Download or read book The Future of Physiology 2020 and Beyond written by George E. Billman and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2021-07-30 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Research Topic eBook includes articles from Volume I and II of The Future of Physiology: 2020 and Beyond series: Research Topic “The Future of Physiology: 2020 and Beyond, Volume I” Research Topic “The Future of Physiology: 2020 and Beyond, Volume II” The term Physiology was introduced in the 16th century by Jean Francois Fernel to describe the study of the normal function of the body as opposed to pathology, the study of disease. Over the ensuing centuries, the concept of physiology has evolved and a central tenet that unites all the various sub-disciplines of physiology has emerged: the quest to understand how the various components of an organism from the sub-cellular and cellular domain to tissue and organ levels work together to maintain a steady state in the face of constantly changing and often hostile environmental conditions. It is only by understanding normal bodily function that the disruptions that leads to disease can be identified and corrected to restore the healthy state. During the summer of 2009, I was invited by Dr. Henry Markram, one of the founders of the “Frontiers In” series of academic journals, to serve as the Field Chief Editor and to launch a new Open-access physiology journal that would provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas and would also meet the challenge of integrating function from molecules to the intact organism. In considering the position, I needed to answer two questions: 1) What exactly is Open-access publishing?; and 2) What could Frontiers in Physiology add to the already crowded group of physiology related journals? As a reminder, the traditional model of academic publishing “is a process by which academic scholars provide material, reviewing, and editing expertise for publication, free of charge, then pay to publish their work” and, to add insult to injury, they and their colleagues must pay the publisher a fee (either directly or via an institutional subscription) to read their published work [slightly modified from the “The Devil’s Dictionary of Publishing” Physiology News (the quarterly newsletter of the Physiological Society) Spring 2019: Issue 114, page 8]. In the traditional model, the publisher, not the authors, owns the copyright such that the author must seek permission and may even be required to pay a fee to re-use their own material (such as figures) in other scholarly articles (reviews, book chapters, etc.). In contrast, individuals are never charged a fee to read articles published in open-access journals. Thus, scholars and interested laymen can freely access research results (that their tax dollars paid for!) even if their home institution does not have the resources to pay the often exorbitant subscription fees. Frontiers takes the open-access model one step further by allowing authors (rather than the publisher) to retain ownership (i.e., the copyright) of their intellectual property. Having satisfied the first question, I then considered whether a new physiology journal was necessary. At that point in time there were no open-access physiology journals, and further, many aspects of physiology were not covered in the existing journals. Frontiers afforded the unique opportunity to provide a home for more specialized sections under the general field journal, Frontiers in Physiology, with each section having an independent editor and editorial board. I therefore agreed to assume the duties of Field Chief Editor in November 2009. Frontiers in Physiology was launched in early 2010 and the first articles were published in April 2010. Since these initial publications, we have published over 10,000 articles and have become the most cited physiology journal. Clearly we must be fulfilling a critical need. Now that it has been over a decade since Frontiers in Physiology was launched, it is time to reflect upon what has been accomplished in the last decade and what questions and issues remain to be addressed. Therefore, it is the goal of this book to evaluate the progress made during the past decade and to look forward to the next. In particular, the major issues and expected developments in many of the physiology sub-disciplines will be explored in order to inspire and to inform readers and researchers in the field of physiology for the year 2020 and beyond. A brief summary of each chapter follows: In chapter 1, Billman provides a historical overview of the evolution of the concept of homeostasis. Homeostasis has become the central unifying concept of physiology and is defined as a self-regulating process by which a living organism can maintain internal stability while adjusting to changing external conditions. He emphasizes that homeostasis is not static and unvarying but, rather, it is a dynamic process that can change internal conditions as required to survive external challenges and can be said to be the very basis of life. He further discusses how the concept of homeostasis has important implications with regards to how best to understand physiology in intact organisms: the need for more holistic approaches to integrate and to translate this deluge of information obtained in vitro into a coherent