CRC Press
Adsorption and diffusion in nanoporous materials.
From a material science perspective, Roque-Malherbe (physico- chemical applied research, Turabo U., Las Piedras, Puerto Rico) presents a state-of-the-art description of key aspects of the theory and practice of adsorption and diffusion. His emphasis is on gases in single-component systems of microporous crystalline, mesoporous ordered, and micro/mesoporous amorphous materials; and the structure and methods of modifying silica, active carbons, zeolites and related materials, and newer molecular sieves. These advanced materials have applications in fields including electronics, optics, pollution abatement, and biology. He analyzes the use of adsorbents to clean gas or liquid flows by the removal of low- concentration impurities. In the final chapter, he treats adsorption from the liquid state in multicomponent systems. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Advanced concepts of bearing technology. (CD-ROM included)
Harris (Pennsylvania State University) and Kotzalas (Timken Company) delve into the more advanced requirements of ball and roller bearings operating under dynamic loading, extreme conditions, and high-speed applications. The handbook explains methods for estimating rolling contact friction shear stresses and calculating the effects on fatigue endurance of all stresses associated with the bearing rolling and sliding contacts. The fifth edition has been divided into two volumes, with the first introducing the basic use, design, and performance of rolling bearings for more common applications. The CD-ROM contains numerical examples and tables of dimensional, mounting, and life-rating data obtained from ABMA/ANSI standards. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Ageing well; nutrition, health, and social interventions.
Based in part on proceedings of the 47th annual symposium of the Society for the Study of Human Biology, this volume (dedicated to a late chairman of the Society) addresses methodological, research, and policy issues of aging relating to current research on diet, exercise, and retention of cognitive health with increasing longevity. The editors, who are with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, introduce 13 chapters written mostly by European contributors who explore the roles of social/economic inequities, housing, the cost of living, quality of life, and social support for older persons. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Agroecology; the ecology of sustainable food systems, 2d ed.
In this update of the 1998 edition, said to be the most widely-used agroecology text in the US, Gliessman (U. of California, Santa Cruz) introduces undergraduates to the scientific basis for the need to convert to sustainable agroecosystems and food systems given the current agricultural crisis. He covers key environmental factors at the individual and system levels. The text, envisioned to be complemented by laboratory work, includes a foreword by a professor in Nebraska (perhaps to show that these are not just radical California ideas), a new chapter on the role of animals in sustainable agroecosystems, b&w illustrations, a glossary, Internet resources, food for thought sections, and recommended reading. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Analysis of correlated data with SAS and R, 3d ed. (CD-ROM included)
Previously published as Statistical Methods for Health Sciences, this edition is thoroughly updated to reflect current technologies and practices. The authors assume readers have a working knowledge of SAS and R and neeed to analyze clustered and correlated data from epidemiological and medical investigations. They begin by describing the analysis of clustered and cross-qualified data, then describe modeling binary outcome data, analyzing clustered count data, analyzing time series, working with repeated measures and longitudinal data analysis, and conducting survival data analysis along the way they provide examples and illustrations and also give readers a full bibliography. Although intended for use in the medical community, those in other fields may also find this useful at the intermediate and advanced levels. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Angina; an atlas of investigation and management.
Books in the publisher's "Atlas of Investigation and Management" series are slightly oversize (9.75x12.5 inches), slim, and designed with many tables & charts so that clinician's can easily access information. Sarembock and three colleagues from the U. of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia present material in six chapters on epidemiology, natural history, and pathophysiology; clinical evaluation; noninvasive detection of coronary artery disease; coronary angiography and ancillary techniques for the invasive assessment of angina pectoris; nonatherosclerotic causes of angina pectoris and ischemia; and management. Distributed by CRC Press. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Animal models of diabetes; frontiers in research, 2d ed.
The 17 chapters brought together in this volume by Shafrir (Diabetes Center, Hadassah U. Hospital, Israel) focus on the use of animal models in experiments with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. It is meant to promote understanding of etiopathology and insulin action, its negative feedback leading to insulin resistance, and detrimental outcomes. New knowledge on specific complications of diabetes is presented. This edition includes new and updated reference reviews on rodent diabetes, pigs in research, and animals with induced obesity, and observations on retinopathy in spontaneous diabetes resembling human lesions. Chapter authors are researchers from around the world. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Anti-angiogenic functional and medicinal foods.
