Discusses the elements of the human body. Includes suggestions for related experiments and projects.

The rapid expansion of the area of free radical biology in the last 25 years has occurred within a framework of assumptions and preconceived notions that has at times directed the course of this movement. The most dominant of these notions has been the view that free radical production is without exception a bad thing, and that the more efficient our elimination of these toxic substances, the better off we will be. The very important observation by Bernard Babior and colleagues in 1973 that activated phagocytes produce superoxide in order to kill micro organisms, served to illustrate that constructive roles are possible for free radicals. For many in the field, however, this merely underscored the deadly nature of oxygen-derived radicals, both from the microbe's point of view and from the host's as well. (Phagocyte-produced superoxide is responsible in part for the tissue injury manifested as inflammation. See Harris and Granger, Chapter 5, and Leff, Hybertson and Repine, Chapter 6.)
Mother Nature, however, has a penchant for being able to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. If one is dealt a bad hand, one must simply make the best of it. After two decades of focusing on the destructive side of free radicals, the last few years have begun to reveal a new and finer perspective on free radical metabolism - a role in regulation of cellular function (see Schulze-Osthoff and Baeuerle, Chapter 2). Evidence from a number of sources suggests that an increase in the oxidative status of cell encourages that cell to grow and divide. Increasing the expression of mangnese superoxide dismutase can suppress the malignant phenotype of melanon cells (see Oberley and Oberley, Chapter 3). Oxidative stress beyond a certain poitosis (from the Greek, literally "to fall apart"). Is this suicide response an evolutionary fail-safe device to curtail tumorogenesis? Does oxidative stress-induced apoptosis account for the loss of immune cells in AIDS (see Flores and McCor Chapter 4)?
This volume attempts to present the spectrum of roles, both good and bad played by active oxygen species as understood at this point in the evolution of this field of free radical biology.

This book covers in detail the mechanisms for how energy is managed in the human body. The basic principles that elucidate the reactivity and physical interactions of matter are addressed and quantified with simple approaches. Three-dimensional representations of molecules are presented throughout the book so molecules can be viewed as unique entities in their shape and function. The book is focused on the molecular mechanisms of cellular processes in the context of human physiological situations such as fasting, feeding and physical exercise, in which metabolic regulation is highlighted. Furthermore the book uses key historical experiments that opened up new concepts in biochemistry to further illustrate how the human body functions at molecular level, helping students to appreciate how scientific knowledge emerges. New to this edition: - 30 challenging practical case studies (2-3 at the end of each chapter) based on movies, novels, biographies, documentaries, paintings, and other cultural and artistic creations far beyond canonic academic exercises. - A set of challenging questions and problems in the end of each case study to further engage students with the applications of medical biochemistry - Insights into the answers to the challenging questions to help steer teaching/learning interactions key to productive lectures, PBL (problem-based learning) or traditional tutorials, or e-learning approaches. Advance praise for the second edition: "The Challenging Cases are compelling both from a scientific viewpoint and for the perspective they provide on the history of medicine." David M. Jameson, University of Hawaii "Using case studies to reinforce the biochemistry lessons is extremely effective - as well as entertaining!" Joseph P. Albanesi, UT Southwestern Medical Center Advance Praise for the first edition: "This textbook provides a modern and integrative perspective of human biochemistry and will be a faithful companion to health science students following curricula in which this discipline is addressed. This textbook will be a most useful tool for the teaching community." Joan Guinovart Former director of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Barcelona, Spain, and former president of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IUBMB

Under the name of Frontotemporal Dementias (FTD) numerous hereditary and sporadic disorders are listed. FTD may take away speech and language, social skills and ethical judgement, wishes and will, empathy and emotions; it may also impair motor functions. FTD may affect men and women in midlife or during old age leading to the demolition of the uniqueness of the human mind. In the last decade of the 20th century and in the first two decades of the 21st century, progress in the understanding of clinical, neuropathological, biochemical, and genetic aspects of FTD has accelerated. The novel awareness about FTD has directed young generations of researchers toward the study of this complex group of disorders. This Volume has been formulated with the participation of some of the leading scientists who have contributed to the development of knowledge in the clinical and basic science arenas. It captures the current central elements that are relevant to an up-to-date understanding of causes and pathogenesis of multiple forms of FTD. The volume is an opus that represents a distillation of the work of many scientists and addresses the current directions in the study of one of the most complex groups of diseases. In view of its structure, the book could also be used as a textbook, that offers both a broad and deep analysis of major areas in FTD. This book, planned by the International Society for Frontotemporal Dementias, is distinctive as it opens a window to a wide landscape about the biology of FTD. Thus, the book represents a moment of reflection on the present state of our knowledge of FTD and a collective vision toward scientific progress. The authors of each chapter share their knowledge and vision aimed at reducing the suffering which is caused by FTD.