understanding of function in vivo. In chapter 2, Aldana and Robeva explore the emerging concept of the holobiont: the idea that every individual is a complex ecosystem consisting of the host organism and its microbiota. They stress the need for multidisciplinary approaches both to investigate the symbiotic interactions between microbes and multicellular organisms and to understand how disruptions in this relationship contributes to disease. This concept is amplified in chapter 3 in which Pandol addresses the future of gastrointestinal physiology ,emphasizing advances that have been made by understanding the role that the gut microbiome plays in both health and in disease. Professor Head, in chapter 4, describes areas in the field of integrative physiology that remain to be examined, as well as the potential for genetic techniques to reveal physiological processes. The significant challenges of developmental physiology are enumerated by Burggren in chapter 5. In particular, he analyzes the effects of climate change (environmentally induced epigenetic modification) on phenotype expression. In chapter 6, Ivell and Annad-Ivell highlight the major differences between the reproductive system and other organ systems. They conclude that the current focus on molecular detail is impeding our understanding of the processes responsible for the function of the reproductive organs, echoing and amplifying the concepts raised in chapter 1. In chapter 7, Costa describes the role of both circadian and non-circadian biological “clocks” in health and disease, thereby providing additional examples of integrated physiological regulation. Coronel, in chapter 8, provides a brief history of the development of cardiac electrophysiology and then describes areas that require further investigation and includes tables that list specific questions that remain to be answered. In a similar manner, Reiser and Janssen (chapter 9) summarize some of the advancements made in striated muscle physiology during the last decade and then discuss likely trends for future research; to name a few examples, the contribution of gender differences in striated muscle function, the mechanisms responsible of age-related declines in muscle mass, and role of exosome-released extracellular vesicles in pathophysiology. Meininger and Hill describe the recent advances in vascular physiology (chapter 10) and highlight approaches that should facilitate our understanding of the vascular processes that maintain health (our old friend homeostasis) and how disruptions in these regulatory mechanisms lead to disease. They also stress the need for investigators to exercise ethical vigilance when they select journals to publish in and meetings to attend. They note that the proliferation of profit driven journals of dubious quality threatens the integrity of not only physiology but science in general. The pathophysiological consequences of diabetes mellitus are discussed in chapters 11 and 12. In chapter 11, Ecelbarger addresses the problem of diabetic nephropathy and indicates several areas that require additional research. In chapter 12, Sharma evaluates the role of oxidative damage in diabetic retinopathy, and then proposes that the interleukin-6-transsignaling pathway is a promising therapeutic target for the prevention of blindness in diabetic pateints. Bernardi, in chapter 13, after briefly reviewing the considerable progress that has been achieved in understanding mitochondrial function, lists the many questions that remain to be answered. In particular, he notes several areas for future investigation including (but not limited to) a more complete understanding of inner membrane permeability changes, the physiology of various cation channels, and the role of mitochondrial DNA in disease. In chapter 14, using Douglas Adam’s “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe” as a model, Bogdanova and Kaestner address the question why a young person should study red blood cell physiology and provide advice for early career scientists as they establish independent laboratories. They the, describe a few areas that merit further attention, not only related to red blood cell function, but also to understanding the basis for blood related disease, and the ways to increase blood supplies that are not dependent on blood donors. Finally, the last two chapters specifically focus on non-mammalian physiology. In chapter 15, Scanes asks the question, are birds simply feathered mammals, and then reviews several of the significant differences between birds and mammals, placing particular emphasis on differences in gastrointestinal, immune, and female reproductive systems. In the final chapter (chapter 16) Anton and co-workers stress that since some 95% of living animals species are invertebrates, invertebrate physiology can provide insights into the basic principles of animal physiology as well as how bodily function adapts to environmental changes. The future of Physiology is bright; there are many important and interesting unanswered questions that will require further investigation. All that is lacking is sufficient funding and a cadre of young scientists trained to integrate function from molecules to the intact organism. George E. Billman, Ph.D, FAHA, FHRS, FTPS Department of Physiology and Cell Biology The Ohio State University Columbus OH, United States

