Many aspects of modern life have become personalized, yet healthcare practices have been lagging behind in this trend. It is now becoming more common to use big data analysis to improve current healthcare and medicinal systems, and offer better health services to all citizens. Applying Big Data Analytics in Bioinformatics and Medicine is a comprehensive reference source that overviews the current state of medical treatments and systems and offers emerging solutions for a more personalized approach to the healthcare field. Featuring coverage on relevant topics that include smart data, proteomics, medical data storage, and drug design, this publication is an ideal resource for medical professionals, healthcare practitioners, academicians, and researchers interested in the latest trends and techniques in personalized medicine.

The book "STEM CELL THERAPY FOR ORGAN FAILURES" edited by Dr. S. Indumathi demonstrates the In Vitro and In vivo therapeutic strategies and applications of pre- and post-natal stem cells for treating the failures of various organ systems of our body in a wide perspective. It explores the past, present and the futuristic approach of the exciting field of stem cells and its intriguing properties involved in tissue repair and regeneration. The prime focus of this volume is to unravel the basic, advanced, therapeutic and translational approaches put-forth so far in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine at research, pre-clinical and clinical levels. Stem cells has ushered in widespread interest and exciting possibilities for cell based therapies, albeit failures do prevail and small uncontrolled phase I/II studies are only signals generating, rather than definite proof of concept thereby limiting its applicability in curative therapeutics. Despite certain initiatives and meticulous untiring efforts, bringing this basic bench side research into advanced transitional bedside remained a challenge. Thus, this book embarked upon the expanding researches in these areas that seem decisive in improvising regenerative medical therapeutics, thereby leading to further path-breaking studies that cure all health challenges facing mankind. Overall, this book reveals the imperativeness of various stem cell sources and its utility in curative therapeutics.

This open-access textbook provides a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for students and practitioners wishing to access in a single volume the key disciplines and principles of wheat breeding. Wheat is a cornerstone of food security: it is the most widely grown of any crop and provides 20% of all human calories and protein. The authorship of this book includes world class researchers and breeders whose expertise spans cutting-edge academic science all the way to impacts in farmers' fields. The book's themes and authors were selected to provide a didactic work that considers the background to wheat improvement, current mainstream breeding approaches, and translational research and avant garde technologies that enable new breakthroughs in science to impact productivity. While the volume provides an overview for professionals interested in wheat, many of the ideas and methods presented are equally relevant to small grain cereals and crop improvement in general. The book is affordable, and because it is open access, can be readily shared and translated -- in whole or in part -- to university classes, members of breeding teams (from directors to technicians), conference participants, extension agents and farmers. Given the challenges currently faced by academia, industry and national wheat programs to produce higher crop yields --- often with less inputs and under increasingly harsher climates -- this volume is a timely addition to their toolkit.

This edited book explores the use of technology to enable us to visualise the life sciences in a more meaningful and engaging way. It will enable those interested in visualisation techniques to gain a better understanding of the applications that can be used in visualisation, imaging and analysis, education, engagement and training. The reader will also be able to learn about the use of visualisation techniques and technologies for the historical and forensic settings. The chapters presented in this volume cover such a diverse range of topics, with something for everyone. We present here chapters on 3D visualising novel stent grafts to aid treatment of aortic aneuryms; confocal microscopy constructed vascular models in patient education; 3D patient specific virtual reconstructions in surgery; virtual reality in upper limb rehabilitation in patients with multiple sclerosis and virtual clinical wards. In addition, we present chapters in artificial intelligence in ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia; carpal tunnel release visualisation techniques; visualising for embryology education and artificial intelligence data on bone mechanics. Finally we conclude with chapters on visualising patient communication in a general practice setting; digital facial depictions of people from the past; instructor made cadaveric videos, novel cadaveric techniques for enhancing visualisation of the human body and finally interactive educational videos and screencasts. This book explores the use of technologies from a range of fields to provide engaging and meaningful visual representations of the biomedical sciences. It is therefore an interesting read for researchers, developers and educators who want to learn how visualisation techniques can be used successfully for a variety of purposes, such as educating students or training staff, interacting with patients and biomedical procedures in general.

Embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells are the two major types of stem cells that have been used for experimental and clinical studies. Embryonic stem cells are totipotent cells that have the capability to differentiate into any type of cell in the body. In Cellular Cardiomyoplasty: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers in the field detail many of the methods which are now commonly used to study cellular cardiomyoplasty. Methods and techniques described in this volume use only adult stem cells or adult progenitor cells.Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and Practical, Cellular Cardiomyoplasty: Methods and Protocols will benefit the cardiologist, cardiothoracic surgeons, biologist (cell, molecular, or structural), biochemist, and physiologist who are interested in understanding and treating damaged myocardium and failing heart.

This volume provides an overview on the influence of Extracellular Matrix (ECM) on tumor progression. It covers topics such as signaling induced by structural ECM proteins including collagen and fibronectin, the control of ECM deposition and the turnover in tumors. Also discussed are the migration of cells through basement membranes and the function of proteoglycans including lumican and veriscan in tumor progression. Biomaterial-based in-vitro models as well as C. elegans models of the tumor microenvironment are used to show how these models can lead to a greater understanding of the disease mechanisms that promote cancer progression. The book addresses researchers working on cancer biology or ECM, and oncologists alike.

Chronic diseases are the leading cause of deaths worldwide and according to the World Economics Council and the Harvard School of Public Health, the cost of chronic diseases is expected to reach a staggering 48% of global gross domestic product by the year 2030. The urgency of the issue was demonstrated in 2011 when for only the second time in its existence, the U.N. General Assembly brought a health issue to the floor for consideration: chronic diseases.

To date, most considerations of the issue have approached the topic from the vantage point that chronic diseases are a myriad of largely unconnected diseases and conditions arising in diverse tissues, organs and physiological systems. This book, "Immunotoxicity, Immune Dysfuction, and Chronic Disease," deviates from that prior model. It considers the interconnectivity of chronic diseases with both environmental insult of the immune system and subsequent immune dysfunction and inflammatory dysregulation as the underlying basis for many, if not most, chronic diseases.

This change in the perception of environment-immune linkages to chronic disease is significant and has immediate implications both for the prevention of disease as well as for the development of more effective therapeutic approaches. Rather than considering environmental factors and types of reported immune alterations ("e.g., " depressed humoral immunity) as is common in books involving immunotoxicity, the present book approaches the environment-immune-disease triad from the standpoint of the disease. Each chapter emphasizes one or more specific immune dysfunction-based chronic disease(s) or condition(s) ("e.g., " asthma, atherosclerosis, multiple sclerosis, lupus) and describes: 1) the suggested environmental risk factors, 2) the underlying immune dysfunction(s) associated with the disease and 3) the overall health consequences of the disease.

This book is an early entry for a new Toxicology book series for Springer titled: Molecular and Integrative Toxicology (MaIT). The series will feature detailed research information, but in the context of a more integrative or holistic framework. As part of this framework, the chapters will contain a section on Key Points as well as Recommendations where appropriate. The goal is to cover the most timely, state-of-the-art issues in toxicology as well as to ensure that the information is maximally accessible for research scientists, teachers, physicians and students. We are particularly grateful to the numerous chapter authors for providing comprehensive and expert disease-oriented contributions. We are also appreciative of their willingness to consider their material not as disparate pieces of what has become a major health crisis, but rather as key pieces in a network of apparently interconnected health challenges."

This detailed volume explores the field of bacterial virulence and the effort to understand how microbial interaction with a host results in the pathology of a specific disease. This collection of selected protocols includes advanced molecular biology and bioinformatics methods, cell culture and organoid models of infection, as well as in vivo infection models that are useful to study the interaction of pathogens with plants, insects, avian, and mammalian hosts. 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, readily reproducible protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and beneficial, Bacterial Virulence: Methods and Protocols serves as an ideal guide for researchers seeking to promote and further develop the exciting and continuously evolving field of bacterial virulence. Chapter 19 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This volume details protocols on rationale design of therapeutic siRNA molecules and its encapsulation with smart vehicles to overcome the barriers to an effective administration in vivo. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology 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. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Design and Delivery of SiRNA Therapeutics aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.

