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This volume presents recent biotechnological advances in the application of extremophiles in sustainable agricultural production, plant health and soil remediation. It highlights the physiology and biochemistry of extremophiles to ensure their survival and adaptation under stressful agricultural conditions, as well as their ecological diversity and taxonomical attributes that allow them to be useful in improving abiotic and biotic tolerance among crops. The chapters cover genomic, metagenomic and metabolomic approaches for improving crop production, biocontrol, nutrient solubilization and soil health to ensure food and nutrition security in a sustainable manner in difficult growing environments. The book will be useful for students and researchers studying soil and plant management, sustainable agriculture, microbiology and biochemistry.

Therapeutic breathwork has become an important component of many healthcare and psychotherapeutic interventions, as well as being an essential aspect of yoga practices based in ancient wisdom traditions. Despite growing popularity of integrating breathing practices into healthcare and yoga therapeutics, many healthcare providers and yoga professionals lack depth of knowledge about the biomechanics, biochemistry, and psychophysiology of breathing. This dearth of wisdom can result in breathing practices based on prevailing myths and misconceptions about breath and breathing, and often leads to one-size-fits-all approaches to breathwork that can be detrimental for particular clients or contexts. Therapeutic Breathwork: Clinical Science and Practice in Healthcare and Yoga offers a different approach: it translates respiratory science and ancient wisdom into practical guidance for therapeutic breathwork that is individually tailored and person-centered. This book encourages a four-part process of understanding the challenges of the person being served, carefully assessing context and root causes of presented challenges, co-creating clear goals and optimistic motivation, and offering breath, breathing, and breathwork practices that are optimally designed based on this understanding of each breather's context and personhood. The text familiarizes healthcare providers and yoga professionals who use therapeutic breathwork in their clinical practice with the science, psychology, and yoga-based pedagogy of breath and breathing. It discusses modern respiratory science in great depth, inviting learners to apply these principles practically and flexibly to create accessible, tailored, and person-centered therapeutic breathwork practices. Practical considerations are outlined for a variety of breathing practices and discussed to optimize accessibility and tailoring across the diverse patient and student populations represented in healthcare, yoga settings, and other therapeutic contexts. It offers providers clear instructions, person-centered guidelines, suggestions for cuing, sample intervention scripts, and guidance for adapting and tailoring breathwork to the bioindividuality and diversity of clients, patients, and yoga students. Therapeutic Breathwork: Clinical Science and Practice in Healthcare and Yoga advocates for an interactive, reciprocal, and compassionate relationship between provider and client in the therapy or medical office and yoga classroom. It serves as a guide to breathwork and breathing practices for healthcare providers, yoga professionals, and advanced yoga practitioners who want to use breathwork to enhance personal and collective health and resilience, in the contexts of healthcare, self-care, and therapeutic yoga.

Published in the Series Encyclopedia of Indian Religions, this volume is devoted to Christianity in India, where it has had a long presence, going back to the time of the apostles of Jesus Christ. Divided into two parts, this volume focuses on the history, origin, organizations and local engagements, belief system, worship practices, Rites, Rituals, Christian life, Contributions, Spirituality and a few of the main doctrinal items. The Second Part covers the doctrinal and theological arena. It examines the earlier phase of the history of Christianity starting with the traditional belief of the arrival of St. Thomas in AD 52, moving to the periods of its association with the Chaldean church, the Portuguese, the Dutch, English and so on. This volume highlights the missionary activities of persons like St. Francis Xavier, the creative contributions made to the inter-religious dialogue by such people as Roberto de Nobili (1577-1656) and Swami Abhishiktananda (1910-1973), the linguistic and educational contributions of some of the pioneers like the German Jesuit Johanne Ernst Hanxleden (known as Arnos Padiri) (1681-1732), Herman Gundert (1814-1893), St. Elias Kuriakos Chavara (1805-1871), and, a fortiori, the enormous contributions in the healthcare area throughout the country. Caring for and serving the socio-economically marginalized ones, the peripheralized people formed an integral part of the Christian activity In India, as it is done even today. This is highlighted very much in the volume. It, further, explores the contact India had with European Christianity, showing that European Christianity proved to have wider influence in the Norther part of India, unlike India's early episodic encounters with Palestinian and Persian forms of Christianity, which had deep influence in the Southern part of India. The volume also highlights the inner struggle among the followers resulting even in its division originating at the Synod of Diamper in 1599 manifesting, by and large, the Church-state ‘love and hate'relationships. In fine, in spite of the drawbacks of putting the herculean task of two thousand years of history in eight hundred pages or so, this volume gives a rather comprehensive view of Christianity in India especially to those who are unfamiliar with its life and dynamics in the Indian context. The wide range of photographs, especially of the churches revealing the architectural beauty and multiplicity along with the ensample of art and paintings and pilgrimage centers adds to the enrichment of the volume.

This book discusses the applications of nanotechnology in clinical microbiology, food microbiology, and green solutions of nanoparticles using microorganisms for a range of benefits. It describes nanotechnology's rapid progress in the development of materials used in industry, medicine, drug delivery, and dentistry. The authors further explore how microbiology and nanotechnology separately have proven to be effective for human health solutions keeping an ecological and environmental balance. Domains covered include environmental microbiology, medical microbiology, food microbiology (to control food spoilage), biosynthesis of nanomaterials using microorganisms, water microbiology, nanofluidic devices for isolation and analysis of individual biomolecules such as DNA that can lead to a new detection scheme for cancer, and various fields such as pharmacy, clinical research, agriculture etc. This book will be essential reading to a wide range of scholars and researchers interestedin microbiology along with nanotechnology applications for efficient solutions to cancer detection, biosensors, vaccines research, agriculture, wastewater management etc.

