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Elsevier Science

  • Neuronal Degeneration and Regeneration: From Basic Mechanisms to Prospects for Therapy

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 117
    • F.W. Van Leeuwen + 4 more
    • English
    This book is the result of the 20th International Summer School in Brain Research, organized in August 1997 in Amsterdam, by the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. It is the first book that provides a complete overview of the field of neurodegeneration and regeneration including spinal cord injury, neurodegenerative diseases and therapy. Divided into five sections, the first two sections give an overview of fundamental research on nerve cell death, neuronal survival, neurite outgrowth and guidance. Extensive attention is given to the role of neurotrophins, their receptor tyrosine kinases and cell-adhesion molecules in development and regeneration of the nervous system. The third section of the book is devoted to research involving human neurodegenerative diseases and emerging treatment strategies. Section four focusses on recent advances in the understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases along with prion diseases. Novel insights into the neuropathological hallmarks of these diseases, as well as into transgenic animal models, the involvement of environmental factors, and genomic and mRNA changes that can cause neurodegeneration. The final section of this volume reveals recent developments in the use of cell and gene therapy to treat neurodegenerative disease and lesion-related deficits. Implantation of genetically modified cells, direct gene transfer with viral vectors and the first clinical trials with encapsulated genetically modified cells in patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral scelerosis are examples of new therapeutic strategies treating neurodegenerative diseases.The book is of particular interest to departments of neuroscience, neurological clinics and departments, the pharmalogical industry and medical libraries.
  • Inverse Problems in Engineering Mechanics

    • 1st Edition
    • Masataka Tanaka + 1 more
    • English
    Inverse problems can be found in many topics of engineering mechanics. There are many successful applications in the fields of inverse problems (non-destructive testing and characterization of material properties by ultrasonic or X-ray techniques, thermography, etc.). Generally speaking, the inverse problems are concerned with the determination of the input and the characteristics of a mechanical system from some of the output from the system. Mathematically, such problems are ill-posed and have to be overcome through development of new computational schemes, regularization techniques, objective functionals, and experimental procedures.Seventy-t... papers were presented at the International Symposium on Inverse Problems in Mechanics (ISIP '98) held in March of 1998 in Nagano, where recent developments in the inverse problems in engineering mechanics and related topics were discussed. The main themes were: mathematical and computational aspects of the inverse problems, parameter or system identification, shape determination, sensitivity analysis, optimization, material property characterization, ultrasonic non-destructive testing, elastodynamic inverse problems, thermal inverse problems, and other engineering applications.
  • The Glutamate Synapse as a Therapeutic Target

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 116
    • English
    This volume provides a comprehensive update on basic glutamate research, from a clinical perspective. Thus, emphasis is placed on how the different molecular players at the glutamate synapse interact to produce a postsynaptic response, how synaptic transmission is perturbed in epilepsy and other pathological conditions, and how glutamate may acquire toxic properties and lead to acute or chronic neurodegeneration. Promising targets for therapeutic strategies are discussed.A coherent picture is provided of the glutamate synapse and its molecular organization. The book therefore deals with each step in the signal process, from synthesis and vesicular uptake of glutamate to its clearance following receptor activation.
  • Nitric Oxide in Brain Development, Plasticity, and Disease

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 118
    • R.R. Mize + 3 more
    • English
    Nitric oxide, "Molecule of the Year" in 1995, continues to be one of the most widely studied molecules in brain research. This excellent volume elucidates the implications of this gas in a variety of brain processes.The volume is divided into five sections, describing: the mechanisms underlying the release and action of Nitric Oxide in the CNS, and the distribution of Nitric Oxide in the brain using various techniques; how Nitric Oxide interacts with and regulates the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor; the role of Nitric Oxide in pathway refinement and synapse stabilization in the developing CNS; the role of Nitric Oxide in adult brain plasticity including long-term potentiation and depression; and the role of Nitric Oxide in brain injury such as occurs during ischemia and other events produced by glutamate neurotoxicity, and in neuroprotective mechanisms that promote neuron survival.Nitric Oxide in Brain Development, Plasticity, and Disease is the first Progress in Brain Research volume to be published in abstracted form on the World Wide Web. It includes title pages, abstracts, selected figures, and complete references. It also includes a digital brain atlas for readers to view a mouse brain in a three-dimensional full-color rendition, and much more.
  • Elsevier's Dictionary of Environment

