Like many words, the term "immunomics" equates to different ideas contingent on context. For a brief span, immunomics meant the study of the Immunome, of which there were, in turn, several different definitions. A now largely defunct meaning rendered the Immunome as the set of antigenic peptides or immunogenic proteins within a single microorganism - be that virus, bacteria, fungus, or parasite - or microbial population, or antigenic or allergenic proteins and peptides derived from the environment as a whole, containing also proteins from eukaryotic sources. However, times have changed and the meaning of immunomics has also changed. Other newer definitions of the Immunome have come to focus on the plethora of immunological receptors and accessory molecules that comprise the host immune arsenal. Today, Immunomics or immunogenomics is now most often used as a synonym for high-throughput genome-based immunology. This is the study of aspects of the immune system using high-throughput techniques within a conc- tual landscape borne of both clinical and biophysical thinking.

The Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB) 2016 is an international, multidisciplinary conference for the presentation and discussion of current research in the theory and application of computational methods in problems of biological significance. Presentations are rigorously peer reviewed and are published in an archival proceedings volume. PSB 2016 will be held on January 4 - 8, 2016 in Kohala Coast, Hawaii. Tutorials and workshops will be offered prior to the start of the conference.PSB 2016 will bring together top researchers from the US, the Asian Pacific nations, and around the world to exchange research results and address open issues in all aspects of computational biology. It is a forum for the presentation of work in databases, algorithms, interfaces, visualization, modeling, and other computational methods, as applied to biological problems, with emphasis on applications in data-rich areas of molecular biology.The PSB has been designed to be responsive to the need for critical mass in sub-disciplines within biocomputing. For that reason, it is the only meeting whose sessions are defined dynamically each year in response to specific proposals. PSB sessions are organized by leaders of research in biocomputing's 'hot topics.' In this way, the meeting provides an early forum for serious examination of emerging methods and approaches in this rapidly changing field.

Thanks to recent advancements, optimization is now recognized as a crucial component in research and decision-making across a number of fields. Through optimization, scientists have made tremendous advances in cancer treatment planning, disease control, and drug development, as well as in sequencing DNA, and identifying protein structures. Optimization in Medicine and Biology provides researchers with a comprehensive, single-source reference that will enable them to apply the very latest optimization techniques to their work. With contributions from pioneering international experts this volume integrates strong foundational theory, good modeling techniques, and efficient and robust algorithms with relevant applications Divided into two sections, the first begins with mathematical programming techniques for medical decision making processes and demonstrates their application to optimizing pediatric vaccine formularies, kidney paired donation, and the cost-effectiveness of HIV programs. It also presents recent advances in cancer treatment planning models and solution algorithms, including three-dimensional conventional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT), intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), tomotherapy, and proton therapy. Part two focuses on optimization in biology and discusses computational algorithms for genomic analysis; probe design and selection, properties of probes, and various algorithms and software packages to aid in probe selection and design. Subsequent chapters introduce a new dihedral angle measure for protein secondary prediction, and an optimization approach for tumor virotherapy with recombinant measles viruses. The editors include a short tutorial appendix on Integer Programming (IP). Highlighting the most recent advances in optimization techniques for solving complex problems in medical research, this book facilitates strong collaborative environments among optimization researchers and medical professionals for future medical research.

Data Warehousing for Biomedical Informatics is a step-by-step how-to guide for designing and building an enterprise-wide data warehouse across a biomedical or healthcare institution, using a four-iteration lifecycle and standardized design pattern. It enables you to quickly implement a fully-scalable generic data architecture that supports your organization's clinical, operational, administrative, financial, and research data. By following the guidelines in this book, you will be able to successfully progress through the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma versions, plus fully implement your first production release in about a year. The Alpha version allows you to implement just enough of the basic design pattern to illustrate its core capabilities while loading a small sampling of limited data for demonstration purposes. This provides an easy way for everyone involved to visualize the new warehouse paradigm by actually examining a core subset of the working system. You can finish the Alpha version, also referred to as the proof-of-concept, in as little as 3-4 weeks. The Beta version, which can be completed in about 2-3 months, adds required functionality and much more data. It allows you to get the full warehouse up and running quickly, in order to facilitate longer-term planning, user and support team training, and setup of the operational environment. The Gamma version, which is a fully-functional system-though still lacking data-can be implemented in about 3-4 months. About one year after starting, you will be ready to launch Release 1.0 as a complete and secure data warehouse.

