«La mia minestra è rotta/Giace nel piatto e ha delle crepe/dei buchi». I testi di Jens Nielsen si occupano di cose normali, dettagli della vita quotidiana che finiscono in uno strano disordine perché l'autore getta allegramente sabbia negli ingranaggi. Ne nascono delle storie sbieche e inimitabili in cui può accadere di tutto. Una donnina piccola piccola vive in una boccia dell'albero di Natale, dalla quale un Natale viene liberata per finire subito nella bocca del cane. O un ippopotamo scappa dallo zoo, a piccoli passi arriva in città, si avvicina ai tram ed entra nel lido delle donne per ritornare alla fine allo zoo dentro una microscopica goccia d'acqua. O un.uomo alto e magro sta in una pasticceria e dice: «Vorrei tanto una...» Non riesce però a continuare per quanto ci provi e riprovi. Il liscio processo della compravendita fallisce, la normalità esce dai cardini e le ruote girano a vuoto. Senso e insensatezza si mescolano allegramente, microcosmo e macrocosmo si confondono, la cosa possibile trabocca nell'impossibile e viceversa. In questi testi Jens Nielsen svela la sua sensibilità per una comicità amorevole e al tempo stesso grossolana che fa pensare a volte alla Commedia dell'Arte.

The present text is a complete revision of the 2nd edition from 2003 of the book with the same title. In recognition of the fast pace at which biotechnology is moving we have rewritten several chapters to include new scientific progress in the field from 2000 to 2010. More important we have changed the focus of the book to support its use, not only in universities, but also as a guide to design new processes and equipment in the bio-industry.A new chapter has been included on the prospects of the bio-refinery to replace many of the oil- and gas based processes for production of especially bulk chemicals. This chapter also serves to make students in Chemical Engineering and in the Bio-Sciences enthusiastic about the whole research field.As in previous editions we hope that the book can be used as textbook for classes, even at the undergraduate level, where chemical engineering students come to work side by side with students from biochemistry and microbiology.To help the chemical engineering students Chapter 1 includes a brief review of the most important parts of microbial metabolism. In our opinion this review is sufficient to understand microbial physiology at a sufficiently high level to profit from the rest of the book. Likewise the bio-students will not be overwhelmed by mathematics, but since the objective of the book is to teach quantitative process analysis and process design at a hands-on level some mathematics and model analysis is needed. We hope that the about 100 detailed examples and text notes, together with many instructive problems will be sufficient to illustrate how model analysis is used, also in Bio-reaction Engineering.

Eagerly awaited, this second edition of a best-selling text comprehensively describes from a modern perspective the basics of x-ray physics as well as the completely new opportunities offered by synchrotron radiation. Written by internationally acclaimed authors, the style of the book is to develop the basic physical principles without obscuring them with excessive mathematics.

The second edition differs substantially from the first edition, with over 30% new material, including: 

• A new chapter on non-crystalline diffraction - designed to appeal to the large community who study the structure of liquids, glasses, and most importantly polymers and bio-molecules
• A new chapter on x-ray imaging - developed in close cooperation with many of the leading experts in the field
• Two new chapters covering non-crystalline diffraction and imaging
• Many important changes to various sections in the book have been made with a view to improving the exposition
• Four-colour representation throughout the text to clarify key concepts
• Extensive problems after each chapter 

Praise for the previous edition:

“The publication of Jens Als-Nielsen and Des McMorrow's Elements of Modern X-ray Physics is a defining moment in the field of synchrotron radiation… a welcome addition to the bookshelves of synchrotron–radiation professionals and students alike.... The text is now my personal choice for teaching x-ray physics…” – Physics Today, 2002

This is a brand new edition of an essential work on Bayesian networks and decision graphs. It is an introduction to probabilistic graphical models including Bayesian networks and influence diagrams. The reader is guided through the two types of frameworks with examples and exercises, which also give instruction on how to build these models. Structured in two parts, the first section focuses on probabilistic graphical models, while the second part deals with decision graphs, and in addition to the frameworks described in the previous edition, it also introduces Markov decision process and partially ordered decision problems.

Metabolic engineering is a new field with applications in the production of chemicals, fuels, materials, pharmaceuticals, and medicine at the genetic level. The field's novelty is in the synthesis of molecular biology techniques and the tools of mathematical analysis, which allow rational selection of targets for genetic modification through measurements and control of metabolic fluxes. The objective is to identify specific genetics or environmental manipulations that result in improvements in yield and productivities of biotechnological processes.
Key features of the book are pathway integration and the focus on metabolic flux as a fundamental determinant of cell physiology. The book keeps mathematical complexity to a minimum, and provides a glossary of biological terms to facilitate use of the book by a broader spectrum of readers. A web page exists to communicate updates of the codes and homework problems.


Key Features
* Demonstrates metabolic engineering in action with numerous examples of pathway modification
* Includes methods for identifying key enzymes in metabolic networks
* Contains a comprehensive review of metabolic biochemistry
* Discusses metabolic regulation at the gene, enzyme, operon, and cell levels
* Explains concepts of stoichiometry, kinetics, and thermodynamics of metabolic pathways
* Minimizes mathematical complexity
* Links to a Web page to communicate updates of the software code and homework problems