This contemporary book covers significant new knowledge that has emerged during the last two decades and, thus, provides novel antibody phylogenetic perspectives relevant to development of new antibody-based therapeutics and vaccines. It fills a much-needed niche in the area of immunoglobulin genetics across species from a comparative perspective. New insights and perspectives from immunoglobulin genetics from species such as sea lamprey, cattle, marsupial, bat, rat, rabbit, and swine other species than the traditional subjects of mice and humans are relevant to antibody design and engineering. These new perspectives find direct application in the cutting-edge areas of antibody design, engineering and therapeutics, antibody-drug conjugates, and novel antibody-based vaccines. This book fills the need to provide updated knowledge of this newly exploded area that is finding applications in new drug development. No other competing books on the topic are available in the market. The book will be of great interest to immunologists, immunology researchers, immunogeneticists, researchers in pharmaceutical science, those involved in the infectious disease and antibody therapeutics areas, and many others."

This issue of Immunology and Allergy Clinics, edited by Dr. Cem Akin, is devoted to Mastocytosis.? Articles in this issue include Human Mast Cell Signal Transduction; Mast cell tryptase role in homeostasis and coagulation; Mastocytosis: Current Classification and Diagnostic criteria; Epidemiology, risk factors and prognosis of mastocytosis; Mast cell sarcoma: Clinical management; Molecular defects in mastocytosis: c-kit mutations and beyond; Flow cytometry in mastocytosis: Utility as a diagnostic and prognostic tool; Morphology of mastocytosis with special reference to immunophenotypical aberrancies; CD30 expression in mastocytosis; Extramedullary mastocytosis: Pathologic aspects; Bone involvement and osteoporosis in mastocytosis; Drug allergy in mastocytosis; Eosinophilia in mastocytosis; Venom allergy and mastocytosis; Skin disease in mastocytosis; Treatment of advanced mastocytosis; Treatment strategies of mediator related symptoms in mastocytosis; and Neuro and psychological involvement in Mastocytosis.

With globalisation taking centre stage in the business world and multiculturalism affecting markets and societies, there is a need to understand the ways that customers respond to the changing marketplace from international and multicultural perspectives. This book is timely in addressing important themes raised in the most recent marketing literature, such as: global consumer culture, and the impact of Western culture on consumer behaviour in other countries; consumer acculturation processes, and the impact on identity conflicts and the strategies people use to manage them; globalisation vs. localised strategies, and the interaction of local and global influences on customer behaviour; climate change and global warming, the impact on consumer behaviour, and the implications for social responsibility; and cross-cultural customer research, including important methodological questions around the application of sociological, group-level measures to psychological, individual-level phenomenon in marketing contexts. The papers in this edition address those themes, reporting on studies from a range of countries, including Germany, Greece, China, and Austria, and a number of cultural groups in the UK. These papers draw on quantitative and qualitative methodologies, reflecting the full range of methods employed in contemporary consumer research.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management.

Many pathogens and aberrant malignant cells express unique carbohydrates on their surface representing attractive targets for vaccine design. Considerable progress has recently been made in the identification of novel carbohydrate based vaccines and a large number has reached clinical phase studies. The success of several licensed carbohydrate based vaccines against bacterial pathogens such as Haemophilus influenzae type b, Neisseria meningitidis or Streptococcus pneumoniae demonstrates their great potential. However, the study of anti-carbohydrate antibodies is technically challenging and partly because of low affinities and promiscuous specificity they have not been medically exploited to full potential. The study of antibody specificities and identification of protective carbohydrate epitopes lies at the heart of successful vaccine design. In addition to therapy, antibodies in general serve as diagnostic tools in medical and scientific laboratories. In this setting high affinity and exquisite specificity are important factors for their successful use. "Anticarbohydrate Antibodies - from molecular basis to clinical application" compiles current knowledge on the immunological recognition of carbohydrates by the adaptive immune system from a molecular perspective providing fundamental insight needed for advancing clinically relevant diagnostics and therapeutic applications. Based on significant progress in the fields of glycoimmunology and structural biology in recent years, the book comprehensively reviews the state-of-the-art in defining the key elements of carbohydrate recognition by antibodies, the molecular mimicry of carbohydrate epitopes as well as the molecular features leading to specific and relaxed binding modes. Backed-up by a combination of modern technologies to elucidate structural details of carbohydrate-antibody interactions, biomedically important carbohydrate antigens from viral, bacterial, parasite, insect and tumor cells have been analyzed in in-depth reviews written by well-known experts in the field. Fundamental knowledge of these molecular mechanisms eventually provides a rational basis to improve efficacy of carbohydrate-based vaccines and to further refine diagnostic tools in detection of pathogens and malignant cells.

