Umbilical cord blood, previously discarded, has emerged as a new source of stem cells for hematologic reconstitution, bone marrow failures and other hematologic deficiencies. It has become increasingly clear that umbilical cord tissue contains unique stem cells of great potential for regenerative medicine. Importantly, umbilical cord blood is abundant, can be banked and transported with ease, and thus has an indisputable potential for future regenerative therapies. Driven by a massive interest for regenerative medicine and ethically acceptable stem cell sources, the scientific literature on umbilical cord stem cells has exploded.This book provides a consolidated overview of basic, translational as well as clinical research in academic institutions and industry, on hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells contained within umbilical cord tissue, as well as other more recently discovered stem and precursor cells of not yet fully elucidated potential. Although not discussed here, umbilical cord cells have been successfully reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells (iPS), opening the door for a vast array of applications with this abundant human material likely catapulting cord-derived stem cells to the forefront of cell-based regenerative medicine.Suitable as a primer and reference book for medical fellows and researchers, this book can also be used by students (undergraduate and graduate) as a starting point into the vast literature on stem cells and their potential.

Contents: Opening Session (T D Lee, K M B Siegbahn, A Zichichi, D Schlessinger, B Simeone, L Montagnier & W A Sprigg)HIV/Aids Vaccine Needs (W Makgoba, R C Gallo, S Osmanov, M Schechter, S Sempala, P Thongcharoen, D Birx, M I Johnston, H Wolf, S Berkley, U Bertazzoni & J A Gayle)Biotechnology (B Müller-Hill, R Braun, P Campbell, M Hughes & A Aguzzi)Neuropathologies (B Ghetti, M Rossor & P Brown)Development Sustainability — Focus Africa (G Farmer, C A Reynolds, M Diop & S Schmeidl)Climate and Weather Predictions (P Uhlir, G Tallia, S Nickovic, W Thiaw, L Wood, R Clark & M E Abdalla)Energy (A Skrinsky, A Gagarinski, A Rosenfeld, P K Iyengar, D Morrison, J Ongena & Y P Huo)Water (S Sorooshian)Weapons of Mass Destruction (J Holzrichter)Closing Session (A Zichichi)Permanent Monitoring Panel Reports (C Hutchinson, P Brown, R Ragaini, H Schubert, S Sorooshian & W Sprigg)HIV/AIDS Vaccine Needs for Developing Countries — Think Tank Workshop (G de Thé, D L Birx, F M Buonaguro, R Gallo, P Thongcharoen, G Hunsmann, H Wolf & S Sempala)Fertility Problems: Technological and Ethical Issues Workshop (D Schlessinger, A Serra & D Neri) Readership: AIDS researchers, immunologists, biotechnologists, meteorologists, ecologists, physicists and social scientists.

In the opening session the Chairman of the Seminar underlined the important role of the permanent monitoring panels with respect to the 15 planetary emergencies. A special session of the Seminar was devoted to reporting on the activity of these panels. Short papers, abstracts and transparencies in the opening session introduced the subjects of the contributions: 'Climatology and El Nino' (Nadia Pinardi, Neville Nicholls, Congbin Fu, Akimasa Sumi, William Sprigg and Llowell Wood) and 'Desertification' (Douglas Johnson, Xinmin Liu, Lennart Olsson and Norman Rosenberg). Contributions on 'Medicine & Biotechnologies' were presented by Paul Brown, Robert Will, Benardino Ghetti and Guy de The. The Theme 'Defence Against Cosmic Objects' was covered by Walter Huebner, John Remo and William Bottke; 'Water and Pollution' by Herman Bouwer, Gennady Palshin, David Rice and Paolo Ricci; and problems centered upon 'Food' by Carlo Lerici and Silvia Franceschi, 'Proliferation and Weapons of Mass Destruction' was discussed by Henning Wegener, Andrei Piontkovski, Reiner Huber, Tony Mason, Willis Stanley, Gregory Canavan and Povl Olgaard; 'Limits of Development' by Hilmar Schubert and Leonardas Kairiukstis; and 'Energy' by Stanislav Subbotin, Andrei Gagarinski and Eugeni Velikhov. T D Lee closed the Seminar by emphasizing the link between basic science and planetary emergencies.

