Books

Schaum's Outline of Immunology

Based on material from 400-600 level Immunology courses, this concise and thorough review of modern concepts in molecular, cellular, and systemic immunology contains over two hundred detailed problems with step-by-step solutions. Taking a problem-solving approach, Schaum's Outline of Immunology is an excellent supplement to any systematic textbook of modern immunology, focusing on the basic tenets of immunology as applied to the dynamics of immune responses and their outcomes, and is perfect for pre-med students who need help in their required immunology courses, as well as for medical and veterinary students who want to update their knowledge.

Microbiological Applications:

The classic resource for undergraduate microbiologz laboratory courses just keeps getting better. The self-contained, clearly illustrated exercises and four-color format make Benson's Microbiological Applications: A Laboratory Manual in General Microbiology the ideal lab manual. Appropriate for either a majors or non-majors lab course, Benson assumes no prior organic chemistry

course has been taken.

Thinking about Biology

Intended for biology students, this philosophical commentary on biology makes science students' studies

more interesting by offering an easy way of studying the philosophy of science, as well as engaging in debates about the social and political implications of biology. It is a unique biology textbook because it adopts an explicitly philosophical approach.

Drug Discovery and Evaluation:

Safety and Pharmacokinetic Assays

Safety aspects have become an outstanding issue in the process of drug discovery and development. Until 15 years ago, drug discovery and evaluation was a sequential process starting with the selection of the most active compound from a series of newly synthesized compounds by means of special pharmacological assays. Safety aspects were addressed by pharmacological testing of the selected compound in high doses in tests directed at indications other than the intended indication of the new compound. These tests were followed by pharmacokinetic studies, which were mainly aimed at confirming of a suitable half-life time and at oral activity. Safety aspects relied mostly on toxicity studies, which however gave information on changes of organ structure rather than on organ function.

In Situ Hybridization: Laboratory Companion

In situ hybridization is a proven, powerful technique with applications in chromosome and genome analysis, as well as gene expression. Covering a carefully selected range of techniques with immediate and general applications in research and clinical diagnosis, the book starts with genome and DNA mapping, continues through gene expression localization in wholemount and tissue sections, and on to ultrastructural levels. The step-by-step protocols used reflect research in these areas and are all reproducible. .

Books

The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research

This book looks at things the other books don’t tell you about doing a PhD - what it’s really like and how to come through it with a happy ending! It covers all the things you wish someone had told you before you started:

• What a PhD is really about, and how to do one well
• The "unwritten rules" of research and of academic writing
• What your supervisor actually means by terms like "good referencing" and "clean research question"
• How to write like a skilled researcher
• How academic careers really work

An ideal resource if someone you care about (including yourself!) is undergoing or considering a PhD. This book turns lost, clueless students back into people who know what they are doing, and who can enjoy life again.



Potassium Channels

Due to the importance of potassium channels in cellular function, researchers have been challenged to develop tools and experimental procedures to probe the function and identify chemicals that modulate the behaviour of this super-family of ion channels. In Potassium Channels: Methods and Protocols, experts in the field present a range of experimental approaches that have been developed to investigate potassium channel structure, function, pharmacology, cell biology, gene expression, and their role in disease. Many of these techniques study potassium channels as cellular proteins as well as the resultant membrane biophysics. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology™ series format, the chapters contain brief introductions to the subject, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and a Notes section, which highlights tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Thorough and cutting-edge, Potassium Channels: Methods and Protocols provides a wide range of approaches in order to aid current research projects and inspire new investigations.


BASIC CONCEPTS IN BIOCHEMISTRY

Do you find biochemistry daunting? If so, this time-saving guide offers all the help you need. Compact, yet comprehensive, the second edition of BASIC CONCEPTS IN BIOCHEMISTRY breaks down the complexities of biochemistry into jargon-free, easy-to-remember steps that show you how biochemistry works.And unline reviews that emphasize memorization of facts, this book helps you master the topics that students find most difficult, building your understanding with explanations in everyday language. You'll comprehend the material and feel more comfortable applying it. Along with enhanced figures, the new edition contains two new chapters - one that outlines the concepts of membranes and membrane.