Key Features * Serves as a handy, practical reference guide to immunologic and allergic diseases both for patient care and as a study guide for examinations * Summarizes the clinical information in the field to make it easily accessible and user friendly for clinicians and students * Includes a unique section on the management of the disorder in pregnant women at the end of several chapters.

Autoimmune Reactions tackles fundamental questions about how the immune system can destroy invading microbial pathogens without causing damage to itself and other "self" systems. The authoritative experts writing here explore the mechanistic aspects of such autoimmune diseases as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and autoimmune thyroid disease, and where possible delineate how malfunctioning immunological mechanisms can lead to clinical symptoms. They also discusses possible general mechanisms of autoimmune disease-e.g., molecular mimicry and dysfunctional antigen presentation-and their current limitations as unifying explanations of the diseases described. The book illustrates the type of thinking and research that should eventually permit development of palliatives and cures for autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases are characterized by the occurrence of antibodies reacting with self-constituents of the body. The fully updated third edition of "Autoantibodies" is an in-depth review of the main autoantibodies identified up to now, with particular emphasis on those that display a diagnostic or prognostic clinical value.

The new edition covers recent scientific advances, diagnostic techniques, and therapeutic technologies. Each chapter is focused on a single family of autoantibodies. This important reference contains historical notes, definitions, origins and sources of antigens recognized genetic associations, mediated pathogenic mechanisms, methods of detection, as well as clinical utility (disease prevalence and association, diagnostic value, sensitivity and specificity, prognostic value). This is an ideal reference for anyone involved in the field of autoimmune diseases.
Presents all known, important autoantibodies in a single source, focusing on the antibodies needed for autoimmune disorder diagnosisIncludes clinical applications for each autoantibody along with general informationOrganized by disease and disorder type, by autoantibody family, and completely cross-referenced

The purpose of this book is to share information and knowledge on allergic disorders in children with everybody, especially parents. Allergies in children are a common and growing problem. From the author's experience, many parents lack correct information on allergy. This has led to wrong approaches in dealing with the problem, with some parents experimenting with all kinds of non-scientifically proven testing and treatments. Sometimes these treatments can be harmful for the child. The book comprises twelve chapters, each covering a specific aspect of allergy in children. The first part covers general issues, such as underlying mechanisms, allergens, and epidemiology of allergic diseases. In the second part, specific allergic diseases are covered. The book ends with considerations on diagnosis and treatment, and offers suggestions for future research on allergy in children. This book will provide useful information to the public, especially parents of allergic children. Based on current scientific information, the book should help allergic children to obtain optimal diagnosis and treatment of their allergic diseases.

Written by international experts, this book reviews recent, cutting-edge research on the use of immunoregulatory probiotics (immunobiotics) and their bioactive compounds (immunogenics) to prevent disease and improve health. Each chapter provides critical insight, reviews current research, discusses future perspective, and stimulates discussion. The book also dicsusses novel applications of immunobiotics, such as their use in respiratory infections and regulation of the interaction between inflammation and coagulation, as well as their effect on hematopoiesis.

Food allergy has increased over the past two decades, with a larger number of patients presenting a myriad of related symptoms and illnesses to physicians and allied health professionals. The growing number of patients poses a challenge to health care providers and confirms the need for developing best clinical practice guidelines. Based on the Expert Panel Report from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Food Allergy: Practical Diagnosis and Management brings to life the developed guidelines with chapters written by international leaders in food allergy clinical care, research, and education, including most of the report's primary authors. Offering practical advice, each chapter provides clinically relevant information for everyday diagnosis and management of food allergies and related adverse reactions to foods. Chapters begin with clinical questions to focus readers and contain numerous case studies and "Clinical Pearls" to help formulate best practice approaches to patient care. The text provides information that is relevant for diagnosis, organ or diagnosis-specific concerns, daily management, and topics of importance for patient understanding and management of food allergies. Chapters cover clinical manifestations, triggers and cross-reactivity, acute reactions, and skin, gastrointestinal, and respiratory conditions associated with food allergy. Authors address diagnostic testing, pharmacologic reactions, allergy prevention, and the natural history of common food allergies. They also consider novel approaches to diagnosis and therapy for immunoglobulin E-mediated food allergy. The final chapter presents practical resources for physicians and patients, including materials for advising newly diagnosed patients and resources for managing food allergies at home, school, camp, restaurants, and while traveling.

