Development and Implications of Antimicrobial Resistance One of the most ominous trends in the field of antimicrobial chemotherapy over the past decade has been the increasing pace of development of antimicrobial resistance among microbial pathogens. The hypothesis that man can discover a magic bullet to always cure a particular infection has proved false. Physicians are now seeing and treating patients for which there are few therapeutic alternatives, and in some cases, none at all. Until recently there was little concern that physicians might be losing the war in our ability to compete with the evolving resistance patterns of microbial pathogens. Now the general public is very aware of the threat to them if they become infected, thanks to cover story articles in major magazines such as Time, Newsweek, newspapers, and other news sources. Antimicrobial resistance is not a novel problem. Shortly after the widespread introduction of penicillin in the early 1940s, the first strains of penicillin-resistant staphylococci were described. Today it is an uncommon event for a clinical laboratory to isolate an S. aureus that is sensitive to penicillin. Other gram-positive strains of bacteria have become resistant, including the exquisitely sensitive Streptococcus pneumoniae. Sensitivity to vancomycin was once so uniform that it was used in routine clinical laboratories as a surrogate marker for whether an organism should be classified as a gram-positive. That criterion can no longer be relied upon because of emerging resistance among some species. Gram-negative bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites all have succeeded in developing resistance.

The Vaccine Book, Second Edition provides comprehensive information on the current and future state of vaccines. It reveals the scientific opportunities and potential impact of vaccines, including economic and ethical challenges, problems encountered when producing vaccines, how clinical vaccine trials are designed, and how to introduce vaccines into widespread use. Although vaccines are now available for many diseases, there are still challenges ahead for major diseases, such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. This book is designed for students, researchers, public health officials, and all others interested in increasing their understanding of vaccines. It answers common questions regarding the use of vaccines in the context of a rapidly expanding anti-vaccine environment. This new edition is completely updated and revised with new and unique topics, including new vaccines, problems of declining immunization rates, trust in vaccines, the vaccine hesitancy, and the social value of vaccines for the community vs. the individual child's risk.

Autophagy: Cancer, Other Pathologies, Inflammation, Immunity, Infection, and Aging, Volume 10 offer a valuable guide to both cellular processes, while encouraging researchers to explore their potentially important connections. Autophagy serves to maintain healthy cells, tissues, and organs, but also promotes cancer survival and growth of established tumors. Impaired or deregulated autophagy can also contribute to disease pathogenesis. This is the tenth volume of the multivolume series that discusses, in detail, almost all aspects of the autophagy machinery in the context of health, cancer, and other pathologies. Autophagy maintains homeostasis during starvation or stress conditions by balancing the synthesis of cellular components and their deregulation by autophagy. Volume 10 of the Autophagy series discusses the role of a novel binuclear palladacycle complex that inhibits melanoma growth through apoptosis and autophagy.

The eye can become involved in immune-mediated diseases that affect it alone or as part of a multi-organ disease process. Much immunological attention has been focused on other organs affected by these processes and the subject of the immunology of eye diseases is a relatively new one. Many of these diseases that involve the eye are not life-threatening but can result in devastat ing loss of sight that if bilateral, will have major effects on the patient's life. Systemic immunological investigations are generally unhelpful in these patients and one of the major problems in this field has been the lack of diseased tissue available for examination to determine the pathological processes involved. Our poor understanding of basic mechanisms of disease in the eye has meant that treatment of many of these conditions is often inadequate. It has become possible to apply in the eye many ofthe techniques used to investigate the role of the immune system in other systems. Animal models of many of the disease processes have also allowed dissection of the immune response both within and outside the eye. It is my belief that a greater understanding of the mechanisms by which the structures in the eye become damaged will allow more specific and effective therapeutic strategies to be devised."

The Evolution of the Immune System: Conservation and Diversification is the first book of its kind that prompts a new perspective when describing and considering the evolution of the immune system. Its unique approach summarizes, updates, and provides new insights on the different immune receptors, soluble factors, and immune cell effectors.