This book aims to provide a comprehensive study on various aspects of environmental pollution dynamics using geospatial technology and modeling techniques. The utility of geospatial technology will be demonstrated for the effective study of environmental pollution, as space and location are very important for effective environmental health surveillance. The timeliness of the work is due to the increasing relevance of geospatial technology applications in environmental health investigations. Moreover, different types of pollution are covered in detail, including air and soil, all of which are analyzed using latest Remote Sensing and GIS technology. The basics of environmental pollution and its impacts are covered in the book's first part, while the second part focuses on the use of geospatial technology in investigating and modeling various instances of environmental pollution. The third part discusses policy measures for mitigating environmental pollution hazards, usinggeospatial analyses and data to craft informed policy decisions. The primary audience for the book is researchers working in the field of environmental pollution with incorporation of geospatial technology, including upper-level undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in remote sensing and its environmental applications. The secondary audience is academicians, planners, environmentalists and policymakers working in the field of environment protection and management.

This book gathers the proceedings of the 16th IFToMM World Congress, which was held in Tokyo, Japan, on November 5–10, 2023. Having been organized every four years since 1965, the Congress represents the world's largest scientific event on mechanism and machine science (MMS). The contributions cover an extremely diverse range of topics, including biomechanical engineering, computational kinematics, design methodologies, dynamics of machinery, multibody dynamics, gearing and transmissions, history of MMS, linkage and mechanical controls, robotics and mechatronics, micro-mechanisms, reliability of machines and mechanisms, rotor dynamics, standardization of terminology, sustainable energy systems, transportation machinery, tribology and vibration. Selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, they highlight numerous exciting advances and ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster new multidisciplinary collaborations.Chapter “The Motion Suspension System – MSS: A Cable-Driven System for On-Ground Tests of Space Robots” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

​This handbook provides comprehensive and up-to-date information on the topic of scientific, industrial and legal metrology. It discusses the state-of-art review of various metrological aspects pertaining to redefinition of SI Units and their implications, applications of time and frequency metrology, certified reference materials, industrial metrology, industry 4.0, metrology in additive manufacturing, digital transformations in metrology, soft metrology and cyber security, optics in metrology, nano-metrology, metrology for advanced communication, environmental metrology, metrology in biomedical engineering, legal metrology and global trade, ionizing radiation metrology, advanced techniques in evaluation of measurement uncertainty, etc. The book has contributed chapters from world's leading metrologists and experts on the diversified metrological theme. The internationally recognized team of editors adopt a consistent and systematic approach and writing style, includingample cross reference among topics, offering readers a user-friendly knowledgebase greater than the sum of its parts, perfect for frequent consultation. Moreover, the content of this volume is highly interdisciplinary in nature, with insights from not only metrology but also mechanical/material science, optics, physics, chemistry, biomedical and more. This handbook is ideal for academic and professional readers in the traditional and emerging areas of metrology and related fields.

The field of kidney cancer has dramatically evolved over the past several years due to notable advances. Most importantly, systemic treatment options have expanded to include combination regimens for advanced disease and expansion of treatment options in the adjuvant setting. Additionally, surgical management has evolved towards nephron-sparing and minimally invasive approaches for treatment of localized disease; the role of surgery and focal therapy are changing for patients with advanced disease. While kidney cancer is a common malignancy in both men and women worldwide, mortality has improved over time given advancements in modern oncology. This book provides a comprehensive, state-of-the art review of the field, and serves as a valuable resource for clinicians, surgeons and researchers with an interest in kidney cancer. The book reviews new data about systemic treatment options for patients with advanced disease including strategies in the treatment naïve and post frontline setting. It covers new data regarding perioperative and adjuvant treatments for patients with localized disease and will highlight novel targets and treatments under development. Integration of surgery and systemic therapy through cytoreductive and consolidative approaches has yielded provocative data that promises to further advance the field, and major advances in this domain will also be discussed. Additionally, the book discusses the evolving role of alternative focal approaches including radiation therapy for patients with advanced disease. This text serves as a very useful resource for physicians and researchers dealing with and interested in this challenging malignancy. Specifically, urologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, basic science and translational researchers with interest in RCC, fellows in urologic oncology, upper level residents training in urology and medical oncology, and pharmaceutical partners interested in RCCwill benefit most significantly. Integrating Multidisciplinary Treatment for Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma will provide a concise yet comprehensive summary of strategies for sequencing therapies that will help guide patient care and stimulate investigative efforts.

