John Wiley & Sons

ADMET for medicinal chemists; a practical guide.

The acronym stands for absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity. They, along with efficacy, are critical properties in determining whether a new molecular entity will become a clinical candidate and subsequently, another drug on the market. ADMET can also stand for the process of determining the properties, or the discipline that focuses on that process. Contributors from European and US drug companies, along with a university here and there, explain how to determine the properties and translate the measurements into predictions for commercial success. Among their topics are pharmacokinetics for medicinal chemists, in vitro approaches to genetic toxicity, preclinical candidate nomination and development, and fragment-based drug design. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Adult emergency medicine at a glance.

Hughes (emergency medicine, U. of Oxford, UK) and Cruickshank (emergency medicine, U. of Melbourne, Australia) provide a concise guide to topics in adult emergency medicine for use as an introduction or revision aid by medical students, residents, junior doctors, and health professionals. Topics are organized by symptoms, from shock to burns to chest pain, and are presented in a two-page layout with summary diagrams and explanations. The text ends with 13 case studies and answers. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Advanced characterization techniques for thin film solar cells.

The editors have focused this handbook on emerging specialized methods rather than on established standard methods, and on the methods themselves rather than results (which are better dealt with in review articles). The idea is to afford an opportunity for researchers to communicate concisely and conveniently with graduate students and others approaching this rapidly evolving field. Arrangement is in sections introducing thin-film photovoltaics and covering device characterization, materials characterization, and materials and device modeling. The three editors are affiliated as follows: Daniel Abou-Ras (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Germany); Thomas Kircharts (Imperial College London, UK); and Uwe Rau (RWTH Anchen, Germany). (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Advances in speckle metrology and related techniques.

The six chapters of this volume present new techniques in speckle metrology developed since 2000 (for reasons of length, those outside the visual spectrum are not featured). Each chapter presents a systematic exposition describing the techniques and applications, with all necessary formulae, and concluding with a full list of references, making this an ideal resource for the graduate student seminar as well as for engineers and scientists. Individual chapter topics include radial speckle interferometry, depth-resolved displacement field measurement, optical vortex metrology, and speckle coding for optical and digital data security applications. Kaufmann teaches applied optics at the National U. of Rosario in Argentina. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Advanced methods of biomedical signal processing.

Engineers and scientists at various borders between electronics and biology explain some of the most advanced methodological approaches in signal analysis of biomedical interest. A knowledge of digital signal treatment generally is required to follow the discussion, but the most important concepts are explained at a useful level in the first two sections: methods of biomedical signal processing, and points of view of the physiologist and the clinician. Subsequent sections cover models and biomedical signals; time-frequency, time-scale, and wavelet analysis; complex analysis and nonlinear methods; the information processing of molecular biology data; and classification and feature extraction. Translated and updated from Metodi avanzati elaborazione del segnali biomedici, a textbook written for a summer course published in 2004 by Pátron Editore. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Advanced wireless communications & Internet; future evolving technologies, 3d ed.

The third edition of this advanced textbook on wireless communications is updated to include the latest advances in cellular and internetworking technologies. Appropriate for graduate students in engineering, the volume covers 4G fundamental principles, adaptive coding, adaptive modulation, space-time coding, multi-user communications, channel estimation and equalization, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, cognitive networks, relay assisted wireless networks and advanced routing and network coding. The text includes detailed equations and graphs as well as case studies of real world networking implementations. Glisic is a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Oulu, Finland. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Aerosol measurement; principles, techniques, and applications, 3d ed.

Specialists provide a comprehensive reference on instrumentation and methods for measuring aerosol. Room has been made in the third edition by dropping or combining a few chapters, especially on topics that are now well treated in other texts. No dates are noted for earlier editions. Among the topics are physical and chemical processes in aerosol systems, sampling and analyzing using filters, microscopy and the microanalysis of individual collected particles, instruments based on the electrical detection of aerosols, measuring workplace aerosol, the satellite-based measurement of atmospheric aerosols, and measuring pharmaceutical and diagnostic aerosols. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

After globalization.

Following the economic crisis of 2008, globalization has come to an end as an ideological project that served to naturalize capitalism under its own name, making capitalism invisible behind phenomena that were treated as quasi-natural and largely beyond human control, according to Cazdyn (U. of Toronto, Canada) and Szeman (U. of Alberta, Canada). With this alleged return of capitalism and end of globalization comes the pressing need to confront post-globalizaiton, they further argue. This need has largely been ignored because within the ideology of globalization is a configuration of time that cannot imagine an "after" globalization. They challenge this ideology of time and related assumptions about education, morality, nation, future, history, capitalism, and common sense, illustrating their arguments by seeking to demonstrate how these assumptions operate in the writings of Richard Florida, Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman, and Naomi Klein, as well as how they have been rejected by many students from around the globe (the "children of globalization"). (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Algorithms in computational molecular biology; techniques, approaches and applications.

