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.

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.

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.

Contents: L. Banfi A. Basso R. Riva: Synthesis of Heterocycles Through Classical Ugi and Passerini Reactions Followed by Secondary Transformations Involving One or Two Additional Functional Groups.- V.A. Chebanov K. A. Gura S.M. Desenko: Aminoazoles as Key Reagents in Multicomponent Heterocyclizations.- Y. Huang K. Khoury A. Doemling: Piperazine Scaffolds by Multicomponent 3 Reactions: The Piperazine Space 4 in MCR Chemistry 5 Deep MCR Piperazine Space.- N. Elders E. Ruijter V.G. Nenajdenko R.V.A. Orru: -Acidic Isocyanides in Multicomponent Chemistry.- A. Cukalovic J.-C.M.R. Monbaliu C.V. Stevens: Microreactor Technology as an Efficient Tool for Multicomponent Reactions.- L.A. Wessjohann C.R.B. Rhoden D.G. Rivera O. Eichler Vercillo: Cyclic Peptidomimetics and Pseudopeptides from Multicomponent Reactions.- M. del Mar Sanchez Duque C. Allais N. Isambert T. Constantieux J. Rodriguez: ss-Diketo Building Blocks for MCRs-Based Syntheses of Heterocycles

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.

In this volume, Prof. Ye and his coworkers propose and review the concept of nano-bio probe design for biochemical analysis on the basis of their recent published works. A unique biochemical analysis technology based on fluorescence polarization enhanced by nanoparticles is described here with successful applications in environmental monitoring, rapid and sensitive sensing protease activity and high-throughput screening of inhibitors. Furthermore, they introduce a versatile molecular beacon (MB)-like probe for the multiplex sensing of targets such as sequence-specific DNA, protein, metal ions and small molecule compounds based on the self-assembled biomolecule-graphene conjugates. Besides, some colorimetric and luminescence probes utilizing metal nanoparticles for biochemical applications are also presented, such as chiral enantiomer discrimination and separation, environmental monitoring, clinic diagnosis and etc.

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 riddle of the biochemical nature of drug dependence of the opiate type has stimulated many studies directed toward understanding the molecular basis of the action of opiates, and, particularly, the phenomena of tolerance, physical dependence, and drug-seeking behavior-phenomena exhibited by man and experimental animals exposed persistently to these drugs. The results of these studies provided a substantial body of information which has been published in the scientific and medical literature. The purely pharma cological responses in man and animals to the opiates have been described and evaluated in many monographs and text-books of pharmacology. However, there is no single source for specific and detailed information on the responses of the body and its tissues to narcotic analgesic drugs at the level of biochemical pharmacology; that is, the molecular history of the drug in the body and the biochemical consequences of its presence in tissue. This volume has been prepared in an effort to repair the deficiency. Two factors have contributed a special urgency to making this infor mation available in convenient form: (1) the current need for a better under standing of the biochemical mechanisms underlying addiction to narcotic drugs, and (2) the progress made in molecular biology which promises that significant advances in the elucidation of fundamental processes in the central nervous system and their drug-induced aberrations may soon be possible."

The biennial International Gothenburg Symposia on Chemical Water and Waste water Treatment have proven to be a unique platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences between administrators, engineers and scientists active in the fields of water supply, wastewater disposal and pollution control. The First Symposium (Gothenburg, 1984) provided a long needed survey over theory and application of chemical water and wastewater treatment. The Second Symposium (Berlin, 1986) was devoted to aspects of recycling in chemical water and wastewater technology. The Third Symposium (Gothenburg, 1988) recognised the growing need and the potentials of pretreatment. These proceedings of the 4th Symposium focus on technology transfer from chemical treatment theory to practical treatment of drinking water and industrial or domestic wastewater. The contributions are devoted to questions of floc for mation and floc separation as well as problems and practical solutions associated with chemicals and dosing control. Special attention is given to the combination of chemical and biological processes for nutrient removal from wastewater. It is the editors' privilege to acknowledge the invaluable help from the authors of this book. It is the editors' hope that they might convey the significance and potential of chemical treatment in solving the challenging problems water purification, wastewater disposal and pollution control.

