This volume presents research on current trends in chemical regulations - a fa- growing, complex, and increasingly internationalized field. The book grew out from a multidisciplinary research project entitled 'Regulating Chemical Risks in the Baltic Sea Area: Science, Politics, and the Media', led by Michael Gilek at Soedertoern University, Sweden. This research project involved scholars and experts from natural as well as social sciences, based at Soedertoern University, Swedish Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Karolinska Institutet, and Umea University. The project group organized a multidisciplinary research conference on chemical risk regulations, held in Stockholm, August 15-17, 2007. Most of the contributions published in this book were, in draft form, first presented at this conference. The conference, like the ensuing edited volume, expanded the geographical focus beyond the Baltic Sea area to include wider European, and to some extent also global trends. Many thanks to all project colleagues and conference participants! We are very grateful for the generous financial support received from The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies (OEstersjoestiftelsen), The Swedish Research Council Formas, and from Soedertoern University. Without this support the present book would not have been possible. Special thanks to all of our fellow contributors, all of whom have submitted to- cal papers based on high-quality research. Many thanks also to Tobias Evers, who assisted us with technical editing. Finally, we are grateful for the professionalism shown by our editors at Springer.

Playing an important role in the treatment of neurological disorders, the delivery of drugs to central nervous system (CNS), both administered directly and administered systematically for targeted action, encounters a major challenge in the form of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which limits the access of drugs to the brain substance. In Drug Delivery to the Central Nervous System, experts in the field present essential methods used to deliver therapeutics across the BBB, both in experimental animals and in humans. In addition to those methods, several overviews of innovative methods and their applications are presented in order to give a glimpse of the future of this research. As a volume in the successful Neuromethods series, this book presents its protocols with the kind of detailed description and implementation advice that is crucial for getting optimal results.

Authoritative and cutting-edge, Drug Delivery to the Central Nervous System serves as an ideal guide to scientists continuing to pursue knowledge of the delicate interactions between pharmaceuticals and the brain.

The Pope's Piano is a collection of three short fiction stories. The first two tales, "Violin Master" and "The Pope's Piano," have central music themes. Several cats are side characters in the last two stories. All three are best described as religious mysteries where strange, magical things happen that are best attributed to the workings of God.

The third story, "The Kitten with the Bent Ear," describes a college professor leading class discussions on important and difficult topics that affect our daily lives, like the death penalty, expensive medical procedures, abortion, immigration, and end-of-life medical decisions. Interspersed with the class discussion is the story of the professor's cats, including one with several deformities. In "The Kitten with the Bent Ear," the harsh and pragmatic decisions animals in the wild take is contrasted to what are man's options. This story will allow each of us to see all sides of controversial issues and help you solidify your thinking as to what are practical and just solutions.

The trilogy may bring the reader closer to God and let you enjoy the mysteries of life. With love and belief, anything is possible, even miracles.

This work describes the importance of tumor microenvironment in favouring tumor progression and angiogenesis. Under physiological conditions, angiogenesis is dependent on the balance of positive and negative angiogenic modulators within the vascular microenvironment and requires the functional activities of a number of molecules, including angiogenic factors, extracellular matrix proteins, adhesion molecules and proteolytic enzymes. In normal tissues, vascular quiescence is maintained by the dominant influence of endogenous angiogenesis inhibitors over angiogenic stimuli. Tumor angiogenesis is linked to a switch in the balance between positive and negative regulators, and mainly depends on the release by inflammatory or neoplastic cells of specific growth factors for endothelial cells, that stimulate the growth of the blood vessels of the host or the down-regulation of natural angiogenesis inhibitors. In particular, the inflammatory infiltrate may contribute to tumor angiogenesis, and there are many reports of associations between tumor inflammatory infiltrate, vascularity and prognosis. New therapeutic approaches have been developed with the aim to control tumor angiogenesis through targeting of different components of tumor microenvironment.

Fully updated to reflect the nutritional needs of the '80s, this new edition of the classic guide to herbal medicine, natural foods and home remedies underscores the fundamental principle that true healing consists of a return to natural habits of living.

Volume 2 discusses the relationship between patient and caregiver in terms of structural and interactional determinants. The impact of provider characteristics on "compliance" and "adherence" is given especially noteworthy treatment. Each volume features extensive supplementary and integrative material prepared by the editor, the detailed index to the entire four-volume set, and a glossary of health behavior terminology.