This book focuses on biomaterials of different forms used for medical implants. The authors introduce the characteristics and properties of biomaterials and then dedicate special chapters to metallic, ceramic, polymeric and composite biomaterials. Case studies on sterilization methods by biomaterials are also presented. Finally, the authors describe the degradation and effects of biomaterials in living tissue.

This book will enable the production of reliable, accurate, reproducible (best possible care) results that satisfies the customer's requirements obtained from an accredited, process oriented, health and safety conscious laboratory that is cost effectively run (value for money) by qualified, certified and highly motivated biomedical staff (Joy and pride at work) using well maintained, validated and quality controlled equipments and appropriately stored reagents on the right sample drawn from the right patient that is appropriately communicated in a timely fashion to the requesting clinician to enable them render the best possible evidenced- based medical care to their patients.

This detailed book focuses on cutting-edge methods for Parkinson's disease (PD) research, such as the analysis of the prion-like properties of -synuclein, mitochondrial functions related to the PINK1-Parkin pathway/CHCHD2, the endolysosome pathway related to LRRK2, VPS35, and ATP13A2 using cultured cells (including patient iPS cells), deep brain stimulation therapy, classic mitochondrial toxins related to PD, and genetic associations and screenings using mammalian and invertebrate genetic models of PD. The collection intends to serve as an introductory protocol book for basic research on PD pathogenesis. 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, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Experimental Models of Parkinson's Disease is an ideal guide for researchers continuing to work toward making PD risk predictable and surmountable.

This book presents a comprehensive view on mycotoxins of agricultural as well as non-agricultural environments and their health effects in humans and animals. Mycotoxins have immunosuppressive effects; but some of them can cause cancers, mutagenicity, neurotoxicity, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, DNA damage and respiratory disorders. The problem of mycotoxins is long-lasting and their direct or indirect exposures to humans and animals must be further discussed. The first chapter will cover the historical perspective of mycotoxins along with timeline while the second one will provide overview including classification of mycotoxins and mycotoxicoses. The comprehensive information/ literature on traditional, emerging and mushroom mycotoxins will be given in chapters 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Chapter 6 will deal with mycotoxins co-occurrence poisoning whereas new and masked mycotoxins will be described in chapter 7. The important aspects of mycotoxin studies like extraction, characterization and analysis and management strategies will be summarized in 8 and 9 chapters. The last chapter of the book will cover the recent developments in toxicokinetic studies of mycotoxins. The book will have the most up-to-date information and recent discoveries to deliver accurate data and to illustrate essential points to a wide range of readers including mycologists, clinicians, agricultural scientists, chemists, veterinarians, environmentalists and food scientists.

This book examines the sequence of events and methodology in the industrial clinical research process; a reference for multidisciplinary personnel. It is the conceptual framework involving the philosophical, economic, political, historical, regulatory, planning, and marketing aspects of the process.

This book describes in 13 chapters mechanisms of P450 used to monooxygenate substrates via the NAD(P)H/O2 pathway using its peroxidase and peroxygenase functions. P450 also utilizes peroxides, peracids, periodate and iodosobenzene to oxygenate substrates via the shunt pathway. Also described are mechanisms used in the oxidation of pharmaceuticals by CYP3A4; acyl- carbon cleavage by CYP17A1, CYP19A1 and CYP51A1; metabolism of tetrabromodiphenyl ethers and bile acids by CYP2B6 and CYP3A4; metabolism of -6 and -3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; H2O2-mediated peroxygenation of substrates using substrate misrecognition; P450 oxidative reactions using electrochemical methods; electron transfer to P450 by redox proteins; hydroxylation of 1,8-cineole by P450cin; and peroxygenation by unspecific peroxygenases using H2O2. The topics covered are relevant to P450 researchers, professors and students from a variety of disciplines ranging from pharmacology, toxicology and microbiology to chemistry.

