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Elsevier Science

  • Environmental Contamination in Antarctica

    A Challenge to Analytical Chemistry
    • 1st Edition
    • S. Caroli + 2 more
    • English
    This thought-provoking and ambitious volume surveys the causes and extent of environmental contamination in Antarctica, and looks critically at future prospects. It highlights the key role that modern techniques of analytical chemistry play in achieving reliable empirical data in this field and their impact on shaping legal provisions. Written by prominent scientists and experts in Antarctic sciences, this work gives an overview of the studies undertaken by countries to assess the impact of pollution phenomena on the uniquely clean environment of Antarctica. Empirical studies and regulatory issues are evaluated in context with the goal of providing a model approach to more polluted areas of the world.
  • Protein Adaptations and Signal Transduction

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 2
    • K.B. Storey + 1 more
    • English
    This volume of Cell and Molecular Responses to Stress has two broad themes: an examination of selected protein adaptations that support stress tolerance and an analysis of signal transduction systems, those critical links between the perception of stress and the activation of the coordinated metabolic responses that ensure survival. Several chapters deal with adaptive responses to environmental cold temperature and highlight novel advances in mammalian hibernation, low temperature enzyme function, cold-shock and antifreeze proteins, and freezing survival. Other chapters stretch out to explore biochemical responses to diverse stresses including water stress, mechanical stress, nutrient availability, oxygen limitation and oxidative stress. The integral roles of protein kinases, transcription factors, oxygen free radicals, and oxygen-sensitive ion channels in the detection and mediation of stress responses are explored. The multiplicity of responses is emphasized and shows us the vast potential of cells and organisms to respond to innumerable stresses, great and small, and the regulatory principles and mechanisms that are used to allow life to adapt and endure in every environment on Earth.Featuring: A discussion of new advances in understanding protein adaptations that support organismal survival of stress. State-of-the-art analysis of key components of cellular signal transduction pathways including protein kinases and calcium and the control, integration and action of signal transduction pathways in response to stresses including mechanical stress, nutrient availability, oxidative stress.
  • Advanced Polymer Composites and Polymers in the Civil Infrastructure

    • 1st Edition
    • L.C. Hollaway
    • English
    In recent years, the fabrication technologies for the production of advanced polymer composites have been revolutionised by sophisticated manufacturing techniques. These methods have enabled polymer composite materials to produce good quality laminates with minimal voids and accurate fibre alignment.This book familiarises and provides a background to the understanding and use of advanced polymer composites in the civil infrastructure; numerous examples have been provided to illustrate the use and versatility of the material. Furthermore, the book discusses the current fabrication techniques, design methods and formulae for the design of structural composite systems. In addition it discusses the fundamentals of geosynthetics used in geotechnical engineering. The book introduces the fibres and matrices that are used to manufacture composites, their mechanical and in-service properties and their long term loading characteristics; all these properties are specifically associated with the construction industry. The chapters then discuss the design aspects for 'all composite' units, as well as systems used for the renewal of civil infrastructure. Finally, the book demonstrated the unique possibilities of combining composites with conventional materials to form units in which the various materials making up the unit are loaded in the mode that specifically suits their mechanical characteristics.
  • Advances in Crystal Growth Research

    • 1st Edition
    • Y. Furukawa + 1 more
    • K. Sato
    • English
    The aim of this book is to provide a timely collection that highlights advances in current research of crystal growth ranging from fundamental aspects to current applications involving a wide range of materials. This book is published on the basis of lecture texts of the 11th International Summer School on Crystal Growth (ISSCG-11) to be held at Doshisha Retreat Center in Shiga Prefecture Japan, on July 24-29, 2001. This school is always associated with the International Conference of Crystal Growth (ICCG) series that have been held every three years since 1973; thus this school continues the tradition of the past 10 schools of crystal growth.
  • New Approaches for the Generation and Analysis of Microbial Typing Data

    • 1st Edition
    • L. Dijkshoorn + 2 more
    • English
    Rapid molecular identification and typing of micro-organisms is extremely important in efforts to monitor the geographical spread of virulent, epidemic or antibiotic-resistant pathogens. It has become a mainstay of integrated hospital infection control service. In addition, numerous industrial and biotechnological applications require the study of the diversity of organisms. Conventional phenotypic identification and typing methods have long been the mainstay of microbial population and epidemiological studies, but such methods often lack adequate discrimination and their use is normally confined to the group of organisms for which they were originally devised. Molecular fingerprinting methods have flourished in recent years and many of these new methods can be applied to numerous different organisms for a variety of purposes. Standardisation of these methods is vitally important. In addition, the generation of large numbers of complex fingerprint profiles requires that a computer-assisted strategy is used for the formation and analysis of databases. The purpose of this book is to describe the best fingerprinting methods that are currently available and the computer-assisted strategies that can be used for analysis and exchange of data between laboratories.This book is dedicated to the memory of Jan Ursing (1926 - 2000), Swedish microbiologist, taxonomist and philosopher."...taxo... is on the borders of philosophy because we do not know the natural continuities and discontinuities..."
  • Advances in Metal and Semiconductor Clusters