Advances in Extraction and Applications of Bioactive Phytochemicals presents comprehensive and systematic coverage of extraction techniques for bioactive phytochemical compounds and their delivery and therapeutic effectiveness. Sections focus on the pharmaceutical industry's perspective, aiming at compiling recent advances of natural products in the field of drug delivery, including a brief overview of plant-based bioactive molecules, utilization of different plant elements for the extraction of phytochemicals, a compilation of conventional extraction approaches, advanced extraction methods, including Supercritical carbon-dioxide extraction, computational methods to improve production, drug delivery aspects of bioactive phytochemicals, their therapeutic effectiveness, and more. This book is a complete reference targeted at pharma researchers in academic and corporate environments and those willing to apply the most current extraction methods and health applications. Researchers in medicinal chemistry and chemical engineering will also benefit from this comprehensive resource.

The main effect of calcium channel blockers is the blockade of calcium entry into cells through voltage operated calcium channels. This volume gives a comprehensive overview of the different classes of CCBs and their various effects. It covers historical development, pharmacology, clinical aspects, and perspectives. All chapters are written by Prof. T. Godfraind, a world leading expert in the field.

Antimicrobial Peptides: Challenges and Future Perspectives covers the latest developments about antimicrobial peptides in the scenario of drug resistance. The book is divided into 16 chapters arranged in sequence and preceded by chapters on historical developments and their role as regulatory molecules in innate defense mechanism. Emphasis is given to purification techniques and characterization suitable for interdisciplinary research. Chapters provide an inventory of various antimicrobial peptides, from a diverse array of organisms such as bacteria, fungi, insects, amphibians, plants and mammals. A section on marine ecosystem broadens readers understanding on marine based antimicrobial peptides. Additional sections provide an informative overview on peptides with antiviral properties and those targeting multi-drug resistant bacteria. Recent reports and mechanism on resistance against antimicrobial peptides are also provided, along with key insights into the challenges and future perspectives of peptide drug development.

"Pharmaceutical Pharmacology", encompassing 78 chapters, is divided into four major comprehensive parts. Part A deals with general pharmacology, pharmacology of peripheral nervous system and pharmacology of central nervous system. Part B is concerned with pharmacology of cardiovascular system, drugs acting on the hemopoetic system, drugs acting on the urinary system, autocoids and drugs acting on the respiratory system. Part C contains chapters on drugs acting on the gastrointestinal tract, pharmacology of endocrine system, chemotherapy and principles of toxicology. Part D discusses mainly clinical pharmacy, pharmacotherapy, important disorders of organ system and their management, therapeutic drug monitoring and concept of essential drugs and rational drug use.To provide a realistic approach to the understanding of the subject, each chapter commences with a crisp introduction followed by classification, treatment of each class of drugs with reference to important 'drugs' vis-a-vis pharmacological actions, pharmacokinetic actions, mechanism of action, therapeutic uses, dosage regimens, adverse drug reactions, drug interaction, etc. The text is profusely illustrated with labelled diagrams, graphics and lucid explanations. It provides the reader an explicit route starting from the molecular understanding of receptors and drug activities to the therapeutic applications of the most important class of drugs.

This book is targeted to biologists with limited statistical background and to statisticians and computer scientists interested in being effective collaborators on multi-disciplinary DNA microarray projects. State-of-the-art analysis methods are presented with minimal mathematical notation and a focus on concepts. This book is unique because it is authored by statisticians at the National Cancer Institute who are actively involved in the application of microarray technology. Many laboratories are not equipped to effectively design and analyze studies that take advantage of the promise of microarrays. Many of the software packages available to biologists were developed without involvement of statisticians experienced in such studies and contain tools that may not be optimal for particular applications. This book provides a sound preparation for designing microarray studies that have clear objectives, and for selecting analysis tools and strategies that provide clear and valid answers. The book offers an in depth understanding of the design and analysis of experiments utilizing microarrays and should benefit scientists regardless of what software packages they prefer. In order to provide all readers with hands on experience in data analysis, it includes an Appendix tutorial on the use of BRB-ArrayTools and step by step analyses of several major datasets using this software which is freely available from the National Cancer Institute for non-commercial use. The authors are current or former members of the Biometric Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute.  They have collaborated on major biomedical studies utilizing microarrays and in the development of statistical methodology for the design and analysis of microarray investigations. Dr. Simon, chief of the branch, is also the architect of BRB-ArrayTools.