This book introduces the translational informatics applied to most aspects of virus infection, including tracking of virus origin, detection and prevention of infection, drug discovery, and vaccine design as well as smart city-level monitoring and controlling of the virus epidemic by government. It covers the informatics for data mining and modelling at molecular, tissue/organ, individual, and population levels. The informatics for immunological mechanisms and the personalized prediction and treatment of infected patients are also summarized. The perspectives on the application of artificial intelligence to the prevention of virus outbreaks are also given. This book will be helpful to readers who are interested in prevention of virus infection, biomedical informatics, and artificial intelligence in medicine and healthcare.

This volume provides a comprehensive reference for researchers aiming to bring new techniques and approaches to their scientific research using urodeles. Chapters are authored by leaders in the field and meant to guide readers through laboratory colony husbandry, traditional molecular techniques, experimental manipulation and surgeries, bioinformatics and genomics, transgenics and lineage-tracing, and physiological and organismal techniques. In addition to laboratory methods, this volume highlights techniques developed for field studies and work with wild-caught animals. Written in the successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and state-of-the-art, Methods in Salamander Research aims to be a practical guide for researchers interested in deploying new methodologies in their lab or in the field.

This textbook and guide focuses on methodologies for bias analysis in epidemiology and public health, not only providing updates to the first edition but also further developing methods and adding new advanced methods. As computational power available to analysts has improved and epidemiologic problems have become more advanced, missing data, Bayes, and empirical methods have become more commonly used. This new edition features updated examples throughout and adds coverage addressing: Measurement error pertaining to continuous and polytomous variables Methods surrounding person-time (rate) data Bias analysis using missing data, empirical (likelihood), and Bayes methods A unique feature of this revision is its section on best practices for implementing, presenting, and interpreting bias analyses. Pedagogically, the text guides students and professionals through the planning stages of bias analysis, including the design of validation studies and the collection of validity data from other sources. Three chapters present methods for corrections to address selection bias, uncontrolled confounding, and measurement errors, and subsequent sections extend these methods to probabilistic bias analysis, missing data methods, likelihood-based approaches, Bayesian methods, and best practices.

Two decades have passed since trinucleotide repeat expansion was first discovered in genes responsible for certain neurological diseases. Since then, new technologies have developed and innovative concepts have emerged, which may prove useful in devising therapeutic approaches to neurological diseases. Divided into six convenient sections, Trinucleotide Repeat Protocols, Second Edition covers a wide range of topics such as an overview of trinucleotide repeat diseases, synaptic plasticity, embryonic stem (ES) cell-related protocols with a focus on HD, RNA-related protocols, and analysis of epigenetic modification in fragile X syndrome. This edition focuses not only on direct analysis of trinucleotide repeat diseases but also on alternative approaches for the analysis of trinucleotide repeat diseases, with the hope that this will result in a better understanding of the mechanisms and future therapeutic prospects for treatment of these diseases. Written in the 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 protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and easily accessible, Trinucleotide Repeat Protocols, Second Edition seeks to serve researchers with its thorough methodologies on this expanding field.

The book will discuss the molecular mechanisms of cancer diseases, stem cell proliferation and transformation into cancer cells beyond the physiological processes that occur in normal stem cell biology. Some of the key oncogenic events in cancer and their signaling pathways that regulate cell division cycle progression will be described considering prospects for using such knowledge in advanced cancer therapy. Each chapter shall provide an invaluable resource for information on the most current advances in the field, with discussion of controversial issues and areas of emerging importance