utoimmunity is the downstream outcome of a rather extensive and coordinated series of events that include loss of self-tolerance, peripheral lymphocyte Aactivation, disruption of the blood-systems barriers, cellular infiltration into the target organs and local inflammation. Cytokines, adhesion molecules, growth factors, antibodies, and other molecules induce and regulate critical cell functions that perpetuate inflammation, leading to tissue injury and clinical phenotype. The nature and intensity of this response as well as the physiological ability to restore homeostasis are to a large extent conditioned by the unique amino acid sequences that define allelic variants on each of the numerous participating mol ecules. Therefore, the coding genes in their germline configuration play a primary role in determining who is at risk for developing such disorders, how the disease progresses, and how someone responds to therapy. Although genetic components in these diseases are clearly present, the lack of obvious and homogeneous modes of transmission has slowed progress by prevent ing the full exploitation of classical genetic epidemiologic techniques. Furthermore, autoimmune diseases are characterized by modest disease risk heritability and m- tifaceted interactions with environmental influences. Yet, several recent discoveries have dramatically changed our ability to examine genetic variation as it relates to human disease. In addition to the development of large-scale laboratory methods and tools to efficiently recognize and catalog DNA diversity, over the past few years there has been real progress in the application of new analytical and data-manage ment approaches.

This second edition provides new and updated chapters useful for the study of Regulatory B cells. Organized in four sections, chapters detail basic methods for the isolation and immunophenotypical analysis of these cells, experimental approaches for the ex vivo generation/expansion of IL-10 producing B cells, molecular biology techniques for the analysis of IL-10 expression and production, and animal models mimicking pathologic settings. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include an introduction to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, as well as tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Regulatory B Cells: Methods and Protocols, Second Edition aims to be useful to the scientific community and serve to clarify some unsolved aspects of Regulatory B Cells research.

This book focuses on nanomaterials with antibacterial properties. Antibacterial resistance is a growing concern that poses a serious threat to public health worldwide. This book looks at the fabrication, material's properties, and characterization of a range of metallic, bimetallic, and metal-oxide-based nanomaterials that can be exploited for their antimicrobial properties. A key focus of this book is its emphasis on 'green' synthesis of nanomaterials, as many conventional routes of nanomaterial fabrication do not fulfill key sustainability criteria in terms of their toxicity and lack of eco-friendliness. Additionally, this book introduces the application of nanoparticles to veterinary medicine. Given the ever-increasing global livestock population coupled with the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens of animal origin (bacterial, parasitic, and hemoprotozoa), the use of nanoparticles as antibacterial agents represents a paradigm shift in every aspect of veterinary care. Authored by scholars with combined expertise in nanomaterials and veterinary medicine, this book provides valuable information for researchers working on sustainable nanomaterials with antibacterial properties.

Psychiatric disorders are one of the most dramatic burdens for humankind. The role of immune dysfunction in the pathophysiology of these disorders has emerged during the last years, because there has been tremendous progress in psychoneuroimmunological research. Many results are presented here by pioneers in the field. The book addresses various effects of the immune system on the pathophysiology and course of psychiatric disorders and highlights the possible future impact on treatment decisions of various psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and depression. The contributions cover the role of in utero immune challenges on the development of schizophrenia, the role of infections, and autoimmune diseases and mild immune activation in the development of depression and schizophrenia, the influence of immune responses in other disorders such as Tourette's, Alzheimer's, and OCD, the connections between mental and physical pain as well as between anti-inflammatory and antipsychotic drugs.

Insights to Neuroimmune Biology, Second Edition discusses the systemic regulatory network, coordination, organization, and interpretation of the rapidly accumulating knowledge on the topic of neuroimmune biology, with an ultimate goal of helping readers understand the function of higher organisms, including man, in their entire complexity. This publication provides assessments and interpretations of accumulated experimental evidence, enabling the scientific community to keep abreast of essential advancements of existing knowledge as we search for greater understanding of the biology of higher organisms.

Immune Rebalancing: The Future of Immunosuppression summarizes the most promising perspectives of immunopharmacology, in particular in the area of immunosuppression by considering molecular pathways, personalized medicine, microbiome and nanomedicine. Modulation of immune responses for therapeutic purposes is a particularly relevant area, given the central role of anomalous immunity in diseases. These diseases vary from the most typically immune-related syndromes (autoimmune diseases, allergy and asthma, immunodeficiencies) to those in which altered immunity and inflammation define the pathological outcomes (chronic infections, tumours, chronic inflammatory and degenerative diseases, metabolic disorders, etc.