This volume contains collection of Natural Killer Cell methodologies relevant for both basic and translational research. These methodologies present new developments in the natural killer (NK) cell field, such as understanding the influence of NK cells metabolism on its function, identifying complexity of NK cell subsets through mass cytometry, and determining the emergence of memory NK cells in murine model of MCMV infection. Methods that study NK cell migration and cytotoxicity through endpoint analysis or live single cell imaging are also discussed. Chapters also describe methods pertaining to translational application of NK cells, such as ex vivo expansion of NK cells on K562 cell lines genetically modified to express either membrane bound IL-15 or membrane bound IL-21, large scale NK cell culture, current techniques for engineering NK cells to express chimeric antigen receptors or chemokine receptors using retroviral vectors, electroporation of mRNA, and the natural phenomenon of trogocytosis. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, these 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 thorough, Natural Killer Cells: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for researchers who not only want to understand mechanisms that govern NK cell behavior and diversity, but also for those who want to understand how to systematically evaluate NK cells for adoptive immunotherapy applications.

Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) is a highly versatile model with a genetic legacy of more than a century. It provides powerful genetic, cellular, biochemical and molecular biology tools to address many questions extending from basic biology to human diseases. One of the most important questions in biology is how a multi-cellular organism develops from a single-celled embryo. The discovery of the genes responsible for pattern formation has helped refine this question and has led to other questions, such as the role of various genetic and cell biological pathways in regulating the process of pattern formation and growth during organogenesis. The Drosophila eye model has been extensively used to study molecular genetic mechanisms involved in patterning and growth. Since the genetic machinery involved in the Drosophila eye is similar to humans, it has been used to model human diseases and homology to eyes in other taxa. This updated second edition covers current progress in the study of molecular genetic mechanisms of pattern formation, mutations in axial patterning, genetic regulation of growth, and more using the Drosophila eye as a model.

This volume aims to bring together a variety of protocols useful for DNA-based typing of blood cell antigens. Protocols range from simple approaches with low technical complexity to highly sophisticated modern developments. Written for the 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, Molecular Typing of Blood Cell Antigens summarizes contributions from leading scientist in the field DNA typing for blood cell antigens.

This book presents recent research addressing the effects of different types of compression clothing on sport performance and recovery after exercise. It is also the first book that summarizes the effects of compression clothing on all main motor abilities in the context of various sports, offering a wealth of practical guidelines on how to optimize performance and recovery with the help of compression clothing. The book examines the effects of this clothing on physiological, psychological and biomechanical parameters including endurance, speed, strength, power, and motor control. It explains the basic principles involved in the reasonable application of compression garments in connection with different kinds of exercise, and describes the essential mechanisms of how compression garments work in a reader-friendly format that addresses the needs of researchers, athletes and coaches alike.

This book is an attempt to indicate to researchers and clinicians a simple way to approach the complexity of cardiovascular neural regulation. A conceptual pillar like homeostasis is contrasted with instability and a continuous interaction of opposing mechanisms that have negative and positive feedback characteristics, and is considered to subserve the multitude of patterns pertaining to physiology. However, in pathophysiological conditions the final design is most often replaced by largely purposeless neural mechanisms. The complexity of cardiovascular neural regulation, reflected by the state of sympathovagal balance, is also assessed in the frequency domain. Power spectrum analysis of heart rate and arterial pressure variability, a sophisticated but simply explained approach, provides an unprecedented tool to evaluate this interaction in both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. The elementary characteristics of nonlinear dynamics are also outlined. Finally, the need for an ethical structure for science and medicine is analyzed.

I wrote this book urged by the overwhelming desire that arises towards the end of life to recapitulate the past. My goal was to summarize my experience of practicing science at the end of the 20th and early 21st centuries in Argentina, a country located far away from the world's leading scientific centers. In the book, I summarize the intricacies of the pineal gland ("the stone of madness") as historical, mystical and medical entity and its entry in contemporary medicine with the description of melatonin. I also reflect on how being associated with an unexplored subject at the beginning of his scientific career impacts the life of a scientist throughout their entire life. Today we know that in humans pineal melatonin is released every day late in the evening, and there is evidence that it is the trigger for the sleep process. But the most exciting aspect of melatonin is that it is a substance that is present in all living creatures, from unicellular organisms to plants and higher mammals, a fact that evinces its importance for life. Further, the neuroprotective action of melatonin promises to be crucial for the control of neurodegenerative diseases we face as a pandemic in this century. The discoverer of melatonin, Aaron Lerner, based its name on melano, the Greek word for black, because of its effect on the pigment cells of the skin. As in "La vie en rose", the immortal Edith Piaf song written in 1946, my lifelong work with melatonin could well be called "Ma vie en noir".