This book summarizes the state-of-the art in the development of T cell-based "in vitro" assays, which offer useful tools for hazard identification, risk assessment and improvement of diagnostics. It will be of interest to scientists, the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, and regulators involved in the replacement of animal testing methods.

The identification of hazardous chemicals and drugs is essential to ensuring human health. The ban on animal testing for the cosmetics industry since 2009 and international efforts to reduce and replace animal testing in research and immunotoxicology call for alternative "in vitro" methods. The most specific immune response to chemicals and drugs that cause allergic contact dermatitis, respiratory disease and adverse drug reactions is the highly antigen-specific T lymphocyte response. Therefore the use of T cells as tools for identifying contact allergens and drugs that may cause health problems is of great interest.

There has been major growth in understanding immune suppression mechanisms and its relationship to cancer progression and therapy. This book highlights emerging new principles of immune suppression that drive cancer, and it offers radically new ideas about how therapy can be improved by attacking these principles. Following work that firmly establishes immune escape as an essential trait of cancer, recent studies have now defined specific mechanisms of tumor immune suppression. It also demonstrates how attacking tumors with molecular targeted therapeutics or traditional chemotherapeutic drugs can produce potent anti-tumor effects in preclinical models. This book provides basic, translational, and clinical cancer researchers with an indispensable overview of immune escape as a critical trait in cancer and how applying specific combinations of immunotherapy and chemotherapy to attack this trait may radically improve the treatment of advanced disease.
Offers a synthesis of concepts that are useful to cancer immunologists and pharmacologists, who tend to work in disparate fields with little cross-communication Drs. Prendergast and Jaffee are internationally recognized leaders in cancer biology and immunology who have created a unique synthesis of fundamental and applied concepts in this important new area of cancer research Summarizes the latest insights into how immune escape defines an essential trait of cancer Includes numerous illustrations, including how molecular-targeted therapeutic drugs or traditional chemotherapy can be combined with immunotherapy to improve anti-tumor efficacy and how reversing immune suppression by the tumor can cause tumor regression

An MS diagnosis presents many unanswered questions: How is this diagnosis going to change my life? Where do I begin? How will I manage to take care of my family, work, and travel? No one knows the answers to these questions better than Shelley Peterman Schwarz, who has lived nearly forty years with multiple sclerosis. Schwarz imbues her updated collection of practical tips and short cuts with personal stories that highlight her trials and triumphs. Shelley shares her real-life experiences as a wife, mother, friend, and employee/employer coping, managing, and growing with MS with a humorous warmth and unflinching honesty. This extensively revised and updated third edition is packed with helpful information and now includes over 800 tips and new solutions and strategies for confronting the challenges of living a full life with a debilitating chronic illness. With Shelley's guidance, readers will learn to conserve valuable time and energy, develop techniques for making everyday tasks easier, manage symptoms, maintain positive relationships, stay motivated, and bounce back when MS knocks you down. Expanded chapters cover medical issues, home safety and accessibility, dressing and looking your best, and travel. NEW sections include: A Thriver's Guide Taking Charge Mentally and Physically Family and Friends Marriage Sexual Compatibility and Intimacy Being a Parent Driving and Disability Working Finding Help and Support With hundreds of new tips and tools, and practical wisdom for meeting challenges large and small, this book continues to inform, encourage, validate, and empower individuals and families living with multiple sclerosis.

