This issue of Heart Failure Clinics is dedicated to an in-depth analysis of the conduct of clinical investigation in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). It tackles the difficult questions involved in patient population, trial conduct, surrogate endpoints, clinical endpoints, and statistical considerations.? The purpose of the issue is to provide information that will be?meaningful and useful to help physicians in thinking about the design of clinical trials in this field.

This volume provides a collection of protocols and approaches for the creation of novel ligand binding proteins, compiled and described by many of today's leaders in the field of protein engineering. Chapters focus on modeling protein ligand binding sites, accurate modeling of protein-ligand conformational sampling, scoring of individual docked solutions, structure-based design program such as ROSETTA, protein engineering, and additional methodological approaches. Examples of applications include the design of metal-binding proteins and light-induced ligand binding proteins, the creation of binding proteins that also display catalytic activity, and the binding of larger peptide, protein, DNA and RNA ligands. 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.

Since scientists began experimenting with green fluorescent proteins in the middle of the 1990s, these proteins have become one of the most important tools available to researchers in modern medicine and biology. By using them to illuminate other proteins that were previously invisible even under microscope, scientists are now able to observe facets of disease that would have otherwise gone undetected. Green fluorescent proteins are a part of over three million experiments a year, and are invaluable for tasks such as tracking HIV, breeding bird flu-resistant chickens, and confirming the existence of cancerous stem cells. In Illuminating Disease, Marc Zimmer introduces us to these revolutionary proteins, acquainting readers both with the researchers responsible for the proteins' discovery as well as their wide utility. The book details the history of genetically modified fluorescent parasites and viruses, which provide scientists with new information about the spread of diseases. Green fluorescent proteins have played crucial roles in the research of malaria, AIDS/HIV, swine and bird flu, dengue, cancer, and chagas. They allow scientists and doctors to understand these diseases better, by quite literally illuminating various microscopic pieces that otherwise would have gone unseen. The book is richly illustrated, showing the many visually striking uses of GFP. Many of these scans have won awards in biological imaging competitions. Illuminating Disease is an accessible and illustrated introduction to one of the most important developments in medical research of the last several decades.

This book examines the most novel and state-of-the-art applications of biomaterials, with chapters that exemplify approaches with targeted drug delivery, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases and cranioplasty implants. Expert contributors analyze biomaterials such as calcium phosphate, sol-gel and quenched glasses, metallic and polymer implants, bioactive glass, and polymer composites while also covering important areas such as the soft tissue replacement, apatites, bone regeneration and cell encapsulation. This book is appropriate for biomedical engineers, materials scientists, and clinicians who are seeking to implement the most advanced approaches and technologies with their patients.

Medicinal chemistry is both science and art. The science of medicinal chemistry offers mankind one of its best hopes for improving the quality of life. The art of medicinal chemistry continues to challenge its practitioners with the need for both intuition and experience to discover new drugs. Hence sharing the experience of drug research is uniquely beneficial to the field of medicinal chemistry. Drug research requires interdisciplinary team-work at the interface between chemistry, biology and medicine. Therefore, the topic-related series Topics in Medicinal Chemistry covers all relevant aspects of drug research, e.g. pathobiochemistry of diseases, identification and validation of (emerging) drug targets, structural biology, drugability of targets, drug design approaches, chemogenomics, synthetic chemistry including combinatorial methods, bioorganic chemistry, natural compounds, high-throughput screening, pharmacological in vitro and in vivo investigations, drug-receptor interactions on the molecular level, structure-activity relationships, drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, toxicology and pharmacogenomics. In general, special volumes are edited by well known guest editors.

Reviews in Fluorescence 2016, the tenth volume of the book serial from Springer, serves as a comprehensive collection of current trends and emerging hot topics in the field of fluorescence and closely related disciplines. It summarizes the year's progress in fluorescence and its applications, with authoritative reviews specialized enough to be attractive to professional researchers, yet also appealing to the wider audience of scientists in related disciplines of fluorescence. Reviews in Fluorescence offers an essential reference material for any research lab or company working in the fluorescence field and related areas. All academics, bench scientists, and industry professionals wishing to take advantage of the latest and greatest in the continuously emerging field of fluorescence will find it an invaluable resource.