MicroBiology In Action

Microbes play an important role in our everyday lives. As agents of infectious disease, they cause untold human misery, yet their beneficial activities are manifold, ranging from the natural cycling of chemical elements to the production of food. In this introductory text, the authors provide a clear and accessible account of the interactions among microbes, their environments, and other organisms, citing examples of both beneficial and detrimental activities. The book begins by considering positive activities, focusing on environmental microbiology and manufacturing, and then moves on to consider some of the more adverse aspects of microbes, particularly the myriad diseases to which we are susceptible and the treatments currently in use. Microbiology in Action will prove to be a valuable text for those studying microbiology.
Guide to Biotechonolgy


The biotechnology industry originated in the 1970s, based largely on a new recombinant DNA technique whose details were published in 1973 by Stanley Cohen of Stanford University and Herbert Boyer of the University of California, San Francisco. Recombinant DNA is a method of making proteins—such as human insulin and other therapies—in cultured cells under controlled manufacturing conditions. Boyer went on to co-found Genentech, which today is biotechnology’s largest company by market capitalization.

Mastering Your PhD

Survival and Success in the Doctoral Years and Beyond

"Mastering your PhD" helps guide PhD students through their graduate student days. Filled with practical advice on getting started, communicating with your supervisor, staying the course, and planning for the future, this book is a handy guide for graduate students who need that extra bit of help getting started and making it through. Every year, thousands of students around the world embark on the long and difficult journey toward a PhD. Some of these students will make it through their program with flying colors. Others will experience difficulty getting to the end: some will sink and some will manage to swim – barely. The doctoral years can be daunting. While mainly directed to PhD students in the sciences, the book's scope is broad enough to encompass the obstacles and hurdles that almost all PhD students face at some point in their doctoral training. Who should read this book? Students of the physical and life sciences, computer science, math, and medicine thinking about entering a PhD program, doctoral students at the beginning of their research and any graduate student who is feeling frustrated and stuck. It’s never too early or too late!

Science

Medical Statistics

A Guide to Data Analysis and Critical Appraisal

Holistic approach to understanding medical statistics This hands-on guide is much more than a basic medical statistics introduction. It equips you with the statistical tools required for evidence-based clinical research. Each chapter provides a clear step-by-step guide to each statistical test with practical instructions on how to generate and interpret the numbers, and present the results as scientific tables or graphs. Showing you how to: * analyse data with the help of data set examples (Click here to download datasets) * select the correct statistics and report results for publication or presentation * understand and critically appraise results reported in the literature Each statistical test is linked to the research question and the type of study design used. There are also checklists for critically appraising the literature and web links to useful internet sites. Clear and concise explanations, combined with plenty of examples and tabulated explanations are based on the authors’ popular medi

cal statistics courses. Critical appraisal guidelines at the end of each chapter help the reader evaluate the statistical data in their particular context s.

Essentials of Clinical Research

This book is designed to provide the “student” interested in clinical research a foundation upon which to build more advanced study. The book focuses on clinical trials, in contrast to the many excellent textbooks that address epidemiological research. With the recent interest in patient oriented research, this book should provide a knowledge base that is not necessarily covered in other texts. Chapters discussing the FDA’s role in clinical research, Data Safety and Monitoring Boards, Postmarketing studies, the use of placebo controls, and a focus on clinical trials illustrates this point. In addition, new types of clinical research are evolving, and as such, this book discusses genetic, pharmacoepidemiologic, and implementation research. Finally, chapters on tips on how to write a grant, the mentoring process, and how to present ones research results are unique to this book.

Stem Cell Research and Therapeutics

This book is an updated reference for one of the most exciting fields of biomedical research- Stem Cell Research and its therapeutic applications. Stem cell research holds great promise for the treatment of many human diseases that currently lack effective therapies. The set of chapters in this book provide insights into both basic stem cell biology and clinical applications of stem cell-based cell replacement therapies for a variety of human diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, and liver degeneration. It also covers novel technologies for the culture and differentiation of both human embryonic stem cells and adult tissue stem cells. This book summarizes our current state of knowledge in stem cell research and integrates basic stem cell biology with regenerative medicine in an overall context. It is an essential reference for students, research fellows, academic and industrial scientists, and clinicians.

