Concise Textbook Research Articles

Quantum Mechanics in a Nutshell

Covering the fundamentals as well as many special topics of current interest, this is the most concise, up-to-date, and accessible graduate-level textbook on quantum mechanics available. Written by Gerald Mahan, a distinguished research physicist and author of an acclaimed textbook on many-particle physics, Quantum Mechanics in a Nutshell is the distillation of many years' teaching experience.Emphasizing the use of quantum mechanics to describe actual quantum systems such as atoms and solids, and rich with interesting applications, the book proceeds from solving for the properties of a single particle in potential; to solving for two particles (the helium atom); to addressing many-particle systems. Applications include electron gas, magnetism, and Bose-Einstein Condensation; examples are carefully chosen and worked; and each chapter has numerous homework problems, many of them original.Quantum Mechanics in a Nutshell expertly addresses traditional and modern topics, including perturbation theory, WKBJ, variational methods, angular momentum, the Dirac equation, many-particle wave functions, Casimir Force, and Bell's Theorem. And it treats many topics--such as the interactions between photons and electrons, scattering theory, and density functional theory--in exceptional depth.A valuable addition to the teaching literature, Quantum Mechanics in a Nutshell is ideally suited for a two-semester course. The most concise, up-to-date, and accessible graduate textbook on the subject Contains the ideal amount of material for a two-semester course Focuses on the description of actual quantum systems, including a range of applications Covers traditional topics, as well as those at the frontiers of research Treats in unprecedented detail topics such as photon-electron interaction, scattering theory, and density functional theory Includes numerous homework problems at the end of each chapter

Concise textbook of child and adolescent psychiatry

Concise textbook of child and adolescent psychiatry

Learning anatomy online

For many doctors, learning anatomy does not stop in the dissection room in medical school. Anatomy constitutes a large part of both written and oral sections of the examination for membership of the Royal College of Surgeons. So if you want to try an alternative to a textbook why not consider going online? These websites are free, and you do not need to register. This is the web version of a concise textbook now in its third edition. It's …

Examination of the shoulder: the complete guide

The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British volumeVol. 89-B, No. 1 Book ReviewsFree AccessExamination of the shoulder: the complete guide By E. G. McFarland Pp. 282. New York: Thieme, 2006. ISBN: 3-13-141091-4. €119.95.J. SinhaJ. SinhaSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Jan 2007https://doi.org/10.1302/0301-620X.89B1.0890143bAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsAdd to Favourites ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail This concise textbook by McFarland and his co-editors is split into two main sections, with the first three chapters being a guide to the examination of the normal shoulder and testing its range of movement and strength. The section on scapular movement and dyskinesis in chapter two is especially useful. The remaining four chapters discuss examination techniques for rotator cuff disease and impingement, instability and laxity, the biceps tendon and SLAP tears, and the acromioclavicular and sternoclavicular joints. All the tests are clearly described and the literature is extensively reviewed including the original description and validation of each test. The comparison tables reviewing the literature are a mine of information and an outstanding feature of this book. Valuable diagnostic tips are provided in grey boxes and a DVD is included to illustrate many of the tests.This book is immensely enjoyable and a delight to read for any shoulder surgeon. Trainees will find it very useful but this reviewer would have liked to see a summary chapter, or better still a DVD section, in which Professor McFarland demonstrates his own system of shoulder examination. Reflecting my own predilection, I would encourage future editions to elaborate on the developing understanding of muscle pattern instability. Nevertheless, this complete guide is highly recommended.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 89-B, No. 1 Metrics History Published online 1 January 2007 Published in print 1 January 2007 InformationCopyright © 2007, The British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery: All rights reservedPDF download

