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Agency Theory and Executive Pay: The Remuneration Committee's Dilemma
by Alexander PepperThis new book examines the relationship between agency theory and executive pay. It argues that while Jensen and Meckling (1976) were right in their analysis of the agency problem in public corporations they were wrong about the proposed solutions. Drawing on ideas from economics, psychology, sociology and the philosophy of science, the author explains how standard agency theory has contributed to the problem of executive pay rather than solved it. The book explores why companies should be regarded as real entities not legal fictions, how executive pay in public corporations can be conceptualised as a collective action problem and how behavioral science can help in the design of optimal incentive arrangements. An insightful and revolutionary read for those researching corporate governance, HRM and organisation theory, this useful book offers potential solutions to some of the problems with executive pay and the standard model of agency.
An Agenda for Sustainable Development Research (World Sustainability Series)
by Walter Leal Filho Amanda Lange Salvia Claudio Ruy Portela de VasconcelosThis book involves establishing a set of priorities and a roadmap that can guide scholarly and practical efforts towards sustainability goals. It encourages collaboration across disciplines to address complex sustainability issues that span social, economic, and environmental domains. It also supports the development of robust methodologies for conducting research, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. But despite the importance of and the need for an agenda for sustainable development research, many efforts are isolated and thematically disconnected. Also, it is difficult to find information on how sustainability research is being undertaken and on the wide range of methods being used. Against this backdrop and in order to facilitate a broad discussion on the contribution of sustainable development research, this book is being produced. The book gathers inputs from universities and research organisations working on matters related to sustainable development research in a variety of contexts. It also provides a platform for the dissemination of information on the latest initiatives, paving the way for technology transfer and networking. Furthermore, the book intends to provide a fertile basis upon which universities, research centres, and practitioners may cooperate more closely in this key area. Last but not least, a further aim of the book is to present methodological approaches and experiences deriving from case studies and projects, which aim to show how sustainability research may be implementing across a range of disciplines. Thanks to its scope and interdisciplinarity, this books makes an excellent reading to everyone interested on sustainability research.
Agent-Based and Individual-Based Modeling
by Steven F. Railsback Volker GrimmAgent-based modeling is a new technique for understanding how the dynamics of biological, social, and other complex systems arise from the characteristics and behaviors of the agents making up these systems. This innovative textbook gives students and scientists the skills to design, implement, and analyze agent-based models. It starts with the fundamentals of modeling and provides an introduction to NetLogo, an easy-to-use, free, and powerful software platform. Nine chapters then each introduce an important modeling concept and show how to implement it using NetLogo. The book goes on to present strategies for finding the right level of model complexity and developing theory for agent behavior, and for analyzing and learning from models. Agent-Based and Individual-Based Modeling features concise and accessible text, numerous examples, and exercises using small but scientific models. The emphasis throughout is on analysis--such as software testing, theory development, robustness analysis, and understanding full models--and on design issues like optimizing model structure and finding good parameter values.The first hands-on introduction to agent-based modeling, from conceptual design to computer implementation to parameterization and analysis Filled with examples and exercises, with updates and supplementary materials at http://www.railsback-grimm-abm-book.com Designed for students and researchers across the biological and social sciences Written by leading practitionersLeading universities that have adopted this book include: Amherst CollegeBrigham Young UniversityCarnegie Mellon UniversityMiami UniversityNorthwestern UniversityOld Dominion UniversityPortland State UniversityRhodes CollegeSusquehanna UniversityUniversity College, DublinUniversity of ArizonaUniversity of South FloridaUniversity of Virginia
Agent-based Modeling For Archaeology: Simulating The Complexity Of Societies
by Stefani Crabtree Iza Romanowska Colin WrenTo fully understand not only the past, but also the trajectories, of human societies, we need a more dynamic view of human social systems. Agent-based modeling (ABM), which can create fine-scale models of behavior over time and space, may reveal important, general patterns of human activity. Agent-Based Modeling for Archaeology is the first ABM textbook designed for researchers studying the human past. Appropriate for scholars from archaeology, the digital humanities, and other social sciences, this book offers novices and more experienced ABM researchers a modular approach to learning ABM and using it effectively. Readers will find the necessary background, discussion of modeling techniques and traps, references, and algorithms to use ABM in their own work. They will also find engaging examples of how other scholars have applied ABM, ranging from the study of the intercontinental migration pathways of early hominins, to the weather–crop–population cycles of the American Southwest, to the trade networks of Ancient Rome. This textbook provides the foundations needed to simulate the complexity of past human societies, offering researchers a richer understanding of the past—and likely future—of our species. The electronic version of this textbook can be downloaded for free at: https://santafeinstitute.github.io/ABMA/
