Current Perspectives on the Functional Design of the Avian Respiratory System
Current Perspectives on the Functional Design of the Avian Respiratory System

Author: John N. Maina

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-09-13

Total Pages: 391

ISBN-13: 3031351800

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Birds have and continue to fascinate scientists and the general public. While the avian respiratory system has unremittingly been investigated for nearly five centuries, important aspects on its biology remain cryptic and controversial. In this book, resolving some of the contentious issues, developmental-, structural- and functional aspects of the avian lung-air sac system are particularized: it endeavors to answer following fundamental questions on the biology of birds: how, when and why did birds become what they are? Flight is a unique form of locomotion. It considerably shaped the form and the essence of birds as animals. An exceptionally efficient respiratory system capacitated birds to procure the exceptionally large quantities of oxygen needed for powered (active) flight. Among the extant air-breathing vertebrates, comprising ~11,000 species, birds are the most species-rich-, numerically abundant- and extensively distributed animal taxon. After realizing volancy, they easily overcame geographical obstacles and extensively dispersed into various ecological niches where they underwent remarkable adaptive radiation. While the external morphology of birds is inconceivably uniform for such a considerably speciose taxon, contingent on among other attributes, lifestyle, habitat and phylogenetic level of development have foremost determined the novelties that are displayed by diverse species of birds. Here, critical synthesizes of the most recent findings with the historical ones, evolution and behavior and development, structure and function of the exceptionally elaborate respiratory system of birds are detailed. The prominence of modern birds as a taxon in the Animal Kingdom is underscored. The book should appeal to researchers who are interested in evolutionary processes and how adaptive specializations correlate with biological physiognomies and exigencies, comparative biologists who focus on how various animals have solved respiratory pressures, people who study respiration in birds and other animals and ornithologists who love and enjoy birds for what they are – profoundly interesting animals.

Current Therapy in Avian Medicine and Surgery
Current Therapy in Avian Medicine and Surgery

Author: Brian Speer

Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences

Published: 2015-12-04

Total Pages: 929

ISBN-13: 1455746711

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A current and cutting-edge reference, Current Therapy in Avian Medicine and Surgery takes the popular Current Therapy approach in providing succinct and clear information pertinent to the medical care of avian species. Most chapters include an up-to-date delivery of the current state of knowledge on their subject material, and provide practical approaches and thought processes applicable to diagnosis and therapy where appropriate. Information is always easy to find, with topics including the latest advances in internal medicine; behavioral medicine; anesthesia, analgesia, and surgery. Sections dedicated to welfare, conservation, and practice risk management explore important, but less commonly discussed aspects of avian practice; and the pattern recognition portion of the text offers readers a view of what companion bird conditions are likely to be seen in practice in different parts of the world. Written by a team of highly regarded contributors from around the world, this text helps readers, regardless of location and current knowledge, develop and augment skills in the medical and surgical care of avian species. The Current Therapy format provides current, up-to-date, succinct and clear information pertinent to the medical and surgical care of avian species. Coverage of clinically significant topics includes current veterinary scientific literature and hot topics relating to today's avian medicine and surgery. Coverage of a wide variety of bird species includes psittacines, pigeons, raptors, ratites, waterfowl, gallinaceous birds, and less common species. More than 800 full-color images show avian disease, management strategies and thought processes, and aid in formulating guidelines to care. World-renowned, expert contributors provide cutting-edge information, offering authoritative, accurate, and sometimes controversial opinions in many areas of study. Summary tables simplify the lookup of key facts and treatment guidelines. References in each chapter facilitate further reading and research on specific topics.

Bioengineering Aspects in the Design of Gas Exchangers
Bioengineering Aspects in the Design of Gas Exchangers

Author: John N. Maina

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-06-24

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 3642203957

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This book encapsulates over three decades of the author’s work on comparative functional respiratory morphology. It provides insights into the mechanism(s) by which respiratory means and processes originated and advanced to their modern states. Pertinent cross-disciplinary details and facts have been integrated and reexamined in order to arrive at more robust answers to questions regarding the basis of the functional designs of gas exchangers. The utilization of oxygen for energy production is an ancient process, the development and progression of which were underpinned by dynamic events in the biological, physical, and chemical worlds. Many books that have broached the subject of comparative functional respiratory biology have only described the form and function of the ‘end-product,’ the gas exchanger; they have scarcely delved into the factors and the conditions that motivated and steered the development from primeval to modern respiratory means and processes. This book addresses and answers broad questions concerning the critical synthesis of multidisciplinary data, and clarifies previously cryptic aspects of comparative respiratory biology.

