Following a long period of comparative neglect, Alzheimer’s disease has come to be a major focus of scientific research, and in recent years considerable progress has been made towards understanding the basic molecular mechanisms of the disease and toward developing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Here, the latest information on Alzheimer’s disease is presented, including topics such as the mechanisms of degeneration of neurons with neurofibrillary tangles, the formation of brain amyloid in Alzheimer’s disease, risk factors, diagnosis and pharmacological approaches. The chapters are of a high standard, reflecting the fact that the authors are internationally renowned in their own specialist field and the book will have a wide appeal to psychopharmacologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, neurobiologists and neurochemists who seek a broad overview of the present thinking in the field.
Until 1985, the chemical element Carbon was only known to exist in two forms -- diamond and graphite. This changed when Kroto and co-workers discovered an entirely new form of carbon, which became known as C60 or the fullerene molecule. (This discovery later led to their award of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.) The original discovery of C60 was in the soot produced from the laser ablation of graphite. Since then, other methods of production have been developed. It is also thought that isolated C60 molecules may be found in stars and interstellar media. It was soon discovered that C60 is not the only ball-like carbon molecule possible (although it is the most stable and the most dominant). The rugby-ball shaped C70 molecule is another possibility. In nanotechnology, the potential applications of carbon nanotubes (formed by combining hexagonal rings of carbon atoms only, rather than hexagons and pentagons as in C60) for very small electronic devices are currently the subject of much activity. This book presents the latest research in this dynamic field.
This is the tenth volume in the Research Advances series and the seventh published by Plenum Press. Volume 10 is another omnibus volume, providing specialized and advanced reviews in a number of areas related to the use of alcohol, illicit drugs, and tobacco. We include also a brief history of the Center for Alcohol Studies that gives Mark Keller's unique perspective on this noted institution. Two of the chapters are decidedly longer than the others-very long chapters have appeared occasionally in the past, and we think that it is one of the strengths of the series that we are able to accommodate such reviews. Again the editorial board has changed. After several years of service, Reginald G. Smart has stepped down. New to the board are Helen M. Annis, Michael S. Goodstadt, Lynn T. Kozlowski, and Evelyn R. Vingilis. This is likely to be the sole volume for which Goodstadt is on the board, since before completion of this volume he moved from the Addiction Research Foundation to the Center for Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University.
Autonomous robots are robots which can perform desired tasks in unstructured environments without continuous human guidance. Many kinds of robots have some degree of autonomy. Different robots can be autonomous in different ways. A high degree of autonomy is particularly desirable in fields such as space exploration, where communication delays and interruptions are unavoidable. Some modern factory robots are "autonomous" within the strict confines of their direct environment. The exact orientation and position of the next object of work and (in the more advanced factories) even the type of object and the required task must be determined. This can vary unpredictably (at least from the robot's point of view). One important area of robotics research is to enable the robot to cope with its environment whether this be on land, underwater, in the air, underground, or in space. This book presents the latest research from around the globe.
Research in the field of Jurassic Stratigraphy has been increasingly active up to the present time. The aim of this volume is to present new results as well as to suggest areas for further research work and new and/or different stratigraphical tools, such as Sequence Stratigraphy. Formal questions on Jurassic Stratigraphy are also discussed, such as fine definitions of the boundaries of stages, series and of the system itself.
The environment consists of the surroundings in which an organism operates, including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans and their interrelation. It is this environment which is both so valuable, on the one hand, and so endangered on the other. And it is people which are by and large ruining the environment both for themselves and for all other organisms. This book presents the latest analyses in the field.
The Sage Handbook of Research on Classroom Assessment provides scholars, professors, graduate students, and other researchers and policy makers in the organizations, agencies, testing companies, and school districts with a comprehensive source of research on all aspects of K-12 classroom assessment. The handbook emphasizes theory, conceptual frameworks, and all varieties of research (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods) to provide an in-depth understanding of the knowledge base in each area of classroom assessment and how to conduct inquiry in the area. It presents classroom assessment research to convey, in depth, the state of knowledge and understanding that is represented by the research, with particular emphasis on how classroom assessment practices affect student achieventment and teacher behavior. Editor James H. McMillan and five Associate Editors bring the best thinking and analysis from leading classroom assessment researchers on the nature of the research, making significant contributions to this prominent and hotly debated topic in education.
Triazenes: Advances in Research and Application: 2011 Edition is a ScholarlyPaper™ that delivers timely, authoritative, and intensively focused information about Triazenes in a compact format. The editors have built Triazenes: Advances in Research and Application: 2011 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Triazenes in this eBook to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Triazenes: Advances in Research and Application: 2011 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.