The accumulation of large amounts of contaminants occurs in the environment due to industrialization and various other anthropogenic activities. Contaminants ultimately affect human health worldwide. Organic, inorganic, and radioactive substances are the prevalent forms of environmental contaminants and their complete remediation in soils and sediments is rather a difficult task. Concerns of their toxicities led to the emphasis on development of effective techniques to assess the presence and mobility of contaminants in air, water, and soil. Furthermore, the ever-increasing concentration of toxic pollutants in the environment is considered a serious threat to plant, animal, human, and environmental health.Many technologies are in use to clean and eliminate hazardous contaminants from the environment; however, these technologies can be costly, labor intensive, and often distressing to the general public. Phytoremediation is a simple, cost effective, environmentally friendly and fast-emerging new technology for eliminating toxic contaminants from different environments. Phytoremediation refers to the natural ability of certain plants and their associated microbiome (including hyper-accumulators or bio-accumulators) to remove, degrade, or render contaminants harmless. Through this technique, certain species of plants flourish by accumulating contaminants present in the environment. The unique and selective uptake capabilities of plant root and shoot systems, effective translocation, bioaccumulation, and contaminant degradation capabilities of the accumulator plants are utilized in phytoremediation techniques. Phytotechnologies involving the use of plants for contaminant removal gained importance during the last two decades and phytoremediation technology became an effective tool for environmental detoxification because of plants ability to accumulate the contaminants at very high concentrations.Phytoremediation strategies can remove, degrade, or stabilize inorganic and organic contaminants entering a multitude of ecosystems using green plants and their associated microbial communities. The development and use of phytotechnologies continues to move forward at a steady pace. Researchers recognize the potential of phytoremediation to offer a green, cost effective, eco-friendly and feasible application to address some of the world's many environmental challenges. This book provides significant information to add to the previous volumes published on the topic and can serve as the foundation for the development of new applications that feature the integration of modern research discoveries into new methods to remediate contaminated ecosystems. Moreover, this volume brings recent and established knowledge on different aspects of phytoremediation and nano-phytoremediation, providing this information in a single source that offers a cutting-edge synthesis of scientific and experiential knowledge on polluted environments that is useful for policy makers, practitioners and scientists, and engineers.Phytoremediation: Management of Environmental Contaminants, Volume 7 highlights the various prospects that are involved in current global phytoremediation research. This book delivers a content-rich source to the reader and can act as a platform for further research studies. It should meet the needs of all researchers working in, or have an interest in this particular field.

People live in indoor environment about 90% of lifetime and an adult inhales about 15 kg air each day, over 75% of the human body's daily mass intake (air, food, water). Therefore, indoor air quality (IAQ) is very important to human health. This book provides the basic knowledge of IAQ and highlights the research achievements in the past two decades. It covers the following 12 sections: introduction, indoor air chemicals, indoor air particles, measurement and evaluation, source/sink characteristics, indoor chemistry, human exposure to indoor pollutants, health effects and health risk assessment, IAQ and cognitive performance, standards and guidelines, IAQ control, and air quality in various indoor environments. It provides a combination of an introduction to various aspects on IAQ studies, the current state-of-knowledge, various advances and the perspective of IAQ studies. It will be very helpful for the researchers and technicians in the IAQ and the related fields. It is also useful for experts in other fields and general readers who want to obtain a basic understanding of and research advances in the field of IAQ.A group of experts in IAQ research have been recruited to write the chapters. Their research interests and experience cover the scope of the book. In addition, some experienced experts in IAQ field have been invited as advisors or reviewers to give their comments, suggestions and revisions on the handbook framework and the chapter details. Their contribution guarantees the quality of the book. We are very grateful to them. Last but not least, we express our heartfelt thanks to Prof. Spengler, Harvard University, for writing the foreword of the current Handbook of Indoor Air Quality both as a pioneer scientist who contributed greatly to indoor air science and as an Editor-in-chief of Handbook of Indoor Air Quality 2001, 1st ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. In addition to hard copies, the book is also published online and will be updated by the authors as needed to keep it aligned with current knowledge. These salient features can make the handbook fresh with the research development.

This ambitious reference work focuses on social inclusion in health and social care and offers a good understanding of matters that include or exclude people in society.Social inclusion stems from the ideal of an inclusive society where each individual can feel valued, differences between individuals are respected, needs of each person are met, and everyone can live with dignity as “the norm”. Social inclusion can explain why some individuals are situated at the centre of society or at its margins, as well as the consequences of the social layer in society. Closely related to the concept of social inclusion is social exclusion, which is marked by unequal access to capabilities, rights, and resources. It engages at the individual, household, community, nation, and global levels. Social exclusion renders some individuals or groups to social vulnerability.This comprehensive reference work covers a wide range of issues pertaining tothe social inclusion paradigm, including:Theories that are linked to social inclusion and exclusion in research and practicesMethodological and ethical considerationsSocial inclusion and social exclusion: Population groups, lived experiences, and issuesInclusive research methods that enhance social inclusion including participatory researchSocial inclusion programs and interventionsThe role of health and social care for promoting social inclusionHandbook of Social Inclusion: Research and Practices in Health and Social Sciences is an invaluable resource for professors, students, researchers, and scholars in public health, social sciences, medicine, and health sciences. Readers at research institutes, government, and industry can also benefit from adopting the concepts and theories of social inclusion/exclusion in their own work and practice.

This book is the first in a two-volume set devoted to bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) and the opportunities that they may offer in providing a green solution to growing energy demands worldwide. In this first volume, established research professionals explain the underlying principles and processes of BESs, providing a thorough introduction to these systems before proceeding to address the roles of cathode catalysts and biocatalysts, biofilms, heterotrophic denitrification, and nanotechnology approaches. This volume forms a sound foundation for understanding the potential industrial applications of this technology, which include in particular the generation of high-value chemicals and energy using organic wastes. These applications are the focus of the second volume, where readers will find up-to-date information on microbial fuel cells and the use of microbial biofilm- and algae-based bioelectrochemical systems for bioremediation and co-generation of valuable chemicals. The bookis designed for a broad audience, including undergraduates, postgraduates, energy researchers/scientists, policymakers, and anyone else interested in the latest developments in this field.

