This book discusses a wide range of health-related mining issues, with particular reference to occupational diseases, metal toxicity, postural injuries in miners, modern fire safety controls, noise-induced hearing loss prevention, and noise mapping. Mining plays a central role in the development of modern civilization. By providing the essential raw materials, mining ensures progress, safety, and comfort of people. However, this necessary activity comes with several woes, the most important of which are occupational health hazards. Mines act as sources of constant danger and risk to the miners irrespective of the scale of mining, such as large-scale industrial mining or small-scale artisanal mining. Not only are there accidents, but continuous exposure to dust, metal toxicity, hazardous gases and fumes, and loud noises, giving rise to a variety of diseases to mine workers. The comprehensive coverage of issues and the case studies will make this book an essential reference and critical reading. Medical geology is a necessary discipline in earth sciences. Unfortunately, not much literature is available on this subject. Therefore, this book is essential for practicing engineers and supervisors in mines, health and safety professionals, researchers, and mining industry students.

A compendium of proven experimental approaches and strategies for studying the bioactivation, detoxification, tissue distribution, and elimination of xenobiotics in the metabolism and/or transport of various chemicals. The authors address several of the major drug metabolizing systems, including the cytochrome P450 family, flavin-containing monooxygenases, glutathione, S-transferase, glucuronidation, N-acetylation, and sulfotransferases. Additional chapters present novel approaches to the study of: signaling pathways in the regulation of drug metabolism enzymes, how the modulation of thiols and other low molecular-weight cofactors can alter drug metabolism, and how modulation of drug metabolism pathways can influence antiviral therapy.

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF or GCSF) is a secreted glycoprotein that stimulates the proliferation and differentiation of granulocyte precursor cells, and induces mobilization of peripheral blood progenitor cells from the bone marrow. Development of recombinant human G-CSF has had a profound impact on the treatment of many diseases, including severe chronic neutropenia and cancer, and has enabled peripheral stem cell transplantation to supplant bone marrow transplantation in the autologous setting. This Milestones in Drug Therapy volume describes the experience of the last 20 years of treatment with recombinant human G-CSF, including the basic science, the use of recombinant human G-CSF in both the oncology and nononcology settings, and the safety and economics of its use. Many of the authors were the original investigators of recombinant human G-CSF and other authors are key researchers who provide their outlook for the next 20 years for use of and research with recombinant human G-CSF.

This second book of the three-volume collection "Ion Transport in Tumor Biology" helps readers gain comprehensive knowledge of the pathophysiology of cancer. The authors highlight that ion transport proteins, channels and transporters - collectively referred to as the transportome - are significantly involved in the development and progression of cancer. Nearly 90% of malignant tumor diseases originate from epithelial cells, the function of which, for the most part, is based on the transportome. This volume focuses on molecular principles by showing that dysregulated expression and/or function of ion transporters have been correlated with malignancy in the vast majority of tumor diseases. Within the story of the various chapters, the authors line out various malfunctions of the transportome and where they can be found at different stages of the metastatic cascade. The authors describe how the interactions between the tumor cells' transportome and the environment reinforce mesenchymal behaviour of cancer cells and contribute to their uncontrolled proliferation, migration, invasion, intra- and extravasation up to the formation of metastases. As part of a three-volume collection, this book will fascinate members of the active research community, as well as clinicians from the cancer field.

The need for effective therapy to treat Alzheimer 's disease is greater than ever, but there is still no drug therapy that can stop or reverse the progression of the disease. There is, however, a great deal of anticipation over the imminent development of effective therapies as a result of the identification of promising targets for drug development. This book investigates these targets and examines ongoing strategies to develop effective therapies for this devastating neurodegenerative condition.

This book presents the development and experimental validation of the structural test strategy called Oscillation-Based Test OBT in short. The results presented here assert, not only from a theoretical point of view, but also based on a wide experimental support, that OBT is an efficient defect-oriented test solution, complementing the existing functional test techniques for mixed-signal circuits.

