Molecular behaviour, which is no less than magical, holds the key to the understanding, not only of chemistry, but of all biology and of life itself. It is a mystery why molecular behaviour should remain poorly understood and why the authoritative theories of physics have produced no more than superficial models to elucidate this vital issue. An interdisciplinary international team of experts came together to document and to probe various aspects of these fundamental questions and their startling conclusions confirm the need for a fresh look at the physical sciences with a view to better understand the mysteries and magic of molecules. This book explores the common ground to guide chemists, biologists, crystallographers, spectroscopists and theorists into a deeper recognition of their individual relevance towards painting a holistic picture of scientific endeavour. This effort to stimulate interest in multidisciplinary research is rare, if not unique.

This volume is a collection of chapters contributed by leading experts in the emerging field of analytical morphology. Its contents cover a wide range of techniques for morphologic research and diagnosis and it is intended for anyone who wants to keep abreast of the rapid development in this field. Analytical morphology is a contemporary science dealing with the analy- sis of shape, size and color arrangement of cell and tissue components by means of a variety of analytical maneuvers. It differs from conventional mor- phology and histopathology in that it employs methods beyond routine hema- toxylin and eosin or histochemical staining. To a great extent, the advance- ment of analytical morphology is based on new advances in other disciplines, such as immunology, molecular biology, laser technology, microwave tech- nology and computer science. Using these new methods, particular cellular components that would otherwise remain invisible, such as peptides, pro- teins, or nucleotide sequences, are highlighted by visible markers through chemical, physical, immunological or molecular biological reactions. These methods include immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization, in situ poly- merase chain reaction, antigen retrieval, image analysis, and the like. Analytical morphology is the foundation of contemporary medicine. It provides concrete and visible evidence for many conceptual deductions of other life science disciplines.

Chloroplasts are essential for the survival and flourishing of life on Earth. Over the years, chloroplast biology has been studied in a variety of different organisms, leading to the significant disadvantage that findings which were made by using different experimental systems or species were not always directly cross-comparable. The relatively recent adoption of Arabidopsis thaliana as the model organism of choice for plant science research, across the globe, has led to its emergence as a pre-eminent system for research on chloroplasts and other types of plastid. In Chloroplast Research in Arabidopsis: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers bring together some of the most important, modern techniques and approaches for chloroplast research, with the unifying theme of Arabidopsis as the model system. Volume I explores topics such as genetics, cytology, in vivo analysis, gene expression, and protein accumulation, as well as protein transport, localization, and topology. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and convenient, Chloroplast Research in Arabidopsis: Methods and Protocols serves as an ideal reference for all researchers with a general interest in chloroplasts, plastids, or related processes.

The aim of this text is to provide reviews and monographs on topics involving molecular similarity, ranging from the fundamental physical properties underlying molecular behaviour to applications in industrially important fields such as pharmaceutical drug design and molecular engineering. The editors hope that this series will encourage new ideas and approaches, help to systematize the rapidly accumulating new chemical information, and make chemistry better understood and better applied.

This third volume in the series covers such topics as anaesthetics, cannulation and injection techniques, and surgery. The book will be invaluable to fisheries scientists, aquaculturists, and animal biochemists, physiologists and endocrinologists; it will provide researchers and students with a pertinent information source from theoretical and experimental angles.

W. French Anderson, M.D. The publication of this book comes at an opportune time for the young field of human gene therapy. After a decade of long struggle at the laboratory bench and many long hours under the harsh lights of the federal review process, gene therapy has emerged as a legitimate scientific discipline. It is now time to move away from the period of questioning whether gene therapy will be a useful part of the physician armamentarium to begin to actively teach the concepts and practices that make gene therapy a reality. This book is a comprehensive collection of chapters that describe the basic biology and potential application of viruses as gene transfer reagents. It is not a coincidence that a modified virus was the reagent used in the first human gene therapy trials. Viruses have evolved with the human species (and most likely with all forms of life) to be the masters of gene transfer.

Cytomegaloviruses are members of the herpesvirus group and can infect humans and other primates. This text presents comprehensive reviews on every aspect of current research.

