Dictionary of Abbreviations in Medical Sciences

Dictionary of Abbreviations in Medical Sciences
Author: Rolf Heister
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3642742440

Not everyone is a friend of the manifold abbreviations that have by now beCome a part of the scientific language of medicine. In order to avoid misunderstanding these abbreviations, it is wise to refer to a reliable dic tionary, such as this one prepared by Heister. The abbreviation ED means, for instance, effective dose to the pharmacologist. However, it might also stand for emetic dose. Radiologists use the same abbreviation for erythema dose, and ED could also mean ethyl dichlorarsine. A com mon meaning of ECU is European currency unit, a meaning that might not be very often in scientific medical publications. ECU, however, also means environmental control unit or European Chiropractic Union. Hopefully, those making inventions and discoveries will make use of Heister's dictionary before creating new abbreviations when preparing manuscripts for scientific publications. It is a very worthwhile goal not to use the same abbreviation for several different terms, especially if it is already widely accepted to mean only one of them. It may be impossible, however, to achieve this goal in different scientific disciplines. Therefore, although it is wise for the abbreviations used in a publication to be defined, it is also very helpful for readers and writers to use a dictionary such as this one. The author deserves our warmest thanks since we know that compiling such a comprehensive dictionary is based upon incredibly hard effort.

A Linguistic History of Arabic

A Linguistic History of Arabic
Author: Jonathan Owens
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2006-05-11
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 0191537462

A Linguistic History of Arabic presents a reconstruction of proto-Arabic by the methods of historical-comparative linguistics. It challenges the traditional conceptualization of an old, Classical language evolving into the contemporary Neo-Arabic dialects. Professor Owens combines established comparative linguistic methodology with a careful reading of the classical Arabic sources, such as the grammatical and exegetical traditions. He arrives at a richer and more complex picture of early Arabic language history than is current today and in doing so establishes the basis for a comprehensive, linguistically-based understanding of the history of Arabic. The arguments are set out in a concise, case by case basis, making it accessible to students and scholars of Arabic and Islamic culture, as well as to those studying Arabic and historical linguists.

Probability in Banach Spaces, 8: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference

Probability in Banach Spaces, 8: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference
Author: R.M. Dudley
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 530
Release: 1992-10
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780817636579

Probability limit theorems in infinite-dimensional spaces give conditions un der which convergence holds uniformly over an infinite class of sets or functions. Early results in this direction were the Glivenko-Cantelli, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Donsker theorems for empirical distribution functions. Already in these cases there is convergence in Banach spaces that are not only infinite-dimensional but nonsep arable. But the theory in such spaces developed slowly until the late 1970's. Meanwhile, work on probability in separable Banach spaces, in relation with the geometry of those spaces, began in the 1950's and developed strongly in the 1960's and 70's. We have in mind here also work on sample continuity and boundedness of Gaussian processes and random methods in harmonic analysis. By the mid-70's a substantial theory was in place, including sharp infinite-dimensional limit theorems under either metric entropy or geometric conditions. Then, modern empirical process theory began to develop, where the collection of half-lines in the line has been replaced by much more general collections of sets in and functions on multidimensional spaces. Many of the main ideas from probability in separable Banach spaces turned out to have one or more useful analogues for empirical processes. Tightness became "asymptotic equicontinuity. " Metric entropy remained useful but also was adapted to metric entropy with bracketing, random entropies, and Kolchinskii-Pollard entropy. Even norms themselves were in some situations replaced by measurable majorants, to which the well-developed separable theory then carried over straightforwardly.

Bacterial Genomes and Infectious Diseases

Bacterial Genomes and Infectious Diseases
Author: Ricky V.L Chan
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2007-11-06
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1597451525

The first bacterial genome, Haemophilus influenzae, was completely sequenced, annotated, and published in 1995. Today, more than 200 prokaryotic (archaeal and bacterial) genomes have been completed and over 500 prokaryotic genomes are in va- ous stages of completion. Seventeen eukaryotic genomes plus four eukaryotic chro- somes have been completed. The concept of achieving better understanding of an organism through knowledge of the complete genomic sequence was first demonstrated in 1978 when the first bacteriophage genome, X174, was sequenced. Complete genomic sequences of prokaryotes have led to a better understanding of the biology and evolution of the microbes, and, for pathogens, facilitated identification of new vaccine candidates, putative virulence genes, targets for antibiotics, new strategy for rapid diagnosis, and investigation of bacteria–host interactions and disease mec- nisms. Recent increased interest in microbial pathogens and infectious diseases is largely attributed to the re-emergence of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, emergence of new infectious diseases like AIDS and severe acute respiratory syndrome, the problem of an increasing rate of emergence of antibiotic-resistant variants of pathogens, and the fear of bioterrorism. Microbes are highly diverse and abundant in the biosphere. Less than 1% of these morphologically identified microbes can be cultured in vitro using standard techniques and conditions. With such abundance of microbes in nature, we can expect to see new variants and new species evolve and a small number will emerge as pathogens to humans.