Bücher veröffentlicht von Springer US

Proteins are still gaining importance in the pharmaceutical world, where they are used to improve our arsenal of therapeutic drugs and vaccines and as diagnostic tools. Proteins are different from "e;traditional"e; low-molecular-weight drugs. As a group, they exhibit a number of biopharmaceutical and formulation problems. These problems have drawn considerable interest from both industrial and aca- demic environments, forcing pharmaceutical scientists to explore a domain previ- ously examined only by peptide and protein chemists. Biopharmaceutical aspects of proteins, e.g., low oral bioavailability, have been extensively investigated. Although all possible conventional routes of ad- ministration have been examined for proteins, no real, generally applicable alter- native to parenteral administration in order to achieve systemic effects has yet been discovered. Several of these biopharmaceutical options have been discussed in Volume 4 of this series, Biological Barriers to Protein Delivery. Proteins are composed of many amino acids, several of which are notorious for their chemical instability. Rational design of formulations that optimize the native structure and/or bioactivity of a protein is therefore of great importance when long shelf life is required, as it is for pharmaceutical products. This issue has also been examined in two prior volumes of this series: Volume 2: Stability of Protein Pharmaceuticals (Part A) and Volume 5: Stability and Characterization of Protein and Peptide Drugs.

This book aims at providing a view of the current trends in the development of research on Synthesis and Control of Discrete Event Systems. Papers col- lected in this volume are based on a selection of talks given in June and July 2001 at two independent meetings: the Workshop on Synthesis of Concurrent Systems, held in Newcastle upon Tyne as a satellite event of ICATPN/ICACSD and organized by Ph. Darondeau and L. Lavagno, and the Symposium on the Supervisory Control of Discrete Event Systems (SCODES), held in Paris as a satellite event of CAV and organized by B. Caillaud and X. Xie. Synthesis is a generic term that covers all procedures aiming to construct from specifications given as input objects matching these specifications. The- ories and applications of synthesis have been studied and developped for long in connection with logics, programming, automata, discrete event systems, and hardware circuits. Logics and programming are outside the scope of this book, whose focus is on Discrete Event Systems and Supervisory Control. The stress today in this field is on a better applicability of theories and algorithms to prac- tical systems design. Coping with decentralization or distribution and caring for an efficient realization of the synthesized systems or controllers are of the utmost importance in areas so diverse as the supervision of embedded or man- ufacturing systems, or the implementation of protocols in software or in hard- ware.

Plant parasitic nematodes are a main pest to crops. For ex am pie, the root-knot nematodes belonging to the genus Meloidogyne are worldwide in their distribution and attack almost every type of crop, causing considerable losses of yield and affecting quality of produce. The cyst nematodes within the genera Globodera and Heterodera constitute a major group of plant pathogens in many countries throughout the world, suppressing yields of potato, sugar beet, soybean and cereals. Several nematodes such as longidorids and trichodorids are implicated in the transmission of numerous plant viruses. Many others cause constraints to agricultural production either locally or on large areas. However, despite their economic importance (they account for worldwide crop reduction in excess of 10%), plant parasitic nematodes are still poorly understood, because most of them are obligate parasites of roots. Environmental concerns over the agricultural use of pesticides demand the development of alternative measures to control them. To achieve environmentally sound control, knowledge of the basic biology of nematodes must be expanded. Important research areas include understanding the molecular bases for pathogenicity, the molecular mechanisms of the host- parasite interactions and the genetic bases for population fluctuations. The workshop has, for the first time, brought together an international group of researchers using molecular approaches to study plant parasitic nematodes and their host responses.