This book provides a clearly structured introduction to hydrogen biology and medicine. Hydrogen is the one of the most abundant elements in the universe and has the simplest structure. In 2007, Japanese researchers found that the selective oxidation of hydrogen has a therapeutic effect on various diseases and injuries, sparking widespread interest in the biomedical field. In recent years, hundreds of peer-reviewed papers have been published internationally reporting the positive effects of hydrogen on many human diseases, including strokes, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and sepsis. The authors provide readers with a comprehensive overview of this subject, from its physical and chemical properties to its biological effects, as well as the problems and obstacles that exist.

Ectogenesis refers to the artificial gestation of a fetus outside the womb. Despite certain advantages for women's reproductive liberty, feminist groups remain divided regarding this technology. This book argues that reproduction imposes unjust burdens on women, and thus the ideals of equal opportunity demand continued research into ectogenesis.

This proceedings volume highlights a selection of papers presented at the Sixth International Conference on High Performance Scientific Computing, which took place in Hanoi, Vietnam on March 16-20, 2015. The conference was jointly organized by the Heidelberg Institute of Theoretical Studies (HITS), the Institute of Mathematics of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) at Heidelberg University, and the Vietnam Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics, Ministry of Education The contributions cover a broad, interdisciplinary spectrum of scientific computing and showcase recent advances in theory, methods, and practical applications. Subjects covered numerical simulation, methods for optimization and control, parallel computing, and software development, as well as the applications of scientific computing in physics, mechanics, biomechanics and robotics, material science, hydrology, biotechnology, medicine, transport, scheduling, and industry.

During vertebrate hematopoiesis many specialized cell types are formed with vastly different functions such as B cells, T cells, granulocytes, macrophages, erythrocytes and megakaryocytes. To tightly control the enormous proliferative potential of developing blood cells, an intricately balanced signaling and transcription network has evolved that ensures that the different cell types are formed at the right time and in the right numbers. Intricate regulatory mechanisms ensure that blood cells function properly and have a determined life span. Moreover, in the adaptive immune system, long-lived memory cells have evolved that ensure that when pathogens have been seen once they will never cause a problem again. In this book we will therefore make a journey from asking how more primitive organisms use the epigenetic regulatory machinery to balance growth with differentiation control towards digging deep into what controls the function of specialized cells of the human immune system. We will first discover that flies make blood but exist without blood vessels, why fish make blood cells in the kidney and which precise genetic circuitries are required for these developmental pathways. We will then learn the regulatory principles that drive the differentiation of mature blood cells from stem cells and what controls their function in mammals. In the process, we will find out what unites hematopoietic stem cells and endothelial cells. Finally, we will shed light on the molecular mechanisms that either alter hematopoietic cell differentiation or lead to the development of cells with impaired function.

This proceedings volume highlights a selection of papers presented at the 7th International Conference on High Performance Scientific Computing, which took place in Hanoi, Vietnam, during March 19-23, 2018. The conference has been organized by the Institute of Mathematics of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) of Heidelberg University and the Vietnam Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics. The contributions cover a broad, interdisciplinary spectrum of scientific computing and showcase recent advances in theory, methods, and practical applications. Subjects covered include numerical simulation, methods for optimization and control, machine learning, parallel computing and software development, as well as the applications of scientific computing in mechanical engineering, airspace engineering, environmental physics, decision making, hydrogeology, material science and electric circuits.