How to Research

This book helps readers to learn techniques to find the information they need. This revised third edition delivers invaluable guidance on how to collect data, write proposals, and make presentations. Offering you step-by-step techniques for the most efficient and focused research in school or work projects, "How to Research" includes hands-on exercises that build up skills and strengthen research techniques useful for any project, in any field.

Trends in Innate Immunity

The last decade has witnessed the delineation of innate immunity a new area which has revolutionized our understanding of host-parasite interactions and their impact on defense mechanisms in infectious and noninfectious diseases. This volume of the book series 'Contributions to Microbiology' provides an update of the current knowledge of this expanding field of research and highlights some of its most important aspects. In eleven state-of-the-art articles, eminent international experts in the field address topics such as the innate immune system in mammals and insects, microbial protein ligands, antimicrobial peptides, complement, antibacterial chemokines, the role of neutrophils and monocytes, oxidative innate immune defenses and the effect of aging on innate immunity. The book will be a valuable resource for microbiologists, immunologists, students, scientists of other related disciplines, and clinicians with an interest in infectious or immunological diseases.

Signaling by Toll-Like Receptors

The recent discovery of an ancient family of toll-like receptors (TLRs) in the immune system has substantially enhanced the potential for a variety of therapies, for both failing immune systems, which leaves the body open to infection or over-active ones, which can lead to chronic inflammation. Signaling by Toll-Like Receptors provides a comprehensive review of important techniques in molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, and immunology and their critical application to the study of toll-like receptor structure, biological function, and the intracellular signaling triggered by these receptors, as well as the high promise for uncovering effective pharmaceutica

Toxicogenomics: A Powerful Tool for Toxicity Assessment

Toxicogenomics: A Powerful Tool For Toxicity Testing provides up-to-date state-of-the-art information presented by the recognized experts, and is therefore an authoritative source of current knowledge in this field of research. The potential link between toxicology, genetics and human diseases makes this book very useful to investigators in many and varied disciplines of science and toxicology.

Making the Right Moves

A Practical Guide to Scientifıc Management for Postdocs and New Faculty

Beginning scientists face a variety of challenges in launching their careers. The publications and links on this Web site can help new investigators "make the right moves" and assist those who take on the important task of providing early-career researchers with scientific management training.

Science

Heavy pollution blankets Tiananmen Square, Beijing, on 27 December 2007. Chinese authorities are taking drastic measures to improve the city's air quality for the Olympics. Bad air is just one of many environmental challenges China is facing.

China's Environmental Challenges

Three Gorges Dam: Into the Unknown
A marvel of engineering, the Three Gorges Dam will start operating at full capacity later this year. Already under way is an epic experiment on how a dam impacts the environment.

Fears Over Western Water Crisis
Dramatic reductions in water flow in the Tarim River, the lifeblood of Xinjiang Province, mean provincial authorities must act fast to conserve water and find alternative water sources.

Dendritic Cells in Clinics

Great advances have taken place in basic research and the clinical usefulness of dendritic cells (DCs). It has now been clearly established, for instance, that these cells play a crucial role in immune responses against infectious diseases and cancers. Antigen-presenting DCs are widely distributed in the body and regulate both immunity and immune tolerance. Experimental studies have provided important insights into DCs and how they can be used for treating animal models of various diseases that occur in humans. The role of these cells in pathogenesis and the treatment of human diseases is elaborately set forth in this valuable book. Researchers in the field are optimistic that DCs, already in use for treating patients with cancers, soon can be used therapeutically for patients with chronic infections, autoimmune diseases, and allergic manifestations. This volume provides a working definition of DCs and also explains the phenotypes and functions of DCs so that these can be readily understood not only by clinicians but by immunologists, researchers, and students as well.

Molecular Genetics and the Human Personality

For students of psychopathology and others bold enough to hold in abeyance their understandable misgivings about the conjunction of “molecular genetics” and “human personality,” this work offers an authoritative and up-to-date introduction to the molecular genetics of human personality. The book, with its wealth of facts, conjectures, hopes, and misgivings, begins with a preface by world-renowned researcher and author Irving Gottesman.