Stefan Kaiser Khaled Fazel Radio System Design German Aerospace Center (DLR) Marconi Communications lnstitute of Communications and Navigation D-71522 Backnang, Germany D-82234 Wessling, Germany We are currently observing that frequency spectrum is a limited and valuable resource for wireless mobile communications. A good example can be observed among European network operators for the prices to pay for frequency bands for UMTS/IMT2000. Keeping this in mind, the fIrst goal when designing future wireless communication systems has to be the increase in spectral effIciency by allowing higher flexibility for the system design and deployment. The development in digital communications in the past years has enabled effIcient modulation and coding techniques for robust and spectral effIcient data, speech, audio and video transmission. Here, we should mention two interesting and successful techniques. These are the multi-carrier modulation (e. g. OFDM) and the spread spectrum technique (e. g. DS-CDMA). During the last decade of this millennium the technique of multi-carrier transmission for wireless broadband multimedia applications has received wide interest. Its fIrst great success was in 1990 as it was selected for the European Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) standard. Its further prominent success was in 1995 and 1998 as it was selected as modulation scheme for the European Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-T) standard and in three broadband wireless indoor standards, namely European ETSI-HIPERLAN/2, American IEEE-802. 11a and Japanese MMAC, respectively.

For over a quarter of a century, echocardiography has made an unparalleled contribution to clinical cardiology as a major tool for real-time imaging of cardiac dynamics. Echocardiography is widely used to assess cardiac function, and provides noninvasive information which is invaluable for the diagnosis of various disease states. In spite of its numerous advantages, in the clinical arena echocardiography has remained mostly qualitative and subjective. However, continued progress in our understanding of the interactions between ultrasound and tissue characteristics have brought about several new developments which allow quantitative analysis of ultrasound data. Among these new developments are endocardial boundary detection (frequently referred to as Acoustic Quantification), Color Kinesis and Doppler myocardial imaging. The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with the background necessary to understand and successfully utilize these methodologies. Chapters summarize in detail the studies that have validated these techniques thus far, and discuss their future applications.

MCMs today consist of complex and dense VLSI devices mounted into packages that allow little physical access to internal nodes. The complexity and cost associated with their test and diagnosis are major obstacles to their use. Multi-Chip Module Test Strategies presents state-of-the-art test strategies for MCMs. This volume of original research is designed for engineers interested in practical implementations of MCM test solutions and for designers looking for leading edge test and design-for-testability solutions for their next designs. Multi-Chip Module Test Strategies consists of eight contributions by leading researchers. It is designed to provide a comprehensive and well-balanced coverage of the MCM test domain. Multi-Chip Module Test Strategies has also been published as a special issue of the Journal of Electronic Testing: Theory and Applications (JETTA, Volume 10, Numbers 1 and 2).

In Heart Cell Communication in Health and Disease an extensive review of different aspects of heart cell communication is presented. The book starts with the fundamental concept that cardiac cells are communicated, and then proceeds to the role of gap junctions in heart development, the molecular biology of gap junctions, the biophysics of the intercellular channels, the control of junctional conductance and the influence of gap junctions on impulse propagation. This is the first time that a single volume has described cell communication in the normal heart and under different pathological conditions such as heart failure, coronary disease, myocardial ischemia and cardiac arrhythmias. In this way the process of cell communication is analyzed at different levels of complexity, providing the reader with a wide view of this field and its relevance to cardiology.

Since the first concepts of gene therapy were formulated, the hemopoietic system has been considered the most natural first target tissue for genetic manipulation. The reasons for this include the fact that a very large number of inherited disorders (including some of the most common disorders, such as the hemoglobinopathies) are disorders of the hemopoietic system, and the large amount of experience in hematopoietic transplantation biology. The consequence of this resulted in the first clinical trial of gene therapy in 1989, where two children suffering from severe combined immune deficiency (ADA-SCID) were transplanted with T-cells express- ing adenosine deaminase (the defective enzyme in patients with this disorder). The partial success of this treatment was perhaps responsible for undue optimism among those proposing other gene therapy treatments within the hematopoietic system, and it has since become clear that there are a number of technical and biological difficulties to overcome before hematopoietic gene therapy becomes a mainstream therapeutic strategy. The chapters in this book evaluate the need for gene therapy in the hematopoietic system, discuss how efficient gene transfer and expression can be achieved in the target cells, highlight areas of difficulty to be addressed, and examine a number of potential applications of the gene therapy approach. The book begins with a chapter by Testa and colleagues, discussing the various sources of hematopoietic cells for both transplantation and gene therapy.