This book focuses on both recent advances and the applications of two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials in different fields. This book encapsulates all the aspects related to 2D nanomaterials and their applications. It provides scientific and technological insights on novel routes of design and fabrication of few layered nanostructures and their hetero structures based on a variety of 2-D layered materials. It also covers a wide range of industrial applications of 2D nanomaterials. It emphasizes on the detailing of the various characterization techniques used. The book will be a valuable reference for beginners, researchers, and professionals interested in nano-materials and allied fields.

This book illustrates the significance of nanotechnology in the delivery of anticancer and antimicrobial drugs, biomimetic technologies, tissue engineering, sensing, diagnostics, and artificial enzymes. It first briefly discusses the use of nanotechnology for the delivery of anticancer medications, and the concept and applications of catalytically active nanomaterial-based artificial enzymes for sensing and diagnostic applications. It then explores the use of silver nanoparticle-based novel antimicrobials, and comprehensively reviews the role of nanomaterials in developing biomedical implants and tissue engineering applications. Lastly, it offers a detailed description of nanotherapeutics for combating human protozoan parasitic infections. Cutting across the disciplines, this book serves as a guide for researchers and scientists in biotechnology, medical science and material science.

This book presents specific key natural and artificial systems that are promising biocatalysts in the areas of health, agriculture, environment and energy. It provides a comprehensive account of the state of the art of these systems and outlines the significant progress made in the last decade using these systems to develop innovative, sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions. Chapters from expert contributors explore how natural enzymes and artificial systems tackle specific targets such as: climate change, carbon footprint and economy and carbon dioxide utilisation; nitrogen footprint and fixation and nitrous oxide mitigation; hydrogen production, fuel cells and energy from bacteria; biomass transformation and production of added-value compounds, as well as biosensors development. This book provides an important and inspiring account for the designing of new natural and artificial systems with enhanced properties, and it appeals not only to students and researchers working in the fields of energy, health, food and environment, but also to a wider audience of educated readers that are interested in these up-to-date and exciting subjects.Chapter “Carbon Dioxide Utilisation—The Formate Route” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of recent developments in production planning. The monograph begins with an introductory chapter reviewing the need for these production planning models, that operate by determining time-phased releases of work into the facility or supply chain, relating these to the Manufacturing Planning and Control (MPC) and Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) frameworks, that form the basis of most academic research and industrial practice. The extensive body of work on Workload Control is also placed in this context, and proves the need for improved models with a discussion of the difficulties, these approaches encounter.The next two chapters present a detailed review of the state of the art in optimization models based on exogenous planned lead times, and examines the cases where these can take both integer and fractional values. The difficulties arising in estimating planned lead times are consistent with factory behavior which are highlighted, noting that many of these lead to non-convex optimization models. Attempts to address these difficulties by iterative multimodel approaches, that combine simulation and mathematical programming, are also discussed in detail. The next three chapters of the volume address the set of techniques developed using clearing functions, which represent the expected output of a resource in a planning period, as a function of the expected workload of the resource, during that period.The chapters on this subject propose a basic optimization model for multiple products, discuss the difficulties of this model and some possible solutions. It also reviews prior work, and discuss a number of alternative formulations of the clearing function concept with their respective advantages and disadvantages. Applications to lot sizing decisions and a number of other specific problems are also described. This volume concludes with an assessment of the state of the art described in the volume, and several directions for future work.

This book presents a systematic overview of the most common cardiovascular defects as they are observed in adults, with a particular focus on the long-term effects and issues that may arise following surgical or interventional repair. In-depth information is provided on the standard of repair or palliation and on the role of different imaging techniques, especially CT and MRI, in the evaluation of these patients. Each chapter includes a detailed imaging protocol and describes the management appropriate to particular conditions and circumstances. Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common inborn defects. The success in treating CHD in children, even when they have complex cardiovascular defects, is resulting in a steady increase in the number of adults with CHD who need to be followed up clinically and by imaging owing to the potential for late sequelae. In providing expert, up-to-date guidance on selection of imaging modality, image interpretation, and management, this book will be a valuable resource for all radiologists, cardiologists, and pediatricians who are responsible for the care of adult and adolescent patients with CHD.

This authoritative work, now in its fourth edition, presents state of the art knowledge on all key aspects of cancer prevention. In addition to detailed summaries on preventive strategies for specific cancers, readers will find current knowledge on a range of relevant scientific topics including the benefits of cancer prevention, the importance of diet and physical activity, innate and adaptive immune responses to cancer, hereditary risks, cancer health disparities, and the preventive role of telemedicine. In this new edition of the book, the coverage has been expanded to include additional disease sites and to provide up-to-date information across the range of disciplines in the field of cancer prevention and control. Written as a collaborative work by internationally recognized leaders in the field, Fundamentals of Cancer Prevention is an essential reference guide and tool for oncologists, primary care physicians, the research community, and students with an interest in reducing the burden of cancer through the implementation of effective preventive strategies.

