This book discusses the role of oxidative stress in human reproduction with a focus on men's health. The physiological roles of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in male fertility are the focus in this book. This topic is important because oxidative stress is a result of the imbalance between ROS and antioxidants in the body which may lead to sperm damage (DNA or count), deformity, and eventually, male infertility. Therefore, for a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms related to male genotoxicity and its regulation in infertility, this book provides an up-to-date view on the impact of oxidative stress factors in male reproduction . The main aim of this book is to collect a series of research articles and reviews from a diverse group of scientists to share their research work on the role of ROS or oxidative stress in physiological and pathological states in relation to (in)fertility in the male. This book presents various state-of-the-art chapters of the recent progress in the field of cellular toxicology and clinical manifestations of various issues related to men's health and fertility. Topics include cell signaling, DNA damage and infertility, the pathophysiology of disease instigation and distribution, immune toxicity and prevention.

This volume aims to detail the advances in the field of Thyroid hormones (THs), namely T3 and T4, and their nuclear receptor TRs from a conceptual and methodological point of view. Chapters guide readers through a general introduction, TR's engineered mice, human genetics of TRs, control of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis, the relevance of the local THs production and metabolism and pathological consequences of TH/TR alterations. Non-mammalian models are also presented and discussed. 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 practical, Thyroid Hormone Nuclear Receptor: Methods and Protocols aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.

This edited book explores the use of technology to enable us to visualize the life sciences in a more meaningful and engaging way. It will enable those interested in visualization techniques to gain a better understanding of the applications that can be used in visualization, imaging and analysis, education, engagement and training. The reader will also be able to learn about the use of visualization techniques and technologies for the historical and forensic settings. The reader will be able to explore the utilization of technologies from a number of fields to enable an engaging and meaningful visual representation of the biomedical sciences. We have something for a diverse and inclusive audience ranging from healthcare, patient education, animal health and disease and pedagogies around the use of technologies in these related fields. The first four chapters cover healthcare and detail how technology can be used to illustrate emergency surgical access to the airway, pressure sores, robotic surgery in partial nephrectomy, and respiratory viruses. The last six chapters in the education section cover augmented reality and learning neuroanatomy, historical artefacts, virtual reality in canine anatomy, holograms to educate children in cardiothoracic anatomy, 3D models of cetaceans, and the impact of the pandemic on digital anatomical educational resources.

This edited volume aims to better understand the multifaceted phenomenon we call health. Going beyond simple views of health as the absence of disease or as complete well-being, this book unites scientists and philosophers. The contributions clarify the links between health and adaptation, robustness, resilience, or dynamic homeostasis, and discuss how to achieve health and healthy aging through practices such as hormesis. The book is divided into three parts and a conclusion: the first part explains health from within specific disciplines, the second part explores health from the perspective of a bodily part, system, function, or even the environment in which organisms live, and the final part looks at more clinical or practical perspectives. It thereby gathers, across 30 chapters, diverse perspectives from the broad fields of evolutionary and systems biology, immunology, and biogerontology, more specific areas such as odontology, cardiology, neurology, and public health, as well as philosophical reflections on mental health, sexuality, authenticity and medical theories. The overarching aim is to inform, inspire and encourage intellectuals from various disciplines to assess whether explanations in these disparate fields and across biological levels can be sufficiently systematized and unified to clarify the complexity of health. It will be particularly useful for medical graduates, philosophy graduates and research professionals in the life sciences and general medicine, as well as for upper-level graduate philosophy of science students.

Why do some people miraculously turn around after suffering from life threatening illnesses, emotional trauma, and spiritual despair?

Dr. Ronan Kisch has documented twenty-seven bodywork/massage therapists whose clients-despite grave medical prognoses or life trauma-had unusual, if not miraculous recoveries after having bodywork with these practitioners. Who are these practitioners that have had these successes? What transpired in their sessions that allowed for such miraculous events? What is it that you could do to create these possibilities for yourself and others? Dr. Kisch, who brought to light the psycho-behavioral aspects confronting bodywork practitioners in "Beyond Technique: The Hidden Dimensions of Bodywork, " now examines the spiritual domain of bodywork.

