Richard Bucala

Since the discovery of the circulating ?fibrocyte? in 1994 as a collagen-producing cell of the peripheral blood, the physiologic and pathologic role of this unique cell populaton has grown steadily. This pioneering new book provides the first comprehensive review of the role of fibrocytes in wound repair, granuloma formation, antigen presentation, scar formation, and various fibrosing disorders such as interstitial lung disease and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. It also includes discussions of the recent studies on the molecular signals that influence fibrocyte migration, proliferation, and function in the context of normal physiology and pathology. The chapters are contributed by the leading researchers in the field.

New Insights Into Tissue Repair and Systemic Fribrosis

Fibrocytes

Frank M Snowden

Malaria is one of the most important “emerging” or “resurgent” infectious diseases. According to the World Health Organization, this mosquito-borne infection is a leading cause of suffering, death, poverty, and underdevelopment in the world today. Every year 500 million people become severely ill from malaria and more than a million people die, the great majority of them women and children living in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2008, it was estimated, a child would die of the disease every thirty seconds, making malaria — together with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis — a global public health emergency. This is in stark contrast to the heady visions of the 1950s predicting complete global eradication of the ancient scourge. What went wrong? This question warrants a closer look at not just the disease itself, but its long history and the multitude of strategies to combat its spread. This book collects the many important milestones in malaria control and treatment in one convenient volume. Importantly, it also traces the history of the disease from the 1920s to the present, and over several continents. It is the first multidisciplinary volume of its kind combining historical and scientific information that addresses the global challenge of malaria control. Malaria remains as resurgent as ever and The Global Challenge of Malaria: Past Lessons and Future Prospects will examine this challenge — and the range of strategies and tools to confront it — from an interdisciplinary and transnational perspective. Contents:Lessons of History:Malaria in America (Margaret Humphreys)Technological Solutions: The Rockefeller Insecticidal Approach to Malaria Control, 1920–1950 (Darwin H Stapleton)Malaria Control and Eradication Projects in Tropical Africa, 1945–1965 (James L A Webb, Jr)The Use and Misuse of History: Lessons from Sardinia (Frank M Snowden)Popular Education and Participation in Malaria Control: A Historical Overview (Socrates Litsios)Scientific, Medical, and Public Health Perspectives:The Contribution of the Gambia to Malaria Research (Brian Greenwood)Insecticide–Treated Bednets and Malaria Control: Strategies, Implementation, and Outcome (Harry V Flaster, Emily Mosites, and Brian G Blackburn)The Scientific and Medical Challenge of Malaria (Tiffany Sun and Richard Bucala) Readership: Historians of medicine; research scientists; clinicians, especially in the specialties of tropical medicine and infectious diseases; public health officials; environmentalists; and students in public health and history of medicine programs; general readers interested in contemporary issues of global health. Keywords:Malaria;Re-Emerging Diseases;Tropical Diseases;Epidemic Diseases;Public HealthKey Features:First multidisciplinary compendium combining historical and scientific information that addresses the global challenge of malaria controlUnique compendium of diverse expertise in the fieldReviews: “It is the first multidisciplinary volume of its kind combining historical and scientific information that addresses the global challenge of malaria control.” Biotechnology, Agronomy, Society and Environment

Past Lessons and Future Prospects

The Global Challenge of Malaria

In recent years, researchers have identified a pivotal, upstream role for macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in the innate immune response. This pioneering book describes this renaissance of knowledge in the biology of MIF. Topics covered include MIF's molecular mechanism of action, its counterregulatory action on the immunosuppressive properties of glucocorticoids, its role in the production of proinflammatory mediators as shown in cell-based and animal studies; and its central role in human inflammation. Human genetic studies have identified allelic forms of the MIF gene, and high-expression alleles have been associated with rheumatoid arthritis, asthma severity, sarcoidosis, atopy, inflammatory bowel disease, and other inflammatory and infectious maladies. The book also discusses the role of MIF as a therapeutic target. Unique structural features of the protein, such as an intrinsic catalytic activity and the recent discovery of its cell surface receptor, offer attractive opportunities for therapeutic intervention. Such approaches are presently in clinical development.

Mif: A Most Interesting Factor

Ruth R Montgomery

The recent explosion of information in innate immune pathways for recognition, effect or responses, and genetic regulation has given impetus to investigations into analogous pathways in the human immune response, which in turn has produced attendant insights into both normal physiology and immunopathology. This volume presents a compendium of methods and protocols for the investigation of human innate immunity with application to the study of normal immune function, immunosenescence, autoimmunity and infectious diseases. Among the topics covered are quantitative flow cytometry for Toll-like receptor expression and function; multidimensional single cell mass cytometry (CyTOF) in complex immune interactions and tumor immunity; imaging techniques such as Imagestream high resolution microscopy coupled to flow cytometry, immune cell infiltration of organotypic, biomimetic organs; high-throughput single cell secretion profiling; multiplexed transcriptomic profiling; microsatellite and microRNA methodologies, RNA interference; and the latest bioinformatics and biostatistical methodologies, including in-depth statistical modeling, genetic mapping, and systems approaches.

Richard Bucala

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