Autophagy principally serves an adaptive function to protect organisms against diverse human pathologies, including cancer and neurodegeneration. Recent developments using in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo models show the involvement of the autophagy pathway in immunity and inflammation. Moreover, direct interactions between autophagy proteins and immune signalling molecules have also been demonstrated. Defects in autophagy - similar to cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and aging - through autophagy gene mutation and/or microbial antagonism, may underlie the pathogenesis of many infectious diseases and inflammatory syndromes. In spite of the increasing awareness of the importance of autophagy in these pathophysiological conditions, this process remains underestimated and is often overlooked. As a consequence, its role in the initiation, stability, maintenance, and progression of these diseases are still poorly understood. This book reviews the recent advances regarding the functions of the autophagy pathway and autophagy proteins in immunity and inflammation, focusing on their role in self-nonself distinction, their implications in innate and adaptive immune responses and their dysregulation in the pathology of certain inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

This work provides the reader with various sets of questions and answers related to basic human physiology. The questions are formulated to test concepts and assess the thinking process in physiology and to discover any misperceptions in the current knowledge of physiology. Readers will find that this book has been split into three main themes; cardiovascular, respiratory and renal physiology. The homeostatic mechanisms within each system will be covered. In addition, the functional integration of the physiology of these three organ systems will also be considered. The author of this physiology question-based learning book has taught physiology for more than twenty five years. He is also the pioneer of the physiology quiz, which he facilitates as quiz master, for which he generates the challenging physiology questions. This book is a distillation of the questions asked at the international editions of the physiology quiz. This physiology question-based learning book will be useful to all students of physiology in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and other allied health sciences. This question-based learning text aims to provoke thinking and it should make learning physiology both enjoyable and challenging.

The central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord, has a high metabolic demand. The physiology of the brain is such that it is easily affected by alterations in other systems, which in turn can compromise cerebral blood flow and oxygenation. Together the brain and spinal cord control the automatic function of our body systems. While other systems of body controls individual functions, central nervous system at the same time does many different functions, especially, controlling the function of other systems. This interaction between the brain and other systems is important when it comes to understanding how injuries to the brain can, at times, produce complications in remote organs or systems of the body, such as the lungs. This book explains the lesser-known crosstalks between acutely or chronically affected brain and lung, describing the pathophysiology of the lung following brain injury and discussing in detail the conflicts between the brain and lungs in relation to the tidal volumes, positive end-expiratory pressures, arterial carbon dioxide and oxygen levels, recruitment maneuvers and positioning, as well as potential therapeutic targets.

This volume provides state-of-the-art techniques for studying various aspects of cholesterol homeostasis, including its uptake, synthesis and efflux from the cell, as well as its trafficking within the cell. Chapters also cover techniques for studying the regulation of cholesterol homeostasis at both the transcriptional and post-translational levels, as well as studying the membrane topology and structure of cholesterol-related proteins. 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, Cholesterol Homeostasis: Methods and Protocols aims to provide key techniques in tackling the investigation of cholesterol homeostasis.

This major reference is a substantially revised edition of Palmore's "International Handbook on Aging," which was voted Choice Outstanding Academic Book of 1980. The reference collects and summarizes information on programs and research in gerontology in most countries where significant work is taking place. The chapters are arranged alphabetically, with each chapter devoted to a particular country. The countries selected represent a wide range of social, political, geographic, and economic conditions, and ten new countries are included in this edition.

Each chapter provides current information on the unique features of the country profiled; the roles and status of the aged; problems of the elderly; programs for older adults; research in biomedical, psychological, and sociological aspects of aging; and sources of additional information. Each chapter closes with a list of works for further consultation, and the handbook concludes with an appendix of gerontological associations and a bibliography. Gerontologists, social scientists, and policymakers will find this reference a valuable and current guide to developments and research on aging around the world.

The cyclic purine nucleotides 3',5'-cAMP and 3',5'-cGMP are well-established second messengers. cGMP has recently been covered in a volume of the Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology (volume 191). In addition to 3',5'-cAMP and 3',5'-cGMP, so-called non-canonical cyclic nucleotides exist. These comprise the cyclic pyrimidine nucleotides 3',5'-cCMP and 3',5'-cUMP, the purine nucleotide 3',5'-cIMP, the 2',3'-nucleoside monophosphates and cyclic dinucleotides. In this volume of the Handbook of Pharmacology, word-leading experts in the field summarize our current knowledge on these non-canonical cyclic nucleotides, discuss open questions, future research directions and the pharmacotherapeutic implications. Special emphasis will be given to the emerging roles of 3',5'-cCMP and 3',5'-cUMP as second messengers with regard to generators, effectors, biological functions, inactivation and bacterial toxins. The role of 3',5'-cIMP as potential second messenger will also be critically discussed. Furthermore, we will consider transport of cyclic nucleotides and their potential role as first messengers. The role of the cyclic dinucleotide cGAMP in the immune system will covered, too. Lastly, the book will present important methodological aspects ranging from mass-spectrometric methods for cyclic nucleotide detection to the synthesis of nucleotide analogs as experimental tools and holistic methods for analysis of cyclic nucleotide effects.