Our recent understanding of the cellular and molecular defects and the regulation of the apoptotic signalling pathways has resulted in rationally designed anticancer strategies and the development of novel agents that regulates apoptosis. A comprehensive review of all apoptotic-related anticancer therapies is not the purpose of this book. However, in the volume of this book with 11 chapters, we have described a number of novel apoptotic regulators that have shown promising value and also great feasibility for cancer treatment. These novel agents either occur naturally or are chemically synthesized. While we are excited about the discovery and development of these novel apoptotic regulators as potential anticancer agents, a degree of caution should be always borne in mind when interpreting the success of preclinical pro-apoptotic candidates since potential problems inevitably lie ahead. These problems usually include target specificity, unanticipated toxicity, compound stability, formulation issues, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles. Nevertheless, we believe that this collection of 11 chapters by established leaders in the area of apoptosis will be of great interest to not only academics working in the field of cancer research and apoptosis but also pharmaceutical and pharmacological industries that . We are looking forward to the further development to push these potential agents toward clinical stage.

This book can be used to provide insight into this important application of biophysics for those who are planning a career in protein therapeutic development, and for those outside this area who are interested in understanding it better. The initial chapters describe the underlying theory, and strengths and weaknesses of the different techniques commonly used during therapeutic development. The majority of the chapters discuss the applications of these techniques, including case studies, across the product lifecycle from early discovery, where the focus is on identifying targets, and screening for potential drug product candidates, through expression and purification, large scale production, formulation development, lot-to-lot comparability studies, and commercial support including investigations.

Marking the 200th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, The Division of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology hosted a group of about 90 scientists from 15 different countries to discuss the new trends in radiopharmaceutical synthesis, quality assurance and regulatory control. This event took place in Washington, D.C. on August 27-30, 1990. When I first suggested the idea for this symposium, a group of scientists who pioneered the proposed topics offered their help to organize and run such a big task with me. Their names are listed here in appreciation. Thomas E. Boothe Cyclotron Facility, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Florida, USA Robert F. Dannals Division of Nuclear Medicine, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Anthony L. Feliu Julich Nuclear Research Center, Julich, Germany Joanna S. Fowler Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA George W. Kabalka Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA Hank F. Kung Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA James F. Lamb Imagents, Inc., Houston, Texas, USA Harold A. O'Brien, Jr. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA Joseph R. Peterson Dept. of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA Hernan Vera Ruiz International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria Roy S. Tilbury University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA In addition, a number of distinguished colleagues have participated in the process of reviewing the manuscripts presented in this volume. Their effort is sincerely acknowledged.

Records cataloging the healing powers of natural substances - plants, minerals, and animal byproducts - date back more than 4,000 years. There is no denying the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine, yet - until recently - the roots of this knowledge were largely lost in superstition and folklore. However, the use of herbs as an alternative medical treatment for many illnesses has increased steadily over the last decade, particularly since such herbs are categorized as "Natural Food Products" and are not yet subject to strict control by the FDA. Reports published in 1996 indicate that more than 10% of the US population has used herbal remedies.

This book does not debate the value of Eastern or Western medicine but brings together Chinese herbal lore and Western scientific methods in a current, comprehensive treatise on the pharmacology of Chinese herbs. This second edition of The Pharmacology of Chinese Herbs presents the chemical composition, pharmacological action, toxicity, and therapeutic value of 473 herbs.

The book:
o Classifies herbs according to their therapeutic value
o Informs how active ingredients in herbs may adversely interact with other herbs or drugs
o Evaluates which herbs have the potential for more investigation and possible use as drugs
o Describes the pharmacological action of each herb based on recent scientific study and describes each herb according to Chinese pharmacopoeia and folk medicine
o Provides a review of Chinese medical history
o Presents information on how to use modern chemical techniques for enhancing or modifying herbal ingredients into better agents with more strength and activity


What's New in the Second Edition
Discussions on:
o Herbs and their specific effects on the immune system
o Herbs and fertility/infertility
o Anti-cancer herbs
o Anti-HIV herbs
o Anti-malarial herbs
o Ginseng and ginsenosides
o Anti-Alzheimer herbs
o Herbs affecting the nervous system

In this fast moving field the main goal of this volume is to provide up-to-date information on the molecular and functional properties and pharmacology of mammalian TRP channels. Leading experts in the field will describe properties of a single TRP protein/channel or portray more general principles of TRP function and important pathological situations linked to mutations of TRP genes or their altered expression. Thereby this volume on Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) Channels provides valuable information for readers with different expectations and backgrounds, for those who are approaching this field of research as well as for those wanting to make a trip to TRPs.

