Bücher veröffentlicht von Springer Netherlands

Legumes are very important plants playing a central role in biological research. They are a key component of sustainable agricultural systems because of symbiotic nitrogen fixation and other beneficial symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi. Studies on most of the major leguminous crops are hampered by large genome sizes and other disadvantages which have hindered the isolation and characterisation of genes with important roles in legume biology and agriculture. For this reason Lotus japonicus was chosen as a model species for legume research some ten years ago. Since then, many groups around the world have adopted Lotus as a model and have developed numerous resources and protocols to facilitate basic and applied research on this species. This handbook represents the first effort to compile basic descriptions and methods for research in Lotus, including symbiotic processes, cell and molecular biology protocols, functional genomics, mutants, gene tagging and genetic analysis, transformation and reverse genetic analysis, primary and secondary metabolism, and an exhaustive update of the scientific literature available on this plant.

The phenomenon of superconductivity - after its discovery in metals such as mercury, lead, zinc, etc. by Kamerlingh-Onnes in 19]] - has attracted many scientists. Superconductivity was described in a very satisfactory manner by the model proposed by Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer, and by the extensions proposed by Abrikosov, Gorkov and Eliashberg. Relations were established between superconductivity and the fundamental properties of solids, resulting in a possible upper limit of the critical temperature at about 23 K. The breakthrough that revolutionized the field was made in 1986 by Bednorz and Muller with the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in layered copper-oxide perovskites. Today the record in transition temperature is 133 K for a Hg based cuprate system. The last decade has not only seen a revolution in the size of the critical temperature, but also in the myriads of research groups that entered the field. In addition, high-temperature superconductivity became a real interdisciplinary topic and brought together physicists, chemists and materials scientists who started to investigate the new compounds with almost all the available experimental techniques and theoretical methods. As a consequence we have witnessed an avalanche of publications which has never occurred in any field of science so far and which makes it difficult for the individual to be thoroughly informed about the relevant results and trends. Neutron scattering has outstanding properties in the elucidation of the basic properties of high-temperature superconductors.

This volume is a collection of papers concerning the biology of large branchiopod crustaceans: Anostraca, Conchostraca, and Notostraca. Many of the individual papers were first presented at the Third International Large Branchiopod Symposium (ILBS-3) held at the University of San Diego, CA, USA, July 15-18, 1996. Contributions on additional topics from participants at the symposium, and from colleagues not able to join us in San Diego, are also included. In addition, there is a supplement to the 1995 `Checklist of the Anostraca'. The theme of the ILBS-3 was `understanding and conserving large branchiopod diversity'. Researchers from around the world presented papers on a variety of topics related to conservation of large branchiopods, with contributions ranging from alpha-taxonomy and zoogeography to community structure and studies of ecology and evolution. One important issue developed in many of the papers in this volume is the need to advance our understanding of basic aspects of branchiopod biology throughout the world in order to enhance our efforts to conserve them. Although we have made important strides in understanding the biology of large branchiopods, we have, with few notable exceptions, made little progress in assuring the conservation of their diversity. We hope this volume will supply the reader with new ideas, and generate enthusiasm for research and public education efforts on behalf of branchiopod conservation.

Granular or particulate materials arise in almost every aspect of our lives, including many familiar materials such as tea, coffee, sugar, sand, cement and powders. At some stage almost every industrial process involves a particulate material, and it is usually the cause of the disruption to the smooth running of the process. In the natural environment, understanding the behaviour of particulate materials is vital in many geophysical processes such as earthquakes, landslides and avalanches. This book is a collection of current research from some of the major contributors in the topic of modelling the behaviour of granular materials. Papers from every area of current activity are included, such as theoretical, numerical, engineering and computational approaches. This book illustrates the numerous diverse approaches to one of the outstanding problems of modern continuum mechanics. Reprinted from Journal of Engineering Mathematics, Vol. 52, Nos. 1-3, 2005