Despite recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of various cardiac illnesses, including ischemic, valvular and cardiomyopathic disease, the most cost-effective means of employing laboratory testing and treatment modalities remains an issue in most practice settings. With the advent of managed care and vigilant third-party payer evaluation of the use of diagnostic tests and hospital length of stay, the most effective medical and economic method of managing everyday cardiac illness is a question that arises daily in practice. To this end, we have selected well-known and widely published experts in cardiac diagnosis and therapy to develop practical and informative approaches outlining the most cost-effective methods of patient management. The topics include the entire range of cardiac diseases and emphasize the economic impact on decision-making. We develop guidelines and present general strategies for the practicing cardiologist and general internist. Additionally, the editors, who have 10 years of experience in this area, discuss the methods necessary to bring critical pathways and practice guidelines into clinical use. Both hospital and out-patient phases of illness are considered. Special concerns of hospital, private practice managed care and group practice settings are specifically addressed.

Growth Hormone is a fitting addition to the Endocrine Updates Series. The aim of these publications is to provide the clinician with cutting-edge, yet succinct, access to the latest advances in endocrinology. Current interest in this rapidly evolving area of endocrinology makes this a timely and important update. Growth Hormone joins Dr. Fagin's Thyroid Cancer in continuing the standard of excellence as the fourth volume in this series of topical updates. Shlomo Melmed, MD, Series Editor, Endocrine Updates Ten years ago, many endocrinologists were still skeptical that growth hormone (GH) played an active role in adult metabolism. This is, perhaps, surprising given that GH deficiency (GHD) in adulthood had been `recognized' as long ago as the 1960s. During the last ten years studies have shown that GHD in adulthood is a far-reaching syndrome associated with abnormal body composition, reduced bone mineral density with an increased fracture rate, increased cardiovascular morbidity and impaired cardiac function, as well as reduced exercise performance and decreased psychological well-being. Importantly, it is also clear, from placebo-controlled trials, that GH replacement therapy can normalize body composition, increase bone mineral content and improve the cardiovascular risk factor profile. GH replacement therapy also improves cardiac performance and exercise capacity, increases muscle strength and improves well-being and quality of life. The aim of Growth Hormone is to provide a critical update of current knowledge about adult GHD and the future role of GH/IGF-1 in adult medicine. For this purpose, contributions from a number of research groups have been invited. It is my hope that the book may not only serve as an introduction to the field, but also stimulate further research within this exciting area.

Field-Programmable Custom Computing Technology: Architectures, Tools, and Applications brings together in one place important contributions and up-to-date research results in this fast-moving area. In seven selected chapters, the book describes the latest advances in architectures, design methods, and applications of field-programmable devices for high-performance reconfigurable systems. The contributors to this work were selected from the leading researchers and practitioners in the field. It will be valuable to anyone working or researching in the field of custom computing technology. It serves as an excellent reference, providing insight into some of the most challenging issues being examined today.

Proceedings of the 4th Bari Seminar in Nephrology, April 25-28, 1990

It is a pleasure to be involved in yet another edition the enforcement system and its officers, and the of the Food Industries Manual, and to know that the appearance of many more consultants, advisors and training specialists all claiming to assist manu- book remains in sufficiently high demand for a new edition to be necessary. The work of revision and facturers in the discharge of what are described as updating has been rewarding to us and we hope that new and onerous duties. In reaction to all this, food the result will be found at least equally helpful to manufacturers are learning so to order their opera- those who use it. tions that their reliability and their commitment to In the five years since the last edition the growth quality and good workmanship can be routinely of the chilled foods sector, in both quantity and demonstrated. The touchstone of this has become quality-with much more refrigeration available accreditation of the manufacturer's systems by an and in use, with close control of refrigeration tem- independent authority, for instance that they peratures, storage times, storage temperatures, conform with the International Standard for tra?Sport conditions and display conditions, and Quality Systems, ISO 9000, or its British Standard with better information on labels and elsewhere equivalent, BS 5750. These and related matters are about shelf life and the handling of products-has dealt with in another new Chapter, on Food Issues.

