Named after Selene, Greek goddess of the moon, selenium (Se) has moved has moved from being thought of as a toxicant to being considered an essential nutrient with the potential to reduce cancer risk in the span of seven decades. Diversity of Selenium Functions in Health and Disease focuses on current knowledge of aspects of Se research relevant to its medical use, and particularly to chemoprevention of cancer. It covers how Se is integrated into selenoproteins, selenium compounds with individual functions and dual functions, and unexpected links to Se such as with diabetes. The text ends with a discussion of polymorphisms and mutations in genes of selenoproteins. The chapters elucidate why studies undertaken to prevent diseases with selenium ended with disappointing outcomes and often with the opposite result, i.e. disease promotion. They show that benefit, failure, or side effects depend on: The chemical form and dose of selenium The selenium status of the individual ingesting selenium The capacity of selenium form to serve as a source for selenoprotein biosynthesis The function of selenoproteins reacting to a change in the selenium status The stage of the disease (mainly cancer) at the time point of intervention The genetic background of individuals to be treated Bringing together the accumulated evidence regarding selenium biochemistry, the book covers aspects not found in available general monographs. The narrow focus on medical uses of Se helps resolve the present confusion about potential benefits and hazards of selenium in human health. The book gives you a solid scientific basis for optimum use of selenium in preventing or treating human diseases and answering the questions: Why is selenium essential? How much is required? What are the health consequences of low selenium and can selenium reduce cancer risk?

This book approaches the classification, pathogenesis, diagnostic, therapy and surgery for kidney tuberculosis as well as male genital tuberculosis. The reader will find recent data on epidemiology, many interesting history cases with illustrations and new methods for the identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

This book is meant to provide the most current knowledge regarding the mechanisms of action of A20, if its versatile functions and their validation in animal models of human disease and its promise as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target.

Since its inception, patch-clamp has continued to be widely considered the gold standard method to record ion channel activity. Patch-Clamp Methods and Protocols, Second Edition, provides a comprehensive collection of new techniques for the development of automated, high-throughput screening systems for pharmacological evaluation, the use of various patch-clamp configurations together with novel molecular biological and imaging methodologies and enhanced stimulation protocols and perfusion systems. Divided into sections on pharmacology, physiology and biophysics, the chapters cover methods to generate more physiologically relevant conditions for drug application and screening technologies, recently developed applications such as optogenetic stimulation, advances in whole-cell recordings in freely-moving animals and novel technologies to create custom microelectrodes designed for reducing the access resistance and improving the rate of molecular diffusion. Patch-clamp is an indispensable technique for conducting pharmacological, physiological and biophysical research aimed at understanding crucial aspects of cellular and network function. 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, Patch-Cla mp Methods and Protocols, Second Edition will provide a useful technical and methodological guide to diverse audiences of electrophysiologists, from students to experienced investigators.

Originally published in 1928 as part of the Cambridge Psychological Library, this book argues that the divide between psychology and physiology is largely artificial, and that each discipline can contribute to further understanding of the other. MacCurdy applies conclusions drawn from behavioural psychology to physiological phenomena, and discusses phenomena of the nervous system in an attempt to create a vocabulary 'in which all the phenomena of living matter can be discussed'. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the overlap of psychology and the more physical sciences.

This book provides a detailed review of state of the art knowledge on critical care topics as well as the latest research findings. It covers the core aspects in excellent detail, but is not so comprehensive as to make its daily use unfeasible. For each condition considered, discussion of the pathophysiology is integrated with observations on diagnosis and treatment in order to allow a deeper understanding. The book is scientifically based, with extensive references to published research. This will allow readers to investigate their individual interests further and will enable physicians to justify measures by providing a coherent, evidence-based strategy and relevant citations where needed. Core Knowledge in Critical Care Medicine will appeal to experienced practitioners as an aide-memoire, but will also be of great value to a wide range of more junior staff wishing to complement their background knowledge with important facts applicable to everyday practice.

With the explosion of information on autophagy in cancer, this is an opportune time to speed the efforts to translate our current knowledge about autophagy regulation into better understanding of its role in cancer. This book will cover the latest advances in this area from the basics, such as the molecular machinery for autophagy induction and regulation, up to the current areas of interest such as modulation of autophagy and drug discovery for cancer prevention and treatment. The text will include an explanation on how autophagy can function in both oncogenesis and tumor suppression and a description of its function in tumor development and tumor suppression through its roles in cell survival, cell death, cell growth as well as its influences on inflammation, immunity, DNA damage, oxidative stress, tumor microenvironment, etc. The remaining chapters will cover topics on autophagy and cancer therapy. These pages will serve as a description on how the pro-survival function of autophagy may help cancer cells resist chemotherapy and radiation treatment as well as how the pro-death functions of autophagy may enhance cell death in response to cancer therapy, and how to target autophagy for cancer prevention and therapy what to target and how to target it.

