Building from the perspective of reproductive and developmental biology, Computational Methods for Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology provides a timely and comprehensive overview of approaches in reproductive and developmental toxicology.

The book, which is part of the QSAR in Environmental and Health Sciences series, is divided into three broad sections. The first provides a review of methods and approaches to meet the need for safety assessments in product development and regulatory approaches for environmental chemicals. The next one reviews the biological...

Juvenile hormones (JHs) are a group of structurally related sesquiterpenes secreted by the insect corpora allata. They affect most insect life-cycle stages and physiological functions, including embryogenesis, larval and adult development, metamorphosis, reproduction, metabolism, diapause, polyethism, and migration. Juvenoids such as methoprene, hydroprene, kinoprene, pyriproxyfen, and fenoxycarb are man-made chemicals that mimic the structure and/or activity of JHs, selectively targeting and disrupting the endocrine system of insects. They are particularly suited as larvicides for...

The pKa of a compound describes its acidity or basicity and, therefore, is one of its most important properties. Its value determines what form of the compound positive ion, negative ion, or neutral species will be present under different circumstances. This is crucial to the action and detection of the compound as a drug, pollutant, or other active chemical agent. In many cases it is desirable to predict pKa values prior to synthesizing a compound, and enough is now known about the salient features that influence a molecule s acidity to make these predictions.
Computational Approaches...

There is a compelling need for new drugs and efficient treatments against mosquito-borne diseases. Environmentally safe, but effective insecticides that address the problems of resistance are required. Computational Design of Chemicals for the Control of Mosquitoes and Their Diseases explains how the search for new substances effective against mosquitoes and their diseases has benefited from the use of in silico techniques. QSAR modeling is suited to identify the key structural features and/or physicochemical properties explaining an activity and to propose candidate...

The pK_a of a compound describes its acidity or basicity and, therefore, is one of its most important properties. Its value determines what form of the compound positive ion, negative ion, or neutral species will be present under different circumstances. This is crucial to the action and detection of the compound as a drug, pollutant, or other active chemical agent. In many cases it is desirable to predict pK_a values prior to synthesizing a compound, and enough is now known about the salient features that influence a molecule s acidity to make these predictions....