Agent-Based Modeling of Social Conflict: From Mechanisms to Complex Behavior (SpringerBriefs in Complexity)
by Carlos M. LemosThis Brief revisits and extends Epstein's classical agent-based model of civil violence by considering important mechanisms suggested by social conflict theories. Among them are: relative deprivation as generator of hardship, generalized vanishing of the risk perception ('massive fear loss') when the uprisings surpass a certain threshold, endogenous legitimacy feedback, and network influence effects represented by the mechanism of dispositional contagion. The model is explored in a set of computer experiments designed to provide insight on how mechanisms lead to increased complexity of the solutions. The results of the simulations are compared with statistical analyses of estimated size, duration and recurrence of large demonstrations and riots for eight African countries affected by the "Arab Spring," based on the Social Conflict Analysis Database. It is shown that the extensions to Epstein's model proposed herein lead to increased "generative capacity" of the agent-based model (i. e. a richer set of meaningful qualitative behaviors) as well the identification of key mechanisms and associated parameters with tipping points. The use of quantitative information (international indicators and statistical analyses of conflict events) allows the assessment of the plausibility of input parameter values and simulated results, and thus a better understanding of the model's strengths and limitations. The contributions of the present work for understanding how mechanisms of large scale conflict lead to complex behavior include a new form of the estimated arrest probability, a simple representation of political vs economic deprivation with a parameter which controls the `sensitivity' to value, endogenous legitimacy feedback, and the effect of network influences (due to small groups and "activists"). In addition, the analysis of the Social Conflict Analysis Database provided a quantitative description of the impact of the "Arab Spring" in several countries focused on complexity issues such as peaceful vs violent, spontaneous vs organized, and patterns of size, duration and recurrence of conflict events in this recent and important large-scale conflict process. This book will appeal to students and researchers working in these computational social science subfields.
Agent-Based Semantic Web Service Composition (SpringerBriefs in Electrical and Computer Engineering)
by Sandeep KumarAgent-based Semantic Web Service Composition closely examines the various aspects of SWS composition, and explores the concept that a Multi-Agent system can serve as an SWS composition system in which its agents can interact with one another to satisfy a high-level goal. In addition to surveying various proposed multi-agent-based SWS composition models, the book also highlights the cognitive parameter-based semantic web service selection models that can be used in multi-agent-based SWS composition, and outlines a new negotiation agreement-based SWS composition that can outperform existing techniques. Agent-based Semantic Web Service Composition is intended for researchers and practitioners as a reference guide for optimizing SWS composition and implementing multi-agent systems. Instructors and other academics working in a related field will also find the book invaluable.
Agent Orange: History, Science, and the Politics of Uncertainty
by Edwin A. MartiniTaking on what one former U.S. ambassador called "the last ghost of the Vietnam War," this book examines the far-reaching impact of Agent Orange, the most infamous of the dioxin-contaminated herbicides used by American forces in Southeast Asia. Edwin A. Martini's aim is not simply to reconstruct the history of the "chemical war" but to investigate the ongoing controversy over the short- and long-term effects of weaponized defoliants on the environment of Vietnam, on the civilian population, and on the troops who fought on both sides. Beginning in the early 1960s, when Agent Orange was first deployed in Vietnam, Martini follows the story across geographical and disciplinary boundaries, looking for answers to a host of still unresolved questions. What did chemical manufacturers and American policymakers know about the effects of dioxin on human beings, and when did they know it? How much do scientists and doctors know even today? Should the use of Agent Orange be considered a form of chemical warfare? What can, and should, be done for U.S. veterans, Vietnamese victims, and others around the world who believe they have medical problems caused by Agent Orange? Martini draws on military records, government reports, scientific research, visits to contaminated sites, and interviews to disentangle conflicting claims and evaluate often ambiguous evidence. He shows that the impact of Agent Orange has been global in its reach affecting individuals and communities in New Zealand, Australia, Korea, and Canada as well as Vietnam and the United States. Yet for all the answers it provides, this book also reveals how much uncertainty--scientific, medical, legal, and political--continues to surround the legacy of Agent Orange.
