الصفحة 1
الصفحة 1
Obesity and Cancer
This book highlights the concordance between signaling pathways that are involved in obesity and cancer cross-talks. It describes the role of cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, insulin, and adipokines in the development of obesity-associated cancers. The book reviews the role of inflammatory signaling pathways such as estrogen-mediated signaling, mTOR and AMP-activated protein kinase pathway and the involvement of adaptive and innate immunity, oxidative stress, gene polymorphism, dietary phytochemicals, and miRNAs in obesity and cancer. In addition, it covers the latest research on the drugs and natural therapeutic agents that target obesity-induced cancers and discusses various in vivo models for studying obesity and obesity-associated cancer. Lastly, it analyses the role of genetic polymorphisms in the obesity-related genes that influence cancer development.
Nutritional psychiatry
Provides a comprehensive overview of nutritional psychiatry, elucidating its theoretical foundations, the biological mechanisms linking diet to mental health (including inflammation, oxidative stress, disrupted energy metabolism the gut–brain axis and other implicated pathways), and the current evidence base for dietary impacts on major psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and ADHD.
Nuclear pre-mRNA Processing in Plants
In recent years nuclear pre-mRNA processing has taken center stage as an important regulator of gene expression and ultimately growth and development. Large-scale genome and cDNA sequencing projects together with bioinformatic analyses of these sequences have revealed that alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs contributes greatly to transcriptome and proteome complexity in eukaryotes. During the last few years, tremendous progress has been made in understanding various aspects of pre-mRNA processing including alternative splicing and its importance in plant growth and development as well as in plant responses to hormones and stresses. This book, with contributions from leading scientists in this area, summarizes recent advances in nuclear pre-mRNA processing in plants. It provides researchers in the field, as well as those in related areas, with an up-to-date and comprehensive, yet concise, overview of the current status and future potential of this research in understanding plant biology.
Novel food grade enzymes : Applications in food processing and preservation industries
Covers all the aspects of food-grade enzymes, including their classification, kinetics, microbial production, biosynthetic pathways, commodity-wise industrial applications, and downstream processing strategies. The broad focus of this book is on the application of various classes of enzymes in dairy, fruits and vegetables, cereals and oilseeds, meat and poultry, and brewing and food packaging industries. Certain recent areas such as nanotechnological perspective in enzyme immobilization, infusion strategies as well as its efficient usage in food packaging and preservation are some of the salient highlights of this book. This book also discusses the aspects related to application of enzymes in functional food development and shelf life extension of various commodities food products.
Nitric oxide in plants : A molecule with dual roles
Studies have identified the central role of nitric oxide in stress mitigation through the modulation of physiological and biochemical pathways including germination, photosynthesis regulation, and programmed cell death. Nitric Oxide in Plants: A Molecule with Dual Roles provides a detailed account of the physio-biochemical, molecular, and omic basis of NO-mediated responses in crop plants under different stresses.
New and Old Routes of Portuguese Emigration : Uncertain Futures at the Periphery of Europe
This book offers a comparative overview on Portuguese emigration in Europe and outside the EU in times of recession. In addition to the dynamics of movement, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the heterogeneity of this emigration. It deepens the multifaceted identities concerning social and professional pathways among highly skilled and less skilled emigrants. The labour market continues to be the main regulatory force of Portuguese emigration, which helps to explain the outflow and the processes of settlement and return. Nonetheless, this book demonstrates that non-economic factors have likewise been of great importance in the decision to emigrate.
Neuronal Input Pathways to the Brains Biological Clock and their Functional Significance
Circadian rhythms are entrained daily by environmental photic and non-photic cues. The present review describes the anatomy and functional characteristics of the three major input pathways to the circadian clock mediating entrainment, the retino-hypothalamic tract (RHT), the geniculo-hypothalamic tract (GHT) and the midbrain raphe projection.
Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma is a medical enigma. As a childhood neoplasm arising from neural crest cells, it is characterized by diverse clinical behaviors ranging from spontaneous remission to rapid tumor progression and death. Although clinical outcome can be predicted to a large extent by the stage of disease and the age at diagnosis, an in-depth understanding of its clinico-pathological behavior, now greatly aided by sophisticated molecular genetic profiling, will improve diagnostic precision and refine risk-based therapies. Comprehensive international efforts have advanced our understanding of tumor biology and improved the clinical management of children with neuroblastoma. This book reviews our current understanding of the genes and biological pathways that contribute to neuroblastoma pathogenesis, modern risk-based treatment approaches for these patients, and recent advances in biologically based therapy. It provides a concise up-to-date reference for practitioners, students, and researchers.