Angiogenesis entails the growth of new blood vessels, which can either serve a role in disease pathogenesis (e.g., tumor growth) or healing. Losso (food science, Louisiana State U. Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge) notes that research on angiogenesis has attracted food scientists as well as molecular biologists, biomedical researchers, and others to this new field focusing on bioactive compounds that can serve as the basis for anti-angiogenic drugs or functional foods. In 33 chapters, international contributors review recent advances regarding such compounds (e.g., in berries, green tea, probiotics); their applications in several countries for specific medical conditions; and the mechanisms by which they inhibit pathological angiogenesis. Most controversial is the use of shark cartilage powder as an anti-cancer agent. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing protocols.
A significant number of drug-resistant strains of microorganisms seems to be showing up in the clinic and laboratory with more crowning the horizon. This volume gives the front line soldiers a range of sophisticated tools in the form of an integrated resource of lab-based techniques and other methods of detecting and countering drug resistance. Eighteen articles give an overview of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and its work in antimicrobial susceptibility tests, then focus on antimicrobial classification, disk difference tests and gradient methodologies, macro- and micro-dilution methods, automated systems, agar dilution tests, systematic data collection and analysis, anaerobe antimicrobial testing, antifungal susceptibility testing of yeasts and filamentous fungi, testing of mycobacteria, synergy testing, time-kill curves, population analysis, serum bactericidal testing, bioassay methods, molecular methods for bacteria strain typing, pharmacy and microbiology, interactions between clinicians and the microbiology library, and the development of new antimicrobial agents. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Applied combustion, 2d ed.
Keating, an energy and environmental engineering consultant, offers abroad introduction to the engineering principles of chemical energy conversion. The book presents a thermochemical overview of current and potential solid, liquid, and gaseous natural and synthetic fuel resources, and describes the fuel-engine interface characteristics of important external and internal combustion heat engines in terms of fuel compatibility, consumption rates, pollution characteristics, emission controls, and energy conversion efficiencies. Data and design formulations appear in dual SI and English engineering dimensions and units. This second edition is reorganized for continuity, and includes an expanded discussion of chemical equilibrium, and a new section on fuel cells. There is additional coverage of environmental aspects of specific combustion characteristics, and a new chapter on thermal destruction. The chapter on chemical kinetics of combustion now includes a presentation of the important nitrogen-oxygen reaction system. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Applied nonparametric statistical methods, 4th ed.
The textbook is for undergraduate students making their first foray into nonparametric methods, either in a mainstream statistics course or in service courses for students majoring in other disciplines. It can also be used for self-study or as a reference by professionals in various fields who understand basic statistics but have little acquaintance with nonparametric methods. Like previous revisions since 1989, this edition reflects current levels of computing power and the scope of applying nonparametric or distribution-free methods, especially the tendency to combine them with other methods. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Asthma; an atlas of investigation and management.
This is a slim volume, slightly oversize (9.75x12.5 inches), offering a clear, illustrated presentation of the clinical fundamentals. Coverage includes the definition and diagnosis of asthma and its epidemiology, clinical types, etiology, common precipitants, pathology, and treatment, as well as the Churg-Strauss syndrome, assessment and management of patients with acute asthma, and pediatric considerations. Johnston (Imperial College of London) is identified as the author on the title page, but the ten chapters are signed contributions from specialists based in the UK and several countries in Europe, Kuwait, New Zealand, and Canada. Distributed by CRC Press. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Basic pharmacokinetics. (CD-ROM included)
In this reference and self-study tool, Hedaya (clinical pharmacy, Tanta U.) presents both standard printed text and a CD-ROM (with interactive computer-based presentations) covering the essentials of pharmacokinetics — important for drug development, preclinical evaluations, and clinical use of drugs. Introducing concepts in ways that do not require an intensive mathematical background, he covers the pharmacokinetic behavior of drugs administered intravenously, orally and by intravenous infusion, addressing principles and then the specifics of single intravenous administration, drug absorption following oral administration (including biopharmaceutical considerations and rates), steady states during multiple drug administrations, renal drug elimination, metabolic pharmacokinetics, disease state and drug pharmacokinetics, nonlinear pharmacokinetics, multi-component pharmacokinetic models, intermittent intravenous infusion, data analysis, physiological approaches to hepatic clearance, and the relationship between pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and therapeutic drug monitoring. Answers to exercises are included. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Basic pharmacology; understanding drug actions and reactions.