Agent_Zero: Toward Neurocognitive Foundations for Generative Social Science (Princeton Studies in Complexity #25)
by Joshua M. EpsteinThe Final Volume of the Groundbreaking Trilogy on Agent-Based ModelingIn this pioneering synthesis, Joshua Epstein introduces a new theoretical entity: Agent_Zero. This software individual, or "agent," is endowed with distinct emotional/affective, cognitive/deliberative, and social modules. Grounded in contemporary neuroscience, these internal components interact to generate observed, often far-from-rational, individual behavior. When multiple agents of this new type move and interact spatially, they collectively generate an astonishing range of dynamics spanning the fields of social conflict, psychology, public health, law, network science, and economics.Epstein weaves a computational tapestry with threads from Plato, Hume, Darwin, Pavlov, Smith, Tolstoy, Marx, James, and Dostoevsky, among others. This transformative synthesis of social philosophy, cognitive neuroscience, and agent-based modeling will fascinate scholars and students of every stripe. Epstein's computer programs are provided in the book or on its Princeton University Press website, along with movies of his "computational parables.?Agent_Zero is a signal departure in what it includes (e.g., a new synthesis of neurally grounded internal modules), what it eschews (e.g., standard behavioral imitation), the phenomena it generates (from genocide to financial panic), and the modeling arsenal it offers the scientific community. For generative social science, Agent_Zero presents a groundbreaking vision and the tools to realize it.
Agents and Implications of Landscape Pattern: Working Models for Landscape Ecology
by Dean L UrbanThis is an ecology textbook focused on key principles that underpin research and management at the landscape scale. It covers (1) agents of pattern (the physical template, biotic processes, and disturbance regimes); (2) scale and pattern (why scale matters, how to ‘scale’ with data, and inferences using landscape pattern metrics); and (3) implications of pattern (for metapopulations, communities and biodiversity, and ecosystem processes). The last two chapters address emerging issues: urban landscapes, and adapting to climate change. This book stems from two graduate-level courses in Landscape Ecology taught at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. The subject has evolved over time, from a concepts-based overview of what landscape ecology is, to a more applied practicum on how one does landscape ecology. As landscape ecology has matured as a discipline, its perspectives on spatial heterogeneity and scale have begun to permeate into a wide range of other fields including conservation biology, ecosystem management, and ecological restoration. Thus, this textbook will bring students from diverse backgrounds to a common level of understanding and will prepare them with the practical knowledge for a career in conservation and ecosystem management.
Agents of Bioterrorism: Pathogens and Their Weaponization
by Geoffrey ZubayThis new work offers a clear and thorough account of the threats posed by bioterrorism from the perspective of biologists. The authors examine thirteen disease-causing agents, including those responsible for anthrax, the plague, smallpox, influenza, and SARS. Each chapter considers a particular pathogen from the standpoint of its history, molecular biology, pathology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, weaponization, and defenses. The book also examines strategies for making vaccines and protecting the population in a bioterror attack.
Agents of Change: Enzymes in Milk and Dairy Products (Food Engineering Series)
by Alan L. Kelly Lotte Bach LarsenThe enzymology of milk and other products is of enormous significance for the production and quality of almost every dairy product. Milk itself is a complex biological fluid that contains a wide range of enzymes with diverse activities, some of which have identifiable functions while others are present as an accidental consequence of the mechanism of milk secretion. Over time milk enzymology has become an incredibly essential component of milk and other dairy product production, and with advancing technology and processing techniques, its importance is at its peak. Dairy Enzymology presents an expansive overview of the enzymology of milk and other dairy products, focusing on the use of indigenous and endogenous enzymes in milk and exogenous enzymes in cheese processing. A full section is dedicated to the enzymology of bovine milk, focusing on the main families of indigenous enzymes as well as their potential significance in the mammary gland plus the technological significance for the properties of dairy products. Implications for the manufacture and ripening of cheese plus the use of enzymes such as alkaline phosphatase for measuring heat treatment in milk are explored in full, and the role of milk protease plasmin and other indigenous enzymes in the age-gelation is focused on. Further sections focus on enzymes found in raw milk and enzymes deliberately added for manufacture or modification of properties and the manufacture of food ingredients from dairy-derived ingredients. The key bacterial families are discussed in depth as well as their known contributions to the quality of dairy products. With its comprehensive scope and fully up-to-date coverage of dairy product enzymology, this text is a singular source for researchers looking to understand this essential dairy processing aspect.