Atherosclerosis: Experimental Methods and Protocols aims to provide the reader with a compilation of techniques that will prove useful to active investigators across the field of experimental atherosclerosis research. In fact, this volume is unique, the first devoted to a broad spectrum of techniques and assays, some adopted from other disciplines, not previously brought together in one book. Our approach is designed to permit researchers to select the techniques that will answer their particular sets of questions, in any of the expanding number of both animal models and in vitro systems now available for studying factors contributing to the development or progression of athe- sclerotic lesions. Researchers can only benefit from this collection of relevant techniques, written and explained by experts in each of these fields. Both investigators beginning in the field of atherosclerosis studies and researchers entering the field from related but different areas of study will benefit from Atherosclerosis: Experimental Methods and Protocols. Sufficient background is provided for a beginner to carry out the techniques described in the chapters, yet great depth is achieved owing to the special expertise of the authors. Researchers new to the field of atherosclerosis will appreciate the benefits of having these techniques gathered in one volume for their inves- gations. In addition, researchers already in the field of atherosclerosis research may benefit from the wide array of techniques and ideas provided by enjoying expanded opportunities to investigate their hypotheses.

The aim of MHC Protocols is to document protocols that can be used for the analysis of genetic variation within the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC; HLA region). The human MHC encompasses approximately 4 million base pairs on the short arm of chromosome 6 at cytogenetic location 6p21. 3. The region is divided into three subregions. The telomeric class I region contains the genes that encode the HLA class I molecules HLA-A, -B, and -C. The centromeric class II region contains the genes encoding the HLA class II molecules HLA-DR, -DQ, and -DP. In between is the class III region, originally identified because it contains genes encoding components of the complement pathway. The entire human MHC has recently been sequenced (1) and each subregion is now known to contain many other genes, a number of which have immunological functions. The study of polymorphism within the MHC is well established, because the region contains the highly polymorphic HLA genes. HLA polymorphism has been used extensively in solid organ and bone marrow transplantation to match donors and recipients. As a result, large numbers of HLA alleles have been identified, a process that has been further driven by recent interest in HLA gene diversity in ethnic populations. The extreme genetic variation in HLA genes is believed to have been driven by the evolutionary response to infectious agents, but relatively few studies have analyzed associations between HLA genetic variation and infectious disease, which has been difficult to demonstrate.

The advances of live cell video imaging and high-throughput technologies for functional and chemical genomics provide unprecedented opportunities to understand how biological processes work in subcellularand multicellular systems. The interdisciplinary research field of Video Bioinformatics is defined by BirBhanu as the automated processing, analysis, understanding, data mining, visualization, query-basedretrieval/storage of biological spatiotemporal events/data and knowledge extracted from dynamic imagesand microscopic videos. Video bioinformatics attempts to provide a deeper understanding of continuousand dynamic life processes.Genome sequences alone lack spatial and temporal information, and video imaging of specific moleculesand their spatiotemporal interactions, using a range of imaging methods, are essential to understandhow genomes create cells, how cells constitute organisms, and how errant cells cause disease. The bookexamines interdisciplinary research issues and challenges with examples that deal with organismal dynamics,intercellular and tissue dynamics, intracellular dynamics, protein movement, cell signaling and softwareand databases for video bioinformatics.Topics and Features* Covers a set of biological problems, their significance, live-imaging experiments, theory andcomputational methods, quantifiable experimental results and discussion of results.* Provides automated methods for analyzing mild traumatic brain injury over time, identifying injurydynamics after neonatal hypoxia-ischemia and visualizing cortical tissue changes during seizureactivity as examples of organismal dynamics* Describes techniques for quantifying the dynamics of human embryonic stem cells with examplesof cell detection/segmentation, spreading and other dynamic behaviors which are important forcharacterizing stem cell health* Examines and quantifies dynamic processes in plant and fungal systems such as cell trafficking,growth of pollen tubes in model systems such as Neurospora Crassa and Arabidopsis* Discusses the dynamics of intracellular molecules for DNA repair and the regulation of cofilintransport using video analysis* Discusses software, system and database aspects of video bioinformatics by providing examples of5D cell tracking by FARSIGHT open source toolkit, a survey on available databases and software,biological processes for non-verbal communications and identification and retrieval of moth imagesThis unique text will be of great interest to researchers and graduate students of Electrical Engineering,Computer Science, Bioengineering, Cell Biology, Toxicology, Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics, ComputerVision and Pattern Recognition, Medical Image Analysis, and Cell Molecular and Developmental Biology.The large number of example applications will also appeal to application scientists and engineers.Dr. Bir Bhanu is Distinguished Professor of Electrical & C omputer Engineering, Interim Chair of theDepartment of Bioengineering, Cooperative Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, and MechanicalEngineering and the Director of the Center for Research in Intelligent Systems, at the University of California,Riverside, California, USA.Dr. Prue Talbot is Professor of Cell Biology & Neuroscience and Director of the Stem Cell Center and Core atthe University of California Riverside, California, USA.

