E-book: Jack the writer A Verbal And Visual Analysis of the Ripper Correspondence
Author: Dr. Dirk Gibson
Month: March 2014
Japanese authors have made important contributions to Bentham Science Journal, Current Bioinformatics
Journal Name: Current Bioinformatics
Article Title: Signal-Dependent Noise Induces Muscle Co-Contraction to Achieve Required Movement Accuracy: A Simulation Study with an Optimal Control
Author(s): Yuki Ueyama and Eizo Miyashita
Abstract
Simultaneous activation of the agonist and antagonist muscles surrounding a joint, called co-contraction, is suggested to play a role in increasing joint stiffness to improve movement accuracy. However, it has not been clarified how co-contraction is related to movement accuracy, as most models for motor planning and control cannot deal with muscle co-contraction. In this study, the muscle activation and joint stiffness in reaching movements were studied under three different requirement levels of endpoint accuracy using a two-joint six-muscle model and an approximately optimal control. We carried out simulations of biological arm movements for a center-out reaching task under different accuracy demands with different types of motor noise and demonstrated time-varying co-contraction and a double-peaked jointstiffness profile. Furthermore, we showed that the strength of co-contraction and joint stiffness increased depending on the required accuracy level under signal-dependent noise, the magnitude of which was proportional to the motor command but not to additive Gaussian noise. We concluded that the optimal control is a valid model for the human motor control system and that signal-dependent noise is essential to induce co-contraction depending on accuracy demands.
For more information, visit:http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=cbio&articleID=106262
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Testimonial
Major article contributions by our Chinese authors in Bentham Science Journal, Current Gene Therapy
Journal Name: Current Gene Therapy
Article Title: Antibody-directed Double Suicide Gene Therapy Targeting of MUC1- Positive Leukemia Cells In Vitro and In Vivo
Author(s): Xiao-Ya Dong, Wen-Qian Wang, Yu Zhao, Xu-Dong Li, Zhi-Gang Fang, Dong-Jun Lin, Ruo-Zhi Xiao, Ren-Wei Huang, Guang-Jin Pan and Jia-Jun Liu
Abstract:
Our aim was to specifically transfer the cytosine deaminase (CD) and thymidine kinase (TK) genes into mucin 1 (MUC1)-positive leukemia cells by anti-MUC1 antibody directed infection of replication-defective lentivirus and to evaluate the targeted cytotoxicity of double suicide genes to leukemia. The target gene vector (containing CD and TK) and envelope (containing GFP and anti-MUC1) and packaging plasmids were cotransfected into 293T cells to produce the recombinant lentivirus. Suicide genes in virus-infected leukemia cells (U937, Jurkat, and K562) were detected by western blot. The cytotoxicity and bystander effect in vitro and the therapeutic effect in vivo were detected after treatment with the prodrugs. The results revealed that combined treatment with prodrug 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC) and ganciclovir (GCV) inhibited leukemia cell growth and caused significant bystander effect than treatment with either prodrug alone. TK/GCV treatment alone induced degeneration and cell death while the effect of CD/5-FC alone mainly caused vacuolar degeneration and necrosis. The addictive effects of combinatorial use of GCV and 5-FC mainly induced swelling of the mitochondria followed by necrosis of the leukemia cells. In vivo experiments revealed that both single and combinatorial prodrug treatments could prolong the survival time of leukemic mice. In summary, anti-MUC1 antibody directed lentiviral vector successfully transduced dual suicide genes and exerted targeted cytotoxicity against MUC1 positive leukemia cells. This targeted lentiviral dual suicide gene delivering system provides a promising approach for clinical treatment of leukemia in future.
For more details about this Article, Log on to:http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=cgt&articleID=115611
List of notable publications by Dr. Zeno Foldes-Papp- EIC of Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Dr. Foldes Papp is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology. Dr. Foldes Papp currently works at the HELIOS Clinical Center of Emergency Medicine, Koeln-Wipperfuerth, Germany.
Listed below are notable publications by Dr. Zeno Foldes-Pappi
1. Article Title: Anomalous subdiffusive measurements by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and simulations of translational diffusive behavior in live cells.
Journal Name: Journal of Biological Methods
Authors: Baumann G, Kinjo M, Földes-Papp.
Graphical Abstract:
To read more about this article, visit: http://www.jbmethods.org/jbm/article/view/17/html
2. Article Title: Measurements of Single Molecules in Solution and Live Cells Over Longer Observation Times Than Those Currently Possible: The Meaningful Time.