Network Analysis : Methodological Foundations
‘Network’ is a heavily overloaded term, so that ‘network analysis’ means different things to different people. Specific forms of network analysis are used in the study of diverse structures such as the Internet, interlocking directorates, transportation systems, epidemic spreading, metabolic pathways, the Web graph, electrical circuits, project plans, and so on. There is, however, a broad methodological foundation which is quickly becoming a prerequisite for researchers and practitioners working with network models. From a computer science perspective, network analysis is applied graph theory. Unlike standard graph theory books, the content of this book is organized according to methods for specific levels of analysis (element, group, network) rather than abstract concepts like paths, matchings, or spanning subgraphs. Its topics therefore range from vertex centrality to graph clustering and the evolution of scale-free networks. In 15 coherent chapters, this monograph-like tutorial book introduces and surveys the concepts and methods that drive network analysis, and is thus the first book to do so from a methodological perspective independent of specific application areas.
Nanopharmaceuticals : Vol.3 : Principles and applications
Focuses on the recent advances of nanopharmaceuticals in cancer, dental, dermal and drug delivery applications and presents their safety, toxicity and therapeutic efficacy. The book also includes the transport phenomenon of nanomaterials and important pathways for drug delivery applications. It goes on to explain the toxicity of nanoparticles to different physiological systems and methods used to assess this for different organ systems using examples of in vivo systems.
Molecular mechanisms in nutritional epigenetics
The field of nutritional epigenetics/nutri-epigenetics has expanded significantly, shedding light on how environmentally-driven epigenetic pathways can be modulated through nutrition and eating habits. The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the various epigenetic mechanisms affected by dietary compounds and focuses on specific topics such as the relationship between diet and the gut microbiome, the impact of diet on cardiovascular disease and psychopathology and the role of diet in pregnancy.
Molecular Biology of the Parathyroid
Caintaining extracellular calcium concentrations within a narrow range is critical for the survival of most vertebrates. PTH, together with vitamin D, responds to hypocalcemia to increase extracellu M lar calcium levels, by acting on bone, kidney and intestine. The recent intro duction of PTH as a major therapeutic agent in osteoporosis has directed renewed interest in this important hormone and in the physiology of the parathyroid gland. The parathyroid is unique in that low serum calcium stimulates PTH secretion. As hypocalcemia persists, there is also an increase in PTH synthesis. Chronic hypocalcemia leads to hypertrophy and hyper plasia of the parathyroid gland together with increased production of the hormone. Phosphate is also a key modulator of PTH secretion, gene expres sion and parathyroid cell proliferation. Understanding the biology of the parathyroid as well as the mecha nisms of associated diseases has taken great strides in recent years. This book summarizes the molecular mechanisms involved in the function of the para thyroid gland. The first chapter reviews the development of the parathyroid gland and the genes involved in this process as identified using genetically manipulated mice. Then the biosynthetic pathway of PTH from gene ex pression to its intracellular processing and the sequences in the gene control ling its transcription as well as those regulating mRNA processing, stability and translation are described.
Molecular Biology of Human Cancers: An Advanced Student's Textbook
Presents many of the molecules and mechanisms generally important in human cancers. Following an overview on the cancer problem, individual chapters deal with cancer genetics and epigenetics, DNA damage and repair, oncogenes, tumor suppressors, regulatory pathways in cancer, apoptosis, cellular senescence, tumor invasion, and metastasis. A consensus is emerging that while these common mechanisms and molecules are all relevant to human cancers, in each cancer type (or even subtype) a selection of them are extremely important. For selected cancers, the route from genetic and epigenetic changes to their biological and clinical behavior can already be traced. Part II of the book presents a broad, but exemplary selection of cancers that serve as paradigms to illustrate this point. In fact, cancer research has now reached a critical stage, in which the accumulated knowledge on molecular mechanisms is gradually translated into improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The state, pitfalls, and potential of these efforts are summarized in Part III. More than ever, cancer research is now an interdisciplinary effort which requires a basic knowledge of commonly used terms, facts, issues, and concepts. The aim of this book is to provide advanced students and practitioners of different disciplines with this basis, bridging the gap between standard textbooks of molecular biology, pathology, and oncology on the one hand and the specialized cancer literature on the other.