Organisational semiotics is a discipline that is concerned with the interrelationships between individuals and groups, and between humans and technology, functioning in organisations and society. Organisational semiotics opens up the prospect of theory-building and the development of new methods and techniques to gain insights into organised behaviour and enacted social practices, in the presence and absence of various technologies. It shares common interests with many other approaches to information and organisations, such as computer science, computational semiotics, organisational engineering, and language action perspective. The common vision shared by these approaches is to treat organisations and related information systems and technologies within a unified semiotic framework, with particular reference to the huge range of issues that elude many traditional disciplines. The analysis and design of information systems develops methods for solving the practical problems but offers no rigorous, theoretical foundation for them or how information functions within and between organisations. The semiotic perspective accommodates the individual and the social, the human and the technical, intra- and inter-organisational interactions, at a level of detail that is required in the study, modelling, design, and engineering of new and alternative organisational and technical systems. This perspective is outlined in the chapter presentations of Information, Organisation and Technology.

In 1992 Acoustic Microscopy was published by Oxford University Press, in the series of Monographs on the Physics and Chemistry of Materials. Reviews appeared in the Journal of Microscopy [169 (1), 91] and in Contemporary Physics [33 (4), 296]. At the time of going to press, it seemed that the field of acoustic microscopy had settled down from the wonderful developments in resolution that had been seen in the late seventies and the early eighties and from the no less exciting developments in quantitative elastic measurements that had followed. One reviewer wrote, "e;The time is ripe for such a book, now that the expansion of the subject has perceptively slowed after it was detonated by Lemons and Quate. "e; [A. Howie, Proc. RMS 27 (4), 280]. In many ways, this remains true. The basic design for both imaging and quantitative instruments is well-established; the upper frequency for routine imaging is the 2 GHz established by the Ernst Leitz scanning acoustic microscope (ELSAM) in 1984. For the most accurate V(z) measurements, the 225-MHz line-focus-beam lens, developed at Tohoku Univer- sity a little before then, remains standard. The principles of the contrast theory have been confirmed by abundant experience; in particular the role of surface acoustic waves, such as Rayleigh waves, dominates the contrast in most high- resolution studies of many materials.

From somewhat enigmatic beginnings 40 years ago, guanylate cyclase research has emerged to occupy a position of prominence in the study of signal transduction. Guanylate cyclase has several intriguing features, including existence in two major forms, membrane and soluble, each independently regulated by distinct mechanisms. The membrane form gives rise to a fascinating signal transduction story important to both peptide hormones and sensory neurons. This volume covers the evolution of the field, peptide hormone receptor work, membrane guanylate cycles, related retinal diseases, and the biochemistry and physiology of the soluble form. The 16 chapters are written by leaders in the field.

The FIRST MEXICAN MEETING ON MATHEMATICAL AND EXPERI- MENTAL PHYSICS was held at EL COLEGIO NACIONAL in Mexico City, Mexico, from September 10 to 14, 2001. This event consisted of the LEOPOLDO GARciA-COLIN SCHERER Medal Lecture, delivered by Prof. Nicholas G. van Kampen, a series of plenary talks by Leopoldo Garcia- CoHn, GUnter Nimtz, Luis F. Rodriguez, Ruoon Barrera, and Donald Saari, and of three parallel symposia, namely, Cosmology and Gravita- tion, Statistical Physics and Beyond, and Hydrodynamics and Dynam- ical Systems. The response from the Physics community was enthusi- astic, with over 200 participants and around 80 speakers, from all over the world: USA, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Holland, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain, and Hungary. The main aim of the conference is to provide a scenario to Mexican researchers on the topics of Mathematical and Experimental Physics in order to keep them in contact with work going on in other parts of the world and at the same time to motivate and support the young and mid- career researchers from our country. To achieve this goal, we decided to invite as lecturers the most distinguished experts in the subjects of the conference and to give the opportunity to young scientist to communi- cate the results of their work. The plan is to celebrate this international endeavor every three years.