The recent exponential growth in the size of biological databases, the complexity of biological problems, and the need to deal with error in biological sequences require fast, low-memory computation and high-performance algorithms. Here scientists in mathematics and various sciences provide a sampling of such algorithms based on new or improved approaches and techniques, at a sophisticated enough level to be used by professionals. Ideal readers would be familiar with computational molecular biology and interested in learning more about algorithms that deal with some of the central or new ideas and problems. Other readers, however, might include graduate and undergraduate students, instructors and researchers, and practitioners in related fields. The studies are presented in sections on processing strings and applying them to biological sequences, analyzing biological sequences, finding motifs and predicting structure, reconstructing phylogeny, analyzing microarray data, analyzing genomes, and analyzing biological networks. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Amino acids, peptides and proteins in organic chemistry; v.4: protection reactions, medicinal chemistry, combinatorial synthesis.

This is the fourth volume of six, which together provide comprehensive discussion of amino acids, peptides, and proteins, presented via contributions from an international roster of experts. Editor Hughes (chemistry, La Trobe U., Melbourne, Australia) has arranged contents in sections corresponding to the three topics announced in the volume's title, with medicinal chemistry being the most extensive section. Coverage includes the chemistry of alpha- and beta amino acids, peptide drugs, and advances in N- and O-glycopeptide synthesis. The final section includes description of methods such as phage display, library peptide synthesis, and computational design. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Anatomy at a glance, 3d ed.

In this update of the 2006 edition, a UK surgeon, a pediatric surgeon, and a professor of anatomy provide a "no frills" clinical anatomy for undergraduate and graduate health and allied health students. Covering the thorax to the spinal cord, chapters include component descriptions, color illustrations, and clinical notes. Additions include new chapters on anatomical terminology and development of the human embryo, and new illustrations from current imaging techniques. The book includes a muscle index, and a companion website with self-assessment flashcards. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Antenna design for mobile devices.

For a decade or so, Zhang (electronic engineering, Tsinghua U., China) alternated between designing antennas to sell to companies, and buying antennas from designers for companies, so knows both sides of the transaction well. During that time he collected bits of lore, insights, tips, and experience that he here compiles into a broad handbook for student and intermediate engineers designing antennas that move around. He covers antenna matching, external and internal antennas, antenna measurement, and regulations related to antenna engineers. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Apicomplexan parasites; molecular approaches toward targeted drug development.

Various members of the family of protists are responsible for a number of important diseases, with malaria and cryptosporidiosis being probably the best known to non-specialists. Here parasitologists, biochemists, and other researchers describe features of the organisms at the molecular level that might be exploited in drug strategies. They cover screening, bioinformatics, cheminoformatics, and drug design; metabolic pathways and processes addressed by current drug-discovery approaches; drug targets in apicomplexan parasites; and compounds. Among specific topics are alternatives to drug development, polyamines in apicomplexan parasites, drugs and drug targets in Neospora caninum and related apicomplexans, and drug discovery against Babesia and Toxoplasma. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The AST handbook of transplant infections.

Kumar (transplant infectious diseases, U. of Alberta, Canada) et al. present a handbook from members of the American Society of Transplantation Infectious Diseases Community of Practice that uses 57 tables and flowcharts to help physicians make decisions in the management of infections in adult and pediatric organ and stem cell transplant patients. A group of infectious disease and other specialists from North America, Switzerland, and Iran provide charts that address general issues and infectious syndromes; specific pathogens from hepatitis to tuberculosis, and their diagnosis, prevention, and therapy; donor issues like evaluation and risk of donor-derived infections; prevention of post-transplantation infections; and post-transplant medications and drug interactions. They do not provide information on comprehensive dosing or the spectrum of activity of commonly used antimicrobials. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Atom chips.

Atom chips are setups in which microscopic or micro-fabricated structures, typically confined to a surface, generate three-dimensional trapping fields in the vicinity of the surface. They were originally devised to trap neutral atoms to perform experiments on, but other uses have been found for them as well. Physicists from Europe, North America, and Australia look at the fundamentals, ultra-cold atoms near a surface, coherence on atom chips, and new directions. Their topics include trapping and manipulating atoms on chips, atoms at micrometer distances from a macroscopic body, quantum information processing with atom chips, and cryogenic atom chips. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Basic pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; an integrated textbook and computer simulations.

