The work introduces the fundamentals concerning the measure of discrete information, the modeling of discrete sources without and with a memory, as well as of channels and coding. The understanding of the theoretical matter is supported by many examples. One particular emphasis is put on the explanation of Genomic Coding. Many examples throughout the book are chosen from this particular area and several parts of the book are devoted to this exciting implication of coding.

PCR Cloning Protocols, Second Edition, updates and expands Bruce White's best-selling PCR Cloning Protocols (1997) with the newest procedures for DNA cloning and mutagenesis. Here the researcher will find readily reproducible methods for all the major aspects of PCR use, including PCR optimization, computer programs for PCR primer design and analysis, and novel variations for cloning genes of special characteristics or origin, with emphasis on long distance PCR and GC-rich template amplification. Also included are both conventional and novel enzyme-free and restriction site-free procedures to clone PCR products into a range of vectors, as well as state-of-the-art protocols to facilitate DNA mutagenesis and recombination, and to clone the challenging uncharacterized DNA flanking a known DNA fragment.

Since its invention and subsequent development nearly 20 years ago, po- merase chain reaction (PCR) has been extensively utilized to identify numerous gene probes in vitro and in vivo. However, attempts to generate complete and full-length complementary cDNA libraries were, for the most part, fruitless and remained elusive until the last decade, when simple and rapid methods were developed. With current decoding and potential application of human genome information to genechips, there are urgent needs for identification of functional significance of these decoded gene sequences. Inherent in bringing these app- cations to fruition is the need to generate a complete and full-length cDNA library for potential functional assays of specific gene sequences. Generation of cDNA Libraries: Methods and Protocols serves as a laboratory manual on the evolution of generation of cDNA libraries, covering both ba- ground information and step-by-step practical laboratory recipes for which p- tocols, reagents, operational tips, instrumentation, and other requirements are detailed. The first chapter of the book is an overview of the basics of generating cDNA libraries, which include the following: (a) the definition of a cDNA library, (b) different kinds of cDNA libraries, (c) differences between methods for cDNA library generation using conventional approaches and novel stra- gies, including reverse generation of RNA repertoires from cDNA libraries, and (d) the quality of cDNA libraries.

The current explosive progress in molecular biological research can be definitively traced to the development of molecular cloning technology. The ability to insert specific gene sequences into cloning vectors and their subse quent expansion is the cornerstone of modem molecular biology. A direct practical outcome of molecular cloning technology is its application to ex press specific recombinant genes. Currently, recombinant gene products are used in a wide spectrum of applications, including gene therapy, production of bioactive pharmaceuticals, synthesis of novel biopolymers, in agriculture and animal husbandry, and so on. A fundamental requirement for successful recombinant gene expression is the design of the cloning vector and the choice of the host organism for expression. Recombinant Gene Expression Protocols grows out of the need for a laboratory manual that provides the reader the background and rationale, as well as the practical protocols for the preparation of "expression constructs" and their introduction into appropriate host cells and/or organisms. The chap ters in this book are grouped by their expression hosts, including E. coli, yeast, mammalian cells, nonmammalian eukaryotes such as plants, Xenopus, and insects, as well as in transgenic organisms. In-depth information is presented on the important characteristics of expression cloning vectors and the various methods for efficiently introducing expression constructs into target cells and/ or organisms. Throughout Recombinant Gene Expression Protocols, the authors have consistently striven for a balanced presentation of both background informa tion and actual laboratory details.

This volume reviews the new potential treatments and research in the area of Alzheimer's disease. Special attention is given to international developments in all fields relevant to new drug development. Topics discussed include: progress in the international harmonization of drug development guidelines for dementia drugs; bioethics and law; development of rating instruments; behavioural treatments; and the activities of the Reagan Foundation. The text integrates basic and clinical research findings, and provides evaluation of new approaches to therapy by world leaders in the field. The potential benefit for Alzheimer patients and families resulting from these research programmes, from molecular biology to clinical pharmacology, is reviewed and evaluated.

Koval provides an interdisciplinary forum for the diverse studies involved in the stress biology of eukaryotic cells. Readers gain access to the most recent information available for eukaryotic systems ranging from plants to humans. For the student, this format introduces a source of potentially unifying concepts and hypotheses. Scientists will find a unique opportunity to conveniently examine the similarities among inducible responses initiated by a variety of agents.

The receptor-associated JAK protein kinases and their substrates, the STAT transcriptional activators, transmit signals following cytokine and growth factor binding to receptors expressed on the cell surface, to result in specific transcriptional and cellular responses. Over the last two decades, the field has progressed from identification of the individual components through to an understanding of the activation and deactivation mechanisms, and the complex structural detail of the proteins involved. We now know that these pathways are important in many biological processes, including growth and development, hematopoiesis, and the innate and adaptive immune response. JAK-STAT Signalling: Methods and Protocols provides detailed methodologies for examining many aspects of the pathway. Divided into four sections, topics include JAK and STAT specific approaches, the negative regulators of the pathway (SOCS proteins), and the production and crystallization of JAK and STAT proteins, among others. Written in the 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 protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and easily accessible, JAK-STAT Signalling: Methods and Protocols will be of use not only to those working in the area but also to new investigators who are led to delve into the complexities of JAK and STAT responses.

