This book covers all aspects of oxygen delivery to tissue, including blood flow and its regulation as well as oxygen metabolism. Special attention will be paid to methods of oxygen measurement in living tissue and application of these technologies to understanding physiological and biochemical basis for pathology related to tissue oxygenation. This book is multidisciplinary and designed to bring together experts and students from a range of research fields including biochemical engineering, physiology, microcirculation, and hematology.

Conceptually unsavoury, airway mucus is vital to homeostasis in the respiratory tract. In contrast, when abnormal, mucus contributes significantly to the pathophysiology of a number of severe bronchial diseases, including asthma, chronic bronchitis and cystic fibrosis. This volume provides wide ranging and in-depth coverage of the scientific and clinical aspects of airway mucus. It commences with introductory chapters which address the biochemical and molecular biological basis of airway mucus and continues with comprehensive coverage of the various physiological and rheological aspects of respiratory secretions. The clinical aspects of the topic are then considered, with chapters discussing the involvement of mucus secretions in bacterial infection and in hypersecretory diseases of the airway. The volume concludes with a discussion of the therapeutic aspects of the topic, both in terms of the possible approaches to the treatment of mucus hypersecretion and the interaction of these drugs with airway mucus. Written by leading experts in the field, each contribution provides a comprehensive review of its particular subject. Reflecting the latest advances in this important area of respiratory research, this volume will be of great interest to scientists and clinicians working in the field of airway secretions and related areas.

Proceedings of an international symposium, held in Ulm, Germany, September 21-24, 1994

This book brings together the various fields of functional genomics and systems biology that provide information on metabolic function. There is special emphasis on the identification of drug targets. The book includes practical examples from the various "omic" sciences as well as theoretical examples of how integrated knowledge of these sciences can be applied to drug discovery. It is of interest to researchers in the pharmaceutical drug discovery environment.

This conference and monograph were the result of many collective efforts. The whole concept was formulated one early Wednesday morning at our weekly research meeting at Children's Hospital in our division of urology. We have been most fortunate to have a close collaboration with Bob Levin, Ed Macarak, and Pam Howard who have helped steer the course of our division's growing interest in basic science. At our weekly meetings our laboratory fellow will summarize their current work. Other ongoing areas of investigation in our labs and elsewhere are discussed. We have always made an effort to try and understand what other groups are doing who are working in the area of bladder smooth muscle research. It occurred to us that the best way to really know what everyone working in this field was doing would be to sponsor a 2-day meeting where we could all gather to discuss our ongoing work. A major limitation of the annual meeting of the American Urologic Association or the urology section of the American Academy of Pediatrics is that the scientfic sessions are limited as these are meant to be primarily clinical meetings (as they should be). For this reason the idea of a meeting devoted solely to research about the urinary bladder had great appeal. In addition to allowing for longer presentations than the standard 5 to 7 minutes, every effort would be made to encourage a dialogue amongst the presenters and the audience.

Strong body odor is a condition for which, until now, there have been few treatment methods. The Japanese authors, encouraged by the willingness of Oriental patients to undergo radical treatment, have developed the subcutaneous tissue shaving method, which eliminates the condition in a very short period of time without ugly scarring. The book Human Body Odor not only introduces the completely new subcutaneous tissue shaving method, it also questions conventional theories on the hair cycle itself and throws a new hypothesis about the process of hair generation and regeneration into the scientific arena. This could even lead in the future to a formula for retarding hair loss! Developed over the past twenty years, the authors' new surgical method for the radical treatment of bromidrosis represents a landmark in cosmetic surgery and dermatology!

Nutrition and Osteoporosis: Seeing Through a Glass, Darkly (1 Cor. 13:12) This volume of Advances in Nutritional Research deals with the present state of knowledge relative to the role of nutrition in the etiology of osteoporosis, one of the most serious degenerative diseases in the aging population. As a back drop for subsequent chapters on specific nutrients, Chapter 1 provides a com prehensive account of the gain and loss of bone throughout the life cycle, with emphasis on the architectural changes in later life that predispose to osteoporotic bone fractures. Chapter 2 documents the occurrence of aging bone loss through out human archeological history and Chapter 3 extends this documentation to all non-human vertebrate species so far examined, including primates living in the wild. It is apparent that a progressive loss of bone tissue is a normal accompaniment of aging among higher vertebrates. Whether it is a cause of bone fractures in animals, as it is in humans, is still unknown. It has also been established that there are significant differences in the frequency of osteoporotic fractures among human families, ethnic groups, national populations and diet cultures. Numerous studies have been carried out in an effort to explain these differences, and many of these deal with the possible effect of nutrition. Protracted controversies over the role of nutrition in the etiology of osteoporosis are reflected in the contents of several of the ensuing chapters."