Aimed at first-year pharmacy students, this textbook introduces the principles of chemistry and biology necessary to understand drug interactions at the cellular level. Sample topics include structural determinants of drug action; the distribution and excretion of drugs; drug-induced enzyme inhibition; and receptor regulation and signaling mechanisms. B&w illustrations accompany the text throughout. The authors teach at Nova Southeastern University's College of Pharmacy. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Biocatalysis and biotechnology for functional foods and industrial products.
Hou (Microbial Genomics & Bioprocessing Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, US Department of Agriculture) and Shaw (president, National Chung Hsing U., Taiwan) present 34 papers describing recent research in biocatalysis and biotechnology, a field defined so as to include enzyme catalysis, biotransformation, fermentation, genetic engineering, and product recovery. The first 15 papers address research into functional foods and include specific discussion of enzymatic purification of conjugated linoleic acid isomers, functional marine complex lipids, biofunctions of marine carotenoids, oil production from microorganisms, production of conjugated fatty acids by microorganisms, and plant sterols and their esters as functional food components, to cite a few examples. The remaining contributions are concerned with industrial products and topics addressed by them include biotransformation of aliphatic hydrocarbons and fatty acids, vegetable oil-based biodegradable industrial lubricants, enzymatic synthesis of functional lipids in organic solvent using lipase, and fermentative production of biopolymers and biosurfactants from glycerol-rich biodiesel coproduct stream and soy molasses. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Biomechanics and exercise physiology; quantitative modeling, 2d ed.
In this resource for bioengineers, exercise physiologists, and related professionals, Johnson explains how physiological material such as exercise thermal response can be quantitatively predicted. He also describes how this mathematical information may be applied in such areas as equipment design and the development of athletic training procedures. Coverage is broad in scope, and includes respiratory, cardiovascular, and thermal models. Homework problems have been added for the second edition. An engineer by profession, Johnson (affiliation not cited) is also the author of Biological Process Engineering. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The biology and fisheries of the slipper lobster.
While comparatively little is known about them, slipper lobsters are increasingly becoming targets of commercial fishery operations. Aimed at fisheries managers and other interested parties, this volume provides an overview of the current state of knowledge regarding these creatures. It contains 18 contributions from Lavalli (Boston U.), Spanier (U. of Haifa, Israel), and other researchers. Coverage includes such topics as the digestive system of slipper lobsters; the biomechanics of their exoskeletons; and the fishery and biology of commercially exploited Australian fan lobsters. B&w maps and diagrams accompany the text throughout. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Biodiversity databases; techniques, politics, and applicatons
The days of the home-grown biodiversity database with a single rapid grad student maintaining it are over. Projects now use state-of-the-art file storage systems, presentation software and the capabilities needed for distribution over the Internet. This collection of articles addresses the many new features of the types of databases now in service and make cases for even more improvements. They focus on best practices and applications as they describe concepts and installations, including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, the European Network for Biodiversity Information, networking taxonomic concepts flexibly, networking European biological collections databases, automated extraction of biodiversity information from taxonomic descriptions, using the grid in biodiversity informatics, an interactive database system for structured descriptive data of ascomycetes, linking and merging databases, and applications to such practical projects as rattan conservation in Borneo. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Biological influences on criminal behavior.
Anderson (criminology, Simon Fraser University) explains the basic concepts of natural selection, behavior theory, and genetics that may apply to current criminal research. Never suggesting crime can be blamed on biology, this undergraduate textbook methodically surveys the results of recent studies on twins and adoption, hormones, fetal development, brain chemistry, structural brain imaging, diet, and toxins. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Blind image deconvolution; theory and applications.
Deconvolution is the process of reconstructing an original image from either one or multiple degraded observations using information about both the imaging system and the original image; the blind-image version must be used when no information is available about the original image. Researchers from Europe, North America, and Hong Kong review recent research and application from such perspectives as problem formulation and existing approaches, Bayesian methods based on variational approximations, applications in astronomy, and structured matrix computations with applications to array imaging. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