Volume II features a variety of animal and human prion diseases, including the newly-identified atypical forms of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and scrapie in animals, and variably protease-sensitive prionopathy in humans, prions in the environment, Tau pathology in human prion disease, transmission of the disease by blood transfusion, mammalian and non-mammalian models, conventional and advanced diagnoses, prion-specific antibodies, as well as decontamination of prions and development of therapeutics of prion diseases, such as the application of immunomodulation. This volume provides up-to-date knowledge about the etiology, pathogenesis, classification, histopathological, and clinical aspects of the highly publicized animal and human prion diseases.

Since the beginning of the 21st Century there has been a rapid increase in our understanding of the cellular trafficking mechanisms of molecular chaperones in eukaryotes and in prokaryotes. In the former, molecular chaperone trafficking can occur between the various cellular compartments, with concomitant movement of other proteins. Such events can also result in the release of molecular chaperones from cells. In bacteria, molecular chaperones are involved in the trafficking of other proteins and are themselves released into the external milieu. The increasing appreciation of the role of molecular chaperones and Protein-Folding Catalysts in the interplay between bacteria and the cells of their hosts is now an important area of research for understanding the mechanisms of infectious diseases. This volume brings together experts in the biochemistry, cellular biology, immunology and molecular biology of molecular chaperones and Protein-Folding Catalysts with a focus on the mechanisms of cellular trafficking of these proteins and the role of these variegated trafficking mechanisms in both human and animal health and disease.

Current molecular understanding of estrogen action has greatly profited from advances in molecular cell biology. These advances, and their implications for clinical use, were discussed by leading researchers from industry and academia during an international symposium held in Berlin, 1-3 March 2006 and are featured in this volume.

The term hormesis is de?ned as "a process in which exposure to a low dose of a chemical agent or environmental factor that is damaging at higher doses induces an adaptive bene?cial effect on the cell or organism" (Calabrese et al., 2007; Mattson, 2008). To survive and reproduce in harsh competitive environments, organisms and their cellular components have, through evolution, developed molecular mec- nisms to respond adaptively to various hazards or "stressors" that they encounter. Examples of such stressors include chemicals ingested in food and water (metals, phytochemicals, etc.), increased energy expenditure (running, ?ghting, cognitive challenges, etc.), and reduced energy availability (food scarcity), among others. In most cases, the response of the cell or organism to the stressor exhibits a biphasic dose response, with bene?cial/adaptive responses at low doses (improved fu- tion, increased resistance to damage and disease) and adverse/destructive effects (dysfunction, molecular damage, or even death) at high doses. The prevalence of the biphasic (hormetic) dose response characteristic of biological systems merits consideration of hormesis as a fundamental principle of biology.

Dr. Judah Folkman is considered the "father of angiogenesis." Because of Folkman's discovery and research, the possibilities of angiogenic therapy have broadened beyond cancer to many noncancerous diseases. Angiogenesis: An Integrative Approach from Science to Medicine is a comprehensive, concise summary of tumor angiogenesis. It is an up-to-date and authoritative reference for the angiogenesis field as it relates to oncology. This book represents the first collection in a volume of which Folkman is co-editor. Folkman has authored nearly 400 original papers and more than 100 book chapters.

Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) of bone is a relatively recent research field. The research community is steadily growing, with interdisciplinary branches in acoustics, medical imaging, biomechanics, biomedical engineering, applied mathematics, bone biology and clinical sciences, resulting in significant achievements in new ultrasound technologies to measure bone, as well as models to elucidate the interaction and the propagation of ultrasonic wave in complex bone structures. Hundreds of articles published in specialists journals are accessible from the Web and from electronic libraries. However, no compilation and synthesis of the most recent and significant research exist. The only book on QUS of bone has been published in 1999 at a time when the propagation mechanisms of ultrasound in bone were still largely unknown and the technology was immature. The research community has now reached a critical size, special sessions are organized in major international meetings (e.g., at the World Congress of Biomechanics, the annual meetings of the Acoustical Society of America, International Bone Densitometry Workshop, etc...). Consequently, the time has come for a completely up to date, comprehensive review of the topic. The book will offer the most recent experimental results and theoretical concepts developed so far and is intended for researchers, graduate or undergraduate students, engineers, and clinicians who are involved in the field. The central part of the book covers the physics of ultrasound propagation in bone. Our goal is to give the reader an extensive view of the mathematical and numerical models as an aid to understand the QUS potential and the types of variables that can be determined by QUS in order to characterize bone strength. The propagation of sound in bone is still subject of intensive research. Different models have been proposed (for example, the Biot theory of poroelasticity and the theory of scattering have been used to describe wave propagation in cancellous bone, whereas propagation in cortical bone falls in the scope of guided waves theories). An extensive review of the models has not been published so far. We intend in this book to present in details the models that are used to solve the direct problem and strategies that are currently developed to address the inverse problem. This will include analytical theories and numerical approaches that have grown exponentially in recent years. Most recent experimental findings and technological developments will also be comprehensively reviewed.

A rapid development in diverse areas of molecular biology and genetic engineering resulted in emergence of variety of tools. These tools are not only applicable to basic researches being carried out world over, but also exploited for precise detection of abnormal conditions in plants, animals and human body. Although a basic researcher is well versed with few techniques used by him/her in the laboratory, they may not be well acquainted with methodologies, which can be used to work out some of their own research problems. The picture is more blurred when the molecular diagnostic tools are to be used by physicians, scientists and technicians working in diagnostic laboratories in hospitals, industry and academic institutions. Since many of them are not trained in basics of these methods, they come across several gray areas in understanding of these tools. The accurate application of molecular diagnostic tools demands in depth understanding of the methodology for precise detection of the abnormal condition of living body. To meet the requirements of a good book on molecular diagnostics of students, physicians, scientists working in agricultural, veterinary, medical and pharmaceutical sciences, it needs to expose the reader lucidly to: Give basic science behind commonly used tools in diagnostics Expose the readers to detailed applications of these tools and Make them aware the availability of such diagnostic tools The book will attract additional audience of pathologists, medical microbiologists, pharmaceutical sciences, agricultural scientists and veterinary doctors if the following topics are incorporated at appropriate places in Unit II or separately as a part of Unit-III in the book. Molecular diagnosis of diseases in agricultural crops Molecular diagnosis of veterinary diseases. Molecular epidemiology, which helps to differentiate various epidemic strains and sources of disease outbreaks. Even in different units of the same hospital, the infections could be by different strains of the same species and the information becomes valuable for infection control strategies. Drug resistance is a growing problem for bacterial, fungal and parasitic microbes and the molecular biology tools can help to detect the drug resistance genes without the cultivation and in vitro sensitivity testing. Molecular diagnostics offers faster help in the selection of the proper antibiotic for the treatment of tuberculosis, which is a major problem of the in the developing world. The conventional culture and drug sensitivity testing of tuberculosis bacilli is laborious and time consuming, whereas molecular diagnosis offers rapid drug resistant gene detection even from direct clinical samples. The same approach for HIV, malaria and many more diseases needs to be considered. Molecular diagnostics in the detection of diseases during foetal life is an upcoming area in the foetal medicine in case of genetic abnormalities and infectious like TORCH complex etc. The book will be equally useful to students, scientists and professionals working in the field of molecular diagnostics.

Although first to suggest the possibility of light frequencies beyond the visible spectrum, the natural philosopher John Elliott (1747 87) was better known at his death for his failed suicide in front of the woman he loved. Tried for attempting to shoot her, he was acquitted but died in prison awaiting trial on the lesser charge of assault. First published in 1780, this work was his most important. Contemporary science held that vibrations of the air were directly communicated to the optic and auditory nerves and passed on to the sensorium, while Elliot proposed, through experimentation upon himself, the existence of sensory receptors, each tuned to only a limited part of the spectrum of physical frequencies. This insight led him to postulate the existence of what we now know to be ultraviolet and infrared radiation, thus paving the way for further discoveries in human sensory perception.

