This book's aim is to increase the awareness of a great variety of posttranslational modifications in the male and female reproductive system. Some of the most intriguing reproductive strategies, mechanisms, and pathways involving PTM are discussed, with an added angle of evolutionary conservation and diversity. The book also chapters on sperm-egg binding, as well as on histone modification in both the embryo and sperm. Chapters are also devoted to protein ubiquitination, the regulation of sperm function during fertilization in mammals and tubulin modifications in gametes and embryos. There are no other current books on posttranslational protein modifications as they relate to reproduction, making this contribution unique in the field. It is useful for both researchers and graduate students alike.

This title features expert advice about managing diabetes, with a full guide to healthy living and over 80 delicious recipes. It is a guide to living with diabetes, with helpful advice on managing the condition, alleviating the symptoms, controlling weight and reducing medication. It includes 80 recipes to inspire the diabetic cook, with tempting meals that can be enjoyed with family and friends, such as Wild Mushroom and Fontina Tarts, Grilled Mackerel with Dahl, and Baked Ricotta Cakes with Red Fruits. It brings together the latest thinking on dietary and lifestyle advice to help explain the condition, provide guidelines on what and when to eat, and how to tailor food intake to individual requirements. It covers full nutritional notes, including glycemic load, are supplied for every recipe, with over 400 photographs, including step-by-step sequences for every dish. This authoritative, practical recipe book begins with a detailed introduction on living with diabetes, the necessity of weight control and the importance of exercise. Carbohydrate counting, fat reduction, cholesterol control and portion management are all covered, as is the complex but vital low-glycaemic index. There is a special section on diabetes in children, as well as advice and support for how to manage the condition in puberty, pregnancy and throughout the aging process. The 80 recipes that follow provide everything that is needed for a varied and enjoyable diet, with recipes that friends and family will enjoy eating. Chapters include healthy and sustaining snacks, as well as breakfasts, main dishes, appetizers and puddings. To prove that diabetes does not mean denial, all these satisfying recipes are packed with taste as well as goodnes,s and are presented with full breakdowns of nutritional values.

In theoretical terms, sex differences in brains and behaviors of laboratory animals offer the possibility of fascinating scientific studies on a range of molecular phenomena such as genomic imprinting, DNA methylation, chromatin protein modification, non-coding DNA, potentially resulting in important neuroanatomical and neurochemical sex differences in the brain. Such sex differences could arise consequent to exposures to testosterone early in development, or to other effects deriving from the Y chromosome. However, this general subject has been treated with much hyperbole. Historically, sex differences were assumed to be present where they did not really exist, e.g. with respect to mathematics, executive leadership, etc. etc. Under what circumstances do we really care about sex differences in brain and behavior? These circumstances concern human maladies whose diagnoses are much different between boys and girls, or between women and men. Prominent examples discussed in this volume include autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders and congenital adrenal hyperplasia. In fact, infant boys are more susceptible than infant girls to a variety of disorders that arise early in development. This volume then ends with a consideration of effects of estrogenic hormones on the injured brain, and their roles as protective agents.

Hormone measurement is necessary for the diagnosis of a wide range of clinical conditions and is essential for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment. As the number of hormone requests in the clinical field rises exponentially, it has become imperative to create hormone assays accessible to researchers with a varied range of equipment. Hormone Assays in Biological Fluids, Second Edition reviews common techniques used to measure hormones as well as relatively new methods such as tandem mass spectrometry. Additionally, subsequent chapters detail methods for a broad range of hormones; Techniques and principles covered are transferable to a wide range of substances across species. Written in the successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and easily accessible, Hormone Assays in Biological Fluids, Second Edition will serve students, technologists, laboratory scientists, and researchers looking to apply, or attain a greater understanding of, methods for measuring hormones.

Diabetes and Kidney Disease reviews the most up-to-date research on diabetic nephropathy, the current understanding of its pathophysiology, renal structural alterations and clinical features and summarizes recent evidence-based clinical treatment modalities for the prevention and management of diabetic kidney disease. General clinical aspects are covered, as well as an overview to the novel approaches being designed by leading researchers in the field. A convenient compendium for physicians involved in the care of diabetic patients with varying degrees of kidney involvement, Diabetes and Kidney Disease is also a handy resource for medical residents and students interested in the current status and future approaches to reducing the burden of diabetes and diabetic kidney disease.