Medical Instruments and Devices: Principles and Practices originates from the medical instruments and devices section of The Biomedical Engineering Handbook, Fourth Edition. Top experts in the field provide material that spans this wide field. The text examines how biopotential amplifiers help regulate the quality and content of measured signals. It includes instruments and devices that span a range of physiological systems and the physiological scale: molecular, cellular, organ, and system. The book chronicles the evolution of pacemakers and their system operation and discusses oscillometry, cardiac output measurement, and the direct and indirect methods of measuring cardiac output. The authors also expound on the mechanics and safety of defibrillators and cover implantable stimulators, respiration, and the structure and function of mechanical ventilators. In addition, this text covers in depth: Anesthesia Delivery Electrosurgical Units and Devices Biomedical Lasers Measuring Cellular Traction Forces Blood Glucose Monitoring Atomic Force Microscopy Parenteral Infusion Devices Clinical Laboratory: Separation and Spectral Methods Clinical Laboratory: Nonspectral Methods and Automation Noninvasive Optical Monitoring An offshoot from the definitive "bible" of biomedical engineering, Medical Instruments and Devices: Principles and Practices offers you state-of-the-art information on biomedical instruments and devices. This text serves practicing professionals working in the areas of medical devices and instrumentation as well as graduate students studying bioengineering, instrumentation, and medical devices, and it provides readers with a practical foundation and a wealth of resources from well-known experts in the field.

Although informatics trainees and practitioners who assume operational computing roles in their organization may have reasonably advanced understanding of theoretical informatics, many are unfamiliar with the practical topics - such as downtime procedures, interface engines, user support, JCAHO compliance, and budgets - which will become the mainstay of their working lives. Practical Guide to Clinical Computing Systems 2nd edition helps prepare these individuals for the electronic age of health care delivery. It is also designed for those who migrate into clinical computing operations roles from within their health care organization. A new group of people interested in this book are those preparing for Clinical Informatics board certification in the US. The work provides particular differentiation from the popular first edition in four areas: 40% more content detailing the many practical aspects of clinical informatics. Addresses the specific needs of the Clinical Informatics board certification course - for which it is presently recommended by the ABPM Focus on new tech paradigms including cloud computing and concurrency - for this rapidly changing field.

Tissue Engineering is a comprehensive introduction to the engineering and biological aspects of this critical subject. With contributions from internationally renowned authors, it provides a broad perspective on tissue engineering for students coming to the subject for the first time. In addition to the key topics covered in the previous edition, this update also includes new material on the regulatory authorities, commercial considerations as well as new chapters on microfabrication, materiomics and cell/biomaterial interface.

This book offers a global perspective on healthcare reform and its relationship with efforts to improve quality and safety. It looks at the ways reforms have developed in 30 countries, and specifically the impact national reform initiatives have had on the quality and safety of care. It explores how reforms drive quality and safety improvement, and equally how they act to negate such goals. Every country included in this book is involved in a reform and improvement process, but each takes place in a particular social, cultural, economic and developmental context, leading to differing emphases and varied progress. Methods for tackling common problems - financing, efficiencies, effectiveness, evidence-based practice, institutional reforms, quality improvement, and patient safety initiatives - also differ. Representatives from each nation provide a chapter to convey their own situation. The editors draw a conclusion from these numerous contributions and synthesize the themes emerging into a coherent 'lessons learned' summary that delivers value to the numerous stakeholders. Healthcare Reform, Quality and Safety forms a compendium of the current 'state of the art' in global healthcare reform. This is the first book of its type, and offers a unique opportunity for cross-fertilization of ideas to the mutual benefit of countries involved in the project. The content will be of interest to governments, policymakers, managers and leaders, clinicians, teaching academics, researchers and students.

Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine
Thomas S. Deisboeck and J. Yasha Kresh

Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine covers the emerging field of systems science involving the application of physics, mathematics, engineering and computational methods and techniques to the study of biomedicine including nonlinear dynamics at the molecular, cellular, multi-cellular tissue, and organismic level. With all chapters helmed by leading scientists in the field, Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine's goal is to offer its audience a timely compendium of the ongoing research directed to the understanding of biological processes as whole systems instead of as isolated component parts.
In Parts I & II, Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine provides a general systems thinking perspective and presents some of the fundamental theoretical underpinnings of this rapidly emerging field. Part III then follows with a multi-scaled approach, spanning from the molecular to macroscopic level, exemplified by studying such diverse areas as molecular networks and developmental processes, the immune and nervous systems, the heart, cancer and multi-organ failure. The volume concludes with Part IV that addresses methods and techniques driven in design and development by this new understanding of biomedical science.