Download or read book Beyond Our Genes written by Raffaele Teperino and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-01-24 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The genotype/phenotype dichotomy is being slowly replaced by a more complex relationship whereby the majority of phenotypes arise from interactions between one’s genotype and the environment in which one lives. Interestingly, it seems that not only our lives, but also our ancestors’ lives, determine how we look. This newly recognized form of inheritance is known as (epi)genetic, as it involves an additional layer of information on top of the one encoded by the genes. Its discovery has constituted one of the biggest paradigm shifts in biology in recent years. Understanding epigenetic factors may help explain the pathogenesis of several complex human diseases (such as diabetes, obesity and cancer) and provide alternative paths for disease prevention, management and therapy. This book introduces the reader to the importance of the environment for our own health and the health of our descendants, sheds light on the current knowledge on epigenetic inheritance and opens a window to future developments in the field.

Download or read book Presence and Beyond Evaluating User Experience in AR MR VR written by Richard Skarbez and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2022-10-03 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Future of Rice Demand Quality Beyond Productivity written by Antonio Costa de Oliveira and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-03-27 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to provide an overview of the challenges and available technologies to improve rice and provide a response to the challenge posed by increasing world population and the resultant food shortages. Nutritional aspects of rice products and omics and the molecular technologies currently being used are covered in depth. As a staple food for over 50% of the world ́s population, an estimated 9 billion people will need to be fed by 2050, and healthy and uncontaminated foods need to reach consumers in developed and developing countries.This makes quality beyond productivity incredibly important and is one of the overriding themes of this work. The Future of Rice Demand: Quality Beyond Productivity offers researchers a better understanding of the nutritional aspects of rice. Omics technologies applied to cereal grain quality have been scarce in the literature published to date, making this text an excellent single source for researchers in regions where rice is a major crop. The first section of the book focuses on the major aspects of the industrial processing of all rice types. Further sections look at contamination prevention and biofortification, special rice types, and omics and other molecular tools used in the mass production and processing of healthy rice products.

Download or read book Assessments and Measures in Psychotherapy Research Going Beyond Self Report Data written by Jessica Uhl and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2023-10-31 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tailoring the treatment to the individual patient can improve the effectiveness of psychotherapy. To do so, the treatment or strategy with the best prognosis for the individual patient can be selected at the beginning of therapy. Furthermore, the therapeutic approach can be adapted during the course of treatment. To support the therapist in such decisions, prediction algorithms are used, which are able to process complex and comprehensive data (precision mental health). Statistical methods used in psychotherapy research to analyze data and develop predictive models have recently become more advanced. However, algorithms cannot do better than what the underlying data provide them in terms of information. Therefore, our predictions and recommendations could benefit from a broader range of data beyond the traditional patient- or therapist-rated questionnaires.

Download or read book Arabidopsis 2010 and beyond big science with a small weed written by Andreas P. Weber and published by Frontiers E-books. This book was released on with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past two decades revolutionary progress in plant biology became possible by focusing resources on a single plant reference system, Arabidopsis thaliana. After the completion of the Arabidopsis genome sequence in the year 2000, a coordinated multinational effort was launched to “determine the function of every gene in Arabidopsis” by the year 2010. While this ambitious goal has not yet been fully achieved, the Arabidopsis genome is now one of the best annotated and serves as the gold standard for plant and other genomes. A large and international community has established genetic toolkits and genomic resources, such as sequence-indexed mutant collections and comprehensive and easily accessible ‘omics-scale datasets, ranging from transcriptome over proteome to the metabolome. The Arabidopsis 2010 program evolved from the studying the functions of single genes and gene families to comprehensive systems-wide analyses of functional networks, thereby paving the way from descriptive to predictive plant science. Progress does not stop here – in the near future, the genomes of one thousand Arabidopsis strains and accessions will become available, which will make it possible to exploit existing natural variation for addressing fundamental questions in ecology and evolutionary biology in an unprecedented manner. Further, due to ease of transformation and existing genetic and genomic resources, Arabidopsis will likely serve as a chassis for synthetic plant biology, an emerging field and challenge for the next decade of plant research. This Research Topic of Frontiers in Plant Physiology will provide examples on how focusing on a single plant model system has impacted and revolutionized many fields of plant research and it will provide an outlook on the upcoming challenges and fields of research for the next decade of Arabidopsis research.