Journal Name: Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Author(s): Zeno Foldes-Papp
For more details, click here: http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=cpb&articleID=109368
3. Article Title: Meaningful interpretation of subdiffusive measurements in living cells (crowded environment) by fluorescence fluctuation microscopy
Journal Name: Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Authors: Baumann G, Place RF, Földes-Papp
For more details regarding this article, click: http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=cpb&articleID=71963
4. Article Title: Fluorescence Molecule Counting for Single-Molecule Studies in Crowded Environment of Living Cells without and with Broken Ergodicity
Journal Name: Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Authors: Földes-Papp Z, Baumann G
For more details, visit: http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=cpb&articleID=73867
5. Article Title: Modeling the Dynamics of Nonenzymatic and Enzymatic Nucleotide Processes by Fractal Dimension
Journal Name: Fractals in Biology and Medicine
Authors: Földes-Papp Z, Angerer B, Ankenbauer W, Baumann G, Birch-Hirschfeld, S. Björling, S. Conrad, M. Hinz, R. Rigler, H. Seliger, P. Thyberg, A. K. Kleinschmidt.
For details, visit: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-0348-8936-0_19
6. Article Title: Confocal fluctuation spectroscopy and imaging
Journal Name: Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Authors: Zeno Foldes-Papp, Shih-Chu Jeff Liao, Tiefeng You, Ewald Terpetschnig and Beniamino Barbieri.
For more details regarding this article, kindly visit: http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=cpb&articleID=72240
7. Article Title: Viral chip technology in genomic medicine
Journal Name: Genomic and Personalized Medicine
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z
For more details, visit: http://iss.com/resources/pdf/publications/genomic-medicine.pdf
8. Article Title: Anomalous behavior in length distributions of 3D random Brownian walks and measured photon count rates within observation volumes of single-molecule trajectories in fluorescence fluctuation microscopy.
Reference: Optics Express
Author(s): Baumann G, Gryczynski I. Földes-Papp Z
For details, click here: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-18-17-17883
9. Article Title: What it means to measure a single molecule in a solution by fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy.
Journal Name: Experimental and molecular pathology.
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z
For details, visit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16515783
10. Article Title: True’ single-molecule molecule observations by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and two-color fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy
Journal Name: Experimental and Molecular Pathology.
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z
For more information, click: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014480006001456
11. Article Title: How the molecule number is correctly quantified in two-color fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy: corrections for cross-talk and quenching in experiments
Journal Name: Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z
For more information regarding this article, visit: http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=cpb&articleID=60166
12. Article Title: Fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopic approaches to the study of a single molecule diffusing in solution and a live cell without systemic drift or convection: a theoretical study
Journal Name: Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z
For more information, visit: http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=cpb&articleID=59991
13. Article Title: Theory of measuring the selfsame single fluorescent molecule in solution suited for studying individual molecular interactions by SPSM-FCS
Journal Name: Pteridines
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z
For more information, click here: http://www.iss.com/resources/pdf/publications/spsm-fcs.pdf
14. Article Title: Counting and behavior of an individual fluorescent molecule without hydrodynamic flow, immobilization, or photon count statistics.
Journal Name: Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z, Baumann G, Demel U, Tilz GP
For more information, kindly visit: http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=cpb&articleID=62164
15. Article Title: A new ultrasensitive way to circumvent PCR-based allele distinction: direct probing of unamplified genomic DNA by solution-phase hybridization using two-color fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy.
Journal Name: Experimental and Molecular Pathology.
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z, Baumann G, Demel U, Tilz GP, Kinjo M, Tamura M, Birch-Hirschfeld E.
For more information, kindly visit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15924869
16. Article Title: Specifically associated PCR products probed by coincident detection of two-color cross-correlated fluorescence intensities in human gene polymorphisms of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase at site C677T: a novel measurement approach without follow-up mathematical analysis.
Journal Name: Experimental and Molecular Pathology.
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z, Demel U, Tilz GP, Kinjo M, Tamura M, Birch-Hirschfeld E, Costa JM, Saito K, Takaqi T, Thyberg P.
For more information, kindly visit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15126103
17. Article Title: new concept for ultrasensitive fluorescence measurements of molecules in solution and membrane: 1. Theory and a first application.
Journal Name: Journal of immunological methods.