This book presents an extensive study on the effectiveness of recent regulations on pharmaceutical prices in India, exploring the weaknesses in the design and implementation of pharmaceutical price controls and investigating what can be done to fix the broken system.In addition, it examines the extent to which essential medicines are actually made affordable by price controls. The book argues that companies make the pharmaceutical price control regime largely ineffective by coordinating to increase pre-regulation prices; by diversifying horizontally away from the regulated markets and increasing prices in the unregulated markets; by manipulating trade margins; and by refusing to comply with the regulation because the penalties remains negligible.The book draws on extensive empirical research involving India's 2013 Drug Price Control Order and widely-used medicines such as paracetamol and metformin to illustrate how firms have weakened regulation. It argues that theregulatory regime can be strengthened by using systematic analysis of product- and region-level data in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, and by screening for the strategies that firms currently employ to circumvent regulation. In closing, it discusses recent efforts to strengthen the implementation of price controls in India and expanding the scope of price controls to medical devices.

This volume gathers selected contributions from the participants of the Banff International Research Station (BIRS) workshop Coupled Mathematical Models for Physical and Biological Nanoscale Systems and their Applications, who explore various aspects of the analysis, modeling and applications of nanoscale systems, with a particular focus on low dimensional nanostructures and coupled mathematical models for their description. Due to the vastness, novelty and complexity of the interfaces between mathematical modeling and nanoscience and nanotechnology, many important areas in these disciplines remain largely unexplored. In their efforts to move forward, multidisciplinary research communities have come to a clear understanding that, along with experimental techniques, mathematical modeling and analysis have become crucial to the study, development and application of systems at the nanoscale. The conference, held at BIRS in autumn 2016, brought together experts from three different communities working in fields where coupled mathematical models for nanoscale and biosystems are especially relevant: mathematicians, physicists (both theorists and experimentalists), and computational scientists, including those dealing with biological nanostructures. Its objectives: summarize the state-of-the-art; identify and prioritize critical problems of major importance that require solutions; analyze existing methodologies; and explore promising approaches to addressing the challenges identified. The contributions offer up-to-date introductions to a range of topics in nano and biosystems, identify important challenges, assess current methodologies and explore promising approaches. As such, this book will benefit researchers in applied mathematics, as well as physicists and biologists interested in coupled mathematical models and their analysis for physical and biological nanoscale systems that concern applications in biotechnology and medicine, quantum information processing and optoelectronics.

This book addresses an urgent need, offering an updated, detailed and multidisciplinary review of surgery of the inferior vena cava (IVC). Over the past two decades, tremendous advances have been made in this field and related specialties. Many journals and/or textbooks on different surgical or medical specialties have reported on individual aspects, so it is high time to gather all of them in a single resource. To date, surgery of the IVC remains a major challenge, not only in terms of technical difficulties, but also in terms of perioperative management. The book sheds new light on cutting-edge developments, including: Innovations in imaging; Neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatments for tumors of or involving the IVC; Intraoperative anesthetic management; and Technical and technological advances in surgery. As such, it will be of a great interest to surgeons (cardiac, vascular and digestive) and urologists, as well as radiologists and anesthesiologists.

This text provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art review of catheter based approaches to valve and aortic diseases. The scope encompasses involve all the current and upcoming transcatheter aortic valve technologies as well as mitral, pulmonary and tricuspid valve technologies. Aortic diseases including transcatheter repair of descending aneurysms are included and the upcoming technologies designed to repair aortic dissections, traumatic injury, and ascending arch stent repair are highlighted. Catheter Based Valve and Aortic Surgery will be a useful tool for cardiac and vascular surgeons, interventional cardiologists, general cardiologists, and clinicians and researchers with an interest in these exciting new developments in structural heart and vascular diseases.​

This book provides a detailed description and analysis of the reduction and metabolism of metals and metalloids by sulfate reducing bacteria. The molecular mechanisms of bacterial resistance to copper are examined as well as extracellular electron transfer and bacterial metal oxide respiration. Furthermore, in this book enrichment, isolation, and physiology of magnetotactic bacteria are discussed. The interactions of bacteria with metals in natural environments and their role in metal cycling have been studied for decades. Advances in studies of bacteria-metal interactions identified numerous important aspects of these interactions, such as bioremediation of metal-contaminated environments, the role of metals in redox reactions and other cellular functions, as well as the role of metals in toxicity and infection.Microbiologists, environmental scientists, and students interested in microbe interactions with metals and their effect on the environment and their application in biotechnology will be interested in the topics discussed in the book.

This text is designed to provide a comprehensive and state-of-the-art overview of the major issues specific to technological advances the field trauma, critical care and many aspects of surgical science and practice. Care of these patients and clinical conditions can be quite complex, and materials have been collected from the most current, evidence-based resources. The sections of the text have been structured to review the overall scope of issues dealing with trauma, critical care and surgery, including cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery, urology, gynecology and obstetrics, fetal surgery and orthopedics. This volume represents the most comprehensive textbook covering a wide range of topics and technological advances including genomics and nanotechnologies that affect patients'care and surgeons'practice daily. The multidisciplinary authorship includes experts from all aspects of trauma, surgery and critical care. The volume highlights the dramatic changes in the fieldincluding hand held devices and smart phones used in daily medical and surgical practice, complex computers in the critical care units around the world, and robotics performing complex surgical procedures and tissue engineering. Technological Advances in Surgery, Trauma and Critical Care provides a comprehensive, state-of-the art review of this field, and will serve as a valuable resource for clinicians, surgeons and researchers with an interest in trauma, critical care, and all the specialties of surgery. It provides a concise yet comprehensive summary of the current status of the field that will help guide patient management and stimulate investigative efforts.

