowering plants is pollinated by animals (mostly insects) via nectar-mediated interactions. Notably, three-fourths of the leading global crop plants produce nectar and are animal pollinated, which is estimated to account for one-third of human food resources. Nectar can also be produced on tissues outside of flowers, by so-called extrafloral nectaries, and commonly mediate interactions with ‘body-guard’ ants and other pugnacious insects that defend the plant from herbivores. Extrafloral nectar is present in almost 4,000 plant species, a majority of them in the angiosperms. This brief summary on the occurrence of nectar in the plant kingdom is just to highlight that nectar has a fundamental role in two basal functions that allow the maintenance of our ecosystems: sexual plant reproduction and protection of plants from herbivory. Despite playing essential ecological and evolutionary functions, our current knowledge about nectar is largely incomplete; however, new research directions and perspectives on nectaries and nectars have arisen in recent years. In the last two decades, there were only a few ‘moments’ in which nectar was the main character in international meetings or in published books. In 2002, the first (and only) international meeting “Nectar and nectary: from biology to biotechnology” dedicated exclusively to nectar and nectaries was held in Italy (Montalcino, Siena) and in 2003 the proceedings were published in a special volume of Plant Systematics and Evolution (238, issue 1-4). In 2007, the book Nectar and Nectaries was published (Springer) with most of the contributions provided by authors that attended the meeting in Italy. Another book dedicated to nectar was published in 2015 (Nectar: Production, Chemical Composition and Benefits to Animals and Plants, Nova Science Publishers) covering aspects mainly related to nectar chemical composition and plant-pollinator interactions. Similarly, symposia focused on nectar have been organized within the International Botanical Congress in 2011 and 2017. Considering that the last few years has yielded essential developments in the understanding of nectar biology, we thought now is the moment to further stimulate research on this important topic. This aim has been met through 18 papers published in our Research Topic New Perspectives on the Biology of Nectaries and Nectars, with subjects spanning evolution and ecology to nectar chemistry and nectary structure.
Download or read book New Perspectives on Aristotle s De caelo written by Alan Bowen and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2009-11-23 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is the first collection of scholarly articles in any modern language devoted to Aristotle’s De caelo. It grew out of series of workshops held at Princeton, Cambridge, and Paris in the late 1990’s. Since Aristotle’s De caelo had a major influence on cosmological thinking until the time of Galileo and Kepler and helped to shape the way in which Western civilization imagined its natural environment and place at the center of the universe, familiarity with the main doctrines of the De caelo is a prerequisite for an understanding of much of the thought and culture of antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Download or read book New Perspectives in Forensic Human Skeletal Identification written by Krista E. Latham and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2017-07-27 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New Perspectives in Forensic Human Skeletal Identification provides a comprehensive and up-to-date perspective on human identification methods in forensic anthropology. Divided into four distinct sections, the chapters will reflect recent advances in human skeletal identification, including statistical and morphometric methods for assessing the biological profile (sex, age, ancestry, stature), biochemical methods of identification (DNA analysis, stable isotope analysis, bomb curve analysis), and use of comparative radiography. The final section of this book highlights advances in human identification techniques that are being applied to international populations and disaster victims. The contributing authors represent established experts in forensic anthropology and closely related fields. New Perspectives in Forensic Human Skeletal Identification will be an essential resource for researchers, practitioners, and advanced students interested in state-of-the-art methods for human identification. - A comprehensive and up-to-date volume on human identification methods in forensic anthropology - Focuses on recent advances such as statistical and morphometric methods for assessing the biological profile, biochemical methods of identification and use of comparative radiography - Includes an entire section on human identification techniques being applied to international populations and disaster victims
Download or read book Molecular Biology in Narrative Form written by Priya Hays and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2006 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Molecular Biology in Narrative Form is a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary study that shows a connection between molecular biology and French narrative theory, and, from a unique perspective, bridges the gap between two disciplines that seem mutually exclusive. With many new insights on the link between science (in the form of DNA, a set of codes) and literature (in the form of language, another set of codes), this book looks at modern experimental science within the framework of semiotics. Priya Venkatesan reveals the extraordinary parallel between the work of scientists and the work of narratologists who develop narrative paradigms and analyze literary texts. Molecular Biology in Narrative Form will be a useful resource for scientists and literary theorists interested in the epistemological workings of science, as well as, anyone that desires to explore the linkages between scientific theory and literary analysis.
Download or read book Beyond Reductionism New Perspectives in the Life Sciences written by Arthur Koestler and published by Hutchinson Radius. This book was released on 1969 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Biological Autonomy written by Alvaro Moreno and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-05-04 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since Darwin, Biology has been framed on the idea of evolution by natural selection, which has profoundly influenced the scientific and philosophical comprehension of biological phenomena and of our place in Nature. This book argues that contemporary biology should progress towards and revolve around an even more fundamental idea, that of autonomy. Biological autonomy describes living organisms as organised systems, which are able to self-produce and self-maintain as integrated entities, to establish their own goals and norms, and to promote the conditions of their existence through their interactions with the environment. Topics covered in this book include organisation and biological emergence, organisms, agency, levels of autonomy, cognition, and a look at the historical dimension of autonomy. The current development of scientific investigations on autonomous organisation calls for a theoretical and philosophical analysis. This can contribute to the elaboration of an original understanding of life - including human life - on Earth, opening new perspectives and enabling fecund interactions with other existing theories and approaches. This book takes up the challenge.
Download or read book New Perspectives on Generalized Anxiety Disorder written by Riccardo Guglielmo and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Generalized Anxiety Disorder may be seen as a gateway condition from normalcy to pathology with blurred boundaries towards several concurrent disorders. This anxiety illness is responsible for psychological suffering and personal dysfunction in a considerable proportion of individuals in the general population. Since its original definition in the DSM-III (1980), the clinical and scientific interest in Generalized Anxiety Disorder has grown, becoming a challenge for researchers and practitioners nowadays. This book provides a modern viewpoint with intriguing insights on relevant topics, including historical frameworks, epidemiology, basic neurobiological sciences, clinical presentation and complexity, and major treatment options. The list of contributors include professors, researchers, PhD students, clinical psychiatrists and psychologists; they belong to different universities and training institutions and all of them possess a distinguished expertise in the specific fields of interest. Psychiatrists, physicians, psychologists, residents and undergraduate students may take advantage of this book, from both clinical and research-oriented perspectives.
Download or read book Molecular Biology of the Cell written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
