Christon J. Hurst – författare

Pathogenic microorganisms exploit a number of different routes for transmission and this book demonstrates how the spread of disease can be prevented through the practices of disinfection and controlling microbial growth. This book, first published in 1996, is organised into four sections. The first section addresses the processes of infectious disease transmission and considers how best to minimise the spread of disease. The second section deals with the prevention of infectious diseases that are transmitted by water or food; transmission by aerosols, environmental surfaces and medical devices is considered next. The fourth and final section discusses some general mechanisms of disinfection. Modeling Disease Transmission includes contributions from leading scientists, who provide a wide-ranging synthesis of the problems and prospects for containing the spread of human infectious diseases.

Pathogenic microorganisms exploit a number of different routes for transmission and this book demonstrates how the spread of disease can be prevented through the practices of disinfection and controlling microbial growth. This book, first published in 1996, is organised into four sections. The first section addresses the processes of infectious disease transmission and considers how best to minimise the spread of disease. The second section deals with the prevention of infectious diseases that are transmitted by water or food; transmission by aerosols, environmental surfaces and medical devices is considered next. The fourth and final section discusses some general mechanisms of disinfection. Modeling Disease Transmission includes contributions from leading scientists, who provide a wide-ranging synthesis of the problems and prospects for containing the spread of human infectious diseases.

This second edition of Studies in Viral Ecology is designed to serve as a means of updating the knowledge of virologists regarding the broader aspects of viral ecology. As with the first edition, this book explains the ecology of viruses by examining their interactive dynamics with their hosting species (covering both animals and plants), including the types of transmission cycles that viruses have evolved encompassing principal and alternate hosts, vehicles and vectoring species. Examining virology from an organismal biology approach and focusing on the concept that viral infections represent areas of overlap in the ecologies of the involved species, Viral Ecology is essential for students and professionals who either may be non-virologists or virologists whose previous familiarity has been very specialized.This second edition of Studies in Viral Ecology is designed to serve as a means of updating the knowledge of virologists regarding the broader aspects of viral ecology.As with the first edition, this book explains the ecology of viruses by examining their interactive dynamics with their hosting species (covering both animals and plants), including the types of transmission cycles that viruses have evolved encompassing principal and alternate hosts, vehicles and vectoring species. Examining virology from an organismal biology approach and focusing on the concept that viral infections represent areas of overlap in the ecologies of the involved species, Viral Ecology is essential for students and professionals who either may be non-virologists or virologists whose previous familiarity has been very specialized.Now in its second edition, Studies in Viral Ecology explores the intricate interactions between viruses and other organisms from a “virocentric” perspective. Divided into five sections, the book opens with a thorough introduction to the ecology of all viruses, followed by detailed examinations that individually consider the viruses of other microorganisms, viruses of vascular plants, and viruses of vertebrate and invertebrate animals. The chapters have been written by leading scientists in their respective research fields and cover topics such as the evolution of fungal viruses, viruses affecting insects, viruses of terrestrial and marine mammals, and the relationship between humans, their viruses, and prions. Studies in Viral Ecology, Second Edition remains required reading for virologists and virology instructors and students who study the interactions between virus and host at the individual species and higher taxonomic levels.

Assessing the Microbiological A timely exploration of the coordinated functions of microbiological communities and the impacts of global climate change on microbial life Ecosystems function like interlocking puzzles and ultimately the health of an ecosystem depends upon the niche activities of its microbial communities. Assessing the Microbiological Health of Ecosystems summarizes our understanding of how microbial community processes are organized and the mechanisms by which activities of their constituent species are coordinated. The authors collectively present a basis for understanding what produces healthy microbial components of an ecosystem, thereby supplying a foundation for achieving one of the eventual future goals of environmental microbiology: to diagnose and correct the integrative nature of microbial activities when ecosystems fail. Assessing the Microbiological Health of Ecosystems will prove to be a valuable resource to environmental microbiologists, ecologists and integrative biologists. The book will: help researchers and students to understand the commonalities of processes, techniques, and discoveries in the study of microbial communitiescontribute to understandings of how microbial communities coordinate their function, discussing how the relative rates and effective integration of community microbial processes are currently measuredprovide insights into the composition of a healthy microbial ecosystemBy learning to recognize what constitutes and produces a healthy microbial ecosystem, we gain significant ground on the path towards being able to diagnose and correct the health of ailing microbial ecosystems. Assessing the Microbiological Health of Ecosystems will help new generations of scientists discern new ways to carry these efforts forward.

