Fundamentals of Biomechanics introduces the exciting world of how human movement is created and how it can be improved. Teachers, coaches and physical therapists all use biomechanics to help people improve movement and decrease the risk of injury. The book presents a comprehensive review of the major concepts of biomechanics and summarizes them in nine principles of biomechanics. Fundamentals of Biomechanics concludes by showing how these principles can be used by movement professionals to improve human movement. Specific case studies are presented in physical education, coaching, strength and conditioning, and sports medicine.

This book shows how vitamin A deficiency – before the vitamin was known to scientists – affected millions of people throughout history. It is a story of sailors and soldiers, penniless mothers, orphaned infants, and young children left susceptible to blindness and fatal infections. We also glimpse the fortunate ones who, with ample vitamin A-rich food, escaped this elusive stalker. Why were people going blind and dying? To unravel this puzzle, scientists around the world competed over the course of a century. Their persistent efforts led to the identification of vitamin A and its essential role in health. As a primary focus of today’s international public health efforts, vitamin A has saved hundreds of thousands of lives. But, we discover, they could save many more were it not for obstacles erected by political and ideological zealots who lack a historical perspective of the problem. Although exhaustively researched and documented, this book is written for intellectually curious lay readers as well as for specialists. Public health professionals, nutritionists, and historians of science and medicine have much to learn from this book about the cultural and scientific origins of their disciplines. Likewise, readers interested in military and cultural history will learn about the interaction of health, society, science, and politics. The author’s presentation of vitamin A deficiency is likely to become a classic case study of health disparities in the past as well as the present.

This book is the first to provide balanced examination of both pediatric liver disease and liver transplantation – two topics that are inherently related, given that most chronic liver disorders eventually require organ replacement. The different forms of liver disease encountered in the pediatric age group are first discussed in a series of disease-specific chapters that have a reader-friendly, uniform structure covering pathophysiology, diagnostic and treatment algorithms, clinical cases, and transition to adult care. Key topics in the field of liver transplantation are then addressed. Examples include indications and contraindications, surgical techniques and complications, immunosuppression, in pediatric liver transplantation, acute and chronic rejection and allograft dysfunction, and CMV and EBV infection in transplant recipients, long-term graft injury and tolerance. A section on pediatric hepatology across the world includes chapters presenting the features and management of pediatric liver disease in South-America, Africa and Asia. A closing section considers what the future holds for pediatric liver disease and its management, including novel genetic testing, cell therapy and gene therapy. Pediatric Hepatology and Liver Transplantation will be of value for a range of practitioners, from residents making their first approach to pediatric liver disease through to specialists working in transplantation centers.