Perfect for clinicians in both primary and secondary care settings, Allergy Essentials, 2nd Edition, covers the information you need most in your daily practice, with a strong emphasis on disease diagnosis and management. In one concise, convenient volume, it covers all common allergies in children and adults, offering authoritative content from the world's leading allergy experts in conjunction with primary care/family practitioners for a practical, balanced approach. You'll find up-to-date information on everything from basic immunology and physiology to new medications, new therapies, and individualized treatment options, allowing you to confidently integrate these changes into your practice. Offers a practical approach to evaluation, differential diagnosis, and treatment of allergic disorders, focused specifically on what the non-specialist needs to know for everyday practice. Includes new content on allergen-specific immunotherapy as well as a new chapter on precision medicine. Covers the most recent allergy tests, including blood tests, and includes current discussions of biologicals as therapeutics. Provides focused, relevant information on basic immunology and physiology, epidemiology, and allergens. Begins each chapter with a handy summary of key concepts to help you quickly identify important information. Authored by the same internationally recognized experts that produce Middleton's Allergy, the definitive text in the field. An ideal resource for primary care providers who are increasingly seeing and treating patients with allergic conditions as well as allergists who need a concise and current practice reference. Enhanced eBook version included with purchase. Your enhanced eBook allows you to access all of the text, figures, and references from the book on a variety of devices.

With globalisation taking centre stage in the business world and multiculturalism affecting markets and societies, there is a need to understand the ways that customers respond to the changing marketplace from international and multicultural perspectives. This book is timely in addressing important themes raised in the most recent marketing literature, such as: global consumer culture, and the impact of Western culture on consumer behaviour in other countries; consumer acculturation processes, and the impact on identity conflicts and the strategies people use to manage them; globalisation vs. localised strategies, and the interaction of local and global influences on customer behaviour; climate change and global warming, the impact on consumer behaviour, and the implications for social responsibility; and cross-cultural customer research, including important methodological questions around the application of sociological, group-level measures to psychological, individual-level phenomenon in marketing contexts. The papers in this edition address those themes, reporting on studies from a range of countries, including Germany, Greece, China, and Austria, and a number of cultural groups in the UK. These papers draw on quantitative and qualitative methodologies, reflecting the full range of methods employed in contemporary consumer research. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management.

How early studies of inflammation led to our current views on the roles of vascular adhesion molecules.- Adhesion of leukocytes from flow: The selectins and their ligands.- Co-operative signaling between leukocytes and endothelium mediating firm attachment.- Production and presentation of chemokines by endothelial cells.- Platelet-activating factor: A signaling molecule for leukocyte adhesion.- Tight junctions and adherens junctions in endothelial cells: Structure and regulation.- The role of PECAM in leukocyte emigration.- Selective lymphocyte migration into secondary lymphoid rrgans and inflamed tissues.- Oxidation-reduction sensitive regulation of vascular inflammatory gene expression.- Quantification and imaging of vascular adhesion molecule expression in inflammatory diseases in vivo.- Leukocyte adhesion and activation in xenografts.- Control of leukocyte adhesion and activation in ischemia-reperfusion injury.- Control of leukocyte adhesion and activation in atherogenesis.

Immune responses at mucosal surfaces play a major role in host mucosal defense against microbial pathogens and in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic mucosal inflammatory diseases. immunogenetic approaches in combination with human and murine in vitro cell culture and in vivo model systems to address questions in mucosal immunity. Humans produce more immunoglobulin A (IgA) than all other antibody isotypes combined, most of which is rapidly transported into the external secretions bathing mucous membranes. It has been estimated that more than 3 grams of IgA are transported daily into mucosal secretions, carrying out a wide range of antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory functions. IgA is the second most abundant class of antibody in the bloodstream, contributing to systemic as well as secretory immunity. Recent advances in human genomics, gene regulation, structural biology, cell signaling, and immunobiology have greatly enhanced our understanding of this important class of antibody. knowledge of the biology of IgA, including structure of IgA and its interaction with Fc receptors; epithelial transport of IgA; regulation of the mucosal IgA system; biological roles of IgA, including newly discovered functions; IgA-associated diseases, and therapeutic applications for IgA. Chapters have been contributed by internationally recognized leaders in the field of IgA research, representing 8 countries on 3 continents.