Estuaries occur along many of the world's coastlines irrespective of geologic setting, energy regime, and depositional environment. They represent the interface between fluvial, coastal and marine environments and they contain the sedimentary record of geological changes among these systems. However, detailed case studies on the morphodynamics and sedimentary evolution of different estuarine environments are notably lacking. This book focuses on the use of high-resolution geophysical techniques, field observations and modeling to investigate the morphodynamics of estuaries on both glaciated and non-glaciated coasts and on different time scales. Papers in this book offer a new approach to nearshore and estuary studies, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary techniques and data integration. Results of these studies have important implications for estuary resource management and shoreline stability. This book will be of interest to sedimentologists, coastal and Quaternary geologists, environmental scientists, and coastal managers.

When it comes to reproduction, gymnosperms are deeply weird. Cycads and co- fers have drawn out reproduction: at least 13 genera take over a year from polli- tion to fertilization. Since they don't apparently have any selection mechanism by which to discriminate among pollen tubes prior to fertilization, it is natural to w- der why such a delay in reproduction is necessary. Claire Williams' book celebrates such oddities of conifer reproduction. She has written a book that turns the context of many of these reproductive quirks into deeper questions concerning evolution. The origins of some of these questions can be traced back Wilhelm Hofmeister's 1851 book, which detailed the revolutionary idea of alternation of generations. This alternation between diploid and haploid generations was eventually to become one of the key unifying ideas in plant evolution. Dr. Williams points out that alter- tion of generations in conifers shows strong divergence in the evolution of male and female gametes, as well as in the synchronicity of male and female gamete development. How are these coordinated to achieve fertilization? Books on conifer reproduction are all too rare. The only major work in the last generation was Hardev Singh's 1978 Embryology of Gymnosperms, a book that summarized the previous century's work. Being a book primarily about embry- ogy, it stopped short of putting conifer reproduction in a genetic or evolutionary context.

Biopotential Readout Circuits for Portable Acquisition Systems describes one of the main building blocks of such miniaturized biomedical signal acquisition systems. The focus of this book is on the implementation of low-power and high-performance integrated circuit building blocks that can be used to extract biopotential signals from conventional biopotential electrodes. New instrumentation amplifier architectures are introduced and their design is described in detail. These amplifiers are used to implement complete acquisition demonstrator systems that are a stepping stone towards practical miniaturized and low-power systems.

Aldol Reactions provides a comprehensive up-to-date overview of aldol reactions including application of different metal enolates; catalytic aldol additions catalyzed by different Lewis acids and Lewis bases; enantioselective direct aldol additions; antibodies and enzyme catalyzed aldol additions and the recent aggressive development of organocatalyzed aldol additions. The power of each method is demonstrated by several applications in total synthesis of natural products. The pros and cons of these methodologies with regard to stereoselectivity, regioselectivity and application in total synthesis of natural products are discussed. Great importance is set to the diverse possibilities of the manual of aldol reaction to install required configurations in complicated natural product synthesis.

Investigations on various aspects of plant-pathogen interactions have the ultimate aim of providing information that may be useful for the development of effective crop disease management systems. Molecular techniques have accelerated the formulation of short- and long-term strategies of disease management. Exclusion and eradication of plant pathogens by rapid and precise detection and identification of microbial pathogens in symptomatic and asymptomatic plants and planting materials by employing molecular methods has been practiced extensively by quarantines and certification programs with a decisive advantage. Identification of sources of resistance genes, cloning and characterization of desired resistance genes and incorporation of resistance gene(s) into cultivars and transformation of plants with selected gene(s) have been successfully performed by applying appropriate molecular techniques. Induction of resistance in susceptible cultivars by using biotic and abiotic inducers of resistance is a practical proposition for several crops whose resistance levels could not be improved by breeding or transformation procedures. The risks of emergence of pathogen strains less sensitive or resistant to chemicals have been reduced appreciably by rapid identification of resistant strains and monitoring the occurrence of such strains in different geographical locations.