Comprehensive overview of different aspects of autophagy as it relates to neurodegenerative diseases. The pathogenesis of the main neurodegenerative disorders includes either the accumulation of altered or misfolded proteins or exposure to several toxics. Autophagy constitute one of the two principal cellular pathways implicate in the clearance of these material and can serve as a neuroprotective mechanism. Topics include: the role of autophagy in the brain, the role of autophagy in the principal neurodegenerative disorders, and the mechanism by which different molecules cause neurotoxicity and the role autophagy plays.

The understanding how complement relates to glomerular diseases has evolved considerably during the last years. Substantial evidence has accumulated that explain how a defective or deregulated complement system results in kidney diseases. The combination and close interaction of basic research with clinical medicine has demonstrated an important role of complement effector and regulatory proteins in pathological settings of the kidney. A large panel of distinct human kidney diseases such as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), membrano proliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and in ischemic reperfusions injury and transplantation are caused by defective complement control. Genetic analyses have identified mutations in complement regulators that are associated with these diseases. Mutations have been identified in the fluid phase alternative pathway regulator Factor H and the membrane regulator Membrane Cofactor Protein MCP (CD46). The functional characterization of the mutant proteins allows to define the pathophysiological events on a molecular level. These new concepts and data on disease mechanisms already allowed to establish new diagnostic and novel promising therapeutic approaches for several human kidney diseases.

Discusses the elements of the human body. Includes suggestions for related experiments and projects.

Roger Cone and a distinguished team of expert investigators provide the first major treatment of this critically important receptor family. The book illuminates the structure and function of these receptors through a wide-ranging review of the latest findings concerning the biology, physiology, and pharmacology of their peptide ligands and covers the major melanocortin peptides, Melanocortin-1-Receptors through Melanocortin-5-Receptors. Topics include the characterization of the melanocortin receptors, the biochemical mechanism of receptor action, and receptor function and regulation. Timely and authoritative, The Melanocortin Receptors offers an up-to-date knowledge base on the remarkably complex structure and functions of the melanocortins, a guide that will prove invaluable for today's neuroscientists, endocrinologists, pharmacologists, and other clinical and experimental investigators working in this fast moving field.

This is the 3rd volume in a series of reviews centered on the single major topic of bone replacement, discussing the biology of stem cells and cell signals, the knowledge needed to make stem cell-engineered bone tissue a reality, and how to prevent bone allograft infection. Useful as a followup to its predecessors, and as a stand-alone reference, it will interest a broad audience from orthopedists and bioengineers to dentists.

Challenging and provocative overviews are presented in Volume 40 of Current Topics in Membranes. Topics on cell lipids vary from basic themes such as biosynthesis and membrane distribution to the role of lipids in intracellular signaling and membrane flow. This single volume also highlights the roles of lipids in eukaryotic cells and discusses organization of lipids in microdomains.

1 2 MARCEL B. ROBERFROID AND GLENN R. GIBSON 1 Universite Catholique de Louvain, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Avenue Mounier 73, B-1200 Brussels, BELGIUM 2 Food Microbial Sciences Unit, Department of Food Science and Technology, The University of Reading, Reading, UK It is clear that diet fulfils a number of important human requirements. These include the provision of sufficient nutrients to meet the requirements of essential metabolic pathways, as well as the sensory (and social) values associated with eating. It is also evident that diet may control and modulate various body functions in a manner that can reduce the risk of certain diseases. This very broad view of nutrition has led to the development of foodstuffs with added "functionality." Many different definitions of functional foods have arisen. Most of these complicate the simple issue that a functional food is merely a dietary ingredient(s) that can have positive properties above its normal nutritional value. Other terms used to describe such foods include vitafoods, nutraceuticals, pharmafoods, foods for specified health use, health foods, designer foods, etc. Despite some trepidation, the concept has recently attracted much interest through a vast number of articles in both the popular and scientific media.

In one generation, the numerous factors involved in blood coagulation have become real protein entities, isolated in pure form, expressed by recombinant DNA techniques, and subjected to structure elucidation by the modem methods of physical chemistry, viz. , X-ray diffraction, and NMR, ESR and fluorescence spectroscopy. The major milestone in this field was the breakthrough achieved by W. Bode, R. Huber and their colleagues in 1989 in of human a-thrombin, inhibited with D-Phe-Pro-Arg determining the crystal structure chioromethyl ketone. The availability of this structure will greatly facilitate the interpretation of experiments designed to gain an understanding of the interatomic interactions between this enzyme and fibrinogen and its other substrates. At the same time, it provides a rational basis for the design and synthesis of inhibitors of thrombin, the subject of this symposium. The symposium was organized in four sessions: (1) Structural features of the interaction of thrombin with substrates and inhibitors, (2) Synthetic inhibitors, (3) Hirudin and its analogues, and (4) Pharmacological and clinical considerations. This book contains summaries of most of the papers presented, and takes its rigbful place among two others that provide a comprehensive picture of our current knowledge about thrombin, viz. the 1977 volume entitled "Chemistry and Biology of Thrombin", edited by R. L. Lundblad, J. W. Fenton II, and K. G. Mann, and the 1992 volume entitled "Thrombin: Structure and Function", edited by L. J. Berliner.

