As technology evolves and electronic data becomes more complex, digital medical record management and analysis becomes a challenge. In order to discover patterns and make relevant predictions based on large data sets, researchers and medical professionals must find new methods to analyze and extract relevant health information. Big Data Analytics in Bioinformatics and Healthcare merges the fields of biology, technology, and medicine in order to present a comprehensive study on the emerging information processing applications necessary in the field of electronic medical record management. Complete with interdisciplinary research resources, this publication is an essential reference source for researchers, practitioners, and students interested in the fields of biological computation, database management, and health information technology, with a special focus on the methodologies and tools to manage massive and complex electronic information.

This fully revised new edition explores advances in the prevention and treatment of oral diseases. Beyond the updated chapters, the book delves into regenerative biology, gene editing and the use of CRISPR in oral biology, as well as histone acetylation and deacetylation methods, further reflecting advances in the application of molecular techniques to oral biology. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step and readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and up-to-date, Oral Biology: Molecular Techniques and Applications, Third Edition serves as an ideal basic resource not only for new researchers but also for experienced scientists wishing to expand their research platform into new areas of this vital field.

Several years ago, when the discovery of catalytic RNA was recognized in a public manner,many people asked if new ?elds of therapy would soon be available. Although some tentative positive answers were given,nobody would say with certainty that RNA of various kinds was a truly promising means of altering gene expression. In fact,over the past decade,both our knowledge of RNAs with different functions and the utility of RNA in the inhibition or enhancement of gene expression have occurred with great drama. We proceeded in terms of possible therapeutic tools from RNase P and group I introns through "hammerhead" RNA enzymes, antisense technology, and more recently, to RNAi and its derivatives. A useful practical method of RNA delivery in animals will complete the picture. The diversity of RNA and the varied role of it inside cells and in therapy should be a tremendous challenge for young molecular biologists. This volume will make their task easier. Sidney Altman Sterling Professor of Molecular,Cellular & Devel- mental Biology,Nobel Laureate Department of Molecular,Cellular and Developm- tal Biology Yale University V NGTPR 4/23/05 1:00 PM Page VI VI Foreword Delivery of nucleic acids to cells in an animal remains a challenging problem. It is the major obstacle to success of therapeutic approaches using genes and oli- nucleotides,including siRNAs. Solutions found so far by chemists are satisfactory only for transfection of cells in culture.

This book provides an overview of the history of integrative bioinformatics and the actual situation and the relevant tools. Subjects cover the essential topics, basic introductions, and latest developments; biological data integration and manipulation; modeling and simulation of networks; as well as a number of applications of integrative bioinformatics. It aims to provide basic introduction of biological information systems and guidance for the computational analysis of systems biology. This book covers a range of issues and methods that unveil a multitude of omics data integration and relevance that integrative bioinformatics has today. It contains a unique compilation of invited and selected articles from the Journal of Integrative Bioinformatics (JIB) and annual meetings of the International Symposium on Integrative Bioinformatics.

The book represents a comprehensive review and synthesis of the biomedical literature that spans over a half-century on a single protein called glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (or, GAPDH). Due to the protein's involvement in a vast array of cellular activities, GAPDH is of interest to the cell biologist, immunologist, virologist, biochemist etc. The protein has a significant role in fertility, cancer and neurodegeneration, suggesting that this book can be a vital resource for drug development. GAPDH function may provide insight into anesthesia. Furthermore, GAPDH is highly conserved meaning that the protein found in microorganisms, such as pathogens, remained relatively unchanged in evolution. Pathogens use GAPDH as a virulence factor, offering a unique challenge in developing anti-microbial agents that target this protein. To the evolutionary biologist, a book on the multi-functionality of GAPDH provides a focal point for a cogent discussion on the very origin of life.

Despite the many milestones in cystic fibrosis (CF) research, progress towards curing the disease has been slow, and it is increasingly difficult to grasp and use the already wide and still growing range of diverse methods currently employed to study CF so as to understand it in its multidisciplinary nature. Cystic Fibrosis: Diagnosis and Protocols aims to provide the CF research community and related researchers with a very wide range of high-quality experimental tools, as an easy way to grasp and use classical and novel methods applied to cystic fibrosis. Volume I: Approaches to Study and Correct CFTR Defects focuses on the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and its expression, biogenesis, structure, and function in terms of the defects causing CF. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Comprehensive and practical, Cystic Fibrosis: Diagnosis and Protocols will provide readers with optimal working tools to address pressing questions in the best technical way, while helping all of us, as a research and clinical community, to move faster hand-in-hand toward unravelling the secrets of this challenging disorder and cure it.

