This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the emerging field of interdisciplinary salivary bioscience. It serves as a foundational reference guide to the collection, analysis, and interpretation of salivary data, as well as its myriad applications in medicine, surveillance and public health. The ease and non-invasive nature of saliva collection makes it highly useful in diverse fields such as pediatrics, dentistry, neuroscience, psychology, animal welfare and precision medicine. This book introduces students and scientists alike to the vast potential of salivary bioscience in both research and practice.

Branching morphogenesis, the creation of branched structures in the body, is a key feature of animal and plant development. This book brings together, for the first time, expert researchers working on a variety of branching systems to present a state-of-the-art view of the mechanisms that control branching morphogenesis. Systems considered range from single cells, to blood vessel and drainage duct systems to entire body plans, and approaches range from observation through experiment to detailed biophysical modelling. The result is an integrated overview of branching.

"Spit uncovers the secrets secreting in the many mouths on the globe. From humans to cows to vampire bats to spitting spiders, this book looks at spit from many different angles to provide readers with the fascinating world found in this gross-out subject."--

There is extensive evidence from animal models that gonadal steroids, produced in fetal and neonatal life, act on the developing organism to produce sex differences far beyond the reproductive system. That early gonadal steroid exposure also plays an important role in human development is supported by studies of individuals with disorders of sex determination and differentiation. It is much less clear whether normal variation in gonadal steroid exposure predicts sexually dimorphic health outcomes or within-sex variation. This is largely due to challenges related to the assessment of gonadal steroid exposure in the developing fetus and neonate. Regarding the prenatal period, serial measurements of serum hormone levels in the fetus, for use in studies of later development, are not possible for ethical reasons. Researchers have measured hormones in maternal blood, umbilical cord blood, and amniotic fluid; used putative anthropometric indices such as the relative lengths of the 2nd and 4th digits (2D:4D); evaluated common variants in genes related to hormone production, transport, and metabolism; and examined development in opposite sex twins and the offspring of mothers with hyperandrogeny. Each of these approaches has particular strengths and notable weaknesses. Regarding the neonatal period, serial measurements in serum are often impractical for studies of typical development. Salivary hormone assays, frequently used in studies of older children and adults, have not been extensively investigated in neonates. The most appropriate timing for testing is also open to debate. Early work suggested that testosterone levels in males begin to rise after the first postnatal week, peak around the 3rd to 4th months of life, and then drop back to very low levels by 1 year. However a more recent study of 138 infants did not demonstrate this pattern. Testosterone was highest on the day of birth and gradually dropped over the first 6 months. Even less is known about patterns of early estrogen exposure, though highly sensitive bioassays indicated that sex differences are present in early childhood. In addition, the design and interpretation of studies may be impacted by widespread acceptance of conceptual frameworks that are not well-supported empirically. For example, many researchers presume that the free hormone hypothesis, which states that unbound hormone is more readily diffusible into tissues and thus a better measure of actual exposure, is true. However this hypothesis has been challenged on multiple grounds. A second example: it is generally accepted that masculinization of the human brain is primarily mediated by the androgen receptor (in contrast to rodents where the estrogen receptor plays a major role), in part because chromosomal males with complete androgen insensitivity generally espouse a female gender identity. However this is not always the case, and other sexually dimorphic outcomes have not been carefully assessed in CAIS. The aim of this research topic is to gather together experimental and review papers which address the diverse challenges in assessing prenatal and neonatal gonadal steroid exposure for studies of human development with the expectation that this will allow more critical appraisal of existing studies, identify critical research gaps, and improve the design of future studies.

This fully revised new edition explores advances in the prevention and treatment of oral diseases. Beyond the updated chapters, the book delves into regenerative biology, gene editing and the use of CRISPR in oral biology, as well as histone acetylation and deacetylation methods, further reflecting advances in the application of molecular techniques to oral biology. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step and readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and up-to-date, Oral Biology: Molecular Techniques and Applications, Third Edition serves as an ideal basic resource not only for new researchers but also for experienced scientists wishing to expand their research platform into new areas of this vital field.

Evolution, biology, and society is a catch-all phrase encompassing any scholarly work that utilizes evolutionary theory and/or biological or behavioral genetic methods in the study of the human social group, and The Oxford Handbook of Evolution, Biology, and Society contains an much needed overview of research in the area by sociologists and other social scientists. The examined topics cover a wide variety of issues, including the origins of social solidarity; religious beliefs; sex differences; gender inequality; determinants of human happiness; the nature of social stratification and inequality and its effects; identity, status, and other group processes; race, ethnicity, and race discrimination; fertility and family processes; crime and deviance; and cultural and social change. The scholars whose work is presented in this volume come from a variety of disciplines in addition to sociology, including psychology, political science, and criminology. Yet, as the essays in this volume demonstrate, the potential of theory and methods from biology for illuminating social phenomena is clear, and sociologists stand to gain from learning more about them and using them in their own work. The theory focuses on evolution by natural selection, the primary paradigm of the biological sciences, while the methods include the statistical analyses sociologists are familiar with, as well as other methods that they may not be familiar with, such as behavioral genetic methods, methods for including genetic factors in statistical analyses, gene-wide association studies, candidate gene studies, and methods for testing levels of hormones and other biochemicals in blood and saliva and including these factors in analyses. This work will be of interest to any sociologist with an interest in exploring the interaction of biological and sociological processes. As an introduction to the field it is useful for teaching upper-level or graduate students in sociology or a related social science.

Accompanying CD-ROM contains ... "150 color images with legends, 472 book figures with legends, 438 multiple choice test questions, and 119 interactive drag-and-drop exercises." -- from CD-ROM Welcome screen.