This book discusses specific immune cell regulatory pathway(s), immune cell types, or other mechanisms involved in host responses to tuberculosis that can be potentially targeted for host-directed therapy (HDT). The pathways/mechanisms investigated are either protective - thus calling for pathway/factor enhancing drugs - or maladaptive - thus calling for pathway/factor inhibitory drugs. Discovery and development (pre-clinical and clinical) of candidate HDT agents will also be elucidated, as well as approaches for HDT of other diseases. The benefit to the reader will derive from learning about the biology of multiple host pathways involved in health and disease, how these pathways are disrupted or dysregulated during tuberculosis, and which druggable targets exist in these pathways. This book provides the reader with a roadmap of current and future directions of HDT against tuberculosis. Since the host pathways/factors involved in protective or maladaptive responses to tuberculosis are not disease-specific, information learned from the context of tuberculosis likely will be relevant to other infectious and non-infectious diseases.

The book focuses on novel interpenetrating polymer network (IPN)/semi-IPN technologies for drug delivery and biomedical applications. The dynamism of the design and development of interpenetrating network polymers is based on their ability to provide free volume for the easy encapsulation of drugs in the three-dimensional network structure obtained by cross-linking two or more polymer networks. Natural polymer-based IPNs can deliver drugs at a controlled rate over an extended period of time, while novel IPNs ensure better mechanical strength and sustained/ controlled drug-delivery properties. This book presents an overview of the use of this technology to fabricate nanomedicine, hydrogels, nanoparticles, and microparticles, thereby unlocking IPN's potential in the area of drug delivery and biomedical engineering. It also discusses applications of IPN systems in cancer therapy and tissue engineering, and describes the various IPN systems and their wide usage and applications in drug delivery.

This detailed volume explores a wide range of evidence-based complementary medicine and various bio-analytical techniques used to define botanical products. Collecting recent work and current developments in the field of contemporary phytomedicine as well as their future possibilities in human health care, the book includes unique contributions in the form of chapters on phytomedicine and screening biological activities explained with diverse hyphenated techniques, as well as issues related to herbal medications, such as efficacy, adulteration, safety, toxicity, regulations, and drug delivery. Written for the Springer Protocols Handbooks series, chapters feature advice from experts on how to best conduct future experiments. Extensive and practical, Natural Product Experiments in Drug Discovery serves as an ideal reference for students, professors, and researchers in universities, R&D institutes, pharmaceutical and herbal enterprises, and health organizations.

Nikolaus Seiler, Benoit Duranton and Francis Raul: The polyamine oxidase inactivator MDL 72527.- Zhi Hong and Craig E. Cameron: Pleiotropic mechanisms of ribavirin antiviral activities.- Jie Hong Hu and Charles Krieger: Protein phosphorylation networks in motor neuron death.- James O. Schenk: The functioning neuronal transporter for dopamine: kinetic mechanisms and effects of amphetamines, cocaine and methylphenidate.- Laszlo Prokai: Central nervous system effects of thyrotropin-releasing hormone and ist analogues: opportunities and perspectives for drug discovery and development.- David F. Horrobin: A new category of psychotropic drugs: neuroactive lipids as exemplified by ethyl eicosapentaenoate (E-E).- Suprabhat Ray, Reema Rastogi and Atul Kumar: Current status of estrogen receptors

Metered Dose Inhaler Technology explores the technologies of pressurized metered dose inhalation (MDI) delivery systems and provides practical, easy-to-use guidance to effective product formulation. With contributions from an international panel of authors, the book addresses the global phase-out of chloroflurocarbon chemicals (CFCs), the generation of propellant systems to replace them, and their associated new medications and therapies. Topics include the manufacture of metered dose inhalers, particle size analysis in inhalation therapy, development and testing, pharmcokinetics and metabolism of propellants, toxicology, and more.