In the last decade, research on platelet-activating factor (PAF) has expanded exponentially. Previous conferences on PAF in Paris, 1983, and the subsequent conferences in Gatlinburg, Ten nessee, Tokyo, Snowbird, Utah, and Berlin, at three-yearly intervals, have chronicled the devel opments in the field ofPAF. This volume records the proceedings of the Fifth International Con gress on PAF and Related Lipid Mediators, held at the Free University Medical Hospital Ben jamin Franklin in Berlin, from September 12-16, 1995. We are very much indebted to Free Uni versity Berlin for providing tremendous facilities and financial support. It was a great pleasure to have positive and generous input from the German Science Council (DFG), Bonn, Germany, and British.Biotech, Oxford, United Kingdom. Their support was crucial in making the congress a scientific success. Twenty other organizations provided additional financial support, for which we extend our deepest appreciation. The editors would like to thank all of those who participated in this congress and the authors for their contributions. The organization and planning of the Berlin Congress were carried out by an organizing committee. We gratefully acknowledge the support and assistance of the organizing commit tee members, especially Renate Nigam and Renate Roux for their untiring efforts to make the congress successful. Many colleagues also supported the congress with dedication, hard work, and expert input. We are grateful to them. We also wish to acknowledge the support of G. Sravan Kumar and Louis Kock for their efforts in producing this volume."

The growing knowledge on tumor-immune response interactions and on the tumor microenvironment did not translate so far into better control of cancer by anti-tumor vaccination. The percentage of patients who benefited from vaccination strategies is still too small to justify their general use. It is the aim of this book to present an alternative to the conventional approach of developing injected tumor vaccines to activate anti-tumor immunity, which will fight cancer. It is argued that in situ tumor ablation (destruction) that involves tumor antigen release; cross presentation and the release of danger associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) can make the tumor its own cellular vaccine. Tumor ablation methods using chemicals, radiation, photodynamic therapy, cryoablation, high-temperature, radiofrequency, high intensity focused ultrasound, and electric-based ablation have been developed for focal tumors. In this book experts will deal with two main topics: I. What are the principles of the various ablation modalities, and II. How each method affects the tumor cells and their microenvironment, and how these effects are responsible for the induction of specific anti-tumor immunity. The aims of this book are thus: 1. Familiarize the readers with various methods of in situ tumor ablation. 2. Review the literature and stimulate comparisons on the efficacy of different ablation methods for the treatment of tumors of different histotypes. 3. Review the literature on the effects of various ablation methods on systemic and local anti tumor immunity and on other manifestations of the interactions of tumors with their microenvironment. 4. Stimulate comparative studies on the immunostimulatory effects of different ablation modalities.

Regulatory T Cells in Health and Disease focuses on the mechanism by which T cells become regulatory T cells, the processes which control the number of regulatory T cells in the blood and tissue, and the ways in which regulatory T cell prevent autoimmune disease and interact with infections and cancer.

Computational Immunology: Models and Tools encompasses the methodological framework and application of cutting-edge tools and techniques to study immunological processes at a systems level, along with the concept of multi-scale modeling. The book's emphasis is on selected cases studies and application of the most updated technologies in computational modeling, discussing topics such as computational modeling and its usage in immunological research, bioinformatics infrastructure, ODE based modeling, agent based modeling, and high performance computing, data analytics, and multiscale modeling. There are also modeling exercises using recent tools and models which lead the readers to a thorough comprehension and applicability. The book is a valuable resource for immunologists, computational biologists, bioinformaticians, biotechnologists, and computer scientists, as well as all those who wish to broaden their knowledge in systems modeling.

Man has moved rapidly from the hunter-gatherer environment to the living conditions of the rich industrialised countries. The hygiene hypothesis suggests that the resulting changed and reduced pattern of exposure to micro-organisms has led to disordered regulation of the immune system, and hence to increases in certain chronic inflammatory disorders. The concept began with the allergic disorders, but there are now good reasons for extending it to autoimmunity, inflammatory bowel disease, atherosclerosis, depression associated with raised inflammatory cytokines, some cancers and perhaps neuroinflammatory disorders such as Alzheimer s and Parkinson s. This book discusses the evidence for and against in the context of Darwinian medicine, which uses knowledge of evolution to cast light on human diseases. It is the first book to consider the broader implications of the hygiene hypothesis in areas of medicine where it has not previously been applied. The approach is interdisciplinary, looking at man s microbiological history, at the biology of the effects of microorganisms on the immune system, and at the implications for chronic inflammatory disorders in multiple organ systems. Finally, the authors describe progress in the exploitation of microorganisms or their components as novel prophylactics and treatments in several branches of medicine."