This comprehensive volume compiles the concepts essential for the understanding of the pharmaceutical science and technology associated with the delivery of subunit vaccines. Twenty-one chapters are divided into four main parts: (I) Background; (2) Delivery Systems for Subunit Vaccines; (3) Delivery Routes, Devices and Dosage Forms; and (4) Pharmaceutical Analysis and Quality Control of Vaccines. Part one provide a basic background with respect to immunology and general vaccine classification. In part two, it presents representative types of vaccine delivery systems individually with focus on the physicochemical properties of the systems and their significance for the immune response they stimulate. These delivery systems include aluminum adjuvants, emulsions, liposomes, bilosomes, cubosomes/hexosomes, ISCOMs, virus-like particles, polymeric nano- and microparticles, gels, implants and cell-based delivery systems.Following these chapters, part three addresses the challenges associated with vaccine delivery via specific routes of administration—in particular subcutaneous, intramuscular, oral, nasal, pulmonary, transdermal and vaginal administration. Furthermore, the specific administration routes are discussed in combination with device technologies relevant for the respective routes as well as dosage forms appropriate for the device technology. Finally, the fourth part concerns pharmaceutical analysis and quality control of subunit vaccines.

Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP), and Advanced Planning Systems (APS) are important concepts in order to organize and optimize the flow of materials, information and financial funds. This book, already in its fifth edition, gives a broad and up-to-date overview of the concepts underlying APS. Special emphasis is given to modeling supply chains and implementing APS successfully in industry. Understanding is enhanced by several case studies covering APS from various software vendors. The fifth edition contains updated material, rewritten chapters and an additional case study.

At the outbreak of the global financial crisis, 2008, the G20 was widely acknowledged as helping prevent an even more serious decline in the global economy. It helped to calm the panic in financial markets and articulate a set of possible policy options to restore global stability and growth. However, as the dual-track recovery set in, policy options for advanced economies and EMEs diverged. Within this context, this book will explore the scope for cooperation amongst the G20 and the diverging challenges and the intricate interconnectedness of policy options between advanced economies and the EMEs within the G20.

This authoritative work is an essential reference guide and tool for oncologists, primary care physicians, the research community, and students with an interest in reducing the burden of cancer. Written as a collaborative work by nationally recognized leaders in the field of cancer prevention and control, the third edition provides readers with new information related to recent developments in the field. The scope of this edition has been expanded to include topics related to global health and to provide readers with novel insights into the expanding disciplines within cancer prevention and control.

MILS-14 provides a most up-to-date view of the exciting biogeochemistry of gases in our environment as driven mostly by microorganisms. These employ a machinery of sophisticated metalloenzymes, where especially transition metals (such as Fe, Ni, Cu, Mo, W) play a fundamental role, that is, in the activation, transformation and syntheses of gases like dihydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, acetylene and those of the biological nitrogen and sulfur cycles. The Metal-Driven Biogeochemistry of Gaseous Compounds in the Environment is a vibrant research area based mainly on structural and microbial biology, inorganic biological chemistry and environmental biochemistry. All this is covered in an authoritative manner in 11 stimulating chapters, written by 26 internationally recognized experts and supported by nearly 1200 references, informative tables and about 100 illustrations (two thirds in color). MILS-14 also provides excellent information for teaching. Peter M. H. Kroneck is a bioinorganic chemist who is exploring the role of transition metals in biology, with a focus on functional and structural aspects of microbial iron, copper and molybdenum enzymes and their impact on the biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen and sulfur. Martha E. Sosa Torres is an inorganic chemist, with special interests in magnetic properties of newly synthesized transition metal complexes and their reactivity towards molecular oxygen, applying kinetic, electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques.

This book presents papers by experts in the field of Industrial Engineering, covering topics in business strategy; modelling and simulation in operations research; logistics and production; service systems; innovation and knowledge; and project management. The focus of operations and production management has evolved from product and manufacturing to the capabilities of firms and collaborative management. Nowadays, Industrial Engineering is concerned with the study of how to design, modify, control and improve the performance of complex systems. It has extended its scope to any physical landscape populated by social agents. This raises a major challenge to Industrial Engineering: managing complexity. This volume shows how experts are dealing with this challenge.

Expert authors provide critical, in-depth reviews of available methods for retrieving selective information out of complex biological systems. Sensors, probes and devices are present and future tools of medicinal diagnostics, environmental monitoring, food analysis and molecular biology. These are based on fluorescence, electrochemistry and mass spectrometry. Coverage of this volume includes sensor development for the detection of small analytes, monitoring of biomolecular interactions, analysis of cellular function, development of diagnostic tools.

Main topics covered: B-Cell Development; Immunoglobulin Gene Rearrangement; Multiple Myeloma, Plasmactomas; Lymphomas: B-CLL, Folli- cular Lymphomas BCL-2, BCL-1; Lymphomas: EBV, AIDS Associa- ted Lymphomas; Oncogenes and Transcriptional Factors (text to follow).