In this textbook, Rosenbaum (biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences, U. of Rhode Island) introduces the fundamental concepts of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics to help pharmacology and medical students in pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and clinical pharmacology courses understand the time course of drug response and dosing regimen design. The material is presented in a simple manner along with simulations and exercises, balances the qualitative side of pharmacokinetics and equations, and presents recent developments in pharmacodynamics. Discussion includes the passage of drugs through membranes; drug administration, absorption, bioavailability, distribution, and elimination and clearance; compartmental models in pharmacokinetics; noncompartmental analysis; multiple oral doses; nonlinear pharmacokinetics; and pharmacodynamic models. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Binary data analysis of randomized clinical trials with noncompliance.

Lui (mathematics and statistics, San Diego State U.) offers a systematic, organized approach to analyzing data from randomized clinical trials under the most commonly encountered situations. The author notes that since trials often find patients who are not complying with their recommended treatment, it is possible that commonly used analysis techniques can yield bias in judging the efficacy of treatment. The varieties of sampling described include parallel, stratified, cluster, and parallel sampling with missing outcomes, and a series of dependent Bernoulli sampling for repeated measurements. Real-life examples, computer-simulated data, and chapter exercises help illustrate the theories underlying the sampling methods. The book would be well-suited as a reference for biostatisticians, clinicians, researchers, and data analysts — and it would be useful as supplemental reading for academic courses in a variety of related fields. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Biophysico-chemical processes of anthropogenic organic compounds in environmental systems.

Scientists from a wide range of disciplines focus on the myriad physical, chemical, and biological interfacial interactions that govern how synthetic organic chemicals, many of them toxic, move through the environment. They consider in turn fundamental biological, physical, and chemical processes of the compounds; their occurrence and distribution in air, water, and soil and their global cycling; the current sampling methods and analytical, biological, spectroscopic, and microscopic techniques for monitoring and studying them; and the restoration of natural environments contaminated by organic pollutants. Among specific topics are the role interactions between organic matter and minerals play in the sorption of organic contaminants, pharmaceutical and personal care products in soils and sediments, biosensors for environmental analysis, and the phyto-remediation of soils contaminated with organic pollutants. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Biological diversity; exploiters and exploited.

Offering a fresh approach to biology, the authors (both of the U. of Reading, UK) invite study of the living world in a manner that fundamentally integrates human interactions. The presentation focuses on 18 groups of organisms, arranged in sections on exploiters and exploited (although the authors suggest this division is somewhat arbitrary and some could logically be put in either group). They study both plants and animals, using particular cases as a means of investigating diversity and inter-relationships. Cephalopods, the honey bee, silkworms, sugar cane, salmon, the oak are among those that are "exploited." Among the "exploiters" are malaria, the barnacle, plague, mistletoes, and the wolf. The text is attractively designed and abundantly illustrated. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Biosensor nanomaterials.

Scientists and engineers from chemistry, materials, pharmaceuticals, and medicine explore how nanotechnology is being used in biosensors to detect small amounts of harmful agents against a noisy and often changing background. They consider new micrometer and nanometer technologies for electrochemical biosensor development, advanced nanoparticles in medical biosensors, smart polymeric nanofibers resolving biorecognition issues, fabricating and evaluating nanoparticle-based biosensors, the synthesis and applications of enzyme-based biosensors, energy harvesting for biosensors using biofriendly materials, in vitro and in vivo sensing and imaging of carbon nanotubes, the lipid nanoparticle-mediated detection of proteins, nanomaterials for optical imaging, semiconductor quantum dots for electrochemical biosensors, functionalized graphene for biosensing applications, electrochemical biosensors using chitosan nanocomposites, nanomaterials as promising DNA biosensors, and nanocomposites and their biosensor applications. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Biopolymers; new materials for sustainable films and coatings.

Packaging is probably the largest market for non-petroleum based polymers; but there are other potential uses, and the impact of replacing plastics with biomaterials could be profoundly positive for environmental quality and, perhaps, global security. Editor Plackett is a chemist affiliated with the Riso National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Technical U. of Denmark. He provides introductory and concluding chapters and explains in his preface that in this volume he has assembled a mix of state-of-the-art summaries about individual biopolymers, and chapters pertaining to key applications. Coverage includes the chemistry, production, and properties of starch-based polymers, polylactides, polyhydroxhalkinoates, and proteins, among other materials; chitosan for film and coating applications; food packaging applications; edible films and coatings in food applications; paper and paperboard coatings; and agronomic potential of biopolymer films. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)