Upon completion of the human genome project over 800 G protein-coupled receptor 1 (GPCR) genes, subdivided into five categories, were identified. These receptors sense a diverse array of stimuli, including peptides, ions, lipid analogues, light and odour, in a discriminating fashion. Subsequently, they transduce a signal from the ligand-receptor complex into numerous cellular responses. The importance of GPCRs is further reflected in the fact that they constitute the most common target for therapeutic drugs across a 2 wide range of human disorders. Phylogenetic analysis of GPCRs produced the GRAFS classification system, which subdivides GPCRs into five discrete families: glutamate, rhodopsin, adhesion, frizzled/taste2 and secretin receptors. The adhesion-GPCR family 2 can be further subdivided into eight groups. The field of adhesion-GPCR biology has indeed become large enough to require a volume dedicated solely to this field. The contributors to this book have made a courageous effort to address the key concepts of adhesion-GPCR biology, including the evolution and biochemistry of adhesion-GPCRs; there are extensive discussions on the functional nature of these receptors during development, the immune response and tumourgenesis. Finally, there are chapters dedicated to adhesion-GPCR signalling, an area of intense investigation.

"Bioinformatics of Human Proteomics" discusses the development of methods, techniques and applications in the field of protein bioinformatics, an important direction in bioinformatics. It collects contributions from expert researchers in order to provide a practical guide to this complex field of study. The book covers the protein interaction network, drug discovery and development, the relationship between translational medicine and bioinformatics, and advances in proteomic methods, while also demonstrating important bioinformatics tools and methods available today for protein analysis, interpretation and predication. It is intended for experts or senior researchers in the fields of clinical research-related biostatistics, bioinformatics, computational biology, medicine, statistics, system biology, molecular diagnostics, biomarkers, or drug discovery and development. Dr.Xiangdong Wang works as a distinguished professor of Respiratory Medicine at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. He serves as Director of Biomedical Research Center, Fudan University Zhongshan Hospital and adjunct professor of Clinical Bioinformatics at Lund University, Sweden. His main research is focused on the role of clinical bioinformatics in the development of disease-specific biomarkers and dynamic network biomarkers, the molecular mechanism of organ dysfunction and potential therapies.

The current textbook has been written as a help to medical / health professionals and students for the study of modern Bayesian statistics, where posterior and prior odds have been replaced with posterior and prior likelihood distributions. Why may likelihood distributions better than normal distributions estimate uncertainties of statistical test results? Nobody knows for sure, and the use of likelihood distributions instead of normal distributions for the purpose has only just begun, but already everybody is trying and using them. SPSS statistical software version 25 (2017) has started to provide a combined module entitled Bayesian Statistics including almost all of the modern Bayesian tests (Bayesian t-tests, analysis of variance (anova), linear regression, crosstabs etc.). Modern Bayesian statistics is based on biological likelihoods, and may better fit clinical data than traditional tests based normal distributions do. This is the first edition to systematically imply modern Bayesian statistics in traditional clinical data analysis. This edition also demonstrates that Markov Chain Monte Carlo procedures laid out as Bayesian tests provide more robust correlation coefficients than traditional tests do. It also shows that traditional path statistics are both textually and conceptionally like Bayes theorems, and that structural equations models computed from them are the basis of multistep regressions, as used with causal Bayesian networks.

Virtual Reality has the potential to provide descriptive and practical information for medical training and therapy while relieving the patient or the physician. Multimodal interactions between the user and the virtual environment facilitate the generation of high-fidelity sensory impressions, by using not only visual and auditory, but also kinesthetic, tactile, and even olfactory feedback modalities. On the basis of the existing physiological constraints, Virtual Reality in Medicine derives the technical requirements and design principles of multimodal input devices, displays, and rendering techniques. Resulting from a course taught by the authors, Virtual Reality in Medicine presents examples for surgical training, intra-operative augmentation, and rehabilitation that are already in use as well as those currently in development. It is well suited as introductory material for engineering and computer science students, as well as researchers who want to learn more about basic technologies in the area of virtual reality applied to medicine. It also provides a broad overview to non-engineering students as well as clinical users, who desire to learn more about the current state of the art and future applications of this technology.