Key Topics Include:
a [ Historic Perspectives of General Systems Thinking
a [ Fundamental Methods and Techniques for Studying Complex Dynamical Systems
a [ Applications from Molecular Networks to Disease Processes
a [ Enabling Technologies for Exploration of Systems in the Life Sciences

Complex Systems Science in Biomedicine is essential reading for experimental, theoretical, and interdisciplinary scientists working in the biomedical research field interested in a comprehensive overview of this rapidly emerging field.

About the Editors:
Thomas S. Deisboeck is currently Assistant Professor of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. An expert in interdisciplinary cancer modeling, Dr. Deisboeck is Director of the Complex Biosystems Modeling Laboratory which is part of the Harvard-MIT Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging.

J. Yasha Kresh is currently Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Research Director, Professor of Medicine and Director of Cardiovascular Biophysics at the Drexel University College of Medicine. An expert in dynamical systems, he holds appointments in the School of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and Molecular Pathobiology Program. Prof. Kresh is Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, Biomedical Engineering Society, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

While the prevalence of plastics and elastomers in medical devices is now quite well known, there is less information available covering the use of medical devices and the applications of polymers beyond medical devices, such as in hydrogels, biopolymers and silicones beyond enhancement applications, and few books in which these are combined into a single reference.

This book is a comprehensive reference source, bringing together a number of key medical polymer topics in one place for a broad audience of engineers and scientists, especially those currently developing new medical devices or seeking more information about current and future applications. In addition to a broad range of applications, the book also covers clinical outcomes and complications arising from the use of the polymers in the body, giving engineers a vital insight into the real world implications of the devices they re creating. Regulatory issues are also covered in detail. The book also presents the latest developments on the use of polymers in medicine and development of nano-scale devices.
Gathers discussions of a large number of applications of polymers in medicine in one placeProvides an insight into both the legal and clinical implications of device designRelevant to industry, academic and medical professionalsPresents the latest developments in the field, including medical devices on a nano-scale"

Biologists are stepping up their efforts in understanding the biological processes that underlie disease pathways in the clinical contexts. This has resulted in a flood of biological and clinical data from genomic and protein sequences, DNA microarrays, protein interactions, biomedical images, to disease pathways and electronic health records. To exploit these data for discovering new knowledge that can be translated into clinical applications, there are fundamental data analysis difficulties that have to be overcome. Practical issues such as handling noisy and incomplete data, processing compute-intensive tasks, and integrating various data sources, are new challenges faced by biologists in the post-genome era. This book will cover the fundamentals of state-of-the-art data mining techniques which have been designed to handle such challenging data analysis problems, and demonstrate with real applications how biologists and clinical scientists can employ data mining to enable them to make meaningful observations and discoveries from a wide array of heterogeneous data from molecular biology to pharmaceutical and clinical domains.

Focusing on its recent proliferation in hospital systems, Wi-Fi Enabled Healthcare explains how Wi-Fi is transforming clinical work flows and infusing new life into the types of mobile devices being implemented in hospitals. Drawing on first-hand experiences from one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States, it covers the key areas associated with wireless network design, security, and support. Reporting on cutting-edge developments and emerging standards in Wi-Fi technologies, the book explores security implications for each device type. It covers real-time location services and emerging trends in cloud-based wireless architecture. It also outlines several options and design consideration for employee wireless coverage, voice over wireless (including smart phones), mobile medical devices, and wireless guest services. This book presents authoritative insight into the challenges that exist in adding Wi-Fi within a healthcare setting. It explores several solutions in each space along with design considerations and pros and cons. It also supplies an in-depth look at voice over wireless, mobile medical devices, and wireless guest services. The authors provide readers with the technical knowhow required to ensure their systems provide the reliable, end-to-end communications necessary to surmount today's challenges and capitalize on new opportunities. The shared experience and lessons learned provide essential guidance for large and small healthcare organizations in the United States and around the world. This book is an ideal reference for network design engineers and high-level hospital executives that are thinking about adding or improving upon Wi-Fi in their hospitals or hospital systems.

With the dramatic evolution of shoulder arthroscopy techniques over the past five years, practitioners must search through numerous educational resources to learn about specific indications and definitive techniques. The field of orthopaedics lacks an all-encompassing text that is strictly and exclusively devoted to shoulder arthroscopy. Drs. James Tibone, Felix Savoie III, and Benjamin Shaffer have assembled the leading authorities in shoulder arthroscopy to provide the practitioner with invaluable information on the most cutting edge procedures to treat impingement problems, frozen shoulder, calcific tendonitis, and shoulder instability. This comprehensive, practical volume is enhanced with striking illustrations, detailing the surgical technique from positioning to closure. The chapter format gives introductory comments about disease/disorder, clinical presentation, surgical indications/patient selection, contraindications, surgical techniques, results, complications and pitfalls. There are also selected references and recommended readings at the end of each chapter. Shoulder Arthroscopy will be essential for all practicing orthopaedic surgeons, sports medicine and shoulder specialists who want to expand their expertise in this area.

The Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing (PSB) 2014 is an international, multidisciplinary conference for the presentation and discussion of current research in the theory and application of computational methods in problems of biological significance. Presentations are rigorously peer reviewed and are published in an archival proceedings volume. PSB 2014 will be held from January 3 - 7, 2014 in Kohala Coast, Hawaii. Tutorials and workshops will be offered prior to the start of the conference.PSB 2014 will bring together top researchers from the US, the Asian Pacific nations, and around the world to exchange research results and address open issues in all aspects of computational biology. It is a forum for the presentation of work in databases, algorithms, interfaces, visualization, modeling, and other computational methods, as applied to biological problems, with emphasis on applications in data-rich areas of molecular biology.The PSB has been designed to be responsive to the need for critical mass in sub-disciplines within biocomputing. For that reason, it is the only meeting whose sessions are defined dynamically each year in response to specific proposals. PSB sessions are organized by leaders of research in biocomputing's "hot topics." In this way, the meeting provides an early forum for serious examination of emerging methods and approaches in this rapidly changing field.

As many biological products face losing their patents in the next decade, the pharmaceutical industry needs an abbreviated regulatory pathway for approval of biosimilar drug products, which are cost-effective, follow-on/subsequent versions of the innovator's biologic products. But scientific challenges remain due to the complexity of both the manufacturing process and the structures of biosimilar products. Written by a top biostatistics researcher, Biosimilars: Design and Analysis of Follow-on Biologics is the first book entirely devoted to the statistical design and analysis of biosimilarity and interchangeability of biosimilar products. It includes comparability tests of important quality attributes at critical stages of the manufacturing processes of biologic products. Connecting the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry, government regulatory agencies, and academia, this state-of-the-art book focuses on the scientific factors and practical issues related to the design and analysis of biosimilar studies. It covers most of the statistical questions encountered in various study designs at different stages of research and development of biological products.

This book aims to demonstrate the benefits of implementing Industry 4.0 in healthcare services and to recommend a framework to support this implementation. Key topics in this book include: (1) Discovering emerging technologies and techniques to support Healthcare 4.0, this includes the Internet of Things (IOT) , Big data analytics, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI) , Optimisation and Predictive Analytics; (2) Illustrating some examples of such advanced implementation in Healthcare 4.0; (3) Recommending a development process to develop health technology start-ups and entrepreneurial activities; and (4) Discuss the transformation methodology used to redesign healthcare processes in order to overcome the challenges of implementing a Healthcare 4.0 project.

This book presents state-of-the-art works and systematic reviews in the emerging field of computational intelligence (CI) in electronic health care. The respective chapters present surveys and practical examples of artificial intelligence applications in the areas of Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and affective computing, machine learning, big health data and visualization analytics, computer vision and medical image analysis. The book also addresses new and emerging topics in CI for health care such as the utilization of Social Media (SM) and the introduction of new intelligent paradigms in the security and privacy domains, which are critical for the health sector. The chapters, while of course not exhaustively addressing all the possible aspects of the aforementioned areas, are indicative of the dynamic nature of interdisciplinary research being pursued. Accordingly, the book is intended not only for researchers in the respective fields, but also for medical and administrative personnel working in the health sector, as well as managers and stakeholders responsible for making strategic decisions and defining public health policies.

With the rise of advanced computerized data collection systems, monitoring devices, and instrumentation technologies, large and complex datasets accrue as an inevitable part of biomedical enterprise. The availability of these massive amounts of data offers unprecedented opportunities to advance our understanding of underlying biological and physiological functions, structures, and dynamics.

Biosignal Processing: Principles and Practices provides state-of-the-art coverage of contemporary methods in biosignal processing with an emphasis on brain signal analysis. After introducing the fundamentals, it presents emerging methods for brain signal processing, focusing on specific non-invasive imaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIR). In addition, the book presents recent advances, reflecting the evolution of biosignal processing.

As biomedical datasets grow larger and more complicated, the development and use of signal processing methods to analyze and interpret these data has become a matter of course. This book is one step in the development of biosignal analysis and is designed to stimulate new ideas and opportunities in the development of cutting-edge computational methods for biosignal processing.

