This is the only single authored text on biological polymers available for bioengineering and biomedical engineering students. The book describes the structure of polymers and how these molecules are put together to make the tissues of the body and also their role in surgical implants and in structural diseases. It provides essential reading for biomedical engineers, biologists, physicians, health care professionals and other biomedical researchers who are interested in understanding how physical forces affect the biology, physiology and pathophysiology of humans. The author is an expert on the effect of mechanical forces on extracellular matrix.

The bile acids as principal end products of cholesterol metabolism occupy a focal position in our understanding of the role of steroids in bio logical systems. The biogenesis of bile acids from cholesterol in higher ani mals, and their functions in regulating sterol metabolism and in gastrointestinal physiology have been elucidated by the development of elegant methodo logical approaches during the last two decades. The molecular pleomorphism exhibited by the bile acids and bile alcohols in the animal kingdom is a classic example of their role in biochemical evolution. The total story of the bile acids, their chemistry, their role in normal and abnormal physiological processes, and their significance in biochemical evolution has never been available in the form of a comprehensive treatise written in the words of those who have contributed to the development of our knowledge in this area. The Bile Acids, in two volumes, will serve to fill this void, and will also bring together information which will prove in valuable to both the biochemist and the medical scientist. We wish to thank Mrs. Sally Wiseman and Mrs. Lillian Haas for their invaluable assistance with the editing of the manuscripts. This work was supported in part by grants AM-02131, General Research Support SS0-1- FR-05479 (P.P.N.), HE-03299, HE-05209, and a National Heart Institute Research Career Award (D.K. ), K6-HE-734, from the National Institutes of Health, United States Public Health Service. P.P.N. Baltimore, Maryland D.K."

This thesis details the significant progress made in improving the performance of organic transistors and the network conductivity of carbon nanotubes. The first section investigates organic semiconductor nucleation and growth on the most common dielectric surface used to fabricate organic thin film transistors. The nucleation and growth of the semiconductor was determined to be a critical factor affecting the device performance. Excellent dielectric modification layers, which promote desirable semiconductor growth leading to high conductivity were identified, and a technologically relevant deposition technique was developed to fabricate high quality dielectric modification layers over large areas. This may represent an important step towards the realization of large area organic circuity. In the final section, lessons learned from studying organic semiconductor nucleation and growth were utilized to improve the conductivity of carbon nanotube networks. Selective nucleation of materials at the junctions between nanotubes in the network significantly decreased the network's sheet resistance. The resulting networks may be promising candidates for transparent electrodes with a variety of optoelectronic applications.

Traditional food and bioprocessing technologies are facing challenges due to high expectation from the consumers and producers for better quality and safety, higher process efficiency, and products with novel properties or functionalities. For this reason, in the last few years new forms of physical energies have been explored to propose alternatives to traditional processing technologies. Acoustic energy has the potential to replace or partially substitute conventional processes, and at the same time offer unique opportunities in the characterization of foods and biomaterials. This book is a resource for experts and newcomers in the field of power ultrasound, gives insights into the physical principles of this technology, details the latest advancements, and links them to current and potential applications in the food and bioprocessing related industries.

Gene Delivery into Mammalian Cells: An Overview on Existing Approaches Employed In Vitro and In Vivo, by Peter Hahn and Elizabeth Scanlan * Strategies for the Preparation of Synthetic Transfection Vectors, by Asier Unciti-Broceta, Matthew N. Bacon, and Mark Bradley * Cationic Lipids: Molecular Structure/Transfection Activity Relationships and Interactions with Biomembranes, by Rumiana Koynova and Boris Tenchov * Hyperbranched Polyamines for Transfection, by Wiebke Fischer, Marcelo Calderon, and Rainer Haag * Carbohydrate Polymers for Nonviral Nucleic Acid Delivery, by Antons Sizovs, Patrick M. McLendon, Sathya Srinivasachari, and Theresa M. Reineke * Cationic Liposome-Nucleic Acid Complexes for Gene Delivery and Silencing: Pathways and Mechanisms for Plasmid DNA and siRNA, by Kai K. Ewert, Alexandra Zidovska, Ayesha Ahmad, Nathan F. Bouxsein, Heather M. Evans, Christopher S. McAllister, Charles E. Samuel, and Cyrus R. Safinya * Chemically Programmed Polymers for Targeted DNA and siRNA Transfection, by Eveline Edith Salcher and Ernst Wagner * Photochemical Internalization: A New Tool for Gene and Oligonucleotide Delivery, by Kristian Berg, Maria Berstad, Lina Prasmickaite, Anette Weyergang, Pal K. Selbo, Ida Hedfors, and Anders Hogset * Visualizing Uptake and Intracellular Trafficking of Gene Carriers by Single-Particle Tracking, by N. Ruthardt and C. Brauchle