During the last decade physical and chemical methods have improved rapidly - a fact which allowed the mode of action of antibiotics to be studied - and many biochemically-oriented scientists have devoted their research to the following questions: 1. What is the metabolic pathway that is inhibited selectively, and what are the target molecules within a sensitive cell? 2. What are the relationships between the chemical structure of an antibiotic and the physicochemical properties of the sensitive mole cule(s)? 3. Why and how far is the action selective? 4. Is it possible to correlate the interaction with the target mole cule(s) with the particular biological activities observed? This monograph deals with those antibiotics which interfere with the biosynthesis of nucleic acids. The idea was to provide an insight into how to investigate the preceding questions experimentally and to solve as yet unresolved problems rather than to give a review of the current state of knowledge. Although the biochemistry of nucleic acid synthesis is known in general, the precise molecular mechanisms by which deoxyribonucleic acid is replicated or transcribed has still to be clarified. For this reason it is not yet possible to describe the molecular mechanisms by which the inhibitors of nucleic acid and protein synthesis exhibit their effects. The fact that the inhibitors of nucleic acid and protein synthesis themselves served as useful tools to obtain an insight into the mechanisms of replication, transcription and translation was one of the most exciting discoveries in this field."

Biochemical engineering forms a bridge between fundamental biochemical research and large scale biotechnology processes. It covers genetic and protein engineering, cell culture, bioprocess and reactor design, separation and modelling. Research work in biochemical engineering is an investment in the future, when conventional resources will have to be replaced with renewable ones. In this book the papers presented at the Asia-Pacific Biochemical Engineering Conference (Yokohama, Japan 1992) are collected. This collection is unique in its wide coverage of topics and it gives an overview of the current trends of research in an important area.

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."

Enzymatic catalysis has gained considerable attention in recent years as an efficient tool in the preparation of natural products, pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and food ingredients. The high selectivity and mild reaction con- tions associated with enzymatic transformations have made this approach an attractive alternative in the synthesis of complex bioactive compounds, which are often difficult to obtain by standard chemical routes. However, the maj- ity of organic compounds are not very soluble in water, which was traditi- ally perceived as the only suitable reaction medium for the application of biocatalysts. The realization that most enzymes can function perfectly well under nearly anhydrous conditions and, in addition, display a number of useful properties, e. g. , highly enhanced stability and different selectivity, has d- matically widened the scope of their application to the organic synthesis. Another great attraction of using organic solvents rather than water as a reaction solvent is the ability to perform synthetic transformations with re- tively inexpensive hydrolytic enzymes. It is worth reminding the reader that in vivo, the synthetic and hydrolytic pathways are catalyzed by different enzymes. However, elimination of water from the reaction mixture enables the "reversal" of hydrolytic enzymes and thus avoids the use of the expensive cofactors or activated substrates that are required for their synthetic count- parts.

A recently established technique termed pharming uses genetically modified plants and animals for the production of biopharmaceuticals. The present interdisciplinary study comprises an extended overview of the state of the art of pharming, as well as in depth analyses of the environmental risks and other ethical and legal issues of pharming. Public attitudes to pharming are investigated on the basis of an original survey in 15 countries worldwide. The study concludes with specific recommendations addressed towards science, industry and politics.

