Blackwell Publishing

Microbiology and technology of fermented foods.

Finding other textbooks to have gone flat with age, or to appeal only to particular tastes, Hutkins (food science, U. of Nebraska-Lincoln) has produced his own textbook for college courses in fermentation biology. It can also serve, he says, as a general reference on fermented food microbiology for researchers in academia, industry, and government. In order to place current practices into the context both of history and of other aspects of the food under discussion, he includes many boxes alongside the main text. Cheese, meat, vegetables, bread, beer, wine, and vinegar are within his scope. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Modified atmospheric processing and packaging of fish; filtered smokes, carbon monoxide, and reduced oxygen packaging.

Now that many fish products are shipped half way around the world, packaging has been devised to help preserve quality and extend shelf life, and processing and packaging in modified atmosphere is becoming an increasingly popular approach. Academic, industry, and government contributors explore operational issues, regulatory guidelines, and market expectations. Among their topics are the absorption of carbon monoxide by people who eat tuna exposed to it, microbial and quality consequences of aquatic foods treated with carbon monoxide or filtered wood smoke, tasteless smoke sources, color enhancement and potential fraud, and the history and control of botulism from fishery products. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Narrative research in nursing.

Narrative research has been used increasingly in the social sciences as a way of conducting qualitative research by analyzing stories or experience. Holloway and Freshwater (both Bournemouth U., UK) offer nursing educators, students, and practitioners who possess basic knowledge about qualitative research an introduction to the use of narrative research in nursing. Coverage includes the nature and features of narrative research; typologies and models; narrative research specifically in nursing; narrative and the construction of identity; collecting, analyzing and presenting data; issues of trustworthiness and authenticity in research; problems and critical issues; and practical issues, including writing for publication and other ways of disseminating research findings. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Nutrition and arthritis.

Rayman (nutritional medicine, U. of Surrey) and practicing dietitian Callahan gather the latest facts for nutritionists, dietitians, orthopedic surgeons, rheumatologists and general practitioners along with those providing dietary supplements. They cover disease assessment in terms of classification and pathology, the etiology of osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), current management of OA and RA, nutritional status and adequacy of the diet in OA and RA, popular dietary approaches, vegetarianism and exclusion in treatment of RA, the role of micro-nutrients in amelioration, the role of polyunsaturated fatty acids, glucosamine and chondroitin in OA, other foods and supplements marketed for arthritis relief, and the assessment of efficacy of foods and supplements claiming to gain relief for sufferers of OA or RA. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Oral-based diagnostics.

This volume of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences is drawn from a conference entitled Oral-based Diagnostics, which was held in October 2006 in Lake Lanier Islands, Georgia. Topics in the 44 papers, compiled by Malamud (New York U. College of Dentistry) and Niedbala (Lehigh U.), cover the biochemistry and physiology of saliva, drug and small molecule detection, meeting unmet needs in diagnostics, oral samples and oral diseases, molecular and protein markers of disease, and horizons in oral diagnostics, along with short papers on subjects such as infectious diseases, whole saliva proteolysis, and gender-specific differences. The international group of contributing scientists and researchers work in industry, academia, and government. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Pediatric solid organ transplantation, 2d ed.

Fine (pediatrics, Stony Brook U. School of Medicine, New York) et al. present the second edition of this text covering pediatric solid organ transplantation. As with the first edition, the two introductory sections address issues common to all transplants — four new chapters on immunosuppression and its complications address mechanisms of action, therapies for the sensitized patient, and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders. The following five sections address organ-specific surgical techniques and pre-op and follow-up care for organ for various transplants. A new concluding section covers post-op quality-of-live issues such as cognitive development, psychosocial adaptation and adherence, puberty, and pregnancy. This reference is intended for pediatric specialists and transplantation sub-specialists as well as transplant surgeons. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Phycotoxins; chemistry and biochemistry.

Botana (pharmacology, U. of Santiago de Compostela, Spain) presents this text discussing the characteristics (most heavily chemistry and biochemistry) of 16 phycotoxins — 7 affecting the nervous system, 4 affecting other body systems, and 4 with undefined targets. Other aspects addressed include origin, toxicology, and analytical methodology. Phycotoxins are covered in alphabetical order and include: azaspiracids, brevetoxins, domoic acid, pectenotoxins, and yessotoxins. Advanced students and researchers in chemistry and biochemistry are the intended audience for this book. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Plant cell separation and adhesion.