This book is intended to serve as quick reference handbook on so-called designer drugs. These new, mainly synthetic compounds are also often referred to as analogues of controlled substances. This new work provides a unique directory of 104 designer drugs.
This class of drugs is rapidly growing in variety and number of compounds. Although identification, toxicology and other properties have been thoroughly investigated, their analogues and derivatives remain poorly documented. This book fills the gap.
Data which is available is often contradictory and confused. This directory provides a critical treatment of the subject which is thoroughly indexed including both the subject index and an index listing more that 230 street names of the described designer drugs.
Divided into two parts; the first section describes aspects of designer drug manufacture, new abuse trends, sources of information and terminology. The second, descriptive part, classifies the drugs into ten main categories according to their chemical structure and prevalent pharmacological action. A separate chapter is devoted to each category, followed by a set of corresponding data sheets, street names and eventual synonyms, Toxicological data, short notes on the history of drugs as well as the most pertinent bibliographic references are included.

Antiplatelet therapy is the cornerstone of treatment of ischemic cardiovascular disease and over the last few years spectacular advancements in this field have been recorded. This is the first comprehensive handbook entirely dedicated to all the aspects of antiplatelet therapy. The book is divided into three main sections, pathophysiology, pharmacology and therapy, for a total of 23 chapters. A large group of leading experts from different European countries and from the USA, both from academia and industry, have contributed to the book. Besides a detailed overview on the pharmacology and clinical applications of all the currently used or of the novel antiplatelet agents, innovative approaches (e.g. intracellular signalling as an antiplatelet target, small RNAs as platelet therapeutics, etc.) or unconventional aspects (e.g. pharmacologic modulation of the inflammatory action of platelets are also treated. The book is oriented to both basic investigators and to clinicians involved with research on platelet inhibition or with the clinical use of antiplatelet therapies.

Focused more specifically on the recent advances in applications of various metals and their complexes used in biomedicine, particularly in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases. The editors give equal importance to other key aspects such as toxicological issues and safety concerns. The application of metals in the biomedical field is highly interdisciplinary and has a broad appeal across all biomedical specialties. Biomedical Applications of Metals is particularly focused on covering the role of metals in medicine and the development of novel therapeutic products and solutions in the form of alternative medicines, and some topics on Indian traditional medicine i.e., "Ayurveda". In Section I, the book discusses the role of metals in medicines and include chapters on nanoparticles, noble metals, medical devices, copper. selenium, silver, and microbial pathogens; while Section II includes topics on metals toxicity including heavy metals, carcinogens, cancer therapy, Bhasma's and chelating agents used in Ayurveda, and biochemical and molecular targets including actions of metals. These new and emerging concepts of applications of metals in medicine, their crucial role in management of microbial resistance, and their use in the treatment of various chronic diseases is essential information for toxicologists, and clinical and biomedical researchers.

The young investigator with an idea has to negotiate many institutional, federal, and industrial challenges in order to get a product to market. Nowhere is described the steps in the development of new drugs, diagnos tics, or devices; the person with an idea has nowhere to turn for information and details. The young investigator may understand the elements of basic and clinical research, but ordinarily has no insight into novel ways of finding research funding or how to explore to find the funding opportunities that are available. The young investigator has little knowledge of the mecha nisms to bring an idea through the developmental phases to the market. There are other players in this complex endeavor with whom he or she has no contact, including those from industry, the Food and Drug Administration, and the legal community. Exposure to the philosophy of product develop ment and to procedural information would be useful to the scientific com munity, as would contact with those who have successfully taken an idea to a finished product. A first attempt to do this was the symposium on Idea to Product: The Process, sponsored by Serono Symposia USA and held No vember 17 to 20, 1994, in Washington, D.C. This book comprises the pro ceedings of that meeting. The editors are indebted to the many contributors to this volume, and we are especially grateful to Serono Symposia USA and to Leslie Nies and her staff for their expertise in organizing the symposium."

Pharmaceutical scientists in industry and academia will appreciate this single reference for its detailed experimental procedures for conducting biopharmaceutical studies. This well-illustrated guide allows them to establish, validate, and implement commonly used in situ and in vitro model systems. Chapters provide ready access to these methodologies for studies of the intestinal, buccal, nasal and respiratory, vaginal, ocular, and dermal epithelium as well as the endothelial and elimination barriers.