Index Medicus
Index Medicus

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 2160

ISBN-13:

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Vols. for 1963- include as pt. 2 of the Jan. issue: Medical subject headings.

Role of Birds in Transmitting Zoonotic Pathogens
Role of Birds in Transmitting Zoonotic Pathogens

Author: Yashpal Singh Malik

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-01-01

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 981164554X

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Zoonotic diseases pose a serious threat to global health and economy. Domestic and wild birds play crucial roles in transmission and spread of important zoonotic pathogens, with significant implications on human and avian health. Although zoonotic diseases have been extensively studied, information on various aspects of avian zoonotic pathogens have not been revisited or revised to any great extent. This book is a comprehensive and updated compilation of important zoonotic diseases that are transmitted by domestic and wild birds, and consists of 21 chapters that meticulously describe the (i) etiology and evolution, (ii) complex epidemiology, such as migration pathways in context of disease transmission, (iii) pathogenesis, (iv) clinical signs and necropsy findings, (v) diagnostics including latest molecular assays, and (vi) preventative and control strategies, with an emphasis on therapeutics and prophylaxis, of important zoonotic pathogens (bacterial, fungal, parasitic and viral) of avian origin in humans and birds. Each chapter is aptly supported by interactive tables and figures, and features an updated reference section. This book aims to create awareness and enlighten students of veterinary and human medicine on the role of birds in zoonoses, and would serve as a useful reference for working veterinarians, human doctors, and public health experts.

Current Perspectives on the Functional Design of the Avian Respiratory System
Current Perspectives on the Functional Design of the Avian Respiratory System

Author: John N. Maina

Publisher: Zoological Monographs

Published: 2024-09-15

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783031351822

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Birds have and continue to fascinate scientists and the general public. While the avian respiratory system has unremittingly been investigated for nearly five centuries, important aspects on its biology remain cryptic and controversial. In this book, resolving some of the contentious issues, developmental-, structural- and functional aspects of the avian lung-air sac system are particularized: it endeavors to answer following fundamental questions on the biology of birds: how, when and why did birds become what they are? Flight is a unique form of locomotion. It considerably shaped the form and the essence of birds as animals. An exceptionally efficient respiratory system capacitated birds to procure the exceptionally large quantities of oxygen needed for powered (active) flight. Among the extant air-breathing vertebrates, comprising 11,000 species, birds are the most species-rich-, numerically abundant- and extensively distributed animal taxon. After realizing volancy, they easily overcame geographical obstacles and extensively dispersed into various ecological niches where they underwent remarkable adaptive radiation. While the external morphology of birds is inconceivably uniform for such a considerably speciose taxon, contingent on among other attributes, lifestyle, habitat and phylogenetic level of development have foremost determined the novelties that are displayed by diverse species of birds. Here, critical synthesizes of the most recent findings with the historical ones, evolution and behavior and development, structure and function of the exceptionally elaborate respiratory system of birds are detailed. The prominence of modern birds as a taxon in the Animal Kingdom is underscored. The book should appeal to researchers who are interested in evolutionary processes and how adaptive specializations correlate with biological physiognomies and exigencies, comparative biologists who focus on how various animals have solved respiratory pressures, people who study respiration in birds and other animals and ornithologists who love and enjoy birds for what they are - profoundly interesting animals.

The Lung-Air Sac System of Birds
The Lung-Air Sac System of Birds

Author: John Maina

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2005-09-22

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9783540255956

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In biology, few organs have been as elusive as the lung-air sac system of birds. Considerable progress has recently been made to fill the gaps in the knowledge. While summarizing and building on earlier observations and ideas, this book provides cutting-edge details on the development, structure, function, and the evolutionary design of the avian respiratory system. Outlining the mechanisms and principles through which biological complexity and functional novelty have been crafted in a unique gas exchanger, this account will provoke further inquiries on the many still uncertain issues. The specific goal here was to highlight the uniqueness of the design of the avian respiratory system and the factors that obligated it.

