As the research has continued, it has become increasingly clear that natural killer (NK) cells are critical sentinels of the innate immune response, playing important roles in protecting the body from numerous pathogens and cancer in addition to contributing to normal pregnancy and impacting the outcomes of transplantation. While the first edition provided a valuable collection of classical cellular and in vivo techniques to study NK cell functions, the Second Edition of "Natural Killer Cell Protocols: Cellular and Molecular Methods" brings together more recently developed methods, more refined techniques, and detailed protocols designed to study NK cells within specialized tissue sites in both mice and humans. In this collection of methods, international leaders in the field cover topics ranging from the analysis of the various stages of NK cell development and maturation to specialized techniques for the identification of ligands for NK cell receptors. This volume also includes an appendix, providing a rich resource summarizing available reagents to study NK cells, cross-referencing KIR nomenclature, and detailing the many HLA ligands for various KIR family members. As a volume 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 thorough notes sections, highlighting tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, "Natural Killer Cell Protocols: Cellular and Molecular Methods, Second Edition" seeks to aid researchers and further advance our understanding of the functions, maturation, and regulation of these fascinating and dynamic cells.

STRUCTURE OF THE VOLUME AND TERMINOLOGY USED This book contains scientific descriptions of 63 localities (Figure A) of at least national importance for Quaternary geology, geomorphology and environmental change in South-West England. These sites were selected by the Geological Conservation Review and are accordingly designated 'GCR' sites. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the Quaternary. Chapter 2 synthesizes the geomorphological development and Quaternary history of the region, and outlines the principles involved in site selection. The individual GCR site descriptions form the core of the book. In the following chapters, sites are arranged and described in broad geographic areas and by research topic. This is necessitated by the widely disparate nature of the field evidence in Soutb West England: sites demonstrating the full range of Quaternary and geomorphological features are not evenly and conveniently dispersed throughout the region, and some areas have significant gaps. Neither do the individual chapters contain sites that neces sarily equate with particular site selection networks. Rather, the chosen chapter headings provide the least repetitive means of describing the sites and background material. Where possible, a chronological approach, from oldest to youngest, has been used to describe sites within a given chapter. Again, this approach is not always possi ble, and a group of sites may show variations on landform or Stratigraphie evidence broadly within one major time interval or chronostratigraphic stage; inevitably there are many overlaps."

As the research has continued, it has become increasingly clear that natural killer (NK) cells are critical sentinels of the innate immune response, playing important roles in protecting the body from numerous pathogens and cancer in addition to contributing to normal pregnancy and impacting the outcomes of transplantation. While the first edition provided a valuable collection of classical cellular and in vivo techniques to study NK cell functions, the Second Edition of "Natural Killer Cell Protocols: Cellular and Molecular Methods" brings together more recently developed methods, more refined techniques, and detailed protocols designed to study NK cells within specialized tissue sites in both mice and humans. In this collection of methods, international leaders in the field cover topics ranging from the analysis of the various stages of NK cell development and maturation to specialized techniques for the identification of ligands for NK cell receptors. This volume also includes an appendix, providing a rich resource summarizing available reagents to study NK cells, cross-referencing KIR nomenclature, and detailing the many HLA ligands for various KIR family members. As a volume 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 thorough notes sections, highlighting tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Comprehensive and cutting-edge, "Natural Killer Cell Protocols: Cellular and Molecular Methods, Second Edition" seeks to aid researchers and further advance our understanding of the functions, maturation, and regulation of these fascinating and dynamic cells."

Doppler ultrasound is a hot topic at the present time. This is because studies of the uteroplacental and fetal circulation give fundamental information as to the physiology or pathology of placental function and the response of the fetal circulation to hypoxaemia. Dr. Arabin's clinical studies which are described in this book are an important contribution to knowledge in this field and will be of enormous interest not only to researches but also to clini cians interested in learning how this latest technology can be integrated into their clinical practice. London STUART CAMPBELL Foreword Although only three decades old, the field of perinatal medicine is marked by continuous new advances. Ultrasound diagnostic techniques comprise an important element of this new field. Dr. Arabin has taken the initiative to investigate the functional-diagnostic aspects of ultrasound. Among other things, she has further developed and refined the concept of "oxygen-con serving adaptation of fetal circulation" which originated in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Neukolln Hospital Center in 1966. She thus has been able to show that the most reliable Doppler blood flow meas urement predictors of a high risk to the fetus are (1) a decrease in the flow volume of the descending thoracic aorta and the umbilical artery and (2) an increase in the flow volume of the common carotid arteries."

