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Elsevier Science

  • Viruses, Cell Transformation, and Cancer

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 5
    • J.A. Grand
    • English
    Viruses are the agent responsible for perhaps up to one million cases of cancer worldwide each year. Significantly, the study of viruses has also provided important clues to the causes and development of the most common human cancers. This volume presents an account of those viruses which have been directly associated with common human malignancies such as human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical carcinoma, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Burkitt's lymphoma. In addition, the biology and biochemistry of those viruses which have been shown to be capable of transforming cells in culture are described in detail. Thus adenovirus are discussed, as are the other small DNA tumour viruses - Simian virus 40 (SV40) and polyoma virus. Consideration has also been given to human T-cell leukaemia virus (HTLV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human herpes virus 8 (HHV8), amongst others. General themes such as the host's immune response to viral infection, virally-induced apoptosis and the use of viruses as a delivery system in gene therapy have been discussed.Individual chapters have been written by an international group of experts in their own field of research.
  • European Energy Industry Business Strategies

    • 1st Edition
    • Atle Midttun
    • English
    Since the European Union's de-regulation policy for electricity and energy suppliers was implemented, new strategic configurations have emerged. Traditional restraints of geographical limitations on energy companies have been partly removed: the diversity at national regulatory and company level means that the European scene is one of a multiplicity of strategic configurations and developments, whilst also being complex and segmented.This book highlights the strategic and regulatory challenges of European deregulation, with its main focus being on the business strategies within the emerging de-regulated electricity markets; various regulatory implications which are being raised in this new climate are discussed. Some of the central strategic issues facing the electricity industry in its new competitive context are explored and reviewed, with classical themes debated as a prelude to the following empirical investigation of actual business strategies pursued by the electricity and energy industries.The main section of this work consists of 7 national case studies of business strategies which also include one North and one South American case. These were considered important inclusions as the North American companies are large investors in the European market, whilst the European companies invest in the South American market. The final chapter is a comparison and summary of the national patterns of market structures, business strategies and regulatory styles with a brief look at some challenges to be faced in future.
  • Interorganellar Signaling in Age-Related Disease

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 7
    • M.P. Mattson
    • English
    Collectively, the chapters in this work will provide the reader with novel insight into the inter-relationships of the function of different organelles in the sequences of events that lead to cellular dysfunction and degeneration in the aging human population. The chapters are rich in information for cell and molecular biologists pursuing studies of the different diseases covered. In addition, the clinician will find value in understanding mechanisms underlying age-related disease as such an understanding will lead to novel therapeutic approaches for an array of age-related diseases.
  • Programmed Cell Death, Volume II

    Role in Disease, Pathogenesis & Prevention
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 6
    • S. Estus + 2 more
    • English
    This volume provides the most recent insight into how abnormalities in the regulation of cell death lead to a variety of diseases. Each chapter in this book is written by an internationally recognized expert on the role of aberrant cell death in the pathogenesis of a particular disease. In addition to various types of cancer and neurodegenerative disorders, this book covers diseases ranging from arthritis to cardiovascular disease to diabetes. The chapters each integrate information obtained from patients with data obtained in experimental models of the disease to arrive at an emerging view of the pathogenic mechanisms of the disease. Applications of this fundamental knowledge to prevention and treatment of the diseases are considered. When taken together with http://www.elsevier.... Cell Death, Volume 1, this title will provide graduate students, postdocs and senior investigators in an array of biomedical disciplines invaluable resource for their pursuit of the causes and cures of many different human diseases.
  • Contemporary Optical Image Processing with MATLAB

    • 1st Edition
    • T.-C. Poon + 1 more
    • English
    This book serves two purposes: first to introduce readers to the concepts of geometrical optics, physical optics and techniques of optical imaging and image processing, and secondly to provide them with experience in modeling the theory and applications using the commonly used software tool MATLAB®. A comprehensively revised version of the authors' earlier book Principles of Applied Optics, Contemporary Optical Image Processing with MATLAB brings out the systems aspect of optics. This includes ray optics, Fourier Optics, Gaussian beam propagation, the split-step beam propagation method, holography and complex spatial filtering, ray theory of holograms, optical scanning holography, acousto-optic image processing, edge enhancement and correlation using photorefractive materials, holographic phase distortion correction, to name a few. MATLAB examples are given throughout the text. MATLAB is emphasized since it is now a widely accepted software tool very routinely used in signal processing. A sizeable portion of this book is based on the authors' own in-class presentations, as well as research in the area. Instructive problems and MATLAB assignments are included at the end of each Chapter to enhance even further the value of this book to its readers. MATLAB is a registered trademark of The MathWorks, Inc.
  • Programmed Cell Death, Volume I

    Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 5
    • S. Estus + 2 more
    • English
    Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is an adaptive form of cell death that plays a critical role in turnover of mitotic cells and various tissues in the adult, including epithelial cells, fibroblasts and various endocrine cells. Programmed cell death also plays a major role in development in organizing the body plan and molding intricate cellular structures such as nerve cell circuits in the brain. Rapidly progressing research into the molecular and biochemical underpinnings of the programmed cell death process are revealing novel genetic programs and molecular interactions that coordinate a process that results in death and removal of cells without an immune response and in the absence of the adverse effects on neighboring cells. Programmed Cell Death, Volume I, critically details the molecular, biochemical and cellular mechanisms of apoptosis. This volume covers programmed cell death in a variety of tissues and organ systems highlighting the interesting families of proteins involved in promoting or preventing apoptosis. These include the caspase and calpain families of proteases, Bcl-2 family members, and inhibitors of apoptosis proteins. Each chapter is written by an internationally recognized expert in a particular aspect of programmed cell death.This book will provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the cascade of events leading from an apoptotic signal, such as trophic factor withdrawal or increased oxidative stress, to cell death. Importantly, this volume also covers signaling mechanisms designed to prevent apoptosis. Such anti-apoptotic signaling cascades involve neurotrophic factors and stress response pathways. Programmed Cell Death, Volume I, provides the molecular and cellular foundation for http://www.elsevier.... Cell Death, Volume II in which the roles of aberrant regulation of apoptosis in human diseases ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's disease are considered.
  • Human Friendly Mechatronics

    • 1st Edition
    • Masaharu Takano + 2 more
    • English
    The book includes 61 selected papers from 106 presented at the second International Conference on Machine Automation (ICMA2000). The conference focused, for the first time, on human friendly mechantronics which covers machine systems interacting with human beings, psychological, physiological, and physical behaviors of the human being itself, robotics, human-mimetic mechanical systems, commercial application examples and so on. Machine automation has owed a lot to mechatronics technology in the last decades, however, a paradigm shift is desired and emphasized in the 21st century in every aspect of our society, and mechantronics is not an exception. The paradigm shift in mechatronics is a pursuit of productivity and efficiency to the preference of humans, and it is time that a new concept of a human friendly robot must be proposed that is welcome by human users. The book aims to offer the most up-to-date and valuable information on:•Human Interface & Communication•Human Support Technology•Actuator & Control•Vision & Sensing•Robotics and Design•Manufacturing SystemWe believe this book will bring advanced knowledge and valuable information to the industries as well as to academics and will contribute to the further development in mechatronics and its related fields.
  • Silicon in Agriculture

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 8
    • L.E. Datnoff + 2 more
    • English
    Presenting the first book to focus on the importance of silicon for plant health and soil productivity and on our current understanding of this element as it relates to agriculture.Long considered by plant physiologists as a non-essential element, or plant nutrient, silicon was the center of attention at the first international conference on Silicon in Agriculture, held in Florida in 1999.Ninety scientists, growers, and producers of silicon fertilizer from 19 countries pondered a paradox in plant biology and crop science. They considered the element Si, second only to oxygen in quantity in soils, and absorbed by many plants in amounts roughly equivalent to those of such nutrients as sulfur or magnesium. Some species, including such staples as rice, may contain this element in amounts as great as or even greater than any other inorganic constituent. Compilations of the mineral composition of plants, however, and much of the plant physiological literature largely ignore this element. The participants in Silicon in Agriculture explored that extraordinary discrepancy between the silicon content of plants and that of the plant research enterprise.The participants, all of whom are active in agricultural science, with an emphasis on crop production, presented, and were presented with, a wealth of evidence that silicon plays a multitude of functions in the real world of plant life. Many soils in the humid tropics are low in plant available silicon, and the same condition holds in warm to hot humid areas elsewhere. Field experience, and experimentation even with nutrient solutions, reveals a multitude of functions of silicon in plant life. Resistance to disease is one, toleration of toxic metals such as aluminum, another. Silicon applications often minimize lodging of cereals (leaning over or even becoming prostrate), and often cause leaves to assume orientations more favorable for light interception. For some crops, rice and sugarcane in particular, spectacular yield responses to silicon application have been obtained. More recently, other crop species including orchids, daisies and yucca were reported to respond to silicon accumulation and plant growth/disease control. The culture solutions used for the hydroponic production of high-priced crops such as cucumbers and roses in many areas (The Netherlands for example) routinely included silicon, mainly for disease control. The biochemistry of silicon in plant cell walls, where most of it is located, is coming increasingly under scrutiny; the element may act as a crosslinking element between carbohydrate polymers.There is an increased conviction among scientists that the time is at hand to stop treating silicon as a plant biological nonentity. The element exists, and it matters.
  • Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography

    Second and Revised Edition
    • 2nd Edition
    • Richard E. Thomson + 1 more
    • W.J. Emery + 1 more
    • English
    Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography is a practical referenceguide to established and modern data analysis techniques in earth and oceansciences. This second and revised edition is even more comprehensive with numerous updates, and an additional appendix on 'Convolution and Fourier transforms'. Intended for both students and established scientists, the fivemajor chapters of the book cover data acquisition and recording, dataprocessing and presentation, statistical methods and error handling,analysis of spatial data fields, and time series analysis methods. Chapter 5on time series analysis is a book in itself, spanning a wide diversity oftopics from stochastic processes and stationarity, coherence functions,Fourier analysis, tidal harmonic analysis, spectral and cross-spectralanalys... wavelet and other related methods for processing nonstationarydata series, digital filters, and fractals. The seven appendices includeunit conversions, approximation methods and nondimensional numbers used ingeophysical fluid dynamics, presentations on convolution, statisticalterminolo... and distribution functions, and a number of importantstatistical tables. Twenty pages are devoted to references.Featuring... An in-depth presentation of modern techniques for the analysis of temporal and spatial data sets collected in oceanography, geophysics, and other disciplines in earth and ocean sciences.• A detailed overview of oceanographic instrumentation and sensors - old and new - used to collect oceanographic data.• 7 appendices especially applicable to earth and ocean sciences ranging from conversion of units, through statistical tables, to terminology and non-dimensional parameters.In praise of the first edition: "(...)This is a very practical guide to the various statistical analysis methods used for obtaining information from geophysical data, with particular reference to oceanography(...)The book provides both a text for advanced students of the geophysical sciences and a useful reference volume for researchers." Aslib Book Guide Vol 63, No. 9, 1998"(...)This is an excellent book that I recommend highly and will definitely use for my own research and teaching." EOS Transactions, D.A. Jay, 1999"(...)In summary, this book is the most comprehensive and practical source of information on data analysis methods available to the physical oceanographer. The reader gets the benefit of extremely broad coverage and an excellent set of examples drawn from geographical observations." Oceanography, Vol. 12, No. 3, A. Plueddemann, 1999"(...)Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography is highly recommended for a wide range of readers, from the relative novice to the experienced researcher. It would be appropriate for academic and special libraries." E-Streams, Vol. 2, No. 8, P. Mofjelf, August 1999
  • Reaction Kinetics and the Development and Operation of Catalytic Processes

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 133
    • G.F. Froment + 1 more
    • English
    Reaction Kinetics and the Development and Operation of Catalytic Processes is a trendsetter. The Keynote Lectures have been authored by top scientists and cover a broad range of topics like fundamental aspects of surface chemistry, in particular dynamics and spillover, the modeling of reaction mechanisms, with special focus on the importance of transient experimentation and the application of kinetics in reactor design. Fundamental and applied kinetic studies are well represented. More than half of these deal with transient kinetics, a new trend made possible by recent sophisticated experimental equipment and the awareness that transient experimentation provides more information and insight into the microphenomena occurring on the catalyst surface than steady state techniques. The trend is not limited to purely kinetic studies since the great majority of the papers dealing with reactors also focus on transients and even deliberate transient operation. It is to be expected that this trend will continue and amplify as the community becomes more aware of the predictive potential of fundamental kinetics when combined with detailed realistic modeling of the reactor operation.