Abstract

Clinical Biochemistry: Contemporary Theories and Techniques, Volume 1 is a collection of papers that deals with the biochemistry of aging, managerial techniques, the evaluation of kits, and autoimmune diseases. One paper discusses laboratory management for clinical chemists—the administration of people, the application of budgets, the planning process, and the adoption of decision-making strategies. The government has also issued federal legislations such as the "Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act, 1967" and the "National Heath Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974" which are changing the way laboratories are doing business. Another paper describes areas of safety concerns specific to the environment of the laboratory that require technologies not readily available to the laboratory technician. These safety problems concern radioactivity and infectious etiologic agents. Another paper discusses criteria recommendations for kit selection in clinical laboratories, for example, the list issued by the Center for Disease Control and the standards issued by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. Another paper explains the uses of mathematics in clinical chemistry, including the application of the Allen Correction, the Henderson-Hasselbalch Equations, empirical curve fitting, standard deviation, standard error. Other papers present guidelines in dealing with autoimmune diseases and in determining specific proteins in plasma, cerebrospinal fluid, and other biological fluids. This collection is suitable for clinic and laboratory administrators and managers, for chemical chemists, and investigators or technicians involved in laboratory work.