This work is the first book-length publication on the topic of insect immunology since 1991, complementing earlier works by offering a fresh perspective on current research. Interactions of host immune systems with both parasites and pathogens are presented in detail, as well as the genomics and proteomics, approaches which have been lacking in other publications. Beckage provides comprehensive coverage of topics important to medical researchers, including Drosophila as a model for studying cellular and humoral immune mechanisms, biochemical mediators of immunity, and insect blood cells and their functions. - Encompasses the most important topics of insect immunology including mechanisms, genes, proteins, evolution and phylogeny - Provides comprehensive coverage of topics important to medical researchers including Drosophila as a model for studying cellular and humoral immune mechanisms, biochemical mediators of immunity, and insect blood cells and their functions - Most up-to-date information published with contributions from international leaders in the field
Advances in Insect Physiology, Volume 62, the latest release in this ongoing series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on a variety of timely topics. Each chapter is written by an international board of authors. - Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors - Presents the latest release in the Advances in Insect Physiology series
Emphasis is placed on the elaborate cuticular matrices in insects and crustaceans, spider and insect silks, sialomes of phytophagous and blood-feeding arthropods as well as on secretions of male and female accessory glands. Focus is placed largely on insects, due to the extensive body of published research that in part is the result of available whole genome sequences of several model species (in particular Drosophila melanogaster) and accessible ESTs for other species. Such advances have facilitated fundamental insights into genomic, proteomic and molecular biology-based physiology. This new volume contains comprehensive contributions on extracellular composite matrices in arthropods. The building blocks of such matrices are formed in and secreted by single layered epithelial cells into exterior domains where their final assembly takes place.Additionally, the unique mechanical properties of natural biocomposites like chitin/chitosan, the crustacean mineralized exoskeleton, the pliant protein resilin or insect and spider silks, have inspired basic and applied research that yield sophistical biomimetics and structural biocomposite hybrids important for future industrial and biomedical use. In summary, this book provides an invaluable vast source of basic and applied information for a plethora of scientists as well as textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.
Herbs and herbal products are of paramount importance for human health. To beable to guarantee safety and quality, standards and testing methods are needed.Pharmacopoeias contain quality control protocols setting the standards which arethen required by governments. The quality traits are many, including the intrinsicvariables of medicinal plant, e.g. the levels of the active compounds, and the absenceof possibly natural occurring toxic compounds. On the other hand, many qualitytraits are related to agricultural conditions and practices, or to the harvesting andpost-harvest processing. With so many variables, quality control of the end productbecomes extremely complex, time consuming and costly. To ensure the quality ofmedicinal plants for human consumption quality management -the use of “goodpractices” at each step, from seed to final product- becomes a crucial aspect. In general, quality control includes the inspection of the product’s identity, purity,and content, based on its physical, chemical or biological properties. To ensure thequality of herbal medications, criteria such as botanical quality, type of preparation,physical constants, adulteration, contaminants, chemical constituents, pesticidesresidues et al. should be examined. Meanwhile, authentication of herbs is neededto avoid possible adulteration or contaminating plants, even toxic herbs such asAristolochia species. Many of the methods are long standing, such as microscopy incombination with color reactions, but some 50 years ago chromatography developedas a major tool for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of herbal preparations.Nowadays, research is working on the improvement of these methods and on thedevelopment of novel tools. For instance, next generation sequencing and mass spectrometry imaging, areemerging as new technologies for the quality control of herbal medicines. Withthese technologies, quick testing of herbal products and of mixed herbal powderpreparations, including the testing for specific plant parts (botanical drugs), can beachieved. Also, novel chemical tools such as metabolomics and Near Infrared Red(NIR) spectroscopy are being developed as powerful tools to identify and to linkthese with activity by using chemometric tools such as multivariate analysis. Finally,progress of informatic tools such as machine learning helps to deal with the big datagenerated by sequencing or mass spectrometry. However, these new technologies,like all other new born technologies, should be tested and perfected for a broaderrange of products.
Metals such as copper, iron, manganese, and zinc are clearly required for proper metabolism and development, while imbalances can lead to systemic dysfunction and disease. As a result, organisms have evolved complex genetic systems for the regulation of metal levels, including import, export, and sequestration of metals within cells and sub-cellular compartments. The study of metal biology in insects has the potential to greatly expand our understanding of metal biology. The results of such studies might point to new possible therapeutic interventions for neurological and other human diseases, as well as new strategies for insect disease vector control. The articles collected in this Research Topic comprise review and original research on metal biology in insects.
Oxidoreductases: Advances in Research and Application: 2011 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ eBook that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Oxidoreductases. The editors have built Oxidoreductases: Advances in Research and Application: 2011 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Oxidoreductases in this eBook to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Oxidoreductases: Advances in Research and Application: 2011 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.
This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact.
Filling a gap in the literature, leading expert editors and top international authors present the field of biooxidation from an academic and industrial point of view, taking many examples from modern pharmaceutical research. Topics range from the application of different monooxygenases to applications in the pharmaceutical industry, making this volume of high interest not only for those working in biotechnology but also for organic synthetic chemists, among others.
