scholarly journals The Significance of an Enhanced Concept of the Organism for Medicine

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Rosslenbroich
Keyword(s):  
Systems Biology ◽  
Personalized Medicine ◽  
Basic Concept ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Human Individual ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Conceptual Shift ◽  
And Control ◽  
Comparative Embryology

Recent developments in evolutionary biology, comparative embryology, and systems biology suggest the necessity of a conceptual shift in the way we think about organisms. It is becoming increasingly evident that molecular and genetic processes are subject to extremely refined regulation and control by the cell and the organism, so that it becomes hard to define single molecular functions or certain genes as primary causes of specific processes. Rather, the molecular level is integrated into highly regulated networks within the respective systems. This has consequences for medical research in general, especially for the basic concept of personalized medicine or precision medicine. Here an integrative systems concept is proposed that describes the organism as a multilevel, highly flexible, adaptable, and, in this sense, autonomous basis for a human individual. The hypothesis is developed that these properties of the organism, gained from scientific observation, will gradually make it necessary to rethink the conceptual framework of physiology and pathophysiology in medicine.

Shot-noise simulations of HREM images of polymer crystals

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 342-343
Author(s):  
Philippe Pradère ◽  
Edwin L. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Low Dose ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Crystal Defects ◽  
Inorganic Materials ◽  
Photographic Emulsion ◽  
Polymer Crystals ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Lattice Images

High Resolution Electron Microscopy (HREM) is a very powerful technique for the study of crystal defects at the molecular level. Unfortunately polymer crystals are beam sensitive and are destroyed almost instantly under the typical HREM imaging conditions used for inorganic materials. Recent developments of low dose imaging at low magnification have nevertheless permitted the attainment of lattice images of very radiation sensitive polymers such as poly-4-methylpentene-1 and enabled molecular level studies of crystal defects in somewhat more resistant ones such as polyparaxylylene (PPX) [2].With low dose conditions the images obtained are very noisy. Noise arises from the support film, photographic emulsion granularity and in particular, the statistical distribution of electrons at the typical doses of only few electrons per unit resolution area. Figure 1 shows the shapes of electron distribution, according to the Poisson formula :

scholarly journals Veterinary Parasitology – recent developments in immunology, epidemiology and control

Parasitology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 120 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
RICHARD J. MARTIN ◽  
HENK D. F. H. SCHALLIG ◽  
L. H. CHAPPELL
Keyword(s):  
Field Of Study ◽  
Veterinary Parasitology ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
And Control

There have been important developments in the field of veterinary parasitology over the last few years. This symposium was called to collect individuals together, who have made significant contributions to their field of study, to present and summarize their work.I would like to pause for a moment before introducing the Symposium in this preface to comment on the sad loss of Professor Peter Nansen, a particularly eminent Danish scientist who developed our field of study. I, like many others, remember him with affection. He was a very helpful colleague and outstanding leader of the Danish Centre for Experimental Parasitology, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Frederiksberg C. We are all saddened by his death and will continue to carry our memories of him with us.

Internal and Consulting Information Flows in the Process of Knowledge Accumulation

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wiliam Acar ◽  
Rami al-Gharaibeh
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Seci Model ◽  
Top Managers ◽  
Deductive Synthesis ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Control Framework ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
And Control ◽  
Knowledge Hierarchy

Practical applications of knowledge management are hindered by a lack of linkage between the accepted data-information-knowledge hierarchy with using pragmatic approaches. Specifically, the authors seek to clarify the use of the tacit-explicit dichotomy with a deductive synthesis of complementary concepts. The authors review appropriate segments of the KM/OL literature with an emphasis on the SECI model of Nonaka and Takeuchi. Looking beyond equating the sharing of knowledge with mere socialization, the authors deduce from more recent developments a knowledge creation, nurturing and control framework. Based on a cyclic and upward-spiraling data-information-knowledge structure, the authors' proposed model affords top managers and their consultants opportunities for capturing, debating and storing richer information – as well as monitoring their progress and controlling their learning process.

scholarly journals Testing Host-Plant Driven Speciation in Phytophagous Insects: A Phylogenetic Perspective

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuelle Jousselin ◽  
Marianne Elias
Keyword(s):  
Host Plant ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Niche Differentiation ◽  
Ecological Speciation ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Phytophagous Insects ◽  
Ecological Specialization ◽  
Recent Developments

