“This book uses Caenorhabditis elegans as model animal to introduce the toxicity induction of toxicants at environmentally relevant concentrations under different conditions. It also discusses the systematic introduction of different molecular signaling pathways, as well as G protein coupled receptors and ion channels, in regulating the toxicity of toxicants at environmentally relevant concentrations.

This book provides an insider’s overview of the emerging Chinese biopharma sector, its dynamics and trends, first bust and boom cycle, long-term perspectives, and how as a foreign company or investor to tap into this. China has gone from a country with no innovation in drug discovery, to a country which starts to out-license its biopharma technology to the rest of the world. The Chinese biopharma sector is only a decade old, but it already has become a new driver of growth and value. The book takes a closer look at what drives Chinese innovation in the biopharma sector, how to deal with this innovation, and what opportunities and challenges this provides for foreign companies. The book also takes a deep dive into its first biopharma boom and bust cycle, and what it means for the sector. It also explains what deals Chinese biopharma companies and investors are looking for, what works and what doesn’t, and how as a foreign company can tap into the world’s second largest healthcare market.

ITiB’2018 is the 6th Conference on Information Technology in Biomedicine, hosted every two years by the Department of Informatics & Medical Devices, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Silesian University of Technology. The Conference is organized under the auspices of the Committee on Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The meeting has become an established event that helps to address the demand for fast and reliable technologies capable of processing data and delivering results in a user-friendly, timely and mobile manner.

This book provides an overview of the drug discovery process from natural sources such as plants and microbes. While technological advances have streamlined the drug discovery process, enhancing the throughput and success rates, the structural features of natural products remain the primary reference for small-molecule drug discovery.

Caveolae are 50-100 nm flask-shaped invaginations of the plasma membrane that are primarily composed of cholesterol and sphingolipids. Using modern electron microscopy techniques, caveolae can be observed as omega-shaped invaginations of the plasma membrane, fully-invaginated caveolae, grape-like clusters of interconnected caveolae (caveosome), or as transcellular channels as a consequence of the fusion of individual caveolae. The caveolin gene family consists of three distinct members, namely Cav-1, Cav-2 and Cav-3. Cav-1 and Cav-2 proteins are usually co-expressed and particularly abundant in epithelial, endothelial, and smooth muscle cells as well as adipocytes and fibroblasts. On the other hand, the Cav-3 protein appears to be muscle-specific and is therefore only expressed in smooth, skeletal and cardiac muscles. Caveolin proteins form high molecular weight homo- and/or hetero-oligomers and assume an unusual topology with both their N- and C-terminal domains facing the cytoplasm.

“Biomedical Application of 4-Hexylresorcinol” is a comprehensive review of the latest research findings on the biomedical effects of 4-hexylresorcinol (4HR), a compound widely used as an antiseptic and food additive to prevent melanosis. Over the past two decades, the author has conducted extensive studies on 4HR, uncovering additional properties and applications that extend far beyond its traditional uses. This book aims to provide a thorough understanding of 4HR’s numerous mechanisms and potential applications, with a focus on its anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects.

Mathematical modeling of human physiopathology is a tremendouslyambitioustask. It encompasses the modeling of most diverse compartments such as the cardiovaslar,respiratory,skeletalandnervoussystems,aswellasthemechanicalandbioch- ical interaction between blood ?ow and arterial walls, and electrocardiac processes and electric conduction in biological tissues. Mathematical models can be set up to simulate both vasculogenesis (the aggregation and organization of endothelial cells dispersed in a given environment) and angiogenesis (the formation of new vessels sprouting from an existing vessel) that are relevant to the formation of vascular networks, and in particular to the description of tumor growth. The integration of models aimed at simulating the cooperation and interrelation of different systems is an even more dif?cult task. It calls for the setting up of, for instance, interaction models for the integrated cardio-vascular system and the interplay between the central circulation and peripheral compartments, models for the mid-to-long range cardiovascular adjustments to pathological conditions (e.g., to account for surgical interventions, congenital malformations, or tumor growth), models for integration among circulation, tissue perfusion, biochemical and thermal regulation, models for parameter identi?cation and sensitivity analysis to parameter changes or data uncertainty – and many others.

This book presents the exploration and exploitation of various bioactive metabolites obtained from fungi isolated from diverse habitats for pharmaceutical applications. Various fungal sources have been brought under one umbrella ranging from endophytes, marine fungi, endolichenic fungi to fungi existing in the extremophilic conditions like desert and Antarctica and Artic environment. The book tries to cover maximally the range of the pharmaceutical applications wherein these bioactive agents from fungi have been exploited or are in the clinical pipelines and primarily include antibacterial, antifungal, antibiofilm, anticancer, antioxidant, autoimmunological, anti-inflammatory, and anti-thrombotic diseases. The book further emphasizes on the novel strategies to screen or enhance secondary metabolite production. Some other topics includes peptides, nonpeptides drugs, pigments, and enhancement of production of Echinocandin and Kojic acid. The role of bioinformatics in drug discovery and biotransformations have also been discussed.