Gain the medical insurance skills you need to succeed in today's outpatient and inpatient settings! Fordney's Medical Insurance and Billing, 16th Edition helps you master the insurance billing specialist's role and responsibilities in areas such as diagnostic coding, procedural coding, billing, and collection. Using clear, non-technical explanations, this book covers all of the types of insurance coverage commonly encountered in hospitals, physicians' offices, and clinics. Step-by-step guidelines lead you through medical documentation and administrative procedures. Written by coding specialist and educator Linda M. Smith, this market-leading text is a complete guide to becoming an efficient insurance billing specialist. Coverage of medical documentation, diagnostic coding, and procedural coding provides you with the foundation and skills needed to work in a physician's office as well as outpatient and inpatient settings. Coverage of the role and responsibilities of the insurance billing specialist emphasizes advanced job opportunities and certification. Step-by-step procedures detail common responsibilities of the insurance billing specialist and coder. Key terms and abbreviationsare defined and emphasized, reinforcing your understanding of new concepts and terminology. Color-coded icons denote and clarify information, rules, and regulations for each type of payer. Privacy, Security, and HIPAA chapter and Compliance Alerts throughout the book highlight important HIPAA compliance issues and regulations. NEW! Insights From The Field includes short interviews with insurance billing specialists who have experience in the field, providing a snapshot of their career paths and offering advice to the new student. NEW! Scenario boxes help you apply concepts to real-world situations. NEW! Quick Review sections summarize chapter content and also include review questions. NEW! Discussion Points provide the opportunity for students and instructors to participate in interesting and open dialogues related to the chapter's content. NEW! Expanded Health Care Facility Billing chapters are revised to provide the latest information impacting the insurance billing specialist working in a variety of healthcare facility settings. NEW! Insights From The Field includes short interviews with insurance billing specialists who have experience in the field, providing a snapshot of their career paths and offering advice to the new student. NEW! Scenario boxes help you apply concepts to real-world situations. NEW! Quick Review sections summarize chapter content and also include review questions. NEW! Discussion Points provide the opportunity for students and instructors to participate in interesting and open dialogues related to the chapter's content. NEW! Expanded Health Care Facility Billing chapters are revised to provide the latest information impacting the insurance billing specialist working in a variety of healthcare facility settings.

Strategy and Statistics in Clinical Trials deals with the research processes and the role of statistics in these processes. The book offers real-life case studies and provides a practical, how to guide to biomedical R&D. It describes the statistical building blocks and concepts of clinical trials and promotes effective cooperation between statisticians and important other parties. The discussion is organized around 15 chapters. After providing an overview of clinical development and statistics, the book explores questions when planning clinical trials, along with the attributes of medical products. It then explains how to set research objectives and goes on to consider statistical thinking, estimation, testing procedures, and statistical significance, explanation and prediction. The rest of the book focuses on exploratory and confirmatory clinical trials; hypothesis testing and multiplicity; elements of clinical trial design; choosing trial endpoints; and determination of sample size. This book is for all individuals engaged in clinical research who are interested in a better understanding of statistics, including professional clinical researchers, professors, physicians, and researchers in laboratory. It will also be of interest to corporate and government laboratories, clinical research nurses, members of the allied health professions, and post-doctoral and graduate students.

Aromatase Inhibitors (AIs) treat postmenopausal estrogen receptor positive tumours, which constitute the majority of breast cancer patients. This comprehensive volume brings together the current knowledge from different relevant areas, including molecular mechanisms and translational aspects of drug resistance in AIs. Topics covered include research, experimental , and clinical data specifically focused on AI resistance in breast cancer. The volume will include three sections. The first section covers general knowledge about aromatase inhibitors, including regulation of aromatase genes, and structure and function of aromatase protein. The second section provides the detailed mechanisms of resistance to AIs, while the third section explores prediction of resistance and potential strategies to overcome resistance. Breast cancer is the most common female cancer and AIs significantly improve treatments outcomes compatibly to previously used endocrine treatments. However 10-15% of post-operative patients develop a relapse during adjuvant treatment with AIs; about 25-50% of the patients do not respond to AIs in neo-adjuvant or metastatic setting, and the majority of metastatic patients who initially respond develop resistance within 3 years. There is an important need to understand these mechanisms of resistance in order to develop methods of preventing or overcoming the resistance to AIs, which will ensure a more successful outcome in treating breast cancer.