Download or read book Womb Politics A Short History of the Future of Human Reproduction written by Frida Simonstein and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-10-15 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a vision of politics that govern the womb; from antiquity (‘be fertile and replenish the earth’), through the ages (hysterectomy, to extirpate women’s ‘hysteria’), up to the present time (abortion wars; assisted reproduction), and into the future (reprogenetics; the artificial womb). It explores how the womb has served humanity, either tacitly or explicitly, through the ages and examines how women have accepted and still perceive the rules created by men as natural - including the new anti-abortion laws in the USA - because ‘that is the way things are.’ The book also explores how the emerging of assisted reproduction technologies and novel genetic tools (reprogenetics) will pose additional challenges to womb bearers, as all women will be made to reproduce with IVF. What is more, the advent of the artificial womb is in sight; the gender and social implications of this development would be enormous. Certainly not just another organ, the womb has been and remains a powerful tool that cannot be left to the decisions of half of the population. This book engages a wide audience, including women and men, professionals and laypersons who are interested in gender, politics, legislation, women’s health, and ethics.

Download or read book Microbial Stress Responses Antioxidants the Plasma Membrane and Beyond written by Sukesh Chander Sharma and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2022-03-18 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Promoting Healthy and Supportive Acoustic Environments Going beyond the Quietness written by Francesco Aletta and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2020-11-04 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book gathers 14 original contributions published in an IJERPH Special Issue that deal with the perception of environmental sounds and how such sounds are likely to affect human quality of life and well-being and the experience of a place. The research focus over the years has been gradually shifting from treating sound simply as “noise” and something that cities should get rid of to a potential “resource” to promote and support community life in public spaces. Three main topics or “needs” to be addressed by researchers and practitioners emerged from this Special Issue: (1) the need to re-think “quietness” in cities as something that goes beyond the mere “pursuit of silence”, (2) the need to integrate additional contextual factors in the characterization and management of urban acoustic environments for public health, and (3) the need to consider the acoustic quality of indoor spaces as opposed to an outdoor-only perspective. The contributions collected in this book will hopefully trigger new questions and inform the agenda of future researchers and practitioners in the environmental acoustics domain.

Download or read book Speaking Beyond Earth written by Paul E. Quast and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2024-04-03 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the dawn of the Space Age, small cohorts of humanity have broadcast signals towards other stars, fabricated "space-time capsules" to "speak for Earth" aboard interstellar probes, deposited collections of "space oddities" on other astronomical bodies, and permanently incised the memory of our species across the deep-time legacy of the Sol System. Many of these purposeful "messages" are the consequence of age-old behaviors, traditions, and material practices using modern aerospace technologies. Most attempt to preserve narratives of human experience in social exchange devices for imagined, exotic audiences. Looking back upon this accumulative history of "messaging from Earth", how do we begin to interpret such an eclectic portrait of Earth for ourselves? Surveying and cataloguing the variety of these artifacts through a series of interdisciplinary essays and visual documentation, this volume chronicles our changing relationships, customs, and assumptions made within this material culture for our own eyes. What do these autobiographical accounts tell us about Terrans and our minds, set against the backdrop of our planetary history?

Download or read book Chronic Kidney Disease Beyond the Basics written by Ane Claudia Fernandes Nunes and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2023-05-31 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive overview of chronic kidney disease (CKD). It includes fifteen chapters over four sections on “Clinical Nephrology”, “Biomarkers and Molecular Biology”, “Hemodialysis and Transplantation”, and “Basic Research and Innovation”. Chapters address such topics as cardiovascular disease in CKD patients, diabetic kidney disease, palliative care in CKD, biochemical tests for evaluating CKD, renal replacement treatment options, artificial intelligence in CKD, and much more.

