DNA and RNA fractions can be isolated from a variety of body fluids including whole blood, serum, plasma, urine, saliva and cerebrospinal fluid from both patients and healthy individuals. Such isolates can be exploited in the early detection of clinical disorders, stratification of patients for treatment, treatment monitoring and clinical follow-up.In addition, the use in fetal medicine allows the early detection of fetal sex, Rh factor and aneuploid disorders as well as following both fetal and premature born infant development. This volume is intended as a primer for those who are interested in entering the field of circulating nucleic acids.

The areas covered in this volume include:

. Background and general biology of circulating nucleic acids

. Methodology

. Applications of circulating nucleic acids

. Quality Assurance

. Ethics"

DNA and RNA fractions have been isolated from the whole blood, serum, plasma, the surface of blood cells, urine, saliva and spinal fluid from both healthy individuals and clinical patients. Recent developments are presented concerning the isolation, quantification and analysis of these molecules and their use in the identification of specific nucleic acid fragments related to a variety of clinical disorders thereby permitting their early diagnosis and prognosis.

Concise definitions and descriptions to more than 1,000 termsillustrated and fully referenced The Dictionary of Plant Tissue Culture is a user-friendly A-to-Z resource for the technical terms that apply to plant cell, tissue, and organ culture. Filled with illustrations of key concepts and references to up-to-date textbooks, papers, and reviews, this handy guidebook defines both the terms that come from plant tissue culture, and those that originate from plant anatomy, genetics, stress physiology, growth regular research, microbiology, and plant pathology. It's an essential resource for anyone involved in tissue culture or using plant tissue culture systems for plant cloning, secondary metabolic production, plant pathology, and genetic manipulations. The Dictionary of Plant Tissue Culture is an invaluable reference tool for teachers, students, and researchers working in basic and applied plant tissue culture. The book's entries are cross-referenced where appropriate, with references mainly to general textbooks on plant anatomy, biochemistry and histochemistry, developmental biology, genetics, microbiology, micropropagation, plant breeding, plant biotechnology, plant pathology and plant tissue culture. From ABA (abscisic acid) to zygotic embryo, this concise glossary will save you valuable time in your efforts to find concise definitions and descriptions to more than 1,000 terms. Entries to the Dictionary of Plant Tissue Culture include: acclimatization caulogenesis feeder cells hyperhydricity indexing micro-grafting phytosanitary certificate re-invigoration synseed totipotency and much more! The Dictionary of Plant Tissue Culture is an essential reference resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students, teachers, researchers, and technicians working in plant tissue culture and genetic engineering.

DNA and RNA fractions can be isolated from a variety of body fluids including whole blood, serum, plasma, urine, saliva and cerebrospinal fluid from both patients and healthy individuals. Such isolates can be exploited in the early detection of clinical disorders, stratification of patients for treatment, treatment monitoring and clinical follow-up. In addition, the use in fetal medicine allows the early detection of fetal sex, Rh factor and aneuploid disorders as well as following both fetal and premature born infant development. This volume is intended as a primer for those who are interested in entering the field of circulating nucleic acids. The areas covered in this volume include: * Background and general biology of circulating nucleic acids * Methodology * Applications of circulating nucleic acids * Quality Assurance * Ethics

DNA and RNA fractions have been isolated from the whole blood, serum, plasma, the surface of blood cells, urine, saliva and spinal fluid from both healthy individuals and clinical patients. Recent developments are presented concerning the isolation, quantification and analysis of these molecules and their use in the identification of specific nucleic acid fragments related to a variety of clinical disorders thereby permitting their early diagnosis and prognosis.

The vascular tissue of higher plants has been an object of continuous detailed study since the invention of the light microscope. As relevant new physical, chemical and biochemical techniques and concepts have appeared over the years, they have regularly and immediately been applied to this field of enquiry. The reasons are not far to seek. Vascular tissue provides the long-distance transport system for water and nutrients within the plant, and an understanding of the structure and development of the pathways within it is essential for an under- standing of growth in all higher plants, including crop plants. Moreover, parts of the vascular tissue - the whole of the xylem and the fibers of the proble- have been, and still are, in high demand commercially for their unique properties and as the only renewable structural material on earth. There are, in addition, more subtle ways in which xylogenesis, particularly as it allows the development of tree species, contributes to the environment. A few years ago, while walking in the foothills of the Pyrenees, I found all this expressed more elegantly than I can express it, in a plea carved in wood at the entrance to a forest: Homme!! Je suis la chaleur de ton foyer par les froids nuits d'hiver, l'ombrage ami lorsque brule Ie soleil d'ete, l'eau des rivieres et des sources. Je suis la charpente de ta maison, la planche de ta table.