This volume describes state-of-the-art protocols that serve as "recipes" for scientists concentrating on fibrosis research. This book is divided into four sections. Part I focuses on animal models of fibrosis and covers topics such as mimicking fibrosis in the lungs, skin, liver and heart, and generating transgenic mouse models. Part II discusses cell culture systems, where the chapters explore cell types important for the development of fibrosis. Part III looks at the purification, quantification, and analysis of the ECM proteins, and Part IV describes computer-assisted methods such as quantifying fibrillar collagen alignment and exploring the nano-surface of collagen with atomic force microscopy (AFM). 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. Cutting-edge and practical, Fibrosis: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource aimed at outstanding quality and repeatability of research experiments in the fibrosis field.

Choosing wisely for better patient care. Lab Literacy for Doctors helps you make quick and efficient decisions about the right tests for typical clinical situations, thereby improving patient care. In a study published by the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine (2014-03-01), primary care physicians reported that 15% of the time they are unsure about ordering lab tests and 8% of the time they are unsure about interpreting the results. This raises concerns about the need for more efficient and cost-effective lab test utilization. Lab Literacy for Doctors addresses these concerns in a practical, up-to-date, and easy-to-use format. Refer to this essential guide for: Diagnostic algorithms. A quick index summarizing the clinical utility of common tests. Advice and information on lab errors, false positives and negatives, and blood and tissue collection. Sections on dermatology, ENT and respiratory system, endocrine system, fatigue, GI and hepatic system, gynecology and pregnancy, routine screening, and more.

This thesis presents a theoretical and experimental approach for the rapid fabrication, optimization and testing of holographic sensors for the quantification of pH, organic solvents, metal cations, and glucose in solutions. Developing non-invasive and reusable diagnostics sensors that can be easily manufactured will support the monitoring of high-risk individuals in any clinical or point-of-care setting. Sensor fabrication approaches outlined include silver-halide chemistry, laser ablation and photopolymerization. The sensors employ off-axis Bragg diffraction gratings of ordered silver nanoparticles and localized refractive index changes in poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) and polyacrylamide films. The sensors exhibited reversible Bragg peak shifts, and diffracted the spectrum of narrow-band light over the wavelength range peak 495-1100 nm. Clinical trials of glucose sensors in the urine samples of diabetic patients demonstrated that they offer superior performance compared to commercial high-throughput urinalysis devices. Lastly, a generic smartphone application to quantify colorimetric tests was developed and tested for both Android and iOS operating systems. The sensing platform and smartphone application may have implications for the development of low-cost, reusable and equipment-free point-of-care diagnostic devices.

As the molecular basis of human disease becomes better characterized, and the implications for understanding the molecular basis of disease becomes realized through improved diagnostics and treatment, Molecular Pathology, Second Edition stands out as the most comprehensive textbook where molecular mechanisms represent the focus. It is uniquely concerned with the molecular basis of major human diseases and disease processes, presented in the context of traditional pathology, with implications for translational molecular medicine. The Second Edition of Molecular Pathology has been thoroughly updated to reflect seven years of exponential changes in the fields of genetics, molecular, and cell biology which molecular pathology translates in the practice of molecular medicine. The textbook is intended to serve as a multi-use textbook that would be appropriate as a classroom teaching tool for biomedical graduate students, medical students, allied health students, and others (such as advanced undergraduates). Further, this textbook will be valuable for pathology residents and other postdoctoral fellows that desire to advance their understanding of molecular mechanisms of disease beyond what they learned in medical/graduate school. In addition, this textbook is useful as a reference book for practicing basic scientists and physician scientists that perform disease-related basic science and translational research, who require a ready information resource on the molecular basis of various human diseases and disease states.