Neurological and Neurosurgical Intensive Care, 4th edition

The latest installment of Neurological and Neursurgical Intensive Care by Ropper and colleagues is a well written and concise textbook on neurocritical care. The textbook is aimed at a beginner-level audience and is quite helpful for residents and fellows who are novices in critical care or medical intensivists who need a refresher in the basic principals of neurointensive care. The book is organized into two main parts, the first covering basic principals of neurologic intensive care and the second being problem based, focusing on the most common clinical problems in neurointensive care. The strengths of this textbook, now in its fourth edition, is that all of the basic elements are covered and the reader will acquire a fundamental knowledge upon which to base sound clinical decisions in the management of patients encountered in routine practice. For example, the third chapter deals with the principals of elevated intracranial pressure and outlines the main indications for monitoring, current concepts on treatment options, and the basic tenets of sedation, osmotic therapy, hyperventilation, and the modern use of jugular venous saturation monitoring. Most of the recommendations and discussion in these chapters seem quite reasonable with exceptions. Special topics such as brain death and the persistent vegetative state are also outlined. Part 2 of the textbook outlines each of the major diagnoses for which neurointensive care is required. Topics such as stroke, brain trauma, subarachnoid hemorrhage, status epilepticus, and Guillain–Barre syndrome occupy a chapter each. In total, 13 main diagnoses are covered quite well. The use of diagnostic imaging and other testing is integrated into the textbook. For example, the modern use of magnetic resonance imaging FLAIR (fluid-attenuated inversion recovery) and diffusion-weighted imaging to diagnose hypoxic–ischemic injury are outlined. In addition, somewhat controversial topics such as the hypothermia protocol for hypoxia–ischemia are covered. This attempt to review the latest developments and controversies makes this edition of the book much better than previous versions, and will provide even the experienced clinician with a useful update. An important weakness of the textbook is that specific detail that is crucial to implementation of primary principals is somewhat lacking. For example, the chapter on electroencephalographic monitoring mentions criteria for electrographic seizures in table 8.1, but it stops short of providing visual examples that could better guide the clinician. Another example is the lack of information about intracranial pressure waveforms from monitoring equipment and how they are altered by changes in compliance, and a lack of practical information about other brain monitors (e.g. brain tissue oxygen and microdialysis). Conspicuously absent is a discussion of the controversy surrounding steroids in spinal cord injury. These weaknesses are a manifestation of trying to be too broad and too general. Nonetheless, this fourth edition remains a standard reference for all beginning neurointensivists and will probably keep getting better with each new edition.

Der Städtebau Oder Methodisches Zur Sinnlichen Praxis

AbstractWhen, in 1889, Camillo Sitte's Städtebau came out in print in Vienna, it quickly became an unexpected sensation. Sitte's text is a manual for the spatial perception of cities. It was written at the time when intellectuals were feverishly searching for an adequate concept of space, and with this text Sitte de facto "invented" urban space, with all its broader implications. Städtebau is a masterpiece of inter- and transdisciplinary work that can only be understood in its totality but, above all, it is also a concise professional textbook in the conventional sense of the term. The span and complexity of ideas make the book unique, as this article underlines. Jede unserer Erkenntnisse beginnt bei den Empfindungen. Leonardo da Vinci

Review: Treatment of oral diseases. A concise textbook (2004)

Review: Treatment of oral diseases. A concise textbook (2004)

Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine, 2nd Edition

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. chwu@jhmi.eduPrinciples & Practice of Pain Medicine, 2nd Edition. By Carol A. Warfield and Zahid H. Bajwa. New York, NY, McGraw-Hill, 2004. ISBN: 0-07-144349-5. Pages: 938. Price: $99.00.The growth and interest in the practice of pain medicine over the past decade by an increasingly diverse group of practitioners (e.g. , anesthesiologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, and physical medicine and rehabilitation practicioners) reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the field of pain medicine. The continued interest in pain medicine has also been paralleled by an increase in the number of textbooks on pain management and medicine. For many practitioners of pain medicine, it is often difficult to find a comprehensive yet manageable textbook of pain medicine. Some review-type textbooks do not provide enough clinically meaningful information, and the bulk of some of the larger, although comprehensive, textbooks, makes them unlikely to be read from cover to cover.In the new (second) edition of Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine , Drs. Warfield and Bajwa have assembled an internationally recognized group of pain medicine experts from a variety of specialties to produce a rather comprehensive yet readable textbook of pain medicine. As noted in their preface, the editors have modified the contents of the second edition (along with the title, which was Principles and Practice of Pain Medicine in the first edition) to reflect the breadth and growth in the field of pain medicine. All of the chapters have been significantly updated from the first edition, and new chapters covering topics such as legal and ethical issues and business administration have been added, as the field of pain medicine touches on many facets outside clinical medicine.One of the first things the reader notes is how effortless the text is to read. The chapters are well-written and organized with a sufficient number of tables and figures to complement the text. A reader can easily read through several chapters in one sitting. The book consists of 87 chapters divided into major sections of anatomy and physiology (three chapters), general principles and evaluation (eight chapters), psychological evaluation and treatment (five chapters), pain by anatomical location (20 chapters), pain syndromes (21 chapters), pain therapies (22 chapters), and administration and the law (eight chapters). Anesthesiology-trained pain physicians would probably be most familiar and comfortable with the sections on anatomy and physiology, pain syndromes, and pain therapies, and these sections are relatively concise in their description of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of each particular pain state. However, what anesthesiology-trained pain physicians will especially appreciate about this textbook are the chapters and sections regarding topics that may not be part of their clinical practice or may not be emphasized in their training.For instance, the several chapters on headaches may be a valuable resource for practitioners who do not routinely see patients with headaches. In addition, chapters on acupuncture and outcome measurements in pain medicine provide a resource that may not be present in other pain textbooks. Finally, the new section on administration and the law is a worthwhile addition to this edition, as our current practice environment requires us to consider many nonclinical aspects when we practice pain medicine. The editors should be commended for including and addressing some of the current topics in pain medicine today. One feature that might increase the value of this textbook would be to consistently include diagnostic and procedural coding for all procedures. The chapter on spinal canal endoscopy included coding for diagnosis and procedural coding; however, other procedural chapters did not. This is certainly a minor issue that should not dissuade anyone from acquiring a copy of this excellent textbook.The field of pain medicine has seen tremendous growth in the past decade and continues to evolve to incorporate many clinical and nonclinical aspects. In the second edition of Principles & Practice of Pain Medicine , Drs. Warfield and Bajwa have done a commendable job in updating their textbook to provide the community with a relatively comprehensive yet concise textbook of pain medicine. This textbook may also be useful for those preparing for various certifications in pain medicine. All practitioners of pain medicine will find this textbook a valuable addition to their library.The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. chwu@jhmi.edu

Treatment of Oral Diseases. A concise textbook

Treatment of Oral Diseases. A concise textbook

Book Review: Concise Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry, 2nd edn

Book Review: Concise Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry, 2nd edn

Oh’s Intensive Care Manual, 5th Edition, A.D. Bersten & N. Soni, Butterworth Heinmann, 2003

Oh’s Intensive Care Manual, 5th Edition, A.D. Bersten & N. Soni, Butterworth Heinmann, 2003 Andrew D. Bersten and Neil Soni, eds. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann (an imprint of Elsevier Science Limited), 2003. ISBN 0-7506-5184-0. 1176 pp, $79.95. The textbook market for physicians training in critical care consists principally of two categories, small pocket manuals and large encyclopedic textbooks. For some time, a medium-sized but comprehensive tome to recommend to residents and fellows has been needed. The new edition of Teik Oh’s Intensive Care Manual, which has long been the favorite text of critical care trainees outside the United States, meets this need. The new edition, edited by Andrew Bersten and Neil Soni, is written by a veritable who’s who of British and Australian intensivists. The book is divided into 100 or so medium-sized, easily digested chapters that are organized into 17 sections, covering the whole spectrum of critical care, from the design and organization of intensive care units through infections and supportive care to environmental injuries. New chapters have been added addressing topical issues such as ethics, post-ICU problems and biologic terrorism. Unlike many competing texts, Oh’s Intensive Care Manual addresses cardiac care, pediatric critical care, and obstetric emergencies. The chapter on hemodynamic monitoring is especially outstanding. One of the book’s great strengths is the coverage of broader issues in critical care, such as poisoning, hematology, trauma, hypothermia, and electrocution. The chapters on donor preparation and transplantation are particularly useful, being poorly covered elsewhere. The chapter on “envenomation” (snake bites) is especially enjoyable. The Intensive Care Manual, running at 1100 pages, is undoubtedly the most comprehensive, concise textbook of critical care medicine available. However, the structure of the book also leads to some drawbacks. The practice of intensive care medicine is dominated by shock, fluid balance, sepsis, and respiratory failure. Yet the space allocated to these problems is the same as that given to HIV and plasma exchange. We were particularly disappointed with the chapters on respiratory failure, which, like the majority of publications, describes modes of ventilation rather than ventilation strategies. Surprisingly, there is no chapter on ventilator liberation, or failed weaning, a major problem in critical care. Likewise, the neuroendocrine response to critical illness receives little mention. The lack of reference to the physiochemical (Stewart) approach to acid base balance, a highly topical subject in the critical care literature, was surprising, as was the failure to address the importance of the topical issue of ventricular interdependence and right ventricular dysfunction. These limitations, nevertheless, should not deter the reader. The book is a remarkably easy read, with chapters organized into subsections using bulleted lists and thoughtful diagrams and tables. With its soft cover the manual is highly portable, and the majority of chapters can be read in a single session. This makes the book an ideal companion for a night “on call.” In conclusion, Oh’s Intensive Care Manual is an excellent text for those who need a comprehensive review of all aspects of critical care. As a review book for the Critical Care Boards, with its size and readability, this book is peerless. While more focus on the clinical approach to critically ill patients is recommended for future editions, these reviewers will happily recommend this edition to their residents and fellows.