This book, the first of its kind to treat Uganda, provides a historical analysis of the role of student voices in the development of Uganda's higher education. It not only chronicles incidents of student protests, but also explores and analyses their trigger points as well as the strategies employed by the university, the government, and the students to manage or resolve those crises. In addition, the book highlights the role played by national politics in shaping student political consciousness, in particular their involvement in protests, riots and demonstrations. The book, therefore, limits its scope to the unfolding and impact of student crisis on the process of higher education. Byaruhanga recommends that colleges and universities need to increase communication with students, as well as promote student involvement in decision and policy making, among other things, in order to forestall future conflicts. Most distinctively, the book aims to address the current paucity of research on student activism in Uganda's higher education, and highlights the critical need for research on higher education in Africa as a field of study. The book also may serve as a base for cross-national comparative analysis.

This book presents state-of-the-art research methods, results, and applications in social media and health research. It aims to help readers better understand the different aspects of using social web platforms in health research. Throughout the chapters, the benefits, limitations, and best practices of using a variety of social web platforms in health research are discussed with concrete use cases. This is an ideal book for biomedical researchers, clinicians, and health consumers (including patients) who are interested in learning how social web platforms impact health and healthcare research.

Understanding the importance and application of biosensors is complicated by the diverse range of methods and application and some existing text is somewhat technical in nature with little consideration to the novice. This book disseminates information on biosensors in a readable way by having unique sections for the novice and expert alike. Each chapter has an abstract, key facts, applications to other areas of health and disease, a "mini-dictionary" of key terms and summary points. In addition, the book covers optical imaging, surface plasmon resonance, microcantilevers, electrochemistry, aptamers, fluorescence, electrochemistry, nanobiosensors and nanowires.

This dissertation examines the cultural and educational history of central Missouri between 1820 and 1860, and in particular, the issue of master-slave relationships and how they affected education (broadly defined as the transmission of Southern culture). Although Missouri had one of the lowest slave populations during the Antebellum period, Central Missouri - or what became known as Little Dixie - had slave percentages that rivaled many regions and counties of the Deep South. However, slaves and slave owners interacted on a regular basis, which affected cultural transmission in the areas of religion, work, and community. Generally, slave owners in Little Dixie showed a pattern of paternalism in all these areas, but the slaves did not always accept their masters' paternalism, and attempted to forge a life of their own.

Exploring the practical, entrepreneurial, and historical aspects of medical device development, this second edition of The Medical Device R&D Handbook provides a how-to guide for medical device product development. The book offers knowledge of practical skills such as prototyping, plastics selection, and catheter construction, allowing designers to apply these specialized techniques for greater innovation and time saving.
The author discusses the historical background of various technologies, helping readers understand how and why certain devices were developed. The text also contains interviews with leaders in the industry who offer their vast experience and insights on how to start and grow successful companies both what works and what doesn t work. This updated and expanded edition adds new information to help meet the challenges of the medical device industry, including strategic intellectual property management, operating room observation protocol, and the use of new technologies and new materials in device development.

Bridging the gap between research and clinical application, Biosensors and Molecular Technologies for Cancer Diagnostics explores the use of biosensors as effective alternatives to the current standard methods in cancer diagnosis and detection. It describes the major aspects involved in detecting and diagnosing cancer as well as the basic elements of biosensors and their applications in detection and diagnostics.

The book addresses cancer molecular diagnostics, including genomic and proteomic approaches, from the perspective of biosensors and biodetection. It explains how to measure and understand molecular markers using biosensors and discusses the medical advantages of rapid and accurate cancer diagnostics. It also describes optical, electrochemical, and optomechanical biosensor technologies, with a focus on cancer analysis and the clinical utility of these technologies for cancer detection, diagnostics, prognostics, and treatment.

Making biosensor technology more accessible to molecular biologists, oncologists, pathologists, and engineers, this volume advances the integration of this technology into mainstream clinical practice. Through its in-depth coverage of a range of biosensors, the book shows how they can play instrumental roles in the early molecular diagnosis of cancer.

eHealth Applications: Promising Strategies for Behavior Change provides an overview of technological applications in contemporary health communication research, exploring the history and current uses of eHealth applications in disease prevention and management. This volume focuses on the use of these technology-based interventions for public health promotion and explores the rapid growth of an innovative interdisciplinary field.

The chapters in this work discuss key eHealth applications by presenting research examining a variety of technology-based applications. Authors Seth M. Noar and Nancy Grant Harrington summarize the latest in eHealth research, including a range of computer, Internet, and mobile applications, and offer observations and reflections on this growing area, such as dissemination of programs and future directions for the study of interactive health communication and eHealth.

Providing a timely and comprehensive review of current tools for health communication, eHealth Applications is a must-read for scholars, students, and researchers in health communication, public health, and health education.