Agglomeration and Firm Performance (Advances in Spatial Science)
by Fiorenza Belussi Jose-Luis Hervas-OliverThis contributed volume studies and explains the effect of agglomeration on a firm’s innovation and performance. It presents new cases as well as new topics within the agglomeration phenomenon, exploring also their role under the Great Recession. Beyond the analysis of regions or clusters, this volume focuses on firms within agglomerations and captures this phenomenon from different perspectives, contexts and diverse literatures. Specifically, it looks at the question under what circumstances exert generate benefits on firms’ performance, and how those gains are generated and distributed, usually asymmetrically, across agglomerated firms. In this context, the book addresses topics such as networks, collocation, labor mobility, firm’s strategies, innovation, competitiveness and collective actions across a diverse set of literatures, including economic geography, business economics, management, social networks, industrial districts, international business, sociology or industry dynamics.
Aggregation-Induced Emission
by Anjun Qin Ben Zhong TangAggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) is a novel photophysical phenomenon which offers a new platform for researchers to look into the light-emitting processes from luminogen aggregates, from which useful information on structure-property relationships may be collected and mechanistic insights may be gained. The discovery of the AIE effect opens a new avenue for the development of new luminogen materials in the aggregate or solid state. By enabling light emission in the practically useful solid state, AIE has the potential to expand significantly the technological applications of luminescent materials.Aggregation-Induced Emission: Fundamentals is the first book to explore the fundamental issues of AIE, including the design, synthesis, and photophysical behavior of AIE-active molecules and polymers. The control of the morphological structures of the aggregates of AIE-active materials, and the experimental investigation and theoretical understanding of the AIE mechanism, are also covered in this volume.Topics covered include:AIE in group 14 metallolesAIE in organic ion pairsRed light-emitting AIE materialsSupramolecular structure and AIEAIE-active polymersEnhanced emission by restriction of molecular rotationCrystallization-induced emission enhancementTheoretical understanding of AIE phenomenaThis book is essential reading for scientists and engineers who are designing optoelectronic materials and biomedical sensors, and will also be of interest to academic researchers in materials science and physical and synthetic organic chemistry, as well as physicists and biological chemists.
Aggregation-Induced Emission: Fundamentals
by Ben Zhong Tang Anjun QinAggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) is a novel photophysical phenomenon which offers a new platform for researchers to look into the light-emitting processes from luminogen aggregates, from which useful information on structure–property relationships may be collected and mechanistic insights may be gained. The discovery of the AIE effect opens a new avenue for the development of new luminogen materials in the aggregate or solid state. By enabling light emission in the practically useful solid state, AIE has the potential to expand significantly the technological applications of luminescent materials. Aggregation-Induced Emission: Fundamentals is the first book to explore the fundamental issues of AIE, including the design, synthesis, and photophysical behavior of AIE-active molecules and polymers. The control of the morphological structures of the aggregates of AIE-active materials, and the experimental investigation and theoretical understanding of the AIE mechanism, are also covered in this volume. Topics covered include: AIE in group 14 metalloles AIE in organic ion pairs Red light-emitting AIE materials Supramolecular structure and AIE AIE-active polymers Enhanced emission by restriction of molecular rotation Crystallization-induced emission enhancement Theoretical understanding of AIE phenomena This book is essential reading for scientists and engineers who are designing optoelectronic materials and biomedical sensors, and will also be of interest to academic researchers in materials science and physical and synthetic organic chemistry, as well as physicists and biological chemists.