    In English, French, Spanish and Arabic
    • 1st Edition
    • M. Bakr
    • English
    The main objective of Elsevier's Dictionary of Environment is to assist those involved in environmental activities in their attempt to make the world cleaner and to sustain its natural resources for future generations. It will help with the production of documentation for meetings and conferences as well as for drafting papers for training, information and communication purposes.Environment... concerns are important items on the political and economic agendas of most countries, whether developed or developing. In a world conscious of its environmental problems, studies in this domain have become an established discipline. Every new branch of science needs to define relevant terms to be used through the medium of language.The subject of environment is global because it touches everyone. Individuals, specialists or institutions concerned with the health of our planet need to mean the same thing when communicating with each other, notwithstanding language differences. The compilation of a multilingual dictionary on environment is not easy. The inclusion or omission of certain terms is an important question. However, the choice of terms, in this text, is based on two assumptions: (1) the most commonly used terms, (2) their translatability into other languages without losing their intended meaning. Consideration of regional differences of the same languages has been taken into account.This dictionary contains terms covering the following fields and subfields: air pollution, biological diversity, biomass energy, biosafety, biotechnology, climate change, coastal environment, deforestation, desertification, endangered species, energy conservation, environmental economics, environmental impact assessment, forest conservation, freshwater pollution, global warming, greenhouse gases, human settlements, living marine resources, marine environment, mountain ecosystems, ozone layer, resources management, soil degradation, sustainable development, tropical ecosystem, wetland ecosystem.The layout of this dictionary is such that each language included may be used as a target as well as a source language.
  • Checklist for Sustainable Landscape Management

    Final Report of the EU Concerted Action AIR3-CT93-1210
    • 1st Edition
    • J.D. van Mansvelt + 1 more
    • English
    This work is an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, widely-calibrated checklist for EU sustainable landscape management, which is intended to serve both as an analytical tool of reference as well as a design tool for local, regional and European policy making on sustainable developments.The tool has been developed out of a multidisciplinary study in EU countries which was designed to find out what would be the overall requirements for a sustainable management of the landscape of rural areas. Could these stipulations be brought together in a comprehensive system with sufficient consistency to comply with the notion that the landscape is an entity, which should be managed accordingly? Cooperation of the scientific experts with those involved in the practical side, and alternating plenary reporting with subgroup visits to farms in the rural landscapes of the participants' countries, allowed for the development of some truly interdisciplinary teamwork. Organic agriculture has been included to find out how organic agriculture contributes to the rural landscape.
  • Handbook of Fourier Transform Raman and Infrared Spectra of Polymers

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 45
    • A.H. Kuptsov + 1 more
    • English
    A collection of infrared and Raman spectra of 500 natural and synthetic polymers of industrial importance is presented in this book. A large variety of compounds are included, starting with linear polyolefins and finishing with complex biopolymers and related compounds. The spectra were registered using Infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometers in the laboratory of the All-Russia Institute of Forensic Sciences. The IR and Raman spectra are presented together on the same sheet. The accompanying data include general and structure formulae, CAS register numbers, and sample preparation conditions.Features of this book:• Continues the long tradition of publishing specific and standard data of new chemical compounds.• For low-molecular weight substances, complementary IR and Raman spectra are featured on the same sample and printed on the same page. This "fingerprint" data allows the substance of the sample to be identified without doubt.• An important feature of this unique collection of data is the increase in the identification precision of unknown substances.• Peak tables are available in digital (ASCII) format, on a diskette delivered with the book. This allows the user to search for unknowns.• All the spectra in the collection are base-line corrected.This book will be of interest to scientists involved in the synthesis of new polymeric materials, polymer identification, and quality control. Libraries of scientific institutes, research centers, and universities involved in vibrational spectroscopy will also find this collection invaluable.
  • Elsevier's Dictionary of Biology