The isolation of leptin in 1994 and its characterization as a factor influencing appetite, energy balance, and adiposity, immediately thrust the polypeptide into the rapidly growing body of literature centered on the physiology of obesity. The growing clinical awareness of obesity as a major health risk in developed societies dovetailed perfectly with any of a number of roles that leptin might play in this abenant physiological condition. Almost unnoticed amidst the excitement generated by early leptin publications was the suggestion that the "e;fat hormone"e; might also regulate a wide range of systems and events important to reproduction, including pubertal development, gonadal endocrinology, fettility, and pregnancy. Recognizing this potential, a relatively small cadre of researchers began to examine leptin specifically as a reproductive hormone, thus creating a new and fertile field of investigation. Interest in this area has since gained momentum and an increased number of participants have now made significant contributions to our understanding of many leptin-related mechanisms that are relevant to reproductive biology. Leptin and Reproduction is the first major volume to specifically address leptin as a reproductive hormone and closely examines the advances made in the short time since this field of interest developed. Preeminent researchers ti'om many of the subdisciplines working within this area present a welcomed compendium of the wealth of related literature and voice novel interpretations of cun'ent advances.

Where do you begin to look for a recent, authoritative article on the diagnosis or management ofa particular malignancy? The few general onco- logy textbooks are generally out of date. Single papers in specialized journals are informative but seldom comprehensive; these are more often prelimi- nary reports on a very limited number of patients. Certain general journals frequently publish good indepth reviews of cancer topics, and published symposium lectures are often the best overviews available. Unfortunately, these reviews and supplements appear sporadically, and the reader can nev- er be sure when a topic of special interest will be covered. Cancer Treatment and Research is a series of authoritative volumes which aim to meet this need. It is an attempt to establish a critical mass of oncology literature covering virtually all oncology topics, revised frequently to keep the coverage up to date, easily available on a single library shelf or by a single personal subscription. We have approached the problem in the following fashion. First, by div- iding the oncology literature into specific subdividions such as lung cancer, genitourinary cancer, pediatric oncology, etc. Second, by asking eminent authorities in each of these areas to edit a volume on the specific topic on an annual or biannual basis. Each topic and tumor type is covered in a volume appearing frequently and predictably, discussing current diagnosis, staging, markers, all forms of treatment modalities, basic biology, and more.

The initial observations of dialytic support were brought from the laboratory and confined to patients with reversible acute renal failure. The thought at that time was one of short term maintenance. It was theorized that removal of waste products from the blood, albeit incomplete and inefficient, might allow these patients time to regenerate damaged tubules and regain renal function. After a dis- appointing earlier experience in survival, greater sophisti- cation and broader practice refined the dialysis skills and reduced mortality. It also became apparent that long periods of support were possible and successful attempts were then made in utilizing this technology in patients with chronic renal failure. These early young patients were a very select group who possessed only renal dysfunction and no other systemic involvement. Nonetheless, they demonstrated a one year survival of only 55-64%. There are presently over 80,000 patients on dialytic support in the United States and over 250,000 patients worldwide dependent on artificial replace- ment. Mortality statistics vary but despite a 20-30% systemic disease involvement and a fifth decade average age in the North American experience, the one year survival has risen to apparently 90%.

The volume, devoted to variational analysis and its applications, collects selected and refereed contributions, which provide an outline of the field. The meeting of the title "e;Equilibrium Problems and Variational Models"e;, which was held in Erice (Sicily) in the period June 23 - July 2 2000, was the occasion of the presentation of some of these papers; other results are a consequence of a fruitful and constructive atmosphere created during the meeting. New results, which enlarge the field of application of variational analysis, are presented in the book; they deal with the vectorial analysis, time dependent variational analysis, exact penalization, high order deriva- tives, geometric aspects, distance functions and log-quadratic proximal methodology. The new theoretical results allow one to improve in a remarkable way the study of significant problems arising from the applied sciences, as continuum model of transportation, unilateral problems, multicriteria spatial price models, network equilibrium problems and many others. As noted in the previous book "e;Equilibrium Problems: Nonsmooth Optimization and Variational Inequality Models"e;, edited by F. Giannessi, A. Maugeri and P.M. Pardalos, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Vol. 58 (2001), the progress obtained by variational analysis has permitted to han- dle problems whose equilibrium conditions are not obtained by the mini- mization of a functional. These problems obey a more realistic equilibrium condition expressed by a generalized orthogonality (complementarity) con- dition, which enriches our knowledge of the equilibrium behaviour. Also this volume presents important examples of this formulation.