Editors hope that Regenerative Biology of the Spine and Spinal Cord appeals to the nostalgic sentiments of investigators and intellectuals in that it can be held in hand and provide a broad survey of leading edge science. At the same time its chapters can be digitally acquired for those established in the field to refine particular knowledge interests or gaps. Most importantly, we ask the reader, whomever that may be, to peruse without prejudice as countless more chapters will have been written before total spinal regeneration is achieved.

Medical research has been central to biomedicine in Africa for over a century, and Africa, along with other tropical areas, has been crucial to the development of medical science. At present, study populations in Africa participate in an increasing number of medical research projects and clinical trials, run by both public institutions and private companies. Global debates about the politics and ethics of this research are growing and local concerns are prompting calls for social studies of the "trial communities" produced by this scientific work. Drawing on rich, ethnographic and historiographic material, this volume represents the emergent field of anthropological inquiry that links Africanist ethnography to recent concerns with science, the state, and the culture of late capitalism in Africa.

In recent years there have been tremendous advances in the fields of chemistry, physics and biology which have a direct impact on advances in biomaterials science. Many areas of healthcare depend upon the development of novel biomaterials. This book contains contribution from scientists who have made numerous innovative and exciting advances in the field of biomedical materials. The latest advances in the field are covered including studies of cell interactions with biomaterials. The assessment of the potential applications for the development of new biomaterials, tissue engineering and future medical devices are discussed. It will also provide an opportunity to discuss the latest developments in the field and the vision for the future. The book clearly illustrates how basic and applied research are being combined to produce novel biomaterials.

Medical research involving human subjects has contributed to considerable advancements in our knowledge, and to medical benefits. At the same time the development of new technologies as well as further globalisation of medical research raises questions that require the attention of researchers from a range of disciplines. This book gathers the contributions of researchers from nine different countries, who analyse recent developments in medical research from ethical, historical, legal and socio-cultural perspectives. In addition to reflections on innovations in science such as genetic databases and the concept of "targeted therapy" the book also includes analyses regarding the ethico-legal regulation of new technologies such as human tissue banking or the handling of genetic information potentially relevant for participants in medical research. Country and culture-specific aspects that are relevant to human medical research from a global perspective also play a part. The value of multi- and interdisciplinary analysis that includes the perspectives of scholars from normative and empirical disciplines is a shared premise of each contribution.

Cancer is a multifaceted disease and overwhelmingly increasing experimental evidence has helped us to develop a deeper understanding of the role of signal transduction cascades in cancer development and progression. Tissue microarrays and next generation sequencing technologies have assisted us to gather missing pieces of jigsaw puzzle and we now know that deregulation of spatio-temporally controlled signaling cascades play fundamental role in metastasis and resistance against wide ranging therapeutics. This book offers a balanced overview of the rapidly emerging cutting edge research in molecular oncology and good source of knowledge for established oncologists, basic and medical students and pharmaceutical industry associated R&D departments.

Limiting genome replication to once per cell cycle is vital for maintaining genome stability. Although polyploidization is of physiologically importance for several specialized cell types, inappropriate polyploidization is believed to promote aneuploidy and transformation. A growing body of evidence indicates that the surveillance mechanisms that prevent polyploidization are frequently perturbed in cancers. Progress in the past several years has unraveled some of the underlying principles that maintain genome stability. This book brings together leaders of the field to overview subjects relating to polyploidization and cancer.

Volume 54 in the internationally acclaimed "Advances in Clinical Chemistry" contains chapters submitted from leading experts from academia and clinical laboratory science. Authors are from a diverse field of clinical chemistry disciplines and diagnostics, ranging from basic biochemical exploration to cutting-edge microarray technology.