Medicinal chemistry is both science and art. The science of medicinal chemistry offers mankind one of its best hopes for improving the quality of life. The art of medicinal chemistry continues to challenge its practitioners with the need for both intuition and experience to discover new drugs. Hence sharing the experience of drug research is uniquely beneficial to the field of medicinal chemistry. Drug research requires interdisciplinary team-work at the interface between chemistry, biology and medicine. Therefore, the topic-related series Topics in Medicinal Chemistry covers all relevant aspects of drug research, e.g. pathobiochemistry of diseases, identification and validation of (emerging) drug targets, structural biology, drugability of targets, drug design approaches, chemogenomics, synthetic chemistry including combinatorial methods, bioorganic chemistry, natural compounds, high-throughput screening, pharmacological in vitro and in vivo investigations, drug-receptor interactions on the molecular level, structure-activity relationships, drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, toxicology and pharmacogenomics. In general, special volumes are edited by well known guest editors.

Despite the growing interest in biodiversity as a source of valuable new products and biochemical information, there have been very few systematic efforts to estimate the value of preserving biological resources for this purpose. Drugs of Natural Origin gives you a detailed model of the value of wild biological resources for pharmaceutical research and development. Author Anthony Artuso presents several decision models and analytical techniques that you can use to assess the economics of biochemical prospecting efforts whether you re part of a private corporation, nonprofit research institute, developing country government, or international organization.Drugs of Natural Origin explores the policy options available to developing countries and international organizations to tap into the emerging market for biological resources in such a way as to provide both incentives for conservation of biodiversity and new opportunities for economic development. You ll find evaluations of a range of proactive strategies that can be used to protect and enhance developing countries'biological resources. In addition, you ll learn about a bioeconomic model that incorporates the potential biochemical and genetic value of a diverse ecosystem into land use planning and development.Developing country and international policymakers will find Drugs of Natural Origin a useful tool for determining how best to conserve biodiversity, while sustainably developing biological resources. This book outlines a comprehensive and integrated set of policy measures, research and development initiatives, and financing arrangements that could increase biochemical research activity while providing incentives for conservation of biodiversity and a potential path for sustainable development.Managers of pharmaceutical R&D programs will use the decision models developed in Drugs of Natural Origin to plan, evaluate, and continually refine their R&D programs. The book s theoretic framework provides you with an analytical tool for systematically evaluating critical decisions at each stage of the R&D process. Thus, you learn to incorporate both subjective assessments and quantitative data into a comprehensive framework for R&D decisionmaking.

In "Borderline Personality and Mood Disorders: Comorbidity and Controversy," a panel of distinguished experts reviews the last two decades of progress in scientific inquiry about the relationship between mood and personality disorders and the influence of this empirical data on our ways of conceptualizing and treating them. This comprehensive title opens with an introduction defining general trends both influencing the expansion of the mood disorder spectrum and undermining clinical recognition and focus on personality disorders. The overlaps and differences between MDD and BPD in phenomenology and biological markers are then reviewed, followed by a review of the overlaps and distinctions between more atypical mood disorder variants. Further chapters review the current state of thinking on the distinctions between bipolar disorder and BPD, with attention to problems of misdiagnosis and use of clinical vignettes to illustrate important distinguishing features. Two models explaining the relationship between mood, temperament, and personality are offered, followed by a review of the literature on risk factors and early signs of BPD and mood disorders in childhood through young adulthood as well as a review of the longitudinal studies on BPD and mood disorders. The last segment of the book includes three chapters on treatment. The book closes with a conclusion with a synthesis of the current status of thinking on the relationship between mood and borderline personality disorder.

An invaluable contribution to the literature, "Borderline Personality and Mood Disorders: Comorbidity and Controversy" insightfully addresses the mood and personality disorders realms of psychiatry and outlines that it has moved away from contentious debate and toward the possibility of synthesis, providing increasing clarity on the relationship between mood and personality to inform improvements in clinical management of the convergence of these psychiatric domains in common practice.

Introducing the most recent advances in crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, molecular modeling techniques, and computational combinatorial chemistry, this unique, interdisciplinary reference explains the application of three-dimensional structural information in the design of pharmaceutical drugs. Furnishing authoritative analyses by world-renowned experts, Structure-Based Drug Design discusses protein structure-based design in optimizing HIV protease inhibitors and details the biochemical, genetic, and clinical data on HIV-1 reverse transcriptase presents recent results on the high-resolution three-dimensional structure of the catalytic core domain of HIV-1 integrase as a foundation for divergent combination therapy focuses on structure-based design strategies for uncovering receptor antagonists to treat inflammatory diseases demonstrates a systematic approach to the design of inhibitory compounds in cancer treatment reviews current knowledge on the Interleukin-1 (IL-1) system and progress in the development of IL-1 modulators describes the influence of structure-based methods in designing capsid-binding inhibitors for relief of the common cold and much more!