Definitive yet concise, Food Allergy, by Drs. John M. James, Wesley Burks, and Philippe Eigenmann, provides expert guidance for efficient diagnosis and effective management of these increasingly prevalent conditions. The consistent, practical format, with a wealth of case studies, clinical pearls and pitfalls, full-color photos and illustrations, diagrams, and more - along with online access at www.expertconsult.com - make this an ideal quick reference tool for both allergy clinicians and primary care physicians. Quickly reference essential topics thanks to a templated, focused format that includes a wealth of full-color photos and illustrations, diagrams, case studies, and more. Benefit from the knowledge, experience, and global perspective of leading international authors. Deliver the best outcomes by incorporating clinical pearls from experts in the field into your practice. Stay current with timely topics including our latest understanding of non-IgE-mediated food allergies; cross-reactions; future therapies; natural history and prevention; and a review of unproven diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Access this reference online at ExpertConsult.com, complete with the full text, entire image bank, and more. The tools you need to quickly and accurately diagnose, treat, and manage food allergies.

Immunology: An Illustrated Outline is both a guide to the essential principles of immunology and a concise dictionary of immunological terms. The book can be used to consolidate understanding in preparation for course exams and medical licensing exams, or as a refresher when immunology is encountered in related life sciences, such as microbiology, virology, and zoology. The book is organized into five sections that represent the major topics in basic and clinical immunology. The Sixth Edition has been comprehensively revised to highlight the latest understanding of the field, particularly in the areas of innate immune defenses and antibody-based therapeutics. Concise explanations of immunological terms Full-color illustrations and micrographs to reinforce the text Each topic is set out in single- or double-page spreads Tables collate and summarize detailed information

The cytokines are a group of peptides secreted by cells of the immune system such as macrophages, lymphocytes and T cells. The term cytokine is however simplistic and in fact they can be divided into functional families and have wide ranging effects from cells and molecular pathways to the whole individual. Written by distinguished scholars and experts, this book is a holistic knowledge-base to enable scientists and doctors to understand cytokines in specific or broad detail.

The number of people suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is greater than the number suffering from AIDS, yet the general public and the medical community know very little about the disease. More and more people are disabled daily, despite the fact that the condition does not have to occur. In Part One of this work, experts review the research into the disease, along with treatment strategies. Part Two examines the legal recourses available to MCS sufferers, such as workers' compensation claims and product liability suits. How the medical community has often worked against MCS sufferers is the focus of Part Three, demonstrating that medical opposition to the disease is unfounded. The editor, an MCS sufferer, details her own case in Part Four.

One hundred years have elapsed since specific allergen immunotherapy (SIT) was first employed and found to be effective in the treatment of allergic respiratory diseases. This cutting-edge issue of Immunology and Allergy Clinics offers a comprehensive review of this disease modifying treatment, exploring its history, status, and potential future. Topics covered include the mechanisms of subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy; the mechanisms of sublingual immunotherapy; optimizing efficacy of subcutaneous immunotherapy; preparation of allergen immunotherapy extraxcts; risk factors and subcutaneous immunotherapy safety; accelerated schedules and reducing risk with premedication (antihistamines, omalizumab, leucotriene antagonist); safety and efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy for allergic respiratory disease and other indications; monitoring clinical outcomes of specific immunotherapy; monitoring immunotherapy response with immunological parameters; socioeconomics and comparative effectiveness of immunotherapy; oral desensitization for food hypersensitivity; peptide and recombinant immunotherapy; intralymphatic and epicutaneous allergen-specific immunotherapy; peptide and recombinant immunotherapy; adjuvants and vector systems for allergy faccines; and future forms of immunotherapy.

T cells play a vital role mediating adaptive immunity, a specific acquired resistance to an infectious agent produced by the introduction of an antigen. There are a variety of T cell types with different functions. They are called T cells, because they are derived from the thymus gland. This volume discusses how T cells are regulated through the operation of signaling mechanisms. Topics covered include positive and negative selection, early events in T cell receptor engagement, and various T cell subsets.

Dr. Coppes and his co-Editors have created a comprehensive table of contents that addresses the full spectrum of food allergies in children. Articles are presented to be most useful to pediatricians, as the issue begins with the clinical presentation and epidemiology of food allergy, and then progresses to the diagnostic testing and pahthophysiology.? Articles are also included that are devoted to specific types of food allergy, dairy, soy, egg, peanut, and tree nut. Finally, articles are also devoted to living with food allergies, management of allergies in schools and camps, and therapies for food allergies.