V. Fidler – författare

Take any combination of the following features: supramolecular structures with a specific fluorescent probe localized as you would like; nanoscale spatial reso- tion; tailor-made molecular and/or solid-state fluorescing nanostructures; us- friendly and/or high- throughput fluorescence techniques; the ability to do wh- ever you wish with just one single (supra)molecule; utilization of non-linear optical processes; and,last but not least,physical understanding of the processes resu- ing in a (biological) functionality at the single molecule level. What you will then have is some recent progress in physics,chemistry,and the life sciences leading to the development of a new tool for research and application. This was amply demonstrated at the 8th Conference on Methods and Applications of Fluorescence: Probes,Imaging,and Spectroscopy held in Prague,the Czech Republic on August 24th-28th, 2003. This formed a crossroad of ideas from a variety of natural science and technical research fields and biomedical applications in particular.This volume - the third book in the Springer-Verlag Series on Fluorescence - reviews some of the most characteristic topics of the multidisciplinary area of fluorescence applications in life sciences either presendted directly at th 8th MAF Conference or considered to be a cruical development in the field. In the initial contribution in Part 1 - Basics and Advanced Approaches,the - itors explain the basics of fluorescence and illustrate the relationship between some modern fluorescence techniques and classical approaches. The second contrigution by B.

Take any combination of the following features: supramolecular structures with a specific fluorescent probe localized as you would like; nanoscale spatial reso- tion; tailor-made molecular and/or solid-state fluorescing nanostructures; us- friendly and/or high- throughput fluorescence techniques; the ability to do wh- ever you wish with just one single (supra)molecule; utilization of non-linear optical processes; and,last but not least,physical understanding of the processes resu- ing in a (biological) functionality at the single molecule level. What you will then have is some recent progress in physics,chemistry,and the life sciences leading to the development of a new tool for research and application. This was amply demonstrated at the 8th Conference on Methods and Applications of Fluorescence: Probes,Imaging,and Spectroscopy held in Prague,the Czech Republic on August 24th-28th, 2003. This formed a crossroad of ideas from a variety of natural science and technical research fields and biomedical applications in particular.This volume - the third book in the Springer-Verlag Series on Fluorescence - reviews some of the most characteristic topics of the multidisciplinary area of fluorescence applications in life sciences either presendted directly at th 8th MAF Conference or considered to be a cruical development in the field. In the initial contribution in Part 1 - Basics and Advanced Approaches,the - itors explain the basics of fluorescence and illustrate the relationship between some modern fluorescence techniques and classical approaches. The second contrigution by B.

From the viewpoint of a health economist, the intensive care unit (leU) is a particularly fascinating phenomenon. It is the epitome of "high-tech" medicine and frequently portrayed as the place where life-saving miracles are routinely wrought. But the popular imagina­ tion is also caught up in the darker side, when agonizing decisions have to be made to avoid futile and inhuman continuation of expen­ sive treatments. My analytical interests led me to approach these issues by asking what the evidence tells us about which leu activities are very bene­ ficial in relationship to their costs and which are not. This quickly translates into a slightly different question, namely, which patients are most appropriately treated in an leu and which not. Unfor­ tunately, it is very hard to answer these questions because it has pro­ ved very difficult to investigate these issues in the manner which is now regarded as the "gold standard:'' namely by conducting rando­ mized clinical trials or alternative courses of action. I think this is a pity, and I am not at all convinced that it would be unethical to do so in many cases, because there is wide variation in practice and ge­ nuine doubt as to which practices are best -the two conditions that need to be fulfilled before such a trial is justifiable.