GeoffGoldspink and I edited a book, Mechanics and Energetics of Animal Locomotion, which was published by Chapman and Hall in 1977. It dealt at an advanced level with all aspects of animal locomotion, emphasizing particularly the topics of then current research. Since then there have been more elementary books on the subject, including my own Locomotion of Animals (Blackie 1982), and specialized books on such topics as swimming and flight, but (despite very substantial progress in research) there has been no advanced book covering the whole range of animal locomotion. It seemed to me and to...

This volume intends to provide a comprehensive overview on the mecha nisms of muscle contraction and non-muscle cell motility at the molecu lar and cellular level, not only for investigators in these fields but also for general readers interested in these topics. A most attractive feature of various living organisms in the animal and plant kingdoms is their ability to move. In spite of a great diversity in the structure and function of various motile systems, it has frequently been assumed since the nineteenth century that all kinds of "motility" are essentially the same. Based on this...

Provided here is an up to date account of how high pressures affect cellularprocesses in microorganisms and in eukaryotic cells. Topics include membranetransport, cell activation, the excitable properties of cells, muscular contraction, with particular emphasis on cardiac muscle, and the role of pressure in the physiology of cartilage in load bearing joints. Additionally there are thorough reviews of the effects of pressure on fish and on the central nervous system of mammals, including man.

Studies on the colon not only serve medical interest or clinical purposes, but are also a highly interesting subject of comparative physiology, from which we can learn much about the basic principles in physiology. Presented here are examples of research on colonic ion transport of each vertebrate group, including the classical models of epithelia, rat and rabbit, and also on the special and unique features in fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and selected mammals such as the guinea pig. Physiology and pathophysiology of ion transport in the human large intestine are as well covered as the...

One of the prerequisites for survival is the ability of cells to maintain their volume. Thus, during the course of evolution cells have "learned" a variety of strategies to achieve volume homeostasis. This volume regulatory machinery involves regulation of both, cellular metabolism and cellular transport and is exploited by hormones and transmitters to regulate cellularfunction. This book to illustrates the complex interplay of cell volume regulatory mechanisms and cellular function in a variety of tissues. However, our knowledge is still far from being conclusive, and the present collection...

Biological cell membranes regulate the transfer of matter and informa tion between the intracellular and extracellular compartments as basic survival and maintenance functions for an organism: This volume contains a series of reviews that are concerned with how biological plasma membranes regulate the transport of chloride between the intracellular and extracellular compartments of a cell. This book is also an attempt to analyze the molecular basis for the movement of chloride across a cell membrane. This volume is devoted to a diversity of electrogenic chloride transport mechanisms in...

ADVANCES IN COMPARATIVE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY helps biologists, physiologists, and biochemists keep track of the extensive literature in thefield. Providing comprehensive, integrated reviews and sound, critical, and provocative summaries, this series is a must for all active researchers in environmental and comparative physiology. The present volume contains six reviews on: - Motile Activities of Fish Chromatophores. - Epithelial Transport of Heavy Metals. - Heavy Metal Cytotoxicity in Marine Organisms. - Comparative Pulmonary Morphology and Morphometry. - Molecular Adaptations in...

Various endogenous and environmental challenges of homoiostasis have resulted in the evolution of apparently quite different mechanisms for the same or similar functions in individual representatives of the animal kingdom. One of the prominent achievements of comparative physiology over the last few decades has been the description of regula tory features common to many studied species beyond the extreme diversity of their morphological forms. Delineation of functional princi ples universally applicable to the physiology and biochemistry of living systems became often possible through...

E. L. Cooper The Immunodefense System Because invertebrates are exceedingly diverse and numerous, estimates reveal nearly 2 million species classified in more than 20 phyla from unicellular organisms up to the complex, multicellular protostomes and deuterostomes. It is not surprising to find less diverse defense/immune responses whose effector mechanisms remain to be completely elucidated. Of course, I am not advocating that the few of us devoted to analyzing invertebrate immunity attempt the Herculean task of examining all these species to uncover some kind of unique response As these two...

E. L. Cooper In Volume 23 we considered, in seven chapters, the basic armamentarium of the invertebrate immune system and its cells, as well as an analysis of antigens, setting the stage for the initiation of an immune response. We studied cell products, natural or induced, as revealed by nonspecific and specific responses following antigenic challenge such as the pro phenol oxidase system, the lytic responses, the Ig superfamily, and the place this family offers invertebrates and insect hemolymph proteins as candidates for membership. At this point, these various topics seemed to converge,...