This third and final volume in the "Ion Transport in Tumor Biology" collection presents novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in cancer based on the exploitation of ion transport proteins. The authors critically examine several transportome members, particularly Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Cl- channels, as well as organic solute carriers regarding their suitability as therapeutic targets. Synergistic effects resulting from the combined use of classical cytostatics with ion transport-inhibiting drugs are pointed out, and the capability of bispecific antibodies to function as anticancer drugs is discussed. As readers will also learn, the use of ion channel inhibitors could improve the outcome of radiotherapy because the development of radio-resistance during radiotherapeutic treatment often correlates with increases in the expression levels and conductance of ion channels. The translational topics of this volume form a bridge between biochemical research and therapeutic application. As part of a three-volume collection, this book will fascinate members of the active research community, as well as clinicians in the cancer field.

Cells maintain uneven distribution of Na, K and Ca ions across the cell membrane and membranes of intracellular organellae. Cells exert their functions by allowing for some ion to cross the membrane through ion channels which either produces an electrical effect across the membrane or switches on a series of chemical or physicochemical reactions. This is a comprehensive book about these vitally important ion channels with detailed description of the molecular structure and function and especially of activators and inhibitors. All chapters are written by renowned specialists in their field.

The first book in the newly created book series, Computer-Aided Drug Discovery and Design, focuses on the computational aspects of early drug discovery, drug target identification, and validation. It revises current classical paradigms in target and phenotypic-based drug design with still ingrained approximations and concepts and discusses the research in the new network approach concept that include kinetic selectivity and metabolic analysis. Many often-overlooked approximations and concepts in drug discovery are fully covered. Drug Target Selection and Validation includes both introductory sections and research-based sections to be of use to both students and research scientists in drug discovery, design, kinetics and metabolic analysis. Pharmaceutical scientists, pharmaceutics, drug developers, pharmacologists, biomedical researchers in computer science, medicinal chemists, and precision medicine developers benefit from the information provided. The book concludes with a chapter on chemical and structural databases.

With the use of crack on the rise in American cities, there is more need than ever to understand the biological, environmental, and social factors behind cocaine addiction, as well as the pharmacological properties of cocaine that make it such an addictive drug. The Neurobiology of Cocaine Addiction helps clinicians and researchers analyze research findings and their relevance to the clinical treatment of cocaine dependency. To do this, it looks at the whole spectrum of cocaine use, from trends in cocaine-involved deaths, hospital emergencies, arrests, and treatment admissions to the specific impact the drug has on brain function. The book reports on important findings from positron emission tomography (PET) and a "binge" pattern cocaine administration mode. This will enable you to improve your understanding of how cocaine alters the pleasure/reward system of the brain and creates new instinctual needs that displace the inherent instinctual needs of hunger and sex.By reading The Neurobiology of Cocaine Addiction, you will sharpen your knowledge of the basic actions of cocaine, the factors related to daily cocaine use, the neurobiological basis of addictive diseases, and drug-induced alterations in normal physiology. You will also learn about: the coexistence of cocaine and heroin addiction cocaine's disruption of the endogenous opioid system QEEG and how it can play a potentially useful role in drug development and planning hypotheses of sensitization in the pathophysiology of cocaine dependence factors that predict daily cocaine use among patients in a methadone maintenance program abnormalities in brain function that persist for up to six months after last cocaine use patterns of cocaine use the importance of prospective data analysis and the limitations of a self-selective study groupClinicians, researchers, psychiatrists, and other professionals in chemical dependency and narcotics rehabilitation will turn the last page of The Neurobiology of Cocaine Addiction with a better understanding of cocaine's addictive qualities and the characteristics of the individuals who become addicted to it. You will see what headway has been made in research at some of the nation's top laboratories, but you will also see what remains to be done. Hopefully, you will find where you can make a contribution either at the practical level, the research level, or both.