The book focuses on the latest discoveries on calreticulin, calnexin and other endoplasmic reticulum proteins. Calreticulin has been implicated to affect diverse cellular function and play a role in many pathologies including protein folding disorders, cardiac pathologies, cancer and autoimmunity. This book contains contributions from the world leaders in the area of endoplasmic reticulum function, protein folding, Calcium homeostasis and autoimmunity. It raises many intriguing questions about calreticulin, calnexin and the endoplasmic reticulum and gives a unique opportunity to realize the significance of these calcium-binding chaperones. The book is unique in every respect and we are not aware of any other publication focusing on these aspects of endoplasmic reticulum biology. Because of a central role of endoplasmic reticulum, calreticulin and calnexin in virtually all cellular functions, the book should be of interest to everyone in the biological sciences.

It is now over one hundred years since von Behring and Kitsato first concluded experiments that led to the use of passive immunisation, employing antibodies raised in animals against tetanus and diphtheria toxins. The advancement of technology both in manufacturing purity product in a cost effective way and the clinical research has proved that antibodies are one ofthe most successful products in biotechnology. Monoclonal antibodies account for between one-third and one-halfof all pharmaceutical products in development and human clinical trials. Both the nature of monoclonal antibody therapies and the relatively large size of the monoclonal antibody dictate the production requirements, for many ofthese therapeutics the monoclonal antibody product will be 100 kilogrammes or more per year. It is widely acknowledged that there is currently a worldwide shortage of biomanufacturing capacity, and the active pharmaceutical ingredient material requirements for these products are expected to increase. Thus the industry is looking for new sources and extensive studies are being carried out not only for alternative technology to meet the needs but also to reveal the new therapeutic applicationsofantibodies. This book brings to the forefront current advances in novel technologies for the manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies and also their extensive clinical importance. The first four chapters give an overview of the new technologies and the successful application in the manufacture of monoclonal antibodies with clinical purity. The next chapters address the application of antibodies in cancer therapy and functional genomic therapy.

Kidney Transplantation: A Guide to the Care of Transplant Recipients is an easy to read, up to date, clinical resource written by experts in the field of kidney transplantation. The book explains how donors and recipients are selected for transplantation, how the surgical procedure is performed, and how the experts recognize and treat rejection.Clearly illustrated chapters show how the immune system works in the setting of transplantation and how immunosuppressive medications prevent rejection of the transplanted kidney; knowledge essential for the proper care of the transplant recipient.The acute and long-term care of the patient is described from the perspective not only of proper immunosuppressive medication management, but also from the perspective of comorbidities most common to transplanted patients, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, infectious diseases, malignancies, and bone disease. Special issues that impact the care of the transplant recipient, such as unusual donor sources, nonadherence and insurability are also addressed in separate chapters.This comprehensive practical guide to transplant patient care is an essential source for the practicing community nephrologist that cares for transplanted patients, as well as medical and surgical residents and fellows in training.Clear illustrations as well a therapeutic algorithms complement the text, making this an easy to read, up to date source on the clinical practice of kidney transplantation.

The standard rationality hypothesis is that behaviour can be represented as the maximization of a suitably restricted utility function. This hypothesis lies at the heart of a large body of recent work in economics, of course, but also in political science, ethics, and other major branches of the social sciences. Though this hypothesis of utility maximization deserves our continued respect, finding further refinements and developing new critiques remain areas of active research. In fact, many fundamental conceptual problems remain unsettled. Where others have been resolved, their resolutions may be too recent to have achieved widespread understanding among social scientists. Last but not least, a growing number of papers attempt to challenge the rationality hypothesis head on, at least in its more orthodox formulation. The main purpose of this Handbook is to make more widely available some recent developments in the area. Yet we are well aware that the final chapter of a handbook like this can never be written as long as the area of research remains active, as is certainly the case with utility theory. The editors originally selected a list of topics that seemed ripe enough at the time that the book was planned. Then they invited contributions from researchers whose work had come to their attention. So the list of topics and contributors is largely the editors' responsibility, although some potential con- tributors did decline our invitation. Each chapter has also been refereed, and often significantly revised in the light of the referees' remarks.