Leading experts from academia and clinical laboratory science
Volume emphasizes novel laboratory advances with application to clinical laboratory diagnostics and practical basic science studies

Network Science is the emerging field concerned with the study of large, realistic networks. This interdisciplinary endeavor, focusing on the patterns of interactions that arise between individual components of natural and engineered systems, has been applied to data sets from activities as diverse as high-throughput biological experiments, online trading information, smart-meter utility supplies, and pervasive telecommunications and surveillance technologies. This unique text/reference provides a fascinating insight into the state of the art in network science, highlighting the commonality across very different areas of application and the ways in which each area can be advanced by injecting ideas and techniques from another. The book includes contributions from an international selection of experts, providing viewpoints from a broad range of disciplines. It emphasizes networks that arise in nature-such as food webs, protein interactions, gene expression, and neural connections-and in technology-such as finance, airline transport, urban development and global trade. Topics and Features: begins with a clear overview chapter to introduce this interdisciplinary field; discusses the classic network science of fixed connectivity structures, including empirical studies, mathematical models and computational algorithms; examines time-dependent processes that take place over networks, covering topics such as synchronisation, and message passing algorithms; investigates time-evolving networks, such as the World Wide Web and shifts in topological properties (connectivity, spectrum, percolation); explores applications of complex networks in the physical and engineering sciences, looking ahead to new developments in the field. Researchers and professionals from disciplines as varied as computer science, mathematics, engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, neuroscience, epidemiology, and the social sciences will all benefit from this topical and broad overview of current activities and grand challenges in the unfolding field of network science.

This volume covers the topics presented at the 3rd International Conference on Tumor Microenvironment and Cellular Stress by an international community of researchers. The conference brings together scientists to discuss different cellular and animal models of tumor microenvironment study and identify common pathways that are candidates for therapeutic intervention; stimulate collaboration between groups that are more focused on elucidation of biochemical aspects of stress biology (e.g., HIF regulation) and groups that study the pathophysiological aspects of stress pathways or engaged in drug discovery; and critically evaluate novel targets for imaging or therapeutic intervention that would be of use to the tumor microenvironment community and pharmaceutical industry.

This book presents the fundamental physics of optical interferometry as applied to biophysical, biological and medical research. Interference is at the core of many types of optical detection and is a powerful probe of cellular and tissue structure in interfererence microscopy and in optical coherence tomography. It is also the root cause of speckle and other imaging artefacts that limit range and resolution. For biosensor applications, the inherent sensitivity of interferometry enables ultrasensitive detection of molecules in biological samples for medical diagnostics. In this book, emphasis is placed on the physics of light scattering, beginning with the molecular origins of refraction as light propagates through matter, and then treating the stochastic nature of random fields that ultimately dominate optical imaging in cells and tissue. The physics of partial coherence plays a central role in the text, with a focus on coherence detection techniques that allow information to be selectively detected out of incoherent and heterogeneous backgrounds. Optical Interferometry for Biology and Medicine is divided into four sections. The first covers fundamental principles, and the next three move up successive scales, beginning with molecular interferometry (biosensors), moving to cellular interferometry (microscopy), and ending with tissue interferometry (biomedical). An outstanding feature of the book is the clear presentation of the physics, with easy derivations of the appropriate equations, while emphasizing "rules of thumb" that can be applied by experimental researchers to give semi-quantitative predictions.

Systems-level neuronal mechanisms that coordinate the temporally, anatomically, and functionally distributed neuronal activity into coherent cognitive operations in the human brain have remained poorly understood. In humans, neuronal oscillations and synchronization can be recorded non-invasively with electro- and magnetoencephalography (EEG and MEG) that have excellent temporal resolution and an adequate spatial resolution when combined with source-reconstruction methods. In this book, leading authors in the field describe how recent methodological advances have paved the way to several major breakthroughs in the observations of large-scale synchrony from human non-invasive MEG data. This volume also presents the caveats influencing analyses of synchronization. These include the non-homogeneous sensitivity of MEG to superficial cortical sources, and, most importantly, the multitude of consequences of linear mixing. Linear mixing is an immense confounder in the sensor-level analyses of synchronization, but is also present at the source level. Approaches that can be used to avoid or compensate for these issues are then discussed. Thereafter, several authors take up a number of the functional roles that large-scale synchronization has in cognition. The authors assess how the spatio-temporal and -spectral organization and strength of both local and large-scale synchronized networks are associated with conscious sensory perception, visual working memory functions, and attention. These chapters summarize several lines of research showing how the strength of local and inter-areal oscillations in both cortical and subcortical brain structures is correlated with cognitive functions. Together these data suggest that synchronized neuronal oscillations may be a systems-level neuronal mechanism underlying the coordination of distributed processing in human cognition. In line with this argument, other authors go on to describe how oscillations and synchronization are altered in clinical populations, complementing the data presented on healthy subjects. Importantly, this book includes chapters from authors using many different approaches to the analyses of neuronal oscillations, ranging from local oscillatory activities to the usage of graph theoretical tools in the analyses of synchronization. In this way the present volume provides a comprehensive view on the analyses and functional significance of neuronal oscillations in humans. This book is aimed at doctoral and post-doctoral students as well as research scientists in the fields of cognitive neuroscience, psychology, medicine, and neurosciences.