    In English (with definitions)
    • 1st Edition
    • R. Tirri + 4 more
    • English
    Biology is an extensive subject that has undergone a vast expansion and so comprises not only such conventional aspects as taxonomy, morphology, biochemistry, functional physiology, and ecology, but also the rapidly expanding new fields of cell biology and molecular biology. This dictionary attempts to provide a comprehensive coverage of biological terms, recognising also that the interface between biology and other sciences, such as chemistry and physics as well as medicine, is becoming less distinct and includes terms from these other areas.This book is intended especially for teachers and students of biology and other natural sciences, environmental sciences and medicine. College students, amateur biologists, journalists, translators and civil service officers will also find this a useful tool.
  • Enzymology of Disturbed Soils

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 26
    • S. Kiss + 2 more
    • English
    The disturbance of soils, like other phenomena of environmental pollution, encountered in so many areas all over the world, has become a subject of extensive concern and has led to a vast amount of literature in the field of enzymology, too.The book is the first comprehensive and updated review of the enzymological literature on three great categories of disturbed soils, including their remediation. The volume consists of three sections: I. Enzymology of oil-contaminated soils; II. Enzymology of soils affected by industrial emissions; and III, enzymology of technogenic soils. Within each section the reviewed studies are grouped by country.The volume will be of great value to soil scientists, environmental scientists, conservationists, and many other scientists in these and related fields.
  • Engineered Interfaces in Fiber Reinforced Composites

    • 1st Edition
    • Jang-Kyo Kim + 1 more
    • English
    The study and application of composite materials are a truly interdisciplinary endeavour that has been enriched by contributions from chemistry, physics, materials science, mechanics and manufacturing engineering. The understanding of the interface (or interphase) in composites is the central point of this interdisciplinary effort. From the early development of composite materials of various nature, the optimization of the interface has been of major importance. While there are many reference books available on composite materials, few of them deal specifically with the science and mechanics of the interface of fiber reinforced composites. Further, many recent advances devoted solely to research in composite interfaces have been scattered in a variety of published literature and have yet to be assembled in a readily accessible form. To this end this book is an attempt to bring together recent developments in the field, both from the materials science and mechanics perspective, in a single convenient volume.The central theme of the book is tailoring the interface properties to optimise the mechanical peformance and structural integrity of composites with enhanced strength/stiffness and fracture toughness (or specific fracture resistance). It deals mainly with interfaces in advanced composites made from high performance fibers, such as glass, carbon, aramid, ultra high modulus polyethylene and some inorganic (e.g. B/W, A12O3, SiC) fibers, and matrix materials encompassing polymers, metals/alloys and ceramics. The book is intended to provide a comprehensive treatment of composite interfaces in such a way that it should be of interest to materials scientists, technologists and practising engineers, as well as graduate students and their supervisors in advanced composites. We hope that this book will also serve as a valuable source of reference to all those involved in the design and research of composite interfaces.The book contains eight chapters of discussions on microstructure-prope... relationships with underlying fundamental mechanics principles. In Chapter 1, an introduction is given to the nature and definition of interfaces in fiber reinforced composites. Chapter 2 is devoted to the mechanisms of adhesion which are specific to each fiber-matrix system, and the physio-chemical characterization of the interface with regard to the origin of adhesion. The experimental techniques that have been developed to assess the fiber-matrix interface bond quality on a microscopic scale are presented in Chapter 3, along with the techniques of measuring interlaminar/intrala... strengths and fracture toughness using bulk composite laminates. The applicability and limitations associated with loading geometry and interpretation of test data are compared. Chapter 4 presents comprehensive theoretical analyses based on shear-lag models of the single fiber composite tests, with particular interest being placed on the interface debond process and the nature of the fiber-matrix interfacial bonding. Chapter 5 is devoted to reviewing current techniques of fiber surface treatments which have been devised to improve the bond strength and the fiber-matrix compatibility/stabil... during the manufacturing processes of composites. The micro-failure mechanisms and their associated theories of fracture toughness of composites are discussed in Chapter 6. The roles of the interface and its effects on the mechanical performance of fiber composites are addressed from several viewpoints. Recent research efforts to augment the transverse and interlaminar fracture toughness by means of controlled interfaces are presented in Chapters 7 and 8.