This book provides basic information and different protocols associated with the Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) and their symbiotic bacteria. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) of the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis and their associated bacterial symbionts Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus aid nematode infective juveniles (IJs) in infecting and killing their insect hosts, creating a unique tripartite complex of host-vector-symbiont interactions. Due to this insect killing capability, EPNs are used as biological control agents of economically important insect pests. They are also a model system to study host-parasite interactions.It provides a systematic approach to various nematode procedures including pathogenicity, reproduction, foraging behaviour. It gives a brief outline on historical aspects, nematode-bacterium complex, biology and chemical ecology of EPNs. It concisely describes host insect rearing, nematode samplingand storage, isolation techniques, counting, handling and staining of nematodes, characterization including morphological, molecular and ecological studies, mass production, virulence bioassay, field application and efficacy. The book also includes methods and techniques for their associated symbiotic bacteria.This book serves as a laboratory manual and assists the readers to undertake advanced research in different aspects related to nematodes. It is useful for researchers in the fields of nematology, microbiology, bacteriology and entomology.

Cytokines had been characterized in the early eighties as communication mole- cules between immune cells, and between immunocytes and other peripheral cells, such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells. They play a key role in the regulation of the immune response and the coordination of the host response to infection. Based on these biological properties, nobody would have predicted that one decade later cytokines would burst upon neurosciences and permeate into several avenues of current research. In neurology, the connection between cytokines and inflammation, and the demonstration of a pivotal role of some of these molecules in cell death by apoptosis, prompted the investigation of their involvement in several neurological diseases involving an inflammatory component, including multiple sclerosis, brain trauma, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. This movement started in the late eighties, and the corresponding field of research, known as neuroimmunology, is presently booming. In psychiatry, however, the relationship between cytokines and mental disorders was much less evident and took longer to materialize. The first indication that cytokines might be involved in psychopathology came from cancerology and internal medicine.

Our current era of globalization, war, and socioeconomic unrest has revealed public health as a worldwide concern and a major frontier for social justice with maternal and child health at its epicenter. Yet, there has been a relative scarcity of training resources specifically dedicated to this crucial area. "e;Maternal and Child Health: Global Challenges, Programs, and Policies"e; addresses this gap in current knowledge by analyzing the range of socioeconomic and environmental factors, health care disparities, politics, policies, and cultural practices that impact the health and safety of mothers, as well as the well-being and optimum development of their children.Individual sections focus on unequal distribution of the world's resources, politics and power, specific disease concerns, programs, policies and emerging concerns with a focus on what is currently being done, and what needs to be done to improve the health status of women, children, and adolescents. The book's contributors are some of the world's most respected experts, carefully selected to represent different global geographic regions and diverse professional disciplines related to maternal and child health from both academic and field practice perspectives.Among the topics in this authoritative volume: The impact of war, globalization, gender inequity, and harmful traditional practices (e.g., female genital mutilation). Specific health concerns, including tuberculosis, malaria, HIV, and malnutrition. Child and adolescent health issues, from abuse and neglect to children in difficult circumstances. Pregnancy-related issues: safety, abortion and post-abortion care, teen pregnancy, and more. Strategies for planning, developing, and maintaining maternal and child health systems in developing countries. The status of global initiatives, such as Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses and the Millennium Development Goals. The status of evidence-based maternal and child health in the developing world. With such a wealth of information on both practical and conceptual levels, "e;Maternal and Child Health: Global Challenges, Programs, and Policies"e; is as relevant to students and researchers in the field as it is to policy makers and those working for global health and development organizations. It also makes an excellent stand-alone text for courses in global health in general and global maternal and child health in particular.