This book summarizes the contributions at an April 2016 conference held at Albany Medical College, Reproductive Ethics: New Challenges and Conversations. Reproductive ethics does not suffer from a lack of challenging issues, yet a few "hot button" issues such as abortion and surrogacy seem to attract most of the attention, while other issues and dilemmas remain relatively underdeveloped in bioethics literature. The goal of this book is to explore and expand the range of topics addressed in reproductive ethics. This is a multi-disciplinary book bringing together philosophers, clinicians, sociologists, anthropologists, and other scholars whose research or clinical interests touch reproductive issues. The results of this compilation are a comprehensive and unique discussion of the evolving issues in the rapidly changing field. The majority of the popular reproductive ethics anthologies were published at least 10 years ago. The field of reproductive ethics would benefit from a new anthology that addresses some of the perennial dilemmas in reproductive ethics (e.g. abortion, sex selection) from updated perspectives and that also covers new technologies that have emerged only in the last few years, such as social egg freezing.

Laboratory Animals: Regulations and Recommendations for the Care and Use of Animals in Research, Second Edition, is the only publication to offer a global compilation of standards on the care, welfare and use of animals in research. The book provides updated information that will be of great interest to professionals across laboratory animal science and biomedical research. Users will find a broad picture of the regulations required in other areas of the world that will be essential to appropriately manage animal care and use programs.

The over-arching goal of this volume is to help infertility practitioners evaluate and manage their patients with poor semen quality. The authors review the existing literature on the effects of medications on male fertility, and provide detailed information about what is known, giving the number of individuals and population characteristics for studies of medication effects on male fertility. Medications are designed to treat illness and reduce symptoms, but all have undesirable adverse effects such as headache or stomach upset. Some adverse reactions can even be life-threatening, so it is no surprise that some drugs have negative effects on male reproduction. Medical practitioners rarely consider a man's reproductive plans when prescribing medications. Men are routinely treated with drugs that can impair or abolish fertility. Although practitioners in the field of reproductive medicine generally realize that certain drugs impact negatively on reproductive health, there are limited resources providing evidence-based knowledge useful in counseling patients. Tables throughout this volume summarize the information for each drug, providing a handy reference for clinical use.

Cardiovascular immunology is a newly emerging research area, investigating the crosstalk between the cardiovascular and the immune system. This crosstalk is evident through (1) crucial immunological capacities and functions of cardiovascular cell types, including cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, pericytes and cardiac resident macrophages, (2) the impact of aberrant immune function on the development of cardiovascular disease such as atherosclerosis, direct and indirect immune-mediated heart disease and vasculitis, and (3) the crucial role of the immune system in cardiac repair and regeneration. The Immunology of Cardiovascular Homeostasis and Pathology covers all these aspects of cardiovascular immunology, starting with homeostatic immunological functions of traditional cardiovascular cell types, and moving then to the role of the immune system in cardiovascular pathology and to recent research into targeting the immune system to boost cardiac healing and regeneration.

Recent critical advances in the field of immunotoxicology have led to incredible contributions to basic science, including crucial improvements in human risk assessment. In Immunotoxicity Testing: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers explore these changes, providing the reader with current, lab-ready procedures, along with the corresponding background information that is necessary to identify effective testing approaches for chemicals and drugs. Among the first volumes to meld consideration of immunotoxicity testing strategies with a comprehensive presentation of detailed laboratory protocols, chapters include a description of the evolution of immunotoxicity testing, a look at the importance of immunotoxicity testing for health risk reduction, and ideas concerning the future of the field. Composed in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology(tm) series format, most chapters contain a brief introduction, step-by-step methods, a list of necessary materials, and a Notes section which shares tips from the experts on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Comprehensive and innovative, Immunotoxicity Testing: Methods and Protocols is a critical, one-stop reference resource for the most important and commonly used laboratory protocols in immunotoxicology.