Diabetes has long been recognized as a disease of high blood sugar, and there has been a continuous search of the exact reason for its development and effective treatment. In 2005, the World Health Organization had estimated that more than 180 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes mellitus and indicated that this figure is likely to double within the next 20 years. Among the 3.8 million deaths each year associated with diabetes, about two thirds are attributable to cardiovascular complications, and diabetes is now considered to be a major metabolic risk factor for the occurrence of heart disease. Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: Biochemical and Molecular Mechanisms is a compilation of review articles devoted to the study on the topic with respect to biochemical and molecular mechanisms of hyperglycaemia. The wide range of areas covered here is of interest to basic research scientists, clinicians and graduate students, who are devoted to study the pathogenesis of diabetes-induced cardiovascular dysfunction. Furthermore, some chapters are directed towards increasing our understanding of novel ways for the prevention/treatment of cardiomyopathy. Twenty five articles in this book are organized in three sections. The first section discusses general aspects of the metabolic derangements in diabetic cardiomyopathy including metabolic alterations and substrate utilization as well as cardiac remodelling in the heart; role of diet in the development of metabolic syndrome in the heart; effect of hyperglycaemia in terms of biochemical and structural alterations in heart. In the second section, several cellular and molecular mechanisms are discussed indicating that diabetic cardiomyopathy is a multifactorial and complex problem. The third section discusses the prevention and treatment of diabetes using appropriate diet, proper supplements including antioxidants, angiotensin inhibitors and some other drugs. All in all, this book discusses the diverse mechanisms of diabetic cardiomyopathy with some information on new therapeutic approaches for finding solutions to prevent or reverse the development of cardiac dysfunction.

In the past four years, many genetic loci have been implicated for BMI from the outcomes of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), primarily in adults. Insulin-induced gene 2 (INSIG2) was the first locus to be reported by this method to have a role in obesity but replication attempts have yielded inconsistent outcomes. The identification of the second locus, the fat mass- and obesity-associated gene (FTO), h has been more robustly observed by others. Studies from both FTO knock out and FTO overexpression mouse model support the fact that FTO is directly involved in the regulation of energy intake and metabolism in mice, where the lack of FTO expression leads to leanness while enhanced expression of FTO leads to obesity. Along with numerous other studies, a number of genetic variants have been established robustly in the context of obesity, giving us fresh insights into the pathogenesis of the disease. This book will give a comprehensive overview of efforts aimed at uncovering genetic variants associated with obesity, which have been particularly successful in the past 5 years with the advent of genome-wide association studies (GWAS). This book will cover this state of the art technology and its application to obesity in great detail. Topics covered will include genetics of childhood obesity, genetics of syndromic obesity, copy number variants and extreme obesity, co-morbidities of obesity genetics, and functional follow-up of genetic variants.

Bone Drugs in Pediatrics brings together in one place the evidence for the use of certain drugs in the treatment and prevention of bone loss in children, as well as the reservations still present in the pediatric community regarding their use. Beginning with a discussion of developmental pharmacokinetics and drug development for pediatric diseases where bone loss occurs, such as osteogenesis imperfecta, the physiology of pediatric bone and how best to monitor the safety and efficacy of these drugs is presented. The pros and cons of utilizing the drugs themselves - such as bisphosphonates, antiresorptives and anabolic agents - within the pediatric population are carefully considered, with an eye toward safe and effective integration. The potential use of drugs in future treatment is also highlighted. On the whole, Bone Drugs in Pediatrics is a cogent presentation of the ongoing debate surrounding the potential for pharmacological interventions in pediatric bone loss.

This highly illustrated book, complete with comprehensive clinical references and annotated images, will serve as a leading text to educate head and neck surgeons, endocrinologists, and radiologists on the basics and nuances of thyroid and parathyroid ultrasound. It emphasizes the use of ultrasound as an office-based modality by clinicians and radiologists who actively care for this special set of patients. This text uniquely combines the collaboration between a clinician/surgeon and radiologist who share their extensive experience in head and neck ultrasound.

This volume represents an up-to-date overview on the major areas of gynecological endocrinology, providing the reader with a complete explanation of female endocrine regulation and metabolism and relevant disorders and treatment. It is published within the International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology (ISGE) Series and is based on the 2013 International School of Gynecological and Reproductive Endocrinology Summer Course. The book covers a very wide range of topics – from primary amenorrhea to menopause, from the impact of ovarian surgery on fertility to fertility cryopreservation, from metabolic syndrome and polycystic ovary to premature ovarian failure and from the clinical impact of selective progesterone receptor modulators to the use of progesterone in prevention of premature labor. It will be an important tool for obstetricians and gynecologists, endocrinologists and experts in women’s health as well as interested GPs.

Medical Applications of Electrochemistry, a volume of the series Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry, illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of modern science by indicating the many current issues in medicine that are susceptible to solution by electrochemical methods. This book also suggests how personalized medicine can develop.