Molecular autoimmunity
The autoimmune disease paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria, a rare hemolytic disorder. After a century of research, the list of autoimmune diseases has become impressive. With a prevalence of approximately 5% of the world-wide population, these chronic, debilitating conditions affect almost every major organ of the body and, for reasons that remain unclear, are much more prevalent in woman than in men. Despite our rapidly expanding knowledge of the cellular and molecular pathways that govern a normal immune response, deciphering the precise etiology of autoimmune diseases remains an important challenge. Over the last few years, our understanding of the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases has improved rapidly, leading to the emergence of elegant immunointervention strategies. Molecular Autoimmunity illustrates how cutting-edge research is continuing to advance our understanding of autoimmune disease mechanisms and identifies novel therapeutic targets that provide a hope for effective future treatments. This volume contains a selected number of exciting advances in unraveling autoimmune reactions, and the resulting new armory of experimental immunotherapies that may lead to new ways of controlling autoimmune reactions.
Molecular and Cellular Signaling
A small number of signaling pathways, no more than a dozen or so, form a control layer that is responsible for all signaling in and between cells of the human body. The signaling proteins belonging to the control layer determine what kinds of cells are made during development and how they function during adult life. Malfunctions in the proteins belonging to the control layer are responsible for a host of human diseases ranging from neurological disorders to cancers. Most drugs target components in the control layer, and difficulties in drug design are intimately related to the architecture of the control layer. Molecular and Cellular Signaling provides an introduction to molecular and cellular signaling in biological systems with an emphasis on the underlying physical principles. The text is aimed at upper-level undergraduates, graduate students and individuals in medicine and pharmacology interested in broadening their understanding of how cells regulate and coordinate their core activities and how diseases arise when these regulatory systems malfunction, as well as those in chemistry, physics and computer science interested in pursuing careers in biological and medical physics, bioinformatics and systems biology. To that end, the book includes background information and review sections, and chapters on signaling in the immune, endocrine (hormonal) and nervous systems. It has chapters on cancer, apoptosis and gene regulation, and contains chapters on bacteria and viruses. In those chapters not specifically devoted to pathogens, connections between diseases, drugs and signaling are made. Each chapter also features a problem set to facilitate further discussion and understanding.
Modern Genome Annotation : The Biosapiens Network
An accurate description of current scientific developments in the field of bioinformatics and computational implementation is presented by research of the BioSapiens Network of Excellence. Bioinformatics is essential for annotating the structure and function of genes, proteins and the analysis of complete genomes and to molecular biology and biochemistry. Included is an overview of bioinformatics, the full spectrum of genome annotation approaches including; genome analysis and gene prediction, gene regulation analysis and expression, genome variation and QTL analysis, large scale protein annotation of function and structure, annotation and prediction of protein interactions, and the organization and annotation of molecular networks and biochemical pathways. Also covered is a technical framework to organize and represent genome data using the DAS technology and work in the annotation of two large genomic sets: HIV/HCV viral genomes and splicing alternatives potentially encoded in 1% of the human genome.
Mitochondria and the Heart
The function of the heart is highly dependent on oxidative energy that is generated in mitochondria. Defects in mitochondrial structure and function can be found in association with cardiovascular diseases. Mitochondria and the Heart discusses the role that mitochondria plays in cardiovascular disease, including biogenesis and function of cardiac mitochondria during normal growth, development and aging. In addition, nonbioenergetic, biogenesis and degradation pathways are explored. Understanding these pathways and the effects that mitochondrial defects have in cardiac pathology is extremely important in establishing the diagnosis and treatment of mitochondrial-based cardiac diseases.
Mitochondria : The Dynamic Organelle
This volume discusses the death pathways that are initiated by the mitochondria. Novel therapeutic interventions are proposed which interfere with the death cascades, thereby rescuing the cell from mitochondria-linked apoptosis and necrotic oncosis.
Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery
This book covers all aspects of minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) and provides detailed information on each MIGS device, including its mechanism of action; patient selection; implantation techniques; post-operative management; and a review of the existing literature. Step-by-step descriptions are provided for the surgical technique used in implanting each MIGS device, accompanied by clear photographs of each surgical stage. Other areas covered include intra-operative gonioscopy (with tips on optimising the view of the anterior chamber angle) and the management of the intra-operative and post-operative complications. Essential information on the anatomy and physiology of the different aqueous outflow pathways is also included.
Mechanisms of Sepsis-Induced Organ Dysfunction and Recovery
There have been tremendous advances in understanding the cellular mechanisms involved in sepsis and contributing to the development of multiple organ dysfunction and mortality in this setting. The chapters in this book provide up-to-date insights into important pathways that are initiated by sepsis.
