Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese scrolls, and Ayurvedic literature record physicians administering aromatic oils to their patients. Today society looks to science to document health choices and the oils do not disappoint. The growing body of evidence of their efficacy for more than just scenting a room underscores the need for production standards, quality control parameters for raw materials and finished products, and well-defined Good Manufacturing Practices. Edited by two renowned experts, the Handbook of Essential Oils covers all aspects of essential oils from chemistry, pharmacology, and biological activity, to production and trade, to uses and regulation. Bringing together significant research and market profiles, this comprehensive handbook provides a much-needed compilation of information related to the development, use, and marketing of essential oils, including their chemistry and biochemistry. A select group of authoritative experts explores the historical, biological, regulatory, and microbial aspects. This reference also covers sources, production, analysis, storage, and transport of oils as well as aromatherapy, pharmacology, toxicology, and metabolism. It includes discussions of biological activity testing, results of antimicrobial and antioxidant tests, and penetration-enhancing activities useful in drug delivery. New information on essential oils may lead to an increased understanding of their multidimensional uses and better, more ecologically friendly production methods. Reflecting the immense developments in scientific knowledge available on essential oils, this book brings multidisciplinary coverage of essential oils into one all-inclusive resource.

The African Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AfrHP) provides comprehensive, up to date botanical, commercial and phytochemical information on over fifty of the most important African medicinal plants. The technical data were made on plant samples sourced from across the continent. These monographs prepared by leading African scientists, have been reviewed by international experts. Additional data includes micro morphology of the plant material, distribution maps and TLC Chromatograms. These data are crucial for producers, collectors and traders in medicinal plants and extracts as well as researchers, manufacturers and practitioners. The scope, quality and standard of these herbal monographs are comparable to those prepared in Europe, North America and Asia. Whilst this is the very first edition, it is being proposed to proceed to a second edition, quickly, as more plant species will be covered.

The 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals was a major advance on its predecessors in clarity of layout and amount of information presented. This is taken further in the 1996 edition, which is also the first global compilation to use the complete new IUCN Red List category system.

This edited work presents a multi-faceted view on the causes and consequences of disturbance in ecosystems. Vegetation can be affected by a variety of different disturbances such as wind, floods, fire, and insect attack, leading to an abrupt change in live biomass. Disturbance is a motor of vegetation dynamics, but also sensitive to climate change and poses a challenge for ecosystem management. Readers will discover the global distribution of disturbance regimes and learn about the importance of disturbances for biodiversity and the evolution of plant and animal life. The book provides a Central European perspective on disturbance ecology, and addresses important disturbance agents such as fire, wind, avalanches, tree diseases, insect defoliators, bark beetles and large herbivores in dedicated chapters. It furthermore includes chapters on anthropogenic disturbances in forests and grasslands. The impact of climate change on disturbance regimes and approaches to address disturbance risks in ecosystem management are discussed in concluding chapters. Within the 18 chapters 14 textboxes highlight current topics of disturbance ecology and provide deeper methodological insights into the field. Disturbances strongly shape our landscapes and maintain our biodiversity. A better understanding of their ecology is thus fundamental for contextualizing the dynamic changes in our environment. This book is a valuable resource for students and practitioners interested in disturbances and their management.

The patriarchal structure of the Nation of Islam (NOI) promised black women the prospect of finding a provider and a protector among the organization's men, who were fiercely committed to these masculine roles. Black women's experience in the NOI, however, has largely remained on the periphery of scholarship. Here, Ula Taylor documents their struggle to escape the devaluation of black womanhood while also clinging to the empowering promises of patriarchy. Taylor shows how, despite being relegated to a lifestyle that did not encourage working outside of the home, NOI women found freedom in being able to bypass the degrading experiences connected to labor performed largely by working-class black women and in raising and educating their children in racially affirming environments. Telling the stories of women like Clara Poole (wife of Elijah Muhammad) and Burnsteen Sharrieff (secretary to W. D. Fard, founder of the Allah Temple of Islam), Taylor offers a compelling narrative that explains how their decision to join a homegrown, male-controlled Islamic movement was a complicated act of self-preservation and self-love in Jim Crow America.

Gathers quotations about agriculture, anthropology, astronomy, the atom, energy, engineering, genetics, medicine, physics, science and society, and research

Includes section, "Recent book acquisitions" (varies: Recent United States publications) formerly published separately by the U.S. Army Medical Library.

This open access multi-authored book presents a 'state of the science' synthesis of knowledge on the biodiversity of Angola, based on sources in peer-reviewed journals, in books and where appropriate, unpublished official reports. The book identifies Angola as one of the most biologically diverse countries in Africa, but notes that its fauna, flora, habitats and the processes that drive the dynamics of its ecosystems are still very poorly researched and documented. This 'state of the science' synthesis is for the use of all students of Angola's biodiversity, and for those responsible for the planning, development and sustainable management of the country's living resources. The volume brings together the results of expeditions and research undertaken in Angola since the late eighteenth century, with emphasis on work conducted in the four decades since Angola's independence in 1975. The individual chapters have been written by leaders in their fields, and reviewed by peers familiar with the region.

The 9th International Symposium on Yersinia was held in Lexington, Kentucky, USA on October 10-14, 2006. Over 250 Yersinia researchers from 18 countries gathered to present and discuss their research. In addition to 37 oral presentations, there were 150 poster presentations. This Symposium volume is based on selected presentations from the meeting and contains both reviews and research articles. It is divided into six topic areas: 1) genomics; 2) structure and metabolism; 3) regulatory mechanisms; 4) pathogenesis and host interactions; 5) molecular epidemiology and detection; and 6) vaccine and antimicrobial therapy development. Consequently, this volume covers a wide range of current research areas in the Yersinia field.