Operative Treatment of Pelvic Tumors

Hideaki E. Takahashi, Tetsuro Morita, Tetsuo Hotta, and Akira Ogose, editors. Tokyo: Springer-Verlag; 2003. 216 pages. $119.00. This concise textbook on the operative treatment of pelvic tumors represents the thirty-year experience of the senior editor and author, Dr. H.E. Takahashi, at the Niigata University Medical Hospital in Japan. Dr. Takahashi (who has some forty years of experience in the operative treatment of musculoskeletal tumors) and his contributors have done a very nice job of organizing a concise, readable, and generally well-illustrated surgical text. This single-volume textbook is tastefully constructed …

The new angiotherapy

The new angiotherapy Tai-Ping D. Fan, Elise C. Kohn; Totowa, NJ; 2002; Humana Press; 609 pages; $150.00. During the past decade there has been an explosion of interest in angiogenesis at the level of both laboratory research and clinical investigation. Classically defined, angiogenesis is the sprouting of new blood vessels from preexisting vessels, whereas vasculogenesis is de novo formation of such vessels during embryogenesis. As several of the contributors in this text point out, such mutually exclusionary categorization is oversimplification, with the probability that vasculogenesis may also occur later, in adulthood. Both of these processes are dynamic and complex, with positive and negative modulators, which have been likened to a multidimensional coagulation cascade. Vasculogenesis and angiogenesis are involved in a multitude of disease states, ranging from arteriovenous malformation, hemangioma, atherosclerosis, venous and arterial ulceration, and scleroderma, to diabetic retinopathy, rheumatoid arthritis, wound healing, and neoplasms. We are just beginning to gain a rudimentary understanding of angiogenesis, and its mechanisms and regulation. Angiotherapy, broadly defined, is the targeting of blood vessels for intervention, during differentiation, maintenance, or homeostasis, in either normal or disease processes. A textbook on this topic is timely and provides a useful summary of present knowledge. The New Angiotherapy is written by an international group of experts in the field of angiogenesis, with many contributors who are colleagues of the two editors at the University of Cambridge and the National Institutes of Health. Each chapter is clearly written, succinct, and extensively referenced. The first chapter clarifies the distinction and relationship between vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. The subsequent half dozen chapters describe and explain our current understanding of the molecular and cellular biology of angiogenesis as derived from previous and recent in vitro and in vivo studies. These are followed by descriptions of the various components of angiogenesis, including the angiopoietins, extracellular matrix proteins, vascular endothelial growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, and other cytokines and vasoactive peptides. Following these descriptions of the basic science of angiogenesis, 8 chapters effectively connect the basic pathophysiologic features with a variety of clinical diseases. These chapters educate the reader about the pathogenesis of these disease processes, including wound healing and repair, rheumatoid arthritis, neoplasms and metastases, and coronary and peripheral arterial occlusive diseases, and highlight the mechanistic associations with angiogenesis. Each of these chapters also contains a thorough literature review of relevant preclinical and clinical studies for therapeutic angiogenesis in these disease states. The last chapter in this section, “Contact-guided angiogenesis and tissue engineering,” describes the emerging therapeutic concept of tissue-engineered blood vessels from cultured endothelial cells, tagging them with growth factors, and implanting them in vivo to stimulate angiogenesis. If there is angiogenesis, there is also anti-angiogenesis. The book devotes ane entire section to anti-angiogenesis and expounds on possible anti-angiogenic targets. Of interest is Chapter 19, which gives an overview of some of these modulators, including cyclosporin A, antimicrobial agents, and steroids that have angiostatic effects. Possible targets discussed at length are the tyrosine kinase receptors, endothelial monocyte-activating polypeptide II, and CD105. There are also 2 excellent chapters that review the possible methods of gene therapy for therapeutic anti-angiogenesis and vascular targeting with monoclonal antibodies. The last section of the book identifies the vast potential for clinical application of angiogenesis and anti-angiogenesis, and defines some of the cutting-edge strategies that may be used in these processes. Several helpful tables list key clinical published studies. One chapter describes in depth the newest members of the anti-angiogenesis family, angiostatin and endostatin, which are endogenous molecules that may have substantial future therapeutic applicability. These chapters also provide recommendations for conducting appropriate clinical trials in angiotherapy. Overall, this is a well-written, concise, and evidence-based textbook that deals with both the facts and concepts of angiogenesis and possibilities for future angiotherapy. I recommend it in particular to academic physicians and investigators in vascular surgery, cardiovascular medicine and surgery, oncology, dermatology, and rheumatology.

