scholarly journals Proteases as therapeutics

2011 ◽  
Vol 435 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles S. Craik ◽  
Michael J. Page ◽  
Edwin L. Madison
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Application ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Disease Treatment ◽  
Therapeutic Class ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Plasma Fractions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Delivery Options

Proteases are an expanding class of drugs that hold great promise. The U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has approved 12 protease therapies, and a number of next generation or completely new proteases are in clinical development. Although they are a well-recognized class of targets for inhibitors, proteases themselves have not typically been considered as a drug class despite their application in the clinic over the last several decades; initially as plasma fractions and later as purified products. Although the predominant use of proteases has been in treating cardiovascular disease, they are also emerging as useful agents in the treatment of sepsis, digestive disorders, inflammation, cystic fibrosis, retinal disorders, psoriasis and other diseases. In the present review, we outline the history of proteases as therapeutics, provide an overview of their current clinical application, and describe several approaches to improve and expand their clinical application. Undoubtedly, our ability to harness proteolysis for disease treatment will increase with our understanding of protease biology and the molecular mechanisms responsible. New technologies for rationally engineering proteases, as well as improved delivery options, will expand greatly the potential applications of these enzymes. The recognition that proteases are, in fact, an established class of safe and efficacious drugs will stimulate investigation of additional therapeutic applications for these enzymes. Proteases therefore have a bright future as a distinct therapeutic class with diverse clinical applications.

Implications of Nanotechnology in Healthcare

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-57
Author(s):  
Preeti ◽  
Mahaveer Genwa ◽  
Pradeep Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Targeted Drug Delivery ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Diagnostic Methods ◽  
Disease Treatment ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Nanoscale Level

Introduction: Nanotechnology is a science, engineering conducted at nanoscale level for the manipulation of matter to create materials with significantly unusual, varied and new properties. Attributes of these synthesized nanomaterials promise to provide a number of applications in health including nanomedicine, nanorobots/nanobots, nanostars, nanofibers, chemotherapy and many more. There has been a remarkable interest in identification of adverse health effects associated with the use of nanotechnology too. The focus of this review is to highlight the current techniques and development of new technologies advancing medical science and disease treatment in human healthcare. Firstly, several Nano-pharmaceuticals and Nano-diagnostic methods offer numerous potential ways for targeted drug delivery, gene therapy, cancer treatment and clinical diagnosis to provide best rational use of the medicine and minimize the toxic effects. These techniques can also help to design certain drugs in a controlled way to avoid their structural complexity by dealing at the atomic and molecular level. Secondly, along with the discussion of potential applications of nanotechnology, some of the examples will be given to elaborate the various scientific and technical aspects in the real life. Conclusion: Finally, conclusion with the future scope and challenges of nanotechnology in health will be described and discussed.

Recent Developments of Ambulatory Assessment Methods

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 279-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Hey ◽  
Panagiota Anastasopoulou ◽  
André Bideaux ◽  
Wilhelm Stork
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Ambulatory Assessment ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Physiological Sensors

Ambulatory assessment of emotional states as well as psychophysiological, cognitive and behavioral reactions constitutes an approach, which is increasingly being used in psychological research. Due to new developments in the field of information and communication technologies and an improved application of mobile physiological sensors, various new systems have been introduced. Methods of experience sampling allow to assess dynamic changes of subjective evaluations in real time and new sensor technologies permit a measurement of physiological responses. In addition, new technologies facilitate the interactive assessment of subjective, physiological, and behavioral data in real-time. Here, we describe these recent developments from the perspective of engineering science and discuss potential applications in the field of neuropsychology.

Voices and Visions: Mind, Body and Affect in Medieval Writing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Medical Humanities ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Disease Treatment ◽  
History Of Disease ◽  
Health And Illness ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural Texts

A properly critical medical humanities is also a historically grounded medical humanities. Such historical grounding requires taking a long cultural perspective, going beyond traditional medical history – typically the history of disease, treatment and practice – to trace the origins and development of the ideas that underpin medicine in its broadest sense – ideas concerning the most fundamental aspects of human existence: health and illness, body and mind, gender and family, care and community. Historical sources can only go so far in illuminating such topics; we must also look to other cultural texts, and in particular literary texts, which, through their imaginative worlds, provide crucial insights into cultural and intellectual attitudes, experience and creativity. Reading from a critical medical humanities perspective requires not only cultural archaeology across a range of discourses, but also putting past and present into conversation, to discover continuities and contrasts with later perspectives. Medical humanities research is illuminated by cultural and literary studies, and also brings to them new ways of seeing; the relation is dynamic. This chapter explores the ways mind, body and affect are constructed and intersect in medieval thought and literature, with a particular focus on how voice-hearing and visionary experience are portrayed and understood.

