Provides a comprehensive survey of various aspects of the recognition and transduction of plant signals of both chemical and physical origin such as hormones, light, toxins and elicitors. This work presents different approaches to studying the recognition and transduction of different signals which trigger molecular processes in plants.

When this book was first published (in Russian), it proved to become the fountainhead of a major stream of important papers in mathematics, physics and even chemistry; indeed, it formed the basis of new methodology and opened new directions for research. The present English edition includes new examples of applications to physics, hitherto unpublished or available only in Russian. Its central mathematical idea is to use topological methods to analyze isotropic invariant manifolds in order to obtain asymptotic series of eigenvalues and eigenvectors for the multi-dimensional Schrodinger...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common and most severe form of i nflammatory arthritis. The pathogenesis of RA has been the subject of intense research for several decades. The prevailing hypotheses have c hanged over the years, and have attempted to incorporate the most rece nt data. Although T cells represent an important component of the cell s that infiltrate the joint synovium, their contribution at a late sta ge of the disease remains a matter of debate.

Despite the rapidly expanding ambit of physical research and the continual appearance of new branches of physics, the main thrust in its development has been the attempt at a theoretical synthesis of the entire body of physical knowledge. Vladimir Vizgin's work presents perhaps the first systematic historico-scientific study of the formation and development of the unified field theories in the general context of 20th century physics. Concentrating on the first three decades of the century and drawing extensively on Russian sources, the author analyses the first successes, failures and paths...

Focuses on the biological roles and medical implications of metallothioneins, and related chemical and biochemical developments. The contributors present and discuss findings on the roles of metallothionein in various kinds of stress conditions, including exposure to heavy metals.

This text is dedicated to the memory of Israel Glazman, who was the author of many papers and books on operator theory and its applications. The book opens with an essay on Glazman's life and scientific achievements, and it then focuses on the areas of his unusually wide interests,

Oxidative stress and aging Over the past several years there has been an extraordinarily rapid growth in our knowledge of free radical chemistry and its possible involvement in both normal essential biology and age related disease and dysfunction. Much of this growth in the traditionally separate sciences of chemistry and molecular gerontology occurred independently, with little interaction or communi cation between the scientists working in these two fields. In view of the growing maturity of the two fields and the potential importance of advancing our knowledge in the area of oxidative...

Found in all organisms, the alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase complexes have central roles in cellular metabolism and are major sites of regulation. The understanding of the organization, function and regulation of these quintessential multienzyme complexes has been greatly advanced by studies employing molecular biology and biophysical techniques. Although these enzyme systems have some features in common, their diversity in fulfilling unique organism - or tissue - specific roles is truly amazing. These systems have medical importance in areas ranging from defects in regulation (linked to...

This book consists of a series of reviews on selected topics within the rapidly and vastly expanding field of membrane biology. Its aim is to highlight the most significant and important advances that have been made in recent years in understanding the structure, dynamics, and functions of cell membranes. The progress that is being made in research in this field is due to the application of integrated experimental ap proaches, utilizing sophisticated and novel techniques in molecular biology, cell biology, biophysics and biochemistry. Due to the advances made, many problems have been or are...

This book is based on two keywords: Bioradical and ESR. Bioradical is a newly coined word which encompasses paramagnetic species in biological systems, such as active oxygen radicals and transition metal ions. Research on the structure and function of bioradicals has been attrac ting growing attention in the field of biological science, and comprehensive investigations from many fields are helping to understand the real features of these species. ESR spectroscopy also has interdisciplinary features in that its techniques have been applied to many fields, ranging from physics to medicine. It...