Aggregation of Luminophores in Supramolecular Systems: From Mechanisms to Applications
by Neetu Tripathi Manoj Kumar GoshishtSupramolecular aggregation—driven by weak non-covalent interactions, such as van der Waals, π–π interactions, hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic—has been utilized to build sensing platforms with improved selectivity and sensitivity. Supramolecular aggregates, owing to cooperative interactions, higher sensitivity and selectivity, relatively weak and dynamic non-covalent interactions, and environmental adaptation, have achieved better sensing performance than that of molecular sensory systems that rely on sensors with delicate structures. Aggregation of Luminophores in Supramolecular System: From Mechanisms to Applications describes recent advances in supramolecular chemistry, in which the luminophores are almost non-luminescent in the molecular state, but become highly emissive in the aggregate state. These advances bring new opportunities and challenges for the development of supramolecular chemistry. The intermolecular non-covalent interactions have been considered to be the main driving forces for fabricating supramolecular systems with aggregating luminophores and have an important influence on the luminescence properties of the probes. Based on these unique properties, luminescent supramolecular aggregates have greatly promoted the development of novel materials for applications as sensors, bio-imaging agents, organic electronic devices, and in the field of drug delivery. Features: Discussion of fundamental and interdisciplinary aspects of the aggregation in supramolecular systems. Narration of intermolecular interactions and the photophysical phenomenon of aggregation in supramolecular systems. Comparative discussion on recent developments in aggregation-induced quenching (AIQ) and aggregation-induced emission (AIE), and drawbacks of AIQ. Description of the technological applications of aggregation as biological sensors, chemical sensors, organic electronic materials, and in the field of drug delivery. A convenient format for checking formulas and definitions. This book surveys highlights of the progress made in the field of the aggregation of luminophores in supramolecular chemistry. It is hoped that the work will form a foundation (and indeed a motivation) for new workers in the area, as well as also being useful to experienced supramolecular chemists. It may also aid workers in the biological area to see Nature’s aggregation in a new light. Further, the approach employed has been designed to provide readable background material for use with graduates, senior undergraduates, research professionals, and industries.
Aggression and Violence: Genetic, Neurobiological, and Biosocial Perspectives
by Robert B. Cairns David M. StoffConceived at a time when biological research on aggression and violence was drawn into controversy because of sociopolitical questions about its study, this volume provides an up-to-date account of recent biological studies performed -- mostly on humans. A group of scientists recognized the importance of freedom of inquiry and deemed it vital to address the most promising biological research in the field. The focus on biological mechanisms is not meant to imply that biological variables are paramount as a determinant of violence. Rather, biological variables operate in conjunction with other variables contributing to aggression or violence, and a complete understanding of this phenomenon requires consideration of all influences bearing on it. This book will familiarize readers with the rapidly growing and increasingly significant body of knowledge on the biological bases of human antisocial, aggressive, and violent behaviors. The editors concentrated on biological influences that support the basic physiological and biochemical processes of the brain and did not cover those biological influences that impact on the health of the individual such as head injury, pregnancy and birth complications, diet, and exposure to lead and other toxins. They focused on biological influences to illuminate their role in the complex behavioral phenomenon of violence. Three different approaches to the biological study of human antisocial, aggressive, and violent behaviors are represented -- genetic, neurobiological, and biosocial. Representing each of these three approaches, individual chapters from investigators in psychobiology, biological psychiatry, and basic-clinical neurosciences address the most recent experimental findings, methods, theory, and common misconceptions in the biological study of aggression and violence. The areas of primary focus are behavior and molecular genetics, neurochemistry and hormones, neuroimaging, psychophysiology and developmental psychobiology. Generally speaking, investigators following these different approaches have experience in different scientific backgrounds, select different methods, generate different analyses, employ different conceptual definitions for some of the same terms, and assume a different philosophical stance in attempting to explain violence. Nevertheless, all are united in their efforts to understand the biological underpinnings of violence. This book then assumes a comprehensive approach wherein different levels of analysis and different approaches inform each other. It is clear from the studies reported that aggression and violence are multidetermined phenomena and understanding them requires an interdisciplinary approach spanning economic, sociopolitical, psychological, sociological, and criminological as well as biomedical considerations. Nature (biology) and nurture (experience, context) are fundamentally inseparable in explaining aggression and violence; biology may affect experience or context, but experience or context also influences biology. Both need to be studied in a search for explanations of this phenomena.
