Adv Exp Med Biol
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This chapter focuses on the role of sphingolipids in the regulation of sterol-regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) dependent lipid synthesis and ATP-binding cassette protein ABCA1 and ABCG1 mediated lipid efflux, key regulators of cellular lipid homeostasis. Sphingolipid synthesis activates SREBPs independently of whether sphingolipid synthesis occurs through recycling or de novo pathways. SREBPs are major transcription factors of lipid metabolism that regulate more than 30 genes of cholesterol, fatty acid and phospholipid synthetic enzymes and they required NADPH cofactors. ⋯ Animal studies support the findings made in cultured cells. Inhibition of sphingolipid de novo synthesis increases anti-atherogenic lipoproteins and decreases atherosclerosis in mouse models. Together, manipulation of sphingolipid synthetic pathways is a potentially promising therapeutic target for treatment of low-HDL dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis.
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Using broadband near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and cerebral microdialysis (MD),we investigated cerebral cellular metabolism and mitochondrial redox states, following hypercapnoea in 6 patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). In all patients hypercapnoea increased intracranial pressure and cerebral blood flow velocity measured with transcranial Doppler. ⋯ Although no obvious association was seen between the Δ[oxCCO] and the MD, measured changes in lactate and pyruvate concentrations. Further work using model informed data interpretation may be helpful in understanding the multimodal signals acquired in this heterogeneous patient group.
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Significant advances, especially in microbiologic diagnostics and brain imaging, have broadened our understanding of the etiology, pathogenesis, and natural history of acute encephalitis. In some instances this had led to specific therapies and preventive measures. The clinical hallmark of acute encephalitis is the triad of fever, headache, and altered mental status. ⋯ Beyond this there is another robust but not exhaustive list (Table 2) of important considerations in the differential diagnosis. These include infectious agents (bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and amebic) as well as non-infectious etiologies (parainfectious, post-infectious, autoimmune, neoplastic, cerebrovascular, systemic, and other conditions). The challenge for the clinician is to rapidly hone the list and make critical management decisions by considering the specific features of the setting of the patient's illness, host susceptibility, clinical and neurologic findings, and results of laboratory and imaging studies.
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Mast cells play an important role in the lung in both health and disease. Their primary role is to initiate an appropriate program of inflammation and repair in response to tissue damage initiated by a variety of diverse stimuli. ⋯ A key goal is the development of treatments which attenuate adverse mast cell function when administered chronically to humans in vivo. Such therapies may offer a novel approach to the treatment of many life-threatening diseases.
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Machine learning approaches have wide applications in bioinformatics, and decision tree is one of the successful approaches applied in this field. In this chapter, we briefly review decision tree and related ensemble algorithms and show the successful applications of such approaches on solving biological problems. ⋯ On the other hand, by being exposed to the applications of decision trees and ensemble algorithms in bioinformatics, computer scientists can get better ideas of which bioinformatics topics they may work on in their future research directions. We aim to provide a platform to bridge the gap between biologists and computer scientists.