This book highlights the recent advances in the field of microbial engineering and its application in human healthcare. It underscores the systemic and synthetic biology approaches for engineering microbes and discusses novel treatments for inflammatory bowel diseases based on engineered probiotics. The book also reviews the different options and methods for engineering microbes, ranging from recombinant DNA technology to designing microbes for targeting specific sites and delivering therapeutics. Further, it discusses genetically engineered microorganisms for smart diagnostics and describes current approaches in microbial gene editing using CRISPR-Cas9-based tools. Lastly, it summarizes the potential applications of human microbiome engineering in improving human health and explores potential strategies for scaling-up the production of engineered microbial strains for commercial purposes, as well as the challenges. Given its scope, this book is a valuable resource for students, researchers, academics and entrepreneurs interested in understanding microbial engineering for the production of commercial products.

This work provides descriptions, explanations and examples of the Bayesian approach to statistics, demonstrating the utility of Bayesian methods for analyzing real-world problems in the health sciences. The work considers the individual components of Bayesian analysis.;College or university bookstores may order five or more copies at a special student price, available on request from Marcel Dekker, Inc.

This volume is the first to combine latest information on viral, microbial and cellular proteolytic enzymes as potential targets for human therapeutics. Proteases control a large array of physiological reactions, and are involved in a variety of pathological processes for which effective medications are currently needed and/or being sought after. Although protease inhibitors have been investigated for many years, few have been employed therapeutically. Recent break- through by HIV protease inhibitors as therapeutic drugs has re-encouraged the search for inhibitors of other proteolytic enzymes. Klaus von der Helm, who described the first viral protease has brought leading experts together to discuss not only the success and problems of clinical use and continuing prospects, but to review further potential drug targets. This volume provides detailed information and evaluations of key viral, bacterial, fungal, and cellular proteases as potential future drug candidates.

A thoroughly revised and updated collection readily reproducible techniques for culturing human cells. This new edition includes a wide range of human cell types relevant to human disease and new chapters on fibroblasts, Schwann cells, gastric and colonic epithelial cells, and parathyroid cells. The protocols follow the successful Methods in Molecular Medicine (TM) series format, each offering step-by-step laboratory instructions, an introduction outlining the principle behind the technique, lists of the necessary equipment and reagents, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Over 20 years have elapsed since publication of the seminal two volume series entitled Q Fever: The Biology of Coxiella burnetii (edited by J. C. Williams and H. A. Thompson) and Q fever: The Disease (edited by T. J. Marrie) that described the current state of Coxiella burnetii research. The ensuing years have brought the post-genomic era and accompanying technologies that have catalyzed major advances in the field, including milestones discoveries of genetic transformation and host cell-free growth of this former obligate intracellular bacterium. Understanding how the bacterium resists the degradative functions of vacuole, and the host cell functions coopted for successful parasitism, are central to understanding Q fever pathogenesis. Recent achievements in glycomics and proteomics are guiding development of enhanced detection schemes for the bacterium in addition to shedding light on the host immune response to the pathogen. The book covers the current state-of-the-art knowledge in the selected fields of C. burnetii/Q fever research. Coxiella has matured from a niche organism, investigated by a handful of laboratories worldwide, to a model system to study macrophage parasitism, developmental biology, host-pathogen interactions, and immune evasion/modulation.

Chemotherapy has made a dramatic difference to improved survival in patients with cancer. However, not all patients respond and some experience serious side effects.

"Pharmacogenetics: Making cancer treatment safer and more effective" is an up to date summary of the exciting new field of how genetic testing can tailor more effective prescription in oncology.

It is targeted at oncologists and professionals involved in the treatment of patients with cancer. It provides a core background in genetics and pharmacological principles before providing chapters from acknowledged experts in the field on genetic tests in specific cancer types, including breast, bowel and lung cancer. Clinical cases are used to illustrate the practical application of this knowledge.

Chapters on ethics, health economics and the industry aspects of pharmacogenetics set out the challenges and opportunities afforded by this new science.

