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Advances in Cholesterol Research presents a range of topics which, for the most part, have not been reviewed in recent years in books published on cholesterol. The subject area can be divided into two main sections. The intracellular and extracellular dynamics of cholesterol. The intracellular dynamics of cholesterol includes the intracellular distributions of cholesterol, cellular functions of the sterol, cholesterol metabolism in steroidogenic tissues, the cholestryl ester cycle, relation between cholesterol and dolichol biosynthesis, and the role of cholesterol in tumor cell proliferation. The section on extracellular dynamics of cholesterol includes the biogenesis of high density lipoprotein subclasses, structure-function relation in lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase, and the role of cholesterol in atherosclerosis and in membrane fusion.
This book focuses on the importance of human antimicrobial peptides (AMP) in keeping the host healthy and preventing infectious diseases. The first chapters deal with several examples of the role of AMP in different epithelial organs (skin and wound healing, eye, lung, genito-urinary tract, gut), which are exposed to different kinds of infectious microorganisms and as a result produce different patterns of AMP. Examples of the dysregulation of AMP expression and function promoting infections are discussed. The capacity of AMP to restrict the availability of essential metals to bacteria as an efficient antibacterial strategy in nutritional immunity is discussed in the next chapter. Our current understanding of how vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, influences AMP-expression and how this can affect our health is also addressed. Last but not least, the role of AMP in HIV infection and the immunomodulatory properties of AMP highlight the diverse facets of AMP in host immunity. AMP’s specific functions, including in fighting multi-resistant bacteria, suggest that they may offer therapeutic benefits – a question that is discussed in the final chapter.
This book has been cunningly designed to provide an overview of our current knowledge about the innate immune systems of these three types of organisms. It not only covers the innate immune mechanisms and responses of such diverse organisms as plants, Cnidaria, Drosophila, urochordates and zebrafish, but also the major receptor systems in mammalians and humans. It delves too into the central defense mechanisms, antimicrobial peptides and the complement system.
This book was stimulated by the enthusiasm shown by attendees at the meetings in Saxon River, VT, sponsored by the Federation ofAmerican Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), on the subject of the intestinal processing of lipids. When these meetings were first started in 1990, the original organizers, two of whom are editors ofthis volume (CMM and PT), had two major goals. The first was to bring together a diverse group ofinvestiga tors who had the common goal of gaining a better understanding of how the intestine ab sorbs lipids. The second was to stimulate the interest of younger individuals whom we wished to recruit into what we believed was an exciting and fruitful area ofresearch....
Discussing the systemic immune response in the contexts of health, disease, and therapy, this unique resource-the only broadly based book of its kind available on the subject-offers comprehensive examinations of the pathways and agents that affect the human immune response and provides state-of-the-art presentations on practical methods of immune modulation. Focuses on the immune response and modulation in infectious diseases, such as HIV, hepatitis, and parasitic infections and highlights immune modulating agents in gastrointestinal diseases, sepsis, cancer, and autoimmunity! Written by over 50 international authorities representing distinguished institutions in nine countries, Immune Modul...
The objective of this book is to provide a scientific background to dairy microbiology by re-examining the basic concepts of general food microbiology and the microbiology of raw milk while offering a practical approach to the following aspects: well-known and newfound pathogens that are of major concern to the dairy industry. Topics addressed include Cronobactersakazakii and its importance to infant formula milk or Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) that might be connected to chronic human diseases (Crohn’s), the role of dairy starter cultures in manufacturing fermented dairy products, developing novel functional dairy products through the incorporation of probiotic strains, insights in the field of molecular methods for microbial identification, and controlling dairy pathogens owing to the compulsory application of food safety management systems (FSMS) to the dairy industry. The book will provide dairy professionals and students alike the latest information on this vast topic.
Annotation Epithelial defense against infectious agents relies on the recognition of microbial products by pattern recognition receptors and the local production of antimicrobial peptides. This book provides a state-of-the-art overview of the basic characteristics and clinical relevance of antimicrobial peptides, with special emphasis on their role in skin, intestinal and lung inflammation. The evolutionary significance of antimicrobial peptides is highlighted by an in-depth analysis of their structure, activity and gene regulation in Drosophila melanogaster. Toll-like receptors are an important class of pattern recognition receptors, whose roles in recognizing bacterial molecular patterns a...
This volume comprises eight well-versed contributed chapters devoted to report the latest findings on the intelligent approaches to multimedia data analysis. Multimedia data is a combination of different discrete and continuous content forms like text, audio, images, videos, animations and interactional data. At least a single continuous media in the transmitted information generates multimedia information. Due to these different types of varieties, multimedia data present varied degrees of uncertainties and imprecision, which cannot be easy to deal by the conventional computing paradigm. Soft computing technologies are quite efficient to handle the imprecision and uncertainty of the multime...
This book is the proceedings of the Falk Symposium No. 122 on "Inflammatory Bowel Disease - A Clinical Case Approach to Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment", held in Bologna, Italy, on June 22-23, 2001, and deals with some major issues concerning Genetics of IBD, Pediatrics in IBD, Early vs Late IBD, Bacteria and Gut Inflammation, Refractory CD, Fistulizing CD, Refractory Distal Colitis, and Complications of Ileal-Pouch Anastomosis. The main aim of the meeting was to highlight the value of an integrated clinical approach and the importance of clinical research in developing innovative methods of treatment.
Now considered an organ with defensive and metabolic capabilities, the intestinal microbiota plays a major role in the local host immune system development and education. It contributes to the generation of a homeostatic balance characterized by the capacity to react against pathogens while remaining hyperresponsive/tolerant against commensals. Thi