That precursors of adult coronary artery disease, hypertension, and type II diabetes begin in childhood have been clearly established by the Bogalusa Heart Study. This unique research program has been able to follow a biracial (black/white) population over 35 years from childhood through mid-adulthood to provide perspectives on the natural history of adult heart diseases. Not only do these observations describe trajectories of cardio-metabolic risk variables leading to these diseases but provide a rationale for the need to begin prevention beginning in childhood. The trajectories of the burden of cardio-metabolic risk variables in the context of their fetal origin and chromosome telomere dynamics provide some insight into the metabolic imprinting in utero and aging process. The observed racial contrasts on cardio-metabolic risk variables implicate various biologic pathways interacting with environment contributing to the high morbidity and mortality from related diseases in our population. To address the seriousness of the onset of cardiovascular disease in youth, approaches to primordial prevention are described focussing on childhood health education as an important aspect of Preventive Cardiology.

Many advances have been made in the field of thermoregulation in the past few years. These include our understanding of Fever, which is now considered not simply a rise in deep body temperature foHowing infection, but just one aspect, though perhaps the most easily measured, of the Acute Phase of the Immune Response. Classification and identification of the Cytokines and the availability of recombinant material has greatly aided this research. Similarly, our understanding of the Hypothalamo-Pituitary Adrenal Axis has altered our way of thinking about temperature regulation. Of importance are the problems associated with adverse climatic conditions and survival, and the problems encountered by the neonate and the hibernator. At the biochemical level, our knowledge of the control of heat production and the role of brown adipose tissue is rapidly advancing. All these issues and many others were discussed at a Symposium 'Thermal Physiology 1993' held in Aberdeen, Scotland in August 1993 under the auspices of the Thermal Physiology Commission of the International Union of Physiological Sciences. Six main aspects of the subject of temperature regulation are included in this book, namely, Fever (including the Acute Phase of the Immune Response and Thermoregulatory Peptides), Neurophysiology of Thermoregulation, Neonatal Thermoregulation, Mechanisms of Heat Production, Ecological and Behavioural Thermoregulation, and Emerging Themes in Thermoregulation.

The molecular basis for the physiology of the brain has advanced enormously in the past twenty years with an influx of new information gleaned through technological developments in neuroimaging and molecular discoveries. Molecular Physiology and Metabolism of the Nervous System, authored by Gary A. Rosenberg, an authority on the physiology of brain fluids and metabolism, combines the classic physiology that dates back to the beginning of the nineteenth century with the advances in molecular sciences, providing a strong framework for understanding the diseases that are commonly treated by neurologists.
Molecular Physiology and Metabolism of the Nervous System focuses on the current neuropathology and implications of cerebrospinal fluid diseases and diseases of the blood-brain barrier: how the two affect stroke, infection, brain tumors, and increased intracranial pressure. The book discusses the effects of blood flow in stroke and dementia, the disruption of the blood-brain barrier in neuroinflammation, and the dysfunction due to brain edema and increased intracranial pressure.
Molecular Physiology and Metabolism of the Nervous System is necessary reading for neurologists, neuroscientists, and residents in neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, giving them a strong grounding in physiology and metabolism that will aid them in diagnosis and treatment.

As a research subject, the biomechanics of the urinary bladder are relatively young, yet medical problems associated with them are as old as mankind. Offering an update on recent achievements in the field, the authors highlight the underlying biological, chemical and physical processes of bladder function and present the systematic development of a mathematical model of the organ as a thin, soft biological shell. The book will be a valuable resource for postgraduate students and researchers interested in the applications of computational mathematics and solid mechanics to modern problems in biomedical engineering and medicine.