MICROBIAL FERMENTATIONS IN NATURE AND AS DESIGNED PROCESSES Fermentation is one of the most important metabolic tools that biology has developed and microorganisms in many ways seem to have become the true masters of fermentative metabolism. Each of the fermentative microbial functions evolved to fit an energetic opportunity, and each function has ecological value. This book provides its readers with: Understanding regarding the commonalities and distinctions between aerobic and anaerobic fermentations as performed by microorganisms.A summary of knowledge regarding the ways in which animals and plants depend upon symbiotic interactions with their fermenting microbial partners including the deconstruction of complex polysaccharides. Information is also included about how those natural technologies constitute adaptation into designed processes for anaerobic degradation of lignocellulosic materials.The important role of rhizosphere microbes that facilitate availability of inorganic and organic phosphates for plants. These phosphates get stored in the plant’s seeds. After ruminant animals ingest the seeds, enzymes produced by gastrointestinal microbial fermentation allow the animals to utilize their dietary phosphates.History of how microbial fermentation has been harnessed from prehistoric times to the present for processing and preserving food products for humans and fodder for our domesticated animals.Insight into the ways that microbial fermentations are used as an engineering tool for producing chemicals, including enzymes and pharmaceuticals, which improve the health of ourselves and our domesticated animals.Perspectives on possible future research directions for the field of applied microbial fermentation that will help to advance agriculture and industry.

This book summarizes current advances in our understanding of how infectious disease represents an ecological interaction between a pathogenic microorganism and the host species in which that microbe causes illness.The contributing authors explain that pathogenic microorganisms often also have broader ecological connections, which can include a natural environmental presence; possible transmission by vehicles such as air, water, and food; and interactions with other host species, including vectors for which the microbe either may or may not be pathogenic.This field of science has been dubbed disease ecology, and the chapters that examine it have been grouped into three sections. The first section introduces both the role of biological community interactions and the impact of biodiversity on infectious disease. In turn, the second section considers those diseases directly affecting humans, with a focus on waterborne and foodborne illnesses, while also examining the critical aspect of microbial biofilms. Lastly, the third section presents the ecology of infectious diseases from the perspective of their impact on mammalian livestock and wildlife as well as on humans. Given its breadth of coverage, the volume offers a valuable resource for microbial ecologists and biomedical scientists alike.

This book presents a summary of terrestrial microbial processes, which are a key factor in supporting healthy life on our planet. The authors explain how microorganisms maintain the soil ecosystem through recycling carbon and nitrogen and then provide insights into how soil microbiology processes integrate into ecosystem science, helping to achieve successful bioremediation as well as safe and effective operation of landfills, and enabling the design of composting processes that reduce the amount of waste that is placed in landfills. The book also explores the effect of human land use, including restoration on soil microbial communities and the response of wetland microbial communities to anthropogenic pollutants. Lastly it discusses the role of fungi in causing damaging, and often lethal, infectious diseases in plants and animals.

This book discusses how aquatic microbial communities develop interactive metabolic coordination both within and between species to optimize their energetics. It explains that microbial community structuration often includes functional stratification among a multitude of organisms that variously exist either suspended in the water, lodged in sediments, or bound to one another as biofilms on solid surfaces.  The authors describe techniques that can be used for preparing and distributing microbiologically safe drinking water, which presents the challenge of successfully removing the pathogenic members of the aquatic microbial community and then safely delivering that water to consumers.  Drinking water distribution systems have their own microbial ecology, which we must both understand and control in order to maintain the safety of the water supply.  Since studying aquatic microorganisms often entails identifying them, the book also discusses techniques for successfully isolating and cultivating bacteria. As such, it appeals to microbiologists, microbial ecologists and water quality scientists.

This collection of essays discusses fascinating aspects of the concept that microbes are at the root of all ecosystems. Part II explains the ways in which microbial life persists in some of the most extreme environments, while Part III presents our understanding of the core aspects of microbial metabolism.

This collection of essays discusses fascinating aspects of the concept that microbes are at the root of all ecosystems. Part II explains the ways in which microbial life persists in some of the most extreme environments, while Part III presents our understanding of the core aspects of microbial metabolism.

This book answers the question “What is it that viruses do?” by presenting three aspects of viral ecology. The first aspect explains how viruses affect the population diversity and energetics of their host communities.

This book explains the metabolic processes by which microbes obtain and control the intracellular availability of their required metal and metalloid ions.

This book explains the metabolic processes by which microbes obtain and control the intracellular availability of their required metal and metalloid ions.