Book Review: Concise Oxford Textbook of Medicine

What is the purpose of a concise textbook? Before embarking on such a work the editors should have a clear idea of the answer. The full version of the Oxford Textbook of Medicine, now the standard British reference work, comes in three sizeable volumes and is expensive. Professor Ledingham and Professor Warrell envisage their concise version appealing particularly to students and junior doctors. In this sector of the marketplace there is much competition. Other short textbooks have established themselves in the hearts and minds of students and junior doctors with liberal use of coloured illustrations, useful lists in boxes and practical advice on common procedures. In these respects the Concise Oxford Textbook of Medicine is lacking. The editors seem to have interpreted their task literally, simply editing down the original and carrying over the eccentricities of the original. Thus diabetes, covered in a chapter of the section on metabolic diseases, is given the same weight in the organization of the book as inherited disorders of aminoacid metabolism. While this may be understandable in the encyclopaedic original, one expects a concise text to emphasize the topics of greatest importance while others are deleted or ruthlessly pruned. For undergraduates considering a first textbook of medicine or graduates preparing for higher exams, a more focused text might be a wiser investment. However, for those who seek the essence of the full Oxford Textbook of Medicine without its bulk, the Concise Textbook represents a good buy.

Kochar's Concise Textbook of Medicine

Kochar's Concise Textbook of Medicine

Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine in the Child

Parental concerns about their young children's sleep are among the most frequent behavioral problems discussed with pediatricians. The diagnosis and treatment of sleep problems in infants and children are discussed in this concise and practical textbook. The authors state that the book is for any professional who sees children (or parents of children) with sleep problems including pediatricians, primary care physicians, nurses, mental health workers, pulmonologists, neurologists, and specialists in sleep medicine. This 21-chapter text is divided into 2 parts. The first consists of a review of normal sleep patterns and clinical assessment techniques in the child; the second deals with a logical sequence that reviews the relevant sleep physiological characteristics, tools of assessment, clinical disorders, and treatment. Each of the contributors has been involved in clinical or research activity related to sleep disorders in children. The first 4 chapters discuss primarily normal sleep physiological characteristics in infants, children, and

Intensive Care: A concise textbook. 2nd Ed.

Intensive Care: A concise textbook. 2nd Ed.

A Concise Textbook of Clinical Imaging. 2nd ed

A Concise Textbook of Clinical Imaging. 2nd ed

Music manuscript preparation: a concise guide

From this concise textbook, a student may learn, step by step, how to prepare any kind of music manuscript; composers and copyists can use it for reference. Mender includes a large section on contemporary music, both classical and popular; a section on cueing; abundant illustrations; and an extensive index. The book is divided into sections on material and equipment; notation; general preparation; cueing; instruments (special notation and preparation); contemporary music ('serious' and popular); proofreading by way of counting measures; and duplication of manuscripts. The appendix excerpts music manuscripts and comments by several contemporary composers.

Concise Textbook of Medicine. Second edition

Concise Textbook of Medicine. Second edition