Protein glycosylation is now acknowledged as a major posttranslational modification with significant effects on protein folding, conformation distri- bution, stability, and activity. The added oligosaccharide chains are large and diverse and have specific recognition motifs important in many aspects of cell interactions and regulation. As such, there is a growing need to communicate the analytical methods of the specialist carbohydrate chemist, biochemist, and physicochemist to protein experts and the pharmaceutical industry. Other areas that come under the influence of the glycosciences are DNA interactions with ubiquitous saccharide-containing antibiotics and antitumor drugs; inhibitors of viral infection; bacterial, mycobacterial, and parasite antigens; glycolipids; glycophosphatidylinositol protein membrane anchors; and (glyco)protein- proteoglycan interactions. Compared to the first edition of this book, Glycopro- tein Analysis in Biomedicine, less emphasis is given to biomedical aspects, but these chapters are still pertinent today. The significant differences in the con- tent relate to advances in analysis relevant to biotechnology; for example, the production of recombinant glycoproteins and other therapeutics. It must also not be forgotten that the methods here described in Glycoanalysis Protocols are relevant to exploiting the commercial potential of carbohydrates in fields related to agriculture, food, and the domestic and chemical industries. The emphasis of the book remains in bringing the glycosciences into mainstream biochemistry. The analytical methods covered in Glycoanalysis Protocols are the re- sult of experts translating their life's works into easy-to-follow recipes.

Sulphur (S) plays a pivotal role in various plant growth and development processes being a constituent of sulphur-containing amino acids, cysteine and methionine, and other metabolites viz., glutathione and phytochelatins, co-factor of enzymes which contribute to stress repair and amelioration of heavy metal toxicity. Besides, a number of S-containing components are biologically active and, thus, a source for use as medicinal value. The basic global issue before the agricultural scientist and world community is to evolve cultivars and develop methodologies for efficient use of inputs to enhance agricultural productivity. This is particularly true of the developing countries which are going to see maximum rise in population with changing food demands and declining availability of land. Amongst the inputs, nutrients play a crucial role. The major requirement is for N, P and K followed by several micro-nutrients. In this context reports of world-wide S deficiency in the agricultural systems are relevant. The reasons are many. Broadly speaking reduction inS emission, use of S-free N, P and K fertilizers and higher biomass production contributed the maximum. Despite the need for sulphur as an essential plant nutrient and the substantial returns expected from its use, very little attention has been given to fill the gap between supply and demand of S.

This volume provides detailed techniques used for the study and characterization of the plant vascular system, with a central focus on the xylem tissue. Chapters are organized in three main sections covering; analysis of xylem development, xylem characterization though imaging techniques, and analysis of the xylem composition. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical Xylem: Methods and Protocols, aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.

Genetic toxicology is recognized by geneticists and researchers concerned with the genetic impact of man-made chemicals. In "Genotoxicity Assessment: Methods and Protocols," expert researchers in the field provide comprehensive genetictoxicology protocols. These include in vitro and in vivo protocols on mutation assays, cytogenetic techniques, and primary DNA damage, assays in alternate to animal models, and updated ICH guidelines. Written in the highly successful"Methods in Molecular Biology" series format, the chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step and readily reproducible laboratory protocols, as well as key tips ontroubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.
Authoritative and cutting-edge, "Genotoxicity Assessment: Methods and Protocols" seeks to aid research students and scientists working in regulatory toxicology as well as biomedical, biochemical and pharmaceutical sciences."