This volume summarizes recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms that produce successful symbiotic partnerships involving microorganisms. It begins with a basic introduction to the nature of and mechanistic benefits derived from symbiotic associations. Taking that background knowledge as the starting point, the next sections include chapters that examine representative examples of coevolutionary associations that have developed between species of microbes, as well as associations between microbes and plants. The authors conclude with a section covering a broad range of associations between microbes and invertebrate animals, in which they discuss the spectrum of hosts, with examples ranging from bryozoans and corals to nematodes, arthropods, and cephalopods. Join the authors on this journey of understanding!

This volume summarizes recent advances in environmental microbiology by providing fascinating insights into the diversity of microbial life that exists on our planet. The first two chapters present theoretical perspectives that help to consolidate our understanding of evolution as an adaptive process by which the niche and habitat of each species develop in a manner that interconnects individual components of an ecosystem. This results in communities that function by simultaneously coordinating their metabolic and physiologic actions. The third contribution addresses the fossil record of microorganisms, and the subsequent chapters then introduce the microbial life that currently exists in various terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Coverage of the geosphere addresses endolithic organisms, life in caves and the deep continental biosphere, including how subsurface microbial life may impact spent nuclear fuel repositories. The discussion of the hydrosphere includes hypersaline environments and arctic food chains. By better understanding examples from the micro biosphere, we can elucidate the many ways in which the niches of different species, both large and small, interconnect within the overlapping habitats of this world, which is governed by its microorganisms.

This volume focuses on those instances when benign and even beneficial relationships between microbes and their hosts opportunistically change and become detrimental toward the host.  It examines the triggering events which can factor into these changes, such as reduction in the host’s capacity for mounting an effective defensive response due to nutritional deprivation, coinfections and seemingly subtle environmental influences like the amounts of sunlight, temperature, and either water or air quality.  The effects of environmental changes can be compounded when they necessitate a physical relocation of species, in turn changing the probability of encounter between microbe and host.  The change also can result when pathogens, including virus species, either have modified the opportunist or attacked the host’s protective natural microflora.  The authors discuss these opportunistic interactions and assess their outcomes in both aquatic as well as terrestrial ecosystems, highlighting the impact on plant, invertebrate and vertebrate hosts.

This volume focuses on blocking disease transmission and the ecological perspective of pathogens and pathogenic processes. The chapters on blocking transmission cover the environmental safety of space flight, biocides and biocide resistance, as well as infection control in healthcare facilities. The book also offers insights into the ecological aspects of infectious disease, introducing the reader to the role of indigenous gut microbiota in maintaining human health and current discussions on environmentally encountered bacterial and fungal pathogens including species that variously cause the necrotizing skin disease Buruli ulcer and coccidioidomycosis. Further, it explores the influenza A virus as an example for understanding zoonosis. It is a valuable resource for microbiologists and biomedical scientists alike.

Taking that background knowledge as the starting point, the next sections include chapters that examine representative examples of coevolutionary associations that have developed between species of microbes, as well as associations between microbes and plants.

This volume summarizes recent advances in environmental microbiology by providing fascinating insights into the diversity of microbial life that exists on our planet.

This volume focuses on those instances when benign and even beneficial relationships between microbes and their hosts opportunistically change and become detrimental toward the host.

This volume focuses on blocking disease transmission and the ecological perspective of pathogens and pathogenic processes. The chapters on blocking transmission cover the environmental safety of space flight, biocides and biocide resistance, as well as infection control in healthcare facilities. The book also offers insights into the ecological aspects of infectious disease, introducing the reader to the role of indigenous gut microbiota in maintaining human health and current discussions on environmentally encountered bacterial and fungal pathogens including species that variously cause the necrotizing skin disease Buruli ulcer and coccidioidomycosis. Further, it explores the influenza A virus as an example for understanding zoonosis. It is a valuable resource for microbiologists and biomedical scientists alike.

This book summarizes current advances in our understanding of how infectious disease represents an ecological interaction between a pathogenic microorganism and the host species in which that microbe causes illness.The contributing authors explain that pathogenic microorganisms often also have broader ecological connections, which can include a natural environmental presence; possible transmission by vehicles such as air, water, and food; and interactions with other host species, including vectors for which the microbe either may or may not be pathogenic.This field of science has been dubbed disease ecology, and the chapters that examine it have been grouped into three sections. The first section introduces both the role of biological community interactions and the impact of biodiversity on infectious disease. In turn, the second section considers those diseases directly affecting humans, with a focus on waterborne and foodborne illnesses, while also examining the critical aspect of microbial biofilms. Lastly, the third section presents the ecology of infectious diseases from the perspective of their impact on mammalian livestock and wildlife as well as on humans. Given its breadth of coverage, the volume offers a valuable resource for microbial ecologists and biomedical scientists alike.