Full Title: Water — Pollution, Biotechnology — Transgenic Plant Vaccine, Energy, Black Sea Pollution, AIDS — Mother-Infant HIV Transmission, Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy, Limits of Development — Megacities, Missile Proliferation and Defense — Information Security, Cosmic Objects, Desertification, Carbon Sequestration and Sustainability, Climatic Changes, Global Monitoring of Planet, Mathematics and Democracy, Science and Journalism, Permanent Monitoring Panel Reports, Water for Megacities Workshop, Black Sea Workshop, Transgenic Plants Workshop, Research Resources Workshop, Mother-Infant HIV Transmission Workshop, Sequestration and Desertification Workshop, Focus Africa Workshop

This proceedings volume contains presentations, group discussions and reports on terrorism-related issues, such as: motivations; tools and countermeasures; worldwide stability; risk analysis.

Contents:Opening Session (A Zichichi, T D Lee, D R Scott & R G Will)AIDS and Infectious Diseases — Medication or Vaccination for Developing Countries (G Gray, P Van De Perre, G Biberfeld, A A Lindberg, M Klein & G De Thé)Missile Proliferation and Defense (A Piontovsky, G H Canavan, R K Huber & V J Sundaram)Tchernobyl — Mathematics and Democracy (V Kukhar & Z R Rudzikas)Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (D Heim, H Budka & A Smith)Floods and Extreme Weather Events — Coastal Zone Problems (D Scavia, D Dorogan, D Danut, D Boesch & P M Douglas)Science and Technology for Developing Countries (H Alper, G Knies, T J Gilmartin, W A Barletta & D W Mulenex)Water — Transboundary Water Conflicts (A T Wolf, K C Sivaramakrishnan, D S Brookshire, J Chermak & M Ewers)Climatic Changes — Global Monitoring of the Planet (G Marland, T Boden, K Gurney, J Orear, B L Myers, E Teller, C Leith, G Canavan & L Wood)Information Security (A Lehman, A Kroutskikh, D S Chereshkin & T L Thomas)Pollution in the Caspian Sea (I Salihoglu, H Ghaffarzadeh, E Özsoy, I V Mitrofanov, A Vasiliev & R Ajalov)Permament Monitoring Panel Reports (S Sorooshian, R A Clark, G De Thé, J M Greenberg, W F Huebner, A Piontovsky, H Wegener, R C Ragaini, V P Kukhar, G I Palshin, H Schubert & W Sprigg)Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Workshop (P Piccardo, B Ghetti, F Tagliavini, O Bugiani & R G Will)AIDS and Infectious Diseases Workshop (G Biberfeld, A A Lindbergh & S Tlou)Pollution Workshop (R Ragaini, I Salihoglu, H Ghaffarzadeh, L Shabanova, E Özsoy, Y N Zhimbey, I V Mitrofanov, R Ajalov, A Korshenko & A Vasiliev) Readership: AIDS researchers, immunologists, ecologists, meteorologists, physicists and social scientists. Keywords:

This was the first of a number of seminars dealing with one of the most complex of the new challenges in the 21st century, which call for the participation of a broad range of experts. Eminent economists, decision-makers, defence specialists, political analysts and sociologists presented their views and participated in the debates. In the wake of the dramatic event of 11 September 2001, the Afghanistan war and the resurgence of terrorist acts on all the continents, a host of issues were reconsidered and the role of science and technology was reassessed. The 27th Session was primarily oriented toward the definition of the new types of confrontation, and the identification of various factors and issues that gave rise to them and global trends.The proceedings have been selected for coverage in:• Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP CDROM version / ISI Proceedings)• Index to Social Sciences & Humanities Proceedings® (ISSHP® / ISI Proceedings)• Index to Social Sciences & Humanities Proceedings (ISSHP CDROM version / ISI Proceedings)