The invention of an instrument called the optical microscope and the new possibilities it offered to observe living material must be considered a major milestone in the advance of our understanding of the mechanisms of life. Huge numbers of important observations have been made using this instrument, but unfortunately it only produces two-dimensional images. The advent of the electron microscope, first the transmission electron microscope (TEM) and then the scanning electron microscope (SEM), then made it possible to observe the three-dimensional structure of specimens literally adding a...

Bronchial asthma is a multifactorial disease. Cooperation between pneumologists, physiologists, immunologists, pharmacologist and pediatricians is frequently needed for the complete investigation of an asthma case. This means that a physician in general practice cannot alone assess all the aspects of asthma employing different technigues to manage this disease. This book will provide physicians with a unique source on the principal methods which can be used to analyze individual cases of asthma and a helpful refrence source for better understanding the multiple pathways to the disease.