Leafing through a journal of biology will almost certainly turn up several arti­ cles on some aspect of the eukaryotic cell division cycle. The progress in un­ derstanding the modus operandi of the cell cycle machinery and its central role in controlling cell proliferation has awakened a great deal of interest in many biologists. However, the cell cycle field often seems unnecessarily complicated, perhaps because data are acquired in bits and pieces and almost all simultane­ ously from studies using different systems and organisms. The aim of this book is to make the background of the cell cycle field as unambiguous and clear as possible by distinguishing what is commonly accepted in the field from what are the unsolved problems. Therefore, this book is intended to serve a large au­ dience: graduate and postgraduate students, basic and clinical scientists in­ volved in the study of cell growth, differentiation, senescence, apoptosis, and cancer. My hope is that this book will stimulate further interest in the fascinat­ ing field of the cell cycle and help scientists find connections between this and their fields of interest. This book brings together experts to review all major aspects of the eukary­ otic cell division cycle. The cell cycle is a coordinated and highly regulated series of events during which the cell replicates its DNA, and then divides.

The control of plant gene expression at the transcriptional level is the main subject of this volume. Genetics, molecular biology and gene technology have dramatically improved our knowledge of this event. The functional analysis of promoters and transcription factors provides more and more insights into the molecular anatomy of initiation complexes assembled from RNA polymerase and the multiplicity of helper and control proteins. Formation of specific DNA-protein complexes - activating or repressing transcription - is the crux of developmental or environmental control of gene expression. The book presents an up-to-date, critical overview of this rapidly advancing field.

Microbes can respire on metals. This seemingly simple finding is one of the major discoveries that were made in the field of microbiology in the last few decades. The importance of this observation is evident. Metals are highly abundant on our planet. Iron is even the most abundant element on Earth and the forth most abundant element in the Earth's crust. Hence, in some environments iron, but also other metals or metalloids, are the dominant respiratory electron acceptors. Their reduction massively drives the carbon cycle in these environments and establishes redox cycles of the metallic electron acceptors themselves. These redox cycles are not only a driving force for other biotic reactions but are furthermore necessary for initiating a number of geochemically relevant abiotic redox conversions. Although widespread and ecologically influential, electron transfer onto metals like ferric iron or manganese is biochemically challenging. The challenge is to transfer respiratory electrons onto metals that occur in nature at neutral pH in the form of metal oxides or oxihydroxides that are effectively insoluble. Obviously, it is necessary that the microbes specially adapt in order to catalyze the electron transfer onto insoluble electron acceptors. The elucidation of these adaptations is an exciting ongoing process. To sum it up, dissimilatory metal reduction has wide-spread implications in the field of microbiology, biochemistry and geochemistry and its discovery was one of the major reasons to establish a novel scientific field called geomicrobiology. Recently, the discovery of potential applications of dissimilatory metal reducers in bioremediation or current production in a microbial fuel cell further increased the interest in studying microbial metal reduction.

Structural biology is becoming a routine technique for structure de­ termination in pharmaceutical industries. The advances in molecular biology, crystal handling and data collection techniques, tunable syn­ chrotron radiation sources, and high-performance computing have all contributed to developments such as the production and expression of tailored protein domains, the use of the MAD (Multiple Anomalous Dispersion) method, and the collection of X-ray data from tiny crystals at cryogenic temperature. The number of protein structures deposited in the Protein Databank has increased tremendously over the last 3-4 years. Since 1997, more than 1,500 structures have been deposited each year, and during the first 7 months of this year, 1,500 protein structures were already deposited. The numerous initiatives in the field of'structural genomics'distributed all over the world have led to the development of techniques for high-throughput structure determina­ tion, thereby contributing to the increase in the determination of three­ dimensional protein structures. This structural information is being ex­ plored in various ways in the drug discovery process. It is not only used in structure-based drug design of new low-molecular-weight li­ gands, but also in the early stages of target validation and assessment. With the number of protein sequences without significant homology to well-known proteins increasing, the technique of structure-sequence compatibility (threading) is increasingly used to assign a function to a given protein fold.

DNA tumor viruses have long been useful experimental models of carcinogenesis and have elucidated several important mechanisms of cell transformation. Re­ search in recent years has shown that human tumors have a multifactorial nature and that some DNA tumor viruses may playa key role in their etiology. The aim of this book is to assess our knowledge of DNA tumor viruses by reviewing animal models, mechanisms of transformation, association with human tumors, and possi­ bilities of prevention and control by vaccination. Animal models of tumor virology have contributed significantly to our under­ standing of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of virus-induced tumors. Bovine papillomaviruses induce papillomas in the intestine of cattle. The papillomas undergo a transition to carcinomas in cows feeding on bracken fern, which pro­ duces a toxin with radiomimetic and immunosuppressive functions. This example of cooperation between a virus and chemical carcinogens parallels the cooperative role of human papillomaviruses (HPVs) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) with environmental carcinogens in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer. Likewise, hepatocarcinomas appearing in woodchucks chronically infected by woodchuck hepatitis virus (WIN) provide strong support for the relationship between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and human hepatocellular carcinoma. Also, the fact that WIN DNA integrates closely to cellular oncogenes suggests a possible molecular mechanism for the tumorigenesis induced by HBV.

