Comparative High Pressure Biology


Book Description

High pressure biology is an old, fascinating and stimulating field of research. One of the major reasons for the interest in studying high pressure is that this environmental factor also plays an important role in thermodynamics and consequently in biology. Pressure, from a biological perspective, has a bearing on all living creatures. The book pre




Life at Extremes


Book Description

From arid deserts to icy poles, outer space to the depths of the sea, this exciting new work studies the remarkable life forms that have made these inhospitable environments their home. Covering not only micro-organisms, but also higher plants and animals such as worms, fish and polar plants, this book details the ecological, biological and biogeochemical challenges these organisms face and unifying themes between environments. Equally useful for the expert, student and casual scientific reader, this book also explores the impact of climate change, rapid seasonal changes and pollution on these extraordinary creatures.




Life at High Pressure


Book Description

The book discusses the ways in which high hydrostatic pressure (i.e. water pressure) affects all grades of life which thrive at pressures much greater those in our normal environment. The deep sea is the best known high pressure environment, where pressures reach a thousand times greater than those at the surface, yet it is populated by a variety of animals and microorganisms. The earth’s crust supports microorganisms which live in water filled pores at high pressure. In addition, the load bearing joints of animals like ourselves experience pulses of hydrostatic pressure of a magnitude similar to the pressure at mid ocean depths. These pressures affect molecular structures and biochemical reactions. Basic cellular processes are drastically affected – the growth and division of cells, the way nerves conduct impulses and the chemical reactions which provide energy. Adaptation to high pressure also occurs in complex physiological systems such as those which provide buoyancy. Probably the greatest challenge to our understanding of adaptation to high pressure is the stabilisation of the nervous system of deep sea animals to avoid convulsions which pressure causes in shallow water animals. Additionally the book provides insight into the engineering required to study life at high pressure: equipment which can trap small deep sea animals and retrieve them at their high pressure, equivalent equipment for microorganisms, laboratory microscopes which can focus on living cells under high pressure, incubators for bacteria which require high pressure to grow, high pressure aquaria for marine animals and lastly and briefly, manned and unmanned submersible vessels, Landers and deep drill hole sampling. Rather like the organisms studied many laboratory instruments have been adapted to function at high pressure.




Juice Processing


Book Description

The ability to provide quality juices that contain proper vitamins and nutritional components strongly depends on the processes fruits undergo during the various stages of industrial manufacturing. New technologies have been developed to help ensure the production of quality juices without neglecting safety. Covering both new approaches to traditional issues and innovative processes, Juice Processing: Quality, Safety and Value-Added Opportunities addresses various aspects of fruit juice processing and other issues related to the use of by-products generated in this industry. The book begins with a chapter highlighting the importance of the fruit juice sector and describing the general process of fruit juice manufacturing. The text explores current trends in juice production, reviews the main superfruits, and discusses methods for using juice waste by-products, presenting citrus and grape juice as examples. The book covers assessing juice quality and authenticity, and how to evaluate fruit properties using the principles of rheology as well as examining sensory attributes. It also examines alternative techniques for improving fruit juice quality, including both thermal and nonthermal emerging technologies, their fundamentals, and their main effects on important features of fruit juices. Emphasizing product quality, safety, and nutrition, the chapter on juice packaging summarizes the materials, techniques, and technologies currently used as well as novel packaging for increasing shelf life and decreasing environmental impact. The authors address issues concerning spoiling microorganisms and biological and chemical hazards. They also examine public and private standards and regulations, which need to be reworked to keep up with today’s food-related concerns.




Green Food Processing Techniques


Book Description

Green Food Processing Techniques: Preservation, Transformation and Extraction advances the ethics and practical objectives of "Green Food Processing" by offering a critical mass of research on a series of methodological and technological tools in innovative food processing techniques, along with their role in promoting the sustainable food industry. These techniques (such as microwave, ultrasound, pulse electric field, instant controlled pressure drop, supercritical fluid processing, extrusion...) lie on the frontier of food processing, food chemistry, and food microbiology, and are thus presented with tools to make preservation, transformation and extraction greener. The Food Industry constantly needs to reshape and innovate itself in order to achieve the social, financial and environmental demands of the 21st century. Green Food Processing can respond to these challenges by enhancing shelf life and the nutritional quality of food products, while at the same time reducing energy use and unit operations for processing, eliminating wastes and byproducts, reducing water use in harvesting, washing and processing, and using naturally derived ingredients. - Introduces the strategic concept of Green Food Processing to meet the challenges of the future of the food industry - Presents innovative techniques for green food processing that can be used in academia, and in industry in R&D and processing - Brings a multidisciplinary approach, with significant contributions from eminent scientists who are actively working on Green Food Processing techniques