Applied Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics provides the undergraduate and graduate student of chemical engineering with the basic knowledge, the methodology and the references he needs to apply it in industrial practice. Thus, in addition to the classical topics of the laws of thermodynamics, pure component and mixture thermodynamic properties as well as phase and chemical equilibria the reader will find: - history of thermodynamics - energy conservation - internmolecular forces and molecular thermodynamics - cubic equations of state - statistical mechanics. A great number of calculated problems with solutions and an appendix with numerous tables of numbers of practical importance are extremely helpful for applied calculations. The computer programs on the included disk help the student to become familiar with the typical methods used in industry for volumetric and vapor-liquid equilibria calculations.

Biomarker discovery is an important area of biomedical research that may lead to significant breakthroughs in disease analysis and targeted therapy. Biomarkers are biological entities whose alterations are measurable and are characteristic of a particular biological condition. Discovering, managing, and interpreting knowledge of new biomarkers are challenging and attractive problems in the emerging field of biomedical informatics.

This volumeis a collection of state-of-the-artresearch into the application of data mining to the discovery and analysis of new biomarkers. Presenting new results, models and algorithms, the included contributions focus on biomarker data integration, information retrieval methods, and statistical machine learning techniques.

This volume is intended for students, and researchers in bioinformatics, proteomics, and genomics, as wellengineers and applied scientistsinterested in the interdisciplinary application of data mining techniques."

Written in a self-contained tutorial fashion, this monograph successfully brings the latest theoretical advances in the design of robust adaptive systems to the realm of industrial applications. It provides a theoretical basis for verifying some of the reported industrial successes of existing adaptive control schemes and enables readers to synthesize adaptive versions of their own robust internal model control schemes.

This book advances biomedical innovations to address the plethora of health problems afflicting the developing world. A panoply of cultural, economic, infrastructural, and other factors prevent many interventions currently popular in the developed world from being similarly effective in the developing world. This book discusses less-traditional approaches, such as naturally based biomaterials and therapeutics, an area that has traditionally been overlooked but has also demonstrated impressive potential for health applications in recent years. This book explores precisely the kinds of applications which can enable countries like India to access more effective, inexpensive treatments while also taking more ownership of their healthcare technologies and innovations.

Biomaterials: From Molecules to Engineered Tissue gives examples of the application areas of biomaterials involving molecules at one end of the spectrum and finished devices in the other. It covers molecular approaches as well as molecules functional in preparing and modifying biomaterials, medical devices and systems, tissue engineering and artificial organs. Chapters on biomedical informatics and ethics complement the design and production aspects with their contribution in informatics and ethical concerns of biomedical research. This is a reference book for the advanced graduate student eager to learn the biomaterials area and for all researchers working in medicine, pharmacy, engineering and basic sciences in universities, hospitals, and industry involved in biomaterials and biomedical device production.

Prefaces tend to be platitudinous and unconducive to perusal. To this hardened Editor, the appearance of the book represents the end of a stamina-testing saga surpassing any past experience. Amongst the numerous authors - a notably eminent bevy - some were angelic and others suffered harassment to produce, amidst day-to-day pressures, an eventual article in the cause of receptor investigation; few took exception to the strong editing that their material underwent. The reader of this book will be interested rather in its aims and ba- ground.- Does it merit a n his bookshelf? The book is not a 'Proceedings', but has sponsored-meeting parentage. Wi th company support, notably from BetaHED Pharmaceuti cals of Indianapolis, the 8th International Subcellular Hethodology Forum was held in July 1982 at the University of Surrey in Guildford. The vigorous debates, partly on aspects such as hormonal receptors and drug targeting, then narrowed to Neuroreceptor Hethodology at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop, perforce set up at short notice. But 'Proceedings' are proverbially ephemeral material reflecting an array of solo performances, whereas this book is hopefully more like an orchestra's performance, of classical together with new material. Retrievability of receptor 'know-how' has been a key aim. Locations in the text, including comments and supplementary material (designated 'NC'), are thoroughly indexed, whilst for some aspects a 'Retrieval Key' (p. 545) should be used. Related to receptor methodo logy, receptor features and phenomena get due attention in the text."

