BRILL

Linear polyurethanes; synthesis methods, chemical structures, properties and applications.

This monograph by Król (Rzeszów U. of Technology, Poland) is intended to cover the borderlands between selected basic issues and process-oriented issues for linear polyurethanes, important intermediates in the production of foams and elastomers and also final products that can perform as linear thermoplastic elastomers, ionomers, or as selected hybrid systems and materials. The monograph presents chemical and supermolecular structures occurring in linear polyurethanes on the basis of the analysis of the reactions taking place within the step-growth polyaddition process of diisocyanates and polyols. It also presents analysis of microphase separation and the influence of phase separation on thermal and mechanical properties of the polyurethane elastomers. Attention is paid to the influence of polarity of polyurethane chemical structures, dispersion interactions, hydrogen bonding, and ionic interactions on the values of free surface energy of polar polyurethane ionomers. Also addressed are applications of linear polyurethanes as liquid crystal materials, urethane-acrylate copolymers and polyurethane-polysiloxane copolymers, modern materials for electronics and medicine, and environmentally friendly elastomer protective coatings. VSP is a subsidiary of Brill. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Pratylenchus (nematoda: pratylenchidae); diagnosis, biology, pathogenicity and management.

They strike in both temperate and tropic environments and rank second worldwide in failures of such crops as bananas, cereals, coffee, corn, legumes, peanuts, potato and tree fruit. Industrial and institutional researchers Castillo and Vovlas explain these migratory endoparasites, including the reasons they are dangerous on a global scale. They describe the general morphology and diagnostic traits of Pratylenchus and their usefulness in taxonomy, means of identification in situ, and systemics. They give lists of nominal species, measurements of all populations characterized for each species, comprehensive tables and dichotomous keys for species identification, new diagnostic technologies based on biochemical and molecular analysis, life cycle, epidemiology and ecology. Their final chapters cover the pathogenicity and damage caused as well as interactions with beneficial and pathogenic fungi and other nematodes, management strategies such as crop rotation and chemical methods, and biological controls through fungi, nematodes, bacteria and nematicidal plants. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)