This book provides an interdisciplinary look at emerging trends in signal processing and biomedicine found at the intersection of healthcare, engineering, and computer science. Bringing together expanded versions of selected papers presented at the 2020 IEEE Signal Processing in Medicine and Biology Symposium (IEEE SPMB), it examines the vital role signal processing plays in enabling a new generation of technology based on big data and looks at applications ranging from medical electronics to data mining of electronic medical records. Topics covered include analysis of medical images, machine learning, biomedical nanosensors, wireless technologies, and instrumentation and electrical stimulation. Biomedical Sensing and Analysis: Signal Processing in Medicine and Biology presents tutorials and examples of successful applications, and will appeal to a wide range of professionals, researchers, and students interested in applications of signal processing, medicine, and biology. Presents an interdisciplinary look at research trends in signal processing and biomedicine; Promotes collaboration between healthcare practitioners and signal processing researchers; Includes tutorials and examples of successful applications.

In recent years, serine proteases and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have gained considerable attention in tumor biology. For most of these proteases, their expression is a reliable indication of ongoing tissue remodeling. This book provides a comprehensive evaluation of the mechanisms of action of proteases and their inhibitors in tumor biology. The first part provides the reader with a selective overview of the molecular biology of serine proteases, MMPs and their physiological inhibitors. The most important proteases and their physiological as well as synthetic inhibitors are evaluated in the most relevant models of experimental and human cancer. The clinical aspects are also taken into account.
This volume offers an update on this challenging aspect of cancer treatment, its interest bias, and possible clinical implication.

East Asian medicine, biomedical research, and health care policy are framed by their own set of moral and cultural commitments. Chief among these is the influence of Confucian ideas. A rich portrayal is offered of the implications of Confucian moral and ontological understandings for medical decision-making, human embryonic stem cell research, and health care financing. What is offered is a multifaceted insight into what distinguishes East Asian bioethical reflections. This volume opens with an exploration of the Confucian recognition of the family as an entity existing in its own right and which is not reducible to its members or their interests. As the essays in this volume show, this recognition of the family supports a notion of family autonomy that contrasts with Western individualistic accounts of proper medical decision-making.

Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) of bone is a relatively recent research field. The research community is steadily growing, with interdisciplinary branches in acoustics, medical imaging, biomechanics, biomedical engineering, applied mathematics, bone biology and clinical sciences, resulting in significant achievements in new ultrasound technologies to measure bone, as well as models to elucidate the interaction and the propagation of ultrasonic wave in complex bone structures. Hundreds of articles published in specialists journals are accessible from the Web and from electronic libraries. However, no compilation and synthesis of the most recent and significant research exist. The only book on QUS of bone has been published in 1999 at a time when the propagation mechanisms of ultrasound in bone were still largely unknown and the technology was immature. The research community has now reached a critical size, special sessions are organized in major international meetings (e.g., at the World Congress of Biomechanics, the annual meetings of the Acoustical Society of America, International Bone Densitometry Workshop, etc...). Consequently, the time has come for a completely up to date, comprehensive review of the topic. The book will offer the most recent experimental results and theoretical concepts developed so far and is intended for researchers, graduate or undergraduate students, engineers, and clinicians who are involved in the field. The central part of the book covers the physics of ultrasound propagation in bone. Our goal is to give the reader an extensive view of the mathematical and numerical models as an aid to understand the QUS potential and the types of variables that can be determined by QUS in order to characterize bone strength. The propagation of sound in bone is still subject of intensive research. Different models have been proposed (for example, the Biot theory of poroealasticity and the theory of scattering have been used to describe wave propagation in cancellous bone, whereas propagation in cortical bone falls in the scope of guided waves theories). An extensive review of the models has not been published so far. We intend in this book to present in details the models that are used to solve the direct problem and strategies that are currently developed to address the inverse problem. This will include analytical theories and numerical approaches that have grown exponentially in recent years. Most recent experimental findings and technological developments will also be comprehensively reviewed.

The number of, and interest in, quality of life studies has grown dramatically in the last decade. On an ever increasing basis, patients, clinicians, researchers, and health policy regulators are considering quality of life in assessing treatment alternatives. Unfortunately, most discussions of quality of life are narrow in scope -- applying to only one disease group. This unique book represents the concerted effort of experts in academia, federal government health care regulators, and pharmaceutical industry representatives to define the promise and the problems associated with quality of life studies. The issues covered range from cross cutting ones to those that are specific to particular illnesses.
Because quality of life takes into consideration such domains as mood, vocation, family, sexual functioning, social participation, and costs, this book will serve as an invaluable companion to readers with an interest in behavioral medicine research.