This book offers a state-of-the-art report on recent discoveries concerning the basic and clinical, neuroscientific and psychiatric findings in depression research. Depressive disorder is a severe and recurrent brain disorder that can manifest in depressive mood, somatic symptoms and cognitive impairment. The underlying mechanisms of depressive disorder and its clinical practice are subjects of long-standing interests. This book is a biologically plausible and multilevel theory which describes neural, physiological, molecular and genomic mechanisms that drive depression pathogenesis, as well as navigates the clinical practice and management for depressive disorder. It mainly describes advances made over the past 20 years on the neural, molecular, neuroimaging, physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology and internet-based measurement and management of depressive disorder. It will help postgraduate students and academic researchers to get either basic or clinical picture of depressive disorder. Also, it may benefit pharmaceutical companies for developing novel drugs to treat this disease.

This book begins with an introduction of pragmatic cluster randomized trials (PCTs) and reviews various pragmatic issues that need to be addressed by statisticians at the design stage. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each type of PCT, and provides sample size formulas, sensitivity analyses, and examples for sample size calculation. The generalized estimating equation (GEE) method will be employed to derive sample size formulas for various types of outcomes from the exponential family, including continuous, binary, and count variables. Experimental designs that have been frequently employed in PCTs will be discussed, including cluster randomized designs, matched-pair cluster randomized design, stratified cluster randomized design, stepped-wedge cluster randomized design, longitudinal cluster randomized design, and crossover cluster randomized design. It demonstrates that the GEE approach is flexible to accommodate pragmatic issues such as hierarchical correlation structures, different missing data patterns, randomly varying cluster sizes, etc. It has been reported that the GEE approach leads to under-estimated variance with limited numbers of clusters. The remedy for this limitation is investigated for the design of PCTs. This book can assist practitioners in the design of PCTs by providing a description of the advantages and disadvantages of various PCTs and sample size formulas that address various pragmatic issues, facilitating the proper implementation of PCTs to improve health care. It can also serve as a textbook for biostatistics students at the graduate level to enhance their knowledge or skill in clinical trial design. Key Features: Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each type of PCTs, and provide sample size formulas, sensitivity analyses, and examples. Address an unmet need for guidance books on sample size calculations for PCTs; A wide variety of experimental designs adopted by PCTs are covered; The sample size solutions can be readily implemented due to the accommodation of common pragmatic issues encountered in real-world practice; Useful to both academic and industrial biostatisticians involved in clinical trial design; Can be used as a textbook for graduate students majoring in statistics and biostatistics.

In medical and health care the scientific method is little used, and statistical software programs are experienced as black box programs producing lots of p-values, but little answers to scientific questions. The pocket calculator analyses appears to be, particularly, appreciated, because they enable medical and health professionals and students for the first time to understand the scientific methods of statistical reasoning and hypothesis testing. So much so, that it can start something like a new dimension in their professional world. In addition, a number of statistical methods like power calculations and required sample size calculations can be performed more easily on a pocket calculator, than using a software program. Also, there are some specific advantages of the pocket calculator method. You better understand what you are doing. The pocket calculator works faster, because far less steps have to be taken, averages can be used. The current nonmathematical book is complementary to the nonmathematical "SPSS for Starters and 2nd Levelers" (Springer Heidelberg Germany 2015, from the same authors), and can very well be used as its daily companion.

This book comprises protocols describing systems biology methodologies and computational tools, offering a variety of ways to analyze different types of high-throughput cancer data. Chapters give an overview over data types available in large-scale data repositories and state-of-the-art methods used in the field of cancer systems biology. 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 practical, Cancer Systems Biology : Methods and Protocols aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field. The chapters "Identifying Genetic Dependencies in Cancer by Analyzing siRNA Screens in Tumor Cell Line Panels", "Perseus: A Bioinformatics Platform for Integrative Analysis of Proteomics Data in Cancer Research" and "Phosphoproteomics-based Profiling of Kinase Activities in Cancer Cells" are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license via link.springer.com.

Biomedical research is increasingly carried out in low- and middle-income countries. International consensus has largely been achieved around the importance of valid consent and protecting research participants from harm. But what are the responsibilities of researchers and funders to share the benefits of their research with research participants and their communities? After setting out the legal, ethical and conceptual frameworks for benefit sharing, this collection analyses seven historical cases to identify the ethical and policy challenges that arise in relation to benefit sharing. A series of recommendations address possible ways forward to achieve justice for research participants in low- and middle-income countries.