The Biology of the Avian Respiratory System
The Biology of the Avian Respiratory System

Author: John N. Maina

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-04-28

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 3319441531

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The central focus of this book is the avian respiratory system. The authors explain why the respiratory system of modern birds is built the way it is and works the way that it does. Birds have been and continue to attract particular interest to biologists. The more birds are studied, the more it is appreciated that the existence of human-kind on earth very much depends directly and indirectly on the existence of birds. Regarding the avian respiratory system, published works are scattered in biological journals of fields like physiology, behavior, anatomy/morphology and ecology while others appear in as far afield as paleontology and geology. The contributors to this book are world-renowned experts in their various fields of study. Special attention is given to the evolution, the structure, the function and the development of the lung-air sac system. Readers will not only discover the origin of birds but will also learn how the respiratory system of theropod dinosaurs worked and may have transformed into the avian one. In addition, the work explores such aspects as swallowing mechanism in birds, the adaptations that have evolved for flight at extreme altitude and gas exchange in eggs. It is a highly informative and carefully presented work that provides cutting edge scientific insights for readers with an interest in the respiratory biology and the evolution of birds.

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine
The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine

Author: Martin Brüne

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-01-31

Total Pages: 967

ISBN-13: 0192506781

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Medicine is grounded in the natural sciences, where biology stands out with regard to our understanding of human physiology and the conditions that cause dysfunction. Ironically though, evolutionary biology is a relatively disregarded field. One reason for this omission is that evolution is deemed a slow process. Indeed, the macroanatomical features of our species have changed very little in the last 300,000 years. A more detailed look, however, reveals that novel ecological contingencies, partly in relation to cultural evolution, have brought about subtle changes pertaining to metabolism and immunology, including adaptations to dietary innovations, as well as adaptations to the exposure to novel pathogens. Rapid pathogen evolution and evolution of cancer cells cause major problems for the immune system. Moreover, many adaptations to past ecologies have actually turned into risk factors for somatic disease and psychological disorder in our modern worlds (i.e. mismatch), among which epidemics of autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity, as well as several forms of cancer stand out. One could add depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric conditions to the list. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine is a compilation of up-to-date insights into the evolutionary history of ourselves as a species, exploring how and why our evolved design may convey vulnerability to disease. Written in a classic textbook style emphasising physiology and pathophysiology of all major organ systems, the Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Medicine is valuable reading for students as well as scholars in the fields of medicine, biology, anthropology and psychology.

Avian Immunology
Avian Immunology

Author: Bernd Kaspers

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2012-12-02

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 0123972728

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The second edition of Avian Immunology provides an up-to-date overview of the current knowledge of avian immunology. From the ontogeny of the avian immune system to practical application in vaccinology, the book encompasses all aspects of innate and adaptive immunity in chickens. In addition, chapters are devoted to the immunology of other commercially important species such as turkeys and ducks, and to ecoimmunology summarizing the knowledge of immune responses in free-living birds often in relation to reproductive success. The book contains a detailed description of the avian innate immune system, encompassing the mucosal, enteric, respiratory and reproductive systems. The diseases and disorders it covers include immunodepressive diseases and immune evasion, autoimmune diseases, and tumors of the immune system. Practical aspects of vaccination are examined as well. Extensive appendices summarize resources for scientists including cell lines, inbred chicken lines, cytokines, chemokines, and monoclonal antibodies. The world-wide importance of poultry protein for the human diet, as well as the threat of avian influenza pandemics like H5N1 and heavy reliance on vaccination to protect commercial flocks makes this book a vital resource. This book provides crucial information not only for poultry health professionals and avian biologists, but also for comparative and veterinary immunologists, graduate students and veterinary students with an interest in avian immunology. - With contributions from 33 of the foremost international experts in the field, this book provides the most up-to-date review of avian immunology so far - Contains a detailed description of the avian innate immune system reviewing constitutive barriers, chemical and cellular responses; it includes a comprehensive review of avian Toll-like receptors - Contains a wide-ranging review of the "ecoimmunology" of free-living avian species, as applied to studies of population dynamics, and reviews methods and resources available for carrying out such research