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z, Demel U, Tilz GP
For more information, kindly visit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15087217
18. Article Title: A new concept for ultrasensitive fluorescence measurements of molecules in solution and membrane: 2. The individual immune molecule.
Journal Name: Journal of immunological methods.
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z, Demel U, Tilz GP
For more information, kindly visit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15087218
19. Article Title: C677T single nucleotide polymorphisms of the human methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase and specific identification: a novel strategy using two-color cross-correlation fluorescence spectroscopy.
Journal Name: Mol. Diagn.
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z, Kinjo M, Saito K, Kii H, Takagi T, Tamura M, Costa JM, Birch-Hirschfeld E, Demel U, Thyberg P, Tils GP.
For more information, kindly visit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14580229
20. Article Title: A new dimension for the development of fluorescence-based assays in solution: From Physical Principles of FCS Detection to Biological Applications.
Journal Title: Experimental biology and medicine
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z, Demel U, Domej W, Tilz GP
For more details, visit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11976399
21. Article Title Detection of single molecules: solution-phase single-molecule fluorescence correlation spectroscopy as an ultrasensitive, rapid and reliable system for immunological investigation
Journal Title: Journal of Immunological Methods
Author(s): Földes-Papp Z, Demel U, Tilz GP
For more details, visit: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022175901005373
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Upcoming Bentham Science Publishers’ eBook!
THERAPEUTIC REVOLUTION
The History of Medical Oncology from Early Days to the Creation of the Subspecialty
eISBN: 978-1-60805-814-3, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60805-815-0
Author:
Pierre R. Band
McGill University
Canada
Introduction
Cancer is a disease responsible for several million annual deaths among humans, worldwide. However, advances in healthcare – which include breakthroughs in science and medicine as well as access to medical treatment – have improved the survival rate of cancer patients over the last few decades.
Therapeutic Revolution relates the story of one of the great scientific tales of the twentieth century: how the field of medical oncology was created and its subsequent development owing to medical and scientific breakthroughs. The book unfolds the pre-clinical and clinical concepts and innovations that led to the creation of the medical subspecialty now known as oncology.
Therapeutic Revolution is the first book ever written on the events that led to this subspecialty of internal medicine. It relates the recollection of key events obtained from interviews of the pioneers who laid the foundations of medical oncology, as well as the author’s own experience of the pre-specialty era of medical practice.
The book is essential reading for all readers interested in the history of cancer treatment and also serves as a historical primer for medical students learning oncology.
Preface
Many books have been written about cancer and many articles have been published on the history of chemotherapy, but none to our knowledge on the history of medical oncology, that is, the events that led to this new subspecialty of internal medicine, which was first established in the United States in 1972. As a medical oncologist, I had been thinking of writing a book on this subject and discussed the idea with Dr. Roberto Zanetti, Director of the Piedmont Cancer Registry in Torino, Italy, with whom I had spent a mini-sabbatical. He encouraged me to go ahead, despite my hesitations as I am not a historian. Before deciding to proceed, however, I first wanted to test the ground by preparing a set of slides for potential lectures. Zanetti kindly invited me, with the financial contribution of the Fondo Anglesio Moroni in Torino, to give a series of talks in Torino, Parma and Florence, Italy. All my talks were well received.
Serendipity being what it is, I had read a paper by Dr. Franco Muggia discussing the screening of cancer chemotherapeutic agents, an important topic in the early days of medical oncology. Muggia and I were members of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; although we had no contact for many years I phoned his office in October 2009, to tell him of my plans. Muggia, the Chairman of the annual Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium, invited me to speak at its XXVIIth conference, to be held the following month in New York City, a talk that was subsequently published [1]. There were about 2000 people in the audience, mostly medical oncologists and oncology nurses of various ages. I then gave a similar presentation in Montreal on receiving the “Pioneers in Canadian Oncology Award” from the Canadian Medical Oncology Association. Judging from the comments received, I realized that the history of medical oncology was a subject of great interest and possibly a gap to be filled, at least from the perspective of the younger generation.
Since my talks included an overview of the history of cancer that preceded the first modern treatment of malignant diseases, I intended to gain access to the Osler Library of the History of Medicine at McGill University in Montreal. To do so conveniently, for instance to access electronic material at the McGill libraries from home, I needed a Faculty appointment at McGill University. For this, I owe sincere thanks to Dr. Phil Gold, Professor of Physiology and Oncology at McGill University, who kindly arranged for me to be granted an appointment in the Department of Medicine.