This volume describes important methods, protocols, and techniques used for studying urinary biomarkers. Chapters detail different alterations use to studied different types of cancers and physiological conditions. 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, Urinary Biomarkers: Methods and Protocols aims to be a useful practical guide to researches to help further their study in this field.

This book gathers multidisciplinary articles that present advances of our understanding of diseases and the effective treatment of patients. The authors share recent clinical and experimental research findings, highlighting poorly understood areas with uncertain treatment outcomes, such as giant-cell bone tumors and their propensity to metastasize to the lungs; subterranean rehabilitation in pulmonary disorders; male reproductive hormone regulation during physical exercise in hyperbaric, hyperoxic environments, like underwater diving; and amelioration of cognitive decline owing to increased cerebral blood transit time after internal carotid artery stenting. Other topics include new concepts and innovations in the treatment of diabetes in pregnancy, and leg ulcers in chronic venous insufficiency, as well as molecular research on the toxic effects of oxidative stress, impaired cell autophagy, and experimental conditions resembling air pollution. Featuring the latest interdisciplinary advances in biomedicine, this book is a valuable resource for medical professionals, both academics and practitioners, and all allied health-care workers.

In Wound Regeneration and Repair: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers in the field detail classical and cutting-edge methods for studying wound healing and regeneration. These techniques include cellular and molecular methods, genetic approaches, surgical procedures, clinical advances, drug discovery and delivery modalities, animal and humanized models and new applications in the treatment of pathological wounds in a variety of organs and tissues. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include an introduction to their respective topics, a detailed list of the necessary materials and reagents for each procedure, step-by-step, reproducible laboratory protocols, and a set notes, developed by the authors, for troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Wound Regeneration and Repair: Methods and Protocols seeks to aid scientists and entrepreneurs in their further study of technologies, models, techniques, and critical new areas and approaches to clinical and commercial translation of research.

Leading scientists summarize the latest findings on signal transduction and cell cycle regulation and describe the effort to design and synthesize inhibiting molecules, as well as to evaluate their biochemical and biological activities. They review the relevant cell surface receptors, their ligands, and their downstream pathways. Also examined are the latest findings on the components of novel signaling networks controlling the activity of nuclear transcription factors and cell cycle regulatory molecules. Cutting-edge and highly suggestive, Signaling Networks and Cell Cycle Control: The Molecular Basis of Cancer and Other Diseases presents a wealth of information on the emerging principles of the field, as well as an invaluable guide for all experimental and clinical investigators of cell regulation and its rapidly emerging pharmacological opportunities today.

A must-have guide for any professional in the drug manufacturing industry

The Good Clinical Practice (GCP) audit is a tedious but necessary exercise that assures that all parties do their job properly and in compliance with the applicable FDA code. "Clinical Trials Audit Preparation" demystifies the audit process for all parties involved, including clinical research sponsors, clinical investigators, and institutional review boards.

This book provides a step-by-step explanation of the FDA audit procedures for clinical trials and of how pharmaceutical companies, clinical investigators, and institutional review boards should prepare for regulatory audits. The book emphasizes the processes and procedures that should be implemented before a clinical audit occurs, making this an imperative guide to any professional in the drug manufacturing industry, including drug manufacturing companies, regulatory affairs personnel, clinical investigators, and quality assurance professionals.

Among the topics discussed:

Good Clinical Practices and therapeutic product development in clinical research

The roles of the sponsor of a clinical investigation, the IRB, or independent ethics committee

The roles and responsibilities of the clinical trial investigator

The inspection preparation

The Audit Report and the Form 483

Warning letters issued to clinical investigators and clinical trial sponsors and their impact on product development