Recent research in science establishes a direct relation between human gut and skin. Several species of live microbes inhabit the human skin and intestines which far outnumbers the mammalian cells in the human body. Research interest of Nextgen scientists is focused on beneficially harnessing this microbial population to address skin disorders like acne, rosacea, eczema, premature aging, and skin cancer which are established to be a result of skin-microbiome dysbiosis. This volume highlights evidence-based endeavours of the scientific community in this sector. Currently there is no concrete literature which gives a detailed vision on the relationship between gut microbiota and skin related disorders. This volume is an attempt to put together available data in the area and demonstrate usefulness of probiotics as a new therapeutic option for management of these skin diseases which currently show poor prognosis, high cost of treatment and compromised quality of life of the patient.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the deadliest threats to global public health. This book focuses on dynamics in the landscape of AMR while informing about the latest technologies and strategies to mitigate it. The menace of AMR in different niches, routes of penetration across various domains, socio-economic impact, and the need for a 'One Health' approach in mitigating AMR has been emphasized. Factors involved in AMR, underlying mechanisms, and pharmacometrics in developing antimicrobials are highlighted. Emphasis is given to emerging technologies that are sustainable, scalable, and applicable to the global community, such as big data analytics, bioactive agents, phage therapy, and nanotechnology. The book also explores current and alternative treatment strategies to combat AMR, emphasizing the use of nanoparticles to target pathogens and as a viable alternative to antibiotics.

The Cytokines of the Immune System catalogs cytokines and links them to physiology and pathology, providing a welcome and hugely timely tool for scientists in all related fields. In cataloguing cytokines, it lists their potential for therapeutic use, links them to disease treatments needing further research and development, and shows their utility for learning about the immune system. This book offers a new approach in the study of cytokines by combining detailed guidebook-style cytokine description, disease linking, and presentation of immunologic roles.

General Introduction: Dendritic cells: Antigen presentation, accessory function and clinical relevance.- Endocytic activity of dendritic cells is similar to other antigen presenting cells.- Immunocytochemical characterization of dendritic cells.- Requirements of exogenous protein antigens for presentation to CD4+ T lymphocytes by MHC Class II-positive APC.- Modulation of MHC Class II determinants on rat Langerhans cells during short term culture.- A dendritic cell specific determinant present in endosomes is involved in the presentation of protein antigens.- Dendritic cells are potent antigen-presenting cells for microbial superantigen.- Divergent T-cell cytokine profiles induced by dendritic cells from different tissues.- Adhesion molecules: Co-stimulators and Co-mitogens in dendritic cell - T cell interaction.- Dendritic cell dependent expression of IgA by clones in T/B microcultures.- Adhesion molecules in tonsil DC-T cell interactions.- Dendritic cells have reduced cell surface membrane glycoproteins including CD43 determinants.- The effect of human dendritic cells on the lectin-induced responsiveness of CD4+ T cells to IL-2 and IL-4.- Analysis of cytokine and cytokine receptor production by human dendritic cells.- Costimulating factors and signals relevant for antigen presenting cell function.- Distinct T cell stimulation mechanism and phenotype of human blood dendritic cells.- The role of dendritic cells in the regulation of T cell cytokine synthesis.- The role of dendritic cells as co-stimulators in tolerance induction.- The influence of dendritic cells on T-cell cytokine production.- Phenotypical and functional characterization of dendritic cells in the human peritoneal cavity.- Dendritic cells isolated from rat and human non-lymphoid tissue are very potent accessory cells.- Antigen presenting capacity of peritoneal macrophages and dendritic cells.- T-cell repertoire development in MHC class II deficient humans.- Rat thymic dendritic cells.- Rat thymic dendriticCells: flow cytometry analysis.- Ultrastructure of interdigitating cells in the rat thymus during Cyclosporin A treatment.- T cell tolerance and antigen presenting cell function in the thymus.- Tolerizing mice to human leukocytes: A step toward the production of monoclonal antibodies specific for human dendritic cells.- Morphological and functional differences between HLA-Dr+ peripheral blood dendritic cells and HLA Dr+ IFN-alpha producing cells.- Three monoclonal antibodies to antigen presenting cells in the rat with differential influence on cellular interactions.- The MHC expression of dendritic cells from mouse spleen isolated by centrifugal elutriation is unregulated during short term culture.- II-6 and its high affinity receptor during differentiation of monocytes into Langerhans cells.- Phagocytosis of antigens by Langerhans cells.- Dissection of human Langerhans cell allostimulatory function. Modulation by interferon-?.- Human in vitro T cell sensitization using hapten-modified epidermal Langerhans cells.- Monocyte-derived Langerhans cells from different species - morphological and functional characterization.- A serial section study of mice Langerhans cell granules after DNFB painting.- Skin dendritic cell-lymphocyte interactions in autologous system.- Induction of the low affinity receptor for IgE (Fc?RII/CD23) on human blood dendritic cells by interleukin-4.- Fc? RI mediates IGE-binding to human epidermal Langerhans cells.- Murine epidermal Langerhans cells as a model to study tissue dendritic cells.- Differentiation of dendritic cells in cultures of rat and mouse bone marrow cells.- TNF and GM-CSF dependent growth of an early progenitor of dendritic Langerhans cells in human bone marrow.- Human bone marrow contains potent stimulatory cells for the allogeneic MLR with the phenotype of dendritic cells.- Recombinant GM-CSF induces in vitro differentiation of dendritic cells from mouse bone marrow.- Signals required for differentiating dendritic cells...