Reporter genes have played, and continue to play, a vital role in many areas of biological research by providing a ready means for qualitative and quantitative assessment of the activity of genes and location of gene products in different environments. This book describes practical protocols for experimentation with the most useful reporter genes for mammalian systems that are available.

The Proceedings of the Fourth International Metallothionein Meeting (MT-97) feature the latest research on metallothionein. The book covers a broad range of topics which provide important information for both basic and clinical investigators. The selected 94 articles in this book are written by the leading scientists in the field around the world. This is an increasingly important, multi-disciplinary area of study that has benefitted from recent advances in concepts and methodologies from other fields.

In 1976 I wrote a monograph on lysosomes (Lysosomes: A Survey, Springer Verlag, Vienna) that was intended as an up-to-date, comprehensive survey. Whatever success I may have achieved then in fulfilling that intention, even the effort now would be foolhardy. The literature has grown so rapidly in the past decade that I certainly could not even read all of the essential papers, let alone understand and analyze them. My goal here, therefore, is simply to introduce the major features of lysosomes at a level I hope will be useful both to I;ldvanced students and to researchers interested in obtaining a broad background. This is in keeping with the design of the Cellular Organelles series: the series is more a set of advanced texts than of review monographs. This design carries with it the decision not to support each point by refer ences to the original literature. I apologize for the injustice involved in such a decision but feel that in any event it would be impossibly unwieldy to cite, adequately and in a balanced manner, the contributions of the vast network of researchers responsible for the information upon which I draw."

This volume highlights the most interesting biomedical and clinical applications of high-dimensional flow and mass cytometry. It reviews current practical approaches used to perform high-dimensional experiments and addresses key bioinformatic techniques for the analysis of data sets involving dozens of parameters in millions of single cells. Topics include single cell cancer biology; studies of the human immunome; exploration of immunological cell types such as CD8+ T cells; decipherment of signaling processes of cancer; mass-tag cellular barcoding; analysis of protein interactions by proximity ligation assays; Cytobank, a platform for the analysis of cytometry data; computational analysis of high-dimensional flow cytometric data; computational deconvolution approaches for the description of intracellular signaling dynamics and hyperspectral cytometry. All 10 chapters of this book have been written by respected experts in their fields. It is an invaluable reference book for both basic and clinical researchers.

This volume covers protocols related to both pluripotent and somatic stem cells, including the ethical procurement of tissues and cells for the provision of "seed stock," standardized methods for deriving hESCs and iPSCs, isolating mesenchymal stem cells, cell culture and cryopreservation, in addition to quality assurance and information management. Stem Cell Banking: Concepts and Protocols aims to contribute to the development of this field by providing information that is essential to establishing a bona fide stem cell bank. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Cutting-edge and thorough, Stem Cell Banking: Concepts and Protocols is a valuable resource for stem cell scientists and novices to the field, and will help strengthen and maximize their use of existing and future stem cell resources.

When marketing managers and financial managers join forces within any business, the result can often be poor communication on financial criteria and goals. The risk of this situation occurring is inevitably present when those with different professional backgrounds and roles are working in accordance with their own norms. In his seminal 1956 paper on general systems theory, the economist Kenneth Boulding referred to the phenomenon of "specialised ears and generalised deafness", which can be seen to exist when marketing managers are financially illiterate or when financial managers lack the necessary insights to design, implement and operate accounting systems which are useful to marketing managers in carrying out their roles. It is increasingly difficult to attach credence to the idea of marketing managers who lack financial skills, or financial managers who fail to relate to the context in which marketing managers operate. Understanding the marketing/accounting interface is therefore important in generating emergent properties from the interaction of marketers and accountants whereby the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The chapters in this volume seek to address this challenge. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management.

