BIOLOGICAL TIMEKEEPING: CLOCKS, RHYTHMS AND BEHAVIOUR

1. Origins: A Brief Account of the Ancestry of Circadian Biology
2. Interpreting Circadian Rhythms
3. Basic Principles Underlying Biological Oscillations and Their Entrainment
4. Circadian Waveform and Its Significance for Clock Organization and Plasticity
5. On the Origin and Implications of Circadian Timekeeping: An Evolutionary Perspective
6. The Drosophila Clock System
7. The Fish Circadian Timing System: The Illuminating Case of Light-Responsive Peripheral Clocks
8. Molecular Genetic and Genomic Analyses of Zebrafish Circadian Rhythmicity
9. The Amphibian Clock System
10. The Reptilian Clock System: Circadian Clock, Extraretinal Photoreception, and Clock-Dependent Celestial Compass Orientation Mechanisms in Reptiles
11. Avian Circadian Organization
12. The Mammalian Neural Circadian System: From Molecules to Behaviour
13. Circadian Rhythms Versus Daily Patterns in Human Physiology and Behavior
14. Light Resetting and Entrainment of Human Circadian Rhythms
15. Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder: Mechanisms and Treatment Approaches
16. Interaction Between Central and Peripheral Clocks in Mammals
17. Circadian Photoentrainment Mechanism in Mammals
18. Mechanisms of Non-photic Entrainment
19. Temperature Input for Rhythmic Behaviours in Flies: The Role of Temperature-Sensitive Ion Channels
20. Circadian Clocks, Metabolism, and Food-Entrained Rhythms
21. Circadian Regulation of Metabolism in Health and Diseases
22. Circadian Clocks and Immune Functions
23. Clock Genes and Cancer
24. The Timezyme and Melatonin: Essential Elements of Vertebrate Timekeeping
25. Pineal Gland, Melatonin, and Timekeeping in Nonmammalian Vertebrates: Avian Perspective
26. Circannual Rhythms Anticipate the Earth’s Annual Periodicity
27. Seasonal Changes in Brain and Behavior
28. Molecular Mechanism Regulating Seasonality
29. Epigenetic Mechanisms Regulating Circannual Rhythms
30. Insights into the Regulation of Spring Migration in Songbirds
31. Orientation in Migrating Animals: Role of Biological Clocks

This book is a concise, comprehensive and up-to-date account of fundamental concepts and potential applications of biological timekeeping mechanisms in animals and humans. It also discusses significant aspects of the organization and importance of timekeeping mechanisms in both groups. Divided into seven sections, it addresses important aspects including fundamental concepts; animal and human clocks; clock interactions; clocks and metabolism and immune functions; pineal, melatonin and timekeeping; and clocks, photoperiodism and seasonal behaviours. The book also focuses on biological clock applications in a 24x7 human society, particularly in connection with life-style associated disorders like obesity and diabetes. It is a valuable resource for advanced undergraduates, researchers and professionals engaged in the study of the science of biological timekeeping.

Features
• Stands out as a comprehensive and up-to-date account of what we know, what we want to know, and what we expect to know from biological rhythm studies
• Explains concepts underlying complex and diverse clock systems, and expands on potential applications in a single volume
• Highlights connections of biological clock with disorders, particularly associated with the life style in a 24x7 human society

Author
Dr. Vinod Kumar is currently Professor of Zoology at the University of Delhi, India. He has about 4 decades of research and three-and-half decades of teaching experience in different Indian Universities. He has spent about 5 years abroad as a researcher working in different institutions other countries viz. the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Japan, and over more than a year-and-half as Visiting Professor working in Texas A&M University, USA. He has been awarded several international fellowships under The Indian National Science Academy – The Royal Society exchange program, DST-European Community bilateral cooperation, CIDA-NSERC Canada program, MaxPlanck Society post-doctoral and visting fellowship (over 5 years). He is honored with: 2010 Platinum Jubilee Lecture Award, ISCA, SRM University, Chennai; 2008 Vijay – Usha Sodha Scientific Research Prize, University of Lucknow 2006; P. Govindarajulu Gold medal from the Society of Reproductive Biology and Comparative Endocrinology, India; 2000 Young Investigator Award Gordon Research Conference in Pineal Cell Biology (Oxford, UK). He has received recognition from different international forums in the form Associate membership, regular membership and member of the scientific committees and Editorial Board of prestigious journals. He has published about 140 research publications, in most reputed journals of organismal biology, including the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, USA; Proceedings of Royal Society B, Journal of Pineal Research, BMC Genomics, Journal of Biological Rhythms, Chronobiology International, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, General and Comparative Endocrinology, Journal of Neuroendocrinology, Journal of Comparative Neurology, Physiology and Behavior, Journal of Comparative Physiology A&B, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A, Behavioral Brain Research, Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, Molecular Brain Research, Journal of Ornithology, etc. Books edited and authored by him are: 2002 Biological Rhythms, edited (Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi/ Springer-Verlag, Germany). 1996 Animal Behaviour (Himalaya Publishing House, Bombay). He has been the most visible Indian face in the international meetings and conferences in the area of his research. He has established the state-of-art research facility in his area of research in at least 3 different institutions in India, and has trained a generation of scientists to take the field forward. He has contributed heavily for the growth of the subject by organizing Schools, conferences and Symposia, and individual trainings. He is the Secretary (and President-Elect) of the Indian Society for Chronobiology.