Prions are infectious, self-propagating proteinaceous agents that cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans, scrapie in sheep and goats, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. In recent years, great strides have been made in the understanding of the mechanism of prion propagation and neurotoxicity, however much remains to be discovered. A better understanding of the cell biology of the prion protein is essential for this, allowing for the development of novel anti-prion strategies. In this book, renowned prion experts review the...

Gas plasma is the fourth state of matter, alongside solid, liquid, and gas. There are many naturally-occurring events and man-made products related to gas plasma, including aurora, thunderstorms, high-intensity discharge headlamp bulbs, oxonizers, semiconductors, and solar battery panels. A gas plasma is generated by removing electrons from a gas, e.g. nitrogen gas, to produce a highly-excited mixture of charged nuclei and free electrons. It has enormous potential as a broad spectrum antimicrobial sterilization procedure with applications in medical, industrial, and agricultural settings...