Population Homeostasis

Population Homeostasis PDF

Author: Christopher J. Paradise

Publisher: Momentum Press

Published: 2016-04-27

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 1606509764

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This book will synthesize the concepts of selection against individuals in response to environmental change to illustrate how selection against individuals results in homeostasis at the population level. For instance, selection against the light phenotype of the peppered moth during the early part of the industrial revolution led to an increase of the dark phenotype, which was better camouflaged against the soot that accumulated on tree bark as a result of burning coal. Populations are shown to be regulated by feedback mechanisms, several of which are discussed here. Populations are regulated by extrinsic factors, such as competition and predation, and that lead to changes in intrinsic factors, such as reproduction. Changes in population density often lead to initiation of feedback mechanisms, such as changes in birth or death rates. In a final example, pollutants are shown to be a factor that can disrupt homeostasis of populations. In particular, populations of top predators, such as raptors, have suffered due to bio­magnification of toxins.

Organismal Homeostasis

Organismal Homeostasis PDF

Author: Christopher J. Paradise

Publisher: Momentum Press

Published: 2016-04-27

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 1606509748

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Organisms maintain homeostasis in a variety of ways. In the first part of this book, mammals are shown to regulate their body temperatures through homeostatic mechanisms. The data from thermoregulation experiments that demonstrated the role of neurons in body temperature homeostasis are examined. The second part of this book discusses how organisms allocate the limited energy that is available to them for survival, growth, or reproduction. Excess energy in individuals can translate to growth of populations: if enough remains after survival and growth, it can be allocated to reproduction. However, even closely related organisms may have different strategies for allocating resources that are dependent upon the environmental conditions in which they exist.

Population Pressure and Cultural Adjustment

Population Pressure and Cultural Adjustment PDF

Author: Virginia Deane Abernethy

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-04-17

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 135129878X

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Integrating research from anthropology, biology, and history, this provocative, brilliant book proposes a theory of demographic equilibrium. The author's hypothesis is that human beings, like many other species, are able to adjust their population numbers to the carrying capacity of the environment. Abernethy points out that in response to perception of scarcity or abundance of resources, culturally mediated values, beliefs and behavioral patterns are modified in ways that can either raise or lower rates of population growth. Abernethy in this way moves beyond the ideological debates that have sundered the field of policy and population. In real world time and space, cultural adjustments that balance population and resources are made over a long stretch in relatively stable or known environments. These adjustments also operate in processes that involve technological advances that appear to increase carrying capacity, and these usually act to support and underwrite population growth in any given area. In her new introduction to this first paperback edition, Abernethy shows how many of the cultural changes the book predicted in 1979 have come to pass. She details a complex of behaviors that favor single life-styles or small family size that have contributed to low fertility rates among native-born Americans while fertility rates among immigrants continue to climb. Population Pressure and Cultural Adjustment is not simply a theoretical slogan, but discusses a rich set of different cultural situations where this homeostatic process has been disrupted or aborted. Often, disruption occurs after the infusion of foreign value systems as well as new forms of technological innovation, or when highly permeable social boundaries result in the importation of resources for which the limits and consequences are not fully appreciated by the host population. This work will inevitably be controversial because of its implications for the limits as well as the potential of public policy in both advanced and underdeveloped societies.

Concepts of Biology

Concepts of Biology PDF

Author: Samantha Fowler

Publisher:

Published: 2018-01-07

Total Pages: 618

ISBN-13: 9789888407453

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Concepts of Biology is designed for the single-semester introduction to biology course for non-science majors, which for many students is their only college-level science course. As such, this course represents an important opportunity for students to develop the necessary knowledge, tools, and skills to make informed decisions as they continue with their lives. Rather than being mired down with facts and vocabulary, the typical non-science major student needs information presented in a way that is easy to read and understand. Even more importantly, the content should be meaningful. Students do much better when they understand why biology is relevant to their everyday lives. For these reasons, Concepts of Biology is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand.We also strive to show the interconnectedness of topics within this extremely broad discipline. In order to meet the needs of today's instructors and students, we maintain the overall organization and coverage found in most syllabi for this course. A strength of Concepts of Biology is that instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Concepts of Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand--and apply--key concepts.

Ecological Homeostasis

Ecological Homeostasis PDF

Author: Christopher J. Paradise

Publisher: Momentum Press

Published: 2016-04-27

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 1606509543

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Individual organisms contribute to nutrient cycling in ecological systems, which is shown to be a mechanism of homeostasis at that level. The phosphorus and nitrogen cycles are used to illustrate effects of changes in populations or communities on the cycling of these nutrients. Major disturbances such as deforestation and global climate change disrupt nutrient cycles and ecological system homeostasis. Data are examined to determine effects of deforestation on nutrient cycling. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and global climate change are disrupting ecological systems’ homeostasis, and several studies are used to show how this is happening, including changes in primary production, temperature and precipitation patterns. This book also discusses the role of individual species in filtering contaminants and pollutants from ecological systems.