Gas hydrates represent one of the world's largest untapped reservoirs of energy and, according to some estimates, have the potential to meet global energy needs for the next thousand years. "Methane Gas Hydrate" examines this potential by focusing on methane gas hydrate, which is increasingly considered a significant source of energy.

"Methane Gas Hydrate" gives a general overview of natural gas, before delving into the subject of gas hydrates in more detail and methane gas hydrate in particular. As well as discussing methods of gas production, it also discusses the safety and environmental concerns associated with the presence of natural gas hydrates, ranging from their possible impact on the safety of conventional drilling operations to their influence on Earth's climate.

"Methane Gas Hydrate" is a useful reference on an increasingly popular energy source. It contains valuable information for chemical engineers and researchers, as well as for postgraduate students.

Geraldine Masson, Luc Neuville Carine Bughin Aude Fayol Jieping Zhu Multicomponent Syntheses of Macrocycles Thomas J.J. Muller Palladium-Copper Catalyzed Alkyne Activation as an Entry to Multicomponent Syntheses of Heterocycles Rachel Scheffelaar Eelco Ruijter Romano V.A. Orru Multicomponent Reaction Design Strategies: Towards Scaffold and Stereochemical Diversity Nicola Kielland Rodolfo Lavilla Recent Developments in Reissert-Type Multicomponent Reactions Jitender B. Bariwal Jalpa C. Trivedi Erik V. Van der Eycken Microwave Irradiation and Multicomponent Reactions Irini Akritopoulou-Zanze Stevan W. Djuric Applications of MCR-Derived Heterocycles in Drug Discovery

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been applied extensively to great benefit in the food processing sector. Its numerous applications include: predicting the gas flow pattern and particle histories, such as temperature, velocity, residence time, and impact position during spray drying;modeling of ovens to provide information about temperature and airflow pattern throughout the baking chamber to enhance heat transfer and in turn final product quality; designing hybrid heating ovens, such as microwave-infrared, infrared-electrical or microwave-electrical ovens for rapid baking; model the dynamics of gastrointestinal contents during digestion based on the motor response of the GI tract and the physicochemical properties of luminal contents; retort processing of canned solid and liquid foods for understanding and optimization of the heat transfer processes. This Brief will recapitulate the various applications of CFD modeling, discuss the recent developments in this field, and identify the strengths and weaknesses of CFD when applied in the food industry. "

This book is an attempt to fill a gap in the existing literature on ion exchange. The many excellent works already available are of three main types, general introductions to the subject, specialist discussions of analytical and laboratory techniques, and advanced theoretical treatises. In practice, in spite of the vast number of processes which have been developed for la bora tory use, 99 per cent of all ion exchange resins produced in the world are used in water treatment, or closely allied applications. This book is intended as a general survey of the principles governing the practical uses of ion exchange resins, for the benefit of students encountering the subject for the first time, and for the chemists and engineers in many branches of industry whose work brings them into contact with water treatment, but who do not have the time to study more advanced volumes of basic theory. The background presented has been simplified to the maximum extent found possible without falsification, and an attempt has been made to relate each aspect of theory to its practical consequences in full scale water treatment. Mathematical methods have been avoided and pictorial or graphical presentation methods used wherever possible. As the book is concerned with general principles, rather than details of any particular research work, references to original papers and patents have been omitted except in the cases of special processes, which have a single clearly defined origin.

