Books in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences series

Relaxin is a protein hormone, produced and secreted during pregnancy in mammalian species, having superficial structural features resembling those of insulin.

The state of our understanding of each single step of human reproduction is presented in this volume, which also looks at the ongoing research aiming to improve human reproductive efficiency. This title is part of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal.

This volume covers recent and new developments in the fields of vertebrate and invertebrate endocrinology and neuroendocrinology. Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit www. blackwellpublishing. com/nyas.

Basic and clinical investigators have contributed reports to this volume in which they explore new findings in myasthenia gravis and related diseases, exploring topics in basic science, translational research, and clinical science, including advances in therapies and treatment strategies.

This volume, the proceedings of the 16th Florida Workshop in Nonlinear Astronomy and Physics, emphasizes the cross-disciplinary nature of much current research in astronomy and physics in the area of dynamics. Developments in one field can advance more quickly when information is available regarding parallel developments in other fields.

Computational biologists are striving to "reverse engineer" the underlying networks of interactions between the molecules in the cell. This volume and the conference it reports on attempt a systematic evaluation of reverse engineering methods.

This is the fourth and final volume of a series on autoimmunity, and findings related to particular clinical manifestations are presented, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, antiphospholipid antibodies, and infections and autoantibodies.

The proceedings of the sixth conference on Coccidioidomycosis presents state of the art overviews of our current understandings of this fungal disease and the causative organism. This is an emerging infectious disease, with cases increasing especially in the Southwest US.

In a climate where many unsubstantiated claims are made, it is essential to have access to the best evidence-based knowledge on how to extend healthy life expectancy.

Biological aging and interventionary strategies are investigated with the eventual goal of extending healthy human lifespan and minimizing the incidence of diseases associated with aging.

The neural bases of decision-making processes are currently generating considerable experimental and theoretical interest. Several recent developments in neuroscience, psychology, and economics have helped to focus thinking on this issue.

Oral-based diagnostics have the potential to detect systemic disease and evidence of exposure to various harmful substances, as well as provide biomarkers of health and disease status. Integration of novel approaches to oral-based diagnostics is expanding to include genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, and nanotechnology.

Addresses the various aspects of mitochondrial research and medicine, including mitochondrial function and dysfunction, free radical biology relevant to mitochondrial dysfunction, the role of mitochondria in apoptosis, and abnormal signaling processes and disease mechanisms associated with aging, mtDNA mutations, or mitochondrial damage.

This is the inaugural volume for a new annual review serving the medical genetics community. This annual volume will feature in-depth scholarly reviews of the most timely and important topics and issues affecting this field. NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal.

Collection of review articles highlighting the top science and recent developments in the field of neurology. NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit www. blackwellpublishing. com/nyas. .

This volume highlights the latest information and newest understanding in immunology. It encompasses both basic research and clinical applications of the latest immunologic knowledge. NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit www.

The incidence of autoimmune diseases is increasing worldwide, and the search for better management of these disease and even for a cure is being pursued by scientists from many disciplines. Tools from the areas of genetics, neuorscience, cell biology, virology, and infectious disease are being applied to the problem and are yielding useful results.

Ca2+ homeostasis and the plasma membrane Na+/Ca2+ exchanger are vital to many cellular functions and physiological processes.

How are children who have experienced adversity able to function competently? Why do some children appear to be resilient? These fascinating, complex, and puzzling questions have been studied mostly from a behavioral and psychosocial perspective.

Space shuttle experiments conducted over the last two decades have provided significant new insight into various physical phenomena under low-gravity conditions, and new developments in space technology have brought about an interdisciplinary dimension to space research.

The need to protect biodiversity places great constraints on the use of natural spaces such as forests and preserves and often conflicts with the need for sustainable intensification of agricultural and animal production.

The mysteries of stress and its bodily effects revive old challenges and provide us with new ones.

This volume provides an overview on the biochemistry, physiology, and pharmacology of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), and related peptides. VIP and PACAP are undoubtedly among the most fascinating neuropeptides ever identified.

The analysis of hormones in feces or excrement presented in the first part of this volume is a relatively new noninvasive method for gaining insight into an animal's physiology. Endocrinological cycles of free-living animals can be studied without the stress caused by capture.

Drawing upon the expertise of a cadre of scholars and practitioners, this book has four parts: (1) conceptualizing violence and exploitation against females, (2) violence against girls and female adolescents, (3) violence against women, and (4) cultural and international perspectives on violence against women.

Continued economic growth, human welfare, and national security depend upon constant technological progress; and the chief area for innovation in the coming years will be converging technologies, the synergistic combination of the "NBIC" fields: nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and new technologies based in cognitive science.

Neurodegenerative disorders and malignant tumors are usually resistant to any treatment, and the mortality rate is very high for persons with these conditions. Accordingly, finding effective treatments for these diseases is one of the most serious issues for medicine in the 21st century.

The structure of DNA varies along its sequence, which can lead to sequence-dependent variations in the fidelity of DNA copying and repair. And because the probability of distinct classes of mutations varies along a DNA sequence, variation that affects fitness will have evolutionary implications, as selection acts on heritable variation.

Lymphatic research has experienced a near explosion of activity in recent years, as awareness of the importance of lymphatic mechanisms to the continuum of human biology and disease has grown.

Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) is a phenol phytoalexin derived from grapes, berries, and other plants possessing a spectrum of pharmacologic properties.