Reflecting the development of powerful new tools and high-throughput methods to analyze adenoviral particles and their interactions with host cells, the third edition of Adenovirus Methods and Protocols calls upon experts in the field to convey advances in molecular biology, genomics and proteomics, imaging, and bioinformatics. Beginning with cryo-electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and mass spectrometry for a high resolution image and characterization of the virion, this detailed book then continues with capsid modifications and viral-like particles as promising alternatives to classical adenovirus vectors, and the study of adenovirus in host interactions in vitro at the cellular level as well as in vivo in animal models. Finally, the volume concludes with an extensive update of the most efficient protocols to generate, amplify, and/or purify, at small and large scale, standard human Ad5 as well as non-human, chimeric, and helper-dependent adenovirus vectors. Written in the greatly 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. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Adenovirus Methods and Protocols, Third Edition serves as an ideal guide for scientists continuing to research this highly valuable viral tool.

From the preface: "Neural Metabolism In Vivo aims to provide a comprehensive overview of neurobiology by presenting the basic principles of up-to-date and cutting-edge technology, as well as their application in assessing the functional, morphological and metabolic aspects of the brain. Investigation of neural activity of the living brain via neurovascular coupling using multimodal imaging techniques extended our understanding of fundamental neurophysiological mechanisms, regulation of cerebral blood flow in connection to neural activity and the interplay between neurons, astrocytes and blood vessels. Constant delivery of glucose and oxygen for energy metabolism is vital for brain function, and the physiological basis of neural activity can be assessed through measurements of cerebral blood flow and consumption of glucose and oxygen.... This book presents the complex physiological and neurochemical processes of neural metabolism and function in response to various physiological conditions and pharmacological stimulations. Neurochemical detection technologies and quantitative aspects of monitoring cerebral energy substrates and other metabolites in the living brain are described under the "Cerebral metabolism of antioxidants, osmolytes and others in vivo" section. Altogether, the advent of new in vivo tools has transformed neuroscience and neurobiology research, and demands interdisciplinary approaches as each technology could only approximate a very small fraction of the true complexity of the underlying biological processes. However, translational values of the emerging in vivo methods to the application of preclinical to clinical studies cannot be emphasized enough. Thus, it is our hope that advances in our understanding of biochemical, molecular, functional and physiological processes of the brain could eventually help people with neurological problems, which are still dominated by the unknowns." -- In-Young Choi and Rolf Gruetter

International biobank collaborations allow for studies with large number of subjects where generalizability of findings across populations can be investigated, which means establishing quality criteria concerning the nature of the sample, conditions of sample storage, and the adequacy of available information is of vital importance. Methods in Biobanking brings together contributions from experts in the field in order to aid in the establishment of this much needed consistency. The volume discusses how to use existing collections of biological material to answer significant questions concerning the cause of disease without violating the personal integrity of participating sample donors, the ethical issues surrounding biobanks, guidelines for the use of coding systems and the use of biocomputing and registry linkages in research projects, as well as many other key subjects. As a volume in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series, this collection provides the kind of detailed description and implementation advice that is crucial for getting optimal results. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Methods in Biobanking seeks to provide scientists with the tools necessary to take advantage of the tremendous current resources of the world's biobanks and strengthen those resources for the future.