'Research on immunity has dramatically expanded in recent six decades, yielding exciting new information concerning the molecules and cells that initiate the multi-faceted processes combined under the term 'Molecular Immunity'. These processes are crucial for protection against invaders, but are also responsible for certain pathogenic conditions. Prof. Kendall Smith, a prominent contributor to this field, provides in this book, for the first time, the detailed history of thoughts and consequent achievements in the field of cellular immunology.'Dr Igal GeryScientist EmeritusNational Eye Institute, NIHThis book covers a scientific history of the discoveries in immunology of the past 60-years, i.e. what was discovered, who made the advances and how they accomplished them, and why others did not.All molecular advances occurred in the last 60 years, and no one has described them.

Biomarkers in Bipolar Disorders summarizes cutting-edge findings in biomarkers' research, emphasizing the most promising findings, tools and technologies relevant to drug development and personalized medicine. Key findings cover different levels of evidence such as genes, molecules, cells, systems, brain and behavior related to diagnosis (state and trait/endophenotypes), prediction of treatment response and follow-up outcomes, along with the most promising perspectives in each area. Each section includes a comprehensive and focused overview on the state-of-the-art and perspectives. The book concludes with a section on practical applications, encompassing diagnostics development (genetic testing, biomarkers), and new drug development. Edited by Dr. Rodrigo Machado-Vieira and Dr. Jair C. Soares, and contributed by leading experts in the field of biomarker research, this book will be become the leading tool for all researchers and clinicians in Bipolar Disorder.

This book summarizes rapid progress and innovation in transplantation and regenerative medicine - the merger of reconstructive plastic surgery and transplantation - called Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation. This merger includes face, hand, uteri, larynx, tongue, penis and trachea translplantations as well as other body part transplants using grafts derived from organ donors. These sorts of transplants are now performed more commonly. Cell therapies for immunomodulation are surrogates for immune responses after transplantation to non-invasive imaging of neuroregeneration for improving functional outcomes after transplant.

System Biology encompasses the knowledge from diverse fields such as Molecular Biology, Immunology, Genetics, Computational Biology, Mathematical Biology, etc. not only to address key questions that are not answerable by individual fields alone, but also to help in our understanding of the complexities of biological systems. Whole genome expression studies have provided us the means of studying the expression of thousands of genes under a particular condition and this technique had been widely used to find out the role of key macromolecules that are involved in biological signaling pathways. However, making sense of the underlying complexity is only possible if we interconnect various signaling pathways into human and computer readable network maps. These maps can then be used to classify and study individual components involved in a particular phenomenon. Apart from transcriptomics, several individual gene studies have resulted in adding to our knowledge of key components that are involved in a signaling pathway. It therefore becomes imperative to take into account of these studies also, while constructing our network maps to highlight the interconnectedness of the entire signaling pathways and the role of that particular individual protein in the pathway. This collection of articles will contain a collection of pioneering work done by scientists working in regulatory signaling networks and the use of large scale gene expression and omics data. The distinctive features of this book would be: Act a single source of information to understand the various components of different signaling network (roadmap of biochemical pathways, the nature of a molecule of interest in a particular pathway, etc.), Serve as a platform to highlight the key findings in this highly volatile and evolving field, and Provide answers to various techniques both related to microarray and cell signaling to the readers.