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This book covers pot-pollen—the other product, besides honey, stored in cerumen pots by Meliponini. Critical assessment is given of stingless bee and pot-pollen biodiversity in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Topics addressed include historical biogeography, cultural knowledge, bee foraging behavior, pollination, ecological interactions, health applications, microbiology, the natural history of bee nests, and chemical, bioactive and individual plant components in stored pollen. Pot-pollen maintains the livelihoods of stingless bees and provides many interesting biological products that are just now beginning to be understood. The Meliponini have developed particular nesting biologies, uses of building materials, and an architecture for pollen storage. Environmental windows provide optimal temperature and availability of pollen sources for success in plant pollination and pollen storage. Palynological composition and pollen taxonomy are usedto assess stingless honey bee pollination services. Pollen processing with microorganisms in the nest modifies chemical composition and bioactivity, and confers nutraceutical benefits to the honey and pollen widely relished by native people. Humans have always used stingless bees. Yet, sustainable meliponiculture (stingless bee-keeping) projects have so far lacked a treatise on pot-pollen, which experts provide in this transdisciplinary, groundbreaking volume.

This volume generates a new paradigm for researching and understanding the biological meaning of eicosanoids. Eicosanoid is a general term for oxygenated metabolites of certain polyunsaturated fatty acids. The compounds are extremely important in human biology, in which they are well understood. Their importance to humans, however, has tended to overshadow their broader biological significance. David Stanley seeks to change that in this book, providing a general sketch of the medical background on eicosanoids and then developing a detailed critical treatment of eicosanoid actions in invertebrates and some lower vertebrates.Stanley looks at the role of eicosanoids in, for example, invertebrate reproduction, immunity, and ion transport physiology. As he explains, eicosanoids also mediate important ecological interactions, particularly host-parasite interactions. Drawing on these physiological and ecological actions, the book develops a'biological paradigm,'under which we understand that eicosanoids probably exert important actions in most, if not all, animals. Because eicosanoids mediate crucial events in the lives of animals, they are endowed with unusual explanatory power. Research designed to increase our understanding of eicosanoids has thus yielded and will continue to yield important new information about animal biology. In addition to representing a major advance in our understanding of eicosanoids in animals, this book serves as an unusually comprehensive and accessible introduction to eicosanoid research in general.Originally published in 1999.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz, and John E. Sulston for their seminal discoveries concerning'genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death.'This clearly marked the prime importance of understanding the molecular mechanisms controlling cell death. The 1 st International Symposium on Programmed Cell Death was held in the Shanghai Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on September 8-12, 1996. A number of key issues in apoptosis were discussed at the meeting, and progress in major areas of apopto­ sis research was summarized by expert participants at the meeting and published by Plenum Publishing Corporation as a book entitled Programmed Cell Death. In the last six years, we have witnessed a real explosion in our knowledge on how cells undergo apoptosis, thereby participating in various developmental and pathophysiological processes. At this ever­ exciting time, we organized the 2nd International Symposium on Programmed Cell Death.

The spectrum of unstable coronary syndromes has been the object of steadily increasing research particularly in respect of novel diagnostic and treatment modalities. Although the WHO criteria for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction have been known for decades, there is still much debate as to the proper use of these, especially the handling of biochemical markers. Traditional enzymes have limitations in diagnostic power and new markers have unclarified applicability with regard to standardisation of assays and decision limits. Furthermore, the growing understanding of the conception of minimal myocardial damage in the borderzone between unstable angina pectoris and myocardial infarction necessitates refinement in the definitions of the various entities within the kaleidoscope of acute myocardial ischaemia. There has been a strong impetus within the European Society of Cardiology to present this subject to a broad audience of cardiologists, and as a consequence the theme of biochemical markers has become an important constituent of the Education and Training Programmes of the Society. This book has fundamental implications for the overall comprehension of this complex area. This book on myocardial damage, compiled by international experts, will truly appeal to the basic scientist as well as the clinician searching for updated knowledge of the pathophysiology and risk stratification of unstable coronary syndromes.

Polymers are essential to biology because they can have enough stable degrees of freedom to store the molecular code of heredity and to express the sequences needed to manufacture new molecules. Through these they perform or control virtually every function in life. Although some biopolymers are created and spend their entire career in the relatively large free space inside cells or organelles, many biopolymers must migrate through a narrow passageway to get to their targeted destination. This suggests the questions: How does confining a polymer affect its behavior and function? What does that tell us about the interactions between the monomers that comprise the polymer and the molecules that confine it? Can we design and build devices that mimic the functions of these nanoscale systems? The NATO Advanced Research Workshop brought together for four days in Bikal, Hungary over forty experts in experimental and theoretical biophysics, molecular biology, biophysical chemistry, and biochemistry interested in these questions. Their papers collected in this book provide insight on biological processes involving confinement and form a basis for new biotechnological applications using polymers. In his paper Edmund DiMarzio asks: What is so special about polymers? Why are polymers so prevalent in living things? The chemist says the reason is that a protein made of N amino acids can have any of 20 different kinds at each position along the chain, resulting in 20 N different polymers, and that the complexity of life lies in this variety.