The process of developing a radicle, creating vascular tissue and leaves, and developing flowers and other organs in the plant body involves cell separation and adhesion, a study important not only for its own sake but in applications to horticulture and agriculture. These nine papers present leading research and applications in the field, focusing on the end goal of manipulation. Topics include a review of cell separation and adhesion processes in plants; cell wall structure, biosynthesis and assembly; vascular cell differentiation; cell adhesion, separation and guidance in compatible plant reproduction, cell separation in roots, organ abscission, dehiscence, fruit ripening and the role of polymer cross-linking in intercellular adhesion. Each paper includes its own references and the editor has provided a general index. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Practical hemopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Recent developments in research and applications have made this comprehensive and practical guide to the care of the transplant patient mandatory. Designed for clinical as well as research use and directed at professionals, this includes pre and post transplant care, including the social and psychological aspects, infections and complications. The 17 papers, which work together as chapters, include the indicative factors for transplantation and the likely patient, pre-transplant assessment, the transplant procedure, patient care, prevention of infection, bacterial and fungal infections, parasitic infections, viral infections, management of febrile neutropenia and system-specific infections, the role of intensive care, diseases of graft v. host and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease, complications of the gastrointestinal and other systems, including respiratory, first-year follow-up, immune system recovery, prevention of infection after discharge, long term aspects and upcoming advancements. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Progress in convergence; technologies for human wellbeing.

Proceedings from a February 2005 meeting in Hawaii, augmented and updated with invited papers, chart the recent convergence in science and technology, especially nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and new technologies based on cognitive science. Researchers from these and other fields discuss such topics as transformative concepts in scientific convergence, the case for nanoscience, the problem of patent thickets in convergent technologies, affective computing and autism, and rethinking enhancement in sport. Only contributors are indexed. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Psychological testing; the BPS occupational test Administration Open Learning Programme. (test pack included)

The British Psychological Society (BPS) has designed these materials as training modules for those who will be administrators of the BPS occupational test. The self- study modules contain all the information for a Test Administration Certificate (which is awarded following an assessment by a verified assessor). Each module includes an overview, list of key aims, an introduction, and summary, all of which serve to guide the student in recognizing the key points of each section. A test pack is included. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Regulation of transcription in plants.

The regulation of transcription is a major controlling step in plant gene expression determining the activity of many genes, specific to tissues and developmental stages, Changes in gene expression indicate responses to pathogens, environmental cues and stresses, and the regulation of metabolic pathways and photosynthesis. These papers provide the most current research in the regulation of transmission in plants, covering such topics as the ancient roots of general transcription factors and the core promoter, transcription factors of Arabidopsis and rice from a genomic perspective, chromatin-associated architectural HMGA and HMGB proteins, histone modifications and transcription, chromatin remodeling and histone variants in transcriptional regulation and in maintaining DNA methylation, matrix attachment regions and transcriptional gene silencing, polymerase I transcription, transcription of plastid genes, control of flowering time, combinatorial control of floral organ identity by MADS-domain transcription factors, networks of transcriptional regulations underlying plant defense against phytopathogens, temperature-regulated gene expression, applications of inducible transcription in plant research and biotechnology, and modulation of transcriptional networks in crop plants. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Resilience in children.

This volume of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences contains papers from the conference of the same name held in February 2006 in Arlington, Virginia. A keynote address is followed by 41 papers on the neurobiology of resilience and its behavioral aspects with a focus on the potential of neurobiological processes to advance the field. The conference aimed to consider both behavioral- psychological and neurobiological aspects of resilience and the integration of these perspectives. Coverage is of child, family, relationship, and broader environmental factors; prevention; emotion regulation; genetics; neuroendocrine processes; and neuroscience and intervention. The final section contains short papers selected from the poster session. Contributors are psychology, child development, and medical specialists and researchers from around the world. Only a contributor index is provided. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Safe transfer and retrieval; the practical approach, 2d ed.