During vertebrate hematopoiesis many specialized cell types are formed with vastly different functions such as B cells, T cells, granulocytes, macrophages, erythrocytes and megakaryocytes. To tightly control the enormous proliferative potential of developing blood cells, an intricately balanced signaling and transcription network has evolved that ensures that the different cell types are formed at the right time and in the right numbers. Intricate regulatory mechanisms ensure that blood cells function properly and have a determined life span. Moreover, in the adaptive immune system, long-lived memory cells have evolved that ensure that when pathogens have been seen once they will never cause a problem again. In this book we will therefore make a journey from asking how more primitive organisms use the epigenetic regulatory machinery to balance growth with differentiation control towards digging deep into what controls the function of specialized cells of the human immune system. We will first discover that flies make blood but exist without blood vessels, why fish make blood cells in the kidney and which precise genetic circuitries are required for these developmental pathways. We will then learn the regulatory principles that drive the differentiation of mature blood cells from stem cells and what controls their function in mammals. In the process, we will find out what unites hematopoietic stem cells and endothelial cells. Finally, we will shed light on the molecular mechanisms that either alter hematopoietic cell differentiation or lead to the development of cells with impaired function.

Clinical Care Pathways in Andrology provides a valuable resource for understanding clinical decision-making in the context of the predominant male reproductive and sexual disorders for which patients commonly seek evaluation and treatment. Conditions that are less well-known but can be severely bothersome to patients, such as penile sensory loss, are also presented. Based on clinical evidence and expert consensus, practical clinical care pathways are featured for each condition. Each clinical care pathway consists of an algorithm that delineates the overall structure of decision-making for each condition, describes initial clinical presentations, and guides the reader through diagnostic testing and treatment. Furthermore, the volume features annotations that develop key andrological concepts and provide explanations for each step in diagnosis and management. Designed for clarity and ease of use, Clinical Care Pathways in Andrology is a practical and valuable reference for urologists, primary care physicians, and residents who are not specialty trained in andrology.

This concise handbook provides an overview of incretin-based therapies and guidance for incorporating them into the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Chapters include landmark clinical trials and international treatment guidelines in order to update readers with all major advances in the field. An ideal resource for medical professionals that treat patients with type 2 diabetes in hospital and clinical settings.

Diet is a major factor in health and disease. Controlled, long-term studies in humans are impractical, and investigators have utilized long-term epidemiological investigations to study the contributions of diet to the human condition. Such studies, while valuable, have often been limited by contradictory findings; a limitation secondary to systematic errors in traditional self-reported dietary assessment tools that limit the percentage of variances in diseases explained by diet. New approaches are available to help overcome these limitations, and Advances in the Assessment of Dietary Intake is focused on these advances in an effort to provide more accurate dietary data to understand human health. Chapters cover the benefits and limitations of traditional self-report tools; strategies for improving the validity of dietary recall and food recording methods; objective methods to assess food and nutrient intake; assessment of timing and meal patterns using glucose sensors; and physical activity patterns using validated accelerometers. Advances in the Assessment of Dietary Intake describes new avenues to investigate the role of diet in human health and serves as the most up-to-date reference and teaching tool for these methods that will improve the accuracy of dietary assessment and lay the ground work for future studies.

Nuclear Receptors focuses on the structural analysis of nuclear receptors from the initial work using isolated protein domains to the more recent exciting developments investigating the conformational shape of full-length receptor complexes. The book also reviews the structure of key nuclear receptor co-regulatory proteins. It brings together, for the first time, a comprehensive review of nuclear receptor structure and the importance of receptor conformation underpinning allosteric regulation by different ligands (hormone, drugs, DNA response elements, protein-protein interactions) and receptor activity. The nuclear receptor superfamily, including receptors for steroid hormones and non-steroid ligands, are pivotal to normal physiology, regulating processes as diverse as reproduction, metabolism, the immune system and brain development. The first members of the family were cloned over 25 years ago, which heralded in the idea of a superfamily of intracellular receptor proteins that bound small molecule ligands: classical steroid hormones, vitamins, fatty acids and other products of metabolism. These signals are then transmitted through multiprotein receptor-DNA complexes, leading to the regulation of target genes, often in a cell-selective manner. The cloning of the receptor cDNAs also ushered in an era of unparalleled analysis of the mechanisms of action of these ligand-activated transcription factors.

This SpringerBrief focuses on clinical nutrition research, particularly on the effects of slowly absorbed carbohydrates on postprandial glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetes. Slowlyabsorbed carbohydrates will cause gradual increases in blood glucose and insulin levels, and may therefore be effective as part of a treatment strategy for glycemic control and reduction of cardiovascular complications in type 2 diabetes.