Ghrelin, the endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue (GHS) receptor, is critical in the control of food intake and energy balance. The ghrelin receptors are now known to have important physiological properties as modulators of growth hormone release, appetite, glucose homeostasis, metabolism, immune function, neurotransmitter activity, cognitive function and neurodegeneration. Bringing all of this information together in the first comprehensive text on the topic, Ghrelin in Health and Disease provides a state-of-the-art synthesis of the latest work in this area for physicians and physician-scientists. This volume addresses the unique property of ghrelin as a modulator of function. Such a property provides potential utility for safe intervention in a wide variety of disease states. Indeed as we learn more about the basic physiology of ghrelin, the potential for treating new disease targets emerge requiring validation in the clinic. Each chapter in this volume is authored by a leading investigator in the field. The introductory chapter sets the background for the book and provides a superb overview of the relevance of ghrelin to physiology, describing how the discovery of ghrelin has prompted us to completely rethink traditional physiology. The authors conclude their chapters by critically addressing the future translational aspects of ghrelin biology and outlining what key basic research and clinical questions remain to be addressed. An invaluable resource, Ghrelin in Health and Disease distinguishes itself as the first comprehensive title covering all of the molecular and clinical issues relating to ghrelin and advancing our clinical understanding of obesity, growth, and reproductive pathogenesis.

This insightful and comprehensive book covers nearly every aspect of glutamate receptor structure and function for the working researcher and student. It condenses two previous landmark volumes into one easily accessible volume, and covers the extraordinary research and significant developments in the decade since the previous books were published. This includes the central role glutamate receptors play in neurotransmission.

The obesity epidemic has generated immense interest in recent years due to the wide-ranging and significant adverse health and economic consequences that surround the problem. Much attention has been focused on behaviors that lead to obesity, in particular to over consumption of energy-dense food and to sedentary lifestyle. However, obesity is an extremely complex condition with poorly defined pathogenesis. Thanks to greatly enhanced research in the area, the discovery of pathways in the brain and peripheral organs that mediate energy homeostasis has provided a framework for understanding the biological basis of obesity. Metabolic Basis of Obesity adds an important new dimension to the growing literature on obesity by offering a comprehensive review of specifically how metabolic imbalance culminates in obesity. Developed by a team of expert authors, this important title discusses the principles of energy balance, genetics of body weight regulation, hormones and adipokines, and metabolic pathways in the brain, liver, muscle and fat, to name just several of the areas covered. The book also examines the connection between obesity and diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other complications. Current and future diagnostic and treatment strategies are also reviewed. Comprehensive and timely, Metabolic Basis of Obesity is an essential reference for understanding the burgeoning problem of obesity.

Hopefully, this book will be taken off of the shelf frequently to be studied carefully over many years. More than 40 researchers were involved in this project, which examines respiration, circulation, and metabolism from ?sh to the land vertebrates, including human beings. A breathable and stable atmosphere ?rst appeared about 500 million years ago. Oxygen levels are not stable in aquatic environments and exclusively water-breathing ?sh must still cope with the ever-changing levels of O 2 and with large temperature changes. This is re?ected in their sophisticated count- current systems, with high O extraction and internal and external O receptors. 2 2 The conquest for the terrestrial environment took place in the late Devonian period (355-359 million years ago), and recent discoveries portray the gradual transitional evolution of land vertebrates. The oxygen-rich and relatively stable atmospheric conditionsimpliedthatoxygen-sensingmechanismswererelativelysimpleandl- gain compared with acid-base regulation. Recently, physiology has expanded into related ?elds such as biochemistry, molecular biology, morphology and anatomy. In the light of the work in these ?elds, the introduction of DNA-based cladograms, which can be used to evaluate the likelihood of land vertebrates and lung?sh as a sister group, could explain why their cardio-respiratory control systems are similar. The diffusing capacity of a duck lung is 40 times higher than that of a toad or lung?sh. Certainly, some animals have evolved to rich high-performance levels.

Gabriel Waksman Institute of Structural Molecular Biology, Birkbeck and University College London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, United Kingdom Address for correspondence: Professor Gabriel Waksman Institute of Structural Molecular Biology Birkbeck and University College London Malet Street London WC1E 7H United Kingdom Email: g. waksman@bbk. ac. uk and g. waksman@ucl. ac. uk Phone: (+44) (0) 207 631 6833 Fax: (+44) (0) 207 631 6833 URL: http://people. cryst. bbk. ac. uk/?ubcg54a Gabriel Waksman is Professor of Structural Molecular Biology at the Institute of Structural Molecular Biology at UCL/Birkbeck, of which he is also the director. Before joining the faculty of UCL and Birkbeck, he was the Roy and Diana Vagelos Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis (USA). The rapidly evolving ?eld of protein science has now come to realize the ubiquity and importance of protein-protein interactions. It had been known for some time that proteins may interact with each other to form functional complexes, but it was thought to be the property of only a handful of key proteins. However, with the advent of hi- throughput proteomics to monitor protein-protein interactions at an organism level, we can now safely state that protein-protein interactions are the norm and not the exception.

