Postgraduate Medical Science – serie

Nitric oxide research has emerged as one of the most important areas in bone and joint diseases. First published in 1998, this book draws together knowledge on the actions of this mediator and its role in such common diseases as arthritis and osteoporosis. It introduces the basic biology and biochemistry of nitric oxide, the immune response and bone biology. It reviews in depth the facts we know today and the future promise of this exciting area of research. The book will give scientists and clinicians a unique insight into this increasingly important area. It also emphasises potential treatments which exploit our understanding of the role of nitric oxide in bone and joint disease.

Monoclonal antibodies have a very important and wide-ranging role in many areas of biomedical research and this volume is amongst the very first to combine technical and clinical aspects of the subject. Monoclonal antibodies provide highly specific reagents with which to identify, analyse, quantitate and manipulate molecules - both in solution and in solid phase, such as at a cell surface. The aim of this book is therefore to provide a unique combination of the production (by both cellular and molecular biology techniques), structure and functional characteristics of monoclonal antibodies, together with detailed discussions of the various analytic, diagnostic and therapeutic applications of these antibodies in many areas of clinical medicine, including histopathology, oncology, transplantation, infectious diseases, rheumatology, haematology and dermatology.

This concise volume provides essential advice and guidelines for all those medical personnel involved in the administration of radiation for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Legislation has been introduced in Europe and the UK to reduce patient radiation doses. In the UK, the Ionising Radiation (Protection of Patients Undergoing Medical Examination or Treatment) Regulations, known colloquially as the POPUMET Regulations, requires medical personnel to have received essential training in radiation protection. This volume covers the background material required by those taking approved training courses and summarises the core of knowledge which forms the basis of the POPUMET regulations. It will therefore be an essential textbook for all staff who are concerned with diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine or radiotherapy and who are about to undertake this training.