Recent work has revealed that stabilizing G-quadruplexes in telomeric DNA inhibits telomerase activity, providing impetus for the development of G-quartet-interacting drugs, while G-quartet-containing oligonucleotides have been recognized as a potent class of aptamers effective against STAT3 and other transcription factors implicated in oncogenesis, proving these guanine-quartets to be a vital and rich area for future study. In "G-Quadruplex DNA: Methods and Protocols", experts in the field present a collection of detailed techniques for studying G-quartet formation, dynamics, and molecular recognition. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include brief introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, "G-Quadruplex DNA: Methods and Protocols "promises to be a useful resource for those familiar with G-quartets as well as an easy entry point for those researchers from diverse fields who are just developing an interest in the exciting implications of G-quadruplex DNA.

This volume contains selected papers presented at the Sendai International Sympo sium on Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Cardiovascular Regulation held from May 10-12, 1995, to honor the contributions ofProfessorNorio Taira, Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology (1972-1995), Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. The Department of Pharmacology at Sendai has a long tradition of significant contribution to the development of drug therapy for cardiovascular diseases. The late Professor Koroku Hashimoto, the predecessor of Professor Norio Taira, first suggested the mode of action of calcium antagonists and their potential usefulness in therapy of ischemic heart disease and hypertension at an early stage of their development. The need for greater understanding of the pathophysiology of cardiovascular dis eases is more critical now than ever before because modern advances in basic and clinical sciences have prolonged the average life expectancy. Using a wide range of molecular and electrophysiological techniques, major advances are occurring frequently in the field of cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology. Such multifaceted approaches are preferred because human cardiovascular diseases are complex, requiring multiple interventions and an in-depth understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying the disease. The first section of this book focuses on molecular mechanisms of ion channel regulation. Eight of ten chapters in this section are devoted to the recent advances in molecular characterization and regulation of various types of potassium channels in cardiac, vascular, and neuronal tissues. A discussion of the structure and function of sodium and calcium channels is also included.

David Kuter and a host of leading international researchers summarize in one volume all the knowledge of thrombopoietins (TPO) available today. The distinguished experts review the history of the search to discover TPO, describe the molecular and biological characteristics of this new molecule, and present the results of the preclinical animal experiments that will guide clinical use of this new hormone. Along the way they provide the most recent and comprehensive guide to the biology of megakaryocytes and platelets.

Since the beginning of agricultural production, there has been a continuous effort to grow more and better quality food to feed ever increasing popula tions. Both improved cultural practices and improved crop plants have allowed us to divert more human resources to non-agricultural activities while still increasing agricultural production. Malthusian population predictions continue to alarm agricultural researchers, especially plant breeders, to seek new technologies that will continue to allow us to produce more and better food by fewer people on less land. Both improvement of existing cultivars and development of new high-yielding cultivars are common goals for breeders of all crops. In vitro haploid production is among the new technologies that show great promise toward the goal of increasing crop yields by making similar germplasm available for many crops that was used to implement one of the greatest plant breeding success stories of this century, i. e., the development of hybrid maize by crosses of inbred lines. One of the main applications of anther culture has been to produce diploid homozygous pure lines in a single generation, thus saving many generations of backcrossing to reach homozygosity by traditional means or in crops where self-pollination is not possible. Because doubled haploids are equivalent to inbred lines, their value has been appreciated by plant breeders for decades. The search for natural haploids and methods to induce them has been ongoing since the beginning of the 20th century."

Target Discovery and Validation: Reviews and Protocols, Volumes 1 and 2 review the most progressive and current methods for drug target discovery and validation. These volumes explore how recent improvement in understanding the molecular mechanisms of human pathology is impacting drug target discovery in the laboratory and in real therapeutics, specifically for cancers and autoimmune disorders.
Volume 1 focuses on novel and innovative techniques, and presents the most up-to-date protocols available for maximizing the likelihood of achieving target-selective inhibition in vivo while minimizing side effects. The profound impact of genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics on target discovery is explored, and specific attention is given to the role of transgenic and knockout animals in functional genomics and target validation. Cancer researchers will find tremendous value in the molecular classification of breast cancers and the review of protocols for tumor antigens and cancer vaccines. The methods and protocols collected here, all reviewed by leading scientists and clinicians, present the practical details necessary for translating the enormous discovery potential of the genome into real therapeutic products.
Volume 2 collects all the practical details required for efficient translation of discovered targets into real pharmaceutical drugs. Specific targets in cancers and autoimmunity are described and the potential of using siRNA's, antisense oligonucleotides and RNA aptimers in patients is reviewed. This volume explores the tremendous impact of the application of genotyping and gene expression profiling on the future of healthcare, and presents cutting-edge protocols to aid inbringing agents against specific targets closer to application in the clinic.
Collectively, these volumes provide a thorough review of the most cutting-edge methods available for each step in drug target identification, validation, and clinical application. For researchers, an understanding of available methods aids in the creation of innovative experiments in the laboratory, and the successful translation of target discovery to real therapeutics.

