Bøger udgivet af Kluwer Academic Publishers

This color atlas details the macroscopic and microscopic findings possible within synovial fluid and explains their diagnostic significance. A discussion of joints, joint structure, joint disease, and normal synovial fluid is followed by a section on technical aspects of synovial fluid examination.

This manual provides general information about molecular techniques relevant to molecular ecological research. Attention is paid to the use of molecular methods for studying the fate of genetically modified and native microorganisms in the environment.

Concentrations of pollutants in the atmosphere have increased dramatically over the last century and many of these changes are attributable to anthropogenic activities. The influence of acid rain has been well studied, but there has been no extensive exploration of other pollutants, such as toxic chemicals, heavy metals and radionuclides. Natural ecosystems, especially forests, tend to accumulate many of these pollutants which subsequently can affect ecosystem health. These contaminants may be very damaging to the environment in Eastern Europe, where the rapid disappearance of forest is the result not only of contamination but also of poor forest management practices. This book provides a study of this complex subject.

Genomic instability is a major threat to living organisms. To counteract the damaging effects posed by endogenous and environmental agents, such as chemicals or radiation, micro-organisms devote several percent of their genome to encode proteins that function in the repair and recombination of DNA. For many years, a relatively small group of scientists have carefully delineated the molecular mechanisms of these repair processes, using the simplest model systems available, namely Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These studies, which until recently had only moderate impact outside of the field, now provide the cornerstone for exciting new research into analogous processes in human cells. The reason for this is the revelation that the biochemical pathways for the accurate replication, repair and recombination of DNA have been conserved through evolution.

This text is an up-to-date review of current knowledge in the field of multiple drug resistance in human cancer. The literature up to the middle of 1993 is surveyed in specialist chapters written by different experts.

The Acid Rain 2000 Conference in Tsukuba, Japan, held 10-16 December 2000, was the sixth such conference in the series, starting with Columbus, Ohio, USA, in 1975, and including Sandefjord, Norway, in 1980, Muskoka, Canada, in 1985, Glasgow, UK, in 1990, and Goteborg, Sweden, in 1995. This series of International Conferences on the acid rain problem has made a very important contribution to the process of summarizing the state of current understanding and making this information available. In the 6th Conference, approximately 600 papers were presented, including talks and posters. About 300 peer-reviewed papers from the presentation appear in this volume, and will provide readers with a comprehensive review of the history and scientific aspects of the acid rain problem. The papers appear in three volumes: the first containing the plenary and keynote papers and the other two the remaining scientific papers.

This is a book which offers practical advice about the performance and interpretation of stress echocardiography. Illustrations are offered to assist with learning the process of interpretation. The author has a broad background in non-invasive testing for coronary disease.

The proceedings of a symposium in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, in November 1993, comprising 21 overviews of issues of interest to cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiovascular perfusionists, and other medical and nursing professionals engaged in the care of cardiac surgery patients. The topics include v

Scientists from a broad range of disciplines met in Rome in March 1994 to share their findings and thought on the generalized group of demyelinating diseases multiple sclerosis, leukodystrophies, and encephalomyelitis from both experimental and clinical perspectives. The 27 papers discuss myelin gen

David Dickinson is a household name, the king of the catchphrase, undisputed darling of daytime TV and a rising star. He's a respected antiques expert and exudes a taste for the finer things in life. But the road to his success has not been as smooth as his patter and he's learnt a lot at the school of hard knocks.

Modulated crystals have been intensively investigated over the past several years, and it is now evident that an understanding of their crystallography and microstructure is fundamental to the elucidation of the physical properties and phase transitions in these materials.

Turbellaria, the mainly free-living flatworms, and some of their parasitic relatives, are among the simplest of the metazoa and, as such, provide ideal models for a wide range of fundamental studies. The 60 contributions in this text cover areas such as: taxonomy and phylogeny; biogeography and genetics; ecology and behaviour; anatomy and ultrastructure; development and regeneration; genes and sequences; and neurophysiology.

This text is designed as a primer for anyone seeking an introduction to efficiency and productivity analysis. It is a systematic treatment of four methodologies in Efficiency/Production Analysis: (a) Least-Squares Econometric Production Models, (b) Total Factor Productivity (TFP) Indices, (c) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), and (d) Stochastic Frontiers. Each method is discussed thoroughly. First, the basic elements of each method are discussed using models to illustrate the method's fundamentals, and, second, the discussion is expanded to treat the extensions and varieties of each method's uses. Finally, one or more case studies are provided as a full illustration of how each methodology can be used. In addition, all four methodologies will be linked in the book's presentation by examining the advantages and disadvantages of each method and the problems to which each method can be most suitably applied. The book offers a unified text presentation of methods that should be of use to students, researchers and practitioners who work in the growing area of Efficiency/Productivity Analysis.

Fission track dating is based on the microscopic observation and counting of etchable tracks left by the spontaneous fission of uranium in minerals. Since its development in 1963 the method attracted a steadily growing interest from geologists and geochronologists throughout the world. Apart from its relative experimental ease the success must be mainly ascribed to the specific ability of the method of unravelling the thermal and tectonic history of rocks, a potential which only became fully exploited during the last decade with the systematic introduction of track size analysis.