The recent surge of interest in recombinant DNA research is understandable considering that biologists from all disciplines, using recently developed mo lecular techniques, can now study with great precision the structure and regulation of specific genes. As a discipline, molecular biology is no longer a mere subspeciality of biology or biochemistry: it is the new biology. Current approaches to the outstanding problems in virtually all the traditional disci plines in biology are now being explored using the recombinant DNA tech nology. In this atmosphere of rapid progress, the role of information exchange and swift publication becomes quite crucial. Consequently, there has been an equally rapid proliferation of symposia volumes and review articles, apart from the explosion in popular science magazines and news media, which are always ready to simplify and sensationalize the implications of recent dis coveries, often before the scientific community has had the opportunity to fully scrutinize the developments. Since many of the recent findings in this field have practical implications, quite often the symposia in molecular biology are sponsored by private industry and are of specialized interest and in any case quite expensive for students to participate in. Given that George Wash ington University is a teaching institution, our aim in sponsoring these Annual Spring Symposia is to provide, at cost, a forum for students and experts to discuss the latest developments in selected areas of great significance in biology. Additionally, since the University is located in Washington, D. C."

3D industrial printing has become mainstream in manufacturing. This unique book is the first to focus on polymers as the printing material. The scientific literature with respect to 3D printing is collated in this monograph. The book opens with a chapter on foundational issues such and presents a broad overview of 3D printing procedures and the materials used therein. In particular, the methods of 3d printing are discussed and the polymers and composites used for 3d printing are detailed. The book details the main fields of applications areas which include electric and magnetic uses, medical applications, and pharmaceutical applications. Electric and magnetic uses include electronic materials, actuators, piezoelectric materials, antennas, batteries and fuel cells. Medical applications are organ manufacturing, bone repair materials, drug-eluting coronary stents, and dental applications. The pharmaceutical applications are composite tablets, transdermal drug delivery, and patient-specific liquid capsules. A special chapter deals with the growing aircraft and automotive uses for 3D printing, such as with manufacturing of aircraft parts and aircraft cabins. In the field of cars, 3D printing is gaining importance for automotive parts (brake components, drives), for the fabrication of automotive repair systems, and even 3D printed vehicles.

tions is not possible without first putting the problem into a wider con text. Consequently, before proceeding with detailed critical topical cov erage of individual biomass energy sources, uses, and effects, I will extend this preface with a few pages of rather personal reflections (I will use the same device in closing the book: after providing concise topical summaries in Chapter 8, I will conclude with some essayistic musings on renewable energetics, plants, people, and a scientist's responsibility). Interest in biomass energies is just a part of a broader global trend toward renewable energetics, a trend which has evolved speedily after the crude oil price escalation started in 1973. Yet one must be reminded that for the rich countries fossil fuels are, and for a long period shall remain, the foundation of an affluent civilization, while throughout the poor world the reliance of most people on biomass energies for everyday subsistence has brought many damaging environmental and social ef fects; that the reality of sharp price rises for crude oil (actually not so sharp once adjusted for inflation) should not be misconstrued as an "energy crisis"; that the rise of renew abies and the claims made on their behalf by countless enthusiasts look so much better on paper than in reality; and that the potential of biomass energies, an essential ingre dient of renewable scenarios, has been judged more with proselytizing zeal than with critical detachment."

Geneticists and molecular biologists have been interested in quantifying genes and their products for many years and for various reasons (Bishop, 1974). Early molecular methods were based on molecular hybridization, and were devised shortly after Marmur and Doty (1961) first showed that denaturation of the double helix could be reversed - that the process of molecular reassociation was exquisitely sequence dependent. Gillespie and Spiegelman (1965) developed a way of using the method to titrate the number of copies of a probe within a target sequence in which the target sequence was fixed to a membrane support prior to hybridization with the probe - typically a RNA. Thus, this was a precursor to many of the methods still in use, and indeed under development, today. Early examples of the application of these methods included the measurement of the copy numbers in gene families such as the ribosomal genes and the immunoglo bulin family. Amplification of genes in tumors and in response to drug treatment was discovered by this method. In the same period, methods were invented for estimating gene num bers based on the kinetics of the reassociation process - the so-called Cot analysis. This method, which exploits the dependence of the rate of reassociation on the concentration of the two strands, revealed the presence of repeated sequences in the DNA of higher eukaryotes (Britten and Kohne, 1968). An adaptation to RNA, Rot analysis (Melli and Bishop, 1969), was used to measure the abundance of RNAs in a mixed population."