Download or read book The Future of the Public s Health in the 21st Century written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-02-01 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.

Download or read book Higher and Colder written by Vanessa Heggie and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-08-02 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the long twentieth century, explorers went in unprecedented numbers to the hottest, coldest, and highest points on the globe. Taking us from the Himalaya to Antarctica and beyond, Higher and Colder presents the first history of extreme physiology, the study of the human body at its physical limits. Each chapter explores a seminal question in the history of science, while also showing how the apparently exotic locations and experiments contributed to broader political and social shifts in twentieth-century scientific thinking. Unlike most books on modern biomedicine, Higher and Colder focuses on fieldwork, expeditions, and exploration, and in doing so provides a welcome alternative to laboratory-dominated accounts of the history of modern life sciences. Though centered on male-dominated practices—science and exploration—it recovers the stories of women’s contributions that were sometimes accidentally, and sometimes deliberately, erased. Engaging and provocative, this book is a history of the scientists and physiologists who face challenges that are physically demanding, frequently dangerous, and sometimes fatal, in the interest of advancing modern science and pushing the boundaries of human ability.

Download or read book Mechanisms of Insulin Action written by Alan R. Saltiel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-10-05 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 18 million people in the United States have diabetes mellitus, and about 90% of these have the type 2 form of the disease. This book attempts to dissect the complexity of the molecular mechanisms of insulin action with a special emphasis on those features of the system that are subject to alteration in type 2 diabetes and other insulin resistant states. It explores insulin action at the most basic levels, through complex systems.

Download or read book Beyond the Bottom Line written by Martin W. Sandler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1998-05-07 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings to the management of nonprofit organizations and public sector organizations the kind of concepts that have long been applied to commercial firms. Management thinking has long been concentrated on the problems of managing commercial organizations. Authors Sandler and Hudson set out to study the best managed nonprofit and government organizations and to determine what they did to achieve their success. The authors found that there is a close similarity between the management thinking of these organizations and that of profit-making firms. Each type of firm defined who their customers were and how to best serve them. They looked for ways of selling their particular product. They formed partnerships with other organizations in pursuit of their ultimate goals. They encouraged innovation among their workers. They diffused power down through the organizations to the lowest level possible. They created an atmosphere that made their workers feel valued. And they had extensive systems for communicating within and outside the organizations. The book develops these concepts in separate chapters and describes the organizations the authors study as examples. Sandler and Hudson are experienced writers who have produced a straightforward, non-technical work that analyzes the special problems and concerns that these organizations share and offers a set of effective organizing principles to improve their management.

Download or read book Vascular Dysfunction Beyond Pathological Pregnancies An International Effort Addressed to Fill the Gaps in Latin America Volume II written by Carlos Alonso Escudero and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2022-10-11 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Modern Midwife s Guide to Pregnancy Birth and Beyond written by Marie Louise and published by Random House. This book was released on 2020-03-05 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Marie Louise is a dream come true for any parent with her uncanny ability to simplify the most important and complicated questions’ Emma Bunton, co-founder of Kit and Kin Whether you are planning for a baby, just found out you are pregnant or well into your third trimester, this book will help you to feel confident, informed and inspired about your exciting journey ahead. Through years of work with families, Senior Midwife Marie Louise reveals the key things that will make the biggest, most positive difference to you and your baby as you navigate these life-changing months. As well as this, Marie Louise is renowned for bringing complex science to life. You’ll discover fascinating facts that underpin everything you and your baby will go through, including - - How your nervous system is synced with your baby and why baby already knows a lot about you when they are born - The unique process your baby goes through to pass through the birth canal and how you work together in labour - Incredible facts about breast milk Packed with the most up-to-date findings and expert insights, you'll find everything you need to prepare for motherhood and, most importantly, understand and appreciate just how amazing you and your baby both are!