The truth is, few people know the first thing about clinical research. The public reads about a medical research project that announces unbelievable results for a miraculous drug. Some years later, another investigation completely wipes out those initial favorable findings. Hormones Cut Women's Risk of Heart Disease (San Francisco Chronicle, 1994) Hormones Don't Protect Women from Heart Disease, Study Says (Washington Post, 2001) The people are confused because we do not understand the process behind these conflicting results. Our health, and in fact, our very lives are dependent on clinical trials, but we know little about them. This book explains the issues the public needs to be aware of when it comes to clinical research. It uncovers the problems in medical investigations that can not be overcome no matter how much care and diligence medical researchers bring to a research project. The basic premise that drives the writing is that it is impossible for medical researchers to guarantee that they can get all the right answers from a single study. No matter how good the investigators are, no matter how well a study is planned, no matter how carefully the plans are executed and no matter how conscientiously the results are analyzed and interpreted - the answer may still be wrong. The deck is stacked against medical researchers and the public - you - should be skeptical of the results no matter how impressive they seem on the surface.

This book systemically presents the latest research on renal fibrosis, covering all the major topics in the field, including the possible mechanisms, biomarkers, and strategies for prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Due to its high prevalence, CKD represents a huge global economic and social burden. Irrespective of the initial causes, CKD progresses to end stage kidney disease (ESKD) due to renal fibrosis, which is characterized by glomerulosclerosis, tubule atrophy and atresia, and the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) in the kidney. Unfortunately, an estimated 1%-2% of the adult population living with CKD will need renal replacement therapy at some point as a result of ESKD. As such, strategies for preventing or slowing CKD progression to ESKD are of utmost importance, and studies aiming to understand the mechanisms of renal fibrosis have been the focus of intensive research. Recently, novel insights into the pathophysiological processes have furthered our understanding of the pathogenesis of renal fibrosis, and more importantly, promoted studies on the early diagnosis and treatment of CKD. This book draws lessons from the extensive, state-of-the-art research in this field, elaborating the new theories and new techniques to offer readers a detailed and comprehensive understanding of renal fibrosis and as well as inspiration for future research directions.

The study of molecular events leading to cellular transformation and cancer has progressed considerably during the 1990s. It has become apparent that many genes subject to modification in cancer are, in fact, transcription factors that govern the execution of the genetic programme of the cell. Transcription factors can behave either as oncogenes or as tumor supressor genes. To date only a very limited number of transcription factors have been associated with cancer. This volume gives molecular information on several oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes or chromosomal translocations. Each chapter contains a description of the structure of such transcription factors, the nature of target genes, the regulation of their activities and an explaination of how they can deregulate cell growth and differentiation. This book should be suitable for the specialist scientist and the advanced student

The volume is comprehensively covers emerging technologies for health care, various aspects of biomedical research towards understanding of pathophysiology of the diseases, advances in improvement in diagnostic procedures and therapeutic tools, the fundamental role of biomedical research in the development of new medicinal products

Since the very early stages of life, we all experience some form of stress. Stressors can be mild to severe and can range from unsuccessfully longing for maternal milk in infancy, to recklessly wiggling on a motorbike to be on time to watch the NBA finals on TV, to breaking up a relationship. All those events that we call "stress" have the capability of perturbing a given state of psychological and physiological equilibrium and moving it to a different level. The transition from crawling to walking has to be considered a form of stress as much as losing a job. It is through a continuous cross-talk between environmental stressors and individual adaptations that we build our personalities and our ways to cope with daily hassles. External challenges should not necessarily be regarded as "bad", but instead seen as constructive forces forming our ability to navigate a changing world. What is stress good for? What is stress bad for? When and why do we need to be "stressed"? Should we worry about stress? When does stress equate to "normality"? When does it turn into pathology? We hope with this book to provide some answers to these fundamental questions.

With the advent of new technologies in big data science, the study of medical problems has made significant progress. Connecting medical studies and computational methods is crucial for the advancement of the medical industry. Big Data Analytics in HIV/AIDS Research provides emerging research on the development and implementation of computational techniques in big data analysis for biological and medical practices. While highlighting topics such as deep learning, management software, and molecular modeling, this publication explores the various applications of data analysis in clinical decision making. This book is a vital resource for medical practitioners, nurses, scientists, researchers, and students seeking current research on the connections between data analytics in the field of medicine.

