Description |
1 online resource (72 pages) : illustrations. |
|
text rdacontent |
|
computer rdamedia |
|
online resource rdacarrier |
Series |
Biology collection.
|
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Contents |
1. Mammals have cellular clock mechanism -- Ethical, legal, social implications: sleep is connected to daily rhythms -- |
|
2. Maternal immune system tolerates non-self fetus -- |
|
3. Maintaining body weight and fat levels -- Ethical, legal, social implications: challenges of the obesity epidemic -- |
|
4. Animals age and die at different rates -- Ethical, legal, social implications: end of life issues -- |
|
Conclusions -- Glossary -- Index. |
Access |
Restricted to libraries which purchase an unrestricted PDF download via an IP. |
Summary |
This book examines four examples of animal physiology that illustrate emergent properties in whole organisms. The first example shows how mammals coordinate the activity of all their cells using a daily rhythm. The second case explains an apparent contradiction that happens every time a woman gets pregnant and delivers a healthy baby--how the immune system tolerates a foreign tissue such as the fetus. The next case study in this book shows how bodies regulate the amount of fat using a complex interaction of proteins that function as a lipostat, a self-regulating fat maintenance system. Finally, the book provides an understanding of why some species live long lives while others die after very short lives, and under what conditions each situation is favored. What is evolutionarily adaptive about death? These four case studies provide sufficient evidence to understand how animals regulate many of their own metabolic functions. |
Note |
Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 14, 2016). |
Subject |
Physiology.
|
Added Author |
Paradise, Christopher J., author.
|
Related To |
Print version: 9781606509852 |
ISBN |
9781606509869 electronic |
|
9781606509852 print |
OCLC # |
EBC4512174 |
|