For this second edition of their much praised Cytochrome P450, the editors have collected accounts of the essential core techniques that use the latest methodologies for the investigation of P450s. Highlights include protocols for spectral analysis and purification of P450s, enzymatic assays of P450s and flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMOs), expression of P450s and FMOs in heterologous systems, and the production and use of antipeptide antibodies. Additional chapters contain readily reproducible techniques for the transfection of hepatocytes for gene regulation studies, P450 reporter gene assays, in situ hybridization, and analysis of genetic polymorphisms. Although the emphasis is on P450s of mammalian origin, many of the readily reproducible methods described are suitable for P450s from any source.

Trinucleotide repeats are relatively common in the human genome. These simple repeats have received much attention since epoch-making discoveries were made that particular trinucleotide repeats are expanded in the causal genes of human hereditary neurological disorders. For example, the CGG repeat is expanded in fragile X syndrome at the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of its causal gene. In myotonic dystrophy, it is the CTG repeat that is expanded at the 3' UTR of its causal gene. The CAG repeat was also found expanded in coding regions of the genes responsible for X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, Huntington's disease, spinocerebellar ataxia, and other disorders. On the other hand, expansion of the GAA repeat was identified in the intron of the gene responsible for the Friedreich's ataxia. For these trinucleotide repeat diseases, the longer the trinucleotide expansion, the earlier the age of onset and the more severe the syndrome. Thus, these findings that showed the intriguing link between a particular trinucleotide expansion and its associated neurological disorders have led to a new field of intensive study. Active research addressing the underlying mechanisms for trinucleotide repeat diseases has employed various approaches ranging from DNA biochemistry to animal models for the diseases. In particular, animal models for the triplet repeat diseases have provided excellent resources not only for understanding the mechanisms but also for exploring therapeutic interventions.

Arts, heritage, non-profit and social marketing today comprise key components of the contemporary marketing management scene. Governments, charities and voluntary sector organisations throughout the world are increasingly involved in the development of marketing campaigns, and more and more of these organisations are likely to be at the cutting edge of the application of the very latest marketing methods. Research in the arts, heritage, non-profit and social marketing fields is intellectually rigorous, relevant for user communities, and has a great deal to offer to marketing theory as well as to promotional practice. This book presents a collection of stimulating articles that report some of the freshest and most innovative research and thinking in the authors' specialist domains. Collectively the chapters offer a balance of empirical and conceptual research in arts, heritage, non-profit and social marketing. They explore new ideas, challenge pre-existing orthodoxies, develop knowledge, and demonstrate the epistemological importance of current research in these critical areas. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management.

Analytical Molecular Biology illustrates the importance of simple analytical methods applied to some basic molecular biology problems, with an emphasis on the importance of biological problems, rather than the complexity of mathematics. First, the book examines crucial experimental data for a specific problem. Mathematical models will then be constructed with explicit inclusion of biological facts. From such models, predictions can be deduced and then suggest further experimental studies. A few important molecular biology problems will be discussed in the order of the complexity of the mathematical models. Based on such illustrations, the readers can then develop their own analytical methods to study their own problems. This book is for anyone who knows they need to learn how to apply mathematical models to biology, but doesn't necessarily want to, from practicing researchers looking to acquire more analytical tools to advanced students seeking a clear, explanatory text.

This book develops a new approach called parameter advising for finding a parameter setting for a sequence aligner that yields a quality alignment of a given set of input sequences. In this framework, a parameter advisor is a procedure that automatically chooses a parameter setting for the input, and has two main ingredients: (a) the set of parameter choices considered by the advisor, and (b) an estimator of alignment accuracy used to rank alignments produced by the aligner. On coupling a parameter advisor with an aligner, once the advisor is trained in a learning phase, the user simply inputs sequences to align, and receives an output alignment from the aligner, where the advisor has automatically selected the parameter setting. The chapters first lay out the foundations of parameter advising, and then cover applications and extensions of advising. The content * examines formulations of parameter advising and their computational complexity, * develops methods for learning good accuracy estimators, * presents approximation algorithms for finding good sets of parameter choices, and * assesses software implementations of advising that perform well on real biological data. Also explored are applications of parameter advising to * adaptive local realignment, where advising is performed on local regions of the sequences to automatically adapt to varying mutation rates, and * ensemble alignment, where advising is applied to an ensemble of aligners to effectively yield a new aligner of higher quality than the individual aligners in the ensemble. The book concludes by offering future directions in advising research.