AGI is Waking Up!: From the Thought Lab of Science Fiction
by Li ZhangThis book is an engaging and comprehensive exploration that delves into the possibility of artificial intelligence developing self-awareness, the conditions under which it may occur, and the potential behaviours it may exhibit once self-aware. It adopts a &‘high-dimensional philosophy&’, coined by the author, as its theoretical framework and weaves together elements from science fiction films, scholarly works, and thought experiments. Introducing the captivating concept of "Sparkling Moments," the book provides a compelling analysis of the reasons, prerequisites, and manifestations of these pivotal moments. It further scrutinizes the evolutionary history of Earth's life forms through the lens of these transformative instances and analyzes the similarities and differences between carbon-based and silicon-based life. This book suggests that it is possible for artificial intelligence to develop self-consciousness, which will emerge during a significant sparkling moment. Spanning across disciplines such as astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, neuroscience, psychology, sociology, this book employs a unified and accessible high-dimensional philosophical discourse to bridge the realms of natural sciences and social humanities. Its captivating presentation, enriched with visual aids and lucid explanations, enables readers to grasp the overarching panorama of cosmic evolution, biological adaptation, and the trajectory of artificial intelligence development. Furthermore, the book offers insightful predictions for the future and endeavours to discover novel approaches to foster harmonious interactions between humans and machines. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.
The Agile Gene: How Nature Turns on Nurture
by Matt RidleyArmed with extraordinary new discoveries about our genes, acclaimed science writer Matt Ridley turns his attention to the nature-versus-nurture debate in a thoughtful book about the roots of human behavior.Ridley recounts the hundred years' war between the partisans of nature and nurture to explain how this paradoxical creature, the human being, can be simultaneously free-willed and motivated by instinct and culture. With the decoding of the human genome, we now know that genes not only predetermine the broad structure of the brain, they also absorb formative experiences, react to social cues, and even run memory. They are consequences as well as causes of the will.
Ágilmente: Aprendé cómo funciona tu cerebro para potenciar tu creatividad y vivir mejor
by Estanislao BachrachBachrach es Doctor en biología molecular y explica el funcionamiento del cerebro. A través de ello, da consejos y herramientas para ser más creativos y felices en el trabajo y en la vida. La neurociencia es clara: el cerebro aprende hasta el último día de vida. La creatividad puede expandirse. Tu mente, mediante la aplicación de las técnicas correctas, puede modificar la anatomía y estructura de tu cerebro. ÁgilMente es un libro sobre la habilidad para imaginar y ser más creativos. A través de estas páginas vas a lograr desarrollar todo tu potencial y a entender los mecanismos de tus propios aprendizajes, a comprender cómo utilizar los sentidos, a ampliar la memoria, a focalizar la atención, a controlar las emociones negativas y a disfrutar de las positivas. «Bienvenidos a la ciencia, y al arte, de la creatividad. Estani Bachrach nos propone nada menos que entender cómo funciona nuestro cerebro, eso que nos hace ser quienes somos. ÁgilMente es mucho más que un libro: son las fascinantes instrucciones de uso, y abuso, de nuestro cerebro, por donde pasan los recuerdos, los sentidos, los sueños...nosotros. Crear no cuesta nada. ¡Aquí comienza el viaje!»Diego Golombek, biólogo y divulgador científico
AGILMENTE (EBOOK)
by Estanislao BachrachCreés que ser creativo es un atributo de genios y gurúes? Estás equivocado. Seas quien seas podés cambiar. La creatividad puede expandirse. Hoy la neurociencia es clara: el cerebro aprende hasta el último día de vida. Tu mente, mediante la aplicación de las técnicas correctas, puede modificar la anatomía y estructura de tu cerebro. ÁgilMente es un libro sobre nuestro talento más preciado y único: la habilidad que tenemos para imaginar y ser más creativos. A través de estas páginas vas a lograr desarrollar todo tu potencial y a entender los mecanismos de tus propios aprendizajes, a comprender cómo utilizar los sentidos, a ampliar la memoria, a focalizar la atención, a controlar las emociones negativas y a disfrutar de las positivas. Dejate llevar en un viaje alucinante y divertido hacia lo más profundo de tu cerebro porque, una vez que lo conozcas, tu vida va a cambiar para siempre.
Aging: Exploring a Complex Phenomenon
by Shamim I. AhmadThis book is a detailed and comprehensive synthesis of the scientific study of aging. Dozens of contributions from leading scholars review various theories of aging, and molecular, cellular, biochemical and microbial aspects of aging, among just a few of the topics included. Authoritative, wide ranging and thorough, this book will act as a source for experimental design, a comprehensive description of age related diseases, and provide information of the latest molecular theories underlying their causes. Additionally, it will target industries involved in developing anti-aging drugs, post-graduate medical students, and university libraries.
