This book critically reviews recent advances in ecoimmunology, a newly emergent, interdisciplinary research field that examines interactions among host physiology and disease ecology in a wide range of environmentally relevant contexts.

This book represents a cutting-edge contribution giving an all-around perspective of eco-immunology today. Beside questions of the utmost importance for the whole community of immunologists, e.g, the intrinsic limits of immunological experiments performed at the bench on a limited number of selected models, the book covers several other facets of the eco-immunological approach, including host-parasite interactions, human aging and population immunology. Throughout the book the importance of population dynamics and evolutionary diversification of immune systems is frequently recalled, and makes the reader aware of the basic similarities and differences existing between humans and the models adopted for studying human immune system. The evidenced differences have been recently challenging the reliability of several established animal models and in the book it is discussed for the first time in analytical terms whether mice are reliable models of human inflammatory disorders.

The second edition of Avian Immunology provides an up-to-date overview of the current knowledge of avian immunology. From the ontogeny of the avian immune system to practical application in vaccinology, the book encompasses all aspects of innate and adaptive immunity in chickens. In addition, chapters are devoted to the immunology of other commercially important species such as turkeys and ducks, and to ecoimmunology summarizing the knowledge of immune responses in free-living birds often in relation to reproductive success. The book contains a detailed description of the avian innate immune system, encompassing the mucosal, enteric, respiratory and reproductive systems. The diseases and disorders it covers include immunodepressive diseases and immune evasion, autoimmune diseases, and tumors of the immune system. Practical aspects of vaccination are examined as well. Extensive appendices summarize resources for scientists including cell lines, inbred chicken lines, cytokines, chemokines, and monoclonal antibodies. The world-wide importance of poultry protein for the human diet, as well as the threat of avian influenza pandemics like H5N1 and heavy reliance on vaccination to protect commercial flocks makes this book a vital resource. This book provides crucial information not only for poultry health professionals and avian biologists, but also for comparative and veterinary immunologists, graduate students and veterinary students with an interest in avian immunology. With contributions from 33 of the foremost international experts in the field, this book provides the most up-to-date review of avian immunology so far Contains a detailed description of the avian innate immune system reviewing constitutive barriers, chemical and cellular responses; it includes a comprehensive review of avian Toll-like receptors Contains a wide-ranging review of the "ecoimmunology" of free-living avian species, as applied to studies of population dynamics, and reviews methods and resources available for carrying out such research

Machine generated contents note: -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: A History of the Immune Self -- Chapter 2: Whither Immune Identity? -- Chapter 3: Individuality Revised -- Chapter 4: Immune Cognition -- Chapter 5: Eco-immunology -- Chapter 6: A New Biology? -- Epilogue -- Endnotes -- References. 650

Conservation physiology is a rapidly expanding, multidisciplinary field that utilizes physiological knowledge and tools to understand and solve conservation challenges. This novel text provides the first consolidated overview of its scope, purpose, and applications, with a focus on wildlife. It outlines the major avenues and advances by which conservation physiology is contributing to the monitoring, management, and restoration of wild animal populations. This book also defines opportunities for further growth in the field and identifies critical areas for future investigation. By using a series of global case studies, contributors illustrate how approaches from the conservation physiology toolbox can tackle a diverse range of conservation issues including the monitoring of environmental stress, predicting the impact of climate change, understanding disease dynamics, improving captive breeding, and reducing human-wildlife conflict. Moreover, by acting as practical road maps across a diversity of sub-disciplines, these case studies serve to increase the accessibility of this discipline to new researchers. The diversity of taxa, biological scales, and ecosystems highlighted illustrate the far-reaching nature of the discipline and allow readers to gain an appreciation for the purpose, value, applicability, and status of the field of conservation physiology. Conservation Physiology is an accessible supplementary textbook suitable for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of conservation science, eco-physiology, evolutionary and comparative physiology, natural resources management, ecosystem health, veterinary medicine, animal physiology, and ecology.

This book reviews how mathematical and computational approaches can be useful to help us understand how killer T-cell responses work to fight viral infections. It also demonstrates, in a writing style that exemplifies the point, that such mathematical and computational approaches are most valuable when coupled with experimental work through interdisciplinary collaborations. Designed to be useful to immunoligists and viroligists without extensive computational background, the book covers a broad variety of topics, including both basic immunological questions and the application of these insights to the understanding and treatment of pathogenic human diseases.