At the same time, I had the chance to interview or talk on the phone to the pioneers who laid the foundations of medical oncology. A large part of this book relates their recollection of key events.
Pierre R. Band
Department of Medicine
McGill University
Montreal
Canada
E-mail: pierre.band@gmail.com
REFERENCE
[1] Band PR. The birth of the subspecialty of medical oncology and examples of its early scientific foundations. J Clin Oncol 2010; 28:3653-8.
For more details, please visit:
Editor’s Choice
Infectious Disorders – Drug Targets
ISSN: 2212-3989 (Online)
ISSN: 1871-5265 (Print)
Volume 14, 3 Issues, 2014
Update on Diagnostic and Treatment of Uncomplicated and Complicated Malaria in Adults and Selected Vulnerable Populations
Author(s): Philip Botha, Emmanuel Bottieau, Olalekan Uthman, Ude Obike and Jean B. Nachega
Affiliation: Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Van Zyl Drive; Cape Town, South Africa.
Abstract
Although malaria remains one of the most important infectious causes of morbidity and mortality world-wide with 40% of the global population at risk, significant progress has been made toward elimination, notably with the development and use of rapid diagnostic tests, insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying, and artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). P. falciparum infection remains the most common cause of severe infection and death, but non-P. P. falciparum infections, including the recently emerged 5th plasmodium species, P. knowlesi, are increasingly recognized as causes of severe disease, especially in southeast Asia. Chemotherapy for severe infections has been revolutionized following results of the SEQUAMAT and AQUAMAT trials showing that parenteral artesunate (versus quinine) reduced severe malaria mortality by 34.7% and 22.5% in Asian adults and African children, respectively, making it the drug of choice for severe malaria. However, rising rates of artemisinin resistance, currently confined to the Greater Mekong sub-region, are threatening the long-term efficacy of artemisinins. HIV infection remains an important risk factor for death and severe disease due to malaria. The full amplitude of mutual interactions between these conditions is only beginning to be elucidated while the complex, multi-directional and pharmacokinetic interactions between antimalarial agents and HIV drugs continue to emerge.
For details, please click on: http://benthamscience.com/journal/index.php?journalID=iddt#top
Chinese Authors have made substantial contributions to Bentham Science Journal, Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry
Journal Name: Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry
Article Title: Recombinant Snake Venom Cystatin Inhibits Tumor Angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo Associated with Downregulation of VEGF-A165, Flt-1 and bFGF
Author(s): Qun Xie, Nanhong Tang, Rong Wan, Yuanlin Qi, Xu Lin and Jianyin Lin
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that recombinant snake venom cystatin (sv-cystatin) inhibits the invasion and metastasis of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of recombinant sv-cystatin to inhibit tumor angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo, and the mechanisms underlying this effect. Recombinant sv-cystatin inhibited proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) at 100 and 200 μg/mL after 72, 96 and 120 h. Recombinant sv-cystatin also inhibited tumor–endothelial cell adhesion at 25, 50, 100 and 200 μg/mL. Recombinant sv-cystatin inhibited capillary-like tube formation by HUVECs at 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 μg/mL following 12, 24 and 36 h incubation. Furthermore, recombinant sv-cystatin significantly suppressed microvessel density (MVD) of lung tumor colonies in C57BL/6 mice inoculated in the lateral tail vein with B16F10 melanoma cells. Administration of recombinant sv-cystatin significantly decreased MVD of primary tumor tissues in nude mice implanted subcutaneously with human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (MHCC97H). Exposure of B16F10 and MHCC97H cells to increasing doses of recombinant sv-cystatin suppressed secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A165 and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) into the surrounding medium (P<0.05). The expression of fms-related tyrosine kinase 1 (Flt-1) protein in HUVECs was decreased by 25, 50, 100 and 200 μg/mL recombinant sv-cystatin (P<0.05). This study demonstrates that recombinant sv-cystatin inhibits tumor angiogenesis associated with downregulation of VEGF-A165, Flt-1 and bFGF. This suggests that recombinant sv-cystatin may have potential pharmaceutical applications as an antiangiogenic and antimetastatic therapeutic agent.
For more information, please click:http://benthamscience.com/journal/abstracts.php?journalID=acamc&articleID=108011