The suppression of apoptosis by the IGF system is critical for normal cell development, proliferation, differentiation and motility. Aberrations in IGF signalling mechanisms contribute to cell transformation, tumour progression and metastasis. Many questions remain to be answered as to how exactly the IGF system mediates its effects both in normal and tumour cells and how the IGF-1R interacting proteins and downstream signalling cascades are regulated. The importance of the IGF system is underscored by the significant interest in the development of anti-IGF therapies for IGF sensitive cancers. Future developments in cancer therapy are likely to focus on methods to target these therapies to diseased but not normal cells. 14. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Kurt Tidmore for preparing the illustrations. The Health Research Board of Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland are grateful acknowledged for funding. 15. References Adamo M., Roberts C. T., Jr. and LeRoith D. (1992) How distinct are the insulin and insul- like growth factor I signalling systems? Biofactors 3, 151-7. Adams T. E., Epa V. C., Garrett T. P. and Ward C. W. (2000) Structure and function of the type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor. Cell Mol Life Sci 57, 1050-93. Adler V., Polotskaya A., Wagner F. and Kraft A. S. (1992) Affinity-purified c-Jun ami- terminal protein kinase requires serine/threonine phosphorylation for activity. J Biol Chem 267, 17001-5.

This book is the first to view the effects of development, aging, and practice on the control of human voluntary movement from a contemporary context. Emphasis is on the links between progress in basic motor control research and applied areas such as motor disorders and motor rehabilitation. Relevant to both professionals in the areas of motor control, movement disorders, and motor rehabilitation, and to students starting their careers in one of these actively developed areas.

This textbook and reference fills a critical gap in literature on the comprehensive environmental impacts of industrial organizations. Nineteen chapters examine individual industrial sectors inherent "potential to pollute." The text goes on to analyze new technologies and practices for transforming environmentally degrading effects of industry, and shows how managers can navigate these changes and move their organizations towards long-term environmental sustainability.

Air pollution, a major concern at the end of the 20th century, still remains a significant problem to be solved today. Traditionally, industrial waste gases have primarily been treated through physical or chemical methods. The search for new, efficient, and cost-effective alternative technologies has led to the development and, more recently, the improvement of gas phase bioreactors. This book is the first single text to provide a complete, comprehensive picture of all major biological reactors suitable for solving air pollution problems. The text describes the main features and covers the major aspects, from microbiological to engineering, as well as economic aspects, of the different types of bioreactors. The book also presents an in-depth review of the subject, from fundamental bench-scale research to industrial field applications related to the operation of full-scale systems successfully treating polluted air in Europe and the United States. Material dedicated to more conventional non-biological technologies has also been included, to provide a complete overview of the different alternative treatment processes. Audience: The different chapters have been written by international experts, as a result of a fruitful collaboration between European and American scientists and engineers. The resulting text is a high quality, valuable reference tool for a variety of readers, including graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, professors, engineers, and those professionals who are interested in environmental engineering and, more specifically, in innovative air pollution control technologies.

The next article includes the description of the rich chemistry of phosphinines, including azaphosphinines. The sixth article deals with synthetic approaches to different types of 1- heterophosphacyclanes, including four-, five-, and six-membered P-heterocycles. The next two articles cover the chemistry of phosphorus containing mac- cycles. The phosphorus containing calixarenes have attracted much attention in recent years due to their various functions such as metal cations binding, catalysis, molecular recogination, and bioactivity. Likewise, other phosphorus-containing macrocycles, cryptands, and dendrimers find various uses in analytical chemistry and biochemistry. We hope to include the following articles in the second volume on phosphorous heterocycles: Diazaphospholes Selected phosphorous heterocycles containing a stereogenic phosphorus Heterophenes carrying phosphorus functional groups as key structures The synthesis and chemistry of the phospholane ring system Synthesis and bioactivity of 2,5-dihydro-1,2-oxaphosphole-2-oxide derivatives Recent developments in the chemistry of N-heterocyclic phosphines. I would be failing in my duty if I do not express my sincere thanks to the people at Springer, particularly Ms. Birgit Kollmar-Thoni and Ms. Ingrid Samide, for coordinating the project with great dedication.