This book discusses different approaches for successful pest-management through biotechnological interventions. Pest management is directly associated with the agricultural productivity. The book introduces the reader to various kinds of biopesticides that have been developed and are being developed for field application. Chemical pesticides have been widely used to control pests, and these induce pesticide resistance as well as other environmental problems. This book discusses the necessity to develop alternate pest control strategies, especially environment-friendly and target-specific biopesticides against destructive pests. The book describes important aspects such as microbial biopesticides, plant-based biopesticides, natural products that act against pests and the various other biotechnological advances and limitations of these biopesticides. It provides an in-depth knowledge of the latest research and development in the area of biopesticides. This informative book is meant for students and researchers in the fields of biotechnology, agriculture and applied microbiology.

This book deals with pathophysiology and pharmacology of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and describes new trends in SHR research from hemodynamic characteristics to immunological views. It is devoted to the use of tissue culture studies to elaborate SHR characteristics.

The Importance of Measuring Alcohol Consumption To date, alcohol studies have attended far more to issues of alco hol dependence and the harmful consequences of drinking than to the level of alcohol consumption itself. This is, perhaps, not surprising since dependence on alcohol is believed to constitute a meaningful and distinct medical syndrome, regardless of the level of alcohol consumption associated with it (Edwards and Gross, 1976). Also, of society is generally more concerned with the adverse consequences drinking (e. g., traffic fatalities, homelessness, health care and legal expenses, and academiclbehavioral problems in young drinkers), than with the quantity of alcohol actually consumed. Nevertheless, accurate assessment of alcohol usage is important in its own right in at least four contexts: 1. Evaluating the effectiveness of alcoholism and alcohol abuse treatment and prevention efforts. Such efforts include both applied evaluations of existing programs and formal, well-controlled efficacy studies on experimental interventions. These investigations require rigorous methodologies to assess outcomes precisely and contrast what may be quite subtle differences between programs and between pre treatment and posttreatment outcomes. Although these studies are usually characterized by the employment of multiple measures of success-including general improvements in social and physical functioning, reduction in degree of dependence, and resolution of problems directly resultant from drinking-it is by their assessment of changes in drinking behavior that they are potentially able to achieve the highest level of objectivity and exactitude."

This book provides a comprehensive overview of deep learning (DL) in medical and healthcare applications, including the fundamentals and current advances in medical image analysis, state-of-the-art DL methods for medical image analysis and real-world, deep learning-based clinical computer-aided diagnosis systems. Deep learning (DL) is one of the key techniques of artificial intelligence (AI) and today plays an important role in numerous academic and industrial areas. DL involves using a neural network with many layers (deep structure) between input and output, and its main advantage of is that it can automatically learn data-driven, highly representative and hierarchical features and perform feature extraction and classification on one network. DL can be used to model or simulate an intelligent system or process using annotated training data. Recently, DL has become widely used in medical applications, such as anatomic modelling, tumour detection, disease classification, computer-aided diagnosis and surgical planning. This book is intended for computer science and engineering students and researchers, medical professionals and anyone interested using DL techniques.

Do you find research challenging to read? Do you struggle to get to grips with a research paper? Understanding, critiquing and using research is a key requirement of students studying nursing and healthcare. This bookwill equip you with the skills you need to understand research and use it in your practice and academic assignments. The approach used in this book is unique: each chapter focuses on a published research paper - one you might be asked to read for a seminar or include in your academic work. In clear, straightforward language, the authors take you through each paper step by step, using it as a basis for exploring the underpinning research method or design, and how it has been reported. Key features: * Each chapter focuses on a different research method by working through a relevant research paper * Identifies the main skills you need for your course: understanding research methods and critiquing articles * Written specifically for nursing and healthcare students by experienced nursing and health care lecturers * Develops your confidence in understanding research by helping you to apply your knowledge to real research papers.

This volume investigates the links between the incidence of diet-related cancers and dietary patterns within Europe. It presents current understanding of the major cancers thought to be caused by diet alongside detailed data on regional variations in dietary composition, and collates these sets of information to illustrate associations between foods and nutrients and the risk of cancer at specific sites. There is particular discussion of the role of fat, meat, fibre, cereals and fresh vegetables. The importance of the "Mediterranean diet", and regional variance in this diet within Europe, is examined. Japanese and US dietary evidence is also considered. This book highlights the debate on cancer and diet, and points the way ahead for important new research.