Hurdle Technologies: Combination Treatments for Food Stability, Safety and Quality

Hurdle Technologies: Combination Treatments for Food Stability, Safety and Quality PDF

Author: Lothar Leistner

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2002-08-31

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780306472633

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Since centuries foods have been preserved by heating, chilling, drying, salting, conserving, acidification, oxygen-removal, fermenting, adding various preservatives, etc., and often these methods were applied in combinations. More recently the underlying principles of these traditional methods have been defined (i.e., F, t, aw, pH, Eh, competitive flora, various preservatives), and effective limits of these factors for microbial growth, survival, and death were established. Food preservation and also food quality depends in most cases on the empirical and now more often on the deliberate and intelligent application of combined preservative factors, i.e. on so-called hurdle technology. It also became obvious that futuristic food preservation methods (e.g., high hydrostatic pressure, high-intensity pulsed electric fields, high-intensity pulsed light, oscillating magnetic fields as well as food irradiation) are most effective in combination with additional hurdles. Thus, hurdle technology is also the key of food preservation in the future. Furthermore, basic aspects of hurdle technology (i.e., homeostasis, metabolic exhaustion, and stress reactions of microorganisms as well as the multitarget preservation of foods) have been recognized to be of fundamental importance and are increasingly studied in relation to hurdle technology. Different aspects of improvements of traditional foods and in the development of novel foods via hurdle technology have been covered recently in numerous articles and book chapters. However, Hurdle Technologies: Combination Treatments for Food Stability, Safety and Quality is the first work on hurdle technology in which all aspects, the possibilities and limitations of hurdle technology, are comprehensively outlined and evaluated. World-renowned on the subject, Leistner and Gould were instrumental in the development of the hurdle technology concept and in the last decades have obtained much practical experience in the application of this successful approach in the food industry worldwide.

Homeostatic Control of Brain Function

Homeostatic Control of Brain Function PDF

Author: Detlev Boison

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 657

ISBN-13: 0199322295

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Homeostatic Control of Brain Function offers a broad view of brain health and diverse perspectives for potential treatments, targeting key areas such as mitochondria, the immune system, epigenetic changes, and regulatory molecules such as ions, neuropeptides, and neuromodulators. Loss of homeostasis becomes expressed as a diverse array of neurological disorders. Each disorder has multiple comorbidities - with some crossing over several conditions - and often disease-specific treatments remain elusive. When current pharmacological therapies result in ineffective and inadequate outcomes, therapies to restore and maintain homeostatic functions can help improve brain health, no matter the diagnosis. Employing homeostatic therapies may lead to future cures or treatments that address multiple comorbidities. In an age where brain diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's are ever present, the incorporation of homeostatic techniques could successfully promote better overall brain health. Key Features include · A focus on the homeostatic controls that significantly depend on the way one lives, eats, and drinks. · Highlights from emerging research in non-pharmaceutical therapies including botanical medications, meditation, diet, and exercise. · Incorporation of homeostatic therapies into existing basic and clinical research paradigms. · Extensive scientific basic and clinical research ranging from molecules to disorders. · Emerging practical information for improving homeostasis. · Examples of homeostatic therapies in preventing and delaying dysfunction. Both editors, Detlev Boison and Susan Masino, bring their unique expertise in homeostatic research to the overall scope of this work. This book is accessible to all with an interest in brain health; scientist, clinician, student, and lay reader alike.

Variation and Population Genetics

Variation and Population Genetics PDF

Author: Christopher J. Paradise

Publisher: Momentum Press

Published: 2016-04-27

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 1606509489

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This book describes and analyzes genetic and environmental factors that cause variation in individuals and populations. Data will be used to evaluate the processes by which variation is generated in organisms and how variation affects natural selection. Genetic factors include mutation, independent assortment, crossing over, and recombination. Environmental factors include gradients and differences in abiotic conditions. Genotype frequencies can be used to determine allele frequencies and this information can be used to determine whether a population is evolving at a genetic locus. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium will be applied as a null model to make this determination. Non-Mendelian genetics can affect the evolution of viruses and reassortment in viruses will be used to illustrate another mechanism that generates variation in organisms and how this mechanism relates to rapid evolution of viruses and the need for annual flu vaccines.

Ecological Homeostasis

Ecological Homeostasis PDF

Author: Christopher J. Paradise

Publisher: Momentum Press

Published: 2016-04-27

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 160650956X

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Food webs, energy flow, indirect effects, and nutrient cycling are described as properties that emerge in ecological systems. Several of these properties are shown in this book to result from indirect effects and interactions between species and abiotic components of ecological systems. For instance, top predators affect organisms with which they do not directly interact, including plants and non-prey animals. In some other interactions, including competition, the nonliving components of ecological systems (the abiota) can alter the outcome of a biotic interaction. A limiting resource often results in competition, but varying environmental conditions allow for species coexistence. Finally, this book illustrates how energy flows in ecological systems, why it is rather inefficient, and how species interactions relate to homeostasis and emergent properties. In the course of that discussion, primary production, secondary production, and trophic levels are defined. Energy flow in ecological systems is tied to the carbon cycle.