This detailed volume presents a set of protocols useful for researchers in the field of recombinant immunoglobulin and alternative scaffold engineering, aptamer development, and generation of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). Part I includes methods that deal with amino-acid based synthetic antibodies. Brief protocols about the generation of antibody libraries are detailed, as well as techniques for antibody selection, characterization, and validation. This section is completed by a brief description of a bioinformatics platform that supports antibody engineering during research and development. Part II contains basic procedures about the selection and characterization of aptamer molecules, and Part III describes fundamental processes of MIP generation and application. 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, Synthetic Antibodies: Methods and Protocols is an ideal guide for scientists seeking to propel the vital study of antibody research.

Designing EEG Experiments for Studying the Brain: Design Code and Example Datasets details the design of various brain experiments using electroencephalogram (EEG). Providing guidelines for designing an EEG experiment, it is primarily for researchers who want to venture into this field by designing their own experiments as well as those who are excited about neuroscience and want to explore various applications related to the brain. The first chapter describes how to design an EEG experiment and details the various parameters that should be considered for success, while remaining chapters provide experiment design for a number of neurological applications, both clinical and behavioral. As each chapter is accompanied with experiment design codes and example datasets, those interested can quickly design their own experiments or use the current design for their own purposes. Helpful appendices provide various forms for one's experiment including recruitment forms, feedback forms, ethics forms, and recommendations for related hardware equipment and software for data acquisition, processing, and analysis.

The book reviews the main approaches for generation of differentiated cells from various types of stem cells, including embryonic, placental and cord blood stem cells through marrow, adipose tissue and dental pulp. The book starts with an overview of experimental protocols applied to generate insulin secreting cells, neural cells, heart cells, and other tissue specific cells ex vivo and in experimental animals. This is followed by exhaustive review of clinical trials in these pathologies. It continues with a comparison of the merits of successful transplantation in humans versus animal experimentation, and highlights the most promising clinical applications in the field. Special chapters are devoted to the topic of tissue engineering and modern synthetic and biological scaffolds. It is essential reading for scientists and researchers in tissue engineering and stem cell research as well as clinicians who are involved in developing or testing stem cell therapies.

The clinical laboratory is often known as a "black box" to nurses, physicians, and surgeons, but this concise book removes the veil by covering all the pertinent aspects of the clinical laboratory. This book bridges between medicine and chemistry by offering an overview to a clinical laboratory's structure and function, the importance of laboratory utilization and test ordering, as well as pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical issues of importance to recognize in any clinical laboratory. An interactive FAQ and a detailed index are also available.

Metastatic dissemination of cancer is a main cause of cancer related deaths, therefore biological mechanisms implicated in metastatic process presents an essential object of cancer research. This research requires creation and utilization of adequate laboratory models. The book describes main approaches to model processes of metastatic cancer dissemination and metastases development. The book is structured in according with various metastatic pathways reflecting molecular specificity of metastatic process as well as anatomical specificity of aria of dissemination. Each chapter is introduced by short discussion of clinical aspects of certain metastatic pathway. Especial attention is paid for methods of visualization, quantification and analysis of the modeled metastases. Additional chapter is devoted to methods of mathematic modeling of tumor spread. The data presented in the book may be helpful for cancer researchers and oncologists.

This volume provides a transdisciplinary and translational review of many of the leading murine models used to study the mechanisms, mediators and biomarkers linking energy balance to cancer. It provides a review of murine models that should be of interest to basic, clinical and applied research investigators as well as nutrition scientists and students that work in cancer prevention, cancer control and treatment. The worldwide obesity pandemic has been extensively studied by epidemiologic and observational studies and even, in some cases, by randomized controlled trials. However, the development and control of obesity, its comorbidities and its impact on cancer usually occurs over such long periods that it is difficult, if not impossible to conduct randomized controlled trials in humans to investigate environmental contributions to obesity, energy balance and their impact on cancer. In contrast, model organisms, especially mice and rats, provide valuable assets for performing these studies under rigorously controlled conditions and in sufficient numbers to provide statistically significant results. In this volume, many of the leading and new murine models used to study the mechanisms and mediators linking cancer with obesity, sleep, exercise, their modification by environment and how they may continue to be used to further elucidate these relations as well as to explore preclinical aspects of prevention and/or therapeutic intervention are considered. This volume provides an important compilation and analysis of major experimental systems and principles for further preclinical research with translational impact on energy balance and cancer.