Encyclopedia of Astrobiology


Book Description

Now in its third edition the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology serves as the key to a common understanding in the extremely interdisciplinary community of astrobiologists. Each new or experienced researcher and graduate student in adjacent fields of astrobiology will appreciate this reference work in the quest to understand the big picture. The carefully selected group of active researchers contributing to this work are aiming to give a comprehensive international perspective on and to accelerate the interdisciplinary advance of astrobiology. The interdisciplinary field of astrobiology constitutes a joint arena where provocative discoveries are coalescing concerning, e.g. the prevalence of exoplanets, the diversity and hardiness of life, and its chances for emergence. Biologists, astrophysicists, (bio)-chemists, geoscientists and space scientists share this exciting mission of revealing the origin and commonality of life in the Universe. With its overview articles and its definitions the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology not only provides a common language and understanding for the members of the different disciplines but also serves for educating a new generation of young astrobiologists who are no longer separated by the jargon of individual scientific disciplines. This new edition offers ~170 new entries. More than half of the existing entries were updated, expanded or supplemented with figures supporting the understanding of the text. Especially in the fields of astrochemistry and terrestrial extremophiles but also in exoplanets and space sciences in general there is a huge body of new results that have been taken into account in this new edition. Because the entries in the Encyclopedia are in alphabetical order without regard for scientific field, this edition includes a section “Astrobiology by Discipline” which lists the entries by scientific field and subfield. This should be particularly helpful to those enquiring about astrobiology, as it illustrates the broad and detailed nature of the field.




Deep-Sea Fishes


Book Description

The deep ocean is home to some of the most unusual of all fishes. This book is the first Fish Physiology volume devoted to these bizarre undersea creatures. Practically every organ system is affected by the constraints imposed by benthic pressure, the absence of light, and the relatively scarce supply of both food and mates. Deep Sea Fishes demonstrates how these fishes living in extremely harsh conditions metabolize, behave, and evolve.




Diving Physiology of Marine Mammals and Seabirds


Book Description

Analysing the physiological adaptations of marine mammals and seabirds, this book provides a comprehensive overview of what allows these species to overcome the challenges of diving to depth on a single breath of air. Through comparative reviews of texts on diving physiology and behaviour from the last seventy-five years, Ponganis combines this research into one succinct volume. Investigating the diving performance of marine mammals and seabirds, this book illustrates how physiological processes to extreme hypoxia and pressure are relevant to the advancement of our understanding of basic cellular processes and human pathologies. This book underscores the biomedical and ecological relevance of the anatomical, physiological and molecular/biophysical adaptations of these animals to enable further research in this area. An important resource for students and researchers, this text not only provides an essential overview of recent research in the field, but will stimulate further research into the behaviour and physiology of diving.




Physiological Diversity


Book Description

Ecologists have always believed, at least to a certain extent, that physiological mechanisms serve to underpin ecological patterns. However, their importance has traditionally been at best underestimated and at worst ignored, with physiological variation being dismissed as either an irrelevance or as random noise/error. Spicer and Gaston make a convincing argument that the precise physiology does matter! In contrast to previous works which have attempted to integrate ecology and physiology, Physiological Diversity adopts a completely different and more controversial approach in tackling the physiology first before moving on to consider the implications for ecology. This is timely given the recent and considerable interest in the mechanisms underlying ecological patterns. Indeed, many of these mechanisms are physiological. This textbook provides a contemporary summary of physiological diversity as it occurs at different hierarchical levels (individual, population, species etc.), and the implications of such diversity for ecology and, by implication, evolution. It reviews what is known of physiological diversity and in doing so exposes the reader to all the key works in the field. It also portrays many of these studies in a completely new light, thereby serving as an agenda for, and impetus to, the future study of physiological variation. Physiological Diversity will be of relevance to senior undergraduates, postgraduates and professional researchers in the fields of ecology, ecological physiology, ecotoxicology, environmental biology and conservation. The book spans both terrestrial and marine systems.