The Dilemma between Aligned Expectations and Diversity in Innovation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timur Ergen
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
History Of Capitalism ◽  
Synthetic Fuel ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One ◽  
Technology Policies ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Innovation Processes

This chapter brings together arguments from economics, sociology, and political economy to show that innovation processes are characterized by a dilemma between the advantages of aligned expectations—including greater coordination and investment—and those of diversity, including superior openness to new technological possibilities. To illustrate the argument, the chapter discusses a historical case involving one of the largest coordinated peace-time attempts to hasten technological innovation in the history of capitalism, namely the US energy technology policies of the 1970s and 1980s. Close examination of the commercialization of photovoltaics and synthetic fuel initiatives illustrates both sides of the dilemma between shared versus diverse expectations in innovation: coordination but possible premature lock-in on the one hand, and openness but possible stagnation on the other. The chapter shows that even the exploration and interpretation of new technologies may be as much a product of focused investment as of trial-and-error search.

AI Narratives

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Historical Overview ◽  
Intelligent Machines ◽  
Narrative History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Imaginative Thinking ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Insight Into

This book is the first to examine the history of imaginative thinking about intelligent machines. As real artificial intelligence (AI) begins to touch on all aspects of our lives, this long narrative history shapes how the technology is developed, deployed, and regulated. It is therefore a crucial social and ethical issue. Part I of this book provides a historical overview from ancient Greece to the start of modernity. These chapters explore the revealing prehistory of key concerns of contemporary AI discourse, from the nature of mind and creativity to issues of power and rights, from the tension between fascination and ambivalence to investigations into artificial voices and technophobia. Part II focuses on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in which a greater density of narratives emerged alongside rapid developments in AI technology. These chapters reveal not only how AI narratives have consistently been entangled with the emergence of real robotics and AI, but also how they offer a rich source of insight into how we might live with these revolutionary machines. Through their close textual engagements, these chapters explore the relationship between imaginative narratives and contemporary debates about AI’s social, ethical, and philosophical consequences, including questions of dehumanization, automation, anthropomorphization, cybernetics, cyberpunk, immortality, slavery, and governance. The contributions, from leading humanities and social science scholars, show that narratives about AI offer a crucial epistemic site for exploring contemporary debates about these powerful new technologies.

scholarly journals Phytochemical, Antioxidant and Toxicological Investigation of Morinda citrifolia L. Blossoms

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shixin Deng ◽  
Brett J. West ◽  
'Afa K. Palu ◽  
C. Jarakae Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Antioxidant Activity ◽  
Iridoid Glycosides ◽  
Radical Scavenging ◽  
Morinda Citrifolia ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Medicinal Uses ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
History Of ◽  
Toxicological Investigation ◽  
Phytochemical Components

Noni blossoms have a long history of medicinal uses in tropical areas. This study was conducted to investigate the major phytochemical components, toxicological properties, and antioxidant activity of noni blossoms. An HPLC-PDA method was developed and validated for the identification and quantification of major components. The major phytochemicals were iridoid glycosides, deacetylasperulosidic acid and asperulosidic acid, and flavonoids, quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside and kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside, each present at 3.764, 3.576, 1.513, and 3.096 mg/g, respectively. The aqueous extract of noni blossoms, at 500 μg/mL, exhibited greater antioxidant activity in the 2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay than green tea (88.11 ± 0.01% versus 76.60 ± 0.05%). A primary DNA damage test in E. coli PQ37 (SOS-chromotest) and a twenty-four hour brine shrimp toxicity test did not reveal any genotoxic or cytotoxic activity. These results provide a useful reference for the identification of noni blossoms as well as preliminary evaluation of safety and efficacy. Further evaluation of the potential applications of noni blossoms is warranted.

Tradition and Innovation in Cataloguing Medieval Manuscripts

2021 ◽  
Vol 139 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-58
Author(s):  
Orietta Da Rold
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Digital Environment ◽  
Digital Form ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Medieval Manuscripts ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Training

Abstract In this essay, I offer a brief history of manuscript cataloguing and some observations on the innovations this practice introduced especially in the digital form. This history reveals that as the cataloguing of medieval manuscripts developed over time, so did the research needs it served. What was often considered traditional cataloguing practices had to be mediated to accommodate new scholarly advance, posing interesting questions, for example, on what new technologies can bring to this discussion. In the digital age, in particular, how do digital catalogues interact with their analogue counterparts? What skills and training are required of scholars interacting with this new technology? To this end, I will consider the importance of the digital environment to enable a more flexible approach to cataloguing. I will also discuss new insights into digital projects, especially the experience accrued by the The Production and Use of English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220 Project, and then propose that in the future cataloguing should be adaptable and shareable, and make full use of the different approaches to manuscripts generated by collaboration between scholars and librarians or the work of postgraduate students and early career researchers.

