This book reviews recent advances in the development of new anti-infla mmatory drugs. It addresses different therapeutic intervention possibi lities for new drugs, such as the cellular source of cytokines, specif ic receptors that induce cytokine synthesis, intracellular regulators of cytokine gene induction and expression, secretion and activation of cytokines, cytokine receptors and signaling pathways from these recep tors. Accordingly, experts were drawn from different backgrounds, incl uding academic research institutes, the pharmaceutical industry and cl inical pharmacology. In each...

Laser-based optical spectroscopies are powerful and versatile techniques that are continuing to evolve and find new applications. This book presents reviews of recent progress in our understanding of the spectra and dynamical processes of optically excited states of condensed matter, focusing on the advances made possible by the application of laser-based optical spectroscopies. Reviews are given of the optical properties of crystalline and amorphous semiconducting materials and structures, the properties of defect centers in insulators, two-photon nonlinear processes in insulators, optical...