This volume will explore the most recent findings on cellular mechanisms of inhibitory plasticity and its functional role in shaping neuronal circuits, their rewiring in response to experience, drug addiction and in neuropathology. Inhibitory Synaptic Plasticity will be of particular interest to neuroscientists and neurophysiologists.

The volume raises attention to the need of a completely new approach to breast cancer based on the knowledge collected on early breast cancer in the past two decades. The chapters are contributed by experts of all the fields participating in the clinical research and care of breast cancer. The practical importance of such a book is underlined by the increasing number of breast cancer cases, and also the increasing proportion of early stage-cases. The ultimate goal of the book is to point to the heterogeneous nature of the disease which is more striking and has more importance in care at the very early stages than at the more advanced stages. The book recommends the utilization of all the information provided by multimodality imaging and special pathological methods, a new classification system and therapeutic guidelines since early breast cancers should not be treated based on experience obtained with palpable tumors. No similar book has been yet released to the market. The book is written for all the members of the team participating in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer (radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, clinical and radiation oncologists), but may be useful for medical students and residents too. The chapters are illustrated with didactic pictures, and special emphasis is given to provide a peep into the practice of the special procedures for the careful examination and individualized therapy of each case.

Mechanical stress is vital to the functioning of the body, especially for tissues such as bone, muscle, heart, and vessels. It is well known that astronauts and bedridden patients suffer muscle and bone loss from lack of use. Even the heart, in pumping blood, causes mechanical stress to itself and to vascular tissue. With the loss of mechanical stress, homeostasis becomes impaired and leads to pathological conditions such as osteopenia, muscle atrophy, and vascular tissue dysfunction. In elderly populations, such mechanical pathophysiology, as well as the mechanical activities of locomotor and cardiovascular systems, is important because skeletal and heart functions decline and cause diseases in other organs. In this monograph, mechanical stress is discussed by experts in the field with respect to molecular, cellular, and tissue aspects in relation to medicine. Covering topics such as gravity and tissues and disuse osteoporosis, the book provides the most up-to-date information on cutting-edge advancements in the field of mechanobiology and is a timely contribution to research into locomotor and circulatory diseases that are major problems in contemporary society.

This book summarizes 20 years of work on the kinetics of blood-brain transfer and metabolism mechanisms in mammalian brain. The substances affiliated with these mechanisms include glucose, amino acids, monocarboxylic acids, and oxygen. These substances are important to energy metabolism and neurotransmission in the mammalian brain at rest and during activation. To understand the processes addressed by these mechanisms, the book examines the kinetics of compartmentation and compartmental analysis, particularly as they relate to transporter, enzyme, and receptor function. Compartments are subsets of substances separated by transporters and receptors in membranes, and enzymes in cells. This book is divided in six major chapters covering compartmental analysis, kinetic analysis of transport and metabolism, blood-brain transfer and metabolism of glucose, amino acids, and oxygen, and amino acid metabolism and interaction of amino acid metabolites with receptors.

The book "Paradigm Shift for Future Tennis" starts with revelations that make obvious the limitations of today's tennis, which does not use the laws of modern Biomechanics and Neurophysiology. The second part of the book includes a new approach to the quantum mind of a champion. It will reveal the secret weapon of Roger Federer and the blueprint of a future tennis champion. This book will expose the new tennis shot emerging from the field of sports science. It is a real weapon, which can generate a ball-speed similar to that of the first serve: the Power High-Forehand. Its aim is to generate maximal possible racket-head speed while players do not wait for the ball to bounce. This is both a tactical and psychological basis for the future tennis game. This aggressive interceptive psychology will shape the minds of future tennis champions. High racket-head speed can be achieved using the stretch-reflex, without big loops and swings. Weapons of a future tennis game will comprise of whip-like tennis serves and ground strokes, based on the stretch-reflex, and using the whole body in a fluid and integrated manner, thus manifesting a superb combination of speed and strength. Restructure your brain and apply the power of state of the art biomechanical, mathematical, medical, neural, cognitive, and quantum computational intelligence to understand the tennis of today and the future!