scholarly journals Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria from Conjunctival Flora in an Eye Infection Prone Breed (Saint Bernard)

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 2219
Author(s):  
George Cosmin Nadăș ◽  
Cristiana Ștefania Novac ◽  
Ioana Adriana Matei ◽  
Cosmina Maria Bouari ◽  
Zoltan Miklos Gal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Ocular Disease ◽  
Resistant Bacteria ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Disease Treatment ◽  
Pseudomonas Spp ◽  
History Of ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Staphylococcus Spp ◽  
Saint Bernard

The conjunctival bacterial resident and opportunistic flora of dogs may represent a major source of dissemination of pathogens throughout the environment or to other animals and humans. Nevertheless, contamination with bacteria from external sources is common. In this context, the study of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pattern may represent an indicator of multidrug resistant (MDR) strains exchange. The present study was focused on a single predisposed breed—Saint Bernard. The evaluated animals were healthy, but about half had a history of ocular disease/treatment. The swabs collected from conjunctival sacs were evaluated by conventional microbiological cultivation and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). The most prevalent Gram-positive was Staphylococcus spp.; regardless of the history, while Gram-negative was Pseudomonas spp.; exclusively from dogs with a history of ocular disease/treatment. Other identified genera were represented by Bacillus, Streptococcus, Trueperella, Aeromonas and Neisseria. The obtained results suggest a possible association between the presence of mixed flora and a history of ocular disease/treatment. A high AMR was generally observed (90%) in all isolates, especially for kanamycin, doxycycline, chloramphenicol and penicillin. MDR was recorded in Staphylococcus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. This result together with a well-known zoonotic potential may suggest an exchange of these strains within animal human populations and the environment.

scholarly journals Deciphering the Mounting Complexity of the p53 Regulatory Network in Correlation to Long Non-Coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in Ovarian Cancer

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonali Pal ◽  
Manoj Garg ◽  
Amit Kumar Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Ovarian Cancer ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Human Cancer ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Altered Expression ◽  
Disease Biology ◽  
Non Coding Rnas ◽  
Post Transcriptional Regulation

Amongst the various gynecological malignancies affecting female health globally, ovarian cancer is one of the predominant and lethal among all. The identification and functional characterization of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are made possible with the advent of RNA-seq and the advancement of computational logarithm in understanding human disease biology. LncRNAs can interact with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), proteins and their combinations. Moreover, lncRNAs regulate orchestra of diverse functions including chromatin organization and transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. LncRNAs have conferred their critical role in key biological processes in human cancer including tumor initiation, proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, necroptosis, autophagy, and metastasis. The interwoven function of tumor-suppressor protein p53-linked lncRNAs in the ovarian cancer paradigm is of paramount importance. Several lncRNAs operate as p53 regulators or effectors and modulates a diverse array of functions either by participating in various signaling cascades or via interaction with different proteins. This review highlights the recent progress made in the identification of p53 associated lncRNAs while elucidating their molecular mechanisms behind the altered expression in ovarian cancer tumorigenesis. Moreover, the development of novel clinical and therapeutic strategies for targeting lncRNAs in human cancers harbors great promise.

scholarly journals Nanocomposite scaffolds for accelerating chronic wound healing by enhancing angiogenesis

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamed Nosrati ◽  
Reza Aramideh Khouy ◽  
Ali Nosrati ◽  
Mohammad Khodaei ◽  
Mehdi Banitalebi-Dehkordi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Wound Healing ◽  
Tissue Regeneration ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Healing Process ◽  
The Body ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Nanocomposite Scaffolds

AbstractSkin is the body’s first barrier against external pathogens that maintains the homeostasis of the body. Any serious damage to the skin could have an impact on human health and quality of life. Tissue engineering aims to improve the quality of damaged tissue regeneration. One of the most effective treatments for skin tissue regeneration is to improve angiogenesis during the healing period. Over the last decade, there has been an impressive growth of new potential applications for nanobiomaterials in tissue engineering. Various approaches have been developed to improve the rate and quality of the healing process using angiogenic nanomaterials. In this review, we focused on molecular mechanisms and key factors in angiogenesis, the role of nanobiomaterials in angiogenesis, and scaffold-based tissue engineering approaches for accelerated wound healing based on improved angiogenesis.

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