Since the beginning of agricultural production, there has been a continuous effort to grow more and better quality food to feed ever increasing popula tions. Both improved cultural practices and improved crop plants have alIowed us to divert more human resources to non-agricultural activities while still increasing agricultural production. Malthusian population predictions continue to alarm agricultural researchers, especially plant breeders, to seek new technologies that will continue to allow us to produce more and better food by fewer people on less land. Both improvement of existing cultivars and development of new high-yielding cultivars are common goals for breeders of alI crops. In vitro haploid production is among the new technologies that show great promise toward the goal of increasing crop yields by making similar germplasm available for many crops that was used to implement one of the greatest plant breeding success stories of this century, i. e., the development of hybrid maize by crosses of inbred lines. One of the main applications of anther culture has been to produce diploid homozygous pure lines in a single generation, thus saving many generations of backcrossing to reach homozygosity by traditional means or in crops where self-pollination is not possible. Because doubled haploids are equivalent to inbred lines, their value has been appreciated by plant breeders for decades. The search for natural haploids and methods to induce them has been ongoing since the beginning of the 20th century."

This detailed book arrives as there is an increasing need for multiplex biomarker readouts for improved clinical management and to support the development of new drugs by pharmaceutical companies, due to continuous technical developments and new insights into the high complexity of many diseases. Chapters explore the basic technology platforms being applied in the fields of genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and imaging, which are currently the methods of choice in multiplex biomarker research. The book also describes the chief medical areas in which the greatest progress has been made and highlight areas where further resources are required. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, methodology 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. Multiplex Biomarker Techniques: Methods and Applications serves as an ideal resource for a wide variety of researchers interested in these vital multiplex techniques.

Scholarpedia's Encyclopedia of Touch provides a comprehensive collection of peer-reviewed articles written by leading researchers, detailing our current scientific understanding of tactile sensing and its neural substrates in animals including humans. The encyclopedia allows ideas and insights to be shared between researchers working on different aspects of touch and in different species, including research in synthetic touch systems. In addition, this encyclopedia raises awareness of research in tactile sensing and increases scientific and public interest in the field. The articles address subjects including tactile control, whiskered robots, vibrissal coding, the molecular basis of touch, invertebrate mechanoreception, fingertip transducers and tactile sensing. All the articles in this encyclopedia provide in-depth and state-of-the-art scholarly treatment of the academic topics concerned, making it an excellent reference work for academics, professionals and students.

Since the beginning of agricultural production, there has been a continuous effort to grow more and better quality food to feed ever increasing popula tions. Both improved cultural practices and improved crop plants have al lowed us to divert more human resources to non-agricultural activities while still increasing agricultural production. Malthusian population predictions continue to alarm agricultural researchers, especially plant breeders, to seek new technologies that will continue to allow us to produce more and better food by fewer people on less land. Both improvement of existing cultivars and development of new high-yielding cultivars are common goals for breeders of all crops. In vitro haploid production is among the new technologies that show great promise toward the goal of increasing crop yields by making similar germplasm available for many crops that was used to implement one of the greatest plant breeding success stories of this century, i. e., the development of hybrid maize by crosses of inbred lines. One of the main applications of anther culture has been to produce diploid homozygous pure lines in a single generation, thus saving many generations of backcrossing to reach homozygosity by traditional means or in crops where self-pollination is not possible. Because doubled haploids are equivalent to inbred lines, their value has been appreciated by plant breeders for decades. The search for natural haploids and methods to induce them has been ongoing since the beginning of the 20th century."

With the increasing complexity of software systems and their widespread growth into many aspects of our lives, the need to search for new models, paradigms, and ultimately, technologies, to manage this problem is evident. The way nature solves various problems through processes evolving during billions of years was always an inspiration to many computational paradigms; on the other hand, the complexity of the problems posed by the investigation of biological systems challenged the research of new tractable models. Molecular Computational Models: Unconventional Approaches is looking into new computational paradigms from both a theoretical perspective which offers a solid foundation of the models developed, as well as from a modeling angle, in order to reveal their effectiveness in modeling and simulating, especially biological systems. Tools and programming concepts and implementation issues are also discussed in the context of some experiments and comparative studies.