Rabies is the deadliest zoonotic disease that threatens humans and animals on all continents except Antarctica. Asia and Africa are worst affected as more than 95 per cent of rabies associated human deaths occur in these regions. India alone bears about 36 per cent of the global human rabies burden. Dogs are the main transmitters of rabies that potentially threaten over 3 billion people in Asia and Africa. Many developed nations have been able to successfully control dog rabies but continue to face the risk from wildlife including bats. Bat rabies is responsible for most human rabies deaths in the United States of America and Canada but has emerged as a public health threat in Australia, Latin America and Western Europe as well. Despite being vaccine preventable, rabies continues to haunt the mankind. Poor resources is a major constraint but the factors like low priority attributed to rabies, misconceptions in the community about the disease and unsystematic approach for its prevention and control are also responsible for the grim situation. Targets have been set for elimination of human and dog rabies in all Latin American countries by 2015 and of human rabies transmitted by dogs in South-East Asia by 2020. However, the myths prevailing among the people together with inadequate knowledge of the health professionals, veterinarians, and the civic body staff about the rabies prevention and control strategies might make the task very difficult. This book comprising eight chapters elaborates the causation of rabies in man and animals, its global epidemiology, risk analysis and effective strategies for the management of exposures. Proven methods of rabies prevention and control have been discussed in length along with the challenges and ways to overcome the constraints through intersectoral coordination. The inclusion of 200 frequently asked questions is a unique feature of the book which may help not only the common people and pet lovers in clearing their doubts about rabies in man and animals also be equally instrumental in updating the knowledge and skills of the public health personnel, veterinarians and other professionals. Apt illustrations and simple language make the contents of the book easily comprehensible and a reading pleasure.

Pregnancy and the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Movement towards Evidence-Based Care for Pregnant Women explores the issues surrounding the decision to undertake clinical trials with pregnant women. There is currently a lack of data on the safety and effectiveness of medications used during pregnancy as it is impossible to extrapolate that information from drug studies on men and non-pregnant women. As a majority of pregnant women confront a medical condition during their pregnancy, from simple pain, to ongoing or new medical issues, this book quantifies the current absence of pregnant women in drug studies and identifies ethical issues, barriers, litigation fears and opportunities. Those in the pharmaceutical industry, IRB members who approve or deny drug study plans, doctors, nurses and midwives working in obstetrics or involved in conducting studies at their institutions will find this book an essential resource.

The ubiquitin system has two major functions in eukaryotic cells: it r- ulates protein degradation, which is essential for normal cellular fu- tion and for the removal of potentially harmful, damaged, or misfolded proteins, and it controls protein activity by regulating protein-protein interactions and subcellullar localization. The ubiquitin system is thus involved in processes as diverse as cell cycle progression, signal tra- duction, gene transcription, and DNA repair. Not surprisingly, defects in the ubiquitin system have been linked with numerous diseases such as cancer, in?ammation, central nervous system disorders, and metabolic dysfunction. Ubiquitin is a highly conserved 76-amino acid protein which is transferred to its target protein in an ATP-dependent manner. This post-translational modi?cation takes place in a hierarchical, three-step fashion involving an E1 ubiquitin-activating enzyme, an E2 ubiquit- conjugating enzyme, and an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Substrate speci?city is predominantly controlled by members of a large family of E3 - zymes, which form complexes with the proteins that will be modi?ed. This ultimately leads to the covalent attachment of the C-terminus of ubiquitin to usually an?-amino group of a lysine residue in the targeted protein. Additional ubiquitin transfer to lysine-48 of ubiquitin itself will form a polyubiquitin chain, which usually targets the conjugate for degradation by the proteasome. By contrast, mono- or polyubiquityla- VI Preface tion involving lysine-63 is normally involved in the control of protein activity. Ubiquitylation can be reverted by deubiquitylating enzymes, of which approximately 95 exist in mammals.

This volume provides in-depth descriptions and discussion of clinical trial designs based on novel data analysis of high-quality trials for 11 different neurological conditions in order to ultimately improve the quality of care in neurology. Some of the conditions discussed in this book are stroke, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, and tumors of the central nervous system. In Neuromethods series style, chapters include the kind of detail and key advice from the specialists needed to get successful results in your research center and clinical investigation. Thorough and comprehensive, Clinical Trials in Neurology is a valuable guide for individuals in the research, education, and clinical practice fields, specifically in the fields of medicine, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, and public health. This volume is also an important resource for clinicians aiming to improve their understanding in methodology of clinical trials.