The 11 th meeting in'Modern Trends in Human Leukemia'took place from June 19 to 21, 1994 in Wilsede in the middle of the Liineburger Heide, South of Hamburg. Interwoven with the Leukemia program was the Nato-sponsored Symposium of the ASI-Series'Gene Technology in Analysis of Malignant and Inherited Human Diseases Related to Development'. The Wilsede meeting was continued on a ship of the Neva leading through lake Ladoga and lake Onega. The topics of both meetings included discussion on recent progress isolation and development of hematopoietic stem cells, genes crucial for development and diseases, methods of gene transfer, application of gene transfer; oncogenes and anti-oncogenes as targets for gene therapy; receptors and their ligands in normal development and diseases, immunology and immunotherapy, radiation biology, clinical leukemias and bone marrow transplantation. The Nato workshop concentrated not only on analysis of cell systems useful for somatic gene therapy, but also on actual themes directly related to correction of human diseases. The latter aspects emphasized themes related to biotechnology, the first part was by nature more general. We also included a few contributions that discussed perspectives for the future of gene therapy and possible relationships to evolution.

1. 1 SCOPE OF BOOK n explosion of novel findings in the past decade has contrib­ A uted to the great progress toward understanding the biology of human cancers. Much of this progress can be attributed to our abil­ ity to dissect many biological processes at the molecular level. Most spectacular is the technology of molecular biology that allows identi­ fication and characterization of genes that participate in the genesis of human cancers. Three major groups of genes appear to play out the drama of cancer development: tumor suppressor genes, mis­ match repair genes, and oncogenes. The tumor suppressor genes 1 encode products that are inhibitory to cell proliferation. The loss of these inhibitors, by mutation or deletion, can unleash cells from their restraints to proliferate. Mutations in the mismatch repair 2 10 genes also have been implicated in tumorigenesis. - The inability of cells to repair spontaneously occurring mutations leads to genom­ ic instability and could potentially result in the accumulation of car­ cinogenic DNA lesions. Finally, activation of proto-oncogenes, which are normal cellular genes, into oncogenes could accelerate the 11 processes of cell proliferation. c-myc was one of the very first proto­ oncogenes to be identified and because it normally plays pivotal roles in both cell proliferation and cell death has enticed many to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which it transforms cells.

Nelson Fausto The Greek myth of Prometheus with its picture of a vulture feasting on its chained victimhas traditionallyprovided a visualimageofliverregeneration. Itis apowerful and frightening representationbut ifone were to substitute the vulture by a surgeon and Prometheus by a patient laying on a properly prepared operating table, the outcomeoftheprocedurewould not differ significantlyfrom that describedbyGreek poets. Yet few of us who work in the field have stopped long enough to ask where this myth originated. Did the poet observe a case of liver regeneration in a human being? Was it brilliant intuition or perhaps, literally, just a'gut feeling'of a poet looking for good rhymes that led to the prediction that livers grow when part of the tissueisremoved? Thisbookdoesnotattemptto solve these historical issues. Itdoes, instead, cover in detail some of the major modem themes of research on liver regen­ eration, injury and repair. As indicated in Dr. N. Bucher's chapter, the modem phase ofexperimental studies on liver regeneration started in 1931 with the publication by Higgins and Anderson of a method to perform a two-thirds resection of the liver of a rat. The technique described has 3 remarkable features: 1) it is highly reproducible, resulting in the removal of 68% of the liver, 2) it has minimal if any mortality, and 3) it consists only of blood vessel ligation and does not involve cutting through or wounding hepatic tissue.

Advanced Planning Systems (APS) are a key enabler of the supply chain management. However, APS are highly complex and difficult to comprehend. This book provides students with valuable insights into the capabilities of state-of-the-art APS and bridges the gap between theory (model building and solution algorithms), software implementation, and adaptation to a specific business case. Our business case – named Frutado – provides a unifying framework for illustrating the different planning tasks that arise in a company – from demand planning to the distribution of goods – that are addressed by APS. In addition, the book guides through interactive learning units which have been created and recorded for each module of SAP´s APS. Learning units can be downloaded free of charge ready to be displayed in a web browser. Together, the textbook and the learning units provide the required skills to better understand the concepts, models, and algorithms underlying today´s APS.

Progress in Cell Cycle Research is a new annual series designed to be the source for up-to-date research on this rapidly expanding field. Review articles by international experts examine various aspects of cell division regulation from fundamental perspectives to potential medical applications. Researchers as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students in cell biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology will benefit from this series.

Proceedings of the Seventh Pezcoller Symposium held in Trento, Italy, June 14-16, 1995

Interest in the cell cycle has grown explosively in recent years as a result of the identification of key cell cycle regulators and their substrates. Aside from enhancing our understanding of normal cellular growth controls, this new knowledge has also becn valuable in elucidating mechanisms of growth deregulation which occur in diseased states, such as cancer and, in some instances, viral or parasitic infections. The Thirteenth Washington International Spring Symposium was organized with the intention of bringing together scientists working on different aspects of the cell cycle. Scientific topics presented ranged from molecular regulators and effectors to mitosis­ specific changes in cell architecture to the role of the cell cycle in development and disease. The goal of this gathering was to help formulate a more comprehensive and integrated picture of events driving and being driven by the cell cycle, as well as to evaluate the possibilities for clinical application of this knowledge. This symposium, held in Washington, D.C. from May 10-14, 1993, was attended by more than 400 scientists from 20 countries, including many of the scientific leaders in this field. This volume contains most of the papers presented at the seven plenary sessions in addition to selected contributions from a total of nine special oral and poster sessions.