This book discusses the maximal power and capacity of the three major biochemical pathways ­- aerobic (oxygen consumption), anaerobic lactic (muscle lactate accumulation in absence of oxygen consumption), and anaerobic alactic (phosphocreatine hydrolysis) metabolism - as well as the factors that limit them. It also discusses the metabolic and cardio-pulmonary mechanisms of the dynamic response to exercise. The way and extent to which the power and capacity of the three major energy metabolisms are affected under a number of different conditions, such as training, hypoxia and microgravity, are also described.

This volume provides the reader with a pathophysiological perspective on the role of CNS in puberty and adolescence, starting from genetic/molecular aspects, going through structural/imaging changes and leading to physical/behavioral characteristics. Therefore, renowned investigators involved in both animal and human research shared recent data as well as overall appraisal of relevant questions around CNS control of puberty and adolescence. No doubt that this volume will inspire those involved in either scientific research or clinical practice or both in the fascinating field of puberty and adolescence.

Non-vesicular intracellular cholesterol transport is an important mechanism for maintaining membrane cholesterol homeostasis. Recent reports of studies directed at soluble cholesterol transport proteins indicate that aberrant expression of the START proteins may contribute to disease states associated with disorders in cholesterol homeostasis. This is an exciting new direction in the field and the purpose of this book will be to highlight the current research directed at potential roles for the START family in diabetes, cancer and atherogenesis. This book also provides a personal and historical perspective of the discovery-to-publication journey that the authors had for their particular START domain family member. The goal will be to provide perspectives to graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and endocrinology fellows on the research discovery process.

This revised edition of Charles Brook's "Handbook of Clinical Pediatric Endocrinology" provides endocrinologists and pediatricians in training with a fully up-to-date clinical guide presenting evidence-based practice in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of pediatric endocrine disorders. New chapters include "Endocrine complications of chronic disease" and "Endocrine neoplasia." In addition, the chapter structure has been revamped for easier access and now includes: a key points overview, multiple-choice questions for self-assessment, common errors/pitffalls (in treatment, diagnosis, etc.) boxes, a key weblinks box, a table comparing different society guidelines, diagnostic decision trees, therapeutics decision trees, and a summary.

Female Puberty: A Comprehensive Guide for Clinicians is a practical reference, covering the full range of issues related to pubertal development. Developed to answer pointed clinical questions and to provide a thorough review of the literature, the book covers both the basics and the complexities of puberty, encompassing psychosocial development to pubertal nuances in highly specialized populations. Comprehensive in scope, this title offers concepts that are concisely conveyed and chapters that complement each other well. Complex subjects such as details of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis are covered in a readily understandable manner and bullet points throughout the text serve as helpful reminders to the reader. An invaluable contribution to the literature, Female Puberty: A Comprehensive Guide for Clinicians will be of great interest to all health providers concerned with female reproductive health - including obstetrician gynecologists, reproductive endocrine specialists, pediatricians, pediatric specialists, family practitioners and allied health professionals.

This book reports the text of the lectures of the 6th International Conference on Sodium Calcium Exchange held in Lacco Ameno in the Island of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, from October 1 to October 5, 2011. The present book uncovers the most striking new findings on NCX that emerged since the previous Conference on Sodium Calcium Exchange, such as the structural dissection of the molecular determinants of Ca2+ sensitivity of the exchanger, the epigenetic regulation of ncx1 gene, the molecular identification of the mitochondrial Sodium Calcium Exchanger, and the discovery of NCX in unexpected anatomical locations such as the female reproductive tract. The book is organized into 11 parts covering NCX structural aspects, genetic and epigenetic regulation, regulatory mechanisms, subcellular localization in mitochondria, involvement in neurodegenerative diseases and in immune regulation, and the role of the cardiovascular and endocrine systems, as well as diabetes in physiology and pathophysiology. Selected chapters of the book are also devoted to the interaction of NCKX and other ion channels and transporters with NCX, like ASICs, TRPM, and NHE.

The book aims to cover basic physiologic functions of melatonin, and its therapeutic applications in humans for a variety of clinically relevant disorders. This book contains chapters on the recent aspects of melatonin physiology, its receptors and their role in mitochondrial function, its immunomodulatory role and importance in seasonal dependent diseases, role in human reproduction, role in sleep, circadian rhythm and sleep disorders, role in neurologic disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease. Additionally, melatonin's therapeutic use in neurobehavioral disorders in children, migraine and tension headache is also covered in this book. Melatonin's antioxidant role in Duchenne's muscular dystrophy and in glaucoma have also been discussed in short chapters. Two major melatonin agonists, ramelteon and agomelatine are discussed extensively on their current clinical application and ongoing research. Two chapters on agomelatonin and its role in mood disorders, particularly depressive disorders, are an important feature of this book. The chapters are written by experts from the global academia recognized for their original research and published work in the field of melatonin science.