Biofuel is a renewable energy source produced from natural materials. The benefits of biofuels over traditional petroleum fuels include greater energy security, reduced environmental impact, foreign exchange savings, and socioeconomic issues related to the rural sector. The most common biofuels are produced from classic food crops that require high-quality agricultural land for growth. However, bioethanol can be produced from plentiful, domestic, cellulosic biomass resources such as herbaceous and woody plants, agricultural and forestry residues, and a large portion of municipal and industrial solid waste streams. There is also a growing interest in the use of vegetable oils for making biodiesel. "Biofuels: Securing the Planet's Future Energy Needs" discusses the production of transportation fuels from biomass (such as wood, straw and even household waste) by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The book is an important text for students and researchers in energy engineering, as well as professional fuel engineers.

All important aspects of thermophilic moulds such as systematics, ecology, physiology and biochemistry, production of extracellular and intracellular enzymes, their role in spoilage of stores products and solid and liquid waste management, and general and molecular genetics have been dealt with comprehensively by experts in this book which covers progress in the field over the last 30 years since the seminal book Thermophilic Fungi published by Cooney and Emerson in 1964. The experts have reviewed extensive literature on all aspects of thermophilic moulds in a very comprehensive manner. This book will be useful for graduates as well as post-graduate students of life sciences, mycology, microbiology and biotechnology, and as a reference book for researchers.

Emergent Computation emphasizes the interrelationship of the different classes of languages studied in mathematical linguistics (regular, context-free, context-sensitive, and type 0) with aspects to the biochemistry of DNA, RNA, and proteins. In addition, aspects of sequential machines such as parity checking and semi-groups are extended to the study of the Biochemistry of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Mention is also made of the relationship of algebraic topology, knot theory, complex fields, quaternions, and universal turing machines and the biochemistry of DNA, RNA, and proteins.

Emergent Computation tries to avoid an emphasis upon mathematical abstraction ("elegance") at the expense of ignoring scientific facts known to Biochemists. Emergent Computation is based entirely upon papers published by scientists in well-known and respected professional journals. These papers are based upon current research. A few examples of what is not ignored to gain "elegance":

- DNA exists as triple and quadruple strands

- Watson-Crick complementary bases have mismatches

- There can be more than four bases in DNA

- There are more than sixty-four codons

- There may be more that twenty amino acids in proteins

While Emergent Computation emphasizes bioinformatics applications, the last chapter studies mathematical linguistics applied to areas such as languages found in birds, insects, medical applications, anthropology, etc.

Emergent Computation tries to avoid unnecessary mathematical abstraction while still being rigorous. The demands made upon the knowledge of chemistry or mathematics is minimized as well. The collected technical references are valuable in itself for additional reading.

Site-specific mutagenesis of DNA, developed some thirty years ago, has proven to be one of the most important advances in biology. By allowing the site-specific replacement of any amino acid in a protein with one of the other nineteen amino acids, it ushered in the new era of "Protein Engineering". The field of protein engineering has, however, evolved rapidly since then and the last fifteen years have witnessed remarkable advances through the use of new chemical, biochemical and molecular biological tools towards the synthesis and manipulation of proteins. The chapters included in this book reflect the rapid evolution of protein engineering and its many applications in basic research, biotechnology, material sciences and therapy. This book will provide the reader with an introduction to state-of the-art concepts and methods and will be of use to anyone interested in the study of proteins, in academia as well as in industry.

Recently, there have been significant developments in robust control of time-delay systems. This volume presents a systematic treatment of robust control for such systems in the frequency domain. The emphasis is on systems with a single input or output delay, although the delay-free part of the plant can be multi-input-multi-output, in which case the delays in different channels should be the same.

The author covers the whole range of H-infinity control of time-delay systems: from controller parameterization implementation; from the Nehari problem to the four-block problem; from theoretical developments to practical issues. The major tools used are similarity transformation, the chain-scattering approach and J-spectral factorization.

Self-contained, "Robust Control of Time-delay Systems" will interest control theorists and mathematicians working with time-delay systems. Its methodical approach will be of value to graduates studying general robust control theory or its applications in time-delay systems.