This book provides insights into the genetics and the latest advances in genomics research on the common bean, offering a timely overview of topics that are pertinent for future developments in legume genomics. The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important grain legume crop for food consumption worldwide, as well as a model for legume research, and the availability of the genome sequence has completely changed the paradigm of the ongoing research on the species. Key topics covered include the numerous genetic and genomic resources, available tools, the identified genes and quantitative trait locus (QTL) identified, and there is a particular emphasis on domestication. It is a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in the genetics and genomics of the common bean and legumes in general.

The series "Advances in Dendritic Macromolecules" aims to cover the synthetic, as well as chemical, aspects of this expanding field: the chemistry to and supramolecular chemistry of dendritic or cascade supermolecular compounds. In Chapter 1 of this volume, Hawker and Wooley delineate the convergent growth approach to dendrimers, then relate their three-dimensional architectures to different block polymers. In Chapter 2, Moors and Vogtle describe Professor Vogtle's initial cascade molecules via the repetitive strategy, then expand his original concepts of its application by others, and lastly delineate the synthesis of a new series of tosylamide cascades. They also demonstrate the utility of his original Michael addition/reduction procedure by its application to differ cores. Chapter 3, composed by Professor Engel, describes ionic dendrimers which incorporated an internal transition metal center as well as his work based on ammonium and phosphonium centers. In Chapter 4, Mathias and Carothers review recent studies on silicon-based dendrimers and hyperbranched polymers. Chapter 5, by Kim, describes the preparation and utility of hyperbranched aromatic polymers. Lastly in Chapter 6, Escamilla reviews the historical as well as recent examples of ionic and nonionic bolaamphiphiles.

The 18 chapters making up In Vitro Haploid Production in Higher Plants are divided into two sections. Section 1 (eight chapters) covers historical and fundamental aspects of haploidy in crop improvement. Section 2 deals with methods of haploid production, including anther culture, micropore culture, ovary culture, pollination with irradiated pollen, in vitro pollination, and special culture techniques, including polyhaploid production in the Triticeae by sexual hybridization, the influence of ethylene and gelling agents on anther culture, conditional lethal markers, and methods of chromosome doubling.

Corynebacteria are a diverse group Gram-positive bacteria found in a range of different ecological niches such as soil, vegetables, sewage, skin, and cheese smear. Some, such as Corynebacterium diphtheriae, are important pathogens while others, such as Corynebacterium glutamicum, are of immense industrial importance. In fact, C. glutamicum is one of the biotechnologically most important bacterial species in use today with an annual production of more than two million tons of amino acids, mainly L-glutamate and L-lysine. Due to its industrial importance, C. glutamicum has been studied extensively over the years, and the publication of the C. glutamicum genome sequence in 2003 provided renewed impetus to these studies. To date, the complete genome sequences of four different species have been published, and sequencing of at least two more species is ongoing. These genomic data have enabled a dramatic improvement in our understanding of the corynebacterial genome architecture, metabolic p

From the pre-historic era to modern times, cereal grains have been the most important source of human nutrition, and have helped sustain the increasing population and the development of human civilization. In order to meet the food needs of the 21st century, food production must be doubled by the year 2025, and nearly tripled by 2050. Such enormous increases in food productivity cannot be brought about by relying entirely on conventional breeding methods, especially on less land per capita, with poor quality and quantity of water, and under rapidly deteriorating environmental conditions. Complementing and supplementing the breeding of major food crops, such as the cereals, which together account for 66% of the world food supply, with molecular breeding and genetic manipulation may well provide a grace period of about 50 years in which to control population growth and achieve sustainable development. In this volume, leading world experts on cereal biotechnology describe the production and commercialization of the first generation of transgenic cereals designed to substantially reduce or prevent the enormous losses to cereal productivity caused by competition with weeds, and by various pests and pathogens, which is an important first step in that direction.

In Neuroprotective Signal Transduction prominent researchers and clinicians focus on how inter- and intracellular signaling mechanisms prevent the degeneration and death of neurons occurring in both acute and chronic neurodegenerative disorders. Authoritative contributions dissect the signaling pathways of an array of neuroprotective factors-ranging from neurotrophins (NGF, BDNF, NT-3, and NT-4/5), to growth factors (bFGF, IGF-1, GDNF), to cytokines (TNF, IL-1b, and TGFb), to secreted amyloid precursor proteins, to protease nexin-1. Also treated are cytoprotective signaling events that occur within injured neurons independently of intercellular signals. Neuroprotective Signal Transduction presents fundamental, cutting-edge treatment of the cellular and molecular signal transduction pathways found in human neurodegenerative conditions. The book's elucidation of the molecular cascades evolved by the nervous system to protect itself is now lead to effective strategies for preventing neuronal degeneration in such conditions as stroke, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and will form the basis for powerful new drug discovery and gene therapy strategies.