The objective of this book is to provide the researcher and clinician with the recent developments in the analysis and assessment of cardiovascular func tion. The chapters are organized into sections that correspond with the various anatomical levels of the cardiovascular system. To a large extent, recent focus on the cardiovascular system function has been directed at the molecular level to the near exclusion of the tissue and organ function. While this may be useful in developing new therapeutic drugs, it does not aid the cardiologist or surgeon, who routinely deal with patient symptoms. This book integrates the micro-level and organ-level function so that new infor mation may be assimilated into the cardiovascular system as a whole. Within each section, the chapters have been arranged to progress from recent theoretical developments, to experimental research, and finally to clinical applications. This approach facilitates the timely transfer of infor mation from basic research to the clinic. The strength of the analytical approach will be evident to the reader. The theoretical analysis offers guidance to experimental design and, in some cases, offers solutions where measurements are as yet unattainable. In moving from newly attained knowledge to clinical practice, this book emphasizes the noninvasive meth in the future as technological advances ods. Such methods are desirable occur and the trend towards early preventive diagnosis is sought. What follows are highlights of new developments covered in each section of the book."

This volume presents all aspects of delivery of oxygen to tissues and tumors in peer reviewed short articles. Both overview and the most recent, advanced techniques for oxygen measurement are presented. Articles and peer reviewers include those from leaders in their field. Topics such as molecular signaling in the organismal and tumor response to low levels of local oxygenation, hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) , cancer metabolism, individual human and animal response to oxygen changes monitored by optical/near infrared spectroscopy/ tomography to novel electron resonance spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging, instrumentation, progress in blood substitute research, retinal physiology, cellular hypoxia, mitochondrial function; brain oxygenation and function; oxygen transport in sports, hypoxia in diseases and clinical care. Chapters 10 and 19 of this book are open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.

The quality of life for millions of people all over the globe has been improved by the work of diligent biologists and doctors working in the many branches of life science. An improved knowledge of how the body functions at the genetic, cellular, physiological and behavioural levels and a greater understanding of disease and pharmacology have resulted in a reduction in human suffering. The way is being paved for the effective treatment of some of the greatest health problems of the late twentieth century - cancer, AIDS and diseases caused by parasites.These two volumes are collections of the Nobel Lectures delivered by the laureates, together with their biographies, portraits and the presentation speeches for the periods 1971 - 1980 and 1981 - 1990 respectively. Each Nobel Lecture is based on the work for which the laureate was awarded the prize. New biographical data of the laureate are also included. These volumes of inspiring lectures by outstanding scientists should be on the bookshelf of every keen student, teacher and professor of biological and medical sciences as well as of those in related fields.During the period 1971 - 1980 important areas of research being recognized were as diverse as hormone action and radioimmunoassays, infectious diseases, molecular genetics, immunology, computerized tomography and social behaviour. The laureates according to the specific year are:(1971) E W SUTHERLAND JR - for his discoveries concerning the mechanisms of the action of hormones; (1972) G M EDELMAN & R R PORTER - for their discoveries concerning the chemical structure of antibodies; (1973) K VON FRISCH, K LORENZ & N TINBERGEN - for their discoveries concerning organization and elicitation of individual and social behaviour patterns; (1974) A CLAUDE, C DE DUVE & G E PALADE - for their discoveries concerning the structural and functional organization of the cell; (1975) D BALTIMORE, R DULBECCO & H M TEMIN - for their discoveries concerning the interaction between tumour viruses and genetic material of the cell; (1976) B S BLUMBERG & D C GAJDUSEK - for their discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases; (1977) R GUILLEMIN & A V SCHALLY - for their discoveries concerning the peptide hormone production of the brain; and R S YALOW - for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones; (1978) W ARBER, D NATHANS & H O SMITH - for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their application to problems of molecular genetics; (1979) A M CORMACK & G N HOUNSFIELD - for the development of computer assisted tomography; (1980) B BENACERRAF, J DAUSSET & G D SNELL - for their discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions.

The Taurine Symposium- "Taurine: Beginning the 21'' Century"- was held September 20-23, 2002, on the beautiful island of Kauai in Hawaii. The headquarters of the meeting was the Radisson Kauai Beach Resort. This international meeting was attending by approximately 80 individuals from 23 nations and 4 continents. Seventy-five papers were presented either as platform presentations or poster presentations. Taurine, first isolated from ox bile in 1827 by Tiedemann and Gmelin and named in 1838 by Demarcay, became of significant scientific interest in 1968 when the first extensive review article was published by Jacobsen and Smith. Interest in taurine grew exponentially after 1975 when the first taurine symposium was organized by Ryan Huxtable in Tucson, Arizona. Since that date, taurine symposia have been held approximately every two years held in various cities and resort areas around the world. Taurine investigators have had the privilege of attending these scientific meetings on three continents - Asia, Europe, and North America. Since the initial meeting in 1975, a central question addressed during many of the symposia has been: "What is physiological, pharmacological, nutritional, and pathological role of taurine?." Although taurine has been established as an important osmolyte, it appears to affect many other biological processes. However, the exact mechanism(s) by "which taurine acts" has not yet been definitively answered. In Kauai, the patticipants discussed many topics and asked many questions regarding the role and actions of taurine.