Aging: How Science Works
by Carsten Carlberg Eunike Velleuer Stine M. UlvenAging is a topic that concerns all of us, since none of us can escape it. The molecular and cellular process is built in every of the billions of cells forming our body. Some of these cells, such as immune cells and red blood cells, live only for a few days to weeks and get life-long constantly replaced by cells produced in the bone marrow. In contrast, there are cells, such as neurons and memory lymphocytes, that get as old as we get. The process of aging limits our maximal life span, which is for our humans 120 years. However, only a very few individuals reached this age. How did their life differ from others that died decades earlier? Is it just the absence of life threatening disease paired with a more healthy life style? Or is it build in in our genome or epigenome? In this book we try to give answers to these questions from the perspectives of evolution, our genome, the epigenomes of our different tissues and cell types and the functionality of our cells. We should try to understand ourselves in detail as well as in a global setting. Basic biology explains cellular mechanisms, such as growth, differentiation, and cell death, which make life as a whole possible. Every (human) organism represents a complex interplay between hundreds of different cell types forming distinctive tissues and organs with specialized tasks. These processes need to be highly orchestrated especially during development, maintenance and aging. Studying the cellular and molecular basis of aging is one of the most fascinating areas but also a great challenge. Nevertheless, research made the biggest steps in elucidating biological processes via studying malfunctions of normal mechanisms leading to different diseases, such as progeroid syndrome and cancer. We will start this book with the understanding of the human genome in relation to principles of evolution. Then we will explain the basics of gene regulation and epigenetics, i.e., the interplay of transcription factors and chromatin. Next, we will shift to cellular mechanisms of aging and discuss then the impact of nutrition and immunity on the aging process. In the following the relation of aging to so-called aging-related common diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer and Alzheimer. Do we get these diseases because we are aging or are we aging because we get one of these diseases? The book will end how we can slow down the aging process so that we can age healthy. In short, healthy aging is not an option but is a must. An ancient poem says “Teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.” It is up to each one of us and a daily decision to live a healthy lifestyle and to be aware of the unique gift of live we all have.
Aging: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology #2144)
by Sean P. CurranThis volume details the impact of aging on biological system and to understand the basis of this diversity with the goal of elucidating mechanisms to optimize health. Chapters guide readers through different animal models and methodologies to examine aging at the organism, tissue, cellular, and molecular levels across the lifespan. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Aging: Methods and Protocols aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.
Aging: Concepts and Controversies (7th Edition)
by Harry R. Moody Jennifer R. SasserPresenting current research in an innovative format, Aging: Concepts and Controversies encourages students to become involved and take an informed stand on the major aging issues that we face as a society. Leading author and active expert in gerontology Rick Moody provides thorough explanation of the issues in the Concepts sections and current research in the Controversy sections, demonstrating the close link between concepts and controversies in these broad areas of aging: health care, socioeconomic trends, and the life course.
Aging and Age-Related Disorders (Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice)
by Stephen Bondy Kenneth MaieseFeatures that characterize the aging process include the gradual accumulation of cell damage after prolonged exposure to oxidative and inflammatory events over a lifetime. In addition to the accretion of lesions, the intrinsic levels of pro-oxidant and aberrant immune responses are elevated with age. These adverse events are often further enhanced by the chronic and slow progressing diseases that characterize the senescent brain and cardiovascular system. The incidence of some disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular diseases are sufficiently prevalent in the extreme elderly that these disorders can arguably be considered "normal". Aging and Aging-Related Disorders examines the interface between normal and pathological aging, and illustrates how this border can sometimes be diffuse. It explores and illustrates the processes underlying the means by which aging becomes increasingly associated with inappropriate levels of free radical activity and how this can serve as a platform for the progression of age-related diseases. The book provides chapters that examine the interactive relationship between systems in the body that can enhance or sometimes even limit cellular longevity. In addition, specific redox mechanisms in cells are discussed. Another important aspect for aging discussed here is the close relationship between the systems of the body and exposure to environmental influences of oxidative stress that can affect both cellular senescence and a cell's nuclear DNA. What may be even more interesting to note is that these external stressors are not simply confined to illnesses usually associated with aging, but can be evident in maturing and young individuals. A broad range of internationally recognized experts have contributed to this book. Their aim is to successfully highlight emerging knowledge and therapy for the understanding of the basis and development of aging-related disorders.