The Fifth International Workshop on the Enzymology and Molecular Biology of Carbonyl Metabolism was held at Purdue University in June, 1990. This represents the fifth time that I had the privilege of organizing the scientific program. It was the first time that I actually hosted the meeting. I wish to salute my four previous co-organizers and the thousands of scientists who have hosted other meetings. It is much easier to arrange the scientific program and edit the proceedings. No local organization could occur without the help of ones research group and, in this case, my wife. I sincerely thank Esther and my research group for their advise and help. At this Workshop, similar to the preceeding ones, much new information was presented. It was apparent how molecular biological techniques were influencing the direction of the research on the three families of enzymes discussed. It also was apparent that not all biochemical problems could be solved by using these techniques. Many of the presentations showed how important advances still could be made using more traditional biochemical approaches.

Prior to the start of the eighth meeting, I had the good sense to ask Professor Rosa Angela Canuto of Turin, Italy if she would help me organize the ninth meeting. She quickly suggested that both she and Dr. Guiliana Muzio, also of Turin, help plan the meet­ ing. Each of our previous eight meetings was a unique experience for the participants. The science was always outstanding and the presentations and discussions were excellent. By moving each meeting to a different part of the world we were able to experience exciting foods and cultural aspects of the world in addition to the science. The ninth meeting was no exception. We met from June 18 to 22 in the small mountain city of Varallo, Italy, the birth place of Dr. Canuto. Holding the scientific sessions in a several-hundred-year-old converted mansion and having an afternoon trip to either Lago Maggiore or Monte Rosa made some aspects of this meeting extremely memorable. An additional unique aspect of the social portion of the meeting was our ability to invite the townspeople to share with us a concert performed in an old church. Though the social and cultural aspects of the meeting were outstanding, the pur­ pose of the meeting was to exchange scientific information about the status of the three enzyme systems.

Since 1982, our ever-expanding group of investigators has been meeting in exotic parts of the world to discuss aspects of three enzyme systems. The 1996 meeting was no exception. Nearly 90 scientists from 15 countries met in the small city of Deadwood, South Dakota, for four days of stimulating talks and posters and incredible scenery. Once more this meeting reflected the changing trends in biochemical research. At the 1982 meeting most of the speakers discussed isolating new enzymes and trying to characterize them. At this meeting many speakers discussed interpretations of three-dimensional struc­ ture or regulatory elements of the genes controlling for the tissue-specific expression of the enzyme. Hopefully, readers will find the proceedings of the meeting to be of interest. Though they reflects the scientific information that was presented at the meeting, they do not indicate the level of personal interactions that went on during the meeting. Once again, the willingness of the participants to discuss unpublished data and to share thoughts about the future directions of their research helped make this, like our previous seven meetings, a special scientific experience for those who attended.

The Sixth International Workshop on the Enzymology and Molecular Biology of Carbonyl Metabolism was held outside of Dublin, Ireland at the end of June, 1992. Prof. Keith Tipton, Chairman of the Biochemistry Department at Trinity College, kindly agreed to host the meeting. On behalf of all of us who attended I wish to extend our sincere thanks to the whole Tipton family for making us feel so welcome in Ireland. It has been a decade since the frrst workshop was held in Bern, Switzerland. The scope of the meetings reflected somewhat the changes that have occurred in biochemistry during the past decade. At the first meeting primarily enzymes and their properties were discussed. At this last meeting many of the talks centered on gene regulation as well as more traditional aspects of enzymology and metabolism. During the past decade site directed mutagenesis to probe for the active site of an enzyme has become part of traditional enzymology; this was virtually unheard of at our frrst meeting. Many of the presenters now used this tool to study some aspect of structure and function of one of the three carbonyl metabolizing enzymes.

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.

This book provides the first and only comprehensive description and detailed summary of the genetics, structure, function, mechanisms of action, evolution and engineering of homing endonucleases and inteins. These two unique protein superfamilies, which are tied together through their frequent fusion and coevolution, have generated considerable excitement for their fundamental, structural, and functional properties, their evolution as parasitic elements, and their widespread applications as gene targeting agents and as instruments for the generation of modified proteins and novel protein combinations.

Nuclear Receptors are inducible transcription factors that mediate complex effects on development, differentiation and homeostasis. They regulate the transcription of their target genes through binding to DNA sequences.•Analysis of Nuclear Receptor Ligands•Structure/Function Analysis of Nuclear Receptors•Analysis of Nuclear Receptor Co-Factors and Chromatin Remodeling

The application of computational methods to DNA and protein science is a new and exciting development in biology. Bioinformatics: Sequence and Genome Analysis is a comprehensive introduction to this emerging field of study. The book has many unique and valuable features: It is written for any biologist who wants to understand methods of sequence and structure analysis and how the necessary computer programs work; Sequence alignment, structure prediction, phylogenetic and gene prediction, database searching, and genome analysis are clearly explained and amply illustrated; Underlying algorithms and assumptions are clearly explained for the non-specialist; Examples are presented in simple numerical terms rather than complex formulas and notation; Theoretical underpinnings are linked to biological problems and their solutions; Extensive tables provide descriptions and Web sources for a broad range of publicly available software; An associated Website (www.BioinformaticsOnline.org), accessible free of charge by book purchasers, provides links to Internet sources referred to in the text, as well as problem sets for classroom use, and other useful material not included in the text. Based on the author's extensive experience as a molecular geneticist and bioinformaticist at the University of Arizona, this is a uniquely educational book, ideal as a laboratory reference for investigators and also as teaching reference for graduate and undergraduate students studying this fast-changing discipline.

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.