			Home About us Contact

Growing Realization (growing + realization)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

The stratum corneum: structure and function in health and disease

DERMATOLOGIC THERAPY, Issue 2004
Clive R. Harding
ABSTRACT:, Our understanding of the formation, structure, composition, and maturation of the stratum corneum (SC) has progressed enormously over the past 30 years. Today, there is a growing realization that this structure, while faithfully providing a truly magnificent barrier to water loss, is a unique, intricate biosensor that responds to environmental challenges and surface trauma by initiating a series of biologic processes which rapidly seek to repair the damage and restore barrier homeostasis. The detailed ultrastructural, biochemical, and molecular dissection of the classic "bricks and mortar" model of the SC has provided insights into the basis of dry, scaly skin disorders that range from the cosmetic problems of winter xerosis to severe conditions such as psoriasis. With this knowledge comes the promise of increasingly functional topical therapies. [source]

Bone marrow and tumour stroma: an intimate relationship

HEMATOLOGICAL ONCOLOGY, Issue 4 2006
Natalie C Direkze
Abstract In recent years the bone marrow has become recognized as a potential source of cells for non-haematopoietic wound healing, in some instances demonstrating surprising plasticity in providing new epithelial cells. On the other hand, the contribution of bone marrow derived cells to fibrosis and blood vessel formation is more widely acknowledged. Tumour stroma has a vital role to play in determining cancer growth and spread, and there is a growing realization that the bone marrow has a significant input into this desmoplastic response. This review focuses on the contribution of bone marrow cells to tumour stroma, highlighting the bone marrow as a potential new portal through which to direct anti-tumour therapies. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Object-oriented approach to drug design enabled by NMR SOLVE: First real-time structural tool for characterizing protein,ligand interactions

JOURNAL OF CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY, Issue S37 2001
Daniel S. Sem
Abstract As a result of genomics efforts, the number of protein drug targets is expected to increase by an order of magnitude. Functional genomics efforts are identifying these targets, while structural genomics efforts are determining structures for many of them. However, there is a significant gap in going from structural information for a protein target to a high affinity (Kd,<,100 nM) inhibitor, and the problem is multiplied by the sheer number of new targets now available. nature frequently designs proteins in classes that are related by the reuse, through gene duplication events, of cofactor binding domains. This reuse of functional domains is an efficient way to build related proteins in that it is object-oriented. There is a growing realization that the most efficient drug design strategies for attacking the mass of targets coming from genomics efforts will be systems-based approaches that attack groups of related proteins in parallel. We propose that the most effective drug design strategy will be one that parallels the object-oriented manner by which nature designed the gene families themselves. IOPE (Integrated Object-Oriented PharmacoEngineering) is such an approach. It is a three-step technology to build focused combinatorial libraries of potential inhibitors for major families and sub-families of enzymes, using cogent NMR data derived from representatives of these protein families. The NMR SOLVE (Structurally Oriented Library Valency Engineering) data used to design these libraries are gathered in days, and data can be obtained for large proteins (>,170 kDa). Furthermore, the process is fully object-oriented in that once a given bi-ligand is identified for a target, potency is retained if different cofactor mimics are swapped. This gives the drug design process maximum flexibility, allowing for the more facile transition from in vitro potency to in vivo efficacy. J. Cell. Biochem. Suppl. 37: 99,105, 2001. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Bayeswatch: an overview of Bayesian statistics

JOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2 2002
Peter C. Austin PhD
Abstract Increasingly, clinical research is evaluated on the quality of its statistical analysis. Traditionally, statistical analyses in clinical research have been carried out from a ,frequentist' perspective. The presence of an alternative paradigm , the Bayesian paradigm , has been relatively unknown in clinical research until recently. There is currently a growing interest in the use of Bayesian statistics in health care research. This is due both to a growing realization of the limitations of frequentist methods and to the ability of Bayesian methods explicitly to incorporate prior expert knowledge and belief into the analyses. This is in contrast to frequentist methods, where prior experience and beliefs tend to be incorporated into the analyses in an ad hoc fashion. This paper outlines the frequentist and Bayesian paradigms. Acute myocardial infarction mortality data are then analysed from both a Bayesian and a frequentist perspective. In some analyses, the two methods are seen to produce comparable results; in others, they produce different results. It is noted that in this example, there are clinically relevant questions that are more easily addressed from a Bayesian perspective. Finally, areas in clinical research where Bayesian ideas are increasingly common are highlighted. [source]

Automated Digital Image Based Measurement of Boundary Fractal Dimension for Complex Nanoparticles

PARTICLE & PARTICLE SYSTEMS CHARACTERIZATION, Issue 1 2003
Ramitha Wettimuny
Abstract There is a growing realization that complex nanoparticles produced by combustion reaction, precipitation, and spray technology using supercritical fluids, are fractally structured. The boundary fractal dimension is linked to the flow, packing and consolidation dynamics of nanopowders. It also contains information on the formation dynamics of the nanoparticles produced by various methods. Extraction of the fractal dimension information embodied in the nanoparticle's fractal structure is hampered by the lack of automated characterization algorithms for processing images of particles. This paper describes an efficient algorithm for analyzing digitized images of fractally structured nanoparticles and presents a computer program that automates the procedure using digital image processing techniques. The program functionality is demonstrated and discussed using digital images of typical pigment, ceramic and pharmaceutical powders. [source]

Culture and the brain: Opportunities and obstacles

ASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
Haotian Zhou
A major evolutionary advance of humans is a mind that is capable of constructing, perpetuating, adapting to, and exploiting culture. The birth of cultural neuroscience reflects the growing realization that a full account of the human mind requires understanding of the multiple and reciprocal influences between the biological and the sociocultural. In the present paper, we illustrate how attention to the brain, as exemplified in functional magnetic resonance neuroimaging (fMRI) studies of sociocultural processes, contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the human mind. We end by discussing a set of challenges facing researchers using fMRI and the possible means for dealing with these challenges. [source]