This update of the 2002 Safe Transfer and Retrieval (StaR) course text addresses all health workers involved in the inter- and intra-hospital transfer of critically ill and other patients. Assuming that course participants have position-appropriate clinical knowledge and experience per current UK requirements, Driscoll (emergency medicine, Manchester) addresses all practical and legal aspects of transfer medicine. In ring binder format, the manual includes information on transfer competencies and a glossary. Despite the British accent, the content is consistent with the trend towards competency-based medical education. Distributed in the US by Blackwell Publishers. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Seed development, dormancy, and germination.

This overview of seed biology covers the development and regulatory process from the developing seed to dormancy to germination and seedling growth, keeping in mind the complex environmental, physiological, molecular and genetic interactions that occur throughout the cycle. The 12 papers here cover the genetic control of seed development and seed mass, seed coat development and dormancy, definitions and hypotheses about seed dormancy, seed dormancy (modeling, genetic aspects, lipid metabolism, abscisic acid and hormonal cross-talk) nitrous oxide in seed dormancy and germination, regulation of ABA and GA levels, DE-repression of seed germination by GA signaling, mechanisms and genes involved in germination, and the role of sugar and abscisic acid regulation in germination and the transition to seedling growth. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Sensory and consumer research in food product design and development.

Typically, food and beverage industries are increasingly competitive, and creating global markets has only added to the increase in investment in consumer research. This collaborative effort by three academics who are also practitioners of sensory research with a keen understanding of the business keep the needs of those new to the field in mind as they cover locating emerging needs for corporate knowledge of sensory-based consumer input, using existing knowledge, understanding consumers' needs, bringing consumer mind-sets into a corporation, developing relevant product concepts, conducting high-level product assessment, determining what sensory research can do for the company, selecting appropriate tests and instruments and getting data from consumers, running a test in a respectful and ethical manner that will meet the information needs of the company, and making the most of trends in sensory research. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Signal transduction pathways; part A: Apoptotic and extracellular signaling.

These partial proceedings of the Cell Signaling world meeting of January 2006 in Luxembourg is the first in a series of four volumes; other volumes cover stress signaling and transcriptional control, cell signaling in health and disease, and inflammatory signaling pathways and neuropathology. Articles here cover basic research on apoptotic cell signaling mechanisms, extracellular matrix interactions and MAP kinases, with topics such as hypoxia signal transduction, phosphoserine and threonine-binding domains, targeting of polycomb repressive complexes, conserved signaling mechanisms in innate immunity, and signal transduction by stress-activated MAP kinases, receptor signaling, protein kinase cascades as therapeutic targets, cell death in cancer, inflammation-specific signaling, cell signaling pathways leading to regulated chromatin modifications and transcriptional control. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Signal transduction pathways; part B: Stress signaling and transcriptional control.

This volume of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences is one part of the published papers of a meeting called Cell Signaling World: Signal Transduction Pathways as Therapeutic Targets, held in January 2006 in Luxembourg. Other parts are published in previous and subsequent volumes, and their contents, listed here, comprise 48 papers by an international group of contributors on therapeutic applications in the field of signal transduction, transcription, and translation. The present volume focuses on basic research in oxidative stress, transcriptional control, HDAC, and novel technological and therapeutic approaches. An index of contributors is included, but no subject index. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Small animal dentistry; a manual of techniques.

Designed for use by the general veterinary practitioner in daily practice, this extremely well-illustrated guide covers all the procedures generally encountered in the clinical setting. Specialist Tutt gives clear directions backed up by clinical photographs and diagnostic imagery to describe tooth development in small animals, methods of clinical examination, equipment needed for s veterinary dental operating room, radiography, exodontics, jaw fracture repair, oral surgeries, suture materials, restoration, endodonic therapy, malocclusion and normal occlusion, pain management, and cases to refer to your local veterinary specialist. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Sustainable practice for the facilities manager.

A specialist in life-cycle environmental and social impacts of built facilities, Shah explains the role of facilities managers during the life cycle of the buildings they are responsible for, from the initial briefing stages through design, construction, operation, and refurbishment. His goal is to integrate a building's design and operation to make it more environmentally compatible, primarily by educating facilities managers on what to think about, look for, and speak up about when meeting with designers. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)