This book provides a comprehensive, state-of-the art review of the genitourinary tumor pathology field and the most contemporary insights regarding specimen submission, histologic morphology, immunohistochemistry, and molecular studies useful in the diagnosis of genitourinary neoplasms. Discussion of the clinical implications of pathological findings is contributed by renowned clinicians in the field. This handsome volume guides the reader through the intricacies of genitourinary tumor pathology, diagnosis, reporting, and prognosis. Written by experts in the field, Genitourinary Pathology: Practical Advances is of great value to anatomic pathologists, urologists, fellows in genitourinary pathology, as well as upper level residents training in pathology.

Tissue diagnosis in surgical pathology is the most important determinant of patient outcomes in oncology and other medical conditions. An appropriate diagnosis of a tumor correctly determines the necessary therapy for that patient. Error Reduction and Prevention in Surgical Pathology focuses on how errors happen, the best systems to detect errors and the best systems to prevent errors. As with any form of testing, the test cycle in surgical pathology can be divided into pre-analytic (collection and handling of specimens), analytic (the actual determination of disease or other diagnostic information) and post-analytic (generation of reports and distribution). Error can occur anywhere in the process and all of these steps must be performed optimally so that the correct diagnosis is made and delivered. Error Reduction and Prevention in Surgical Pathology serves as an essential guide to a successfully managed laboratory and contains all relevant information needed to manage patients and deliver the best diagnosis.

This book presents an overview of the most important current developments in the pre-analytical handling of tissue. It addresses in particular potential ways to improve the situation whereby methods employed in the pre-analytical phase – the period from surgical removal of tissue to the start of pathological processing – have remained essentially unchanged for decades with only modest standardization. It is examined how the pre-analytical period can be optimized, resulting not only in an increase in diagnostic quality but also in a reduction in processing time and costs. Among the key topics examined are the so-called cold ischemia time between tissue removal and fixation, the potential superiority of vacuum-based preservation over immediate formalin fixation, two-temperature fixation, molecular analysis methods, and the pre-analytics of specimens from particular tissues. Readers will find this book to be an important update that reveals the full importance of the pre-analytical phase for quality of pathological work-up.

This volume provides a comprehensive, state-of-the art review in the field of experimental and human nephrogenesis. The book reviews new data on the effects on kidney development by neonatal asphyxia, obstructive uropathies, nephrotoxic drugs, malnutrition, underfeeding, overfeeding and provides all possible preventive measures to ensure the well-being of the kidney at birth. The book also discusses the possible implications between renal development and the insurgence of kidney disease in adult life and the correlation with renal carcinogenesis. Written by well recognized experts in their fields, Kidney Development in Renal Pathology is a valuable tool for pathologists, neonatologists, nephrologists, gynecologists and researchers with an interest in kidney diseases.

In Vitro Toxicology Systems brings together important issues and considerations needed in order to develop a workable, reliable, integrated testing strategy for the replacement of animals in toxicity testing regimes. This thorough volume includes sections on in vitro models for systemic organ toxicity, neurotoxicity, sensory organs, immunotoxicity and reproductive toxicity and addresses how stem cells may be used going forward. The book also tackles difficult areas of toxicology such as carcinogenicity and nanotoxicology, with additional chapters dedicated to kinetics, metabolism, and in vitro in vivo extrapolation. The book also addresses biological processes such as stress response pathways and mechanistic biomarkers and how these can be uncovered and measured using high content approaches. Reliable and authoritative, In Vitro Toxicology Systems will be of benefit not only to students, scientists and regulators working in the field of chemical safety assessment but also to a wider scientific audience.