Springer Verlag

This book represents an international collaborative work focused on the current challenges of AIDS-related intestinal infections in the worldwide scenario. The unique problems of developing countries, the epidemiological and immunological aspects, the risks for immunodeficient travellers and the reservoirs and ways of transmission from animal to man are all equally considered, as are the diagnostic advances and the changing patterns of prophylaxis and treatment. Moreover, the etiological and clinical aspects and the histologic and electron microscopic features of biopsy samples are reported. Furthermore, notes on intestinal parasitoses in the past centuries with emphasis on disadvantaged people, and worldwide trends and perspectives are also included as a link between the past and the future. This volume is expected to fill a gap in the medical literature, provide the latest information on therapeutic advances, provide an exhaustive series of light and electron microscopy micrographs and illustrations, contribute to the educational programs in developing countries, and gain international approval as a reference book for problems arising in clinical and laboratory practice, and as a text book for medical and graduate students.

The recent development of sonographic contrast agents (or "microbubbles") has stimulated increasingly intensive studies on the relationships between ultrasound and contrast media. As a result, contrast-specific hard- and software systems have been developed with impressive speed and a new imaging modality, "contrast-enhanced ultrasound" (CEUS), has been introduced. This book is the result of the collaboration of a group of "pioneers" of CEUS, who wish to give the reader a complete overview of second-generation contrast agents, to depict their clinical applications and to present the most updated contrast-specific software for noncardiologic uses, especially for the study of liver diseases. The contents and wealth of illustrations make this volume an invaluable resource for radiologists, hepatologists and oncologists in their everyday clinical practice.

Continuous update in critical care medicine is a real challenge due to the growing dimensions of its contents; these elements are the result of new research acquisitions, and of those clinical situations where the physician is able to intervene at a given moment, with the use of effective prevention techniques. They are also the result of new technologies able to define complex sub-clinical diagnostic aspects; lastly, they are the result of effective therapeutic techniques available, and of treatment strategies able to influence radically and positively the patient's clinical course. Critical care medicine is playing a key role in the most advanced environments, as it represents a cross-sectional field of action, involving several specialties, such as anesthesiology, general medicine, surgery, pediatrics.

In the past few years there have been impressive advances in the implementation of modern MRI techniques for the assessment of MS patients with the ultimate goal to define MRI markers of MS evolution. The authors of this volume not only review these new techniques, such as magnetization transfer (MT) MRI, diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI and proton MR spectroscopy (MRS), that are increasingly being used to monitor MS evolution, but also those, such as functional MRI (fMRI), cell-specific MRI, perfusion MRI, and microscopic imaging with ultra-high field MRI, that are emerging as additional promising tools for improving our understanding of MS pathophysiology. Strengths and weaknesses of all these modern quantitative MRI techniques for the study of MS are extensively covered in this book. The book also provides a valuable summary of the state of the art.

Laparoscopy and urology are at the frontiers of surgery as techniques are refined to reduce invasiveness and advances are made in video-assisted surgery. More recently the retroperitoneal access to laparoscopy surgery ("retroperitoneoscopy" or "retroperitoneal laparoscopy") opened a new surgical approach to several diagnostic and operative procedures for a large number of urogenital tract diseases. The applications in pediatric and adult medicine and the technical challenges still facing clinicians are the subject of much debate, and this volume aims to give a complete overview of the techniques and issues. The book addresses urologists, general and abdominal surgeons, pediatric urologists and pediatric surgeons who are interested in minimally invasive procedures and particularly in retroperitoneal laparoscopy.

Architettura delle funzioni studia il comportamento motorio del bambino non per tappe di sviluppo, ma come risposta alle esigenze, creando le basi, attraverso l'analisi della variabilità del movimento normale per comprendere le strategie che adotta il Sistema Nervoso Centrale per assolvere all'esigenza stessa e per capire l'organizzazione che sottende la patologia. Il movimento patologico viene esaminato, non in relazione a singoli quadri clinici, ma come vincolo delle funzioni e come limite per il soddisfacimento di tali esigenze. Pertanto questo testo ambisce a fornire strumenti di ragionamento ampio, che si possono riportare a situazioni e quadri clinici diversificati. Contiene proposte concrete per la risoluzione di problemi al di là delle tecniche fisioterapiche, tenendo conto dell'organizzazione neuromotoria delle diverse patologie. La singola tecnica dà risposte non esaustive, mentre l'approccio "problem-solving" insegna una modalità di intervento trasferibile ad ogni eventualità e soprattutto offre agli studenti una metodologia d'approccio, utile nei diversi campi della riabilitazione.