Despite the fact that the average woman spends one third of her life after the menopause, medical research has been devoted almost entirely to the repro ductive period of her life span. This is perhaps not surprising in our youth orientated society and yet there is increasing evidence that properly applied and supervised hormonal therapy could alleviate many of the severe physical symptoms which are associated with the ovarian menopause and that in the long term other aspects of physical deterioration could be modified. This lack of scientific research has made it difficult to assess which symptoms are due to the altered hormonal status of the post-menopausal period and which are due to the normal process of ageing, or the various psychological pressures which build up around most women in the fourth and fifth decades of life. In America doctors have been treating the 'menopausal syndrome' with estrogens for over 30 years, but in the United Kingdom gynaecologists and family doctors have been reticent to prescribe these steroid preparations. As a consequence, they have been labelled reactionary by the media and while there may be some truth -in this, it should be remembered that the hazar. ds associated with synthetic estrogens in the contraceptive pill were first brought to light by British epidemiological surveys.

This book describes the physical microenvironment of living organisms. It presents a simplified discussion of heat and mass transfer models and applies them to exchange processes between organisms and their surroundings. Emphasis is placed on teaching the student how to calculate actual transfer rates, rather than just studying the principles involved. Numerous examples are provided to illustrate many of the principles, and problems are included at the end of each chapter to help the student develop skills in using the equations and to gain an understanding of modern environmental biophysics. The book is an engineering approach to environmental biology.

In recognition of the fundamental control exerted by weathering on landscape evolution and topographic development, the 35th Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium was convened under the theme of Weathering and Landscape Evolution. The papers and posters presented at the conference imparted the state-of-the-art in weathering geomorphology, tackled the issue of scale linkage in geomorphic studies and offered a vehicle for interdisciplinary communication on research into weathering and landscape evolution. The papers included in this book are encapsulated here under the general themes of weathering mantles, weathering and relative dating, weathering and denudation, weathering processes and controls and the 'big picture'.
* Contains 15 papers on the techniques and methodologies of research
* Provides an up-to-date overview of various aspects of weathering and landscape evolution complemented by a number of excellent case studies
* Contains a wealth of basic field data and relevant information

William S. Campbell provides a comprehensive commentary on Paul's most challenging letter. In conversation with reception history and previous scholarship, he emphasizes the contextuality of Romans as a letter to Rome, using social identity theory combined with historical, literary and theological perspectives to arrive at a coherent reading of the entire letter. Because Paul has never visited Rome and is not the founder of the Christ-movement there, Campbell argues that his guidance and teaching are formulated more cautiously than in his other letters. Yet the long list of people who had previous links with him and his mission to the 'gentiles' demonstrates that Paul is well-informed about the situation in Rome and addresses issues that have arisen. With Christ the Messianic Time is beginning, but there was some lack of clarity in Rome about the implications of this for Jews and gentiles. Rather than ethne in Christ replacing Israel, as some in Rome possibly concluded, Campbell stresses that Paul affirms the irrevocable calling of Israel, and that simultaneously the identity of ethne in Christ is also called alongside the people Israel; thus, the integrity of the identity of both is affirmed as indispensable for God's purpose now revealed in Christ. Campbell fully demonstrates how Paul in Romans achieves this by the social and theological intertwining of the message of the gospel.

Mormonism, Medicine, and Bioethics provides the first comprehensive treatment of principles and positions on questions of bioethics encountered by members, professionals, and ecclesiastical leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon). The book addresses three fundamental features of a coherent religious bioethics: precepts for practical decision-making, general ethical principles, and core religious convictions that give a distinctive motivation for personal, communal, and professional integrity. LDS ethical principles of love, hospitality to strangers, covenantal solidarity, justice, and moral agency are integrated with central topics in bioethics including abortion, genetic testing and enhancements, in vitro fertilization, medical assisted death, medicinal marijuana, neonatal intensive care, organ donation, preventive health care, universal access to care, and vaccinations. This book uses first-person experiences to give voice to the lived moral realities of Latter-day Saints as they experience difficult and wrenching ethical questions and choices as persons, family members, community members, professionals, and as citizens within the context of their distinctive faith convictions. It situates these communal conversations within the broader discourse of bioethics and thereby supports both bioethics and religious literacy. Mormonism, Medicine, and Bioethics also examines circumstances in which The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints engages in a moral witness of its values on matters of public policy, such as legalization of physician-assisted death, of elective abortion, and of medicinal marijuana. The book concludes with a distinctive normative argument on why LDS ethical principles and practices require support of universal access to an adequate level of health care for all persons. It provides an appendix of significant LDS ecclesiastical policies on medical, health, and moral issues, making it a definitive educational and reference compilation.