    Metal Ion Solvation and Metal-Ligand Interactions
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 5
    • M.A. Duncan
    • English
    In previous volumes in this series, Advances in Metal and Semiconductor Clusters, the focus has been on atomic clusters of metals, semiconductors and carbon. Fundamental gas phase studies have been surveyed, and most recently scientists have explored new materials which can be produced from clusters or cluster precursors. In this latest volume, the focus shifts to clusters composed primarily of non-metal molecules or atoms which have one or more metal atoms seeded into the cluster as an impurity. These clusters provide model systems for metal ion solvation processes and metal-ligand interactions.Metal-l... bonding underlies the vast fields of organometallic chemistry, transition metal chemistry and homogeneous catalysis. Catalytic activity, ligand displacement reactions and photochemical activity depend on the specific details of metal-ligand bonding. Likewise, metal ions are ubiquitous in chemistry and biology and weaker electrostatic interactions play a leading role in their function. In solution, metals exist in different charge states depending on the conditions, and the solvation environment strongly influences their chemistry. Many enzymes have metal ions at their active sites, and electrostatic interactions influence the selectivity for metal ion transport through cell membranes. Metal ions (e.g., Mg+, Ca+) are deposited into the earth's atmosphere by meteor ablation, resulting in a rich variety of atmospheric chemistry. Similarly, metal ions ( Mg+) have been observed in planetary atmospheres and in the impact of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter. In various circumstances, the electrostatic interactions of metal ions determine the outcome of significant chemistry. Cluster chemistry has made significant contributions to the understanding of these stronger metal ligand interactions and weaker metal ion solvation interactions. In this volume, the authors explore a variety of work in these general areas, where new cluster science techniques in the gas phase have made it possible to synthesize new kinds of complexes with metals and to measure their properties in detail.
  • Advances in Neural Population Coding

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 130
    • M.A.L. Nicolelis
    • English
    A collective research effort by scientists working in laboratories around the world, this book addresses issues covering all aspects of neural population coding. This volume, with contributions from distinguished neuroscientists, is divided into six sections containing a historical overview of the concept of neural population, introducing a series of new experimental paradigms and analytical techniques for investigating potential neural coding schemes and four sections focusing on recent advances in population coding in a broad range of areas of brain research.
  • Solution NMR of Paramagnetic Molecules

    Applications to Metallobiomolecules and Models
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 2
    • Ivano Bertini + 2 more
    • English
    NMR is a growing technique which represents a generalized, spread, common tool for spectroscopy and for structural and dynamic investigation. Part of the field of competence of NMR is represented by molecules with unpaired electrons, which are called paramagnetic. The presence of unpaired electrons is at the same time a drawback (negative effect) and a precious source of information about structure and dynamics. New phenomena and effects are described which are due to the high magnetic fields and advances in the methodology. Solution NMR of Paramagnetic Molecules is unique in dealing with these matters. The scope is that of presenting a complete description, which is both rigorous and pictorial, of theory and experiments of NMR of paramagnetic molecules in solution. Pertinent examples are described. From the time dependent behaviour of electrons in the various metal ions including polimetallic systems to the hyperfine-based information, and from NMR experiments to constraints for solution structure determination. The book's major theme is how to perform high resolution NMR experiments and how to obtain structural and dynamic information on paramagnetic metal ion containing systems.
  • Coal Flotation and Fine Coal Utilization

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 14
    • J. Laskowski
    • English
    To stay profitable while complying with environmental regulations requires that the coal industry not only improve fine coal recovery but also finds better ways for its utilization. This is the first monograph on the processing of fine coal which recognizes that all unit operations that handle fine coal depend on coal surface properties, and which in one single volume provides a comprehensive introduction to coal surface chemistry, using it rigorously in treating coal flotation fundamentals and engineering, fine coal manipulation, pelletization and briquetting, and coal-water slurries.Readers involved in mineral processing, chemical engineering, mining and metallurgical engineering; technical personnel working for reagent suppliers; and scientists researching the field of coal surface chemistry, flotation and fine coal utilization will find this volume of great interest.
  • Aluminium and Alzheimer's Disease

    The Science that Describes the Link
    • 1st Edition
    • C. Exley
    • English
    The subject of aluminium and Alzheimer's disease has been plagued with controversy. This controversy has served to obscure much of the scientific research in this field, and subsequently has obscured the possibility that aluminium is a contributory factor in the aetiology of Alzheimer's disease. This book brings together many of the world's leading scientists researching aluminium and life and contains their critical summaries on the known facts about aluminium toxicity in man and to offer an opinion on the implications of this knowledge on a link between aluminium and Alzheimer's disease. The subject areas of the chapters were chosen to reflect the myriad of ways that aluminium is known to impact upon mammalian physiology and function and range from clinical studies, through animal models of disease to the detailed biochemistry of aluminium toxicity. Chapters are also included on epidemiology and other factors involved in the aetiology of Alzheimer's.This is the first time that this subject has been treated in such a comprehensive manner. The research detailed in each chapter, includes the latest research in the field, it has been critically appraised and this appraisal has been used by each author to present an informed opinion of its relevance to aluminium and Alzheimer's disease. The chapters are much more than reviews; they are a statement of the state of the art and of what the future may hold for research in this field. As a whole they show the high quality of research that has been carried out in our efforts to understand the toxicity of aluminium in man and that we are far away from discounting the possibility that aluminium is a contributory factor in the aetiology of Alzheimer's disease.