During the last two decades, ecological speciation has been a major research theme in evolutionary biology. Ecological speciation occurs when reproductive isolation between populations evolves as a result of niche differentiation. Phytophagous insects represent model systems for the study of this evolutionary process. The host-plants on which these insects feed and often spend parts of their life cycle constitute ideal agents of divergent selection for these organisms. Adaptation to feeding on different host-plant species can potentially lead to ecological specialization of populations and subsequent speciation. This process is thought to have given birth to the astonishing diversity of phytophagous insects and is often put forward in macroevolutionary scenarios of insect diversification. Consequently, numerous phylogenetic studies on phytophagous insects have aimed at testing whether speciation driven by host-plant adaptation is the main pathway for the diversification of the groups under investigation. The increasing availability of comprehensive and well-resolved phylogenies and the recent developments in phylogenetic comparative methods are offering an unprecedented opportunity to test hypotheses on insect diversification at a macroevolutionary scale, in a robust phylogenetic framework. Our purpose here is to review the contribution of phylogenetic analyses to investigate the importance of plant-mediated speciation in the diversification of phytophagous insects and to present suggestions for future developments in this field.

scholarly journals Comparison of Genotypic and Phenotypic Correlations: Cheverud’s Conjecture in Humans

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian M. Sodini ◽  
Kathryn E. Kemper ◽  
Naomi R. Wray ◽  
Maciej Trzaskowski
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Phenotypic Correlations ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Genotypic And Phenotypic Correlations ◽  
Genetic And Phenotypic Correlations ◽  
Selected Traits ◽  
The Uk

AbstractAccurate estimation of genetic correlation requires large sample sizes and access to genetically informative data, which are not always available. Accordingly, phenotypic correlations are often assumed to reflect genotypic correlations in evolutionary biology. Cheverud’s conjecture asserts that the use of phenotypic correlations as proxies for genetic correlations is appropriate. Empirical evidence of the conjecture has been found across plant and animal species, with results suggesting that there is indeed a robust relationship between the two. Here, we investigate the conjecture in human populations, an analysis made possible by recent developments in availability of human genomic data and computing resources. A sample of 108,035 British European individuals from the UK Biobank was split equally into discovery and replication datasets. 17 traits were selected based on sample size, distribution and heritability. Genetic correlations were calculated using linkage disequilibrium score regression applied to the genome-wide association summary statistics of pairs of traits, and compared within and across datasets. Strong and significant correlations were found for the between-dataset comparison, suggesting that the genetic correlations from one independent sample were able to predict the phenotypic correlations from another independent sample within the same population. Designating the selected traits as morphological or non-morphological indicated little difference in correlation. The results of this study support the existence of a relationship between genetic and phenotypic correlations in humans. This finding is of specific interest in anthropological studies, which use measured phenotypic correlations to make inferences about the genetics of ancient human populations.

Molecular Systems Biology and Control

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 396-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo D. Sontag
Keyword(s):  
Systems Biology ◽  
Molecular Systems ◽  
And Control

scholarly journals Epigenetic Aspects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 77-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Schmidt ◽  
Florian Holsboer ◽  
Theo Rein
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Adverse Life Events ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Covalent Modifications ◽  
Genetic And Environmental Factors ◽  
And Control

Development of psychiatric diseases such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) invokes, as with most complex diseases, both genetic and environmental factors. The era of genome-wide high throughput technologies has sparked the initiation of genotype screenings in large cohorts of diseased and control individuals, but had limited success in identification of disease causing genetic variants. It has become evident that these efforts at the genomic level need to be complemented with endeavours in elucidating the proteome, transcriptome and epigenetic profiles. Epigenetics is attractive in particular because there is accumulating evidence that the lasting impact of adverse life events is reflected in certain covalent modifications of the chromatin.In this review, we outline the characteristics of PTSD as a stress-related disease and survey recent developments revealing epigenetic aspects of stress-related disorders in general. There is also increasing direct evidence for gene programming and epigenetic components in PTSD. Finally, we discuss treatment options in the light of recent discoveries of epigenetic mechanisms of psychotropic drugs.

21st Century Citizen Pharma: The FDA & Patient-Focused Product Development

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 309-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Paradise
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
United States Food ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
States Food ◽  
And Control ◽  
Patient Advocacy Groups

Perpetual debate regarding the delicate balance between access and innovation and the protection of the public health and safety dominate discussions of the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Established chiefly as a command and control federal administrative agency, iterative changes in legislation have shaped the FDA's activity in drug, biologic, and medical device regulation over the course of the last one hundred plus years. The most recent fundamental reframing of the agency's authority and directive presented itself in the 21st Century Cures Act, reflecting an important role for patient perspectives in the regulatory process. This Article explores recent developments in patient-focused product development efforts at the FDA and offers modest insights on the increasing role of patients, and patient advocacy groups, in agency decision-making. The Article terms this era “21st century citizen pharma.”

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