Biological O2 sensing probes and measurement techniques were first introduced in the late 80s. In the last 3-5 years they have undergone major development that have made them available and affordable for a broad range of applications in various disciplines of the life and biomedical sciences. These new chemistries and technologies, which are significantly different from the majority of other fluorescence-based probes and detection techniques, have already demonstrated their high utility. This book will provide a systematic overview of the existing and emerging O2 sensing technologies in their different modifications, a practical guide to their rational selection and use, and examples of biological applications/case studies, including details on how to set up and conduct such experiments, troubleshoot and interpret the data.

One of the greatest challenges facing package manufacturers is to develop reliable fine pitch thin packages with high leadcounts, capable of dissipating heat, and deliver them in volume to the market in a very short space of time. How can this be done? Firstly, package structures, materials, and manufacturing processes must be optimised. Secondly, it is necessary to predict the likely failures and behaviour of parts before manufacture, whilst minimising the amount of time and money invested in undertaking costly experimental trials. In a high volume production environment, any design improvement that increases yield and reliability can be of immense benefit to the manufacturer. Components and systems need to be packaged to protect the IC from its environment. Encapsulating devices in plastic is very cheap and has the advantage of allowing them to be produced in high volume on an assembly line. Currently 95% of all ICs are encapsulated in plastic. Plastic packages are robust, light weight, and suitable for automated assembly onto printed circuit boards. They have developed from low pincount (14-28 pins) dual-in-line (DIP) packages in the 1970s, to fine pitch PQFPs (plastic quad flat pack) and TQFPs (thin quad flat pack) in the 1980s-1990s, with leadcounts as high as 256. The demand for PQFPs in 1997 was estimated to be 15 billion and this figure is expected to grow to 20 billion by the year 2000.

The development of agents capable of cleaving RNA and DNA has attracted considerable attention from researchers in the last few years, because of the immediate and very important applications they can find in the emerging fields of biotechnology and pharmacology. There are essentially two classes of these agents - nucleases that occur naturally inside cells and synthetically produced artificial nucleases. The first class includes protein enzyme nucle ases and catalytic RNA structured ribozymes that perform cleavage of the phosphodiester bonds in nucleic acids according to a hydrolytic pathway in the course of different biochemical processes in the cell. A different pathway is used by some antibiotics which cleave DNA via redox-based mechanisms resulting in oxidative damage of nucleotide units and breakage of the DNA backbone. The above molecules are indispensable tools for manipulating nucleic acids and processing RNA; DNA-cleaving antibiotics and cytotoxic ribonucleases have demonstrated utility as chemotherapeutic agents. The second class, artificial nucleases, are rationally designed to imitate the active centers of natural enzymes by simple structures possessing minimal sets of the most important characteristics that are essential for catalysis. A dif ferent approach, in vitro selection, was also used to create artificial RNA and DNA enzymes capable of cleaving RNA. Being less efficient and specific as compared to the natural enzymes, the primitive mimics are smaller and robust and can function in a broad range of conditions."

This much-needed book is the first definitive volume on Euglena in twenty-fire years, offering information on its atypical biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, and potential biotechnology applications. This volume gathers together contributions from well-known experts, who in many cases played major roles in elucidating the phenomenon discussed. Presented in three parts, the first section of this comprehensive book describes novel biochemical pathways which in some instances have an atypical subcellular localization. The second section details atypical cellular mechanisms of organelle protein import, organelle nuclear genome interdependence, gene regulation and expression that provides insights into the evolutionary origins of eukaryotic cells. The final section discusses how biotechnologists have capitalized on the novel cellular and biochemical features of Euglena to produce value added products. Euglena: Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology will provide essential reading for cell and molecular biologists with interests in evolution, novel biochemical pathways, organelle biogenesis and algal biotechnology. Readers will come away from this volume with a full understanding of the complexities of the Euglena as well as new realizations regarding the diversity of cellular processes yet to be discovered.