This book presents the technological advances in the field of mass spectrometry-based approaches for treating human diseases and diagnostics as well as the application of such approaches to study, in depth, human diseases, biomarkers discovery and validation, and to provide mechanistic insights of potential new therapeutics. This is an ideal book for students, technicians, researchers, and medical doctors that work in the field of mass spectrometry and proteomics.

In 1963, the first edition of Chemistry of Viruses was published as a contribution to the series on viruses sponsored by Protoplasmatologia. An aim of the first edition was to review some major principles and techniques of chemical virology in a concise manner and to accompany this review with a compilation of pertinent references. It was anticipated that this exercise would be helpful to the author in his teaching and research and, hopefully, would be useful to readers as well. The literature of virology has grown enormously since then, and it is even more urgent to have a succinct survey. In addition, few authors have attempted to integrate the findings pertaining to the various major classes of viruses (that is, animal, bacterial, and plant viruses) but, rather, have chosen to assemble large monographs dealing in depth with facts and fancies pertaining to specific groups of viruses. Such works are valuable for pursuit of particular topics but fail to yield a brief, integrated view of virology. The present edition of Chemistry of Viruses aspires to such a review. A serious attempt was made to deal concisely with every major topic of chemical virology and to present examples from different classes of viruses. Numerous references are given to original articles and review papers as well as to selected books.

From the reviews: "…Here we have a book which we can wholeheartedly suggest. The mathematics is sound and pared to essentials; the examples are an impressive, well-chosen selection from the biomathematics literature, and the problem sets provide both useful exercises and some fine introductions to the art of modeling… Batschelet has written an introduction to biomathematics which is notable for its clarity - not only a clarity of presentation, but also a clarity of purpose, backed by a sure grasp of the field…" #Bulletin of Mathematical Biology#1 "For research workers in the biomedical field who feel a need for freshening up their knowledge in mathematics, but so far have always been frustrated by either too formal or too boring textbooks, there is now exactly what they would like to have: an easy to read introduction. This book is highly motivating for practical workers because only those mathematical techniques are offered for which there is an application in the life sciences. The reader will find it stimulating that each tool described is immediately exemplified by problems from latest publications." #Int. Zeitschrift für klinische Pharmakologie, Therapie und Toxikologie#2

A few decades ago mathematics played a modest role in life sciences. Today, however, a great variety of mathematical methods is applied in biology and medicine. Practically every mathematical procedure that is useful in physics, chemistry, engineering, and economics has also found an important application in the life sciences. The past and present training of life scientists does by no means reflect this development. However, the impact ofthe fast growing number of applications of mathematical methods makes it indispensable that students in the life sciences are offered a basic training in mathematics, both on the undergraduate and the graduate level. This book is primarily designed as a textbook for an introductory course. Life scientists may also use it as a reference to find mathematical methods suitable to their research problems. Moreover, the book should be appropriate for self-teaching. It will also be a guide for teachers. Numerous references are included to assist the reader in his search for the pertinent literature.

This atlas will illustrate the distribution and morphological features of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) which are the key cells to understanding of the regulatory mechanism of gastrointestinal motility, since ICC act as both pacemaker and as intermediates in neural transmission, and since ICC show specific distribution patterns depending on their anatomical positions. All subtypes of ICC located in the different tissue layers and different levels of the gastrointestinal tract will be revealed by immunohistochemistry for Kit receptors and nerves by using mainly whole-mount stretch preparation of the guinea-pig tissues. Three-dimensional reconstruction of confocal images will particularly help the readers to understand the peculiar arrangement of ICC networks in situ and the correlation between ICC and nerves. Electron micrographs will help illustrate the characteristic features of ICC and their ultrastructural differences from fibroblasts, smooth muscles and other interstitial cells.

This book examines the role of human microbiome in human health and diseases. The initial chapters present tools for genetic manipulation of gut microbiota and the therapeutic applications of engineered microbiota. They discuss the interaction between human microbiota and host in defining the prominent role of microbes in the development and progression of major human diseases. The book also summarizes the current applications and trends for the development, production and analytical characterization of recombinant therapeutic proteins in microbial systems. It also reviews the role of microbes in the production of vaccines and antibiotics. Further, the book presents bacterial products, including proteins, enzymes, immunotoxins and secondary metabolites, that target cancer cells and cause tumour regression. The chapters also discuss the critical role of gut microbiota dysbiosis in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease and in bowel-related diseases. Towards the end, the book explores the role of intestinal microbiota in metabolic health and the pathogenesis of common metabolic disorders. It presents state-of-the-art insights into important aspects of United Nations—Sustainable Developmental Goal 3.