RECENT ADVANCES IN HUMAN BIOLOGY – serie

The idea of form is one of the most fundamental concepts underlying all of the sciences. Our visual system is so well developed that we are able to effortlessly classify and compare visual images. What is not so well developed has been our ability to measure this visual information. This book examines a number of recent approaches currently in use to numerically characterize the biological form. It presents a unique overview of these methods, starting with a review of measurement set in a historical framework. The book will be of interest to graduate students in addition to a wide range of researchers, including those in the specialized fields of human biology, growth and development, orthodontics, botany, biology, ecology, zoology, as well as dentistry and medicine.

Southeast Asia is regarded as one of the birthplaces of modern humans. Recent genetic evidence shows that it was probably the entry point of modern humans from Africa into East Asia and Oceania. With the help of new markers X mostly from the Y-chromosome and mtDNA X several recent efforts have been made to study the populations of Southeast Asia, which have been somewhat neglected in the past.A new picture of the origin and migrations of modern humans in this region is quickly emerging. In this book, the leading researchers in the studies of Southeast Asian, East Asian, and Oceanian populations present the most up-to-date results of their research.

This volume examines the origins, micro-evolution, diversification and adaptation of modern humans. It is based upon discrepancies between fossil evidence and molecular findings and between different investigators within each. This has given rise to much controversy that is not yet solved. The papers are presented in four methodological categories: theoretical, molecular, morphological and linguistic.

This volume aims at bringing together investigators from a number of sub-fields to attempt an integrative approach. Thus, the mechanical aspects of bone are studied by anatomists, biologists, clinicians and engineers. In each case, individual investigators usually have some knowledge of the other fields, but disciplinary allegiances mean that it is remarkably difficult to get them all together in one group. The process of diffusion across disciplines represented in this volume will strengthen and hopefully be the start of the development of a coherent theory concerning bone structure and remodelling. The chapters include theoretical, mechanical, architectural and experimental approaches. They especially attempt to elucidate the complexities involved in the different methodologies and the interactions amongst the different disciplines.

The Natural History of the Doucs and Snub-nosed Monkeys provides a comprehensive introduction to the biology of some of the rarest and least-known nonhuman primates. Virtually unstudied and unknown until 20 years ago, the doucs and snub-nosed monkeys occupy some of the most remote habitats of eastern Asia and exhibit some of the most unusual adaptations of any nonhuman primates. The volume provides detailed information on these rare Asian primates that will be useful to practitioners of evolutionary biology, field and laboratory primatology, systematics, field ecology, and conservation biology.

In this volume, because the differences in methodological approaches are so great, the focus is switched to the major issues in the hope of achieving a "reconciliation", if not a perfect agreement, among the scholars of different disciplines. The keyword for the meeting was "balance" — a balanced view over the results from different disciplines.

Ubiquitin-proteasome-dependent proteolysis is central to an incredible multitude of processes in all eukaryotes, including the cell cycle, cell growth and differentiation, embryogenesis, apoptosis, signal transduction, DNA repair, regulation of transcription and DNA replication, transmembrane transport, endocytosis, stress responses, antigen presentation and other aspects of the immune response, the functions of the nervous system including circadian rhythms, axon guidance and acquisition of memory.This book tells the story of the ubiquitin system as we currently know it: from the regulation of basic cellular processes to quality control and the pathogenetic mechanisms of disease, from X-ray crystallography of the 26S proteasome to the interaction between substrates and their ligases, to the development of mechanism-based drugs, and to target-specific aberrant processes.