Globalization has, within academic, political, and business circles alike, become the buzz-word of the 1990s, conjuring an ever growing diversity of associations, connotations, and attendant mythologies. In this volume a distinguished array of international academics assess the contribution of the globalization thesis to our understanding of social, political, and economic change in contemporary societies. They explore many of the exaggerated and overgeneralized claims made about globalization.

The aim of this series is to provide authoritative reviews in the rapidly expanding area of bioinorganic chemistry. The series will present "state of the art" reviews covering the whole field of bioinorganic chemistry.
The present volume is the fourth in the series and covers the topics: lithium in biology, the structure and function of ceroplasmin, rhenium complexes in nuclear medicine, the anti-HIV activity of macrocyclic polyamines and their metal complexes for dinuclear phosphoesterase enzymes.

The biology of the family of endogenous autocrine peptides known as the endothelins (ETs) has been a source of intense study for researchers since 1988, following the identification of ET-l as the previously described endothelium-derived contractile factor. Initial interest focussed on the actions of the ETs in the cardiovascular system, and this remains the pri- mary source of published work involving these peptides. Importantly, evi- dence is mounting for a significant mediator role for ET-l in cardiovascu- lar diseases including systemic hypertension and congestive heart failure. However,...