This is the second volume of a series of eight volumes together entitled Encyclopedia of Language and Education. It attempts to overview an area which has recently emerged, and draws on some 25 state-of-the-art reviews of current concerns in the study of literacy prepared by leading writers and researchers.

This text is based on a joint symposium organized by the Departments of Cardiology, Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine of the University Hospital Leiden and the Cleveland Clinical International Center. Both centers have a long-standing reputation in the various aspects of cardiac imaging techniques and in their clinical applications. Faculty members from each of the two centers have written reviews in those areas in which they have experience, selecting advances in imaging techniques in ischemic heart disease as the central topic. All major imaging techniques are addressed: echocardiography, cardiovascular nuclear medicine, magnetic resonance, and contrast angiography. All chapters are written with the appropriate technique as well as the specific disease in mind. Recent developments in the field mean that the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease has become more accurate, with an inherent improvement in patient management. The book should help the physician differentiate and recognize the viability of the myocardium in ischemic heart disease.

This text covers basic notions in logic, with a particular stress on proof theory, as opposed to, for example, model theory or set theory. It shows how they are applied in computer science, and especially the particular field of automated deduction. That is to say, the automated search for proofs of mathematical propositions.

In this study, the role of several imaging techniques in diagnosing atherosclerosis, assessment of myocardial ischemia, myocardial viability, and heart failure are broadly discussed. The issues derived from cardiac PET are presented in relation to the conventional techniques, such as echocardiography, SPECT and MRI. In addition, newer imaging techniques such as intracoronary ultrasound, electron beam computed tomography, and Raman spectroscopy are given wide attention. The effects of drug treatment, such as anti-ischemic and lipid-lowering drugs, are also evaluated.

This work gives a comprehensive overview of our present molecular biological knowledge about the Rhizobiaceae, which can be called the best studied family of soil bacteria in the late 20th century. For many centuries they have attracted the attention of scientists because of their capacity to associate with plants and as a consequence also to specifically modify plant development. Some of these associations are beneficial for the plant, as is the case for the Rhizobiaceae subgroups collectively called rhizobia, which are able to fix nitrogen in a symbiosis with the plant hosts. This symbiosis results in the formation of root or stem nodules, as illustrated on the front cover. In contrast, several Rhizobiaceae subgroups can negatively affect plant development and evoke plant diseases. Examples are Agrobacterium tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes which induce the formation of crown galls or hairy roots on the stems of their host plants, respectively.

This work is a comprehensive collection of articles that cover aspects of cell wall research in the genomic era. Some 2500 genes are involved in some way in wall biogenesis and turnover, from generation of substrates, to polysaccharide and lignin synthesis, assembly, and rearrangement in the wall. Although a great numberof genes and gene families remain to be characterized, this issue provides a census of the genes that have been discovered so far. The articles comprising this issue not only illustrate the enormous progress made in identifying the wealth of wall-related genes but they also show the future directions and how far we have to go. As cell walls are an enormously important source of raw material, we anticipate that cell-wall-related genes are of significant economic importance. Examples include the modification of pectin-cross-linking or cell-cell adhesion to increase shelf life of fruits and vegetables, the enhancement of dietary fiber contents of cereals, the improvement of yield and quality of fibers, and the relative allocation of carbon to wall biomass for use as biofuels.

Presents a method for the analysis of ecological ecosystems using numerical models. The work describes the development of these models by means of relational diagrams and rate equations. The calculation of the dynamic behaviour of the models is studied through small computer programs.

Presenting ecological, biological and epidemiological aspects of invasive species, as well as the problem of disease organisms for agriculture and human health, this book gives a background to the global strategy for managing invasive alien species which now is being developed by SCOPE and UNEP.

This comprehensive work reviews the neurobiological organization of the vertebrate outer retina with an emphasis on mammalian systems. An international team of contributors discuss the ways in which outer retinal neurones (photoreceptor, bipolar and horizontal cells) and their interconnections are disrupted in clinical conditions such as Parkinson's disease, paraneoplastic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa and other retinal dystrophies.

Recently, attention has been called to the role that microvascular organization plays in the functional morphology of all organs and tissues, both in normal and pathological conditions.

This work is concerned with the problems of whether a utility concept that is cardinal, in so far as ratios between utility differences are significant, exists or not and whether it is useful, e.g. in creating testable models of behaviour, or whether a merely ordinal preference function will do for all purposes.

In the last few years, derivatives of L-carnitine, such as acetyl-L-carnitine and propionyl-L-carnitine, have been made available to doctors for treatment of specific pathologies. The effects of this family of related carnitine compounds on cardiovascular systems and diseases constitute the major issue addressed in this book. This text provides the reader with a concise update in this field. The information collected from experts on various aspects of carnitine should be useful for both clinicians and basic scientists.

This atlas should enable users to identify arthropods of medical and public health importance and to assess their significance; it will also assist in the accurate diagnosis of the patient's condition and the prevention of recurrence.